Chapter 19
A couple of hours after breakfast, we are all on the field working on our sword training. It’s one of the few (well, okay, only) areas where I’ve actually shown any skill prior to Sam activating my inner powers. Sam insists I’m a natural with the sword, and I see no reason to doubt him, since he’s been training with swords since he was a child. I’ve got to admit, it feels good to hold a sword in my hand, kind of like it belongs there. I’ve wondered more than once since we started this if I lived a previous life where I was a medieval knight or something. Maybe one day I’ll get a chance to explore the many past life doors in my mansion and find out.
I’m actually avoiding getting repeatedly knocked down by Sam today, which is a big improvement. I became quite adept at ducking and avoiding sword thrusts early on, but I don’t have the strength to match a sword-on-sword duel yet. Sam’s powerful upper body strength allows him to easily disarm me every time I try. Today, though, I’m managing to hold my own, with just a few wobbles here and there. I’m finally developing muscles, and it’s great! I really think I could take on another woman with a sword at this point. Maybe soon, I’ll be able to take on one of the younger guys and win.
My brothers are on the field, too, starting their own training. I can already see they’re miles ahead of me in strength, but they don’t have the agility to duck and roll like I do. Between the three of us, we could take some contenders.
I’m pleased to see that they both look happy, invigorated even. They have a strong sense of righteous purpose that they never realized was in them. Plus, they have a whole new side of their heritage to explore during the little downtime we get. They’re in their element, and it shows. It’s so rewarding to see such a different side of them. This is what they were born to do, what we were all born to do.
We’re all pretty much involved in our own training exercises with our regiments…or in my case, partner, since Sam and I are still working on our own….when chaos erupts in the middle of the field.
Humans and angels alike shout and go running in different directions, getting away from a disturbance of some kind. Sam and I drop our swords and move closer to the inner field so we can get a better look.
A cloud of dust rises up from the field, momentarily obscuring the view. When the dust clears and everyone who was in the middle of the field is safely standing on its edge, we are all amazed to see a full regiment of at least six dozen Earth Angels standing there, bruised, battered, and bloody. Most of them have torn tunics. All are carrying swords, daggers, and battle halos, and some look seriously injured. Those who aren’t are obviously exhausted.
Standing at the head of the regiment is none other than Ella!
I blink, surprised to see the sheltered, sweet angel princess. The most girly and feminine angel I’ve met so far is now standing before me looking grim and determined. She is incredibly changed from when I saw her six weeks ago. Now, she looks like a soldier.
When Sam sent her to the hidden moon base where most of his people were training to be an army, it was supposed to be for her protection. She wasn’t meant to learn to fight. Yet here she is, looking like she’s not merely been in a calamitous battle, but commanded it!
Sam is at her side in an instant, and I’m hot on his heels. As he’s looking her over, patting her up and down to make sure she’s okay, I turn and address the gaping crowd.
“It’s okay!” I shout, making sure I put enough power in my voice that everyone hears me. “This is Ella, Sam’s sister. She’s one of the good guys. Just hang out a moment while we find out what’s going on, okay?”
Everyone on the perimeter of the ball field nods and mumbles in agreement, fascinated by this new turn of events. The angels who have been training with us approach Ella’s group, wanting to get the news, but the humans stay back for the time being. We’re all learning to live and work together, but there’s still a strong sense of “us” and “them” among both groups. We’re getting better at it, but we’ve still got a way to go before we truly look at each other as brothers and sisters. I hope we get there soon, because we need that bond to make ourselves unbeatable.
Sam is beside himself at his little sister’s sudden and traumatic appearance.
“Ella! My God, what happened to you?” he exclaims, holding her at arms’ length, giving her another once-over with his eyes, as if he can’t quite believe she isn’t hurt. She is dirty, with a slight cut on her forehead that is already starting to heal, and her long, golden hair is hanging down in a mass of wild tangles, but she otherwise looks fine. Well, except for the fact that she is visibly traumatized.
She is quiet for a moment, trying hard to be strong and not cry. I can tell by her slightly crumpled expression. If she is the leader of this group, she would want to be strong for them. However, her front only lasts for a second in the face of Sam’s great love and concern, and she collapses into the arms of her adoring big brother, sobbing.
Sam holds her close, rocking her back and forth like a little child, shushing and soothing her, running his hand along the back of her hair. Everyone is completely silent, even the angels who came in with her, giving brother and sister their moment. The fact that they’re the ruling family of all the angels who just arrived with Ella probably has something to do with it, too.
“Oh, Sam, it was horrible!” she cries into his shoulder, sobbing some more, not looking up. “We were training, just like we’ve been doing every day. I’ve gotten really good! I decided to learn to fight so I could be useful. I don’t know how he did it, but Daniel found us! And he brought an army of angels with him. There were hundreds of us, but there were thousands with him. We had so many masterful fighters, but we were still no match for them. They slaughtered most of our people, Sam! Even the women and children who weren’t fighting. Most of our kingdom was in that camp! I thought we were hidden. We did all the right spells to cloak the place, and it was in a secure and hard to find location. Father saw to it. It’s why he sent us all there. But then there Daniel was with his enormous army, with no warning. We had lookouts, too. But no one saw them coming. It was brutal. They showed no mercy at all!”
She sobs some more, and Sam holds her closer, being as soothing as he can with this delicate girl who never experienced violence a day in her life until now.
“Ella, I’m so sorry,” he whispers. “It’s all my fault. I should have made sure the camp was hidden better. I helped Father choose the location. It was even me who suggested establishing such a camp would be a good idea. I should have been there. I should have done something.”
“Oh Sam, there was nothing you could have done,” she sniffles, looking up at him, tears streaking the dirt off her pretty cheeks. “We were betrayed. That’s the only way Daniel could have found us and gotten inside. Someone gave us away, along with the spells we used to cloak ourselves, so Daniel and his people could undo them. I don’t know who gave us up, but it doesn’t matter. The damage is done, and we’re all that’s left. Most of the Earth Angel kingdom is gone. It’s just us, and the few who are on assignment on the planet’s surface or on diplomatic missions to other planets. But me and my group here, we’re all that’s left of the resistance. And that was just one regiment of Jonathan’s army. The whole thing must be huge. How are we ever going to fight him now?”
“We’ll get more recruits,” Sam assures her. “We’re working on it all the time. There are a lot of angels who haven’t even heard about what’s going on, and those who have heard rumors, but don’t understand the seriousness of it yet. Others have promised to join us soon. We just need to get the word out more intensely and widely now. We have to build up our numbers to match Jonathan’s. I know some angels are joining him because they’re afraid of the power he’s already amassed, and they feel our side doesn’t stand a chance. We have to prove them wrong and show them we can win.”
“We better do it soon,” Ella says quietly, her voice shaking slightly. “If there’s a spy in our midst who cares so little for us that they’re
willing to give us away to be slaughtered like that, there’s no time to waste.”
“We’ve got to find the spy,” the angel Jared says, coming up to us, brushing a dark lock of hair out of his eyes. He looks like the mere idea of a spy disgusts him. That’s good. Maybe he should be the one we send to root out the traitor.
Other nearby angels of all castes nod their agreements. I even see the guardians on the seers agreeing, though they are invisible to the other angels.
“How did you get away?” Sam asks in amazement, incredulous that his little sister escaped such horror.
“We all hid,” Ella says, looking down, ashamed. “We’re the weakest soldiers from the camp, so we were already in the back of the battle. When it became apparent it was going to go badly for our side, I led the ones closest to me into hiding. I decided it was better that some of us survive to get away and keep the resistance going, even if we’re not the best fighters. All of us are new to it, and still learning, but we can learn, Sam. I took charge of our group until Daniel and his troops left. Once they were gone, we took care of the bodies as best we could, then I brought us here. Oh, don’t worry!” she quickly added at the look of alarm on Sam’s face. “We couldn’t sense you and Lucy here at all. Your cloaking spell is effective. I sensed Luke. He was with us for a while, and I knew he was going to join you. When I sensed his energy, I knew you couldn’t be too far away.”
“You don’t need to feel bad, Ella,” Sam assures her, as he pulls away. He continues to hold her hands, though, like he doesn’t want to let go of her for fear Daniel will come snatch her away. “You did the right thing, and you saved people. That’s incredibly brave, and I’m proud of you.”
A slight look of relief spreads over her fair face, and I know she’s happy with the praise. She needs reassurance right now.
“We need to cloak this whole town,” Sam continues, concerned. “It should have been done weeks ago, but I’m glad it wasn’t, or you wouldn’t have been able to find us. But we must do it now. If Daniel was able to break the spell used to hide the moon camp, there’s nothing to stop him from walking right in here if he gets word of our location. We need a spell that only a handful of us know, so it can’t be leaked to the enemy. Only angels who already know where this place is should be able to find it, and we can send out recruiters from among our ranks to bring new soldiers here.”
“Should we recruit any more angels while there is a spy out there?” I ask. It doesn’t seem like a good idea, since we don’t know who we can trust.
“We have to,” Sam says. “We’ve got to get our numbers higher. Besides, if the spy comes here, we’ll have a much better chance of discovering him…or her. What is it you humans say? Keep your friends close….”
“But your enemies closer,” I finish for him, nodding. He’s right. If we can lure in the spy, we will have a much easier time of discovering who it is, because we’ll be examining any new angel arrivals much more closely from now on. There’s got to be a new angel intake process initiated. I’ll get John and Linda later and we’ll go to the elders to come up with a plan to make sure we can trust any new angel who joins us.
Sam takes Ella and her scruffy band of survivors into town to get them cleaned up, fill them in on what’s been going on here, secure lodgings for them, and allow them to get some rest. There is talk between him and the angels who’ve been in camp for a while about having to build some barracks, as the town is quickly running out of available space in people’s homes.
I stay behind and re-organize the training, putting the human second-in-commands in charge of the temporarily angel-less regiments. I know they’ll be back later, but the training needs to continue without them. I can’t believe I’m the one making sure training goes on, not after my pitiful display yesterday when I begged to be given a break, and even to go home and become a recruiter. But today, I am a new woman, and I won’t let my people down. They need to train, and train they will.
I join James’s group and partner up with him, since he seems like he needs the most help getting used to this. Matthew is already swinging a sword like it’s his job. We must share the same natural ability. I smile as the thought of sharing something so unique with my big brother fills me with pride.
We work hard, and I move from one group to another to see how they’re doing in between sparring sessions with James. The improvements in all the humans surprise me. We’re coming together as a formidable group much more quickly than I realized, especially the humans among us who weren’t brought up to be soldiers. Even among the London seers, who’ve been training on at least a semi-regular basis since they could walk, I don’t think a single one of the seers here ever served in the military. I’ve got to admit, I’m proud of what we’re becoming.
Sam and the other angels don’t come back until we’re almost done for the day. Ella and her group aren’t with them, which doesn’t surprise me. They will join us on our next training day, which is the day after tomorrow. By that time they will be well rested and their injuries healed, ready to continue learning to be soldiers.
We finish up for the day with just a few more exercises, then head back to the church for dinner. I know the after dinner conversation will revolve around increasing our recruiting efforts and getting the village cloaked. After a disaster like what happened at Ella’s camp, the importance of increasing our numbers and impressing on all angels and seers the seriousness of the situation is more acute than ever. Besides training, it has to be our number one priority from now on. If we lose sight of it, we’ll all be Jonathan’s slaves before long.
Earth Angel (Angels and Seers: Book One) Page 19