Earth Angel (Angels and Seers: Book One)

by Stephanie Woods

Chapter 25

  “Sam, there are too many angels and seers beyond our borders who know of this place for it to stay a secret,” I say one morning as we’re getting ready to go down to breakfast. The thought came to me in a dream, where someone gave up our location and we were under siege from Jonathan’s army. “Eventually, someone on Jonathan’s side is going to hear about us, or a spy will make it into town. Are we ready when that time comes?”

  “I think the fact we’re expecting the town is going to work to our advantage,” Sam replies, gathering up the weapons he wants us to train with today and throwing them in a backpack to bring to the field.

  I nod in agreement. It’s precisely what I’ve been thinking, but I wanted to hear his confirmation out loud. It’s not just Sam I have to protect (though he would say it’s the other way around), it’s my family, friends, and everyone who has come here and placed themselves under our protection. The burden of leadership is really weighing on me now that I know the battle has to be imminent.

  “I’m glad your brothers are here,” I say, tying back my hair. “Having your whole family nearby makes it seem like our army is complete, though I know we can always use more soldiers. You know, none of them will even say your father’s name? They don’t mention him at all. Neither does Ella. It’s like he never existed to them.”

  “They don’t abide traitors, and neither do I. And it’s kind of hard to have good feelings about someone who is openly collaborating with the same people who killed your mother. We’ll deal with him together once this is all over.”

  “What will you do to him?” I can’t imagine they would kill their own father, no matter what he did. Sam and his family have a huge sense of justice and loyalty; being brought up as royalty probably has something to do with it. But I know Sam and Ella, and if their brothers are anything like them, they won’t kill family, or anyone else unless it is in self-defense, or the defense of someone under their protection.

  “We haven’t talked about it yet. When we do, you’ll be in on the conversation, since you’re one of us now. But I expect something like an extended imprisonment or exile.”

  That seems more like it. And the fact Sam considers me one of the family enough to be included in a conversation of such personal and intimate importance makes me want to throw him down on the bed and have my way with him in a vigorous way, instead of going to eat.

  “Maybe one day I’ll get to meet Isaac and Zachariah’s wives and children,” I muse, pulling my green tank top over my head and adjusting the waistband on my stretchy denim shorts. Isaac and Zachariah are Sam’s brothers closest in age to him, the second and third born sons of his parents, who married into Planet Angel families protecting worlds on the other side of the galaxy. They’ve only recently joined us, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to them at length yet, but they’ve treated me at least on an equal par to Ella the few times we’ve spoken. I look forward to getting to know them better.

  “They couldn’t very well bring their families to a war. Part of them being here is to protect the world they were born to tend, but also to keep the war from reaching their new homes. When we get married, they’ll come and bring their wives, children, and in-laws. Just be aware that angels assigned to planets with sentient beings look like those beings. Their new families won’t look human, like all the angels around here do.”

  “But Isaac and Zachariah look human.”

  “They change their appearance to match the place they live or work. Since they’re working here again for the time being, they changed back to human form.”

  “You can do that? Change your appearance?” I never thought about it before, but I guess it makes sense.

  “If necessary. It’s one of our abilities, so we always blend in with creatures who can see us. I was born looking this way, and it is my true appearance, as it is for everyone born into the Earth Angel kingdom. But any of us could change it if we needed to, such as marrying into a family that protects a different planet. Our energy signatures always remain the same, so we are recognizable to each other no matter what we look like. Changing takes an enormous amount of energy, so we don’t do it lightly, or often. Why do you think my brothers had to rest for a day upon their arrival, even though they teleported here?”

  “I see. So, it’s not something you could do to cloak yourself if you needed to hide from the enemy.”

  “No. Jonathan would recognize my energy signature the instant he got close enough to me to sense it. And, the only sentient alien races I’ve seen are the ones on the planets my brothers now protect, as I was at their weddings. I’d need something to model a new appearance on, and those are the only two I know. Most angels never venture far from home, except the Messenger Angels. Marriage and special assignments are the only times we might do any extensive traveling. But, even if I had another alien race to model a new appearance on, and Jonathan couldn’t read my energy signature, it wouldn’t be worth the expenditure of energy. My, you’re full of questions this morning!”

  He smiles at me, eyes twinkling.

  “There’s just a lot I still don’t know. New questions keep coming to me the more I learn.”

  “Well, there will be time to answer everything that interests you and more, once we defeat our enemy. No question will be off limits to you or go unanswered, I promise.”

  He runs a hand through his shiny hair as a means of combing it, and I’m envious as it comes out perfectly groomed, as always. Then, he leans over and gives me a long, lingering kiss on the lips that leaves me tingling all over. Man, I love this angel!

  As we walk to breakfast hand in hand, I look around at our camp, which is no longer a camp or village, but a thriving military town. Friendships are made every day here, and the sense of family among all of us, even the archangels, is tangible. We have our routines and even our blossoming traditions. Though we keep things highly regimented and organized, we also find time for fun and communion with each other. We’ve actually got a really beautiful thing going. I hate to see it end, but I know Jonathan is out there, waiting to make his move, and we have to be the ones to defeat him.

  Psychic abilities must be among my unique seer powers, because the town border guards sound the alarm as I’m considering Jonathan’s impending strike on us.

  There are enemy angels on the perimeter of the town. Jonathan is making his move.

  The enemy combatants can’t see inside the town due to the cloaking, nor can they sense Sam and me, because we are still cloaked. But they can sense all of the other humans and angels inside. They know our people are here, and they must strongly suspect Sam and I are among them. We better be ready to fight, and I truly believe we are, because it looks like we’re going to have to, today.

  A large crowd that includes Sam and I go to the town border to look at them, these enemy angels. They are all dressed in black military regalia, obviously designed and required by Jonathan, since his face is plastered on emblems on each uniform’s sleeve. Jonathan wants to intimidate us with his fiercely dressed battalion, with their visible, magically enhanced swords, daggers, arrows, and other weapons dripping from slings and pouches on their sharply lined uniforms.

  I am not impressed. From the looks of my comrades standing around me, neither are they. If this is all Jonathan’s got, our victory will be easier than we imagined.

  Of course, I should know better than to underestimate Jonathan by now.

  As the day wears on, more of his soldiers show up, flying in and landing around our town on all directions. As their numbers start to increase into the thousands, they begin to form a ring around the town and gather hands. They’re planning something, but they don’t make any hostile moves toward us yet.

  We spend the day gathering our weapons, arming ourselves, and going over last minute battle plans. We’ve discussed how we would defend the town if need be; now, we need to put those plans into action as soon as the enemy does something other than just stand there. Right now, it looks like they’re just trying to intimid
ate us, since they can’t get into the town, but I know what they’re doing has some hidden significance we haven’t puzzled out yet.

  By nightfall, their numbers are as great as or greater than ours, and, to my horror, there are some higher caste angels among them, including at least four archangels. We’ve only got two on our side. How did he get so many angels to join him and follow him as their leader? They’re so much more powerful than him, they have no obvious need of him at all. What’s their angle in all this?

  Our own higher caste angels, including the two archangels who’ve joined us, recognize their brethren among the enemy and seethe with anger at the betrayal. Confrontation is inevitable if they stay standing out there too long. The higher caste angels….the ones who protect galaxies, galaxy clusters, groups of lower caste angels, beings of advanced technology and/or intelligence, and entire corners of this universe….want to go out and demand answers from their brothers and sisters on the other side of the border. They won’t wait long to do it.

  Around midnight, Jonathan himself shows up, flanked on either side by Jasper and Daniel, allowing me to see the faces of these top henchmen at last. They join the group outside, holding hands with them, and they all begin to chant in Enochian. I’ve picked up enough of it now to understand what they’re doing. The angels and human elders among the crowd that has been gradually assembling on our side of the border all day recognize it, too.

  “They’re trying to bring down the cloak,” I whisper to Sam, Linda, Grandma, and Ella, who are standing closest to me.

  “They sure are,” Linda whispers back. “And with so many of them, the cloak won’t conceal or shield us for long. It will come down and we don’t have time to reinforce it before they’re able to enter.”

  “We have to be ready to fight. Now,” Sam says, his eyes steely and determined.

  “How long until we’re vulnerable to them?” Ella asks, concerned. Though she is shaping up to be an excellent fighter, it isn’t what she was raised for, and she is still traumatized from the massacre she witnessed at the moon camp.

  “A few hours, maybe less,” Grandma says, nodding authoritatively. She’s picked up on all of the magic and seer lore so quickly, like a sponge soaking up water. She was obviously made for this, but I want to keep her protected.

  “We should move the elders, children, and non-fighters to safety,” I say, directly to Sam this time.

  “Yes, we should,” he agrees. “Beatrice,” he says to my grandmother,” will you see to this?” She nods her assent, and he continues. “The rest of us need to get into formation. We have to be ready for them when they make the breach. They won’t wait to start fighting us.”

  And so, we start preparing ourselves for the battle we knew was coming, but hoped never would. I think we harbored a secret hope this would all blow over, especially when Jonathan saw the type of army we were building and the powerful angels and humans we were attracting. Either that, or his followers would realize the folly of it all and just kill him and go back to their homes. Apparently, that was just a fantasy. Though we hoped, deep down we all knew this confrontation would come.

  He will cut down any of us he can, but we all know Sam is his real target. I’m his secondary one, because he knows I helped Sam, but he will go for Sam first. Sam must be protected at all costs, that much I know. I want to send him into hiding with the non-fighters, but I don’t bother asking, as I know he won’t go. Sam will fight side by side with us, as any good leader would. I know this. It’s why I’m here, too, a simple Kindergarten teacher trained to be a soldier and gifted with powers beyond my imagination. But Sam is the king now, which makes him even more important than he already was when this started. It is the job of the rest of us to keep him safe, along with as many of our vulnerable population as possible.

  Can we do it? We are about to be tested. And my seer senses tell me this isn’t the whole war standing at our door. It is just one battle of many to come. The direction of the rest of the war will depend on how we do today. For the sake of the universe, we must be victorious, or others will flock to Jonathan’s side and scorn ours. If that happens, the universe will be lost, and every one of us standing here knows it.