BLOODWING: Tearing Up The Universe

Chapter 3

The hand’s grip was firm but gentle. Garbled sounds of excitement came from just above my head. I snapped a look. Was this garbling a language? I searched through my angelic knowledge—suddenly understanding, "I've got you!" The voice sounded male—a mortal. Bright, friendly—and safe.

The mortal holding my arm had stretched out as far as he could over the top of the wall to grab onto me. He wore a helmet with a lantern shining atop its crown and some kind of stiff, long-sleeved protective garment.

I reached up and grabbed the last handhold on the wall.

“That’s it,” the mortal said, pulling me up and over the barrier. “You’re safe now, girl.” It was a young man—not quite full grown.

The other side of the barrier was lined with scaffolding and wide metal planks upon which I now stood, looking up at this person who had just helped me.

“Thank you,” I said.

Roars from the demon wolves rose up the wall, combining with the mechanical sounds of vehicles moving along the bottom directly below us. This chaos of noise was punctuated by the commands to “Bring more sealant. There’s cracks in the wall.”

The light from the young man’s lantern revealed me above waist—my long hair draped down over my chest. He eyed me with wonder. Mortals don’t remember that they themselves are angels. Those memories lie dormant while traveling through the middle-existence. Rarely does an Angel of Light like myself appear to a mortal being—and it’s always for a definite purpose or with a specific message from Creatus the Almighty. I definitely was not arriving with one of those—though what my purpose for being here was a total mystery to me.

The young man said, “I’ve never heard of—or seen—anyone come back alive once they’ve gone outside the Wall. Did you suddenly have second thoughts? About the…Honor? I saw you swinging a burning torch of some kind—trying to defend yourself from the Munhowl?”

The young man again eyed my breasts, and quickly took off his large garment, covering me with it. The bottom of it reached down to below my knees. He asked me, “What’s your name?”

“Mychal,” I said.

“Isn’t that a boy’s name?”

“That’s the name I was given at my creation...” I paused. “…And you?”

“The name’s Josh,” he said, “…Josh Combs.” He stood up tall and stuck his chest out—only this was not a show of violent aggression. “I’m a junior member of the Volunteer Wall Repair Brigade. Didn’t you hear the tremendous explosion that shook the ground a short time ago? And didn’t you see the forest fire?”

“Yes?” I wanted to hear some more from him before revealing what I was. I nodded my head towards the edge of the wall. “But I was—“

“Oh. Right.” Josh quickly looked back down at the demons. “Well, the alarms went off in this mile-wide section, so my team got the call to come check for damage.”

“To this wall?”

Josh looked at me as though I had asked a very silly question. “Of course the Wall. Everybody knows that.” He shook his head. “Look—sorry if your religion believes it’s an honor to be sacrificed to those demons out there—” he angrily pointed across the barrier into the darkness, “but none of my family believes in that twisted stuff, nor do most of the people living within this Barrier.”

It was time to reveal myself. I said, “I am an angel.”

Josh blinked. Then smiled. “Yes, you are, Mychal. You are a very beautiful young woman.”

“No, really. I am an angel.” I knew this was going to be difficult for mortals to accept. I clenched my hand into a fist—pumped my arm. Nothing. No fire. Pumped it again. Not even a spark. I was very drained—exhausted. Needed rest.

Raising his hands in surrender, Josh said, “Mychal, you’ve been under a tremendous strain. I will take you back to your family.” He hesitated. “No, I don’t think that would be a good idea. You’ve chosen to live. Once your family finds out, they will be dishonored in their worship circle. They may even be forced to sacrifice another of their family to take your place.”

Thankful for his concern, I gently touched his arm with my hand. “You’re worrying for no reason. I have no family. I’m not from—”

“Combs? What’s going on here?” An older man wearing a garment similar to Josh quickly approached us, nodding towards me. “Who is this young boy, Josh?”

“I—“ Josh hesitated—squinted at me, puzzled. “She’s definitely a girl, sir. I found her hanging from the edge of the Wall.”

“What?”

“She’s in obvious shock, Captain. Let me explain—”

“No time for that. Get her out of this area. There’s been damage to the Wall right there,” Captain pointed to cracks where I’d hurled fireballs to create my handholds. “We’ve got to patch those up immediately.”

“Yes, sir,” Josh said, grabbing me by the hand.

Josh led me to ladders that worked their way down to the bottom of the Wall. Along the way, I tried to flex my retracted wings, but they were too weak. Upon reaching the base of the Wall, I saw the damage my fires had done—and the dozens of male and females working feverishly to repair it.

I said to Josh, “I’m very sorry for causing you all this trouble.”

“Believe me, Mychal, I completely understand why you suddenly lost faith in your family’s religion.” He looked pensive. “I wonder how many others have had second thoughts—lost their nerve at the very last moment, but weren’t able to escape the Munhowl or the Blitzgrun—the living dead.”

“You don’t understand.” I pointed to the cracks on the Wall. “I did that. And that and that—” indicating each weak spot up the height of the Wall.

Josh looked at me with pity in his eyes and shook his head. “Okay, okay. I believe you. But you can’t stay here, and I’m not going to leave you stranded all by yourself.”

This was a kindness, and I looked deep into Josh’s eyes and saw the angel within. I felt warmth coming from him—and a pull towards his inner being. 

 ***************************************

Hi! If you like this chapter, please vote for it. Thank you, very much. I appreciate it.