Dark flight - Lore of the angelic book 1

A split party and yet another monarchy

John drops the green handbag with the book into my lap.
"looks like we have at least a little backup"
I hang it around my torso and take a deep breath, holding the knife in both hands. Michael has summoned his lance again, but he seems to be trying his damn best to not be seen. no wonder, he'd probably get targeted if they found out he was here... and on our side no less.

"Michael... I'll tell them we kidnapped you if we get caught."
I whisper to him. He nods, but then quickly shakes his head.
"I want to stand by you. especially now."

His eyes are firm and certain, like a pair of little silver coins in his sockets. I know he's scared, because I am scared, and my white knuckled grip on the knife becomes almost painful as I nod.
"Thank you."
I feel it is just what he needs now, and I wish I was in his place, being reassured. Next to me John is pushing the gas pedal through the floor of the car. He's a good driver, and I've never had the forethought to be thankful for that fact before.

The old truck's wheels squeal on the pavement and when I look back, I catch a glimpse of a pair of wings spiralling out of the sky. I have only seen the "lord of the rings" movies once, but at the thought of elves, Orlando bloom in a blonde wig forces himself to the forefront of my mind. I wonder if whoever the man on the roof of the car may be is shooting the angels out of the sky. Another one tumbles to the ground, and I almost feel relieved, but then I notice the revving of engines.

six motorcyclists in all white gear are slowly but surely gaining on us, swerving out of the way of the arrows. I turn to John, who is gritting his teeth as his amber eyes fix onto the road before us.
"There's six of them!"
I cry, and he nods.
"Hold on tight, Alice."

he veers to the right, slamming into one of the motorcycles. the window shatters with a bang, raining shards of glass over me. I'm sure they have cut me at least somewhat, but right now I can't feel anything but the warming handle of my weapon. I dare not think about what happened to that cyclist at this speed. An arrow pierces a visor behind, and Michael lets out a yelp.

the motor roars in protest as John attempts to push it harder.
"Come on you old shit box. just a little more."
Another pursuer goes down. My heart hammers in my chest. three left. They flanked the truck, trying to cut us off.

"Listen to me, Alice"
john says.
"I am going to take them out and crash the car. we are going to separate for now. you will go with Deliah and the elf scout that has been helping us, I will go with Nazeem and Michael, we will meet again in a tenday. until then, you remain with the elves at all costs."
Before I can protest, he slams into the cyclist to our left.

The truck spins out and takes out both of the motorcycles on our right, crashing them into the treeline. An arm reaches in through my shattered window and pulls me out like I weigh nothing. for a moment I am weightless, flying through the air like a leaf before I land on the forest floor. it knocks the air out of me, but I can tell I'm relatively unharmed. there's a great crash ahead, where the car impacts with the trees. I am still clutching the bag and knife tight, but for now I can't move. Deliah climbs out of the wreck and hurries up to me.

"Alice... we need to move."
she pulls my wheezing form up from the ground. my bones feel like broken glass, but I push on. I have to be strong. John nods to me one more time, before he and the men disappear into the woods on the other side of the road. I don't linger, instead I turn to the brunette elf, who is unstringing his bow and salvaging his arrows from the cyclists.
"If the authorities find these, they're going to become hysterical."
He smashes the cracked visor in with the end of his bow. I can't stand to look at the empty eyes behind it for long. That was a person...

"It's ugly, I know. come on, we have to head to the fortress so we can sneak you into the city under cover of darkness."

I finally get a good look at the man who saved us. Aside from a head of wild brunette curls he has a tan, very handsome face and a pair of green eyes that peer warily at me.
"Why are you staring at me?"
His tone is accusatory.
"There's no reason for you to know my face."
With a graceful movement, he pulls a cloth mask over his face, followed by drawing a hood deep into his eyes.

"Sorry... I didn't realise it bothered you..."
I lower my eyes to the ground and try to contain my curiosity.
"There are many things you wingfolk don't understand. Angels... have destroyed a vast number of things in the past, but our customs are not among them. You will learn."

I get the sense that he is serious. I will have to be aware, if I intend to remain in their care, which is a bit scary. This is the first time in... quite some time that I'm apart from John. At least Deliah is with me.
"Alice doesn't know, not because of her angelic blood, but because she was kept ignorant on purpose by her father."
The Elf pauses and tilts his head, looking me over closely for the first time.
"No kidding. she's unawakened at this age as well... I am tempted to believe you. It is none of my business."

Deliah sighs and takes my hand.
"Let's hurry along now."
We begin walking at a brisk pace that would have made me struggle for air only a while ago, but at this point I have done so much running, this little trek is like a walk in the garden. Deliah only let's go of my hand when we approach a solitary gate in the woods, with a lantern hung from the highest part of the arch. It casts a warm, almost comforting glow onto the forest floor. the flame of the candle inside the iron and glass casing flickers when we approach.

The scout steps under the arch and disappears, trusting us to follow him. I go next. The feeling is similar to the first time I stepped foot in the hidden cathedral. A flash of light and a brief feeling of disorientation. and then I'm standing inside the protective wall of a large fortress. Scouts in similar green cloaks to the man who saved us are patrolling around, or practicing their archery on dummies, carved from wood. they're artistic depictions. beautiful.

"Well, don't just stand there. come along."
Our scout is already halfway up the stone path, to another arch, hung with a similar lantern as the one we just passed through, but this one is unlit. Deliah and I hurry to catch up to him, in a large entry hall filled with more training equipment than I have ever seen. between the moving parts, animated dummies swinging their own wooden weapons at the training soldiers, and another row of archery ranges, as well as an oval lowered basin where two soldiers, a woman and a man, are duelling in hand to hand combat under the instruction of a third soldier, who's green cloak was embroidered with golden vines.

"Impressed? this is just an outpost. If you ever saw the academy your eyes would fall out of your sockets."
I turn to him and go to say something, but he raises his hand to shush me. A new figure appears in the doorway across from the entry we just stepped through. Initially, I assume it must be a woman, an exceptionally beautiful woman, with fine golden blonde hair braided into a complex style, woven with a crown of silver, peppered with small pearl flowers, and blue eyes under long eyelashes... then he opens his mouth.

"Ahh, would you look at that... the angels I was promised."
He saunters over with the grace of a dancer and stops only a few steps from us. He looks us over, and up close I am now surer this is a young man. a very effeminate and attractive young man. He is also quite small, about my height, with his boots.
"You're Alice then? Good day, I'm Faerin, Youngest son of the current regent Siara... yada yada, call me Fern."

I have to grin. For aprince he's a breath of fresh air.
"Yeah, I'm Alice."