Space Angels: find the Gift (complete)

The red sky ~ Chapter Thirty-Five

Cherubim Landing Zone

ЄD♡Ɲ: Ｔhe ＣＩＴＹ

37 - The red sky

After she'd escaped the black birds' angry beaks, Cylvah had taken refuge in a tall tree on a hill overlooking the city. Hours passed, her eagle gaze taking in the sweep of the Edon cityscape: its bridges spanned a meandering river and its many tall buildings thrust upward, some belching out black poisonous smoke. Her lessons taught her that the Edons took the bodies of long dead animals, which gathered beneath the ground for billions of years, and burned them for fuel. It did not make much sense, for this sludge of corpses would not last forever and was irreplaceable.

Her narrator, whom she'd named Sunshine, told her those who built these monuments were making a statement of their power for all to see, while other structures built to serve the weak or provide them with support were fewer and less grand.

The night sky, red and angry, reminded her of the mortal wounds she'd seen in her lessons – images of Edon wars, brutal and barbaric – and she couldn't shake the feeling it was a bad omen.

Her Edon host was an eagle with different needs to any on her planet; she'd felt drowsy as dusk gathered and her stomach rumbled its discomfort. Edon eagles needed to feed regularly it seemed. She'd spied many potential meals before darkness fell, in the grass, or the rivers and the air, but she refused to kill anything she considered innocent. When Edon's solitary moon appeared, Sunshine received the message from Jango's Lǽran, its tone sounded urgent.

"Jango is in trouble, Cylvah. His Lǽran is hysterical... there is an Imp on Edon!"

This shocked her. All thoughts of food or sleep vanished, and she sprang from the tree's branches, arrowing skyward at top Cherub speed determined to rescue Jango from a deadly foe.

The Thrones had taught Cylvah about Imps when she'd aided them in the palace during her time as a Seraph, although she'd never expected to actually see one on Edon. Imps were Stygien's foot soldiers, each allied to one of the clans headed by the Seven Barons of Mayhem. Each clan bore a name, a colour and a watchword. The Imp Jango was tangling with had red skin: the Stygie clan, named in honour of their Lord, its watchword anger... they were the toughest Imp of all.

Sunshine directed her to the landing zone, where a Scintilla hovered high above the treetops on its brightest setting, making it easy for any cadre member to notice it. Sunshine advised her to deploy her dimension filter and a huge oval structure, rippling with flames, became visible as she flew down. She pulled in her wings and arrowed towards the opening marked by Jango's Scintilla, ready to do battle.

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