APOCANGELICA Wild Beasts

Chapter 21

A cold wind was blowing, appearing almost out of nowhere.

Ada's short hair was dishevelled by impetuous gusts that made her shiver despite the mild temperatures. "Eddy?!" she said turning to the angel that was scrutinizing the horizon in search of the slightest movement.

"Storm on the way," said finally Efreniel.

"Where is this wind coming from?"

"Underground volcanos heat up air masses that are pushed into huge caverns that open in a radial pattern from this, therefore recalling other cold air masses and causing this wind... I assume" he said, continuing to scrutinize the sky.

"What are we doing up here?" asked Ada looking down from the tower to the endless plains below full of vegetation that moved and rustled like a stormy sea.

"We are going to give a boost to the events," he said extending his strong wings, folding them to then close them in an embrace around the girl. Ada immediately felt the warmth of the soft feathers and the strength of the strong plumage of the angel.

Efreniel closed his eyes and seemed to be listening to some sound that only he could hear. "That's it: surely they would have noticed. Very soon they will come."

Ada raised her face to scrutinize the sky. "But how do they know we're here?"

Efreniel folded his wings and closed them behind his back. Then he took her by the hand and walked toward the stairwell door. "Let's go down. I made them aware: I expanded my aura."

"You told them? And when will they come?" she asked anxiously.

"It will take them several minutes. Enough time to get off this tower and find you a place to stay hidden: any room will do. I'll lie in wait for them."

"But won't they think it's a trap?"

"Yes. But this will not save them!"

"Sometimes I feel in harmony with you but sometimes I feel you are like a stranger when you are incomprehensible and obscure like this! If we had to reveal our position we might as well had done it while leaving this place, don't you think?"

"We could have done... but before reaching the Elysium they would have definitely identified me and I couldn't have allowed that to happen. If I had managed to bring you to the Elysium before they arrived to you, we wouldn't have reached this point. There is no other way now."

Ada did not ask anything else sensing that Eddy was speaking of something that was beyond her understanding, something that had to do with the clash of two opposing forces, both tending to the hegemony.

Efreniel continued talking to himself, "I can't... I can't let them know."

*

The four angels raised their heads simultaneously. Then they turned towards their leader awaiting orders.

"The others must have heard it too," said Stormriel to himself. "Let's hope they don't make the mistake of heading directly to the spot."

He turned to the soldiers: "Surely they're all going to the place. I do not want anybody to take personal initiatives. We must move cautiously or we will risk ending up like Samarniel. We don't know how many our opponents are. Meeting point: outside the walls. From there we will split; mission: search-and-destroy. Come on! Take off!"

The angels nodded and resolutely took to the sky.