Sanctuary

Prologue

Prologue

1011

            She walked down the narrow lane, keeping her head down and covered by the white hood. She didn’t look around. She wasn’t someone people bothered with. She was the daughter of a highly respected laird. She didn’t worry that someone would try anything. They feared her father too much. This was the reason she didn’t notice the man hidden by shadows.

            She listened to the sounds of the life around her. She heard children’s laughter from behind her, women’s happy chatter and men’s swords striking against each other as they trained. She smiled at the thought of the man she was going to marry. He was a big man, tall with harsh features, big muscles, he had long dark hair, dark brown eyes, and a long nose. She knew he would protect her and he made her happy. He was the commander over the soldiers of her uncle's clan.

            “Milady!” Someone shouted. She looked up quickly and saw the man hidden from others. She flinched from him first but that wasn’t what her father’s soldier shouted about.

            She’d flinched right into the path of an arrow. It went straight through her heart. She cried out in pain as she fell. She was surely in Hell. This pain was Hell. She opened her eyes she didn’t know she had closed. Her father was kneeling over her and she was in her future husband’s arms. She was shaking uncontrollably.

            The man who was hidden in the shadows was still there, but this time she recognized what it really was, he was the shadow. He was staring down at her with the rest of them but his face was sadder than the rest.

            “Don’t you die.” Finley said with tears streaming down his face. She felt tears running down her own face. She lifted her hands to the arrow piercing her chest.

            “Finley…” She whispered looking into his eyes. She couldn’t say anything as another tear slid out of her eyes. Then she spotted her Papa again. Her eyes could barely see anything but what was right in front of her. “Papa…” She whispered. Then using the last of her strength she glanced at both of them and croaked. “I love you.”

            Everything faded black… But it felt wrong. Why was she floating up? Why was the darkness becoming lighter? She tried to open her eyes but when they did it was still black. She screamed in pain. What was happening to her?

            And suddenly a light so bright she’d never seen anything like it was blinding her. She closed her eyes against it and brought her knees up to her chest. Crying harshly she refused to open her eyes. What if she was in Heaven? Why didn’t she get to live and be happy?

            Then she heard bitter weeping. She forced herself to open her eyes and tried to see through the light that was blinding. When her eyes adjusted, she saw Finley, she saw her Papa, and she saw all of the clans’ members of their lands. And she saw herself. She gasped but nobody turned.

            “Pray tell me,” she said quietly. “What’s going on?”

            But for all the attention she captured, she may as well not have said anything. She looked down at herself. She was like a mist. She could see through herself and she knew she wasn’t really there. She watched the love of her life crying over her body. Her father was crying as well and most of the clan members had tears in their eyes.

            “It goes away.” A voice said behind her. She realized the shadow man was talking to her. Nobody noticed his voice anymore than hers. She glanced down at herself again.

            She guessed that he could see her clearly and she was naked. “What else goes away?” She asked shyly. The shadow man snapped his fingers and she was dressed in the beautiful dress, plaids and cloak she was wearing when she was killed. The only thing that was different was that she no longer had blood all over it. “Thank you.”

            “The pain. It goes away. It hurts now, knowing you are dead when everyone you love is alive, but it goes away.” He said gently. He was attractive but strange. He had blue paint inside his skin; it was in swirls and curves all over his body. It didn’t look like it would ever go away. He also had a single scar, it was on his hand and it was in the strangest shape.

            “Am I dead then?” She asked.

            “Yes, child.” He whispered kindly.

            “Then why am I not in Heaven? Am I being punished? Is it real?” She asked sadly and in a slightly scared voice.

            “Heaven is real, and you are not being punished. You are here because you are going to become an Angel of Death.” He said.

            “I will not kill people.” She said shrilly. The shadow man smiled gently.

            “Angels of Death don’t cause death. They collect it. Or rather they Collect the souls of the dead. They help pass the souls on to Heaven or Hell.” He said.

            She thought about this and though she had more questions she didn’t dare ask any of them. “What’s your name?”

            “Godric.” He said. He had no shirt on. The swirls and marks were everywhere. She wanted to touch one but didn’t. She didn’t know if she could ever touch anything again.

            “What are the swirls?” She asked. He grinned then gave her a better view.

            “They are Ruins. They are Marks. They are Stains. They are called many things. I called them Marks. They were from when I was human. People were given them the moment they were born. They are for health, speed, strength, sight, skill, and many more. They never go away and some believe the reason we started doing this was because of angels. I’ve never heard anything against that.” He said. “And this,” he showed her his scar on his palm, “is the Mark of an Angel.”

            “Don’t angels have wings?” She finally asked. Godric grinned again.

            “Some do. You won’t. Very few angels have wings, but the Elders, the angels that have been around since before the Earth was made have wings.” He said. “I will answer all of your questions soon. We have forever.”

            Then he leaned forward and held out a hand to her. “Arabella, take my hand and we will start your journey into forever as an Angel of Death.”

            And slowly, with a shaking hand, she reached out and grabbed his hand. There was a brilliant flash of light that no one but they two saw. She closed her eyes and prayed to God she knew what she was doing.