(Continued from Church Chapter 7 Part 1)
I nudged Rain and pointed the lights out to her. We listened and heard a low hum of human voices. Rain waved the light ball out and lay down in the grass. She tugged the sleeve of my robe and trying to be as quiet as possible, I lay down beside her. I felt the ground vibrate under me and blanket of green light appeared above us.
‘They properly can’t see or hear us,’ Rain whispered, ‘just in case though I asked nature to hide us.’
‘I think you are right,’ I agreed.
For a few moments we listened to the sound of grass crushing under heavy footsteps and the hushed voices of the men. I caught a few words, but nothing that made sense. Rain touched me lightly and slowly sat up. Her fingers remind against my hand and I felt grateful for the warmth passing between us. With her other hand she pulled up her hood and mask which made me get the odd sense that she was clocking herself in darkness.
I wanted to tell her we could do that too, only we used light to shield ourselves. I kept it to myself though as the men were coming closer. Slowly, I eased myself up and looked over at them. It was hard to make them out with their sweeping torch light, but it seemed they were security guards. My hand clutched Rain’s as the men walked passed us.
‘It was over here. Maybe,’ a gruff voice muttered.
‘It could have been anything,’ a second raspier voice whispered back, ‘still, even if it’s nothing it gets us out. I’m dying for a smoke. You want one?’
‘Sure. But I’m telling you I saw someone out here flashing lights.’
The second man gave a shake of his head and dug around in his pockets. They both carried on walking then stopped when they reached the edge of the area that Rain had cleansed after killing the mindless soul. There was a flicker of flame from a lighter.
Rain tugged my hand as she stood up. I followed her, my eyes, like her’s fixed on the men before us. Distracted with their smoking, we made a quick escape. The grass seemed to part around us and our footsteps were silent. I could have added in some of my own power, but Rain was proving more than capable.
We reached the edge of the field, still holding hands. Rain paused to have a look back. I glanced over my shoulder too and saw the two torch beams and an orange dot glow still where we had left the men. Rain gave a squeeze of my hand and led me onto the remains of an abandoned road.
‘I’m sure they would not have seen us,’ I stated.
‘I didn’t want to risk it,’ Rain answered, ‘there was something that brought them out there and it was best to stay hidden. You can’t erase human minds can you?’
‘No, but I can slightly change their minds about me. What about you?’ I asked, before realising it was a pointless question.
‘No,’ Rain scoffed, ‘only the dying or all ready dead can see me and that’s only when I want them too. You on the other hand…it was probably your Heavenly Light they saw. That’s the only thing they could’ve been attracted too. I had a shield up, so there was no way they could’ve heard anything.’
I nodded and began rearranging my clothes which felt damp and were covered in grass seeds.
‘Your wolf did that,’ I said and pointed out the crumpled in dint in my chest armour.
Rain giggled before putting a hand over her mouth, ‘come on,’ she spoke with the laughter still in her voice, ‘we should go back to your church.’
‘If you want too. We are quite far away though,’ I pointed out, ‘can you fly?’
‘That’s a stupid question,’ Rain scolded.
I bit back my next words and scrambled for an apology.
‘I don’t have wings, but I can materialise to places. I can also make portals. That’s sort of the same thing,’ she explained with a shrug.
‘The human angels of death have wings though, don’t they?’ I had to ask.
‘You’ve never met one?’
‘No. I’ve seen one from a distance, but it just looked like a dark cloud. I thought I saw a robe and wings though…’
Rain looked at the ground, ‘they are the same as you, just black or grey.’
‘You’re meet one? Well of course you have done! Sorry, another stupid question!’ I snapped at myself.
‘Be grateful you’ve not meet one,’ Rain broke in, ‘they are too silent or angry or not interesting. They won’t help you in a fight and they all ways seem so dumb.’
‘Not like you, then?’ I said softer.
Rain shook her head and gently I brought her chin up. Her eyes met mine and she pressed her hand over mine. I could feel the warmth on her cheek and from her hand. I shut my eyes and rubbed my fingers over her cheek.
‘Hey, hey, Feathers. I’m going to eat your soul next!’ the wicked voice of Haku echoed in my head.
I growled and thought, go away.
‘What you going to do, oh, great warrior angel? You could not even help her tonight. She saved you again,’ Haku hissed.
It’s not true! I helped!
I felt Rain shove her other hand on to my forehead. Straight away an image of her formed in my mind and saw her running through white light corridors. At the end other black wrapped figure was taking form. I knew it was Haku before she reached him. It was him as he had been in life, I guessed.
He was wearing layer upon layer of ripped up grey robes, which covered him from the neck to the ankle. His feet were bare, but bandages were wrapped around his hands, leaving only his fingers visible. He wasn’t wearing a hood, so his mane of midnight black hair ran down his back like a cloak. His face was covered in thick black stubble and he had a sharp chin and jaw. His nose was off bent due to an old break and his eyes…they were mismatched! Just like Rain’s.
Haku’s laugh crackled in my ears then vanished. I came back with a deep intake of breath. I stepped backwards and felt Rain’s arms circling me. She kept me steady and I was able to hug her back.
‘We don’t need that right now,’ Rain mumbled.
‘I saw him,’ I gasped.
‘It’s all right,’ she soothed, ‘let’s go,’
She took my hand and led me a bit further down the road. We could no longer see the torch light of the men and the nature seemed to give us shelter. Rain stopped beside a tree. She let go of my hand and circled it. Ivy and moss were climbing the trunk and there was a canopy of summer leaves above us. Rain bent down and hushed something.
I watched blue lights appear and arrange themselves into a shape. The wolf became more solid and grey. He went to Rain, greeting her with a wag of his tail. She petted him and whispered something to him. Then he turned and eyed me. A low growl came from his throat. Rain tugged his fur lightly and he turned back to her.
‘I’m sorry about before,’ I said a loud, feeling the need to make my peace with the spirit guardian.
‘He won’t have hurt you if he’d know,’ Rain backed me up.
The wolf growled again and stalked around the tree. Rain moved after him, her feet scuffing on a large tree root. She clutched the tree with one arm and lent around it, calling him back.
‘Is there nothing I can do?’ I asked.
‘Not right now, but I wanted him to help me make the portal. It would have been quicker that way. I guess we’re going to have to fly back.’
I nodded my head and unleashed my wings.
To Be Continued…
The Story Files 