Visitor

~May the enemies of the Dark find no place of rest in the dreaded day. May they never know carnal pleasure, or the beauty of a cold night. May they be cursed with a mortal life. May they be chained to the bidding of an uncaring God.~

Prayer of the Dark Acolytes

-Devnik-

This truly couldn't have turned out worse. I thought, as a stared at my lone candle lighting the cave from my chair. There was an Angel outside. That was certainly bad. There was an angry angel outside ... that was really bad.

I took a few deep breaths, which only served to aggravate my wound.

The gaping hole had dwindled from dinner plate size to roughly tea coaster size. There was no way I could fight an angel when I was drained of all power and sporting a stomach wound.

Strangely, however, she had made no move to enter my little cave. I searched for her with my mind ... she was sitting peaceably next to a stream just outside the entrance.

I leaned back in my chair.

I glanced at my little rebellious Aethling. She was crouched in a corner, staring at her feet. She hadn't said a word since I told her we had a visitor.

The Angel seemed rather ... calm ... I thought ... though even from here I could sense an underlying fury. I wonder if she knew who I was. Hopefully she didn't, that could lead to more than one problem ... if possible I would wait out the day. My wound would hopefully be healed by then, and the sun would not be an issue.

A voice suddenly rang out in my head.

{Send her out}, the voice said with barely contained rage. I winced telepathy always gives me a headache.

I tried to summon enough power to communicate.

{What business do you have here little angel, } I said, trying to sound as intimidating as possible.

{Just send her out, I have not come to do battle.} The voice replied, suddenly sounding weary.

I thought for a moment ... my experiment was in all actuality concluded. I had satisfied my curiosity of whether or not an Aethling could be awakened by a demon ... Though as I thought about it, angels must have quite a bit of raw power. I still felt rather drained after performing my little Awakening. The sniveling girl curled up in the corner of my cave suddenly felt like quite a burden.

{I will do as you ask, } I replied mentally.

'Hurry.'

I stood up quickly. I was pleasantly surprised that my wound hurt less. I pointed at Maria.

"The angel wants to speak with you, my dear," I said.

Maria looked up at me, dried tears clung to her face ... she looked exhausted.

"Is she here to take me to Heaven?" she asked, in a monotone.

"I don't know," I replied.

"Oh" ... she said..."Is she here to send you back to Hell?"

"No," I replied..."She just wants to talk to you." This entire conversation was becoming tiresome.

"Which way is out?" She asked.

I pointed to a gap in the rock wall that led to the entrance. Without response, she slowly trudged out of the chamber, and disappeared into the mouth of the cave. I slowly sat back down in my chair, and leaned back.

Feeling quite relieved.

I quickly fell asleep.

The candle went out.

-Maria-

The passage out of the cave was long and winding. I constantly tripped over loose crags as I tried to navigate my way to the surface. It was getting lighter though. With every step I took I felt as if a burden was being lifted from my shoulders. I was invigorated. I marched with a new determination, eager to get out of the demon's cave. And even though I didn't like the idea ... I was happy to meet someone who was the same species as I was ... well, half the species I was.

The light blinded me as I stepped out of the cave. Everything seemed so bright. Everything seemed so beautiful. The air was crisp and clean. The warmth of the sun bathed my face, and gave energy to my limbs.

I took a breath of fresh air and sighed.

{Seems you've been in that cave too long.} came a voice ... from ... inside my head?

I quickly scanned the small field. A young woman with strawberry red hair was sitting on a bank, dangling her feet in a nearby stream.

I made my way across the field, until I stood directly behind her.

"It's nice today, isn't it?" she asked. Her voice had a dreamlike quality to it.

A candor that could put you to sleep.

"Yes, it is..." I agreed. "I wonder why I haven't ever stopped to appreciated days like this." I said. I looked up at the clouds in sudden wonder. They were white fluffy things, moving slowly in a breeze I couldn't feel.

"Sit with me," she said, her voice soft.

I pulled up my rather dirty white shift to my knees, and sat down next to her. I put my feet into the stream. The water was cool. My body tingled.

The woman still hadn't looked at me.

"The water is refreshing isn't it?" She asked.

I simply nodded.

I was looking at her face. She was staring off across the stream, but I could still see the side. She had very pale cheeks, along with flowing locks of light red hair. Hair that seemed to move even without the aid of the wind.

She had silver eyes.

"Would you like to know my name Maria?" she asked calmly. Her gaze was still fixed on the other side of the bank where sheep grazing. In the distance a sweaty farmer was painting his barn.

"Yes," I said, "I would like to know your name."

The conversation lulled for a minute. Birds flew overhead, trilling sweet songs as they flew to warmer climes.

"My name is Cariel..."she said.

Another pause...

"Are you an Angel," I blurted out.

Her face remained tranquil at my outburst.

"Yes," she said in her dreamlike voice. "I am what humans call an Angel."

We stopped talking again. For a time we watch the trees rustle, and listened the gentle sounds made by the lambs across the water. Everything seemed so peaceful. Everything seemed so perfect.

"Do you know why I'm here Maria?" She asked

"No Cariel," I said..."I don't know why your here." I felt like I was in a trance. Her presence made things seem ... less real.

She turned her face to the sun.

"I'm here because something awful has happened," she said, her tone never wavering, her voice impassive.

"What?" I said, already knowing the answer.

A fish jumped out of the stream, startling me.

Cariel seemed unaffected.

"Why ... you were awakened Maria ... you were awakened far before your time ... the scripture says that no Aethling shalt ever be Awakened before two decades since birth ... lest they be a child forever," she said. Her tone sounded as if she were reading something incredibly tedious.

I swallowed hard.

"So, um, I've broken the rules of Heaven?" I asked tepidly.

Her face finally turned, her silver eyes met mine.

"No, dear child," she said. "The Demon is fully to blame for your misfortunes."