Angel on the Edge (5 page)
Too much stood between them and him, they were dark
silhouettes, faded in the smoke that choked him every time he
breathed.
"Do not mock me, I come to give you this choice
freely." The demon's voice grew deeper with anger that rumbled with
the threat. "The others were not as lucky as you are. Some I did
not give a choice, some I did. They all chose wrong, and now you
are the last of them. Do you want to perish like the rest?"
Dread washed over Dale as his knees buckled. He was
going to kill her. His angel was going to die here and now, and
then who would protect him, or his family. With a wobbly step, Dale
inched his way forward through the shadows. Fires crackled behind
him as he crouched to keep himself hidden. He didn't know what he
would do, but he couldn't sit and wait.
With a step around the hollowed trunk of the tree,
Dale could see a little more of what awaited him. His angel stood
resolute, her light pulsing as she remained near what had been the
barrier that kept the demons at bay. Blood covered her armor and
matted her light hair to her head. Her shoulders were back; her
chin pointed high though even from a distance of a few dozen yards
he could see the freshness of the wounds that marked her body.
"I'll give you one more moment to choose,
sister."
Dale's heart stopped with his breathing. Standing in
front of her was the giant who had destroyed the wall and the
demons that had breached it. His head was near the clouds; his wide
shoulders tilted forward as he gazed upon the angel that was no
higher than his ankle.
With a hesitant step back, Dale felt his foot press
down on something in the darkness. It wasn't a piece of burnt wood,
nor was it the dry grass that had burned in the explosion. It was
hard, and it resisted as it sank into the ground. With a turn to
the side, Dale reached down and grabbed the object from behind the
tree. It was his father's dagger, hidden from where it fell when he
had toppled over the bed.
Light burst into his vision as the fires and smoke
cleared away the moment he took hold of the weapon. The oasis was
silent, the pool of dark water calm as the old man was nowhere in
sight. His angel's powers pulsed in his vision as he turned toward
her and the demon. She was once again in her silk dress, torn and
bloody, she looked no better as the blood of her enemies mixed with
the life that slowly drained from her.
The demon was different. He was no longer a giant,
but a man only a head taller than she was. He was young, strong,
and confident as he stood in front of the angel. Dark smoke emitted
from behind the demon, as black as a starless night, the evil
spread from his shoulder blades and opened like wings from his
white three-piece suit with matching jacket, pants, and vest. His
perfectly chiseled face with dark eyes and hair gazed down at her,
his hands clasped at his waist as he awaited his answer.
Dale crept to the side, trying to leave as much
between him and them as he could. The demon did not notice, his
patience soon ending as the angel before him refused to
respond.
"Will you defy me even now?" The demon opened his
hands before clasping them behind his back. "After everything I
have shown you, and even after watching you fight for your life,
you deny my power?"
He could see the desperation behind his angel's
eyes. Her face was strong, her lips a straight line of resistance,
but she hesitated. Was she the last of her kind? Dale didn't know,
and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. The weapon in his hand
shook like the leaves of a tree. Terror gave wind to his retreat as
he found his way behind them, the former entrance the clearest path
to the burning forest and the escape he desperately wanted.
"Come now, sister. Your last chance, what will it
be?"
Dale had turned to run. Heeding her advice, he was
going to make it to the path that lead him back to his village. She
had saved him if he stayed he would die. He knew she did not want
that, she wouldn't have protected him if she didn't care. But why
did his heart and soul scream at his first step away from the
charred forest oasis? There was nothing he could do; this was his
only choice.
"Do what you will, I will not join you, and you will
fail!" His angel's voice screamed.
A high pitched wail was muffled only a moment after
it started as Dale closed his eyes to hold his tears as he began to
run. Fear and anger burned within him as he pumped his legs as fast
as he could. Eyes opened, there was no time for hesitation, no
allowance for second thought, as he charged the demon with his
father's sword, held high over his head.
Sounds he didn't know he could make rolled from
within him as each step brought him closer to the demon who held
his Angel by the throat with one arm. Dale's mind was gone, the
horror of her limp body drove him mad as he pushed as hard as he
could. If he died, it did not matter. She was all that mattered
now, he had taken her from him, and he would not escape this
forest.
Within two steps, the demon's empty hand darted out,
open and lined with Dale's throat as he ran right into its
iron-like grip. Pain burned down the skin of his throat, and his
chest burned as he could no longer breathe. Dale pounded on the arm
that now lifted him from the ground; his weapon dropped as he
struggled to push the darkness that closed in on his vision.
"What is this here?" The demon asked a look of
amusement on his face. "A human this deep in the forest? I should
have known she'd eventually fall from grace though you do seem a
bit young for her. Pity, I always knew her tastes were a bit
eccentric."
The demon tilted his head to the side, his eyes
curious as Dale's arms weakened, his kicks no stronger than a
toddler's.
"Tell me, boy. Is there anything special about you?
Why don't you speak?"
Dale could feel his face burn as the tears ran down
his cheeks. The fire scorched his insides as he no longer had the
ability to fight, his arms and legs numb as his vision narrowed to
a sliver.
"Weak, Father's imperfect children. We were supposed
to worship you and bless you with gifts from the heavens. Look at
you now, pathetic." The demon spit as he lifted Dale higher, the
red fire behind his eyes flared with intensity. "I will make an
example of you boy, just before I wipe the rest of your village
from the face of this earth!"
Thunder bellowed out of the demon's throat as his
back arched, and Dale fell to the ground. Air laced with smoke and
ash raced into his lungs as he coughed and struggled to stay awake.
Light burst from the inside of the demon's jacket where the end of
a dagger ripped through his vest. White light cracked through its
skin as it struggled to turn, its power and strength failing as he
continued to scream.
Dale backed away as the demon's eyes burst into the
same white power that his angel possessed. The look of the demon's
face a mix of anger and shock as he gazed upon her beauty before he
exploded and sent Dale tumbling backward.
No strength remained in Dale's arms and legs. It
took all he had to look up from the ground, his mouth full of ash
and dirt as his vision blurred. She was walking toward him, all
womanly curves and white silk dress. He knew her; he knew what she
was. Warmth filled his blood as she approached, and he could feel
himself smile as his eyes closed.
* * *
"Feeling any better?" His angel asked.
Dale looked over at her, her soft golden hair waved
in the breeze as they looked down at his village below. He was
feeling like a new man, his injuries gone and a confidence he had
never known gave him strength. Three days’ time had passed as he
recovered in the small oasis. It had given her enough time to
restore the balance that protected the clearing and the last bit of
life within the forest.
She had trusted him with his father's weapon after
informing him what it was. An angelic weapon, forged in the fires
of Purgatory itself, she could not understand how he had gained
possession of it. He had offered it to her, especially after they
found Learnie, his serpent body torn by the explosion and scattered
against the wall that had remained.
"You keep it. There is a reason you found it, maybe
one day it will lead you to who your father was."
Dale thought on that while he stood next to her. Her
strength somehow bled into him. He was different now. Stronger, and
for once he felt he had a purpose. Humans had a struggle ahead of
them. A fight he wasn't sure they could win unless someone,
somewhere led them against the fallen angels and the demons that
stalked what remained of humanity.
"Will I ever see you again?" He asked as he watched
her from the corner of his eyes.
She smiled though she did not look at him.
"I will always be out here, just on the edge where
your strength ends, and your beliefs begin." She paused as she
looked up at the sky above, cloudless but with a blue that rang of
hope. "Keep your faith, Dale. It served you well before, and it
will serve you again when you need it most."
He smiled at that. Pride washed over him as he put
his hands in his pockets and looked over his home. He would be
going back with a story only he would believe. His journey had just
started, but he would not forget her. His angel on the edge of his
beliefs.
Born in Northern New York,
R.J. spent a lot of his time growing up reading books. According to
his mother (who use to tell this story to everyone), he started
reading at two when she would find him sitting on the living room
couch reading magazines. Of course, the magazines were upside down,
but when you're two who's counting?
At a young age, RJ found
most of his inspiration for writing from the works of authors like
Tolkien and Terry Brooks. Many authors can now be found in his
bookcase to include Michael J Sullivan, Mark Lawrence, Karen
Traviss, and Joe Abercrombie to name a few. Reading and writing has
always gone hand in hand for RJ.
Currently, R.J. is hard at
work finishing up his second book. His debut novel "Dark Choices"
will be released in hardcover early November 2015.
@WorldsbyRoh
www.goodreads.com/RJ_Seymour
Goodbye Daddy
Dark Choices (Oct.
2015)