Divinity: Immolation: Book Three (The Divinity Saga) (20 page)

The s
eraphim, Spencer, turned to take one last look at the line of warriors, guards, and elders still standing on the hall grounds in silence.

“You guys are going to need more
than one seraphim, no offense Kaia,” he smirked at the female seraphim who smiled at him in return.

“I guess I’m willing to accept the price of joining you guys too.” He then stated, his eyes then traveled from the female Seraphim, to the brunette girl wh
o ran to and hugged him tightly.

“How do you know about this fallen?” I heard him whisper into her ear.

Aliks sighed deeply. “Is this your choice?” He asked all of the warriors.

They were initially silent, looking at each other for complete affirmation. I was quickly growing agitated again.

“Yes, and we need to rescue Starling. As long as she is shunned, then we are too. We have Devlin back now thanks to her, so we can’t let her go out like that.” The blonde girl said with conviction, waiting for someone else to oppose.

No one did.

I looked at the dark-skinned girl with curiosity. What did the blonde one mean by that? What had Starling done to help her? Her generosity and sacrifice was admirable but it had gotten her into trouble yet again. She was the one that the dark ones wanted the most out of all of them. That was something she apparently didn’t quite understand yet.

The loyalty among her friends in regard to her was touching, and I completely bo
th respected and understood it.

“Alright then, come with me. I am told to assist with a temporary pr
otective sanctuary for you all.” Aliks announced, and then he proceeded to head further into the trees, leading the shunned warriors east towards the Eternal waters.

The warriors began to fall into step with Aliks, watching me warily with the exception of the brunette. One of the male warriors hoisted the black girl over his shoulder to carry her. She appeared to be too weak to even stand.

“Aliks…”
I growled with insistence again.

“Starling will be fine.”
he relayed back to me.

XXIV
. Starling

“
A
ny day now, sleeping beauty.” A soft, soothing voice drifted in from an unknown direction.

I’m still alive? I had expected to be ripped to ribbons and in the lower digestive tract of a demon cat by now, or even imprisoned in the lair of a band of demons.

Who did the voice belong to?

My eyes snapped open and I picked my head up, taking in a deep breath— only to end up gagging. The air was thick, disgusting, and foul. I was hoping to find myself in my room at the hall, or some safe place by some miracle, but no. I was still somewhere in the Darklands, face down on the ground where I had originally keele
d over from extreme exhaustion.

Upon seeing the grisly, still smoking, oily, black, dead carcasses of the demonic beasts from last night all around me, I gasped and quickly scrambled to my feet. I immediately began to cough spastically from the acrid stench. I held a hand over my mouth and nose, turning to sear
ch for the source of the voice.

I
nstantly, I squealed and recoiled. “Gross!” I jerked my filthy hand away from my face and tried to desperately wipe it somewhere, anywhere to get the crud off. It was coated with something crusty and black, more disgusting and foul than the air and carcasses around me.

“About time.”  Someone chuckled, apparently tickled by my situation, which annoyed me even more.

I whirled around with my weapons wielded, only to be shocked and ecstatic.

Aon!

She was decked out in a white jumpsuit and sweet, hot pink Chuck Taylors. Her glittering pink hair was swept to the side as if frozen in an invisible breeze with a ton of gel and hairspray. She was so out of place, sitting atop a large, charred boulder and smirking, with her slim but obviously deadly swords resting over each of her knees.

Had she done all of this? Slaughtered everything within a few yards radius that had been coming for me all by herself? Well, she was an angel. I would think she would have at least picked me up and carried me to safety afterwards though.

I pulled in my blades with a quick look around at the depressing and desolate landscape. There was no life or light here, yet the air of evil hung heavy. I wiped the disgusting taste from my lips with my non-offensively tainted hand, while grimacing. I needed a long soak in a bath or bleach.

“How long was I out?”

“Long enough for me to start feeling like a creeper watching you sleep. All rested up?” She asked.

I was. In fact, I felt really good, way better than normal actually.

I nodded. “Nice shoes.” I then complimented.

Her laughter was like the sound of soft chimes. “Starling, you are quite an exceptional yet quirky one by far. I won’t even ask how you ended up out here but careless and foolish definitely comes to mind.” She scolded.

Careless and foolish? Did she know what happened? Of course she did. Where had she when we needed her though?

“I wouldn’t call helping a fellow warrior careless and foolish. No one knew there were dark ones out there waiting. It was an apparent ambush.” I replied.

She leapt agilely off the rock and landed gracefully on her feet.

“Helping her by doing what?” Aon fixated her supernatural eyes pointedly on me.

I pursed my lips and shrugged a shoulder, at a loss for an explanation while shaking my head.

“I don’t know. I wanted them to see that she was still one of us. That my fire wouldn’t kill her.”

“Ah, I see. I understand the intent and the logic. So, did it work?” She raised both brows as if she genuinely didn’t know the result of my actions.

I sighed, turning away from her and staring down at the black dirt at my feet. “No.” I said glumly.

She chuckled. “Precisely. And rescuing a comrade isn’t what I’m referring to. Let’s get out of here. I can’t tell you how many creatures, demons, and fallen that I’ve had to destroy while you were sleeping. Thankfully, this area is still quite a ways from the really dangerous territories within the Dark lands. I need to make sure that you understand and are aware of a few things first, and then we need to make sure that your man hasn’t gone berserk and started a war over you.” She then said.

My man?…Cam!? Berserk? Damn. I called out to him before I passed out. I can only imagine what he was thinking, especially since I wasn’t able to respond.

Before I could begin to call out and assure him that I was alright, Aon pulled me through a portal of light that nearly blinded me.

~~~~****~~~~

We were literally inside of a clear, white space. A space that appeared domed all around, except for the ground.

There were no visible walls or doors and I couldn’t see or hear anything else beyond this place.

“
Cam?”
I called out anyway while I had the chance.

There was no answer.

Immediate panic began to set in, remembering that Aon had mentioned him potentially starting a war. Had he done something to get himself killed?!

“Cam, please tell me that you’re okay. I’m not hurt, and I’m safe now.”

Silence.

I really wanted to ask Aon about him, to tell her to take me to him now but I remained quiet about it, going crazy with worry inside of my own mind.

“What is this thing or place?” I asked.

“We are inside of an absolute sphere of light. It’s a miniscule place but one of complete protection and privacy. Here, you can see nor hear nothing except for me
, and the same goes for anyone else out of this range.”

Of course. This bubble must be blocking the mental communication link between us. I desperately hoped that was the explanation.

“Divine warriors are chosen specifically for various reasons. But you must never forget that you, Starling, were given an extremely important purpose and role when you were chosen,” Aon began, “That is why you are different from the others and why you are being pursued more so than anyone else. Because of that, you must not allow yourself to be caught or killed so easily. Some things can’t be helped but overall, you need to be more cautious about your surroundings and stop being so gullible. You’re going to need to pay special and close attention to what I am about to explain to you. More importantly, you need to make sure that you remember all of it, got it?” She was holding up an index finger.

I’ve been chosen for a specific purpose and role? I’m getting tired of hearing that and not getting any additional reason or explanations past that. I swallowed hard and nodded with apprehension, anxiety, and curiosity all at the same time.

“What’s the reason?” I had to know now.

“I don’t know. I’ve only been instructed to make you aware of that much.”

I sighed with disappointment. Of course.

“But…I’ve already accepted being shunned. I’m not a divine warrior anymore, am I?”

Aon shrugged lightly, “I don’t know. Are you?” She raised brow.

Was that a trick question?

“I— I want to be. I don’t feel different or anything and my brandings are still silver.” I observed my arms.

“Well, you did take an oath.” Aon reminded me.

Guilt burned my face as I turned away. “I know.”

“What do you feel in your heart?”

“The oath still means something. Nothing has changed for me.”

“Then there is your answer.” Aon smiled.

Okay. So it was that simple, huh? Something has changed though. Being shunned wasn’t a good thing. Oh yeah, other than being an open vessel now.

“First things first. You already know
that you have the most powerful essence a divine warrior can have, not to mention your weapons,” Aon began.

“What do you think fuels your essence, meaning your hallowed fire?” She then asked.

I shrugged a shoulder. “My emotions?”

Aon shook her head.

“Wrong. No wonder you’re all over the place with it. Let me try again, what fuels your emotions?” She began to pace around me like a lecturing teacher.

I thought for a moment. “I don’t know. My reaction to things and people, I guess.”

“Think, Starling. What happened to you after using so much of your essence on your fellow warrior?”

I did think. I felt weak and extremely sleepy.

“I was…really tired.”

Aon grinned, “You mean on the verge of passing out?” She sort of corrected me.

“Exactly.”

Aon nodded. “And exhaustion comes from the depletion of…” She gestured with her hands, waiting for me to finish the sentence.

I felt stupid.

I sighed, understanding hitting me all at once.

“Energy.”

She smiled
and pointed at me, “Bingo! You have an essence not a talent. Essences are meant to be used as a very last resort, meaning sparingly when really needed. Granted, it is easier in order to kill many dark ones at once but at what cost? What good does it do if you are unconscious just as you’ve experienced?”

I pursed my lips and nodded. That made sense.

“Using it wisely, however, in conjunction with your deific blades, is the smartest way to gain mastery over it. Though emotions do require some level of energy, it has nothing to do with your fire and it will take much practice and patience to separate the two.” Aon explained.

So, Cam had been right. It doesn’t have anything to do with my emotions. I don’t know why I doubted that he wouldn’t know or understand that.

“Now, turn around.” Aon instructed.

I did slowly, surprised to see five tapered candles, all aligned and simply floating in mid-air.

“Now, light them with your fire.” Aon ordered.

I glanced at her unsurely. My energy had been replenished, so this was a simple task.

“Okay.” I said, approaching the floating candles.

“What are you doing?” Aon asked with a hand on her hip.

I turned to look back at her and frowned in confusion. “Lighting the candles just like you said to do.”

“From here.” She ordered, pointing
down at the space next to her.

My brows furrowed together. “From there?” I pointed.

“Yes.”

How in the world was I going to do that? I wondered.

“Well it isn’t like you were specific.” I mumbled while retreating to the space beside her.

A smiled spread across her youthful, pretty face.

“Okay.” I began, facing the candles once again.

“Go for it.” She encouraged.

I had no idea how to proceed let alone what to do. The pressure was on and I was both clueless and nervous.

Focusing my energy on bringing forth my fire, without feeling any particular strong emotion, proved almost effortless this time for me, much to my surprise.

However, standing there with flames licking around my hand and fingertips, and trying to figure out how I was going to get it from here to the candle wicks, stumped me completely.

“Very good. It’s becoming familiar to you now, I see. Well?”

“I can’t. I don’t know how.” I was frustrated.

“Hmm,” Aon studied my fire. “Dilemma.” She grinned with her hands behind her back and rocking back and forth on her heels.

I paused, thinking. “The only way I can do it, is if I throw it.” I sighed.

Her thin pink brows rose, “Aha! Now there’s a solution. Alright, go for it.” She said expectantly.

I waved and shook my hand at the candles. Nothing happened.

I tried to think of myself lighting the candles but the flames remained flickering around my hand.

I sighed as tears began forming in the corners of my eyes. “I don’t know how.”

She studied me with no hint as to what was going through her mind.

“Oh my. From what I’m hearing, it looks like Cam`ael is in trouble. I think he needs you.”

I felt an instant swell of panic grip my heart. Tears began to fall and my heart thu
mped wildly at the thought.

“I’ll take you to him…once you light those candles.” Aon maintained.

“I can’t! I tried to but I can’t! If Cam is in trouble, I need to go to him!” I yelled at her.

She was unaffected by my tone, my worry, and my panic over Cam. I wiped the tears from my face and eyes.

Then, her face turned serious. Aon was no longer, witty, playful, and as cheerful as she had been up until now.

“Then light the candles, Starling. This is very important for you to learn how to do.”

I bit my lip in anguish and frustration. The fire surrounding my hand began to increase, consuming the energy from my emotions. How could it not be linked to my emotions? I didn’t understand.

I stared at each candle, feeling aggravated.

I zoned in on each individual wick. I had no idea how to do this. In my anger, I pulled my arm back, balling up my fist as if I were about to throw a baseball, and then pitched my arm forward with all my might—and to my surprise, a stream of white fire released itself from my hand, like a long-tailed comet.