The Fallen Ones (The Fallen Angels Series Book 1) (14 page)

Ephraim:

The
room around me is dark and cold, I wonder for a moment if this is the Oasis I have
finally reached. Hundreds of years of roaming and death, all I wanted was peace
and I wonder if this might be it. As the thought forms in my head I realize
this can’t be peace, this can’t be death. My body is aching, I feel like I have
been hit by a truck and then the realization of all that’s occurred hits me. I
think of her desperate and lying on the ground while they do everything they
can to violate her I scream and struggle to get up but then recognize the all
too familiar burn of iron digging into my body holding me in place. I stop
struggling for a moment and try to figure out where I am when I hear a small
cry from another room “I never thought it would get this far. I know he didn’t
mean any harm. I am so sorry, this is just who he is. I don’t think he can help
it!” Alya. Her feeble protests and weakness disgust me. She’s defending me as
though I am guilty to the murderers that she has aligned herself with. I listen
as her voice comes closer “Come now, Alya. It’s not your fault. He is an
abomination and we never should’ve allowed him to exist in the first place.
It’s not even his fault who he is. It’s in his nature. Not many of our own kind
are nearly as smart or as open to seeing the truth as you are…” at that I hear
a door open and see the lights flick on.

I am
unsurprised when I look over and see Alya trailing in slowly behind Guinevere.
I can barely hold back my disgust. My own sister won’t even look me in the
face, a sure sign that she knows she screwed up. “Well, well! It looks as
though sleeping beauty has awoken.” I refuse to respond to Guinevere’s jabs at
me. I have gone on countless missions and spent years of my life in service to
this traitor only to be held captive by her. There is water dripping down from
the cold, dingy stones that make up the ceiling above me, I can tell that we
are below ground by the smell of earth that overwhelms me. “Do you have nothing
to say to your elder, boy?” I spit in her face. “You are nothing to me.” I yell
at Guinevere but somehow can’t seem to peel my eyes off of my sisters face as
the words slip out of my mouth. I see the tears welling up in her eyes and
Guinevere catches it too. “I should probably leave you two alone, it looks like
you have a lot to talk about.” She turns to leave the room and Alya grabs the
back of her dress like the weak idiot she is. Guinevere brushes her off and
continues to leave “He can’t hurt you now, Alya. Speak freely. He won’t be
walking away from this one.” The door slams shut behind her.

Alya
remains with her back facing me for far longer than I would’ve thought and just
as I think she is going to get up and walk out too. She turns around to face
me, her body is trembling and tears are streaming down her face as she
addresses me for the first time “Brother, I am so sorry to see you like this, I
never wanted you to get caught in the crossfire! How could you just side with
someone you don’t even know over our own elders?” I stifle a laugh, annoyed by
the idiocy of all that she is saying “Our own elders, Alya? You mean the ones
that came to the caves to exterminate an 18 year old girl who just so happens
to be the first Nephilim we have seen in centuries?” she looks down at her
hands as the tears fall and I continue “The same elders, that turned on Marcus,
and placed him under lockdown, god-only knows where, because he wanted to throw
a girl a party when she found the missing family of our original counsel? The
same elders. That used Levi, me and apparently you, as their own personal
slaves, answering every time they call, placing their comfort above our own
happiness and health? How could I possibly have chosen to side with the
strongest, least embittered Nephilim I have met in my entire life…”

She
wrings her hands and begins to speak barely above a whisper “Don’t you see,
Ephraim?” she steps forward and brushes the hair out of my face, her touch
disgusts me. “There is so much more to it than good and evil or who’s siding
with who! Guinevere is trying to strengthen us, form allegiances where we never
had any. Have you ever seen the demons answer to a Nephilim like that answered
to her in that cave? I admit, it struck me as strange at first too. I didn’t
like hearing of Marcus in prison or Ilyana being sacrificed. But, it’s all for
the greater good!” I don’t even know how to respond to her, it’s as if she
actually believes the words that are coming out of her mouth. “Ephraim, you
were the one they sent to retrieve this girl, because all the destruction that
was left in her wake, can you imagine how many thousands of lifes were lost because
of who she is? Guinevere is simply trying to stop all that! I really wanted to
be her friend, you know that. I was there for her, I tried to make her feel at
home, but I always felt so uneasy around her and it was for good reason! She’s
a murderer – you’re my brother, this is just as much about protecting you as it
is about forming new alliances”

I look
at her and wonder if she can detect the hypocrisy in her own words like I can.
“You are a coward and a hypocrite, Alya. I am no longer your brother and you
will no longer address me as though you are my sister. We are not on the same
side and you are dead wrong and have lost your mind if you seriously believe
any of the words that just came out of your mouth.”

Ilyana:

As I
come to, I am immediately aware of a burning sensation in the back of my throat
and the most powerful migraine that I’ve ever felt. I feel like I’m outdoors by
the heat that is pounding onto my skin, but as I open my eyes and allow them to
adjust to the light, I finally take full account of where I am at and I
recognize the old ruins. “Good Morning, angel…” a small smile begins to form
and I can feel blush creeping across my face, I look behind me and see Kailand
walking into the old dining hall at the training grounds. As happy as I am at
the sight of him being free my heart aches at all that was lost and I have to
hold back the tears. “This place isn’t what it used to be. I remember racing
through these halls as a child, spying on the parties. Hiding with my friends
and creating mischief at every turn.” You can hear the nostalgia in his voice
“Now this hasn’t been used in decades, it’s falling apart in ways I never
could’ve imagined. I’m guessing they’ve moved the enclave then?” he turns to
look at me square on for confirmation and I nod unable to speak for fear of
what may come out.

He
looked so weak in their grasp. Ephraim never really found peace and now that he
finally was free of the counsels grasp, his own sister fed him to the wolves
and I sat back powerless while that creature drained the life from him.

Kailand
reaches out and wraps his arms around me in a way that I know is meant to be
comforting but somehow, only seems to succeed in reminding me of all that was
lost “Ilyana, it’s not your fault! You did everything you could. You were
caught in the middle of this horrible war that you had no hand in producing,
think of the countless life’s you saved by coming to us last night!” he is
wiping the tears from my cheeks and trying to get me to look into his eyes and
find the truth in his words, but all I can picture is all the destruction that
was caused at my hands. He grabs my hands to pull me up to stand “There, there!
Steady on your feet. I want you to come look at something.” He continues to
stroll out into the courtyard area with my hand in his and I see the most
beautiful site. In the middle of the courtyard is the old woman Kailand seemed
so fond of. She looks so young and beautiful and suddenly I find myself feeling
insecure and wondering exactly who she is to him.

She is
standing close to the well with fresh water she has obviously used to clean
herself and her hair, I realize the grey that I previously saw must’ve been
dust from where she hadn’t moved for centuries. Of course, she was a Nephilim
so it wasn’t possible that she could age, but my mind never registered the
thought. She has torn off parts of her dress to use as cloth and is cleaning
the faces and hair of the other captives with it. She has the silkiest black
hair I have ever seen and it is cascading down her back in a long, damp braid.
She is singing in words I can’t quite make out as she gently cares for the
other captives that still seem absolutely stunned by the rays of the sun
pounding down on them. She catches site of Kailand and I and begins to run over
to us.

I am
shocked and nearly fall when she wraps her arms around me for a warm embrace
“It’s you! I knew you would wake up soon, I just knew it! You’ve set us free!”
she pulls back and looks at me with tears of gratitude rolling down her cheeks
“I never thought I’d see the sun again, I gave up on living and then an angel
of mercy showed up. You fed us and cared for us, you treated us with dignity –
something I hadn’t felt for centuries and then, you freed us…” I smile at her
kind words but am absolutely stunned when I see the beautiful woman slowly
settle into a bow in front of me “Anything you need or want, I am at your
command, my lady!” I fall to my knees in front of her. Her kindness and
gratitude is one thing, but I will never have someone bow to me again, not
after the things I have done.

My
throat stings and my voice is hoarse as the words come out of my mouth “Please
don’t! You never should’ve been imprisoned in the first place, I just did what
was right. There was no other option. Call me Ilyana and if you want to show
your gratitude, you will never bow to me again.” She is at eye level with me
now as we both sit there on our knees, her with a look of awe on her face and
me, a broken mess. “Ilyana, it is. My name is Rose.” A smile forms across her
her heart shaped mouth. “Can I do something, Ilyana?” I know that I have
nothing to fear from this woman so I nod my head, unsure what to expect. She
reaches her hand over my neck and her eyes go slate grey in front of me, I see
her light green aura flowing out and begin to feel it wrap into me.

I am
confused by what’s happening, as her face goes back to normal, she wrinkles her
nose at me in a small way “I never thought I would see the day come where I
would be able to do that again. You’ve given me another gift!” I feel
completely confused by what just happened and as I go to ask her, I realize my
voice is completely back to normal and my migraine is gone “How did you do
that?” she lets out a small laugh and tells me “It’s one of my gifts, I used to
be a healer, before we were held captive, the power surge back in the cave was
enough to strengthen me and gave me back my gift of healing, I’m still nothing
that I used to be, I may never be that powerful again, but thanks to you I can
feel the power that I lost coursing through my veins again.” I smile at the
thought and look up to Kailand and see him smiling at me in a way that I never
felt before, I feel heat beginning to rise to my face but fortunately before I
have a chance to wallow in my own insecurities he reaches down and offers us
both a hand to pull us back up to our feet.

I
right myself and begin to brush the sand and grass off of my legs and knees. I
look around me at all the captives, some walking, some are lying down staring
up into the clouds and begin to assess all the work ahead of me. I feel a tinge
of sadness when I think about how great Alya would’ve been at helping make
everyone comfortable – she was so quick to make me at home. I have no idea what
to do next but I know we can’t all stay like this. I look to Kailand “We have
to go to the Enclave, I need to get Levi and we need to figure out what we have
to do to protect everyone here from Guinevere.” He nods at me in agreement Rose
lets out a small smile and excuses herself to go back and begin cleaning up her
friends. I make a mental note to bring back whatever resources I can to help
make her job a little bit easier.

Ilyana:

We
take our time walking back to the enclave. After everything that happened last
night I am afraid of what we’ll find. For the first time, since I can remember,
I have no idea what happens next. I am mourning the loss of my friend but know
that Ephraim wouldn’t want me caught up in my own emotions when there is so
much work that needs to be done. I can feel Kailand watching me as we walk
closer to the walls. I feel so numb that I don’t even bother coming up with any
words to convince him that I am ok.

He
reaches down and grabs my hands just as the enclave walls appear in the
distance and speaks “He would’ve been proud of you, Ilyana and he would’ve been
even prouder to have died alongside you in battle.” I refuse to cry at the
thought so he continues on “It’s not his fault who he was, but his kind is
treated as an abomination in our society, he would’ve been raised as a soldier
– a slave even and our soldiers were always taught, at least in my time, that
there is no greater honor than to sacrifice your life for something bigger than
you. When you defeated those demons, you brought honor to his death.” I know he
means everything he is saying but the words fall flat “He shouldn’t have been
there, I shouldn’t have let him come with me. It’s my fault he’s dead, there’s
no honor in being killed by the actions of your own sister and your student who
never bothers to listen to anything you say anyways.” I stop walking for a
moment and try to catch my breath as the tears spill out “I didn’t bring honor
to his death, I brought shame to it. No matter how many Nephilim I helped free
or how many demons I killed – practically on accident no less! I brought
nothing but pain to his life. His own sister turned on him because of me.”

I wrap
my arms around my torso in a protective motion and turn my back away from him.
I can feel a panic attack coming on but can’t afford the luxury of losing control,
I can’t even trust my own body not to betray me and kill the man standing
beside me as a result. I stoop down and try to rest my head on my knees but the
weight of all the pain I brought to Ephraims life is crushing down on me in
ways I never could’ve imagined.

Breathe,
Ilyana, just breathe.

Kailand
senses the unrest in me and drops down to his knees in front of me and sits
down until he is almost eye level with me he gently grabs the sides of my face
and forces me to look at him “Ilyana, don’t. You gave his life purpose and
doing so means he had purpose in his death. He was exactly where he wanted to
be and the only way you could shame him is by denying him that. Ephraim was
powerful and he was as stubborn as an ass, he never did anything with you or for
you because he
had to,
everything he did was a choice he made because he
wanted to.” He is brushing my face in a comforting gesture as my sobs continue
to come. I nod my head in agreement. I want to believe he is right, I don’t
want to discredit Ephraim in any way so I choose to believe he is right for
now. My body is shaking as I try to calm myself down. Kailand pulls me down
into his lap and holds me for I don’t know how long and just allows me to cry.
Once again, the man I met in the caves that should’ve been falling apart is
doing everything that he can to hold me together. I am appalled by my own
selfishness as I continue to take all the comfort he offers me. The skies begin
to darken before I am able to gain enough control to enter the compound again.

As
soon as we pass the gates, we make a run for the apartments, Kailand never more
than a step behind me. I sneak in the building as quietly as I can and nothing
seems to be disturbed. I quietly walk into my apartment and Kailand carefully
shuts the door behind him. We walk towards my living room where I see a small
light in and as soon as I get there I see Levi furiously pacing the room. The
moment he spots me he rushes over to my side and wraps me in a big, protective
bear hug in a way that only Levi can get away with. “Oh my God, where have you
been? I’ve been worried sick, I thought you were dead!” the words race out of his
mouth quicker than I can even respond “It’s ok Levi, I’m here now! I’m ok. But,
he’s gone Levi. I’m so, so sorry!” Kailand reaches past me and places his hand
on Levi’s shoulder “I’m so sorry my friend, he died an honorable death.” A look
of confusion registers on his face. “He’s not dead, Ilyana. He’s being held
captive by Guinevere and Julius in Cairo.”

I grab
the chair closest to me and sit down, the room around me starts to spin and I
search his face for answers “How can that be? I watched the demon kill him in
front of me!” I look to Kailand and he looks just as lost as I am. Levi sits
down across from me “I don’t know what you saw, but you didn’t see him die.
They’ve released photos and an announcement, Guinevere is accusing him of
helping you lead a rebellion against the Counsel. She is calling for an
alliance between the demons and the Nephilim they are calling themselves The Fallen
Ones. She says it is for the good of all Nephilim, she says they will fight our
wars for us and we will provide them with our resources. She’s gone completely
mad and she’s requested that all Nephilim join her, that’s why the compound is
so empty now, a lot of the younger, more fearful Nephilim have followed her and
even more are making arrangements to leave. She told us you nearly killed
everyone in the caves today.” I knew she was crazy, but I never would’ve
thought she was capable of this. I want to be relieved that Ephraim is alive,
but I am not sure if being alive as a pawn in her hands is any better than
being dead. “What do we do, Levi? She’s crazy! We can’t let her do this!”

He
leans back and lets out a huge sigh “ I was hoping you would say that, I’ve got
a bit of a plan, but I’m fairly certain you won’t be too crazy about it…” I
have no idea what he is about to say but know that I don’t have the option of
being too picky right now, I grab his knee and look into his eyes “I trust you
Levi, whatever you say, I’ll do it.” He lets out a small laugh “You may want to
hear what I have to say before you agree to this, this is your last real shot
at getting out of all this chaos. Once we do this, you’ll lose your shot at
choosing.” I shake my head “I never had a choice in this Levi, from the minute
my Mom and Dad died and I was hunted down by those demons, I lost my say in the
matter. As long as I have you with me, I’m in this thing.” He smiles “That’s my
girl! We need to call Marcus and Samuel. We’re going to need help working out
all the details and they already came by here earlier, I know they’re on your
side.”

I
stand up from the chair “Okay, call them. Do you think since we still have
Marcus, we may still have Lizzy too? I’m going to need some help getting things
together for the other captives. They aren’t ready to come here just yet.” Levi
reaches over and rustles my hair like I’m a small child “I’ll get right on
that! Go get cleaned up and meet me back in here in an hour, we need to get
started right away.” I start to walk off but catch Kailand out of the corner of
my eye looking completely lost. I realize then how new everything must look to
him. He has lived in a cave for thousands of years and I can’t even fathom
everything that’s changed since the last time he was free. Levi catches me
looking at an uncertain Kailand and before I have a chance to worry about
introducing him to running water and electricity, Levi steps between us “You
come with me, we’re going to get you cleaned up too.” Kailand nods his head at
Levi gratefully and looks to me as though he needs my permission I smile at him
and motion for him to follow Levi. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long
night.