The Fallen Ones (The Fallen Angels Series Book 1) (9 page)

We say
our goodbyes and I thank her for the information she gave me and the haircut I
got as she hugs my neck and leaves. I wanted to go see Kailand tonight but I
look at the clock on the wall and see that it is nearly 2am and the house is
silent. I will have to train with two eager instructors in a few short hours
and as pathetic as it sounds, I can’t sacrifice sleep right now. I make my way
back to bed and fall asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Ilyana:

Morning
came too early for me today. I had hoped Levi would at least let me sleep until
6, but since Ephraim is training with us as well, we got started before the sun
even began to crest the horizon. After all that Alya told me last night about
Ephraim, I can’t even manage to look him in the eyes. So I skipped breakfast
and got ready in my room luckily for me we are jogging the long way to the
training grounds today so I don’t have to face Ephraim for quite some time. I
have my headphones in my ears and my iPad is singing to me an angsty song that
I am pretty sure is about video games.

By the
time we reach the training grounds, I am too hyper to sit down. I am running on
adrenaline and know that if I focus my energy on turning off light switches in
my head it is likely I will fall asleep. I plead with Levi to understand this
when he instructs me sit down and he steps back and offers for Ephraim to take
over. Ephraim quickly steps in front of Levi and with a smirk on his face,
instructs me to run up the stairs in the arena seating again. I know the
correct response would be to pitch a fit – my thighs are still burning from
yesterday, but right now I am grateful for the time I get to myself. I try to
take the steps one at a time, but before I make it up the first flight, he
catches what I am doing and instructs me to start taking every third step. I
let out a groan, and then do as he says. He has me run for as long as I can
stand to and then I come to the middle of the field to meet him, he instructs
me to begin fighting him. I rush at the opportunity and surprise him by landing
a punch in his jaw, but before I even have a moment to enjoy the small victory
he grabs my wrists in one hand and twists me around, the contact feels too
familiar. I know he is trying to get a rise out of me, but I just don’t have it
in me right now.

He
lets go of me and allows me to give me a chance to right myself. Then as soon
as I get across from him he follows and knocks me to the ground, I am irritated
but know that he would never truly hurt me, so I stifle the feelings of
annoyance for the time being as I reach up and take the hand he offers me to
right myself. The moment I take his hand, he twists me around, holding my hands
over my head, with my body to the ground and his knee gently hovering over my
back. It is an awkward position, but I feel the strain in my arms and in no
time I go slack and just hang there. He lets go and takes a step back and
starts pacing back and forth in front of me, I am shocked by the angry
expression he is wearing on his face, I mentally prepare myself for an attack
but it doesn’t come, instead he runs his hands through his hair “Why aren’t you
fighting back? I know it is not because of the stairs I made you run, you ran
twice as long yesterday and managed to fight twice as hard, we will never be
able to access your gifts if you refuse to work with me!” he is practically
yelling at me, my eyes begin to water and I feel tears beginning to sting, I
realize immediately that this is the wrong reaction, my nerves are on edge and
I am exhausted so I begin to brush them away.

He
sees what I am doing and looks away “Bloody Hell! You’re crying? This isn’t
even a real fight! It’s training! I can see I am going to have to piss you off
again…” I look up just in time to see him charging after Levi who is happily
drawing on the ground with a stick. I can’t hold the tears back anymore I begin
sobbing and scream with as much power as I can “Levi, run! He’s going to hurt
you!” Levi, stands up quicker than I would’ve thought is physically possible
and moves before Ephraim ever reaches him. I know he has to be using his
abilities because it is physically impossible to move so fast. Levi stands
confused a moment and Ephraim, like an angry bull turns around and steps
heavily towards me “You see me charging your friend and you yell to warn him?
What good do you think that would do with a regular person or a Nephilim less
powerful than Levi is? You are more powerful than the both of us combined! I
felt the force of what you could do yesterday, but today you aren’t even
trying! I am completely dumbfounded! If I had known that kissing you would’ve
turned you into a babbling idiot – trust me, I never would’ve risked it.” His
words sting, but I know that he is angry and telling the truth, he is trying so
hard to help me and I am not doing anything to make it easier for him. I catch
my breath and stop crying “It isn’t your kiss that has me broken today. You
have lived hundreds of lifetimes like this, you forget that just a few days
ago, I was an average girl living in the suburbs with a Mom and Dad. My biggest
problem was remembering to feed Sasha dinner and now everything has changed. I
am not a babbling idiot and I am not an object for you to talk down to like
that. I am a person and right now, just for a moment, I am weak. Can’t you just
let me be?” his eyes soften slightly and in response he turns to walk away “I
am going for a walk, you should work with Levi for a bit.” He looks like he has
more to say, but he notices Levi and shakes his head no as he turns back around
and continues to walk.

Levi
is staring at me like a bomb just went off, I don’t know what to do or how to
act so he begins to step towards me, and before I have the chance to say
anything he wraps me in a big protective bear hug “It’s okay, Little Princess.
He didn’t mean a word he said, we are all just tired, but that is not your
fault.” He is rubbing the back of my head and pulls away to look me in the eyes
“We believed last night that maybe we were the anchor, maybe we were the key to
unlocking your gifts. I could see you were tired last night, but I pushed to
train today because I was so excited to see if there was any truth to it. But
there wasn’t. That’s ok though, we will keep looking and in the mean time I
will stop pushing you so much – Ephraim will too. He is a hot head, but he
means well and would never want to break you.” I dry my eyes and begin to nod
“Thank you, Levi. But neither of you are pushing me harder than I am pushing
myself, I think I just need to lighten up a bit and stop fighting my instincts
to stay human. When it overtook me yesterday – I became something else. I think
I was afraid of what could happen if I were to do that again.” He pats my back
and looks at me with understanding – I know he understands better than I do,
what it feels like to lose control of something so much bigger than yourself. He
looks at me for a moment and a crease begins to form in his eyebrows “Ilyana, I
just want you to know that you aren’t weak. You said you are, but you are
wrong. Ephraim and I both know it. When he described your power yesterday, he
was awestruck. Because of his brute strength and background, it is hard to overpower
him like you did – you didn’t scare him, you amazed him. We just need to find
out what caused you to have such a strong surge yesterday. Usually our
abilities are like a water faucet, you can turn it on and it takes effort to
stop exerting your abilities or turn the faucet off. Maybe for you it is more
like a fire truck, there is a lot more power behind it, but it needs to build.
Yesterday could’ve just been too much – there’s no shame in that.”

I
begin to think on what he just said. I did have a big burst of power with
Ephraim, but less than an hour later, I had a burst of power in the cave that
felt even bigger. That’s when it hits me, maybe my anchor isn’t an old relic or
any new friends of mine, maybe it is in the cave. If Kailand was telling the
truth and they have all been trapped there for a long time, it is possible many
of their personal items could be considered relics now. I feel like I am
finally onto something, but I can’t blow our cover so I calmly look up to Levi.
“I am not sure if I am ready to give up for today, I think I just need to go
for a walk and maybe have a moment to myself. Do you think I could go for a
walk alone? I promise to stay close by and I will be back in no time.” He looks
conflicted for a moment then smiles and tells me he will be waiting for me when
I get back. I hate myself for taking advantage of his light hearted,
people-pleasing nature. But I have to talk to Kailand and see what I may be
able to find out from him and if I don’t go now, I don’t know that I will ever
get the opportunity to.

I walk
away from him towards the woods and as soon as I am out of range, I take off
running towards the ocean and the caves.

Ilyana:

Before
I am willing to step into the caves, I take one last thorough glance around me.
I refuse to move until I am satisfied that no one is behind me. I slowly enter
the cave and at first it is just the same as it was the day before. I think
back to the day before – what I was doing just before the prison made itself
visible to me. I remember touching the cave wall and feeling a release of
power. I don’t want to waste time, but I need to think for a moment about what
I need to ask Kailand. It feels absurd coming to a prison to ask an inmate for
help, but that is exactly what I am about to do here. I take a few deep breaths
and shut my eyes for a moment, praying that Kailand can’t see me hesitating
like a fool. I am reminding myself that without my powers I can’t do anything
to help Kailand or the others, so my being here is not completely unreasonable
and as he said yesterday, I am the only one who hasn’t meant him harm in
thousands of years. As soon as I discover myself thinking about anyone being at
my mercy I almost turn around and walk away, I can’t believe that this is what
I am becoming. It is bad enough that I lied to Levi to come here, now I am
asking a hostage for help because I know he has no other options.

I take
a deep breath and remember him yesterday, brushing the old woman’s hair – why
that pulls at my heart so strongly, I have no idea. But the image of someone so
clearly powerful, someone who probably had the world at his fingertips before,
bowing to an old woman to brush her hair in hopes that she retains at least
some shred of dignity is enough to completely break me. Regardless of who he
really is, or what he has really done, I have to help him. I head to the back
of the cave with my hand stretched out in front of me with every intention of
illuminating the cave and making the prison visible once more. Before I ever
reach the wall, I can feel the power surge through me. For a moment I just want
to bask in it, I shut my eyes and feel my head fall back, the power yesterday
was so new and it made me feel so raw and fragile, but this time it is so
strong that I can almost taste it, it is something like honey and mango. Sweet
and natural, not overpowering or hard.

I gasp
when I feel a hand grabbing mine, I look in front of me and see that I have
reached through the barrier, I try to push forward and step over the threshold,
but I am unable to. I look up at Kailand and he stares at me in amazement. His
dark eyes look hopefully at me “How did you do that? In as long as I have been
here, I have never seen any being get through this barrier.” He is still
holding my hand and regarding it with great reverence as if he expects I will
pull it away at any moment, I squeeze his hand gently and hope it offers him
some reassurance that I am not going anywhere. I am not sure how I accessed
this power so easily now, but I begin to swell with pride when I realize I am
finally doing something right, even if I don’t know how. When I look back down
at our joined hands, I notice I can barely make out his aura for the first time
– I couldn’t do that yesterday, it is like the barrier numbed my abilities. Much
to my surprise it is not brown or grey or any other color you would expect to
see in a place as depressing as this, it is a sheer, light yellow, it radiates
hope and power, I know that whoever this man is, whatever this man has done -
he is good and I need to help him.

I look
back to his eyes and remember that I never answered his question “I don’t know
how I am doing it, I have been training today and I couldn’t even reach my
abilities until now – in fact, that is why I came back here today.” Just then I
hear a growl from behind me, I turn around, not for a second letting go of
Kailands hand, for fear that I will lose the moment. I expected to see a beast
or maybe even Sasha, what I didn’t expect to see is an angry looking half-breed
and his hurt looking Nephilim sidekick. I try to explain quickly when Ephraim
sees my hand linked to Kailand and begins to charge ford. I realize that he
means to hit him but before I can throw myself between the two, his hand hits
the barrier, it sounds like a fist hitting stone and he cries out in pain. I
let go of Kailands hand to check on him “What the hell is this, Ilyana? What
are you doing here letting a filthy prisoner grope you?” I want to answer him
but am absolutely stunned by his outburst.

Before
I can speak, Kailand raises his voice and I know that I will have a war on my
hands soon if I don’t figure out a way to shut them both up “Filthy prisoner?
What about you, insolent half-breed? All muscle and rage, but absolutely no
common sense! If you would look for half a moment at the light emitting from
this cage they have us in, you would realize there is a barrier – so,
unfortunately I am not really capable of groping anyone. But instead of
assessing the situation on your own, you charge in like the ignorant bastard you
are and go in to punch me, you really showed me, mutt!” just like that Ephraim
starts spewing insults back and forth, I look to Levi and see that he is just
as perplexed as I am, he shrugs as if all we can do is watch it play out. So I
speak up.

I
raise my voice louder than I believe I have ever allowed myself to before “CAN
YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP FOR A MOMENT AND GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY – OR AT LEAST GET
OUT OF MINE?”

I
stare at Ephraim and see the face of a caged lion, he is angry and has no
qualms about showing me – I will deal with him first “Ephraim, this is Kailand.
I found him yesterday after you decided to act like an arrogant prick in
training and knock me over. If you had slowed down for a moment to think about
what you were seeing instead of acting like the jealous boyfriend you aren’t,
your fist wouldn’t be throbbing right now.” I look back and forth between
Ephraim and Levi for a moment and neither of them speak up, then I hear
laughter coming from behind me, I turn around just in time for Kailand to begin
speaking, he regards Ephraim coolly “Looks like someone has a little crush and
doesn’t know how to control his hormones, isn’t that touching?” his words
incite me so I realize I have to handle him now too “Really, Kailand? You are
trapped in this cage where you have been abandoned to turn into dust, I really
don’t see how you are doing any better than he is. Speaking of which, this is
Ephraim and that is Levi.” I gesture to the angry stone walls standing behind
me “They are my friends and my trainers. Oh, and the only hope either of us
seem to have of me ever gaining enough power to actually help you.” Kailands
smug look on his face quickly changes to one of understanding.

I look
around to all of the faces in the room and see that there is a new somber
appearance to all of them. Thankfully, Levi is the first to speak up “So,
Little Princess. Now that we have seen your dirty little secret, do you care to
explain to us what exactly he is doing here and why we should help free him?” I
see the hurt on his face and I walk over to him and gently stretch up to kiss
him on the cheek. “Levi, I am sorry I lied to you about what I was doing. I
didn’t intend to for long, I just needed some more answers before I felt
alright about dragging you into this – honest.” I stare at his eyes for a
moment and see that he is still listening “I only found this cave yesterday
when the rain started after my fight with Ephraim.” His face softens further
and he looks like the Levi I know, I won’t hold anything back from my closest
ally here “I came in to hide from the rain and started clearing the wall when
this appeared. You can’t see it when my power isn’t working.”

I
think for a moment before I continue speaking, I realize I need to tread
lightly now, if not for Levi’s sake than at least for Ephraim. “When you were
talking about anchors today and power, it made me think about the power I
experienced here last night. There are a lot of really old Nephilim here and I
think maybe the relic is on the other side of that barrier, because my power
here is almost effortless. Today it is so strong I could actually reach through
the barrier – I couldn’t do that yesterday!” I give an excited smile and am
happy to see that Levi is completely on my side – I already knew I could count
on him to have my back. I take mental note of his openness and determine I will
never leave him in the dark or deceive him again.

I move
back in an attempt to shut off the power surge temporarily to display what
happens. The moment I think it, the prison disappears and is replaced by a cave
wall. Levi gasps and Ephraim looks worried “Whatever is caging them is powerful
and dark… I’m not sure it is a good idea to even be here.” I let out a
frustrated sigh and let my powers seep back out and illuminate the cave, for
the first time I notice my hands when I do it and I realize my veins are all
glowing beneath my skin when I first release the power. It is intoxicating.
Levi and Ephraim caught it as well, Ephraim reaches for my hand but catches
himself and steps away before he ever makes contact. A part of me feels
disappointed – but mostly I feel relieved. I acknowledge his statement
“Ephraim, if whatever is caging them is powerful and dark, but I have the power
to unmask it like this. I think I might be the bigger bad. You don’t have to
help, but please rest assured that you will either help me with this or you can
sit back and watch while I figure it out on my own – because one way or
another, we are getting them out.”

Ephraim
lets out an exasperated sigh before nodding his head in understanding, he
wisely allows Levi to take over the conversation from here. He speaks softly as
if he is afraid of breaking a trance “So, why should we get Kailand out of
here?” I turn to Kailand and ask him to tell his story. He explains who
everyone is and that they were locked up when they refused to relinquish
control to a few of the elders and sacrifice that majority of Nephilim. Ephraim
rolls his head as if he doesn’t believe him. He points out that the counsel has
never spoke of anything like that occurring and describes the three standing
elders – Guinevere, Juilian and Marcus, clearly thinking that this will punch a
hole in his story, but instead of surprise on Kailands face, there is a look of
sadness “That is what I was afraid of. They separated us from the original
elders before bringing us here. We all expected our fathers to turn up
eventually, but as time wore on, we realized we had probably already seen their
face for the last time. They were a casualty in an unjust war and we were the
liabilities they all froze in this cage to keep us from looking for our family
members.” Ephraim still looks mostly unconvinced, but fortunately he is
perceptive enough to refrain from kicking Kailand while he is down.

Levi
looks a little more sympathetic and understanding, but is clearly trying to put
together all the puzzle pieces in his head “Ay, we have all lost family in the
counsels greedy spats. But, for your story to have any validity to it, you had
to have been held here for thousands of years. The elders are misguided and
insensitive at times – I should know that better than anyone, but they have
always placed a priority on keeping the citizens safe.” He is clearly trying to
work out all the details in his mind and figure out if he has given the elders
too much credit “When I went against them, they banished be, but I was never
for even a moment their prisoner.”

Kailand
nods with understanding “The original Counsel housed 9 members of the original
Nephilim families. Of course there were more original families than that, but
initially our settlement began with only 9. It was the responsibility of the
oldest living member of each bloodline to sit in the seat of elder and help
make decisions and pass judgment when necessary. At the end of the day, two of
the least prominent bloodlines were caught waging war for money and goods and
safe passage for their own families, they wanted the ability to make all the
decisions on their own without any opposition – no matter what the cost.”
Realization finally reaches Levi and Ephraim and I know that they understand
and believe him too so I speak up “Now that you know the story, I think we all
know what needs to be done. But how are going to do it? We have to get them all
out of here and so far all that has crossed the barrier is my hand.”

They
all look bothered by the weight of the problem and then Ephraim clears his
throat and begins to provide his opinion “I don’t like it and I don’t trust
him. But I have seen the elders do some atrocious things in my time. - Enough
to believe that at least some of what he is saying must be true. Unfortunately,
If this is where your powers seem to open up, this is where we need to come for
training each day, we don’t need to waste any more time at the old ruins. Levi
and I can trade days coming here with you training and going to the library
studying, we need some answers and as much as the filthy prisoner would like to
think he has all the answers – being locked up for thousands of years has to
have some side-effects on a creatures mental state, even a distinguished
purebred such as him.” He gestures to the barrier and Kailand wisely chooses to
ignore Ephraims obvious contempt, much to my relief.

It is
beginning to grow dark out and Levi points out that we need to leave soon if we
have any plans to make it home tonight. I promise Kailand I will try to bring
him some things, I am hoping I can push objects through the barrier like I
could my hand. He requests a razor, food and something to play music with. I
mention an iPod and he looks at me confused, I realize I would be better off
bringing him a harmonica and realize I may have some trouble locating a
harmonica on this island. My mind turns to thoughts of what foods I should
bring him and as I am looking at him I realize how gaunt he is. I can feel my
heart breaking at the site. Humans would die after only a few weeks of
starvation, and in front of me is this Powerful Nephilim, who has been barely
existing for centuries. I pull myself together before anyone can detect the pity
I am feeling and we all say our goodbyes and promise to keep quiet until we
know what to do next. Ephraim is reluctant but still agrees to our request –
probably just to appease me. But I don’t have the willpower to argue with him
right now, I just decide to take him at his word and make a mental note to
speak with Levi about it privately.