Anger began to fill my chest, and I was shaking.
"Is that what you call freedom?!" - I narrowed my eyes on Michael. He looked like he was having fun... My hands tightened into fists, and that's when I heard it for the first time: a loud roar, unlike any animal known by humans. More like the roar that is made by computers as the voice of dinosaurs and dragons.
I looked at Joel's body, and I saw blood red steam on his skin, not quite touching him, but it was just a quarter inch away from him. The steam was coming from the cut on his throat. I heard the roar again, and flames burst from the deadly wound. Everyone held their hands front of their face, to protect themselves from the heat and the strong light, but I walked towards it, and slowly, the flames took on the shape of a Dragon. Joel's dragon.
I reached my hand towards it, and as soon as I did, cool hands hugged my body. I knew that power
as well. For a moment, I felt like Rider was hugging me, but it was just a small second... but it still made my heart skip a beat. The dragon circled around me for a while, and then wrapped around my waist and rubbed its bug head against my shoulder. The dragon was burning my skin, but I didn't care. I unclasped the lockets that protected my shoulders, with the ridiculous, wing shaped armor, and dropped it on the ground. I stroked the big head of the dragon. I felt like Joel and Rider was there with me, and they wanted me to stop this madness that was going on here.
"Seems like the Princeps girl is able to fight." - Michael announced with a huge grin on his disgusting face. I wished that I could go up to him, and cut his face from the edges of his mouth to his ears so he could smile forever... that thought scared me, and for a second I gasped for air after my sinister thoughts. But then hatred surfaced again as he laughed when I almost dropped my rune stone sword that looked like it was carved from crystal.
"Michael, do you wanna be free?" - I asked. - "Of course, I mean free the way you meant to set Onyx free." - Ambriel - my father - stood up, and Cassiel appeared at his right, Ariel on his right. (I knew which was which, because Ariel had glasses.) But Michael just laughed like this was the best joke he have ever heard. Clearly, he didn't see the dragon on my shoulders, which was roaring so loud that most of the people in the arena had to squeeze their palms on their ears.
"You are not in the position to kill me." - Michael laughed. I swung my arms towards him, and fire burst from my wrists, hitting the throne just by his head. I have to note that I missed on purpose. Joel's dragon roared again, and slowly the smile froze on Michael's face.
"But you are a nephilim, you have angel blood in you... You are not supposed to be able to control fire..." - He was thinking out loud.
"I am not." - I confessed. - "The fire is Joel's doing." - As I said out loud, everyone was staring at me with strange eyes. I could understand, after all, the boy was lying on the flat stone floor, and he was dead... but his soul and powers were still alive, and that's something that Michael couldn't digest. I threw my hands in the air, and the dragon spread it's wings wide. The flames were blindingly bright. The cool hands were protecting me from the incredible heat that the fire dragon radiated. I felt happier, but I couldn't change the fact that most of them were dead... at least I had part of them with me. - "You can kill the body, but you can never touch the soul!" - I shouted, and I felt the crowd move as one. Onyx beside me looked at me with the reflection of the fire dragon in her eyes. I reached my hand for her, and she took it without a question. We were allies. No doubt about that.
I picked up my blades from the ground, and took a deep breath. It felt slippery, because my hands were covered with Joel's and Rider's blood.
"Laws cannot erase blood." - Onyx repeated my father's words. - "Neither the blood running in your veins, nor the blood that stains your hands." - She wasn't saying that to me, but I felt like she was. My hands began to shake, and then a vision of Michael standing up pointing a finger at me, saying that it was all my fault. It was... without him saying so. I dropped on my knees and squeezed my hands against my ears.
"Get out!" - I screamed. When I looked up, I could see Michael looking at me with stratification. There was no doubt: he was the one trying to mess up my head. I forced his thoughts out of my head, and stood up.
Before he could realize what was going on, I flung myself towards him, and stabbed the crystal sword into his throne a half inch beside his head. Our faces were just three inches apart, and his eyes were wide, his pupil was as small as the tip of a needle, and he was breathing heavily... he was afraid of me. I heard Onyx cut down two guards, who tried to get close to their Lord to save him.
I wiped the blood from my hands on his cheeks, and white clothes, but something inside was telling me not to kill him.
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"You are a monster." - He gasped.
"Pretty ironic to hear that from your mouth." - I said, but my voice surprised even me. It was the sound of a demon, the sound of a real life monster. In the reflection of the blade of the crystal sword, I saw my face, and it was scary. My pupil grew larger, and my iris was light red, and the white part of my eyes turned black as well. I backed away, scared of myself, right into Ambriel, who grabbed my shoulders. Then, he cupped my face in his hands, and stared deep into my demonic eyes.
"Spirit, my dear child..." - He said in a small voice, unable to believe what he was looking at. I felt Joel's dragon retreat into the depth, but he was still there. Only Rider's powers remained on the surface.
Some guards ran to Michael, but when they tried to touch me, Ambriel shot them a warning look. I was shaking again... I was the broken, hurt girl, who collapsed in the arena after seeing her friend, and her love die. I was that weak girl again, who just wanted someone to end her sufferings, and let her die. I wrapped my arms around myself, and began sobbing. I was loosing my mind. I didn't know what was I supposed to do anymore. I have seen such terrible things in the past couple months, and today was especially awful. I sank deeper and deeper into the depth of my mind, but then someone began shaking me.
I opened my eyes, and I saw Cassiel above me. I was laying on the ground, and I could only see a blur. I only knew that Cassiel was above me, because at the time, when we met for the first time, I carved every detail of him into my memory. He was talking to me, shaking me, but I just couldn't hear him.
I felt like I was floating in a bubble of pain, and my chest hurt like someone stabbed me and cut my heart out. My lungs ached for air, but it was too hot, and tasted like salt and dust. I began coughing, and Cassiel lifted me up. Everything was spinning around me.
Did I turn into a monster because of Joel's dragon? Or was I the monster myself? I didn't know... I have read that when you are not sure about things, start listing the things you are sure about...
I am Spirit. I don't know if I am Meadows, or Princeps, or Glimmer. I am 17 years old, and I am the daughter of an Angel. My sister was taken. Full-Fledged Demons are after me. I am not sure who I am, nor what I am. My lover was killed by the Consilium. My friend was killed by the Consilium. I want to find my Sister.... That's it! I have to find Iris. That is my goal.
Cassiel picked me up, and my mind blacked out.
***
“Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
The human life seemed far away from me, felt like I have left it behind centuries ago, however it have been barely 7 months. Now I was in peace, floating between death and life, and I didn't know what pushed me into this state. But I was calm, and this place was relaxing.
Everything was black, and I couldn't see... all I had to think about was to breath in, and breathe out. sometimes I felt a pinch on my arm, and after that, sometimes people visited me here. I didn't know if it was just an illusion, or reality. But one time, a kind face appeared.
She was wearing black, and her dark hair floated around her like she was under water.
"Iris..." - I called her. She smiled and reached her hands towards me. I took it, and she pulled me closer, then her eyes turned into the demonic eyes that appeared on me, and she began crying. Instead of tears, blood run down her cheeks, and she tightened her grip on my hands.
"Help me!" - She sobbed.
I sat up in bed, gasping for air, and my body was covered in sweat. I was laying on a huge table, carved out of one piece of stone. I still wore the black dress I did on the postquam. I touched my cheeks, because they were wet, and when I looked at my fingers, they were covered in blood. Joel's and Rider's blood was already dried on my hands, they were almost black.
That's right.... They died, and it was all my fault.
By now, not even crying tears terrified me. was just a breathing shell of the Spirit I used to be. I have lost my sister, Joel, Rider, and who knows who else was executed while I was passed out.
This was my second nightmare about my sister, when she was asking for my help. She must be in great danger, I could feel it.
But this dream also answered a question: How the monster broke to the surface. This wasn't me, but her, who wanted to take Michael's life. Even though he had killed Rider and Joel, and was a major asshole, I didn't wish for his death, and wiping blood on someone else's face was clearly not my style at all. There must have been some kind of connection between Iris and Michael. And there is only one way to figure that out... If I could mark him, then I could look into his memories, and find out why does my sister tries to kill him through me.
But that was not all... how could my sister contact me? And why doesn't she tell me where she was? Then, it would be so much easier to find her. If she keeps asking me to help her, I just go mad, because I know that she is in danger, but I have no idea why and how can I get her out of that awful place where she was taken.
A memory struck me like lightning.
I was tied to a table, chains on my legs and wrists. I have fought against them, my skin was tore under them, and the iron was rubbing against the raw flesh. Every move hurt.
Then, he came into the room, in his white shirt and pants, his wings spread out wide. Michael was an angel, but a terrible one.
"Are you comfortable?" - He asks, and grabs my face. - "I have something for you."
With that, he stabs me with a needle on my arm, and inject the dark liquid into my veins. It feels like acid eating up my veins, and I scream.
The memory kicks me out. These were not my memories, but most likely Iris'. That's why she wants to kill Michael. They say Lucifer was an angel himself, but then he fell, and became a demon. In Michael's case, he was still an angel, but with the mind and heart of a demon.
Just because he was the highest ranked angel, no one even considered him being evil. Everything he did was 'right'.
I stood up, and walked to the wall, and touched the polished stone. It was cold, and as far as I could see, there was no doors, but one, and only one window above me, which was about 4 stores above me: there was no way I could leave unless they let me out.
I bet they close me into this place because I almost killed the head of Consilium. It's funny to think that the man who is the lord of life and death, who decides who can survive, and who shall die is so weak and mentally fragile.
The people who closed me in here left me a change of clothes in case I wake up... a white t-shirt and grey spandex shorts. Well, at least not medieval clothes, or gladiator stuff...
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I walked to the corner of the room and sat down.
The strange visions of Michael torturing Iris continued for hours with smaller breaks. After an hour, I was screaming in pain. Maybe this whole soul transfer stuff was not as great as everyone thought it was.
The wall was cold against my skin, and I looked at my palm, where the pentagram used to be that connected me to Joel. There was nothing, but a huge, shapeless wound remaining. But I still had Rider's necklace, and when I touched the feather shaped medallion, it warmed up. It was his last feather, and he gave it to me to protect me. Back then, I didn't know this, and up until not so long ago, it was just a lucky charm that I didn't remember.
But now, this was the only thing that remained from him... this was all I had left. I gripped it with both hands and cried. The blood stained the white t-shit, but I didn't care. Crying blood perfectly matched how I felt.
Terrified, broken, hopeless, lost...
But suddenly the door flew open and a familiar figure walked towards me. I didn't recognized it first, but the floating, long white hair, and the weird looking clothes eventually popped the puzzle piece into place.
He knelt down front of me, and mopped up the blood from my face. His clear eyes were full of sorrow, and I couldn't tell why.
"Where am I?" - I whispered.
"In Skydown." - He said, not much louder than I did. - "They say you have lost your mind, but what I see doesn't prove their point."
"I am sane." - I whispered, but as soon as I said the words, suddenly, I wasn't sure. - "Is it possible that Iris is in pain, and I feel it as well?" - I asked, and watched him begin to mop up my freshly dripping blood-tears.
"It is." - He sighs. - "Is she hurt?" - As an answer, I just nod. She is terribly hurt.
"She wants me to find her." - I whisper, but I can't look at my father. He just mops my tears repetitively, and the cloth that he is using becomes more and more bloody. - "Michael is hurting her..." - I continue. Ambriel's hand stops midair.
"What..?" - He takes my chin gently between his index- and thumb-finger, and forces me to look into his eyes.
"On the postquam, it wasn't me who attacked Michael. At least not mentally." - I whisper, because I realize that I am unable to use my voice. - "Iris was turned into a monster by Michael. It is all his fault."
Ambriel closed me into his arms, and rocked me back and forth, like I was a little, terrified girl. In some ways, I was. My whole body was shaking, and I began to understand why people thought I was mad. Since the postquam, the world around me became like a nightmare. Seeing Michael flipped a switch inside me which forced me through a channel several times into my sister's mind.
And whenever she got hurt, I felt her pain.
I felt as the acidic demon-blood ran though her veins..I felt how it ate up the angel-blood, and burned the lungs with every bit of air that Iris could breathe in.
I felt the needles that Michael hammered into her palm, and the terrible cuts he did to form a pentagram on her stomach...
Deep within, I knew that whatever he was doing, he was doing it wrong. You were not supposed to carve pentagrams yourself, they are supposed to form by themselves during the ritual... but what can an angel like him know about black magic.
While Ambriel was holding onto me, a new vision sucked me in, and when I got back to my own body, I was screaming and shaking, gripping my father's clothes so tight that my nails cut holes into the fabric.
"It's alright, I will find a way to make it stop." - He whispered.
"You can't..." - I cried. I pushed him away a little, and sat in the opposite corner. I looked up at him, and the truth burst out of me. - "I am the soul whisperer in the family, not Iris."
Ambriel's eyes widened, and I could see him processing the information. I was shaking so hard that I couldn't focus on him anymore, and my brain was unable to take more torture in, so I just passed out... soon, I was back in that dark, peaceful place. All I wished was that this time, no one will visit, and I didn't have to wake up.
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