Angelic Outcast (Heavenly Chronicles #1) Read online

  “Of course, you’re not.” Khris responded in exasperation, having no trouble believing it. The woman really did have a death wish.

  “I’m worried about the kids. They could get caught in the crossfire,” Elizabeth scolded.

  Realizing that this wasn’t something that would go away, he frowned, “Yeah, they could,” he said, clearly not liking the idea either, “but they’re tough kids and we warned them about what could happen, so they know what to do.”

  “Yeah, I just feel so powerless. I’ve never been bait before. Every other threat we’ve faced has attacked us head on, and I knew who and what I was fighting. But at least this time we have Artan.” Liz’s frustration was clear in her voice.

  Khris decided it was time to switch topics, “You’ve been talking to him a lot,” he mentioned casually, though the question was anything but.

  “He’s something new. I‘ve always seen Angels and I’ve always had so many questions and now I actually have the chance to get some of them answered,” she admitted excitedly.

  “I didn’t know you were so interested in Angels,” Khris mused. If she only knew what had been traveling with her the last few years.

  “Why wouldn’t anyone be? I mean, they live in Heaven, they’re proof that this world is only the beginning,” she continued excitedly.

  “That may be true, but do you ever think of the other side of that equation?” Khris asks.

  “What do you mean?” she asked curious at his tone.

  “Okay, so say there’s a Heaven with the clouds and harps and the pearly gates. That means there’s also the other place with the fire and brimstone and eternal torment,” Khris pointed out.

  “I suppose,” Elizabeth admitted. Not sure where the conversation was going.

  “And so what happens to those who don’t meet Gods standards?” Khris asked, rhetorically, “They face eternal torment under the hands of someone who hates them just because they couldn’t measure up.”

  “You’ve put thought into this.” Elizabeth observed.

  “Yeah well, when you’ve led the kind of life I have, you tend to worry about it from time to time,” Khris admitted gruffly.

  “Khris,” she exclaimed softly, “You shouldn’t think like that. There’s still time.” she knew Khris had a past, but surely God didn’t hold grudges.

  “I am afraid you’re the only one who would think so. To some I’ve been damned since the day I was born.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “Too bad it’s not your choice to make.”

  Elizabeth wanted to talk about it further, but Artan chose that moment to arrive back from out of the brush. “It is gone,” he said, “It must have seen what it was facing and decided to regroup and come up with a plan.”

  “So you think it’ll be back.” Elizabeth asked, a little deflated.

  “I'm sure it will. If it was sent here on orders, it has no choice. Anything we could do to it will pale in comparison to what it will face in Hades if it returns without fulfilling its mission.” Artan almost felt sorry for it, except for the fact that it was doing exactly what it was created to do. If it weren’t after Elizabeth, it would be leading others down the path to damnation.

  The group fell silent as they march on the rest of the day. Making it to the next camp site, they worked as quickly to get it set up before dark as they had broken it down that morning.

  They were pulling out what little food they had for dinner that night, when some of the children looked as though they would head into the brush.

  “No,” Khris barked while striding toward the edge of camp. “No one leaves camp at night,” he ordered, not unkindly, “take what’s close. I’ll go get us something.” he tells them when they turn worried looks to him. Knowing their fears, “No one will go hungry tonight. We just can’t risk any of you being caught by the man after Liz,” Khris reassured. The kids somberly nod their heads, and return to the campfire.

  Taking a breath, Khris pulled out a rifle and headed into the brush to look for dinner. One thing he would always be grateful for from his weird blood, was his night vision. The jungle was clear as day to him and made hunting at night easier. It took a little time but he was able to catch himself a Brocket deer and head back to camp.

  - Earlier

  Huddled in the brush, Nareste watched as the dark man left camp. Looking at the sphere in his hand, he waited. He knew the Angel could sense him, could see him starting to search, but he wanted to make sure the other man was far enough away before he unleashed his weapon. Sweat started to bead and drip down his face as the Angel circled closer and closer. Finally, considering it the right moment, he tossed the ball sized red sphere into the middle of the camp. In a pillar of smoke and fire, a creature out of anyone’s nightmare emerged, with skin black as stone and veins of red the color of fire that ran randomly along its surface. Its hands were tipped with foot long claws and when it opened its mouth to roar in rage, one could see the long fangs that it sported.

  Artan had been feeling the demon’s presence but before he could locate it, a sphere had rolled into camp. Watching as it billowed smoke, “Get the kids away!” he shouted to Elizabeth as the creature took form. Materializing his weapon, a short sword modelled after the Roman gladius, he lunged into the creature and ran it through before it could fully materialize, even as he felt the skin burning away from his arms where he came into contact with it.

  As the creature roared in pain, its arm swung out and sent Artan flying to the other end of the camp. Shaking his head as he rose to his feet, he could distantly hear the screaming of the children. Lunging at the creature again, he made sure not to touch it as he struck at its midsection, trying to drive it away from camp. But the creature was angry now, and continued to swipe its claws at him, raking scores down his arms and torso while putting Artan on the defensive. He heard the sound of an enraged male, as arms came into view from behind the creature and wrapped around it.

  When he was within a quarter mile of camp, Khris started to have an uneasy feeling, by the time he was within an eighth of a mile he was running toward camp as the sounds of screaming reached his ears.

  Dropping the deer, he sprinted into the camp where chaos reigned. Artan was fighting a large dark skinned beast with claws and teeth that were ripping long furrows into the Angel, while children scrambled to get out of their way and Liz darted about to save those who couldn’t, while blood dripped down her face.

  With a roar, Khris charged the demon and grappled it from behind, giving Artan the chance to stab and twist with the sword. With a roar of pain, the beast broke Khris’s hold and sprinted into the brush. Artan went to go chase after it but was stopped by Khris, of all people.

  With a hand on Artan’s shoulder Khris shook his head, “Going after it at night is a bad idea. It’ll have the advantage; besides you need to protect Liz.” he gritted out, as he went to wrap a hand around his torso only to figure out that was a mistake.

  Confused, “What about you?” Artan asked in confusion. He didn’t know Khris well, but he knew enough to know that he was not a man who would discount himself. That was until he saw the nearly red color his eyes had become, and realized that the black on his chest was no longer his shirt.

  “Don’t think I am going to be much use,” Khris rasped out as he sunk to the ground.

  “Khris!” Elizabeth cried as she rushed to his side, “What happened?” As they lay him flat on the ground and looked him over, they found the insides of his arms and the whole of his chest black with burns. “Oh my god!” Elizabeth exclaimed. Pulling a flash light out of one of her pockets, she used the light to better examine the wounds. “How did this happen?” she asked, perplexed.

  “Grabbing demon…bad idea.” Khris gasped.

  “Grabbing…? You mean just touching that thing did this?”

  “Magnum,” Artan clarified, “They’re known to cause earthquakes and eruptions when they come too close to the Earth’s surface, it doesn’t make any sense f
or it to be anywhere near here.” He was perplexed, until he remembered the sphere it had come from. Someone had set the creature on them.

  “I think the more important issue right now is Khris.” Elizabeth snapped, as the man promptly passed out.

  “Of course, here let me.” Kneeling down beside Khris, he placed his hand over the burns. Elizabeth watched in amazement as Artan’s hand glowed with a golden light. The burns on Khris’ chest turned a bright orange color as his cracked skin seemed to seal together. “How are you still alive?” Artan breathed, seemingly to himself, as sweat beaded on his brow.

  Given that he had gone the whole day without sweating a drop, Elizabeth became concerned. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “It is just, there is a lot more damage then I first thought,” Artan gasped, clearly struggling.

  “But he’ll be alright, right?” she asked, worried out of her mind.

  “Yes, just another minute,” Artan said, before he suddenly broke off and the light faded.

  “What’s wrong? Why’d you stop?” she demanded, since it was obvious Khris was still gravely injured.

  “Tapped out, nothing more I can do.” Artan said, breathing heavily, “Healing is not really in my skill set. If I were a Hashmallim I could do more but…” he gestured futilely.

  Looking down at Khris, she breathed a sigh of relief as his eyes flickered open. “Thank God,” she breathed as Khris took a deep breath.

  “What happened?” Khris choked out. He had been in more pain then he thought he had felt in his entire lifetime, and that was no small amount.

  “You were hurt so badly, but Artan healed you. It was incredible,” Elizabeth told him, as tears started to fill her eyes.

  “Don’t cry.” Khris begged, “You know I can’t deal with that.” He reached out to take her hand.

  “Sorry,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  Looking to Artan, “Thank you,” Khris breathed gratefully, seeming to be in a state of disbelief.

  “Of course,” Artan accepted graciously, “Let us get you to a bedroll, you are going to need sleep tonight.” He reached down to help Khris rise. It was a short but obviously painful process to get Khris to a bed, and once he was settled, he took a deep breath. “Dinner,” he gasped.

  “What?” Elizabeth asked, confused.

  “Deer… dinner… dropped it,”

  “We’ll get it. The kids might be too worked up to eat, but I’ll take care of it. You rest,” she ordered, and left to see to the kids and dinner.

  Once she was out of hearing range, Artan kneeled down and played at checking Khris’s wounds, “You should be dead,” Artan murmured to him.

  “Not the first time I’ve heard that one,” Khris joked, “Whatever you did, you do good work. I couldn’t breathe for a moment there.” he admitted, with genuine appreciation.

  “You could not breathe because half your lungs were mush,” Artan told him, “Your entire chest was nothing but sludge, I had to rebuild half your organs. How you did not go into shock immediately, I have no idea. I also found other things as I was healing you. Things I have never seen before.”

  Looking over to make sure no one was around before focusing on Artan, “And what are you going to do about it?” Khris asked cautiously, with more than a little defensiveness.

  “Nothing…yet. I know you are not a demon and that is all I need to know for now. You are still not fully healed; my abilities in that area are limited. But I will have questions…later. For now, you should rest. I will make sure everyone is safe,” Artan promised.

  “If that came from anyone else I would call you a liar,” as Khris’s eyes slowly began to close.

  Standing to back away from the now sleeping man, Artan’s head swam with questions. Inside this man was a physiology unlike any he had ever seen. It was almost Angel in its construction with human influences, and it suggested something that Artan wasn’t willing to accept yet.

  The camp was now filled with terrified children, and Elizabeth had begun to butcher the deer that had been left a short distance away from camp, putting slabs over the fire as she went. He walked over to her and bent down, “What can I do?” he asked.

  Looking up from her work, she wiped the back of her hand over her brow, “Check on the kids, make sure none of them are hiding injuries or getting ready to bolt. They’ve learned to run when they get scared, and normally I wouldn’t blame them, but if they run here they’re going to die,” she emphasized.

  Nodding in understanding, Artan looked around the camp at the scared children. They needed something to let them know that everything would be alright. It was a little against the rules, but this was a special circumstance, “Come to me,” he called gently, “Come,” when some of them hesitated.

  Gathering the children around him, “I am going to show you something, something special,” he whispered, receiving looks that make him worry about what kind of places these children came from. Making sure that none were in the way, he let his wings slowly emerge and brought out a small amount of his aura, brightening the camp with white-golden light, to the excited gasps and giggles of happy children.

  Hearing the children’s giggles, Elizabeth looked up from what she was doing to a sight that nearly took her breath away. Artan stood in the middle of a crowd of children, his wings of burnished gold spread out for them to touch, a white-gold light glowing from his skin, and for a moment she could swear she saw an image of the children fed, well dressed, and healthy. Hoping this was an image of what was to come, and just as determined to get them there, she went back to getting dinner ready.

  Looking at the smiles on the faces of the children who clearly didn’t get to do so as much as their young years should allow, Artan couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride in the fact that he was able to bring a little joy into the lives of those who had had so little.

  After a couple of minutes to give them time to touch and reassure themselves that what they saw was real, “Now you know that you are not alone,” he told them softly. “Not only do Elizabeth and Khris care about you, but God cares about you. Never forget that.” He started to pull his wings back in, much to their disappointment.

  “For tonight, stay close and do not go anywhere alone,” he warned. After receiving head nods from everyone, he smiled, “We will have dinner for you soon. Anyone who is injured stay, the rest of you, finish making your beds and be ready to eat,” he encouraged. Though reluctant, the crowd broke up except for a few. Kneeling down so that they are on equal ground, he motioned for them to come closer. He inspected their injuries, fixed them up, and with final words of encouragement sent them off with the others.

  Artan walked back over to Elizabeth. “I think they will be alright now,” he told her.

  “That was a wonderful thing you did for them. I’m sure they’ll never forget it, and neither will I,” she promised, with a beaming smile of appreciation.

  “Some would say that humans should have faith regardless of any challenge and despite a complete lack of any proof. I have always had a more direct view, believing that a little encouragement here and there goes a long way,” he admitted, becoming uncomfortable with her praise.

  “That’s kind of you.”

  “I will keep watch,” Artan states in retreat. Straightening up, he headed to the outskirts of camp. Not willing to take any more chances tonight, he erected his weakest shield. It was invisible, but it would alert him if anything crossed its threshold. He would have used it before, but the point of his mission was as much to kill the demon as it was to keep Elizabeth protected. Presenting too hard a target would only put the demon off.

  The rest of the evening went by uneventfully. Khris never woke, but Artan promised Elizabeth that that was normal. Laying her bed roll next to his, Elizabeth fell asleep that night with Khris’s hand wrapped in her own.

  Watching from the brush as the camp went to sleep, Nareste cursed under his breath. He had captured that Magnum elemental by luck a couple of decades a
go and had been saving it for a special occasion. The thing had been next to useless. It even looked as though the man would live after grabbing it the way he had. And after the Angel’s stunt with the kids, they would be immune to his powers for at least a day. He would have to wait. Cursing again that this mission would take yet more time, Nareste backed off to find a place to sleep for the night.

  3 - Recovery

  The morning dawned bright and early. Elizabeth instructed the children to hold off on breaking camp, as they wouldn’t be able to move on until Khris woke up. After making sure that everyone had breakfast, Elizabeth stood vigil at Khris’ bedside, while Artan kept watch.

  Most of the day passed before there was any change. Around three o’clock that afternoon, Khris showed the first signs of recovery, when his eyes flickered and blinked as he woke. “Why do I feel like the broad side of a barn hit me?” he asked, more than a little groggy.

  “Because you decided to grapple with something made of melted rock.” Elizabeth snapped, both relieved and, now that she knew he was going to make it, a little pissed. “How could you do something so stupid?” She barely resisted the urge to throttle him for scaring her like that.

  “Hey,” he soothed, taking her hand in his, “I’m sorry.” Khris felt a touch of guilt that was almost overshadowed by his amazement that anyone cared that much about him. “It’s been so long since I’ve been around anything that could actually hurt me, I was careless,” he admitted.

  “No kidding,” Elizabeth quipped with blatant sarcasm. Reaching forward, she hesitated to check his chest. Forcing herself forward, she pulled his shirt to the side and was shocked to find his chest cleared of the burns. The skin was still pink with its newness, and there was extensive bruising underneath, but otherwise his chest was flawless. Not even a scar to show for the damage that had been done the night before. Running her hands along his chest, her fingers dipped into the shallow hollows of his pectorals and abs. A part of her wondered how he did it, she never saw him exercising and his kind of muscle tone only came from focused effort. “Artan must have healed you again.”