Page 66 of Archangel’s Lineage

The entire table shook so hard that the remaining cake crashed to the floor, followed by the table. The four of them bolted upright at the same time, but the ground was moving too violently for Elena’s sisters to make it to the safety of a reinforced doorway, and the table that had gone down was a lightweight one that wouldn’t protect them if the trees next to the patio crashed through the roof.

She met Eve’s eyes. “Lawn!” It was the closest area with nothing that could fall on them.

Eve—tiny but muscled—grabbed Amy and began to make her way there, while Elena hauled Beth out from under the roof, then picked her up under the arms. She wasn’t strong enough to do this, and Beth’s feet scraped the ground, but she got her sister to the lawn before coming back to assist Amy.

Eve ran full tilt beside them, and Beth was waiting to grab Amy when Elena all but collapsed onto the earth with her. All four of them went to the ground as one to ride out the waves of rolling earth. Elena opened her wings over her sisters, tucking them close to her.

Elena!

I’m safe, Archangel! But this is going to be bad.

The shaking stopped.

The group lay on the earth for several more seconds, waiting to see if it would start again, but nothing, only an eerie silence.

Even the birds had gone quiet.

Elena got to her feet, with Eve following, then a shaky Amy and Beth. “Everyone okay?” After getting a round of nods, she said, “I have to fly, check on the damage.”

“I can walk the neighborhood,” Eve said, “see if anyone needs help.”

“I’ll join in after I check on the kids.” Amy held up her phone.

Beth, who was already dialing on her own phone, nodded to show she’d do the same.

Leaving her sisters to it, Elena took off. The houses in the neighborhood looked okay at first glance, though she could see people milling around. A couple of children too young to be at school waved up at her, and she dipped her wings to show she’d seen them; hopefully, that would take their mind off what had just happened.

The first sign of major damage came five minutes later, when she overflew the playing field attached to a local high school. The green had been split in two, a literal small canyon now separating the two jagged halves of the field. There were, however, no players on the field, and she could see no emergency vehicles nearby or en route, so it looked like they’d gotten lucky there.

Her stomach tense, she flew on. And kept seeing damage to the landscape... while houses and other buildings stood unbroken. A few bore minor cracks, but that was it. Raphael, any buildings down in Manhattan?

No, came the astonishing answer. Countless cracked windows, but that’s the worst of the damage. No casualties found so far. We have lost multiple roads, however—you’ll see the oddness of it when you fly in.

I’ll be there soon.

It was no surprise to find the Hudson rippling with the jewellike tones that made it appear a huge and glorious snake. The sight was so stunning that it had become a tourist attraction, with a local company offering helicopter flights over the area. Since the sight couldn’t be predicted, however, tickets only went on sale when it appeared—and sold out every time.

Today, she saw not a single non-angelic flyer in the air—and all watercraft were powering in to berth if they hadn’t already done so. The Tower had to have grounded aircraft and ordered boats back to shore. A good precaution.

Because, while lovely, the water below her was choppy. She’d never seen waves like this on the river. Huge rolling arcs that glittered with the colors of the shimmering scales. Fascinated, she nonetheless flew on, needing to see Manhattan with her own eyes. All those tall buildings, all those people in the streets...

The edge of Manhattan brought good news. People had gathered outside, as if they’d evacuated, but the buildings stood tall. A few gaping holes where windows had once been, but that was it. And though she could hear the sirens of emergency vehicles rising up into the air, she couldn’t see any ambulances nearby.

She flew on.

And came to a halt in the air. “What the hell?”

Fifth Avenue had a jagged crack running through it, just like the football field. Only... not a single cab or car or person appeared to have been caught in the ragged maw. It zigged and zagged all the way along the tarmac in such an erratic line that it was almost as if a sentient mind had gone around the vehicles and people.

A number of cabbies who’d halted in the street stood staring at the crack, gesticulating to each other across the massive gap that now separated the two sides of the avenue. One had his soft cap in hand and was slapping it into his palm as he spoke to another, who was scratching his head while staring down at the strata of earth exposed by the crack.

As Raphael had warned her, it wasn’t the only affected roadway. Archangel, the roads.

You haven’t seen the whole of it. Head to the Tower.

Beyond befuddled, she flew on... only to come to a screeching halt above the Tower. Raphael, who must’ve been keeping an eye out for her, flew up from the roof to join her where she hovered with her mouth open.

Snapping it shut with effort, she said, “Either Beth baked magic mushrooms into her cake, or the grass around the Tower has turned into scales.”

---