Page 13 of The Fallen

?A metal arrow whizzed past Brenton's head as he stayed on her heels. She stopped and turned right before a spear hurdled toward him. She picked it out of the air and in the same instance, turned in a full circle and threw it back in the same direction.

?Brenton couldn't see anyone, he could only feel their presence. They were closing in on them fast. He waited for any direction from Marie's mom; she was the veteran in this case.

?He shifted his position from behind her and was now running along side her. Out of nowhere, a strong wind picked them up in midair then slammed them back down to the ground. They scrambled to get back on their feet before they were pummeled. As soon as Brenton stood, someone flew by him, hitting his arm and cutting a slice across his stomach. Before he could see who it was, they were gone.

?He touched the area on his stomach and pulled away a hand full of blood. He didn't feel any pain, and the wound would heal soon enough, but he knew they were toying with him.

?“Air and metal?” Brenton thought. “How many are there?”

?“I don't know, but we need to get somewhere safe and fast,” Marie's mom thought back to him.

?She turned in a full circle to assess the area. They were still lurking in the distance. She nudged her head in a direction to the east of them and Brenton understood. They started running again, only to be stopped once more by a blur that tackled Marie's mom, caught her by the neck and had her dangling in the air.

?Brenton rushed over, but another strong wind threw him back a hundred yards. He quickly jumped to his feet. He was mad because he left all his weapons, not thinking he would have any use for them now. He should have known better.

?In the distance, a fire blazed. He got closer and saw Marie's mom burning anything in her path. The grass looked like it was melting, the trees were smoking. Brenton directed some of the fire into his hands and stood guard, turning around to prepare for any attack.

?A flash of light passed by Brenton's head and they both concentrated on that direction, throwing whatever they had. It was too late to figure out it was a distraction from the real threat. Another one of the attackers ran around them so fast, the fire began to swirl with the wind and turned into a tornado of heat and they were caught in the middle.

?Even though the fire wouldn't bother them, it left them blinded to what was happening outside the inferno. Brenton looked to Marie's mom and she was calm and collected. He watched as she closed her eyes and focused all her energy.

?Brenton looked up from inside the tunnel of fire, and saw a hole open on the top. Marie's mom put her hands together and brought them straight to her chest before pushing all of her energy out. The fire turned into an explosion and anything that was close was knocked back, including the attackers. They were temporarily down so they would have to think fast.

?Without blinking, Marie's mom was right back into hyper mode. Brenton was so impressed. He could learn so much from her. She has been out of commission for years, but could still handle herself very well. Imagine if she was at her full potential. He couldn't wait to train with Marie. Together they could do some damage.

?She took a hard right and they were running along the highway. Behind them, the attackers were back on their trail. They ducked and dodged until they ended up in a clearing. Brenton saw a warehouse in the distance.

?“We need to get inside,” she said in his mind.

?Marie's mom formed a ball of fire in her hand, the size of a baseball and threw it at a huge red button in the front of the building. The garage door began to roll up. She let it roll up halfway before throwing another ball at the same button and it began to descend.

?They got closer and slid under the garage before it completely closed. Outside, it sounded like hard rain was hitting the door with the amount of knives being thrown.

?“Where are we?” he asked.

?“Marie's Uncle Josh's warehouse. He built this and safeguarded it against any threat, even angels.”

?“If they give up, they might go back to your house. What are we going to do about Marie?”

?Her eyes widened. “We are not far. I just ran around in circles for a bit before leading them here.”

?“That's awesome,” Brenton smiled. “Since you showed me your super cool moves, it's my turn to show you some tricks of my own,” he said reaching out his hand to her. “Close your eyes and focus on the wall in Marie's room. The one next to her closet.”

?She did as he said and he closed his eyes as well. It was hard for him to concentrate with the relentless pounding against the building, but he pushed past it wanting to get back to Marie.

?He continued to think about that spot and then walked forward. The air changed, it became warmer and he opened his eyes. They were back in Marie's room.

?Marie's mom looked around the room. She touched the wall before turning to him and grinned, “Nice work kid. I'm officially impressed.”

?She opened the door to see Marie lying on the floor. Brenton came around and picked her up to carry her back in the room and lie her on the bed.

?She finally stirred, her eyes fluttered open. She looked around in a daze and sat up. “Mom, what happened?”

?“It was nothing. We're fine,” she said.

?Marie's mom stared at the window as Brenton searched the room. The only evidence of the attack was the busted window. All the knives that were stuck in the door and walls were gone. There wasn't even indents to show where they were lodged.

?Brenton leaned against the wall, trying to grasp what happened. How they were ambushed by other angels; skilled ones at that. They were too fast to get a handle on, he never saw their faces, but he knew that one had descended from metal and the other from air.

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