Page 23 of The Fallen

?“Were they the same ones who ambushed us the other night?” Renea asked.

?“Yes, I felt the same presence,” Brenton replied while shaking his head.

?They let that sink in for a minute. One of their own was trying to kill them. He didn't know why. Brenton had been around so many angels all his life, growing up as a family, it hurt him that this was what it boiled down to.

?“This is starting to get out of hand Mike. This is the second time they've attacked within the course of just days,” Brenton whispered.

?They both turned to look at Marie. Brenton knew she was a big part of the solution. She just didn't know it yet. She was his key, his answer and he was going to do his best to make this easier for her.

?Having Micheal here took some of the pressure off of him. He wasn't his mentor, but he confided in him a lot. Micheal acted like a big brother and Brenton respected him for it.

?Micheal looked like he could be a father, although he was only nineteen. He was a six foot two Puerto Rican, with black wavy hair, dark brown eyes, chiseled jaw line, and a body built like a pro wrestler.

?He stood in the corner of Marie's room like a statue, his face furrowed. He was always thinking and planning ahead. It was in his nature.

?Marie finally came around an hour later and she looked radiant. Brenton must have looked like a complete idiot for the way he was staring at her. Everything about her changed. She was beautiful before, but this was just intimidating. She was an angel indeed.

?“Why is everyone staring at me like that?” she asked.

?Brenton stepped up to tell her what happened after she passed out and Micheal chimed in to add how he saved them.

?She was furious with herself. She wished she could have been a part of the fight instead she was part of the problem. Brenton was excited about how fluid and in sync they were. Her thoughts, although jumbled, were coming out of nowhere and Brenton could hear them without even trying to.

?“Wait, why didn't Helena warn us if she knew we would be attacked? And why would she let me eat the leaf?” Marie asked.

?“I think she's sadistic. She probably did it for kicks. She's been around for a long time, she has to amuse herself some kind of way,” he said.

?“I don't think so,” her mom said. “I've known Helena for a long time now and that was a training exercise. Marie has to know how it feels to be down and learn how to pick herself up or she won't make it. There will be times when you will be weakened by the enemy and you will die if you can't work around it.”

?“She's right. You must train immediately,” Micheal added. “It's clear Azazel's kids are after you. They have never attacked like this before.”

?“But why me? What do they want?”

?The question hung in the air. No one knew how to answer it. They had to think she was a threat and she needed to be eliminated, but what would they have to gain when they did?

Chapter Fourteen

The men of the village were afraid. They went to God to ask for forgiveness and help with the angels that took over their home. Some of the men had been savagely beaten and killed by the angels, many of them moved away.

?Every night they gathered in the sacred garden and prayed, looking for guidance and someone to avenge them. Until one night, the answer came. They were told to be patient, that help was on the way.

?Lead by the archangel Michael, the cavalry came, like thieves in the night, ready to gather all the angels to imprison them.

?One hundred mighty men with wings, descended on the village; some with swords, others with bow and arrows, all of them adorned with golden armor. They looked like giants as they stood over the men of the village.

?The fallen scattered, trying to hide themselves and their children. The sirens were left to fend for themselves. The fallen angels were more concerned with protecting themselves and their legacy.

?Raphael was the last to arrive, having been given special instructions to carry out. He stood twenty feet tall with blazing armor and golden wings. He had platinum hair the length of his shoulders that flowed with the wind. His eyes the color of silver.

?He was commanded to bind Azazel, hand and foot, and cast him in the deepest hole. He was to never see light until his day of judgment.

?God gave Semjaza the charge over the angels, but Azazel was secretly running things in the background. He had powers of manipulation of his own. He was more adamant about violating God's law.

?The battle began and Michael went after Semjaza first. He was to bind him and his associates for seventy generations in the valley's of the deepest part of Earth. On the day of judgment, they would be thrown in the abyss of fire to be tormented for their crimes against God.

?The battle only lasted an hour, but it left nothing but destruction in its wake. Most of the houses were burned down, the animals ran off, but the two hundred angels had finally been captured.

?The archangels chained the fallen and the earth opened up. A hole, the size of a crater, formed in the middle of the village, giving them room to throw the fallen in. The sirens and spawns remained in the village awaiting their fate.

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