Page 9 of The War of Wings
“So,” I started after a beat of silence, “this is Heaven. Does that mean Soren is here?” I knew nothing about the Saint of Heaven beyond his name. Was he my uncle? Just a friend of my birth mother? An apprentice?
“Yeah,” Larka answered. “He lives down the street.”
“Very funny,” I replied incredulously.
Larka’s brow furrowed, gesturing behind me. “I’m serious. He lives down the street.”
She stood, gesturing for me to follow her as she traversed up the small hill. I blinked in disbelief when I saw what lay before me. A town nestled in between rolling green hills, houses and buildings all perfectly manicured under a sky full of sunshine. Each house was unique, each yard and garden different.
“This is the Central District,” Larka explained as she saw the disbelief on my face. “There’s also the Coastal District, the Mountain District, the Lake District, and the Meadow District. Everyone ends up where they’ll be happiest. We can visit the other districts once you get settled. There’s a patisserie in the Meadow District I think you’ll love.” She gave a contented sigh before she pointed to the massive structure — no,castle— toward the right of the town, about a half mile from where we stood. She didn’t need to point it out, though, because its rose-colored marble spires were impossible to miss.
Much of the castle was wrapped in vines with red flowers so bright I could see them all the way from here. Water cascaded from the highest turret, landing in a crystal pool at the base of the castle. I could count a dozen more small fountains tucked between the spires and stairways.
“You weren’t kidding,” I breathed, still in awe of the scene sprawled before me. “He really is down the street.”
Larka looked at me with a knowing smile and a raised brow. “I bet he’ll want to meet you.” She grimaced as she leaned in just a bit. “But maybe we should wash the blood off your face first.”
Chapter 3
Cal
I was tired of thinking. I was tired of worrying. I was tired of regret gnawing incessantly at me, eating me from the inside out. And so I didn’t think. I didn’t worry. I just jumped, and prayed it would bring me straight to her.
Please, let it bring me to her.
Tobyas… He was dead. Maybe he’d still been breathing the moment I decided to throw myself through the hole that had swallowed Petra, but by now, he was gone. There was no coming back from the injuries he’d suffered. He told me to go to her, and I did.
It wasn’t going to do anyone any good if I’d stayed behind in the smoking pile of rubble that had once been my home. I was going after Petra if it was the last thing I did.
What surrounded me now was a darkness deeper than the blackest night. I was standing — at least, I thought I was standing.I’d been falling and suddenly stopped, the ground beneath my feet solid, but there’d been no impact.
Where was I?
Something dripped from my temple to my cheek, and I felt the sensation of trying to raise my hand to wipe it away, but…I missed. I swiped at my face again but my hand never made contact. I blinked hard into the darkness as if my eyes simply needed to adjust, wildly batting at my face, waiting for my palm to make contact, but it just didn’t.
Okay,I thought to myself.I have no form here. And even though I had no chest, I still felt panic hit me square in the ribs. I had no lungs, yet I felt the sensation of my breathing quickening, my airway tightening. I followed the familiar movement of taking a single step forward, and it felt right, I just…didn’t have a body.
A pulsing hum drew my attention to my hip — well, where my hip should’ve been. I was surprised when my formless hand closed around the hilt of my sword.How?I pulled it from its sheath, the sword’s hum intensifying as I held it before me. With no physical body, the blade appeared to be suspended in midair. A faint glow emanated from the three rubies inlaid in the hilt, the light growing brighter and dimming at a fever pitch. I squinted at the only source of light in this void I’d found myself in.
“What the fuck?” I murmured, turning the blade over in my grip. The metal of the hilt buzzed against my palm, the brightening and dimming of the gems growing slower as I steadied my breath.
But before I could inspect it closer, something whizzed past my head, and I raised my sword, snapping into my fighting stance on instinct. “Hello?” I shouted. “Who’s there?”
“The world will burn because ofher,” an eerie, hissing voice answered. I whirled, but I couldn’t tell which direction it had come from.
“Where is she?” I demanded, my voice bellowing through the darkness. “Where is Petra?”
“You should’ve killed her,” it answered. “Would’ve been a prettier end to your realm.”
“Where the fuck is she?” I shouted again.
This time, the only answer was a distant beating sound, something like the deep, rhythmic thud of drums. I flinched as something flew by my head again, my sword swinging but cutting through nothing but inky darkness.
I quieted my mind, lending all my focus to the noises around me as I tried to pinpoint exactly where they were coming from. But the sounds were coming from everywhere all at once, from above me and below me, from right behind me and miles ahead of me.
“Who’s there?” I repeated, my voice harder this time. “I demand you to tell me–”
“You know who we are,” the voice answered, and I whirled in place, expecting to find the source of the whispers right behind me. But there was nothing. “We’re almost strong enough to cross the barrier together. Only a few of us have managed to find our way into the Human Realm thus far.”
