Victor ignored him, continuing to stalk me. His eyes glowed brightly red and I shuddered, realizing he had finally accepted The Dark One into himself. He had Descended. I was shocked to realize that the death of his lackey was the straw that had broken the camel's back. I couldn't help wondering what was so special about Harmony that her death would make him become something he had rejected for years.
"Why?" I finally asked him as I bumped into the concrete wall, running out of space to retreat.
"Why what?" he snarled.
"Why would you do all this," I said, sweeping my hands out to indicate the lifeless bodies of Harmony and Mason. "Now you decide to Descend? Why torture your own flesh and blood if all you were going to do was Descend in the end? Why turn her into a monster?"
"She was NOT a monster, she was a work of art!" He yelled in my face, showering me with his rancid saliva as he backhanded me.
Reeling from the blow that lifted me off the ground, I worked to hold my footing. I could hear scuffling behind him, but I could not see around Victor's bulk. I cringed as I thought about what the Daemons were doing to Mark. I raised a hand to my cheek, feeling the swollen skin that stretched from my lip to the corner of my left eye.
"Is that the best you got?" I mocked, using a tone I was sure would get under his skin. I fought back a small smile as my words had their desired effect.
"You are as foolish as you are insolent, standing there so proud. Are you expecting some kind of miracle? Perhaps you're wondering where your Archangel is. He won't be swooping in to save the day. He cannot enter this area. It's sacred," he said, wrapping a hand around my throat much like he had Mason. "You have to be invited by a greater being, and just put it this way, I won't be calling your Angel in anytime soon."
"Sacred?" I asked, not understanding.
"I chose this space for my lab specifically. It is centered directly over a gateway The Dark One himself uses. The folklore surrounding the mountain is true, although instead of aliens like the locals believe, it is The Dark One and his loyal servants that inhabit this space."
"If that's true, why would he allow you to build this monstrosity on his sacred ground?" I asked, trying to make sense of his words.
"Because my dear naïve girl, I have given him what he craves the most over the years."
"What?" I asked, dreading the answer.
"Forgotten Souls."
"Forgotten Souls?" I asked as bile climbed its way up my throat. "You give him humans that are still alive?"
"Well, just put it this way, they're no longer human once they make the journey through the gateway," he said, using the same mocking tone I was completely sick of by now. His fingers tightened slightly around my throat, limiting my air supply. "Would you like to see what Forgotten Souls feed on when they come back?" He asked, shifting our bodies so I could see the mayhem behind us.
The Light inside me extinguished as I reached out with my emotions and discovered the Daemons were feasting on my friends' souls.
"NO!" I shrieked, trying to squirm out of his hold.
His fingers tightened further, "Yes my dear. They take what they have lost, their souls. They may not be the sharpest tacks, but they are loyal servants, and will follow me wherever I choose to go."
My oxygen level declined as I scraped feebly at the back of his hand, trying to break free. My vision began to cloud, and for the first time since we had entered the mountain, I called out in vain for Haniel. I knew all was lost and my only regret was that Victor would continue to wreak havoc on the earthly realm once we were gone. I closed my eyes, praying the end would come quickly.
"Let go of her!" A voice thundered across the lab.
My eyes flew open in time to see Victor's incredulous expression as he released his deathly grip on my throat.
I slid down the wall, trying to catch my breath. The ground beneath me began to shake and shudder as Victor turned toward the voice.
"How are you here?" Victor asked, sounding confused for the first time.
"I was invited by someone far greater than you," Haniel said, looking at me briefly. "She holds more power than you could ever dream realize."
"You think you can defeat me?" Victor asked, glaring at Haniel with hatred.
"You are already defeated. I am merely here to send you home," Haniel said as the quaking beneath our feet intensified.
I watched in amazement as the concrete flooring in the center of the room gave way, sinking into oblivion below it.
Join the others, I heard Haniel's thoughts in my head.
I glanced at my friends and was relieved to see that Haniel's appearance had spared them from the Daemons onslaught. John and Jacob clutched their unconscious Guides, dragging them to where Mark stood on the far side of the room. Using the wall for support, I slowly crept along the perimeter of the room as the flooring in the center of the room continued to sink away.
"You think I will just jump in there willing?" Victor asked belligerently, inching toward the doors that led to the lab.
Knowing his intention, I reversed my direction and headed toward the doors to ward off his escape. I was so intent on my mission that I gasped when a hand snaked out and grasped my own. Glancing down, I saw Mark's long lean fingers wrapped securely around my wrist.
I don't think so, his thoughts flashed through my mind. Haniel has this.
Looking up, I saw he was right. Haniel continued to stalk Victor, closing in on him.
"You are nothing Angel," Victor said as he finally reached his destination and grasped onto one of the door handles behind him.
I wanted to shout out a warning to Haniel, but saw he was one step ahead of me as Victor pulled on the doorknob in vain.
"You will not be leaving the mountain that way Victor. The Light has made a deal with The Dark One," Haniel said, continuing his slow advance.
"The Dark One does not make deals with The Light," Victor said, looking scared for the first time.
"He made an exception this time. You see, he feels that someone like you must be stopped from ever walking in the earthly realm again."
"What could The Light possibly offer The Dark One that he couldn't obtain himself?" Victor asked.
"The Angel that watches over his most treasured celestial beings," Haniel answered, finally reaching out to grasp Victor.
Haniel's words took a moment to sink in.
"No!" I screamed, trying to break Mark's hold on me so I could race to Haniel's side. How could The Light offer up Haniel for us?
Mark's grip on me tightened, holding me in place.
"No, no," I said again as tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I struggled against Mark, trying to use my new gifts against him to break his hold, but realized his gifts matched my own. I could not break away from the one person who was equal to me. I watched Haniel with grief-stricken eyes as he slowly dragged Victor across the floor.
Haniel's eyes met mine as he held a vice-like grip on Victor's flailing body.
"It is the only way Krista," he said sincerely before he jumping into the empty space, dragging Victor with him.
Victor's screams slowly faded away, but mine remained as I watched Haniel disappear into total darkness.
Mark released his hold on my wrist as I sank to my knees sobbing. Disbelief flowed through me as Haniel's death pierced through me like a sword. How could The Light value Haniel's life so much less than ours?
Through dazed eyes, I watched as Mark, John and Jacob used their strength and Mark's new powers to shove the Daemons down the gaping hole in the floor. None of them put up much of a fight, confused that their master had disappeared on them. Within seconds, only our group remained in the huge room. The floor began to shake and shudder again as the hole in the center of the room began to grow. I approached the hole in the floor, wanting to jump in myself.
Mark jerked me backwards just as the floor collapsed where I had stood. "Dying won't bring him back!" He yelled over the deafening noise of the building caving in around us.
&
nbsp; I looked at him blankly, trying to make sense of what The Light had done.
"We have to leave!" Mark said, shaking my shoulders.
I nodded, knowing he was right. Even if I jumped in the hole that took Haniel, it wouldn't change anything.
I saw John and Jacob scoop up Kieran and Kim into their arms, sprinting along the perimeter of the room toward us. Mark grasped onto my wrist and pulled me from the room toward the double doors. He used his broad shoulders to ram into the doors, flinging them open as we ran. John and Jacob sprinted behind us, cradling their Guides in their arms. Glancing back, I saw that the floor continued to crumble away, nipping at our feet as we raced down the endless hallway.
"Hurry," I yelled at Jacob, finally coming to my senses as I watched him struggle to keep up.
My words seemed to give him the burst of speed he needed as he caught up to us just as we burst through the heavy door, depositing us into the early dawn air. The door behind us collapsed as the mountain sealed itself away, leaving nothing but rubble behind.
Victor's lair had disappeared into where it rightfully belonged, taking the monster that had haunted us for so many years with it.
We sat on the ground that continued to rumble, trying to catch our breath. Glancing around at my friends, I was relieved to see Kim and Kieran starting to come around in the arms of their Protectors.
"Krista?" A voice called out behind us.
Turning around, I saw Lynn and Robert stepping out of the woods approaching us with their entire party still intact.
Jumping to my feet, I limped toward them as fast as my injured leg would allow.
"Are you okay?" Lynn asked, openly crying.
"Yes, are you?"
"Yeah, we never made it into the mountain. We got to the back entrance, but Haniel couldn't enter. He tried everything and finally disappeared for a while to confer with The Light. When he came back, he said we needed to wait until you called for him. He said once that happened, we were to make our way to this entrance and wait for you," Robert said. "Where is Sam?" He continued in the same breath.
"She's at the hospital with Shawn. I'm sure she's okay," I said, trying to ease his anxiety.
"Krista, where is Haniel?" Lynn asked, looking around anxiously.
I shook my head, unable to answer her question. Hot tears tracked down my cheeks as the impact of his death hit me full-on.
"No," Lynn said, unwilling to believe. She turned to John for a more suitable answer, but he merely nodded his head, confirming what I had been unable to say.
I closed my eyes as my friends expressed their anguish.
"What are you doing here?" I heard Lynn demand.
Opening my eyes, I saw her studying Mark harshly.
I started to explain, but Mark held up his hand. "Let me," he said, pulling me into his arms, giving me the comfort I so desperately needed. I sank back into his arms gratefully.
Mark plunged into an explanation, highlighting everything our group had missed. I watched the play of emotions cross their faces as they realized Mark had never crossed over, along with their pain when he explained the sacrifice Haniel had made for all of us.
We were here because Haniel had given his life for us.
Mark's words stalled as an imposing figure stepped out of the woods. For the briefest moment, I thought it was Haniel and my heart leaped to my throat, but to my dismay I could see it was a different Archangel.
"Krista, Mark," the stranger nodded, "you are to accompany me. There is someone who wishes to seek your acquaintance," he said formally, sounding much like Haniel had when we first met him.
My heart wept as the pain of losing Haniel hit me acutely.
"Why?" Mark asked.
"That is a question only he can answer," he said, waiting for us to join him.
Mark glanced at me. I shrugged my shoulders, grasping onto his hands. Was it even possible to say no to an Archangel? Stepping away from our group, Mark and I joined him as he reached out with his hands. Together, Mark and I grasped onto them as he slowly lifted our feet from the ground. I glanced back at my friends as we slowly Ascended away from them, toward what awaited us beyond the earthly realm.
Epilogue
There is no sense of time in the heavenly realm. When Mark and I returned back to our friends, we had no earthly idea that several days had passed. We weren't surprised though, to find them in the place that had drawn us all together.
They greeted us exuberantly as we suddenly appeared on the sand just beyond where they were all lounging. They jumped to their feet, taking turns embracing us as we were passed from one set of arms to the next.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, laughing in delight. "Oh Sam," I said, squeezing her in my arms. "How are you feeling?"
"Fit as a fiddle," she said smiling.
Shawn grabbed me up in a bear hug, spinning me around. I laughed out loud at his joy. "It's the only place that made sense," Sam said, finally answering my first question as Shawn gave me one last crushing hug.
"Sis, where have you been?"
"Oh you know, hobnobbing on the heavenly realm and such," I joked good-naturedly.
"That's insane," he said, grinning at us.
"I know right," I said, sinking down on the sand with Sam and Lynn, who both wrapped their arms around my waist, anchoring me to them.
"We were with Haniel," I said, dropping the bombshell.
"What! How?" Lynn asked, confused.
"Haniel made a deal with The Light. He sacrificed himself as an Archangel if it would save us. Once he dragged Victor to The Dark One, The Light gave Haniel his deepest desire."
"And what is that?" Sam asked, enthralled with our tale.
"That he spends all of eternity with his one true love," I answered smiling.
"What?" Kieran asked, clearly shocked. "Haniel was in love?"
"Well, that's a whole other story," I said knowingly.
"So tell it," Kieran said, sinking between John's legs on a big oversized towel.
It took Mark and me several hours to fill them in on Haniel, and what we had learned and experienced once we had left the earthly realm. We tried to give them every detail we could remember. Finding the right words to explain what we had seen proved to be a challenge. Heaven was unlike anything I had ever imagined. I had always pictured it as dreamlike place with Angels bouncing from one cloud to the next. I remembered when I was eight and still struggling to control my emotions, my parents had taken me to Sunday school. The day had been a disaster as I tried to fade into the background, only to have the overly friendly teacher call on me frequently, hoping to draw me out of my shell. By the time my parents picked me up, I was a mess, but I could still recall in the lesson how the teacher had told us the streets of heaven were lined with gold and everyone lived in a mansion. Neither of those assumptions proved to be true.
"It was like entering what I can only imagine the Garden of Eden was like. Lush plants and vegetation grows abundantly everywhere. Animals and people roam the land together, neither harming the other. The air is always the same mild temperature, neither hot nor cold," I said, trying to explain it the best I could in a mishmash of words.
"Why did Haniel want to see you?" John finally asked the most important question.
I glanced at Mark before answering. He nodded his head, smiling at me. "Haniel wanted to see us so he could appoint us to our new job!"
"Job?' Sam asked bewildered.
"Yes, we have been appointed to take over for him," I said.
"Like, as Archangels?" John asked, trying to make sense of our words.
"No, as the first Ascended Angels," I said, shooting Mark a small smile.
"Mark Ascended too?" Sam gasped beside me.
"Yes," I answered.
My answer opened a floodgate of questions and Mark and I answered them the best we could. We were a little unsure of our duties, but Haniel had promised he would contact us soon through the same Archangel that had guided us to the Heavenly Realm.
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"So, Haniel has been in love with your mom all these years?" Sam asked.
Mark nodded his head.
"That is sooooooo romantic," she said, sinking back into Shawn's embrace.
"What comes next?" Jaime asked after several moments passed.
"I don't know. It seems so crazy, not having to worry about Victor anymore. I guess we wait for the next bad guy to come around. But in the meantime, I say a family reunion is in order. I'm dying to meet a certain little boy named Logan. I have a secret for his ears only," I said, shooting Jaime a smile.
My friends continued to pepper us with questions. After we had exhausted every detail, I finally stood up and walked toward the water's edge. The peace I felt was unlike any I had ever experienced. It was hard to believe that six months ago I had stood on this exact spot, confused and lost. I could hardly remember the girl I had been as I tried to recall how unsure and insignificant I had felt. Surrounded now by the ones I loved, it seemed like a lifetime ago. Mark joined me at the water's edge and wrapped his arms around my waist. I tilted my head back to look into his eyes, losing myself in the arms of the person that had chosen me over all else.
The Dark Angel
(The Saving Angels: A Prequel)
By Tiffany King
When you have walked the earth as long as I have and watched humanity struggle through their turbulent lives, you begin to treasure those that are different than the rest. I am blessed that my duty is to oversee those with the purest souls. I have always understood the importance of my vows and know that The Light considers me one of his most important Archangels. He assigned me the honor of presiding over the angelic order, and for many earth cycles, I have carried out my assignment faithfully. I delight as the bonds between the Guides and Protectors mature, and honor those lost in service of their celestial duty. I could spend all my days watching the souls of the Guides, seeing their purity make a difference in the lives of humans that have given up all hope.
The Guides do not belong to me, they belong to their Protectors. I am not jealous of this for I am an Archangel, and I am not part of their world. Archangels do not feel human emotions. Anger, jealousy and even their version of love is lost to us. We love everyone in the same capacity, that is what we were made for, and yet there is one who has changed all of that for me.