Wingless, p.26
Wingless, page 26
Comprehension flashed in his eyes, not of my argument, but of the decision I had come to while we had been trying to make him understand. “You’re going to sever my wings. You are going to make me live like one of them,” he said.
Again, I answered him with a shake of my head. “No, Michael, I’m not going to sever your wings, and I can’t make you human. To be honest, that is just too large a step up from where you are now. But I can start you on your journey. I can make you Wingless. Not sever, but bind your wings as you once bound ours, and hopefully open your eyes in the process. The rest will be up to you.”
“Of course,” Michael gasped as his strength gave out and his head fell back to lay on the sand. “You will have your revenge on me.”
As I stood once more and raised the flaming sword to carry out the miracle, I replied, “No, Michael, this is not revenge, I wouldn’t even call it justice. I promise that we won’t leave you alone, we will be there to help. And one day you may just realise that what I do today is a blessing.”
Later, with Beatrice and Gary each under one of Michael’s shoulders to carry him, and with no wings to drag along behind him, the seven of us reached the top of the small hill that delineated the edge of the Tree’s miracle dampening influence. Waiting just beyond the crest was the Lightbringer, and with him were Samael and Orfael.
As we stopped, Lightbringer stepped forward. “Joan, he’s my responsibility now. Give him to me. I promise no harm will come to him.”
“Sorry, Azazel,” I replied, enjoying the look that passed over his perfect features as I used his other form’s name. I motioned for our little group to continue moving forward. “No can do. We promised to look after him, and I think you’ll agree we’re the most qualified.”
We covered that last short distance in a few steps and as one we had our wings suddenly and fully open in all their glory. Even Orfael’s wings opened synchronously with ours, and humorously accompanied by her squeak of surprise.
And as they did so, a feeling of pride blanketed the area. The kind of pride that can only come from a parent. Lightbringer smiled as well at the sight, before bowing his head in salute. “Well done, all of you,” he said. He basked in the sight for a moment before continuing, “I’ve only felt God this pleased once before. I will take my leave, but one day, when you are ready, I would like to hear the story of exactly what happened in there.”
With their full angelic power restored, the others simply disappeared, taking Michael with them. Orfael soon followed, and after a nod from Lightbringer, so did Samael. Once we were alone, Lightbringer transformed himself back into Azazel and reached out his arms, in that request for a hug I used to find so incredibly irritating.
This time, though, I hugged him with a smile, using both my arms and my wings.
“One question,” I said, as we broke our embrace. “You said you had experienced that feeling of pride once before.”
Azazel smiled again, although this time it had just a hint of sadness hidden behind it. “I have been around the block a few times, Joan. Why do you ask?”
He took a half step back from me, and I sensed he was getting ready to leave. I folded my wings back away, so it would look just like the old ‘us’, and locked my eyes with his to ask the question I had already guessed the answer to. “Was it when He asked you to lead the rebellion?”
Azazel took another step back and started to fade. He shared a sad smile with me and there was an almost imperceptible nod to his head. As he vanished, a single whispered word was left hanging in the air between us.
“Yes.”
Epilogue
To say that it was obvious that we would all just continue with our missions on Earth after regaining our wings would be to miss the point of what we had become. We may have been created from the same mould, but we had grown, each unique experience subtly changing us over time. We were true individuals, possessing something as complex and tricky as it was precious. Free will.
Certainly Beatrice, Silje, and Gary chose to stay where they were. Beatrice had her and Kateri’s new daughter to be with, and I think Silje and Gary fancied themselves as the crazy aunt and uncle.
Orfael chose to ascend, feeling a need for time away from Earth, although she had not closed off the possibility of returning one day. Damien also ascended, although he claimed it was just an overdue long service leave holiday he was taking, and he’d be back within the year.
Admonae had, on her own, come to the same conclusion I had about Lightbringer’s rebellion and fall from grace, and she decided to indulge in some private discussions with the leader of the Fallen. I warned her that Azazel was probably not going to be as forthcoming as she would like, but Admonae just muttered something about enjoying a challenge and went anyway.
Adelita and Joel ended up travelling with Admonae, as they were planning to make contact once more with all the Wingless who had chosen to fall over the ages. While they said they expected to be back on Earth soon, I was not going to hold them to that. Those sorts of family reunions are not something to be rushed.
Lennox’s decision surprised me. While we all felt the loss of Toby, her pain at his death was more intimate, more acute. They had shared so much over so long a time, and the wound left by his passing was not something that would mend quickly. So, when she originally volunteered to be the one to mentor Michael, I forbade it. It took Lennox almost a week of badgering to convince me it was not only something she needed to do, but that she would be the best choice for Michael before I capitulated under the weight of her argument.
And then there is me. Not only had I regained my wings, but I was also now thrust into Michael’s position as Archangel of War. Quite laughable, really, except that my time on Earth had taught me that the one sure way to win a war, was to never let it start. Consequently, I effectively split my time between Earth and the Heavens, trying to teach that lesson to human and Angel alike.
Free will, as it turns out, is a hard thing to get right. It was something our Creator had been striving for since the beginning, and I personally believe it was his ultimate goal when He started. The Archangels were his first attempt, and they failed. Next the heavenly hosts, who turned out to be a small improvement, as they could at least make one decision, one choice. Then came us, the Angels whose destiny it was to become the Wingless, because of a war that was arranged by our Creator for that very purpose. After us, it was improved again in the animals of the Earth, and finally, free will was perfected with the humans.
However, in what came as a surprise; even, I’d like to think, to Him, was that once created, free will turns out to be rather infectious. Thankfully so, for us.
Gary would probably say it has a mind of its own.
The End.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David M. James is an avid writer and role-player, living in Canberra, Australia’s capital city. With Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Education, David teaches computer games programming and physics at a senior college in Canberra. When not in front of a class, David enjoys writing role-playing games and LARPs for gaming conventions, something he has been doing since 1986. David also helps run the Phenomenon Games Convention held in Canberra each year. In 2021 he published his first novel, Wingless, an urban fantasy about a group of Angels banished from heaven. His debut novel explored the concepts of free will, family and friendship.
His second novel, Born Without Wings, continues the story of one of the Wingless fifteen years after the events in the first book.
A third book in the series is now also being written.
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