Embers (The Wings of War Book 1) (48 page)

Revelation 5:2

Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll

and to loosen its seals?”

Ember ~ Forty-Five

I
t was Ila, but it wasn’t Ila. 

She was young, her hair bright gold and flying around her smooth, round face. She was mounted on Cricket, and they were racing down the hill together.  Behind them were Angus and Ivan in his wolf form. I had to blink several times to be sure that the image didn’t disappear.  But it was real.  Ila
had
come for me. 

Angus veered off and met me a moment later.  He licked my face, and it was the sweetest slobber fest I’d ever received.  Ivan appeared by my other side in his human form.

“You look most terrible, Ember,” he said, kneeling down.

“Sawyer is dead, I think.  You have to go to him in the compound.”

Ivan’s eyes held mine for an instant, and then he was a wolf again, and he was gone.

When Ila reached us, she vaulted off Cricket, and my horse came to stand next to me.  Cricket dropped her head to my face and snorted, blowing her grassy breath over me.  The sweet scent of alfalfa tantalized me, reminding me that there was another place, not too far away, where all was right and good.  I wanted to go to the place again.

“There are two Watchers? 
That,
I did not anticipate,” the swarthy Demon said in a pleased voice as he stopped to reload his gun.

Ila smiled at me and said, “All will be well, dear child, don’t you worry.”  She bent down and kissed my forehead and then my cheeks.  Her touch worked some healing in me, and I shakily sat up. 

“Please be careful.” I held her hand, not wanting to let go.  As shocking as it was to see her young, she was still the same Ila to me.

“I love you, Ember,” she said, holding my gaze for a second before leaving me.  I crawled to the side of the tree to watch her.  Her entire body glowed, and she seemed to be floating above the ground.   

The bullets were flying at her, but they bounced off an invisible shield she held around her.  When she stopped, her voice boomed out unnaturally loud, causing me to shiver at the sound. 

“Garrett and Sarah Hammond, I’ve come for the harvest.  Today you will reap what you have sown.” 

“That was a long time ago, Watcher.  I thought you to be dead,” Garrett shouted, stepping away from a tree.  Eight other Demons followed suit, most of them bleeding and injured.

My Demon bodyguard scooped me up into his arms before I could protest.  “We have to get further away, trust me.” He waited for me to agree, which was nice.  When I nodded, he swept into action.  “Can you sit on the horse?” He asked urgently.

“Yes, it’s my horse,” I said, irritated with the question at first.  Then it dawned on me that he meant because of my injuries.  I was hurting all over and none of my body parts seemed to be working right, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Good.” He placed me on Cricket’s bare back, since Ila hadn’t bothered with a saddle, and then he leaped up behind me. Cricket didn’t have any reins either.  In theory I should be able to manage to use my mind to direct her, but she was such a difficult mare sometimes.

Cricket rose to the occasion and responded easily, whirling around and galloping back up the hill.  Angus followed.  When we reached the summit, the stranger whispered for me to stop the horse and I did.

“You will not want to miss this,” he said, sliding off the horse and helping me down. He seemed excited all of a sudden.  The fact that he got his jollies from a situation as crazy as this made me wonder all the more about him.

I could stand now, but he still braced me with his arm as we both looked down into the hollow, waiting for the fireworks to begin. 

Ila stood very still, and her arms were raised wide.  A person stumbling upon the scene would have believed that she was an angel, her golden crown of hair startling against the brown and green of the forest surrounding her.  The wind picked up, blowing down the ridges and entering the hollow with mounting speed.  The sky darkened as graying clouds slid across the sky to obscure the sun in an action that would never have occurred so swiftly by normal weather conditions.

A flash of lightening splintered the air, striking a huge tree where two of the Demons were standing.  The tree snapped and the monsters attempted to flee, but they were unable to out run it, as it seemed to fall with a sense of purpose.  It toppled to the ground, crushing them with a horrendous crash.

The other Demons turned and ran, all except for Garrett and the blonde Demon by his side. The two of them seemed resigned to their fate, ready to go out in a blaze of glory.  They weren’t running from anyone.  They were just that type.

The Demons that attempted to escape couldn’t move quickly enough.  The wind flowed around the hollow at incredible speed, beginning to take form, thickening, and picking up all debris in its path.  And there was Ila, standing in the heart of it all.  But the wind wasn’t affecting her.  She was rooted to a safe port in a dreadful storm.

The rushing air made a baleful noise, rocking my ears, whipping the hair against my face roughly.  The Demon jerked me to the ground, bracing us against a massive tree. He’d been right, if we hadn’t moved, we’d be in the middle of the tempest right now.  Angus pushed his head under the crook of my arm, whining and shaking.  Cricket, in a fit of equine terror, bolted away into the woods, to a place far away from Ila’s storm.  I let her go, willing her to safety. 

His voice tickled me, seeking,
Ember?
It was so weak, barely a whisper in my mind.

But he was alive…

Tears fell from my eyes in relief.  Although my mind wanted to stay with him, the scene before me broke the connection.

The wind was black, and the roar deafening.  The shape that Ila gave the air was a tornado, held in place and controlled by her.  One by one, the remaining Demons were swept up into the furious atmosphere.

But still, Ila continued to build the storm, growing it to a size that was frightening. Was she losing her rein on the power, or was she just that upset?

I wanted to leave the storm behind, to go to Sawyer, but when I started to rise, the Demon huddled beside me gripped my arm, shaking his head,
no.

When I thought the sound couldn’t get any louder, the earth groaned, and I began to scream.  The ground shook, and the trees tore from the dirt around us, collapsing, falling in explosions of leaves, branches and dirt. 

The Demon shielded me with his body, and I peeked out from under his arm to see it happen. 

The tornado began to rise and below it, the earth split in two, sending giant chunks of earth, rocks and trees flying upwards.  The tornado caught the debris and lifted it all up into itself. 

The whole world quaked, shuddering with effort before Ila finally dropped her arms.  The single movement caught my eye in all the destruction, as if it was a seashell you saw from a distance, glaringly bright in the sand, wanting you to find it.  With that movement, the tornado crashed into the earth, widening the devastating hole.  The roar of the wind was gone, but giant pieces of debris rained down from the sky, smashing into the ground all around us.  Still the Demon lay atop me, protecting me from the onslaught.

When the crashing noises ceased, my protector rolled to the side, coughing from the dust-filled cloud covering the entire hollow and the ridges around it. 

I was coughing too, and I tried to look around properly, but there was too much soot in my eyes.  When they watered enough to give me vision, I saw that both the Demon and I were completely covered in the dust.  Angus sneezed next to my face, and I hugged him briefly, my hands probing his body, but finding no injuries. 

I stood up in disbelief at the apocalyptic scene that surrounded us.  There were no trees left and part of the hillside had dropped into the gaping hole in the ground.  It was as big as a high school football field. 

Is this what the entire world will look like when it ends?

I pulled away from the Demon and started down the hill to Ila, but downed trees, boulders and huge clumps of earth blocked my way.  I soon learned that I didn’t need to worry about reaching Ila.  She came to me.  When I looked up, she was suddenly standing there before me.   She was completely clean and untouched, but to my horror, and in front of my very own eyes, her youth was slipping away.  Her hair was turning white, the wrinkles were creasing deeply into her face, and her body was shrinking.  I ran to her, using the little bit of power she’d given me when she’d touched me earlier.  When I got to her, she fell into my arms.

I softly laid her down.  The Demon appeared at my side with a frown on his face. “Ila, tell me what I should do to help you,” I demanded frantically.

Her voice was weak, but clear. “My dear, there is nothing you can do for me, but there is something I can do for you.  Listen to me closely, for this is important.  You must search out a Watcher named Insepth. He will teach you what you still need to learn of the earth power.  He can guide you to other mentors. I think this Demon at your side knows of him.”

“Yes, I know Insepth.  I believe I can find him,” the Demon answered.

“Good, it’s a small world indeed.” She was satisfied.

I glanced at the Demon, and wondered why Ila would have thought he knew her friend.  Ila then took a sharp breath and I turned back to her.

She looked herself now, only older.  Her voice was feeble as she said, “Ember, I waited for you to come to me, knowing my time here was ending.  You are of my blood, and I must tell you now before it is too late that Montery, was the sire of your birth line.  Also, there can’t be two powerful Watchers of the same line, sharing an element for very long.  It throws off the balance. So you see, it was destined that I would have left you shortly anyway.” She grasped my hand and held it to her heart.  Tears streamed into the grime on my face as I looked into her eyes. 

“Ila, you can’t leave me. I need you,” I cried.

“No child, you are capable without me, and you will have friends to help you through the dark days ahead.  And Sawyer will be with you. But you must go to him now.  We mustn’t tempt Fate too much.  I will give you a gift before I go, and you should use it to heal your guardian.  Be brave, my dear, for once I impart the last of my powers upon you, I will be gone.”

I nodded, unable to speak.  But I understood.  The chill of inevitability washed over me.

Ila closed her eyes, and squeezed my hands tighter.  A light began to flow into me, sunny, warm and
powerful. 
It was only a small amount, and when it ended, I felt completely well.  All my wounds were healed. 

But Ila wasn’t breathing anymore. I sucked in the wail that wanted to spill from my mouth, remembering Sawyer.  He needed me.  I quickly bent to kiss Ila’s forehead and then spoke to Angus, telling him to stay with her.

“We have to get to Sawyer,” I said, running by the Demon.  At a speed that defied logic, and before I could protest, he gathered me up in his arms.  He jumped over the obstacles in our path and dashed up the hill to the other side.

Within less than a minute, we were back in the compound.  The Demon set me down just as we reached Sawyer’s broken body.  Ivan was with him in his human form, and a burly, red headed Demon was there also. 

I ran to Sawyer and threw my hands onto his chest.  He was still alive, but just barely.  I focused on his most serious injuries, funneling the healing power into him.  He was worse than Ivan had been, and I fought to keep the tears from falling from my eyes as I worked on him.  The pain he endured must have been horrible. 

I was aware that Ivan and the two Demons had backed away to give me space.  They spoke in hushed voices to each other, but I heard bits and pieces of the conversation. Something about the Demons having killed the prisoners before the Watcher arrived.  I glanced at the group and saw anger on the new Demon’s face. 

The damage to Sawyer’s body was so extensive that it was draining the power that Ila had given me quickly.  While I continued to move my hands over him, gently massaging the power into his body, Ivan made his way over to the great bear.  A moment later he yelled, “He’s still alive, Ember, he breathes!”

I doubted if I’d have anything left in me after I healed Sawyer, but I would try.

It took a while, and when I was done, Sawyer looked normal, except for the bloodstains and smoke smudges.  I thought some of the bones weren’t completely set, but if he took it easy for a few days, they should heal with his own powers.  I smiled down at his handsome sleeping face, and felt the warmth of joyfulness seeping into my heart.

I didn’t have the luxury to take a breather and remain gazing at Sawyer, though.  I rose on wobbly legs and walked stiffly towards the bear.  Ivan rushed over to support me and I leaned heavily on him, grateful for the assistance.  Ila’s power was strong, but I was still tired and weak.  Hopefully, I had enough left to help Lutz.