Espial (6 page)

     “Whatever
you decide, I will always be here supporting you.” She leaned over and embraced
me. After we pulled apart, she got up and left the room.

     “Sol you
know I’m with you all the way,” said Luke, walking over to me.

     “I know. I
need you because you’re far stronger than I am. But I’m so sorry about your
parents. I can’t imagine how you must feel right now.”

     He simply
nodded, then playfully punched my arm and left the room as well. I outstretched
my arms to relieve the pain in my shoulders. Glinda and Sacra came over. Sacra
was holding a brass goblet with a frothy, milky beverage inside.

     “You need
to drink this,” said Sacra, holding the goblet out for me.

     I took the
goblet and sniffed hesitantly. “What is this?”

     “It’s
Elixir Respite. It will enable you to sleep without discomfort from the
unsheathing.”

     I glanced
at both Glinda and Sacra and slowly brought the goblet to my lips.

     “You must
drink it quickly for it to work,” said Glinda, waving her finger admonishingly.

     I closed my
eyes, tilted my head back and drank the entire contents in one gulp. It tasted
sweet and nutty in flavor, with a hint of mint coming through at the end.

     “Wow that
was delicious. What made it sweet?”

     “Honey,”
winked Glinda.

     “Honey?” I
asked. “What is that made from?”

     “Oh it’s complicated
to explain now, Sol,” she replied. “But I can briefly tell you that there were
once insects called bees that were able to make it.”

     “Oh.” I was
disappointed that she wouldn’t tell me more.

     “It’s time
to rest,” said Sacra. “Tomorrow begins a new chapter in your life.” She took
the goblet and led me toward one of the doors in the hall that sat to the left
of the living room. We stopped in front of a door trimmed with tiny golden
wings. “You’ll be staying here.” She opened the door for me to step through. I
entered and smiled as she shut the door behind me, leaving me alone in the
room.

     The entire
room was decorated in sky blue and most of the objects had wing and weaponry
detailing. It was clearly Sacra’s handiwork. The white canopied bed sat in the
far left corner, with large white pillows and smaller blue decorative pillows.
The blanket was stark white with light blue tassels dangling from each corner.
At the ends of the tassels were mini golden wing pendants. To my right rested a
white vanity and a white dresser, both with golden hardware shaped like wings.
On top of the dresser sat five different swords on their respective mountings.
Each had a small plaque in front.
Spain. Italy. Japan. India. Morocco
. I
had never heard of those names before and assumed they were where those swords
originated.

     It was
night. The window overlooking the island treetops allowed light from the full
moon to shine brightly into the room. I opened the dresser and found a silky
blue top with matching bottoms. The labels each read ‘
Dax Harrington
’. Changing
out of my clothes, I put them on, taking time to feel the soft material between
my fingers. I carefully folded my blouse, appreciating the shell buttons even
more. While folding my jeans, I took a peek at the pair of wings stitched
inside and smiled. Sliding under the blanket felt glorious. I no longer felt
any pain in between my shoulder blades and it only took a few seconds for me to
fall asleep.

As
the demon licked each drop of blood off from the angel’s wings, he moaned in
pleasure. The demon then looked up and saw me.

#

     I awoke
with a start, sweat dripping down my back and chest. I shivered and climbed out
of bed, making my way to the dresser to change my top. Finding another silky
blue shirt, I changed and made my way into the hall. I looked at the door
across from me and noticed that its frame was trimmed with eagles.
Rider’s
room
, I thought to myself and tiptoed toward it. I carefully opened the
door and peeked in. He was sleeping on his side, shirtless with his back and
wings facing me. I saw a chair by his desk, on which lay his shirt. I noticed
slits in the back of it and realized it was to accommodate his wings. He snored
loudly and began to turn, so I quickly closed the door and made my way to the
next door down the hall.

     This one
had a pink frame and a pink doorknob.
Glinda
, I thought, smiling.
Looking inside, I saw her sleeping on her stomach, head facing the window. I
had never before seen anyone smiling as they slept. Everything in the room was
pink: from the bed frame, to the rug and walls, even the floor was painted
pink. I chuckled to myself and shut the door. Across from her room, on my side
of the hall, sat a door with a royal blue sword painted on the front. It
creaked opened as I looked for Sacra. I didn’t see her on her bed, yet a motion
on the floor by an armoire caught my attention. As my eyes adjusted to the
darkness, I saw that she was asleep on the floor. She had covered herself with
a blue throw and appeared very serene, curled up like a ball.

     Three more
doors remained to be explored. One of the doors had no decorative trim or
special detailing on it. I reached forward, and it opened before I made contact
with it. I was surprised to find Luke asleep on a grand bed with bear foot
claws at the bottom of the bedposts. Crimson sheets and pillows surrounded him
as he tossed and turned in the bed. He always had nightmares, even as a child
when we slept at each other’s houses. I learned early on that the worst thing
to do was attempt to wake him in the middle of a nightmare. Remembering the
ordeal he went through in the laboratory that day, I imagined he was reliving
it in his dreams.

     Quietly
making my way down the hall, I stopped in front of the second to last door.
Yellow daisies decorated the frame. Inside I found my mother sleeping soundly
on a small bed. Her platinum hair glistened in the moonlight, her beauty
possibly enhanced by the moonlight shining brightly upon her. I sighed as I
thought of what it would feel like to lose my one true love, as she did. I
stepped out of her room and turned toward the last door in the hall. Peridot
gems trimmed the wooden door and it had a silver doorknob. This final door
stood partially ajar. I pushed it open and looked in expecting to find Divinica
asleep. However, the room was empty. A ceiling fan blew gently, causing the
forest green window curtains to sway softly. A dark green bedspread with lime
green pillows adorned her bed. A laptop sat on her desk, turned on and
displaying a background picture of her along with several other angels, all
smiling happily on a boat. Looking closely, I spotted Sacra to be one of the
angels in the photograph. In the distance, I could make out an old Asian
temple. I remembered seeing that very same temple in a book during history
class. Finished with my quest, I backed out of the room slowly, reaching for
the door. As I was about to turn and face the hallway, I was stopped dead in my
tracks.

     “Ahem!”
said a voice from the hallway behind me.

     Without
looking, I knew it was Divinica. I turned to face her, blushing and not making
eye contact. “Sorry,” I stuttered, “I was just…looking…because you weren’t
sleeping…”

     “Stay out
of my room, alright?” she said, eyes wide and clearly angry.

     “I’m so
sorry,” I apologized.

     She shoved
past me into her room and slammed the door shut. I shook my head, embarrassed
by my actions and vowing to try to get on her good side. I made my way back to
my room and climbed into bed.

     “Sol. Sol,
it’s time to wake up.”

     “Mhmm. Just
a second mom.”

     “It’s not
mom.”

     My eyes
flashed open and I was nose to nose with Glinda. She smiled at me, then whirled
around and made her way to the door.

     “Everyone
is at breakfast,” she said gaily and skipped into the hall.

     I quickly
jumped out of bed and grabbed a towel and robe neatly placed on my vanity. I
found the bathroom and took a quick hot shower. Running back into the room, I
grabbed an outfit that had appeared on the vanity. I held it out and smiled. It
was a dark-wash jean set, with a thin white stripe going down the seams of the
legs. The jean material stretched and was soft to the touch. I slid it on along
with black combat boots that had white stripes running from my calves down and
around the soles. Two slits in the back lined up with my shoulder blades,
allowing ventilation and room for my newly developing wings. I drew my hair up
into a ponytail and smiled at my reflection in the vanity mirror. I was apprehensive,
yet excited about training.

     In the
living room sat Luke who was chatting with Sacra. Glinda bounced to and from
the kitchen serving up platters of various foods, all brightly colored. The air
smelled delectable and my mouth began to water. I felt a hand pat my shoulder
from behind. I turned and met eyes with my mother who gave me a light hug.

     “Good
morning, sweetie.”

     “Good
morning, mom.”

            She
floated into the living room, stopping Glinda to relieve her of one of the many
trays she carried. Rider appeared next to me and gave me a once over.

            “You
seem ready to go,” he smiled.

            “I guess
so, Rider,” I replied, smiling cheerily.

            Rider
headed toward the front door. As I walked toward a platter sitting on the
coffee table, Divinica entered the room. She swiftly intercepted Rider and
began whispering to him hurriedly. Glinda made her way over to me with a plate
piled high with food.

            “You’ll
need your strength today, honey bee.” She was grinning broadly, excited for my
day’s activities.

            “There’s
no way I would pass this up,” I replied, selecting a pastry and shoving the
whole thing into my mouth.

            “Don’t
get too excited,” said Divinica, appearing out of nowhere. “As of right now,
you’re just an Espial. You only possess the sight. So you’re training will be
limited until your wings fully develop.” She turned abruptly and left the
quarters.

            “It’s
a long story,” frowned Glinda. “But Div has her reasons for being how she is.
Come, your first lesson today is a tour of the ARC’s Angel Transport System
with Rider. After that, you’ll have lunch and head to Div for Combat and
Weaponry.” She turned and motioned for Luke to follow and we all left Rider’s
quarters.

            Taking
the elevator down to the main lobby, we found Rider at the welcome desk with Ace,
chatting happily. As we approached the desk, Ace turned and his eyes widened
upon seeing me.

     “Whoa, Sol!
You look great,” he said cheerily.

     “Thanks,
Ace,” I blushed.

     “Ready for
training today?”

     “Yes. And
also a little nervous. My coordination skills are not even close to
impressive.”

     “I’m sure
you’ll be fine.”

     “Of course
she will,” said Luke, unusually loud. I turned to look at him and his face was
reddening, his brows furrowed deeply and eyes narrowing.

     “Luke, are
you alright?” I asked.

     “Can we get
started now?” said Luke to Rider, ignoring me entirely.

     “Yes. Let’s
start with the basement and work our way up.”

     Rider stepped
forward and led us toward one of the unmarked doors in the lobby. As we walked
across, I tried to keep up with Luke, who seemed annoyed.

     “What’s
going on?” I asked once I caught up.

     “Nothing,”
he said, his eyes focused ahead.

     “Why were
you acting so weird around Ace?” I panted, trying to maintain his stride.

     “I said
it’s nothing.” He continued walking and I let him outpace me. Sacra caught my
right elbow and bent low to my ear.       

     “Boys will
be boys,” she whispered. She then flew over to catch up with Rider.

     I met up
with them at the door, still confused.

     “Lesson 1,”
said Rider. “This motion will allow both Espials and angels access through
almost any locked door.”

     “Which
locked doors?” I asked.

     “Anywhere
in the world,” he replied.

     He lifted
his right hand toward the door and moved it right, down, up, left, and right.
He did the motion quickly and the door opened. Pulling the door closed, he then
turned toward Luke.

     “You try,”
he said.

     Luke
repeated the hand motion and the door opened, but it opened slower than it had
for Rider.

     “Less
hesitation,” said Rider as he pulled the door closed again. “But good. Sol,
your turn.”

     I stepped forward
and raised my right hand. I closed my eyes and my hand began moving rapidly on
its own. I heard a gasp and opened my eyes. Every single door in the lobby had
swung open. Lobby doors, cabinets, and desk drawers stood widely open, papers
fluttering everywhere. I immediately blushed and began apologizing loudly.

     “No, no.
It’s alright, Sol,” said Rider smiling. “Your innate abilities are strong. We
just need to practice harnessing them, that’s all.”

     “Glinda and
I will help clean up,” smiled Sacra. She pulled Glinda, who was giggling and
pointing, toward the center of the lobby where papers had been strewn
everywhere.

     “We’ll
continue on, shall we?” With that, Rider guided us through the door we stood in
front of. It closed behind us and we were at the top of a narrow staircase. The
only light was a dim bulb at the top of the flight of steps where we stood. The
stairs extended so far down, they were engulfed in darkness and we could not
see where they ended.

     “How far
down do they go?” asked Luke.

     “352
steps,” answered Rider confidently.

     “How long
will that take us?”

     “Well, not
long if you have wings. But I can’t carry you both, so I’ll meet you at the
bottom.” And with a smirk, Rider lunged over the edge of the first step. Right
as I thought he would plummet, his wings extended slightly, still close to his
body and he soared head-first down the stairwell. After a few seconds we heard
him call up from below.

     “Well I
guess he’s going to be waiting a while,” I remarked, and Luke and I made our
way down the stairs. We walked down about twenty-five steps when the light
above was no longer visible. We were in complete darkness and continued by
feeling our way down.

     “That was
pretty interesting,” said Luke. “You know, what happened with the doors. I
guess you’ll be leaving a bigger mark on this world than I originally thought,”
he chuckled.

     I tried to
punch his arm, but because of the darkness, I only hit the air.

     “I don’t
really know how to explain it. I closed my eyes and it just happened.”

     “Well I
hope you have some more of that in you. If things are truly as bad as Rider
described, we’ll need all of the powers we can get.”

     As we
continued, we began to see a hint of orange light down below. We headed down
for another twenty minutes before we reached the bottom, realizing that Rider’s
aura was the source of the light. He stood awaiting our arrival with his arms
crossed, a smile creeping onto his lips.

     “Took you
both long enough. Behind me lies the ATS. I believe Glinda explained to you,
Sol, that it’s our Angel Transport System. Some places in the world are too far
for us to fly to solely relying upon our wings. We began creating the prototype
for this system in 2055, two years before the Great World War. After the burrow
years, we were able to complete it in 2061, and it has aided us tremendously
since. Sol, please step forward and open the door.”

     I took a
deep breath and stepped in front of the ATS entry. I closed my eyes and raised
my right hand. Again, it moved quickly on its own, the door flying open. When
we looked in, the drawers from a nearby opaque desk were all open, papers floating
around. I shook my head and slowly walked into the room.

     “Don’t
worry you’ll get there,” said Rider, patting my shoulder.

            The
room was somewhat lit with bright blue sconces lining the walls, providing
minimal light. A narrow path made its way down the middle of the room. Seven
square pods lay on each side of the walkway, with one large rectangular pod
marking the end of the path across from the entry. Fifteen pods total, I was
taken aback by the fact that such a simple-looking system could actually transport
people anywhere in the world in an instant. Each pod had red lights racing
across the standing pad. As if reading my mind, Rider began to explain.

            “Each
pod indicates whether or not it’s ready for use by the color of the lights
depicted around the base. Green means it’s activated and ready for transport,
red means it is deactivated. To set your location, you must access the ATS
launch codes at the desk.” He turned and walked over to the desk, where the
drawers remained opened. I ran over and began shoving papers back inside,
closing them when everything was cleared.

            On
the opaque desk was a single green light. The light was in the desk itself.
When Rider touched the light, I realized that the entire table top was a touch
screen. A hologram popped up requesting a password, with a keyboard now
appearing on the touch screen desk. Rider typed in ‘warrensato’ and pressed
enter. “He’d never guess,” winked Rider. The hologram then opened up a screen
that depicted all fifteen launch pods in an interactive map.

            “The
square pods can accommodate one being at a time,” he explained. “The large
rectangular one can hold up to twenty beings and can only be activated in the
event of an emergency. The launch code is the same for all of the pads. It is
112057. If you forget, it is simply the date of the detonation of the nuclear
reactor. The day the great Solomon Arch was killed.”

     Rider
tapped on the first pod depicted, on the right of the path. It began blinking
green on screen and a box appeared asking for the launch destination. We soon heard
a hum. Luke and I turned to look at the pod in the room. The lights around its
base were now green and blinking rapidly. A skylight above the pod opened,
shining blue light onto it.

     “The ATS is
situated under the grotto,” explained Rider. Being under water, we could see
the movement of the water in the skylight.

     “I’m going
to transport myself to a launch base in a city called Los Angeles. It sits just
under three thousand miles away from here. The angels there are aware of what’s
been taking place in Terredome and know all about you, Sol. They understand
that you are undergoing training and they are expecting my arrival. Whenever a
launch destination is entered, the receiving end will activate a pod
automatically. I will return, followed by one of our affiliates. Both of you
just wait here.”

     On the
screen he entered Los Angeles. It then requested the launch code, where he
entered 112057. “Access Granted” appeared on the screen. Then a voice came on
overhead.

     ”You have
fifteen seconds to board launch pod 2.” It then began counting backward from
fifteen. Rider strode over and stepped onto the standing pad inside the pod.
Luke and I walked over toward him. I held onto Luke’s arm.

     “He’s not
going to explode, Sol,” laughed Luke.

     “I know,” I
replied, slightly embarrassed by my worry. I let go of his arm and watched
Rider as the countdown continued, biting my lip.

     “Three,
two, one.” The lights around the standing pad gave three quick beeps. Rider’s
wings suddenly expanded fully. He glowed intensely for a moment, a beam of
light the same color as his aura shooting up through the skylight and then he
disappeared. The lights around the pad turned yellow.

     “What
should we do?” I asked Luke, concerned that maybe something went wrong.

            “Just
wait.”

            A
moment later, the lights around the pad turned green again and began beeping
rapidly. Rider then suddenly appeared in the launch pod, smiling brightly.

            “There,”
he said, throwing his arms up. He quickly stepped off of the pad, its lights
turning yellow. “Alex will be coming through momentarily.” Just then, the pad
lights turned green and beeped like before. An angel suddenly appeared on the
launch pad, smiling as well.

            “I
live for that rush,” the angel said, smiling mischievously.