Fledgling: Book 1 (Afterlife) (9 page)

“Good work Fledgling. You have served well.” He produces the cloud in his hands and pulls out the shining bean. She smiles and takes it between her thumb and pointer finger, and places it in her mouth. I watch as she swallows. I am half jealous that she can follow the angel law without remorse, but at the same time I am happy for her. She has earned it.
 

When she has swallowed, Archangel Michael says, “Go young one. I believe your mission is of an urgent matter.”

Yellow nods once and disappears, teleporting to wherever she is going. With Yellow gone, it is Blue’s turn. The flutter of wings fills my stomach. Our leader stands in front of him. With his legs firmly apart, he places a finger on Blue’s forehead. I sneak a sideways glance. Blue still doesn’t hold any emotion on his face. I wonder if he is stressing right now, or if he is redirecting the probing light, avoiding the unwanted areas. I feel faint and realise that I have not been breathing. I take some breaths trying to calm my stomach. After a few moments, that seem to take forever, Archangel Michael removes his finger.
 

He says, “Good work Fledgling. You have served well.” He turns and looks at me. “But, we have some issues to discuss.”

I try to swallow the large lump that has suddenly appeared in my throat. It doesn’t go away. Turning my head, I look at Blue. His eyes have turned the deepest shade as he looks at me. He shakes his head and his face shows deep concern. Great. That is not helping me relax.
 

The leader of the Archangels stands in front of me. He is forever in fighting stance, standing balanced and strong even when not fighting. His eyes are piercing as he looks into mine. Is that disappointment I see in those sapphires? He raises his hand and touches his index finger to my forehead. I feel the light as it spreads into my mind. I don’t know what went on with Blue, but I am not going down without a fight. I am going to do my best in redirecting the probing.
 

I allow it access to where it wants to go. As it begins to progress past the part where I save Louisa, I put up my barriers and begin to direct it to the last moment, when Blue and I take off to come back to base. My diversion begins to work. I am feeling confident, but there is a sudden push from the white light and it penetrates my barrier, exposing all the secrets I want to hide from my judge.
 

I am still looking into the stone blue eyes as I fight to rebuild the wall, but I cannot find the strength to raise it from the ground. Before I know it, everything I want to hide has been seen. Now I know why Blue looked so defeated. I feel the pressure lifting as the probing light is removed. The eyes have turned to an eerie colour of ice.

- Chapter Eight -

“You have disobeyed me, Fledgling,” Archangel Michael snaps. My eyes fall to the ground as I wait for his judgement. “Not only have you disobeyed me, but also the standing rule of the archangels. And because of your disobedience you have dragged down your fellow fledgling.” He looks at Blue. “But this fledgling is not without fault.”

I see Blue’s head in my peripheral vision turn to face the ground.
 

“He should not be chasing you and finishing your work for you,” our leader continues.
 

Blue lifts his head and focuses his eyes straight ahead and says. “I felt she was in trouble, Sir. I was making sure she was okay.”
 

“That may be so, but she should be strong enough to complete her own mission.” His head turns in my direction, and the glare is scrutinising. He turns back to Blue.
 

I lift my head and look at Blue. His jaw line ripples as he clenches his teeth. He looks strong again. I wonder if underneath he feels petrified.
 

“You know the rules. You are not to finish another fledgling’s work if they choose to not complete it themselves.” Archangel Michael turns and glares at me again.

Blue is clenching his fist by his side. I turn my head to look at our leader and wonder if Blue is having second thoughts about helping me.
 

I feel terrible. “Esteemed Archangel,” I say.
 

The cold eyes assess me silently as he stands only centimetres away. After a moment he says, “Speak.”

“It is my fault. Please punish me as you deem fit. Blu— I mean, he is not to blame.”
 

His eyebrow lifts. “You have named each other?”

I have put my foot in it again. We both remain silent, and I try swallowing that lump again. I think I can see steam coming out of his ears as he clenches his jaw.

“You know this is forbidden. You are both clearly breaking the rules even before this incident,” he snaps. “I am taking you to stand in front of the panel of Archangels straight after this meeting. You will remain and follow me when it ceases. Your fate is up to the Archangels.” He turns to his left and continues down the row of fledglings to finish the check up.
 

Riddled with guilt, I sigh and look at Blue. His eyes are so sad when they look at me. He seems disappointed. I mouth the words, “I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head and says quietly, “It is not your fault. It was my choice to step in. I was—”

“No talking,” his voice is harsh. Archangel Michael’s finger is pointing at us, but he is looking the other way.
 

With adrenaline exploding through our veins, we fall silent and wait for him to finish and our trial to be over. In what seems like forever, the remaining fledglings are all cleared and given a new mission. I watch them disappear or fly away after they have cast both of us a side glance. I am sure this is not helping to make any new friends. Like Yellow, they have done the correct thing. I hold a tinge of regret I cannot do the same. But I also know if I did not start to question what would happen to our victims, I would not be happy with myself, and my conscience would eat away at me.
 

As we wait silently watching the last fledgling disappear, Archangel Michael turns to us and demands, “Follow me.” He pushes off the ground and flies into the clouds. Ejecting off the ground and into the air, I hear Blue do the same behind me immediately after. My wings flap back and forth, and I listen to the dull whistle as the wind pushes away with each stroke. The rhythm of the sound is comforting, and at this moment I don't want to lose the sound.
 

Within moments we are in the clouds, pushing further up. I do not know where we are going. We have not been to wherever he is taking us.
 

The temperature is dropping rapidly as our wings push us up in haste. It is not long, with the speed of our wings, before I see a strange looking platform on the highest cloud. We fly directly to the platform, rising over the edge and follow our leader as he drops to land.
 

I take a look around. If I wasn’t so nervous, I am certain I would find this humorous. The area looks like the typical cliché of the angels living among the clouds. The entire place is a fluffy, white cloud finish. In different parts of the platform, there are large cloud chairs that resemble lounge chairs. They are large enough to lie on and are empty.

We step forward following Archangel Michael. Walking on the platform is a strange feeling. It is like we are walking on the semi-firm cloud, but we do not fall through. I hear a slight rumble of an airplane underneath us.
 

Up ahead there is movement. I glance in that direction and from behind a cloud wall I see an angel step between two white cloud walls. The blue angelic gown flows softly to the feet. It is a slightly darker colour than the sky. Majestic white wings fan behind the angel’s back. I have not met any of the other archangels before. I am not sure what to expect. If they are all like Archangel Michael, then I am sure we are in for a rough time. I look apprehensively at the angel’s pale face. I cannot tell if they're male or female. The facial features are handsome, but at the same time soft and the gown is too loose to make out any defining shape of either sex. Allowing my eyes to meet theirs, I am surprised to see that the blue eyes are the colour of a welcoming crystal clear spring, rather than a hard sapphire. I begin to feel confident in my decision again, and I have an overwhelming urge to go and do something creative and express my emotions — this is not like me. I am not the creative sort.
 

Turning to look at Blue as he walks on my right, slightly behind me, I see he also has a more confident look on his face. He makes eye contact and gives me half a smile. My hopes rise. Maybe we will be okay after all.
 

As we step closer to the archangel, my drive to want to protect the innocent becomes stronger. I know that I have done all I can. The happiness settles until my thoughts pass to the perpetrators and how I don’t want to insert a conscience into them and purify their minds. The confidence starts to slip away. Guilt begins to settle in. I know what I wish to do is not abiding by their rules, but at the same time, I know that I cannot just insert a conscience into the evil ones. To have them kill themselves or go insane when they too have an innocent side is an undesirable consequence.
 

“Michael,” the blue one says. The voice is firm, but it is not masculine or feminine. Considering the position that I am in, I know that I will not be asking which gender this angel is.
 

“Yes, Gabriel,” Archangel Michael says.
 

“What is the meaning of this? Why do you bring two young fledglings to our meeting place?”

“I have brought them to be judged by the council. They have broken the rules.” The disappointment is prominent in his voice.

The blue eyes survey us as we approach. The softness pushes away from the eyes. “You have two in your small group that have disobeyed our instruction. Have you lost your touch? Is the warrior softening?” the gender-challenged archangel asks.

“I have not done anything different. These two have chosen their way despite the stringent training.” He almost sounded annoyed at Archangel Gabriel. We have reached the doorway where Archangel Gabriel is standing. “Now if you would please stand aside so I can bring them through to Uriel and Raphael. The four of us will decide their fate.”

Archangel Gabriel moves aside, and we follow Archangel Michael through the cloud doorway. Archangel Gabriel’s eyes continue to study us. Even up close I still could not tell if Gabriel was a male or female. Awkwardly we passed, and I focussed my eyes on the room. It was about six metres square and simply decorated within the white cloudy walls. In the centre was a large white cloud table, surrounded by white cloud chairs. Standing in one corner of the room is an angel in a green angelic gown that lowers to the floor. It reminds me of the deep green colour of trees. He stands tall and straight and his wings that fall majestically behind him are pale green. He has short, dark brown hair that finishes just above his ears. I study his face. It is serious, and his green eyes assess us.
 

Next to him is another angel. His angelic clothes are white and flow to the ground. He has majestic white wings that blend in with the clouds. I squint trying to work out where his wings finish, and the clouds start. I study the surrounding area where the other archangel’s wings would finish, and I can just make out a faint outline of his powerful wings. Draping over his shoulders is a large golden shawl that falls past his knees. His dark brown hair has a slight curl and finishes mid-neck. As his golden brown eyes study us, I can’t help think that he has a look that reminds me of descriptions of Zeus. Despite my situation, I smirk to myself — this is an entirely different belief of the spiritual world, and they may not appreciate this thought here.
 

We have stopped just inside the room. I stand next to Archangel Michael with Blue on my right.
 

The white angel speaks, “Who do we have here?”

“Uriel,” Archangel Michael begins. “We have fledglings that have gone against our instructions. I have brought them here, so we can decide their fate as a board.”
 

Archangel Uriel’s wings rise with the points angling up. The tips finish in a golden colour, close to the colour of my wings. He turns to look at the green clothed angel next to him. “Come Raphael. We must decide what is best for the Innocents.”

Archangel Raphael’s face appears apprehensive as he steps forward with Archangel Uriel. From all the angels, I am getting a vibe of a mixture of feelings. As I look among the angels, I see Archangel Gabriel standing close to Blue.
 

Archangel Gabriel steps forward directly in front of Blue, glances at me and says, “I hope what you have done is not worthy of the abyss. It is a horrible place.” Archangel Gabriel then places a finger on Blue’s forehead, and it lights up.
 

Before I peel my eyes away from watching the process, I sense my forehead become warm. I turn to look directly in front of me. The smouldering golden brown eyes of Uriel greet me. His finger is firmly on my forehead. He is already beginning the process of my assessment.