Snowscape Trilogy (11 page)

He stood assessing me for a moment, ignoring
my tears before dropping my wrist and stepping back. “The power
that you hold. It all stems from your emotions. That is both a
curse and the danger. You felt out of control of yourself?”

I nodded, trembling; I turned away “Yes. As
if any emotion I had ever felt was intensified to the extreme.” I
blushed, the former thoughts rushing back into my head, and I
turned away from him.

He walked around me and held my chin up
examining the pink that had just come rushing into my cheeks. “The
feelings you feel are real, and your own, but they will cause you
to act out in ways that you would normally not. While the emotion
is yours, you will lose the intellectual sway you hold over them.
Your power is derived from the core root of empathy you share with
all humanity, but you will have to be careful to not let the
desires others feel overtake you. That is the way it is in dreams.
A human feels things more intensely here. They are braver, stronger
and usually more fearful. You are stronger than most and therefore
your emotions can cause you… upheaval.”

 
I looked him in the
face with a sigh. “I’m sorry.”

The word trailed off as he laughed and kissed
me chastely on the lips. They stung with pleasure and need and I
could see in his eyes that he enjoyed the torment it caused me. “Do
not be sorry, my little clover. I am both proud and flattered by
the attentions.” He traced the pattern of my tears with a finger
down the side of my face and I pulled away before he could distract
me more.

“What’s the point of this?” I asked.

“I’m trying to help you learn.”

“But learn what? What is the point of all of
this power? What good does it do heaven or hell to have me working
on either side? I don’t understand what I am supposed to do.”

“You remember our discussion on the power you
hold over the human mind?” I nodded, unclear of what he was telling
me. “Your destiny lies in two paths going forward. You can either
help your fellow humans or hurt them. Angels want you to help guide
them to the choices they could make that would fulfill their lives,
their destiny, and their happiness. And demons. Demons usually just
want power. The immediate want is what drives them forward. They
don’t tend to look at the bigger picture like angels do.” He
hesitated before finishing his thought “I never did before I met
you.”

I felt the world suddenly crash around me. I
had always known this hadn’t I? “You’re a demon?” I asked in a
whisper.

“Yes. I was at one time. Long before.”

“Long before what?”

“Long before I gave up the power of both
heaven and hell for you.”

“Is that why your eyes don’t burn?” He
nodded. “I don’t understand.”

Grimacing he shook his head. “Nor do you need
to at this point. What you need to do is to practice what you’ve
learned. Come, Ambrosia,” he grabbed my hand, “let us add a human
being into our next lesson. Time waits for no one, angel or demon,
and our time is growing short”

I pulled my hand back and I could feel my
cheeks redden and I dropped my eyes as I thought of what I needed
to ask him. “Wait. What about us? Violet told me to come into my
full power I must remain… ‘Untouched’…. what we’ve done…”

My eyes cast down; I could feel him draw
closer to me. He lifted my chin slightly and the opal iridescence
of his eyes bore into my soul. “Ambrosia, love. “ He smiled
slightly and kissed the corner of my mouth before leaning close to
my ear. “You are a prize I am willing to fight to win. Haven’t you
ever cheated the odds into your favor before?” I could hear the
smile in his voice as I saw a glimpse of the demon still inside of
him. “Besides, it was only ever a dream.”

Suddenly, I awoke with a start as Violet was
gently shaking my arm. “Amy, I’m sorry to wake you up, but we
needed to stop for gas and I though you should get something to
eat. We won’t be stopping for a while.” She was right that I was
famished. I looked to the clock and saw that it was close to 6pm. I
had slept most of the day away.

I went into the gas station to use the
restroom, grab a sandwich and to grab a few moments alone with
Samandiriel. I wanted to talk to him alone without Violet around
before another awkward silence choked us in the car. Glancing the
periphery of the shop I could not see his moppet of blonde hair
anywhere in view but as I was at the register paying for my on the
go dinner a whiff of sulphur startled me. Smiling I turned, “Sam-”
It was then I saw Sam was outside talking heatedly with Violet at
the edge of the gas island. The sulphur grew stronger as I looked
into the burning blue eyes of gas station attendant. Suddenly
everything went black before I could scream.

Book 2

Samandiriel

Chapter 1

“Riel, just talk to her. Enough with this
prissy, immature posturing you and Nathaniel must constantly do.
Tell her the stakes and that she must choose before the day of her
birth.” Violet’s voice grated on his last nerve, but she had a
point as ever. He would not have kept her around for over a century
if she had not proven her usefulness countless times. However her
usefulness often times came with an ear-shattering headache.
“Samandiriel,” she paused for a moment considering her next words.
“You love her. She loves you as well, even if she does not remember
it. Honesty is the only thing you can count on the fight the
darkness that is coming.”

He brushed the hair off of his damp forehead
and noticed once again how hot he felt all of the time now. “Things
are not as simple as they seem to you. Nathanial – “

“Fuck Nathaniel strait back to hell. You are
not giving Amy enough credit of her own. Nathanial is surely
hedging his bets; you should be hedging yours. Once the cards are
all played then you will know who takes home the prize, but until
then you have to fight. This is not just a battled between heaven
and hell anymore.“

“Isn’t it? She made her choice long ago, as
did I. This is the sacrifice we have both made for the future of
the human race. God would not see it done any other way. You know
this.”

“Samandiriel, God is not fighting against
you. He is giving you a chance to fight for yourself now.” She
placed her hand gently on his arm and giving it a light squeeze
before walking to the front of the car and leaning back on the
still warm hood.

Shoving the gas pump into the heavy metal
slot he stood for a moment in much needed silence taking stock of
the situation. The Colorado air was thinner and held the brisk
nature of the British Isles that he missed. Funny, how he suddenly
thought longingly of them. His heart had been broken there, his
spirit taken and misshapen into the demonic creature he now found
himself to be. But it was his home more so than any other place had
ever been. His heart had broken, but had also been born there.

With a deep sigh, Samandiriel, former angel
resigned himself to his current fate and to his sister’s good will.
“Where is she?” he asked over to her quickly scanning the distance
for Ambrosia’s perfect form.

Violet, feeling as though her mantel had been
won, smiled slightly. “I think she is still inside.”

Sam glanced up towards the market and an
immediate feeling of dread overtook him, clouding his thoughts, the
smell if sulphur strong in the undercurrent of the air. The room
was empty and he rushed into it, a blur of fire and anger. He could
taste the char on his lips as easily as he could still smell the
breath of her clover-scented skin in the air. They had taken her
while he was too busy preoccupied over his emotions. Her love had
blinded his senses as they always did. Had it not been for his
inability to keep her safe in the first place Nathaniel would not
be the one enticing her every night. It would be he she still
dreamed about. A blinding rage fell upon him as he closed his eyes
and took in every scent and feeling he would be able to gather from
the empty store and despite their ripped and tattered shape,
Samandiriel, former angel took to the sky in the waning light to
look for Ambrosia Ross, master of dreams and keeper of his
heart.

Chapter 2

The setting sun did not aid in his quest. He
followed the scent of sulphur for as long as his shredded and
feeble wings would carry him but after an hour they gave out. He
fell; cursing to a valley floor nestled deep within the Rocky
Mountains. As he lay on the jagged edges of the deep ravine, he
watched the sinking sun finally set behind the Western sky and
contemplated his next move. He took out his cell and saw that
Violet had tried to call him. Only once, and he smiled despite his
deep seeded aggravation. She knew him too well it seems. He would
call when she was needed which was how their relationship had
always been. He was sent to watch over her and had lost her almost
as soon as the quest had begun. Despite his want to wallow in the
self-pity that seemed comfortable and inviting, Samandiriel knew he
needed to take over, more drastic measures. He needed to talk to
Nathaniel. With resolve he walked up the nearest facing mountain
range he could traverse. The rushing rains had carved out deep
crevices in the valley and it was an easy climb for him since he
spent a large potion of his earthen life actively making himself
stronger for the fight that was only now starting. He did not need
to climb far: just high enough that the force of his inertia would
knock him into unconsciousness. As a demon, sleep was not required
of him and he had spoken the truth to Ambrosia that he could not
cross into the dreamscape where Nathanial ruled. He had never
actually attempted such a thing, but he knew that Amy’s time would
run short. If the demon hoard were smart they were keeping her
unconscious and without REM sleep so should could not alert human
or angel protectors. Nathaniel would not be able to reach her, but
he would know their plans. He had been a demon for over two
millennia.

The higher he climbed, the more the breeze
stirred and cooled the sweat off of his brow. The dark blond curls
were plastered to his forehead as he wiped the sweat from his brow
before running into the creases by his eyes. He was grateful for a
moment to be without the glasses that hid his nature from the
world. He was just about high enough, perhaps a kilometer above the
valley floor before he stopped and rested his back, pierced into by
the sharp outline of the rocks. He breathed deeply and pressed his
back into the jagged enclave until he could smell blood running
down his back. The wings had torn through his shirt earlier making
him now a spectacle to behold. Limp wings, dripping with blood, his
strong arms now filled with fatigue and sweat.

“God, help me in this quest, “ he quietly
prayed, the first time since he had taken on the mantle of the
demon he now had become. Without hesitation he leapt from the edge
and tumbled, brokenly down to the bottom of the valley floor.

Chapter 3

The smell of moss and clovers awoke him from
his reverie and Sam could still feel the blood rushing over his
broken wings. He slowly opened his eyes and the soft dark browns
and greens of the forest floor glared back at him. He felt
disoriented and like he had just been run over by a freight
train.

“You jumped from over fifteen hundred feet.
I’d expect you to feel worse actually.” Nathaniel’s deep voice
broke over him and with a stabbing sensation he realized where he
was. His relief that his plan had worked was short lived when faced
with telling Nathaniel he had lost Ambrosia to the demons.
Samandiriel sat up slowly and found Nathaniel holding back and
examining his broken wings and helping him to stand.

Nathaniel waved a robed arm over
Samandiriel’s back and instantly his wounds and aches were healed.
A nifty trick Samandiriel had taught Nathaniel eons ago when they
had both frolicked on the grass at heaven’s gate. Samandiriel
grunted in thanks and stood up on his own, brushing off the leaves
and dirt of the forest floor. Samandiriel for once did not know
where to start. He had always considered himself Nathaniel’s better
and here he was asking Ambrosia’s dream protector for help.
Assessed of his own damage, he now took stock of his brother who
waited patiently for him to explain.

“I have news, “ he started, but felt his
weariness begin to drag him back to the dirt floor as Nathaniel’s
face blurred in front of him.

The angel nodded and quickly grabbed onto
Samandiriel’s arm gently offering support but not insisting.
Samandiriel’s feelings for his brother had been varied throughout
their time together in heaven and again on earth; however this
silently patient figure that now stood before him did not in any
way resemble the brother her knew so well for so long. Nathaniel,
the angel of fire, it seems had learned to quell his inner
burnings. The darker of the two tilted his head slightly, helping
his brother sit carefully down on a soft patch of moss. “You have
not known me for many years Samandiriel, would you think I would
not change?” Answering the unspoken thoughts of his brother as he
had always done.

“For her?” he asked and Samandiriel sat for a
moment, collecting his breath and his musings. “Demon’s usually
don’t,“ he said simply and without insult.

Nathaniel stood in font of him with a cup and
pitcher. He poured a deep dark liquid into the cup and offered it
to Samandiriel. Samandiriel recognized the nectar of God within and
drank deeply, feeling his strength return. “Did you forget I am
demon no longer?”

“Never. I would just as soon forget that I am
now one.”

Nathaniel nodded, “It is easy to cast
judgment upon those that accept that fate, but now you are known to
the reasoning behind it.”

“I did it for love, not defiance.”
Samandiriel eyed his brother slowly, watching for any reaction
reminiscent to the carefree youth he had known; however Nathaniel
never lost his calm.