Re: Heaven's Light
Chapter 3
*Finding a Will to go on*
I was now ten years old, what a birthday that was. No one came, just as I predicted. Although I was a bit hurt, it didn’t sting like it usually would have. I found a friend now. Sure, most of the angel children refused to associate with me at all now, but at least she listened to me when I needed comfort, or someone to talk to out of loneliness.
I waltzed to the playground, convinced that no one would be there. Oh, how wrong I was. The boys were there like always, the head of the group, Kinir, staring me down like he always did. I was not in the mood for teasing that day, so I steered clear. Unfortunately, he landed in front of me, poking my crimson wings with a wince.
“Leave me alone, Kinir! I don’t want to talk to you!” I huffed, folding my wings together and walking off, prepared to give a cold shoulder all the way. She gave me courage I didn’t know I had until she whispered.
“Gosh, I feel for you Selene…I really do.” He whispered, his boys gathering about him.
“You do?” I turned, hope springing up within me.
“Yeah…it must be pretty bad to be shunned by your own father…by the king. Don’t feel bad, though…if we didn’t have cowards who are afraid of the hole, we couldn’t tell who the really brave ones are…” He said with a sickening smirk.
“Hey, leave her alone!” I turned to see who had dared to stand up Kinir. Time itself froze. He was a boy…I had seen him before, but never outside. He was wearing a white robe, something that symbolized a position of status, but he must have been new in the group to stand up to his boss…
“Can it, Will!” Kinir turned with a sneer, glaring at the new boy.
“Make me!” He stated, positioning himself in front of me. His wheat hair was tied up in a small ponytail, and his arms were crossed. “Have you ever even been in the hole, huh?”
Kinir paused in silence. He hadn’t been in the hole. “Well….no! Because I’m not evil like that demon!” He pointed towards me, and it felt as if an arrow pierced my heart.
Gasps echoed around the whole group, for in heaven calling a fellow angel a demon was the worst kind of insult possible. “Take that back…” My protector threatened, rolling up his sleeves.
“No!” Kinir spread his wings, hovering slightly above the ground to show off his talent.
“Take it back!” Will echoed the action, and gasps again reverberated about the small gathering. Even my own eyes opened wide. His wings…were huge! Most men were much smaller than women, but it looked as if his were already twice the size of what they should have been.
“Fight, fight, fight…” A chanting began to occur around the group, and Will and Kinir both began to rise steadily, until they had reached a height of around five feet. Will continued to rise above that, marking a distance of seven before halting.
“Are you going to take that back, or are we going to have ourselves a game, Kinir?” he asked, his blue eyes sparkling dangerously in a challenge.
The brunette angel seemed confident, but his eyes told otherwise. “Okay! Let’s go!” First one to the lake and back wins! If I win, you have to be my slave for a week! If you win, I’ll leave the crimson demon alone.”
Will agreed, and the race was on. I spread my own wings, and before I knew it, I had beaten them both. Who would win…I watched anxiously, sweat beading my forehead. As I watched with the other children, parents began to come to pick us up. One by one they were taken home, until Kinir’s father arrived. He was one of the heads of the army, a high status in heaven. He gave me a small rough push as he brushed past, placing his hands on his hips. “Kinir! You get over here now, boy!”
“Oooowwww!” His reply came, and I gasped as Will came through the finish line, carrying the boy in his arms. Kinir’s arm was split wide open, and blood was spilling all over the ground.
His father’s reaction was amazingly fast. Within moments, he had his son out of Will’s arms and into his own, tying up the wound. “What happened here?!” he exclaimed, just as my parents showed up, along with Will’s.
All eyes turned to Will, whose once white robe was stained in the angel’s blood. “We were having a race…” he whispered in fear. “I wanted to help…but Kinir said we should go through the training range…he was cheating. During the range…some shrapnel came…and he got cut open…”
“Preposterous!” Kinir’s father bellowed, glaring towards Jack, Will’s father. “Your son took a bad choice, and my son followed his example!”
“What? No! Not Will! It’s your son that’s causing all the trouble around here!” Jack retorted, blowing a piece of his dark hair out of his eyes.
“It was my fault…” Every eye turned upon me. “I didn’t mean…I thought…I made them race…”
My mother’s lips parted in sorrow. “Oh, Selene…”
I could already tell what most of them were thinking. After a moment of silence, my father turned to face the little brunette angel. “Is that the truth?”
Kinir, of course, could always be counted upon. “Yup. That’s how it happened.”
Will tried to say something, but his father gave him a quick smack to his back, pushing him along. “Let’s go home, Will! You’re getting a large punishment for this…”
I was also prodded home, unknowing of the terrible things I had just inflicted upon poor Will…all I wanted was to help…but I would soon find out that I had done something quite different…and that he and I would grow much closer than we expected.