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Thousands of years ago, Angels and Humans lived together, side by side in peace. But the humans saw the beauty and power of the angels and plotted to steal their most prized possession- The Jewel of Ascaida. The Jewel of Ascaida was said to be the source of the angel's powers. Without it, they too would be mortal. But the angels heard of this plot and took to the skies. Forever leaving the world of men.
“2,153… 2,154… 2,155…” I counted my steps aloud. My foot hit something hard and I fell into the snow. I groaned in pain and sat up, clutching at my injured side. Blood dripped from my wound, staining the snow red. I stood up and kept walking.
“3,220… 3,221… 3,222… 3,223…” I fell to my knees. I couldn’t keep going. I flopped face-first into the snow, unable to hold myself up any longer. My strength was nearly gone now. I lifted my face out of the snow and squinted my eyes against the bright sun. Up ahead was a castle, covered in snow, and shimmering in the sunlight.
I hoped whoever was there was happy. My eyes closed and I faded away into nothingness.
I saw my sister, sitting at the dinner table. She looked at me when I entered the room.
“Adelaide,” She said, a lovely smile adorning her face. “Where were you today? Why didn’t you die with us?” Suddenly my mother and father were sat there, their throats bleeding from a wound.
“Why weren’t you there with us?” They all said in unison. Blood dripped from the walls. They got up and surrounded me. “Die. Die. Die.”
A moan of pain escaped my lips as I opened my eyes. I looked around and saw I was in a lovely room, paintings of flowers adorned the walls. Where was I?
I lifted the blankets and looked at my side. I had bandages wrapped around me. Just then the door opened. I froze. A beautiful woman with red hair walked in. She was carrying a bowl of water and some cloth. She saw that I was awake and smiled at me.
“You’re finally awake.” She said and hurried over to me. I scooted away from her. “Darling, I’ve been taking care of you for a week. If I wanted you dead, I've had plenty of time to kill you. Now, please. I need to clean your wound.” She had a point. I moved back and allowed her to touch me. She worked at getting the bandages off and began gently cleaning the injury. She hummed softly as she worked. I winced in pain every so often when a tender spot was hit, but the woman was very gentle, and not too much pain was felt.
“Where are we? If I may ask.” I inquired.
“We are in Clendsden.” She responded, wrapping my wound back up after she finished cleaning it. “Now, if I may ask, what happened?” I looked down at my hands, avoiding her eyes.
“We- we were attacked. I don’t know who it was, it happened so quickly. They hunted us all down…” I said, tears dripping down my cheeks. “I barely escaped… I don’t think anybody else did.” I felt a hand start rubbing my back. I cried for some time before she spoke again.
“What is your name?”
“Adelaide,” I responded to the woman.
“Well Adelaide, I’m Lyla. I am very sorry for the loss you have suffered. You are welcome to stay here for as long as you need. My quarters are down the hall. I will instruct the maids to make you as comfortable as possible.” I thanked her and she made her way out of the room.
Another week of bed rest passed, and then finally I was allowed to wander the halls. Only with the company of a maid though. Layla said she worked so hard to keep me alive, shed be disappointed if she came across my dead body.
We were sat at the dinner table, tonight's dinner being stew with meat, potatoes, and carrots. Lyla asked me questions about myself. She asked about my favorite colors, and foods, if I enjoyed reading, music, sewing, or if I had any other activities I enjoyed. She seemed lonely. She had staff here, but I had seen nobody else. No family, no friends visiting. After dinner, we went to the library.
“I want to show you something Adelaide,” Lyla said. I followed her to one corner of the library and opened a door. Inside was a study with two couches, a beautiful ornate bookshelf, and a desk with a comfy-looking chair. The bookshelf has flowers painted along the sides. She closed the door behind us and motioned for me to sit. She excitedly handed me a book off of the shelf. “I wrote these. When you said you loved to read, I just had to show you!”
The binding was beautiful, birds adorned the edges, and a beautiful tree was in the middle, with two gemstones on either side of it. One a shimmering blue, representing the moon, and the other a brilliant yellow, representing the sun. I opened the book and began reading. It was a beautifully tragic love story about a knight and the princess he is sworn to protect. I'm quickly enveloped in the story. By the end though, I was crying. Lyla moved and sat next to me, handing me a handkerchief. “May I read another?” I asked. She went to the shelf and grabbed another one, handing it to me.
I was being chased. I ran through the snow, blood dripping from my side. I looked behind me. He was catching up. I tripped and fell, his horse was upon me now and he took out his sword.
“Die. Die. Die.” He said, his hood falling away. It was my father.
I awoke, screaming. The door opened and Lyla ran in, coming over and embracing me. Tears fell down my cheeks as she attempted to soothe me. We were still in the study, I must’ve fallen asleep.
“Shh.. shh… it's okay, you’re safe.” She whispered into my ear. I clung to her, my body trembling. We stayed that way for some time, eventually, my tears dried up.
She stood up and held out her hand to me. I took it, and she helped me up and led me to a bedroom. It was filled with crystals and painted a blush pink. “This is my bedroom… you’re welcome here whenever.” She led me to the bed and I laid down. She tucked me in and laid down next to me.
“This is just like when my sister and I were young. We used to have sleepovers in each other's rooms.” I whispered. She ran a hand through my hair. She then looked me in my eyes before wrapping her arms around me and pulling me close. I was surprised, but I cuddled against her and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning when I woke up, Lyla was nowhere to be found. I got up and wandered down to the dining hall.
“Good morning Miss Adelaide. Can I help you with anything? Breakfast perhaps?” The head maid, Ingrid said. I shook my head.
“No thank you. Might you tell me where Lady Lyla is this morning though?”
“Oh! She is in her study, in the library. Shall I show you the way?” I again shook my head.
“I remember the way, thank you,” I said before taking off down the hall. I opened the door to the study and inside was Lyla, writing away. She didn’t look up.
“Good morning Adelaide. Did you sleep well?” she asked.
“Yes, I slept well,” I responded, suddenly nervous to be in front of her.
“Oh good. Please, take a seat.” She said. I did so. She took out a dagger, studying it for a moment. I froze, I could feel my heart pounding, every inch of my body was screaming for me to run. But couldn't. I tried to open my mouth to say something, anything. Nothing.
“Would you like to know why I have no family here? Why it's just me and my staff?” She looked at me. “My family resides in the heavens. They are not dead. They are very much alive. She looked up seemingly staring through the ceiling and to the heavens above. “I am an Angel. And I want to help you. My body was suddenly able to move again, maybe the shock of her words overriding the shock of the dagger.
“But The Angels left this world long ago. How could you be an Angel?” I asked. She smiled.
“We never truly left. Most of us reside in the skies above, but some live here, disguised as humans, like myself.” I thought for a moment, deciding to not question her anymore.
“You said you can help me, what exactly do you mean?”
“The people who attacked you. I will kill them for you. I am offering divine punishment against their souls.” She responded. There was nothing in her voice, she said it so plainly like offering to hunt down the people who had killed your entire village was a normal thing to offer.
“Yes. Do it.” I said. She looked slightly shocked I agreed so fast.
The next few weeks were spent planning. She had somebody tracking the men from the day I had arrived. Soon the day came. She left early in the morning, leaving me at the castle not wanting me to see the fight, or be put in harm's way.
Afternoon came and Ingrid and two other maids, Selena, and Rain. They held a white dress in their arms. I looked at them questioningly.
“Lady Lyla requested you wear this,” Ingrid said. Selena and Rain motioned for me to sit down at the Vanity, and I did so. They put my hair up in a sort of rose bun, with wisps of hair lining my face. Next, we put the dress on me. It was long, white with a slit on the right side. Two cuffs on my arms attached floor-length sleeves to my arms. It was beautiful. I thanked the three women.
Once they left I admired myself in a mirror. I was… pretty. I did a twirl and giggled to myself. The floor suddenly began to glow gold, and everything went black.
The darkness only lasted a second, and then I was standing in a snow-covered field.
Bodies lined the ground, and in the center of the field stood. Lyla. Knelt before her was the man that killed that family.
My feet started taking me toward them. I felt numb. I approached them and Lyla held out the dagger for me.
“The final strike is yours if you so wish.” I didn’t look at her as I took the dagger, instead staring at the man. I plunged it straight into his chest. He fell over, and I dropped the weapon before falling to my knees. The men were dead. Maybe now the nightmares would stop.