A Throne of Fire

Chapter 4

Maybe she was being too rash? Maybe she should just spend her life here on the ground? There really wasn't much need for a broken angel in the skies. Though she wanted to see her family again, she wanted to feel accepted again. She didn’t particularly enjoy being alone, well alone meaning that she was the only angel on the ground for the moment. 

Nichole gave a heavy sigh, curling her knees towards her chest and resting her arms across them. Depression overfilled her body like a sea of weeds, blooming in her chest and making it feel empty and yet tight at the same time. Maybe she should apologize? It was probably too late now, Xaylin’s entire family has probably already warned the boy of “the stained angel”, ugh. 

…...Should she try to just….take the boy? Everyone sleeps at some point and time. Even Demons. 

Humans especially. 

Yeah. That’s what she’ll do. She’ll just take the boy! Snatch him right out from under their noses!! 

Oh what a beautiful plan she had in mind as well. 

Without another thought, Nichole burst from her perch on the ground and began her quick trek to the Auroan household. She would get her family back. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We cannot allow her to live after what she has caused!” Outrage rings from a female. 

“We should just execute the girl where she stands.” Annoyance from a male. 

“Now, Now, do you all not want to hear what it is she has to say? How she may defend herself?” Amusement from another male. 

The high angels of her clan. They were deciding her fate. She had done something unforgivable for an angel. A crime that hasn’t been committed since the early 2000’s. 

She murdered one of her own kind, sent him tumbling right out of the skies, plummeting to the earth's unforgiving surface. 

Maybe they will tear off her wings as punishment, throw her down into the abyss as well. Or worse, maybe she will get sentence to a life long time having to feed the demons they held prisoner. 

“Nichole.” One of the elders spoke directly to her now, her voice cold and calculated. The eldest of all the angels thus far.

“..Yes.” She solemnly says, like a child that got caught doing something that they weren’t supposed to. 

“We have decided upon your fate.” The suspense was killing her, just throw her out of the clouds already. This was going to be the death of her. Literally. 

“You are to go to the Earth and find a human to sacrifice, as an apology for what you have done. You must venture and spill their blood upon the sacred stone and give the word of pray to us in order for our people to forgive your sins.” They spoke in unison, causing goosebumps to rip up her flesh and dread to grab her heart. A human? Where was she going to find a human?! They were extinct the last she knew! 

“What! That’s Imposs-”

“SILENCE.”

The sudden voice that filled the room cause more dread to seize her, it was the one Demon that was allowed up here, the ONLY one that was allowed in the clouds.

“You’ve received your punishment. Now, carry it out, child.” A voice that sounded of smooth velvet to her, he was the light of the clouds, the balance that ultimately dictates everyone’s life. 

The Demon Karma. 

“No!” A scream tore out of Nichole's throat as she threw herself up into a sitting position. She had fallen asleep? She didn’t even remember laying down..

Standing she gave a big stretch, brushing off leaves and twigs off her body, shaking out herself to get a little less tense. 

Today. 

Today she will steal that boy, and finally be accepted back into her world. Her sins would be forgiven! 

Motivation ripped through her body and she set off into the direction of The Demon’s home. Knowing that family they would have some sort of watch going on to protect the boy. Perhaps she could play coi? Pretend she had no intention at all of taking the boy away from them, ask for sanctuary, a family. 

A family. The thought bounces around her mind for a while, making her chest tight and her throat close. When was the last time she had seen hers? It’s been years… 

No matter. 

The forest was quiet as she waded her way through it, not even the birds chirped which was seemingly odd. There was no reason that it should be so silent, the sun was high, so it had to be sometime in the afternoonish. If anything the family should be out doing their normal routine of patrolling their territory, the lower demons anyways. The higher ups would probably be consulting with the elders. So theoretically she should be able to just go and take the child right out from underneath their noses, depending on if he was still there and all. 

Which judging by how Xaylin took the poor boy, he’s probably going to be out for days. Hopefully, it would be a lot easier for her to go in and take him then to have to try and convince him to come with her. Though she can kind of understand why he wouldn’t want to go with her, considering he basically knew her plan as of now. 

However the case may be she will have to worry about that later. Coming upon the house now, she just had to figure out how to get into the fortress. Well, it wasn’t much of a fortress for say, it was more of a big old mansion lost in the woods. 

Looking about the windows and the surrounding woods about the area, she began to asses the situation. She could just walk in the front door considering it was wide ass open, though she was pretty damn sure that there would be some sort of alerting system that would inform someone in the home that she was there. 

Nichole pondered her options for a while, finally deciding on just braving it and running straight through to the front door, pausing to look around the house and to locate the kid, who was on the couch passed out. Geez, wondered how long he would be out for. 

Without wasting much time she hooked her arms underneath him and lifted him with ease, the perks of not being human. However carrying him for a long period of time would be a bit of a dilemma. 

Nichole's heart was in her throat, her panic rising with each passing moment, it wouldn’t be long now before someone noticed. She took the child and ran out the door, though not before she heard bells jingling in the distance behind her. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Damon, Damon wake up!! Please wake up! A voice resounded through the air, knocking around in his brain, jarring him to open his eyes ever so slightly. Was that his mother talking to him? 

“Oh thank god!!!!” She all but screamed into his ear as she engulfed him into her arms, her crying being the only thing he could hear for a while. 

Was he dreaming? Was that whole thing he just went through some sort of dream? It felt so real.. 

His body felt stiff, as if he hadn't moved in days. Relief flooding his system as he realized it had to be, it had to be one big nightmare upon a nightmare. 

He wondered what caused it though? Why was he asleep for so long? 

Flashbacks of that bird man came back to his mind, his eyes bore right into his soul, causing wicked shivers to rip across his body. 

His mother finally let go of him, holding onto his cheeks and muttering over and over again. 

“I should have told you, I should have just told you right from the beginning.” More tears welt around the edges of her brown eyes. Fear, sadness, and what seemed to be a shred of happiness seemed to have breached her expressions. 

“Told me what?” If anything you wear scared. What is it that his mother hid from him? Is what happened not a dream? Dread clutched at his stomach with an iron grasp, he had a feeling that he was right in some way. 

“Tell me what, mother?” Damon demands, sitting up on the couch now, feeling stiffer than ever. 

The brown haired woman looks at him with sad eyes, she takes a deep sigh, “You’re being summoned on and off into the future.” 

What. 

When Damon says nothing, she continues, “You belong to a league of summoners in a guild. Your father used to be the head leader of it all before the world began to tear itself apart and the Phoenix rose.” The name of the mythical bird put another flashback in his eyes of how the man thing looked at them. 

Wait how does she know all of this? 

“How, how do you know any of this is true? Why didn’t you tell me sooner!?” The feeling of anger rips through his body, why would she keep this type of information hidden from him?! 

“I’m sorry, Damon! I just wanted you to live a normal life.” She wasn’t answering any of his questions. It was frustrating and he was beyond bewildered. 

“Obviously living a normal life is more than a little out of the question, mother!!!” The brunette’s fury only rose, how long!? 

“When you said your medicine wasn’t stopping your headache’s anymore.” She answered without him even having to ask, tears streaming down her face in cool rivulets. That’s right, he remembered complaining to her about a month ago about some headaches that’s been having. He thought maybe there was something wrong with his brain, at this point he wished that were the case. 

“So. what you’re telling my is that for some reason, because of whoever the f**k my dad was, I am being literally summoned into some unforgiving god damn future, to do what exactly?” He’s trying so hard to keep his anger out of his voice, he doesn’t want to yell at his mother but this entire situation has him up to his eyes with frustration and confusion. At this point he was ready to just throw down with anyone who would even think about adding another twist to his life. 

She didn’t reply at all, just simply nodded and started to cry again. Ridiculous. All of this, was completely and utterly ridiculous!!!! 

There was no reason that he shouldn’t be allowed to live a normal life. There really shouldn’t be! 

He took a deep breath, “What do I do?”  

“What?” His mother glanced up at him, blinking at him with confusion.

“You said I belonged to some guild or something. What do I do?” Might as well figure out what he was capable of doing before getting sucked back in their blind as a bat. 

She sits for a moment thinking to herself, almost debating something, though finally decides to say something.

“Come here, I will show you some books that your father wrote about the world you're in and what you are exactly.”  Standing, the petite brunette woman held out her hand to help him off the couch, leading him into the study that had been untouched for years, and yet still looked brand new. 

“He loved to collect things. From all over the world over all sorts of different times.” She looked nostalgic. Touching bookshelves, and looking to little trinkets here and there, everything looked as if it belonged in a different era, globes, maps, books, jewelry; everything looked old yet new. 

“Your father,” She began, going through and picking some books carefully out of the shelf, “Was the leader of the guild, he was the only one out of the many who could summon time itself. It’s why he was allowed to go back and forth freely, and to many different timelines as well.” 

Damon’s eyebrows furrowed, is that what he can do? Since he is back here? Well, she said freely, he wasn’t exactly back of his own free will at the very moment. Not that he didn’t mind being home at all. He sat down on the floor with her as she brought a few books down, opening up one with green leather and what looked like old twine keeping it together. 

“He loved seeing all the new times, as well as the old. He loved being able to come home and show me all these mysteries.” She smiled, warm, yet saddening. 

“What happened to him?” Damon was curious, he doesn’t remember anything about his dad other than he was never around. 

His mother sighed, handing him the book after finding a certain page. 

Fear struck his heart. It was that...thing. That he saw back in the temple. Though he looked more….human in this sketch. There was some sort of writing next to it, though it was too much chicken scratch for him to really make it out.

“He got too close to a monster.” She makes a choked noise, takes a deep breath, and then tries again. 

“Your father was a brave man, someone who enjoyed helping others across countless of timelines, no matter who, or what they were,” 

The or what part bothered him a bit.

“The future seemed to be the place in need of most help, he kept coming back and leaving and back and forth. Anytime I asked what was going on he would smile and just say, ‘Don’t worry my little doe.’ and then just leave again. When I finally got fed up with him always being away he conceded and told me what was going on, showed me this book of sketches he kept.” She raised her hand and pointed to the man on the page, he was beautiful to look at if he was being honest. Looked almost magical. Long dark hair, vibrant clear eyes, he looked almost sane here. Looked as though he was a perfect person to just casually talk to. In the sketch he had some sort of a grin, one that made him seem almost smug but in the playful kind of way.

“That is Nero.”

“Like the emperor?” Damon raised an eyebrow at her, and she laughed a bit.

“Almost, not exactly.Nero lux aurea, was how he was known, The Golden Light. In the future, before it was destroyed, Nero watched over many different species and clans of people and creatures. He kept the balance of the world, so I suppose you could say he was the emperor, not exactly though. He was responsible for making sure that the people stayed happy, and content, so the Earth would be able to thrive and have people all live in harmony.” His mother looked up, a warm smile on her face, “He was so kind.” 

Was seemed to be the keyword in that sentence. 

“What happened?” The boy swallowed, feeling a little nervous. If everything was going so well, what had happened to make that man just snap. 

“He fell in love with a nasty woman.” Her expression hardens, she seems to be thinking for a moment and she flips a couple of pages in the sketch book. Opening it up to a beautiful blonde woman. It was just a bust, from her shoulders up. But wow she was absolutely stunning. Feathers lined the bottom of her shoulders, scaling up in a flurry of black and white. Her eyes captivated him, black where the whites should be, and rings of fire that encased the color of her eyes. Her platinum hair was lined and braided with feathers, and different dark spots of shades here and there. It seemed long, as it passed even her shoulders. Though it set Damon off a bit, she had such sharp features with such a sad expression. 

“She drove the man insane.” He snapped back when his mother spoke again, obviously had been captivated for a moment. 

“How?” His voice was soft, he felt scared for some reason.

“She stole his heart, and refused to return it. When a Phoenix dies, you know how they burn to ashes and are reborn from the ashes?”

Damon nods, thinking back to what Xaylin said when they escaped the temple. 

Haven’t you ever seen a phoenix die?

“Well, if one dies without their heart, they begin to forget things ever so slowly, if it stays out of them for such a long period of time, well..they tend to forget themselves. Though they always feel as though something has been missing, so they search for it. To the best of my knowledge, Vera has kept his heart for centuries now, refusing to return it and never allowing him to forget his love for her. God, this man would do anything for this woman.” His mother looked a bit frightened, “The stories your father told me, they were horrifying.” 

Damon let a silence ring for a bit, though his curiosity and impatience got the best of him, “Well. What happened?” 

“Vera was displeased with how the humans were treating the Earth, how they were treating her and her people as well. Nero tried to reason with her at first, tried to tell her that they were evolving and that their time to reign on the Earth was becoming distant. She was heartbroken that he didn’t see the world the same.” She looked sad now, “A woman who loves, and to be told that her people and her world was coming to an end, it’s kind of saddening when you think about it.” 

Damon sat back for a minute, absorbing the information while looking at the photo. She did look sad. Pure, yet sad. 

“She..She got him to wipe out the humans of their era.” 

Damon’s head snapped up, “How?” How did one woman get an ancient being to just listen. 

“When you’re in love Damon, the world doesn’t matter. The only thing that does is who you’re looking at in that moment. He was so far gone with his love for her that he would do anything for her. It also didn’t help that she was slowly driving him insane, but it seemed as though only your father saw that. Trying to talk sense into Nero only made him more mad. And so the golden light encased the world in fire.” A deep sigh came from her after she finished. Handing him a couple of other books before standing from her kneeling position on the floor. 

“You should eat something, I would assume that you didn’t due to how you get when you’re stressed. And I can only assume how stressed you might be after the last couple of days. I will make something for you.” 

After the last couple of days, yeah, that sounded real nice. 

Everything faded after that.