Wolfsbane - Shadow of Angel

Chapter 1 Scotland, 1864 Jael stared at the bloodstains on what used to be the peaceful Scottish greenfield. The grass had been killed by venomous fumes, which Jael was sure were coming from Luna, the dark magic sorceress. And the bloodstains belonged to Charmine, his newly wedded wife. The scent of Charmine mixed with her blood and the ashes from the burned bush made his hands shake, his knees weaken, his heart race with fear, and his blood boil with rage. Jael straightened up his body. He couldn't afford a mistake right now. He couldn’t let himself be weak. God had given him a second chance to live and reclaim his angel power. God wouldn't have sent him back here just to see he had failed his family. God wouldn't save his life just to let him learn he had let Charmine and their stillborn first child die at the hands of evil. He traced his fingertips over the bloodstains. So much blood . . . but his wife was a fighter. He was sure she had survived this attack from her evil sister. Where are you, Charmine? His eyes desperately scanned the hillside. He searched every inch of the vista, using every ounce of his energy along with the light source he had. He found nothing but trails of blood. Then, in the dead grass, he saw a leather-bound book covered in bloodstains. He picked it up. It was a fairy tale Charmine had just bought in town. He had observed her from a distance as she went into the bookstore. He felt uneasy when she mixed in among humans in the middle of a crowded town. He didn't mind humans, but he disliked the supernatural creatures walking among them. The stray creatures were unpredictable, dangerous, and had a minimal sense of morality. Jael kept at a distance to give Charmine some space. As an apprentice in the house of Gods, she rarely traveled to the outside world. Thus, whenever he had a chance, he took her on a mission with him. Earth was her favorite place in the cosmos. When she left the busy town for the peaceful hillside, he had thought it was safe and had gone about his mission. That was one of the rare mistakes he had made in his life, and he could only hope it hadn’t cost him his family. He was the angel of light with the highest ranking in his council. He was the one who gave hope to his subjects—those he had sworn to protect. Now, when he needed hope, he wasn’t sure from whom he could ask it. As the thought enraged him, he heard a noise from a large pile of charred grass. He darted over to it and yanked out a small creature. It had been wounded and burned so badly that he couldn’t tell what species it was. Judging by its charred skin and what was left of its face, the creature wouldn’t last long. “What are you? Where are your people?” Jael asked without expecting a coherent answer. The creature looked like an elf. If so, it might have enough supernatural power to heal itself if he gave it some help. He straightened the head of the creature, trying not to cause more damage to its badly damaged skin. The creature’s pointy left ear moved slightly, and it opened its two eyes that glowed like two large green lightbulbs. While its ears made it look like an elf, its eyes were certainly not those of an elf. “Take it easy. If I give you some light, like a power source, would it help? I don’t want to push the light in if your body will reject it.” The creature uttered a barely audible sound. “Please,” it said. Jael nodded. He held the creature’s small hands and gently pushed some light energy into its body. In a short moment, its green eyes blinked and then opened wide, looking even larger than they did before. Some of its burned patches of skin started to heal. The healthy skin began to change from a shade of orange to light green and then to a deep blue. “You’re a sea-elf!” Jael gasped. “How did you get up here? Let me take you back to the water.” “No, I’m human.” “What?” “She made me.” “She? Do you mean Luna?” The creature nodded. “She took the heart of something at sea and put it inside me . . . just to keep it beating.” “She ripped your human heart out?” Jael asked but didn’t need an answer. He knew what Luna had done. It was a ritual in dark sorcery to create supernatural creatures she could control. He had always thought it was a myth. Jael asked, “Did she . . . curse someone?” and this time, he didn’t wish for an answer. The creature closed its eyes, and in a short moment, its face started to form into the shape of a young man, but as it did, its heartbeat weakened, and its breathing started to labor. “She changed you. You’re not meant to be on land. You’ll die,” Jael said. “I’d rather die than live like this.” Jael said nothing. He picked the man up in his arms, spread his wings, and flew toward the water. “You’re an angel!” the man whispered. “Yes, but I can’t bring you back from death. God created you, and it’s your decision to keep your life or not. But nobody has the right to take life or your heart away from you.” “If you had come earlier, you could have saved her.” Something inside him broke. It might have been his heart. Flying against the strong wind, he looked down and asked the man, “Did you see Luna kill my wife?” “Oh . . . oh dear God, that was your wife? No, she fought hard. She didn’t die. She killed Luna. And as you can see, Luna burned everything before she died.” “So why did you say I could have saved my wife if I’d come earlier?” They had arrived at the coastline. Jael put him down close to the edge of the water. The man was weakening every second he drew in air. Jael dragged him into the water. “Angel, what is your name?” “I’m Jael. I am the angel of light.” “I want to die as a man.” “Not on my watch. I can’t let you do that.” “Luna cursed your child before she died.” Jael stopped breathing for a second. “With what?” “She planted the heart in me and took me to the hill. I heard her chanting a spell, and I think she wanted to place this heart into your wife’s body after she cursed your child to have no heart. She was going to rip the heart out of your wife and replace it with this one . . .” Jael stopped dragging the man to deep water. The man stood up as he had now regained some strength. “She cursed our child?” “Yes, I’m so sorry. Your wife killed her after that. But the curse had been completed.” “Did you see where my wife went?” The man shook his head. “No, but she didn’t go by herself. She was hurt badly. Someone took her, and I saw its shadow. Whoever or whatever it was, it was very large. I couldn’t see much. I’m sorry. It might have wings . . . just like yours. But I don’t think it was an angel.” “Why?” The man looked at Jael. “Because angels don’t rip someone’s heart out with their bare hands. That thing took Luna’s heart. Then it grabbed your wife and vanished.” Jael nodded. “You should go.” The man bowed. “I owe you my life,” he said then dove into the water and swam away. Jael looked to the horizon where the water met the sky. He swore to bring Charmine and their child home. He was an angel, and he had been protecting his subjects without fail for more than a hundred years. Now, the most important subjects in his life were in trouble. If he failed to save his own family, wouldn’t it defeat the whole purpose of God creating him? Among those at the same rank, he was the best of them all. In a hundred years of battle, he had lost only once. And that loss was to the person who had just taken Charmine.