Alliance With Shadows

Chapter 1

Her silver armor glistened as she flew into the air, angelic wings guiding the way. Crimson staining her hair and skin; the armor looking just as bad. Finding the dark being, she quickly pinned him to the brick building before her, pinning his head between the wall and her double-edged sword. She realized that up close he was just a changeling. Changelings were tricky creatures whether they were Light or Dark.

            “Don't kill me,” the changeling hissed in her face. He knew there was no escape...no one escaped from Mercy DeAngél. No one.

            “I don't give requests to the Dark who disobey the treaty. Any last words before you lose your head snake,” Mercy asked. The changeling breed was easy to spot; this particular breed was the easiest. The breed had the body similar to humans but had the smooth scaly skin of a snake. His pupils silted similar to the animal, the long forked tongue, and the unfortunate fangs that held the deadly and painful venom; venom that could kill her in a matter of a few seconds if she were not careful. She hated snakes.

            The changeling’s eyes glowed yellow, and he grinned exposing his fangs. “Kill me, Angel of Death, for one day you will not be able to kill the Dark, no matter what.” Sucking in a breath he sprayed as much venom as he could on her, covering her wings and body. If he was going to die by the Death Angel he certainly wasn’t going to go down without making her suffer in the process.

            Damn it! She could already feel the burning in her wings, biting the inside of her cheek holding back a scream of pain she tightened her hold on the sword. She needed to kill and kill fast, holding him there with telekinetic power; her sword moved to slice through the changeling’s delicate neck. “I will always kill your kind. Anyone who dares to spit on the peace between our realms will die by a Valkyries hand.” Not realizing she had said it aloud she shook her head at the thought. The Snake’s body was now food for the earth and his soul would spiral to the Dark Realm, which was where it belonged. Twirling her sword it disappeared, then appeared on her arm as a tattoo, and then disappeared into her skin. Her weapons were concealed in her skin so that she would never be unarmed. She had to only think of the weapon she wanted and it appeared. She walked down the pebbled streets in her armored clothing; the sticky blood and dirt combination covered her inch by inch, her wings slowly disappearing. Holding in a hiss of pain she held her head high even though she was beyond tired from the fight she would not show weakness. Her father had taught her that many times and she wouldn't forget it. She looked at her surroundings to find people starring; bowing their heads in respect for the woman who kept them safe. She wasn't a hero. She was only doing her duty. At least that's what she told herself to make killing easier to do. She was a soldier; that was what she did. That was who she was. A killer. Many people just knew her as the demon killer, or the Death Angel, few knew her by name.

            Finally reaching the house she loved so much; it was the one her father built for her mother. The man loved her with every heartbeat and every breath he took. The man should love her since they had been with each other for so long. She didn't know their ages, and she learned quickly never to ask her mother's age. She just assumed that they had been around for a while. Smiling at the thought she walked through the front door. Looking up she saw a young girl walking out of the kitchen. As the girl's head turned silky chocolate hair kissed her shoulders, face glowing, and a smile greeted Mercy. She would one day be every man's dream. And dad would need to beat every guy off of her.

            “Oh my gosh, Mercy! What kind of Darkling was it this time?” Her little sister would ask the question every time she returned from a battle.

            “Well hi to you too Cadence.” Laughing, “He was a changeling. More changelings are rebelling against the Dark Lord these days, makes me wonder about our own changelings.” Frowning at the thought of her own people rebelling, she quickly shook the thought out of her head and continued talking, “Remember no matter what, if they break the laws of Peace they must die. We cannot lose peace between the two realms.” They couldn't afford another war.

            “I will. Hey, are we going to have our lessons today?”

            “Sure, but do you know where mom and dad are?” Cadence grabbed Mercy's hand immediately dragging her to the kitchen where she found her father doing the dishes and mother cooking dinner.

            “Mom, Dad I'm back.” Mercy announced. Her parents quickly turned to find their youngest daughter smiling, and the other trying to smile. Her mother quickly came over and made Mercy sit down. They always made her check-in to make sure she was still alive after her duties as a Valkyrie for the Priestess. All she really wanted to do was go to her own house, her own bed and sleep. But she couldn’t ignore the orders of a Guardian, which just so happened to be her father.

            “Mercy, hunny, you need to be more careful.” Her mother's voice was beyond concerned.

            “Lilly, she will be fine. I'll go call our son,” Her father said, walking towards the phone. He knew this was her duty, and knew that his daughter wasn't one who liked to be babied.

            “Elijah she's not a Guardian like you. She doesn’t have the power you do to heal.”

            “Dad do NOT call Xander. He'll just give me a lecture.” There was no denying the frustration in her voice. She hated it when they would call Xander. He always gave her a long lecture about being more careful, like she could be careful being a Valkyrie, that's like telling a target to try not getting shot.

            “He's your big brother; he is supposed to do that. And yes I know Lilly but she isn't at all helpless. She has been doing this since she was 16. Now Cadence is that age and our Mercy is now 25.” Elijah reminded them both before calling Xander. Mercy sat there pouting, she remembered being sworn into the Light as a Valkyrie at the age of 16; she was the top student in all of her classes and the Priestess thought she would make a great Valkyrie. Her high scores and determination contributed to her high rankings in the military. She was now considered the highest-ranking Valkyrie in the Light and only at the age of 25. Captain DeAngél, made her smile every time she heard it.

            “It just gets harder and harder with each battle to see my baby coming home with blood all over her,” Lilly whispered, washing the blood off of Mercy's face.

            “Mom it’s not like all this blood is mine.” Mercy smiled, trying to at least make her mom not worry so much. Her mother was just not meant to be a mother of a Valkyrie. She laughed thinking no mother would be happy their daughter was a Valkyrie; her mother just drew the short stick she guessed. She smiled finding Cadence sitting beside their mom looking as if this rerun of a day was boring. She had to give her sister credit, sitting here hearing her mother whine over her big sister every day would get boring. “Hey sis can you do me a favor?” Mercy mumbled the question trying not to move too much so her mother could wash the blood off of her. She knew this was a favor her sister would die to get out of the room for.

            “Yeah sure, whatcha need?”

            Swirling lights surrounded Mercy's arm, then the sword she used in battle appeared, and also a small knife. “Could you clean and sharpen these for me. We might need them in your practice today.” Mercy smiled and tried not to laugh at the bug-eyed look on her sisters’ face. Yep, that was a keeper if only she had a camera to take a picture.

            Cadence was astonished trying to form words she spits out, “Are you serious? You’re going to let me use your weapons!?”

            Laughing, “Of course, you need the practice.” Mercy handed the two weapons to Cadence. Knowing she was the only one she could trust not to break her delicate weapons. She watched as her sister jumped up from the seat and took the weapons and smiling knowing Mercy never gave her weapons to anyone. This was an honor and a privilege.

            “Thanks!” Cadence screamed as she tried not to run down the hallway to Mercy's old room to clean the weapons. She was surprised her parents left her room alone; they never changed it into something else. She only used the room to let Cadence clean her weapons and then go to the Realms now. It made her place have a little less traffic when random Light citizens came into the Human world. Mercy smiled watching her little sister, then turning back to see her father looking at her with the same bugged out eyes Cadence had.

            “What?” She asked.

            “You never let anyone touch your weapons. You almost killed Xander once because he touched your knives, and used your pistol for shooting practice.” Elijah started laughing at the memory.

            “Well that’s Xander, he has his own weapons. Cadence doesn't have any weapons yet, I'm training her. Plus I trust her more.” As if by magic, shimmering lights appeared in the room, then out stepped the man of every girl's dream. Tan skinned, blond spiked hair, five foot eleven hunk with golden eyes. She supposed he probably looked like those male models off the underwear packages to too many girls, to her it just seemed wrong and disturbing to think of him in any way other than him being her brother. “Well, you know how to make an entrance don't you bro?” Mercy smirked; her brother always had to make sure he was the center of attention. Always.

            “Well, you got to make it big.” Xander laughed.

            “Of course you do.” Mercy said rolling her eyes, as Xander stepped closer as if she were now his patient. Sometimes she wished her brother wasn't a Medic Warrior or even just a Medic. It made life easier that she never had to venture to the Light Realm to get medical attention, but she didn't like the fact that it allowed Xander to poke his little nose into all her problems. Brothers were overprotective as it was, she didn't need twice the over-protectiveness. Her mother already had that occupation covered. Snapping out of her thoughts when a sharp pain grabbed her attention, “Ouch, could you be a little more careful?”

            The smile left the moment she said ouch and he began to frown. He didn't like causing her pain even though it was fun sometimes but this was serious, “I'm guessing it was a darkling with venom?”

            Snorting, “Well I wouldn't let a regular ol’ darkling kick my ass now, would I? I’m not stupid, nor is it my first time dealing with a darkling.” She gave him the you-are-a-dumbass look with very angry brown eyes. Not that he noticed he seemed too engrossed in the afflictions to her body.

            “Hey calm down girl, just teasing. So let’s see what the damage is ok?” Xander smiled trying to lighten the mood; he knelt in front of her. Looking over every detail he could that might mean something was wrong, his face grew grimmer. “Damn Mercy he certainly made sure you wouldn’t live very long after you killed him. Dad, I need the anti-venom and the antibiotics.” He looked up away from Mercy for a second to see Elijah walking to the closet; he turned his attention back to Mercy content that his order was obeyed. She was still awake and looked as strong as she normally did. Damn. This amount of venom from a snake changeling would kill anyone in minutes; even a Valkyrie would only last a few hours. Dismissing the thought he quickly looked up, “Wings?”

            Bug-eyed she looked down at her brother, caught off guard by the question. “What?”

            “Let me look at your wings. They could be damaged.” Judging by the face she made he could bet she really didn’t want him to see her wings, there was hesitation.

            “Why they're fine, no need to look.” Mercy whispered, trying not to give away the fact that her wings were not fine. They were beyond not fine. They burned and ached. She was too scared to look at the damage especially in front of this crowd.

            “Mercy Jewel DeAngél you WILL let me see your wings.” Xander did not hide the authority in his voice. He was a Medic Warrior he would not be ignored, especially by his sister. Why would she hide her wings, wings were important to any Valkyrie. It was a gift very few had, it was a part of their body the day they were sworn in. It is like an arm or a leg, any damage was detrimental to their health. Her pride was not going to be the reason she lost her wings, so he continued to stare her down till he saw the submission in her eyes.

            Knowing her brother was worried, she looked down ashamed of the damage she let happen to her own wings, with only a slight thought of her wings they appeared. Appearing from the middle of her back through her wing slits, her wings slowly grew out long and proud only for her to fold them in, not wanting anyone to see. She had the smallest wings in her Valkyrie unit; they only reached five feet on each side. Too fearful to see her brother's face she kept her head lowered and spread them out to their full length.

            “Oh my...Mercy,” Lilly whispered disturbed by the sight her eyes wide with horror.

            “Mercy your wings are nothing but blood and feathers! What did he do to you!?” Her brother’s voice was filled with anger but was touched by a hint of sadness. This was horrible. Elijah walked in and all you heard was the thump the bandages and antibiotics hitting the solid ground beneath them.

            “Mercy...” Elijah's voice was breathless. Her wings were almost destroyed, only thick blood kept most of the feathers in place. Lilly quickly gathered a basin of warm water and pressed the soaked cloth on her wings trying to loosen the hold the blood had on her feathers. Each time the water hit her wings everyone winced, knowing the rawness of her condition was painful. Xander tended to her wounds on her body, cleaning out the cuts and scrapes from a devastating fight. Her body may be clean but that didn’t help the venom sprayed on her wings that the Snake sought to destroy. Elijah applied medication to the wings after they were clean enough to recognize.

            The front door sprang open. Panicking everyone gathered in front of Mercy realizing she couldn't make her wings disappear yet. An hourglass figure turned the corner revealing blue-green eyes staring at them as if a question mark was painted on her forehead. “Where's Mercy?” she asked.

            “I'm here, behind everyone. Dang guys it's just Morgan. She's not the boogie man.” Mercy muttered in frustration pushing everyone aside. She could handle herself she wasn't useless.

            “We were just being cautious,” Elijah said, nodding toward Morgan and smiling.

            “Yeah, how were we supposed to know it was the elf?” Xander laughed knowing she hated being called elf. She would argue with Xander for hours that being a Nymph was different than an elf, but she finally just gave up knowing it was an argument never to be won. Xander just loved pissing her off, and he knew which buttons to push.

            “And you’re an ass of a warrior. You’re just jealous.” Morgan said as she walked up the stairs to the kitchen to find Mercy looking like the Mummy for a horror film, “Oh damn girlfriend, what the heck got you today?”

            “It was a damn changeling. Stupid Snake.” Mercy answered with a sigh.

            “We need to inform Aurora that there may be an uprising in the Dark realm and we may need to talk to the Dark Lord. We need to stop this uprising before it gets too far. We cannot afford a war; the humans will end up paying for this.” Elijah interrupted. He was the only one able to call the Priestess by her name. He was one of her most trusted Guardians and had also known her since the day she had sworn to protect and guide the people of the Light.

            “Maybe the Dark Lord knows about his people uprising and is choosing to do nothing. Do you think he would chance to violate the Treaty though?” Mercy asked, pondering the thought herself. She never took the Dark Lord as the type with no brain. Although if he was behind it, he would make sure his name was never in question.

            “She does have a point, Elijah.” Lilly nodded in agreement adding, “Maybe he is tired of having a Treaty with the light. He would be able to gain more souls that way, not fearing that his people will be annihilated.”

            “I agree. He may be playing in the background to make sure he doesn’t get blamed for anything that is happening. That may be the reason he is sending in the Changelings, they aren’t a race that’s below doing what they are told as long as they get something out of it.” Xander said, putting away the medication.

            Morgan leaned over to whisper in Mercy's ear, “You know your brother is getting cuter, you need to fix him up with Jenny.”

            Mercy stifled a laugh and whispered back, “You trying to change the subject there? Thanks for trying to lighten up my mood but he's my brother I don't find the cuteness you see, and Jenny couldn't handle my brother. She's too much of a goodie-goodie plus she’s a Faery.” Finding the pain was going away, she made her wings finally fade away, letting a wince slip as she did it. Then Cadence yelled from the bedroom. “Mercy!”

            Slowly getting up from the stool with a little help from Morgan, she walked down the hallway to her old room to find Cadence smiling. “What?”

            “Aren't they shiny? I made them sharp too. Can I use them now?” Cadence asked.

            Mercy picked up her weapons and looked at them closely. Wow, she did a good job. She could see herself in the blade. Twirling them around, they disappeared. Oh yeah, a very nice job. There’s no grime to ruin the smoothness of the transition when it disappeared back into her skin. Then just as quickly as they disappeared they reappeared. “You did a great job. I might just let you clean and sharpen my weapons, then for payment two hours of practice with them. How does that sound?”           

            Cadence jumped up and ran through the portal Mercy made, in a quick blur, to the practice arena in the Light realm. Screaming, “Let's go!” the whole way.

            Laughing at her excitement Mercy slowly followed looking behind her she peeked out of the portal to see Morgan sitting in a chair with a questioning look, “Hey Morgan you want to come?”

            “You’re serious? I can go with you to practice?” Morgan asked in awe.

            “Well yeah why not. You’re a whiteling so it’s not like you can’t come with me.” Then she popped back into the portal. Morgan sat there for a few minutes not knowing if Mercy was serious or not; then Mercy popped her head back out of the portal. “Are you coming or not? I need to help Cadence?” Mercy asked a little impatiently.

             “Yeah, yeah! I'm coming.” Morgan jumped out of the seat and ran into the portal. Entering into the realm, all she could do was stare in awe. “It's so beautiful! I haven’t been to this part of the realm.” The surroundings were so vividly colored it almost looked like you were in a painting. The animal life was so lively and the waters were so clear it was like liquid crystal. “What’s that?” she asked pointing at what looked like a bird.

            Mercy looked to where she was pointing and smiled, “That’s a phoenix. They belong to the Salamanders.”

“Who are they?” Morgan asked.

“They are the Fire Elementals. I’m surprised you don’t know that. Although they don’t visit the Human Realm often, so I guess that’s why you haven’t met one. Nymphs are located in the Human Realm.” Mercy kept walking on the path, leading them to the practice arena. She enjoyed the scenery every time she came. She looked at Morgan still looking around, then saw her eyes widen. She's found the Unicorn. Mercy memorized where every animal was in the realm.

            “Is that...is that a Unicorn?” Morgan asked, now looking at Mercy.

            “Yeah, that’s a Unicorn, her name's Storm. She's the animal the Gnomes look after.” Then Mercy guided Morgan's eyes to the waterfall, “Watch.”

            Morgan sat there waiting for something to happen. Then a white horse with snow-white wings came out of the forest to the waterfall to get a drink. “That’s...that’s.”

            “That would be Snow; she's a Pegasus. She's my favorite animal here. She belongs to the Sylphs, they are the Air Elementals.”

            “So there's an animal that represents each elemental?”

            “There isn’t exactly an animal that represents each elemental; it’s just that those animals tend to gravitate to that certain element. I’ve seen a wolf that usually gravitates to the Gnomes, love a Salamander and would never leave his side.”

            “Wow.” 

Guiding Morgan to the arena, they meet up with Cadence. Cadence was already there yelling for the past five minutes wanting to begin her training. Walking up the path Mercy finally saw Cadence. “Hurry up sis!”

            “I'm coming Cadence, I'm coming.” Mercy laughed. Walking into the arena, Mercy made all of the weapons appear in the air then gently put them on the ground. Letting her wings appear she relaxed. Didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. She turned to find Morgan looking around the arena, then turning to find her sister waiting for her lessons. She decided she would leave Morgan to look at the surroundings. “Okay, which weapon do you want to start with?”

            Looking at all of the weapons on the floor she pointed at the shurikens. “I want to use those. I'll be like a ninja,” laughing, “but a cute one.”

            Mercy picked up the star-shaped disks handing them to Cadence, “Remember these have very sharp points. You can use them to stab your enemy or cut them.” Having one in her hand she showed Cadence how to hold one, and then how to throw it at the foam target they kept there. Taking the remaining shurikens, she handed one to Cadence. “Your turn.”

            Cadence copied what her big sister did to every point. She was able to hold the shuriken the same way and was able to throw it precisely in the target the same way Mercy did. Cadence laughed in excitement, “Yes! I did it!”

            “Wow, you picked that one up faster than when I first taught you how to use your powers. I think you have my talent for weapons, not so much the powers.” Smiling, “Don't feel bad though, Dad had to teach things to me like a dozen times before I got them.” Messing Cadence's hair up, she looked around to find Morgan. Spotting her, “Morgan!” she yelled.

            Jumping almost out of her skin Morgan turned, “Yeah!?”

            “Come over here. Pick out a weapon; I'm going to train you too.”

            Running to where the girls stood, Morgan looked down at all the weapons. “Hum, can I use that one.”

            Looking to where Morgan pointed she saw a dagger. A simple weapon to use, yet it fits her so well. “I think that’s the perfect weapon for you.” With Cadence occupied by finding another weapon to use, Mercy started helping with Morgan.

                                                                                            ***

            “Mom we need Mercy to be more careful. Someone needs to protect her, what if another changeling attacks her, maybe even one that’s even more dangerous than a Snake?” Xander asked pausing before he continued, “I'm afraid she won't live through the next one. Did you see her wings?”

            Sighing, Elijah answered, “Yes I saw her wings. I'm surprised she could deal with that pain. Every Valkyrie knows the wings are the weakest spot you have. They're the most delicate part of your body.”

            “Maybe we could have Xander go with her?” Lilly questioned.

            “Mom you know Mercy would never let me come. I also have a day job mom; I can't be a doctor and a Darkling slayer at the same time.” Xander looked from his mother to his father. “I can't handle looking at what happens to her every time she comes home. I'm afraid one of these days I'll come here and find her dead.”

            “I can't handle it either,” Lilly added.

            “Lillian, Xander this is what she loves to do. She loves protecting the humans here; she would do anything in her power to do it. We just have to deal with it for a little longer, no matter how much we don't like it.” Elijah then stood and walked out of the room. Lilly and Xander looked at each other with a puzzled look.

            “What did he mean by a 'little' longer?” Xander asked.

            “I'm not sure. But I'm determined to find out.” Lilly then walked away from the table, following her husband into the mystical realm, hoping to get some answers.

            Sitting alone at the dinner table, “Well thanks, guys! Leave me here alone.” Xander got up from the table then plopped down on the couch in front of the TV. Guess watching some TV till someone gets back seemed like a good idea.