Undone by a Broken Angel

27.) Ambushed

"I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations, they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and Pierce your shining splendor."

-Ezekiel 28:7

Abraham:

The storm comes on quickly so it doesn’t take long for them to get the tent set up and they scurry inside it for cover.  Abraham set up camp as far into the tree line as he could for protection, but the wind still batters at the canvas walls, making them billow in and out.  Abigail looks relieved to be inside, but he can still tell that she’d rather they be making progress in their traveling.  Truth be told, he would have tried to push on, but he can’t take any risks when it’s her life involved.  The others will just have to wait.

Instead, he makes better use of their time by filling their stomachs.  He made sure to pack plenty of food, but he’s not sure if he packed enough for the both of them.  Before they camp the next night, he may have to go hunting for some fresh meat.  It would be good for her strength and it would keep his mind sharp, something he has to do with the voice picking in his mind.  Handing her some dried venison and a few dried pieces of fruit, they munch on the food in silence.

“How much longer?” she wonders, looking into the food bag he was rummaging through.

“Two maybe- depends on how fast this storm lets up,” he tells her, glancing at the sides of the vibrating tent.  “I’m capable of hunting, Princess,” he teases and then watches her scowl at him.

She harrumphs, “I never said you couldn’t.”

He smiles; he can’t help it.  The frustration on her face is so innocent that it fills his chest with warmth and he finds that he likes teasing her; it makes her look adorable, the way she pouts.  Chuckling, he throws the rest of his food in his mouth and chews, studying her face.  From this close in the small space he can see the waves of her dark hair and they look infinite, and wonders if he’d ever reach bottom if he ran his fingers through them.  Her ebony eyelashes catch the light from the flickering lantern he had lit, and they brush her cheekbones with a feather light touch.  Her eyes flick up to look into his and he catches his breath.  He noticed the gold irises before, but the green in them are illuminated in the lamp light and they’re so rich, it’s as though he’s lost in a moss covered forest.  She gives him a concerned look because he obviously missed what she had said, and his eyes shift to her mouth  instead, trying to catch her words.

“Will you tell me more?” she wonders.

His brain can’t catch the meaning of her words with it so focused on her pillowy pink lips.  It’s not the first time he’s had the urge to kiss her and he’s not sure when the need first arrived, but it’s there.  The need twists urgently in his gut and he swallows hard, gaining control of his natural instincts.  

No, kiss her, the voice urges.  See what happens.  I bet she’ll kiss back and I bet it’ll be amazing.

Abe thinks so too, unfortunately.  If only it were possible.

“More about what?” he asks, shaking himself completely of the heat that shot through him.

“The reapers,” she says flatly, concern plain on her face.  “You okay?”

He nods.  “Sure.  Reapers.  Okay.”  He gathers his thoughts before saying more.  “We both have been around for thousands of years, the reapers and us, but the only species able to evolve are the reapers.  Every other decade they have adapted into a new more advanced being.  The last century, it was their noses.  That adaptation helped them the most in the war.  Twenty years ago, they assembled together and became very powerful.  We couldn't hold them all back.  All the adult men and women were slaughtered on the battlefields.  The remaining citizens left their homes to aid the remaining units.   What little children there were,  we're  hunted down and slaughtered.   Within six months, our population went from  five hundred thousand, to twenty thousand.  A year later and we were down to seven.  A lot of the reapers dispersed around the world looking for us.  I always have a group of them chasing me.”

"Do they populate like we do?"

"Yes, they do.  At age seven, they are allowed to fight only because they possess a very strong ability.  All their children are feared for it.  It's eternal fire.  A ball of concentrated blue flames they create in the palms of their hands, and only they can put it out.  David, however, has discovered advancements with it and has achieved in putting it out.  I guess Samuel has learned as well," he says, "We've nicknamed the devil kids ‘grims’."

Suddenly, she’s very amused and she bites her lip to contain her laughing.  Her cheeks go all rosy with mirth and the sight of her knots his gut up again and the heat in him travels south.  "Do they carry around big swords and wear long black cloaks?" she asks in a fit of laughter.

He bursts out laughing too, her laughter contagious, "no, but it would be funnier if they did."

"So how many of them are there now?" she asks seriously.

He picks at the hem of his cloak.  "We don't know.  We see them from time to time in packs of three or four, but never more than that.  We assume that there are many thousands of them."

He watches her turn that statement over in her mind and it appears to have shocked her.  She goes quiet for a moment, contemplating the new information and drawing connections.  Does she finally see?  Is the weight of her life finally dawning on her?

"Are you starting to understand the danger you are in?" he asks her, his voice filled with earnestness. 

"Everyone is in danger, Abe."

"But not as much as you,” he insists, trying to push the truth on her as best he can.

"Why do you keep saying that?"  Now she sounds frustrated, her small nose screwing up and her mouth forming a thin line.

"Because they are looking for you just as hard as we were!  You are the one every single one of them is trying to kill!  With you out of the way, they have an automatic win!  One is easier to kill one than it is four.  Do you understand?"

Her eyes are wide at this point, and she nods, though he can tell she doesn’t want to.  “My life is still no better than theirs,” she wipers, her voice hard with truth.

He finds he can’t argue with that.

Abe wakes up some time later; he must have fallen asleep to the sound of thunder rolling overhead.  When his eyes open, he feels rested.  He’s been so stressed lately worried about his brother, the others, and Abby wiggling her way into this journey, the anxiety must have gotten the best of him.  Under the thunder, he hears something soft, a voice, humming a lullaby and he recognizes the tune Abby had sung for him a few nights ago in the darkness of his bedroom.  Looking up, he can see her nose in the book she had been reading earlier and she hums in her contentment, flipping pages as she makes progress.

"Reading again?" he asks as he stirs awake.

"Nothing is wrong with reading,” she says, not taking her eyes off of the words she soaks in.

“What time is it?” he wonders, noticing the lamp’s oil is running dangerously low.

“Almost morning.  You fell asleep after you ate and then I stayed up reading for a while,” she tells him, flipping another page.

“Do you mean to tell me that you’ve been awake ALL NIGHT?” he shouts, ripping the book from her hands.

“Hey!”

“Get some sleep!” he grits out.

Moisture fills her eyes and she blinks back tears.  “I didn’t want to get ambushed!  And besides, I couldn’t sleep.”  She raises her chin defiantly and he groans in frustration.

The storm outside sounds like it’s passing, the thunder sounds far off and the rain trickles down onto their canvas roof with dull plops.  “Come on,” he says getting up, “we should pack up then.  Drink some water before we go.”

They pack together in silence; he can clearly see she’s angry with him and he doesn’t blame her.  He shouldn’t have snapped at her, but he can’t help his frustration.  If she would listen to him just once, things would go so much more smoothly.

"Shall we go?" he asks once everything is in its place, but she don't hear it.  She doesn't even acknowledge him speaking, and his stomach drops.

Abigail:

Evil pours out of the trees.  It shadows me, blankets us in darkness, and I'm suddenly buckled over in pain.  Fear grabs me like it did before as I realize where the evil is coming from.  I clutch my stomach, trying to reason with it as I feel bile climbing up my throat.

"What's wrong?" he asks in a panic.  "Are they here?"

I vomit in response, all over the ground.  The bile leaves stagnant acid on my teeth.  I reach out for Abe and grab onto the loose fabric of his cloak.  "We need to go," I say as softly as I can.

"You don't need to whisper, they already know where we are,” his words are as heavy as they feel.

If they already know, then how are we going to escape?  We barely got away last time, so how are we going to do it now?  There's also myself to worry about.  I'm getting sick and will get sick again by the feel of it.  How can I run or fight like this?  Abe takes my hands and we run towards the clearing we had landed in the night before.

The evil becomes thicker as we run, and I can't help but to get sick again.  Abe looks irritated by it and runs faster, my feet flying beneath me- feeling heavy.  "Watch me!Watch me!" he yells at me.

I look at the way he begins to run and try to mimic it.  He's several feet in front of me now, so I hurry and square my shoulders and widen the space between the tops of my wings, allowing me to have a slight lift.  The weight of my feet becomes less and now I'm flying between the trees with feather light feet.  I pull up beside him, but I don't feel any better.  If anything, I feel worse.  I fight the urge to vomit again.

I glance behind me, but there's nothing.  Are we outrunning them? The feeling gets worse as we run into evil darkness.  Are they faster than us, or are we-  "Jack, stop!"  The alias falling from my lips by mistake in my panic.

He looks mad at my reaction.  "Stop?  Why would we stop?"

"We're running into them!" I yell pulling on his hand.

His eyes grow wide with realization.  Before he can turn around, I feel the darkness closing in all around us on every side.  They come out of the trees, all dark masses with dark red eyes and dripping teeth, oozing with rot.  We're surrounded by four reapers, low numbers compared to the numbers they probably have, but true to the description Abe gave the night before.  I can't help but process the fact that maybe they've sent their strongest, or maybe they just came across our scent on passing.  My hand reaches out for the hilt of my sword.  I feel the leather on my palm.  I grasp and pull up, hearing the shing that I used to be so terrified of as it slides out of it's holder.  Now, it's the sound of hope.

"Put that thing away, pretty.  You won't be needing it," the voice of a reiper says.

I jump.  I didn't know they could talk, but then again, the sound is so irregular, so out of place, that it sounds unnatural.  It's almost as if it were half made.  I fight the urge to vomit again, but I can't stop it.  Jack pulls out a sword and positions himself for a fight.

"I didn't think we'd catch up to you so quickly," another voice says, "having wings sure is an advantage for you."

The shadow presses down on me more and more.  I cower in fear, fear of not being able to escape, fear of not being of any use, and fear of it all ending now.

"I'm just wondering how you knew we were so close," the first one sneers.  They take a step forward, and I can't take it anymore.

A scream from the pit of my being pushes its way up and out of my mouth.  A piercing scream that I have no control over.  I have to cover my ears so I can't hear it.  It frightens me to the core.  Just how am I able to create such a sound?  And then there is a ringing silence when I stop.  Abe eyes me with worry and takes my face in his hands, his cocoa brown eyes boring into mine.  My breathing is accelerated and I come to the realization that I’m hyperventilating from running, vomiting, and being overwhelmed with fear.

“Look at me,” he says softly, the depth of his eyes willing me to focus, and I do.  I zero on the warmth of him.  “Look at me.”  I take a deep breath and close my eyes, and when I open them, they are filled with determination and I know he knows I’m ready.

"Wow, what a set of lungs you have, you pretty thing.  I hate pretty things," a reiper hisses as he takes another step closer to me.

Jack points his sword at him.  "Not another step closer or I'll open you up so wide the whole forest will smell your foul stench."  His brutality doesn't surprise me.

Another opposite the previous one steps closer.  Abe grabs his sword's hilt with both hands and splits it apart, wielding dual swords, one extended on either side of us.  His action distracts me from the evil surrounding me, and I realize that I don't have to die.  My blood boils with hatred.  I feel something inside me is churning, beginning in my stomach and reaching out to my arms and legs- even in my voice.  It calls out and begs me to kill them- as if it is my very soul yelling at me.  I grip my hilt again and raise it up under Jack's arm, aiming it at the reaper in front of us, who looks as if he's about to pounce on us.

"What are you doing?" Abe asks.

"Yes, Princess, what are you doing?" one asks.

"I'm going to destroy you," I say through bared teeth.

All four of them laugh, the dissonance from it bounces around the trees and birds flutter away from their perches.  "For the last female of your kind, you sure are brave.  You'd be an admirable leader if we were to let you live.  No, soon you'll be dead and your species will be history."

Abe gives me a warning glance, telling me to back off.  It's a good thing that he's easy to ignore right now.  "The only thing that will be history, is you when I," he looks at me, "Kill you," he finishes.

They snicker, "don't pretend to be so brave in front of your woman," one says, stepping closer.  I hear the one behind me advance as well.  I shift my feet, ready to spin around at any moment.

"It was your kind who ruined my happiness," Abe Shouts at them.

"Ah!" the one to our left suddenly says, as if he's amused by something, "I thought you looked familiar!"

Abe’sface morphs into rage.  I've never seen this side of him before.  I can't stop him, I can't do anything as he lashes out at the reiper.  The evil shadow pours off of him, and I know that he has no control over his actions.  All three reapers jump on the opportunity, and I can't stop them either.

I see blades aiming for my head, moving very quickly.  My sword catches one, and I push it away.  I dodge the rest.

"Ah, young Abraham McKinley, what a surprise!  I thought I killed you many years ago," the reiper trapped to the ground under Jack's blades says.

"I survived and am still surviving," he replies, "and now I will get my revenge."

"That's very Christian of you."  

I dodge more blows and block many more.

"You keep me from the one I love most!" he screams at the reaper, shoving his sword through it's shoulder.

It screams that horrible human-animal screech.  I can't cover my ears, not with three opponents.  A reaper's sword aims for my legs, another a few seconds behind goes for my head.  I jump, allowing the first blade to pass under me, then land on my left hand so the second blade passes over my head.  Then I twist myself around to trip them.  The third blade is shoved through my left hand, the hot metal pinning me to the ground on my back, my pinned arm stretched out away from my body.  I let out a painful scream, tears stinging my eyes.  Trying to bat them away, I have to pull the blade from my hand, but the hilt is far up above me- out of my reach.  With my other hand, I grab the blade and pull up, slicing my good hand along the sword’s edges and I can feel the edge digging into my bones.  I try to ignore the searing pain and watch the two other blades aimed for my death come crashing down on me. 

"Abigail!" I hear Abe yell.  "Above you!"