Harbinger of War

Knowledge is Power

Archon, standing there with his smirk, was waiting for me as if he knew would come back. To be honest he probably did. "Elyon! How was your first day out?" Archon walked up to me, placing a hand on my shoulder and pushed me along towards the interior of the place, itself a huge combination of spires and walls, like a bastion in the sky.

"Uneventful, Archon. I simply watched the girl travel to do her daily chores." By this point, we had entered the palace, the white halls stretching for miles in any direction, paintings lined the walls of great mortals throughout history, with an angel looking over them, each of them real and well documented. 

"I see, well, it is bound to get interesting eventually, most everything happens for a reason when it comes to angels. Come, I have a special gift lined up for you." We travelled for a while, talking about trivial things until we got to Archon's office, into which I was ushered.

In his office, with the pearly white walls and tinted windows, was a desk with an item on top, a cloth placed over it. Archon walked in behind me and gestured for me to remove the cloth, which I, of course, did, revealing an intricately designed spear, coloured white like ivory, with golden strips running down it, like water on a pole. Brown leather covered two sections about a third of the pole apart, obviously where my hands are supposed to go.

It had my name engraved in on it, on both sides of the shaft between the grips, which fed my ego just a small bit. "I had it made for your new task. I can't have one of my students spend most of their time in danger without proper equipment. It's nothing too special, all the standard holy enchantments and such, with a little extra to help against mortals, should it ever come to that."

"Thank you, Archon." I picked the spear up, holding it in my right hand by the lower of the two grips, before giving it a little twirl. It felt good in my hands, the weight was correctly distributed, it just felt right to hold. I turned to Archon, looking up at him. "What now? Am I to return to my duties?"

"No, now we must educate you on the mortal world, from the species to the kingdoms." And so, we sat down, Archon rattling off fact after fact to me, while I took notes. Apparently the mortal I was protecting lived in the kingdom of 'Esterex' which was ruled by a man named Sirus. So that was pretty useful information. 

I was also taught of the Elven, Dwarven, and more and the nations they have formed, along with the racial violence that often plagues the mortal world. It... it gets pretty dark to be honest. A lot of mass sterilisations and genocides. The mortal world was a lot darker than what I had been lead to believe from my prior education and the quaint little town.

That's what I get for being optimistic I suppose. Either way, I spent hours learning about the mortal world and all of its quirks, from the near-immortal dragons to the armies of mortals that take to the field to slay them. 

"Archon, these wars the mortals fight, why do they start?" That detail had been looked over by Archon, he seemed to forget that mortals usually want a reason for things to happen, it could be the most basic thing to the most complex thing they can comprehend.

"Well, the mortals like to say that it is for resources, previous aggression or anything like that, but many of us suspect it is the fault of mortals making deals with demons to fulfil their desires, be they noble or not."I nodded along. Demons were often the cause of many things wrong in the mortal world, I had just never imagined they would have such reach over the mortal realm.

"Surely we should act more to stop them?" Archon sighed at my question. I could tell he wasn't happy with the answer, he would like something else to be happening, but he couldn't openly condemn the action, lest he is punished... somehow.

"Well, Elyon, we make it our policy to only aid those mortals deemed pious enough. Unfortunately, those are few and far between, about one every generation, at most," I nodded once again to his answer. I suppose it made sense, but it seemed as if we were conceding the mortal world to the very thing we are made to destroy. 

We continued the lesson for a few more hours before I was once again sent to guard Estelle. Again I floated my way down to the small town in the early hours of the morning. I sat upon Estelle's house once again, out of eyesight from the street, should anyone be an early bird. I watched as the sky turned orange and the sun rose over the hills that surrounded the town. 

I began to hear movement in the house below me as people woke and began their days, Estelle opening her window once again, likely to get a night breeze? I don't know, the wind isn't a thing in the palace, we just kind of... fly fast if we want to get a breeze going. 

Unlike yesterday, I was able to catch Estelle's father leave the home and go out of town. The man was tall, well built and had short black hair. Though... his eyes looked tired as he feigned a smile to those in the house. 

Angels are excellent judges of character among many other things. We can look into your soul and see what you feel. Estelle's father... his soul was split in two. The love and joy that are his children, in direct conflict with the grief and despair of losing his wife. I won't understand what that feels like, never will... so I can only imagine. I concluded that I was glad I couldn't be as emotional as mortals, that pain is something that would take me a century to learn how to deal with.

Soon enough, I assumed everyone but Estelle had left the house as the noise inside almost vanished aside from some faint breathing and footsteps. I jumped down into the back garden of the house, which was three stories high, and let myself into the ground floor yet again, the fireplace cold and the table bare. This time I elected to go upstairs, I didn't hang around the three rooms that made up the second floor, two bedrooms and a storage room full of half-empty boxes and cabinets. Instead, I went straight to the third floor, where only two rooms could be found.

To my left was Estelle's, whom I knew to be home, I may want to talk to her... but first I want to check her father, be it for his mental state or the chance of demonic interference. You see, for a demon to make a deal, they need to mark a highly personal item, like a ring, necklace or something that the mortal has a high emotional investment in. Usually, they are pretty hard to find, but I only had to step into the father's room to know I would find nothing without spending at least an hour in here.

The room was a mess. Tankers littered the floor paired with ruined books and items of clothing, a wardrobe was left open for me to see ripped clothing, which looked more to be from sharp rocks and the occasional scrap with a wild animal. Three beer kegs could be found next to the bed, on the far side and upon closer inspection, I could confirm one was empty. I also mounted they had been there long, as there was no dust pile-up around them.

The other two were full and had yet to be used from the looks of it. It was obvious what was happening. The father was drowning his sorrows in alcohol already. I doubt a demon has gotten to him just yet, though I doubt it would be long until that happened. 

I had little reason to protect this man, he was just a man after all. However, should a demon take hold of Estelle's father, that may cause trouble for both her and me, in different ways but I suspect in equal severity. 

I sighed, and looked around the room once more, seeing a neatly kept corner, especially in comparison to the rest of the room. There could be found a wardrobe and a desk, with a candle and an open book. I couldn't tell when the candle was last used, but I doubt it had been in a long time. The Wardrobe all contained dresses, gowns and the such you would expect from a semi-prominent merchant. The book was easily the most interesting part of this, however. It would seem whoever used this desk, enjoyed writing fiction. I suspected it was the mother, as it would explain why the father kept this spot so clean.

I flipped through the book briefly, it seemed to detail a deeply imagined world where mortals can fly, and touch the very heavens using great machines. Where the races of this realm live in peace for a brighter future... how very optimistic, though it is not outside the realm of possibility. 

I sighed once again, and turned back around, making for the door of the room. I quietly opened it and closed it, careful not to make any noise, lest Estelle be alerted to my presence before I have something prepared to say. 

That was actually a good question, how would I go about talking to her? Like I can't just walk up to her on the street. Perhaps now would be the best time to start interacting? I mean, she was alone in a house for the foreseeable future, so why not talk to her now?

But what to say? 'Hello, Estelle, I'm the angel you saw two nights ago' or something like that? I mean it could work but I feel as if that could lead to some issues, perhaps more addressing myself would be a good idea, acknowledging how rare this would be. This is all so confusing. You know what? I'm just going to knock and improvise. 

I raised my hand, preparing to knock on her door, taking a deep breath and tapping the door lightly twice with my fist.