"Why did he only send twenty of them? There were about a hundred out there!"

"He is not stupid. He needed to a.s.sess the situation, find out if there was one here that could challenge him. Seeing that his army hasn't returned yet, he believes an Archangel is in here."

"That is great news! He'll leave us alone then!" I cry out happily.

"No," The quiet voice squashes my new found hope. When does it end? "He will draw us out."

"How?"

"I am not sure. But if I was him, I'd start by using the rest of the Divine Army to harm the humans. He knows that according to the laws pa.s.sed by the Heavenly a.s.sembly, no divine Angel should stand by and let the humans be harmed by otherworldly beings. Any angel would be drawn out to challenge them. Especially guardians, whose primary role is to protect mankind."

"Would I also?" I ask, slightly embarra.s.sed because I do not see how I could possibly walk out from a perfectly safe place to go and fight a battle I know I'll lose in the very first second.

Penuel smiles knowingly before answering.

"That is where his brilliant plan falters, Caroline. I've never been gladder for a human than I am for you right this moment. You'll stay right in here, and he could wait out there for all eternity." I do not miss the but coming my way.

"We however, will be drawn out." The flash of fear must have been evident in my eyes for they both give me a tight hug that very moment.

"But..." I choke. "But how will I hold the shield if your Essence is snuffed like the others'?"

"Caroline, you don't need us to hold the shield. You just need the Essence of any heavenly being stupid enough to come close. Whatever army they send in will become your army. So their hands are tied."

Apprehension clutches at my heart. This feels like a lifelong battle. Am I ready to spend eternity imprisoned in here? At least I'll get to see my parents as our new house is within the shield. But of course I should never be as silly as to make them a target, should I be discovered as the mysterious Archangel.

I look up in time to see the dark shadow that crosses over the beautiful faces of the two watcher brothers.

"Princess, we have to go," Araqiel says with regret, and Penuel confirms her statement with a nod. I nod back as tears slip down my face.

"Don't cry, dear. Don't cry for us," she says to me softly, tilting my face upwards. "Be strong instead. Do not let the fallen get a hold of you at any cost. Do not let them win in changing the course of mankind's fate."

I squeeze back my tears at her pep talk and steel my face ready for battle. She kisses me lightly on my cheek before flying out of sight.

"You are the best one-day girlfriend I have ever had," Penuel says quietly, drawing a soft laugh from me despite myself.

He walks over to me and kisses me on my lips. Not the soft sisterly kiss he'd given me this morning, rather a pa.s.sionate kiss that wakes me inside and sends electricity pulsing through me, stroking me alive. He gently prods my mouth open, and I melt against him as our tongues meet. I claw at him to come closer, molding my body against his.

"Archangel?" I think I hear him whisper against my lips.

"Who?" I ask puzzled, my thoughts disheveled by his mind blowing kiss. But I must have been mistaken, for he moves to silence me with yet another heady kiss. He then suddenly pulls back while chuckling.

"You're a little pocket of fire, huh!" He says in his gentle tone that I have come to love. "Now if you die tonight, you can say you have been pa.s.sionately kissed," he finishes off with a wink, before materializing into the dark night sky.

I love these random kisses I keep getting from these hot angels.

Anyone else want to teach me something new? Bring it on heavenly creatures! I think this to myself before starting when I realize there is still an army of twenty robot angels staring at me.

Maybe I should ask them to kiss each other, I chuckle to myself bitterly.

"At ease angels!" I say to them, but nothing happens. "At ease Divine Army?" I say again unsure. Once again, nothing happens.

"Who is your leader?" I attempt again, one of the soldiers in the middle of the front line steps up.

"Our leader is outside the shield with the others, but in case of such a situation, I am the leader of this group," he says in his angelic tongue.

"Where do your allegiance lie?"

"With you, Archangel."

Maybe, I think to myself, this is not a good time to correct them of their misgivings.

"If I were to lead you out of this shield to fight with me, would you follow me or Abaddon."

"Archangel Abaddon," comes the straight to the point answer.

"But why?"

"We sense that you are the weaker Archangel."

Great! Don't we just love their bland honesty!

"Then... we'll all stay within the shield," I say.

"It is the smart thing to do, Archangel." Is he patronizing me, or am I just overreacting? He talks as though he is not glad to be under my command. They are an army, so I understand they want a strong leader. One that can lead them to battle and not just hide them in some Garden of Eden. Hadn't Penuel said they were some kind of warmongers? A thought crosses my mind.

"Do not harm or kill any sons of man while under my rule."

"Aye, Archangel," he confirms.

"Are you tired? You can relax, rest..." I let off for they all stare at me in disgust as though I have just insulted them in the worst possible way.

"Or not." I manage to say shrugging nervously. I make my way tentatively to the bench on my far right, and sit myself down. The army flies over, following me patiently in my slow human speed. They then stand still as statues before me and keep staring at me.

Unsettling! I pick out my phone tentatively and dial my father.

"Hi princess," he croaks up, sounding to have been deep asleep. I should have checked the time first.

"Hi dad, sorry for waking you up."

"It is ok, are you having a good time at the party?"

"I am, dad." Yeah, a great time! "I just wanted to let you know that I will stay here all night, and probably tomorrow too, if it is okay with you."

"It is alright with me, just as long as you are doing okay."

"I am." I confirm again. I really am, considering the circ.u.mstances. "Okay, sleep well dad."

"Good night, princess."

I hang up and look up to the faces of my new army, still staring at me waiting for orders. Maybe I could order them to have fun, sing and dance. We could hold a party! My eyes begin to get heavy, and I fear that should I fall asleep, the shield might be breached.

We stay in that very same position, my new army of angels before me, strong and poised at attention, unmoving. I admire their resilience, and it only further exposes my shortcomings. I am a weak leader.

I fight the sleep encroaching me, battle the heaviness of my eyelids, as they begin to droop over my eyes. Why am I sleeping? I don't want to sleep. I want to stay attentive and protect the Epitome. It is my only duty. Surely I can carry it out..

My thoughts disappear into nothingness as slumber overcomes me.

"Don't just sit and wait. You need to fight!"

"How? The Watchers told me to stay put. If I leave the Epitome, it'll fall. Plus all the other divine angel's must have been captured..."

"This garden is not important..."

"The Epitome..."

"The Portal is in you. The Epitome protects the portal..."

"Exactly!"

"Listen to me!"

"I am... if I leave they will find me and the portal will be in their hands." A wave of disapproval washes over me.

"The Epitome shields the portal, do you understand me?"

It takes me a moment before I nod earnestly. "I do," I say slowly.

"Good, now go save the rest."

"But... I don't know where Tartaros is, and that is where they are."

"Follow what your heart most desires, and there you'll find the doors to Tartaros."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to understand. Just have faith and do as instructed."

"Ok..."

I wake up with a start as a new wave of vibrations tears through me. The fallen have regained their a.s.sault on the shield again. The sky is still dark, but judging from the light chirping sounds around me, it is soon to be dawn.

Before me, my section of the Divine Army still stares at me unblinking, their feet planted firmly on the ground in attention.

"The Epitome protects the portal... small remnants of my dream come back to me as I twitch my feet, pins and needles dancing about in my left leg. I rise slowly from my awkward position, my broken arm sending waves of blinding pain through me that I have to grit my teeth hard to keep from yelling.

Don't just sit and wait. You need to fight.

"Divine Army," I begin, when I manage to get myself to stand off the bench. "As you have noticed by now, I am not an Archangel," I say as I walk before them and look them directly in their eyes.

"However. I am a representation of Archangel Gabriel herself." I note their faces lifting a little as I say this. Her, they clearly respect and would follow to the end of days.

"I know that once we leave the Epitome, there is a great chance that you'll all follow the fallen Archangel. I however wish to fight for your loyalty. I am weaker, by your very definition, however I am strong and brave, by the human definition. I urge you, help me in the quest to free Archangel Raphael, and then you can follow him to round up the fallen and deliver earth and the Princ.i.p.als of Divinity from their corrupt hands." I say, my voice burning with fervour as I look up at them, hoping my pa.s.sionate speech will sway them towards my cause.

"Son of man, representing Archangel Gabriel," their leader starts, and my heart soars in antic.i.p.ation of their commitment to my cause.

"We are the Divine Army. Our sole purpose is to support the most powerful Archangel in his quest. Once we leave these shields, should you be strongest, we'll follow you to the ends of the worlds."

d.a.m.n! Don't any of these heavenly beings own a heart? He is clearly telling me that unless by some great miracle, I change into an Archangel, when that veil falls, they would rejoin their brothers, by the side of the fallen Archangel, no matter what motivational speech I give.

"Ok!" I say, resolving against groveling. It will only go to prove to them what a weakling I am.

"The Epitome protects the portal..."

"You, foremost to the left, step forward." This I say with the most firm voice I can muster, in my present state of gnawing pains from my broken arm.

The soldier steps forward, not emitting any emotion, despite the fact that I have just singled him out from his brothers. I keep nodding at him to walk forward, and I walk further away from the rest of the group, drawing him towards me and away from the rest. I don't want them to overhear me, just in case the idea I am forming in my mind works.

"You'll carry me with you as we fly to the location my Essence will show you," I tell him. I hope that is how it works.

..Follow what your heart most desires!

"You'll hold me like this," I say to him as I step up to him and place his right hand gently around me, been sure he steers away from my broken limb.

As he holds me as I am instructing, I waste no time in taking in a large gulp of the Essence filled air, keeping it in and not letting any of it escape. I keep taking it in even as my limbs shake, and I feel the air around me thinning out.

The fallen will make it in soon, I think, as my head begins to swim. I take as much as I possibly can without causing harm to myself. And just as my interiors begin to hurt, I whisper into the puzzled angel's ear.

"Now!"

Chapter 30.

The heavenly creature immediately soars up into the sky. As he does so, I imagine us encased inside an egg shaped enclosing, sealing our Essence inside.

As we break through the invisible shields around the Epitome, my heart soars for my plan works. The Angel holding me does not hesitate as he soars higher up into the sky. I absorb all his expended Essence, been sure to make us completely untraceable. I recycle the Essence between us, whatever he expels, I use to reinforce the small shield I have formed around us.

I got the idea from the park, the Epitome had formed a shield around the position of the portal, I just a.s.sumed the Epitome could probably be moved, to shield me, its moving portal. The notion has, crazily enough, succeeded. Here I am soaring with one of the soulless soldiers of the Divine Army. I am the most powerful Archangel in this small Epitome I have created.