Page 69 of Redeeming the Angel

I gathered two of the children in my arms and gestured for their mother to take the other two and follow me.We flew to the borders of the kingdom, where they could hide in the woods.But a mass of warriors poured out from beneath the trees.One, and archer, shot an arrow through the mother’s wing.She cried out in pain and spiraled down, but thankfully, held on to her two children.

Another arrow pierced my left wing.The pain was sharp, but I held on and shouted for the mother to follow me.Before I could turn, an arrow pierced her throat and she dropped like a stone, her children falling with her.Their little necks snapped on impact.

Tears blurred my vision as I tried to fly the two remaining children far away, but a blast of power hit me in the back, sending me tumbling out of the air.I held tight and tucked myself around them, which lessened their impact, but their cries of pain stabbed my heart.

One luminite boy sprained or broke his ankle, the girl’s nose was broken and gushing blood.Before I could recover my breath, the children were yanked out my arms and my arms were seized.Something hit me in the back of my head and pain exploded in my skull.

As I slipped away into the darkness, my last thought was that at least I’d see Lucian again in moments.And my family and people would be reunited again in Luminista.

But when I awoke with a throbbing headache and the stench of blood and death heavy in my nose, my heart wailed in desolation.As I sat up and my vision cleared, the sight of the dead mages, humans, luminites, and, dear fates, children, made we wish I’d died.

Only one thought kept me from falling on my sword.My parents.

I scrambled to my feet and tried to fly back to the palace.Pain exploded in my wings, pierced from the arrow and crushed in places where the enemy must have stepped on me.I tried to do a simple transport spell, but it only took me a mile.And that’s when I realized what else was wrong.The air around me was no longer full of magic, I could feel it being siphoned away, leaving only malicious empty hatred in its placed.It choked me.

Despite the pain, I forced my wings to work, once I was airborne, I flew, keeping low in case a wing gave out.When I reached the hill that overlooked the village, I landed, panting in exhaustion as I searched for my parents.Winged figures continued to fight, but they were outnumbered.The yellow-tinted dimness kept me from being able to see if any of the luminites still standing were my mother and father.

A shadow closed over me.I turned around and my heart froze with horror.Mephistopheles stood over me, blood covering his face and black armor.

“Hello, Princess.”His voice was low and rough, like dry bones grinding together.

I threw a fireball at him, not caring if it killed me, as long as he died.

He threw up a shield with a languid hand.“I’m afraid I don’t have time to play with you before taking the spoils of war.”

His red eyes flared with sick hunger as he seized my arms and shoved me backwards.The moment I hit the ground, he was on top of me, tearing at the skirts of my gown.The blood of my people, still warm, dripped all over me, making me gag.

Sharp, awful pain pierced me, and a red haze overcame my vision.What he was doing should have been impossible.My mind recoiled at what was happening and mercifully tugged me back into oblivion.

When I awoke again, the horrid weight of him was gone.But his stench remained, and so did the pain between my legs.Despair weighed me down, making it more difficult for me to rise.And when I finally made it to my feet, I wondered if it had been a mistake to even try.

My kingdom was utterly decimated.Everyone was dead.And soon this whole place would be taken away to become another part of Qua’ al-fán.And the Evil One had… the thought of what he did to me, his stench, mingled with the reek of the dead made me double over and vomit.I heaved and heaved, stomach roiling, throat burning, until there was nothing left.

When I recovered my breath enough, I forced myself to look down the hill again.Just in case there was someone still alive.In case there was something to bring me hope.But the longer I looked, the lower my heart sank.

My people fought valiantly against Mephistopheles, but they could not win.I cursed our inability to destroy as tears ran down my grimy cheeks.My vision swam with bloody wings and severed limbs.Thankfully night had fallen, obscuring the tragic sight.

My people were all dead.I was the sole survivor, but at what cost?I’d faced Mephistopheles, but my magic failed to even hurt him, and instead of killing me, he’d…rapedme.Luminites were usually only sexually compatible with our own kind, and sometimes faelin, if their magic was powerful enough.Something about us projected a sense of repulsion on other species, so they had no desire.Though sometimes, in very rare cases, normal humans had been able to mate with luminites, either consensually or by force, and halflings were born.

I gagged again, even though I had nothing left in me to come back up.Why didhehave to be one of the rare cases?

I knew I needed to leave this place before he returned to take this land and merge it to the world he was creating, a world wrought of evil magic and the blood of innocents.

“Princess!”A voice pierced the wall of silence.“You live!The Prophecy speaks true!”

I whirled around to see Delgarias hurrying towards me so fast that he became a blur.His velvet robe nearly tripped him.

“Oh, Revered One,” I whispered and collapsed in his arms, not caring how he came to be here.Even though I hadn’t seen him in nearly two millennia, right now, he was the brother he was supposed to be.

His tall form supported me.He took in the aching sight my bruised body and torn wings.I wonder if he knew the gown I was wearing—now covered in dirt and blood—was supposed to be for my wedding.

Delgarias’s voice silenced the internal screaming over my wedding that was no longer to be.“We must leave now, Kerainne.The Prophecy has spoken.Your unborn daughter must be safe and hidden from Mephistopheles.”

“I’m going to have a baby?”I gasped and looked down at the blood slithering down my ankles.Unbidden, my hands crept down to my belly.What he was saying was too awful to comprehend.As was custom, Lucian and I hadn’t made love in a whole year.It had been torture, and now was agony.Because that meant—”

“Yes,” Del answered my unspoken question.“And Mephistopheles will know if we don’t hurry.She will be the savior of this world and others.So the Prophecy has told me.You must go to the only place where there is no magic.Mephistopheles cannot find you there.”

My lower lip trembled.This was all too much, too fast.“The Earth realm?”

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