Chapter 4

Damion awoke in an unfamiliar tent. He sat up and waited for the grogginess to wear off. Then he began to look around to try to get a grasp of where he was. He stood up and began to investigate a desk that stood in the middle. It was covered in paperwork. "I don't know this language." Damion said out loud. "That is the language of the heavens." Said a gentle female voice from behind.

Damion turned to see a beautiful, yet older woman standing at the entrance. He backed up frightened. He had never seen an angel up close outside of battle before. "Who are you? Why am I here? Who was that man that took me?" The lady smiled. "Do not be afraid Damion. I am a friend."

Damion doubted her words. He knew all too well the tricks of the Unholy. "How do you know me?" He questioned.

"Ezekiel asked me to protect you while you were here. I am the one he has inside." Damion paused for a moment. "Who are you to Ezekiel? How does he know an angel?"

"My dear child, I am his mother." Taken aback Damion just stared at the woman. Now that he thought about it, Ezekiel does quite resemble this woman. "Come now my dear let's get you cleaned up." The elder blood followed, still unsure if this lady could be trusted. "My name is Ezerash, but you can just call me Ezzy." She led the boy to a large outdoor area that housed a natural spring. The plant life surrounding it was lush and full. There were trees, bushes and a variety of flowers in all colors.

"You may bathe and relax here. When you are done, I will teach you what is expected of you." With this she disappeared back to the village of angels.

Damion undressed and got into the hot spring. All at once the events of the day hit him. Azier was dead, the armies advance had failed and he may never see home again. All the emotions swept over him like an ocean wave. He was angry at himself for not seeing the ambush, anguished because the person he cared for the most had died and he felt pitiful. The last one because now he had to live among the angels with no hope of escape.

After a while had passed Damion got out and dressed. "I need to go find Ezerash." He spoke to himself. As he made his way to find her, he noticed that indeed this was an actual village. There were houses and streets and even stores. He spotted his ally in a coffee shop sitting near the window.

When he went inside, he could smell food being cooked and the overwhelming scent of coffee. He had never been inside such a place before. He had heard human towns still existed, but thought they were merely fairy tails the humans he lived with wove.

Ezerath saw the young man and waved him over. She was amused by his awe of the place. "Would you like something to eat?" Damion shook his head no. There was no way he could eat after what went down." You need to regain your strength. I am not your enemy. I know being separated from Azier is hard, but you will see him again when they succeed in this mission." Her smile almost seemed to calm him.

Damion ordered some food and, when the order arrived, devoured the entirety of the plate. It was only after he was done that he realized he had been starving. "Uhm the battle was yesterday, correct?" Ezerath looked up at him slightly puzzled. "My dear boy you had been asleep for seven days."

Damion choked on his soda. "What?!"

"Yes. A man named Ryder brought you in. Luckily for you I was the one ordered to be your watch." It was subtle, but Damion could have sworn he heard a bit of disdain in her voice. "Now we need to set a few ground rules. First you may never mention Azier or the demon army. This will only lead to your demise. Second, you may explore this town, but be careful who you talk to. Most Angels would have you dead rather than here."

"Why?" This puzzled Damion. He thought that since he was a shielded they would want to use his abilities against the Demons.

"You were Azier's little pet. Most Angels here have either been wounded by him or had their families destroyed." Damion had never thought about angels having a family. Somehow this was hard to hear and for a minute he felt a twinge of guilt.

"Don't worry, thanks to that ability of yours Gabriel is all too happy to keep you alive." There it was again. It was kind of passive, but this definitely displeased her. "Rule number three, and this is the most important. I know your mission is to find out more about the shielded living here, but he is dangerous! He will have no qualms about killing you."

"That is hard to believe. Are we not the same?" Damion was confused as to why someone like him would want him dead.

"You really are an idiot." She rolled her eyes. "He is Gabriels play thing. He will do anything and everything Gabriel asks of him. That being said, the fact that Gabriel has went out of his way to protect you has sparked a bit of jealousy in the young man."

"I see." Damion knew he still needed to get the information about the shielded and somehow get them to Lucifer. However, avoiding this one may be the best move for now.

Ezerath stood up and dismissed herself. "Do what you want but follow the rules." Damion nodded in compliance.

On his way out Damion took note of the name of the shop. When he was hungry again he was definitely going back there. The thing they called a waffle was one of the best tastes in the world. He started on his way down the road until he came to crossing paths. One sign said Hackberry and the other said Maple. After concluding that the thing they called maple syrup was delicious, he chose Maple.

The road was lined with trees whose bark was white as snow with specks of black. The leaves were a beautiful light green color and large in size. The houses that he passed all had colorful flowers and bushes of many kinds. One plant had leaves that you could make clothes out of they were so big.

While he was admiring the scenery he failed to see the young man walking towards him. Slam. Damn that really hurt. He thought as he stood up. When he looked at the person he ran in to he saw a young man about his age. "What the hell?!" the boy screamed. This startled Damion.

"I am sorry. I had just never seen things like this before." Damion explained. The boy rolled his eyes. Damion noticed how attractive this person was. He had copper locks and emerald green eyes. His complexion was fair in comparison to his own. He stood taller than most of the humans he knew.

"Are you going to get out of my way, or do I need to make you move?" The boy spat. Damion moved to the side allowing the guy to pass. "Stay out of my way shielded. I won't hesitate to end your life." With that the boy went on his way.

"Who was that, and how did he know what I was?" Damion questioned out loud to himself.

"Because he is one too." Damion turned to see a young girl behind him. "Sorry I did not mean to scare you. My name is Lacy." She smiled brightly. She wore a sun dress with purple flowers and a matching sun hat.

"Hello. I am Damion." She giggled at his shyness. "Yeah. Everyone here knows who you are. You are big talk in the human community."

Damion just sat and stared at this over friendly girl. Was she safe to talk to? She was clearly human, so she must not want him dead. The girl continued to talk. "Is it true? Did you really live among the Demon armies?" Damion nodded. "You weren't scared at all? Wow you are so brave!"

The boy began to feel uncomfortable and started to scan the path for a way out. "Well it was nice to meet you Lacy, but I really need to be going." With this Lacy nodded and then waved good-bye. "See ya around." was the last thing she said before she turned the corner.

I think I just need to get back and find Ezerash. Damion had remembered the coffee shop and figured she may live around there somewhere. He was right. After wondering around a bit he found her talking to someone on the sidewalk. When they noticed his approach, the other person made a brisk getaway.

"Did you get sightseeing out of your system? Follow me and I will show you where you will be staying." Ezerash led Damion to a large white house with blue trim. It had a circle driveway and a large object in the middle that seemed to be spitting water.

"What is this? Do you drink from it?" Ezerash laughed. "No my dear. This is called a fountain. It is for decoration. Although, when earth was young, the humans would throw money in it."

This only confused the boy further. "Why would they do that?"

"The foolish beings thought that it would grant them a wish." She laughed so hard her silvery white wings started to shake. It was unusual for an unholy to show off their wings. They will normally hide them in fear the Demon army will snip them off.

For just a minute Damion wished he had had a coin to toss in there. Could he wish for Azier to come back? "No that is foolish." he thought to himself. He then began to continue his journey to his new home.

When Damion reached the door, he was greeted by a large framed angel. His face masculine and famine at the same time. His eyes were ruby red and pierced your very soul. "I have been waiting for you Damion the seer." His velvety voice sung through the boy's ears like a nighttime lullaby. "My name is Gabriel. This is my home and now you may call it yours." Even though his voice sounded kind the tone suggested great malice.

"What do you want from me?" Damion looked sternly at the Unholy leader. He knew the answer to the question, but for the sake of survival acted ignorant. "I am of no use to you. My powers have been overridden somehow. I was unable to see the angel's ambush." Gabriel lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, is that so? You expect me to believe such a lie little one?" Damion was now glaring at the entity before him.

If he had been able to see it he would have been able to save Azier. "Yes!" Damion screamed half sobbing. "If I could have seen it Azier wouldn't be lying on the battlefield with holes all in him!" Damion's anger was so great he failed to realize the fire coming from his hands.

"Hm? Well now that is a very interesting ability." Gabriel said gesturing towards the blue blaze. That seemed to mellow out the flaring temper of the small human. Damion looked down and saw he had unleashed what he was asked to keep hidden. Quickly he calmed himself down and the flame dissipated.

"Shall we have Ezerash lead you to your room? I am sure after some time here you and I can come to understand one another." Gabriel was clearly entertained by his new toy.

Damion followed his new caretaker upstairs. He had not had the chance to see the mansion very well thanks to his encounter with its master. The golden accented white stairs spiraled around on both sides encasing a magnificent chandelier. The crystals mimicking that of angel feathers. The ceramic flooring looked like a clear blue spring and in the middle a white rug that resembled clouds. As he entered the hallway, he found plastered sculptures of cherubs holding the branches to the tree of life. The leaves painted in gold and embedded with ruby flakes.

"Angel's sure have extravagant taste in design." Damion rolled his eyes. "Of course we do. We angels find that when one is surrounded by beauty it eases the mind and allows us to focus. Demons choose to live in filth like the animals they are." Realizing her mistake she turned to Damion. "My apologies young one. I mean no disrespect. I too once loved a demon and I saw nothing wrong with the way he lived." She touched the pearl of her ring and smiled fondly. "He was strong and sincere. Nothing like the others."

They stopped walking when they arrived at a large set of double doors. "This is a room door?" It was huge. The molding around the frame also painted gold and embellished with rubies. "Have a good night and remember the rules which I gave you. They may just save your life." With that Ezerash went downstairs.

Damion opened the door to a large room that resembled the rest of the mansion. A giant bed was sat in the middle of the room decorated with gold, red and white silks of all varieties. He went over to the bed and fell, without bracing. onto the soft down mattress. As he lay there, he thought of the events that led him here and the promise he had made to Azier. "I will make sure your plan succeeds master. I will not let your death be in vain." With his final oath he drifted off to sleep.