11 "Among the Lost"

The familiar street from last night now back to its mundane and accustomed appearance; like any other street in the city.

The consequent cemented buildings lined up on each side; the architectural similarities were fine like bushes trimmed to perfection.

Karina seemed to develop a block of ignorance towards the incident of the Miraeth overnight. She walked with her head high; hiding her inevitable fear and doubt, rather poorly too.

"Did you call Dario yet?" Her tone was emotionless.

"Not yet. I think he might be around here." Milo's eyes looked around.

"What's special about him reviving anyway?"

"He doesn't have any special ability. It's more like he just has a knack for it; comes to him easier I guess." Milo explained.

"Does he even care to bother about reviving?"

"If it's related to our realm, he wouldn't hesitate. Anything about us and Enkeli is important."

They reached the middle of the left sidewalk; the area near a tree, where the Miraeth vanished.

Karina looked ahead, expecting Dario to arrive. A few seconds later, he was in front of her and Milo.

"It was indeed the Miraeth." Dario nodded to himself, dressed in a neatly fitting beige trench coat; his silky black waves ruffled and messy. He was unnecessarily but effortlessly beautiful.

He leisurely circled around the area; his head tilted casually, eyes naturally heavy.

"Milo do you have the solidifier?" Dario's voice was dangerously low.

"Yeah." Milo whipped out a small circular locket-like object; rimmed with a golden lining, with small engravings.

Karina's face gave it away as Milo continued, "It's an object that allows Archangels to summon darklings."

Dario stood straight, holding the object tightly. He pressed the center before it lit up. There was once again a sudden shift in the air, a hollowing shift. Then, a small spring of darkness emerged out of thin air, swirling faster each second. Karina was met with the Miraeth once again, as it appeared floating.

"Miraeth. Are you aware of your summoning?" Dario carefully stated.

"Temptation; What may I be of service?" The Miraeth wasn't physically conversing; rather it seemed to be speaking through minds. We could only hear its indistinguishable voice.

"What was your intention to grace the lands of this realm?"

"My intention isn't of much impact to the considered."

"Who is the considered one?"

"One who is lost; who is hidden; one who hides. Among the lost and trapped."

"Where is the one who summoned you?"

"Amid the divine mortals."

"O' Miraeth, this isn't the appropriate time to spew riddles."

"The Miraeth can never deliver in a straight line." The creature calmly responded before vanishing once again, a quick wisp.

Dario turned his back towards Milo and Karina, immediately meeting her eyes for the first time today.

"Among the divine mortals…" Dario murmured, the sunlight touching his face tenderly.

"The divine mortals is a fancy term for angels basically. Or any divine being in Enkeli."

Dario examined her again, now with disdain. "Mundane. Did the Miraeth do anything to you?"

"No…?"

"No impact…" He whispered to himself as he chuckled.

Milo nudged at him; hoping the action to be unnoticed, though Karina caught it easily.

"Never mind. Now, mundane; it's not like the darklings would do anything to you." There was an obvious undertone to his statement, "So…I don't think why you shouldn't move back to your house."

"How would you know they wouldn't do anything to me? What if this was just some ploy someone did and they used me as a pawn?"

"If someone wanted to get back at us, they wouldn't send a darkling to do absolutely nothing to the targeted victim. That is wasteful and stupid and not effective in any way." Dario was close as he looked down on her, locking his hands behind his back.

"That is not my fault!"

He proceeded to ignore her completely, as he straightened his coat out and walked away.

**********

They were outside of Milo's house, Karina held her bag, ready to leave.

"Jonah reset your house. Anything that was destroyed during the fire, is gone unfortunately. But, your house is habitable now."

"Yeah. Thanks." She gave an awkward nod, her dark brown locks tied up in a quick bun; her face dimmed by eye bags.

Contradictory to her dull appearance, Milo glowed, his blonde hair highlighting the divine power he radiated like the other angels she'd met till now.

The blasphemy associated with the concept of supernatural beings slapped her once again, but she forcefully ignored the thought.

Karina stood up, "I'll leave." To which Milo nodded and waved goodbye.

*********

The interior of her house was perfect thanks to Jonah, leaving the emptiness due to the absence of things that were destroyed.

The deep sense of loss one feels when they lose something personal they've grown all too familiar with, rooted her in place.

Karina was pulled back into action as she set everything up for her dinner and sleep; she worked on handling her job duties for the next few days.

After she was done with the overload of work her vision and mind were hazy due to the lack of sleep the past week.

However, she still couldn't sleep. Making herself a coffee, she thought of the book she forgot to focus her attention on.

Energized by the heavy effect of caffeine, she grabbed the book from her bag, opening it once again.

This time, however, the pages were flourished with words carried by beautiful handwriting. She was in awe, her curiosity beating fast.

The first page was graced with a symbol, a circle with lines and curved designs arranged intricately.

It was the same as the one on the solidifier. She turned to the next page, finding words that were recognizable and unreadable at the same time.

She was getting fried by the bizarreness; Unable to comprehend the book.

Turning to the middle page, it contained figures of angel wings. The title, fortunately being one of the recognizable words, was about fallen angels.

The different figures and paragraphs about them were listed. Karina desperately tried to understand, failing eventually.

She observed it for a few more minutes before the words started to fade. Shocked, she shook the book, turning the pages; all were fading.

The entire book was empty as it was back in the motel room.

At the same time, she heard small rustling sounds outside of her yard.

She walked up to her window, peeking slowly from the curtains.

Black wings.