Page 19 of Heart Shaped Wreckage (standalone)

LANDON

Why in the world did the stones bring me to this place?

As I stepped through the portal, I found myself in the middle of stone ruins and a full moon in the sky above. The stones glowed brightly as they cast shadows upon the large and broken grey stones. What was this place?

I held the stones high so their light would be cast as widely as I could. It was foolish, but I couldn’t see shit.

Dandelion? I had a familiar, and I could barely remember anything about him. He was a crow, and that was it. Did he miss me? He had too, didn’t he? A witch and their familiar were closely bound, but I couldn’t hear his voice. I just knew he was, and he was mine. We must have loved each other.

I had to concentrate. I couldn’t worry about what may or may not have been. I had a job to do, or Heath was going to die. I had to hurry, but I was so scared.

How did any of this even begin? It felt like a long time ago, but I knew it had only been a few days.

We were trying to see if anyone knew who I was.

We had failed it that arena, but somehow wound up in a fucking Indiana Jones movie with an angel trying to kill us, and now… Now, I was here to face him alone.

Heath, the fallen angel, a being so much more powerful than I, couldn’t defeat him.

No. But my magic had swept him away. I didn’t have to beat him – I just needed to get close enough to pull out a feather.

How was I gonna do that?

If I got close to him – and I was sure he was quite annoyed with me, already, but if I got that close, I would be destroyed if that’s what he chose. He was far more powerful than I had ever dreamed anyone could ever be.

Angels were real. Demons were real. Demons really were fallen angels.

Well, maybe not all, but at least some of them.

Did I know this before? I guess I assumed they were, at least to some extent.

For something to be real, you don’t have to experience it with your own eyes.

Someone used to say that to me a long time ago.

But I couldn’t remember who – but she felt like a mother.

Not my real mother, but motherly and maybe a little scary.

I needed to focus. I had just been standing here, lost in my fear for too long. Heath was depending on me. I wouldn’t, I couldn’t fail him.

Ancient, crumbling stone steps stood in front of me. I glanced around at the fallen walls to either side of me. Vines had taken root and run up and over the structures. They must have been magnificent in their day, whenever that was, wherever this was.

I tried the first step, and it didn’t fall apart underneath my feet.

I guess I had to go up? Up was closer to heaven and angels, right?

If I were smart, I’d run away. But I knew I would not leave Heath.

I don’t think I could if I tried. I owed him, but it was much more than that.

I had fallen for him, and I had no idea if that was a mistake or not.

It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. At this point, I was here willing to face off with an angel to pluck a feather from his assholiness, and take it back to heal the only person that actually mattered to me.

Heath mattered. His demonic nature was just a part of him.

But in my heart, maybe not my mind, I knew that he was the most human being I had ever met – no matter if he bled golden ichor or not.

I climbed the stairs and made it to the top without dying – so I considered that a win. The golden light guided me. It didn’t actually tell me where to go – but I could feel it pulling me in the direction I needed, as if I already knew.

Magic was weird. But I was magic. It was a part of my makeup, my very fibers of being. Magic users were either born or taught, and I was pretty sure that magic had always been a part of my life. Maybe I couldn’t remember my past – but it felt true. It was true.

I turned to the right and found myself going underneath an old stone archway and into a ruined building. Large columns stood to the sides of the wide walkway in various states of falling apart. Only one stood proud and strong halfway down. The others looked like jagged teeth.

Shadows danced against the stone walls as I made my way down what was once a corridor. I turned again – this time to the left and found myself in another walkway that was identical to the one I had just left. But these columns stood taller than the others.

It felt like with each passage, I was changing time. The stone walls in this passageway stood upright instead of being broken remnants of what they once were.

What was this place?

I made it to the end and turned right.

Yes, this was getting weirder. A ceiling, walls, and complete columns flanked me on every side. This was not a ruin. This was a temple, and this part of it had survived somehow.

Magic. It was still imbued with magic. Maybe I could turn that into an advantage if I could just figure out a way to tap into it.

“His palace was magnificent back in the day.” Aurelius stepped out in front of a giant stone that stood at the end of the hallway. My golden light shone against his white robes and wings.

I needed to get just one feather from them. I had to get close enough.

“Whose palace?”

“Your friends,” he made it sound so lascivious. “He went against the word of God and acted like he was a deity to the people in this temple. They gave him many opulent gifts, and slaughtered many animals in his worship.”

“Wasn’t he once your friend?”

“He was my brother.” He unfurled his wings and stood there as if he wasn’t sure what to do. “Why are you here? I see that he is not with you.”

“You slashed him with your sword. He’s not feeling his best thanks to you.”

“Did I? Hmm… It must have been a lucky blow. I was just trying to drive him out of his host. I would have if you hadn’t surprised me with your magical tsunami. Quite impressive for a mortal. A half-life is not the way I want to see Magnus live.”

“Wait? So, you were helping him?”

“The only way to save a fallen is for them to fade. Anything else requires magic we angels don’t possess. He is no longer imbued with the essence of our father. That power faded as he walked this world many years ago. Without the divine connection, he would always be lost.”

“So, this had nothing to do with our prophecy?”

“Was there a prophecy? There’s always a prophecy these days.” He grinned. Something about it made me believe he was lying.

“I didn’t know angels could lie.”

“Did I? Why did you come here, seeker? I was content to let you live your meager existence.”

“I came here for him.”

“Did you? Hmm…” he chuckled, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “A human ready to fight for the life of a demon. You are nothing if not intriguing.”

“I can’t leave here until I have what I came for?” I tried to sound ferocious.

“Are you here for my blood, child?” he hissed. “My ichor will do nothing for one of his kind.”

“I saw your golden blood. It was the same as Heath’s.”

“That would be impossible, child.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” I brought up the stones, trying to threaten him in the only way I could.

“Oh, yes! The stones. Do you know why the stones work for you?” He folded his wings back into place behind his back. “Why were you the only one who could find them, and there could never be another?”

“I hadn’t really cared.”

“You should. It’s your blood, you see. You carry the blood of the very first person to ever hold those stones in their hand. They are an ancient magic created by the fates to balance the world in times of darkness. Only the bloodline of he who first held them could ever make them work.”

“Why should I care?” Why was he stalling me? Was there more to these stones than he wanted me to discover?

“The lives of the seekers who have used the stones are shrouded in death. For you to find them means that your life is forfeited to the fates.”

“A life?” I laughed. “I have no life that I even know of. Do you know who I am?”

“I do not deem to know the lives of humanity any longer. We have withdrawn.”

“Then why don’t you go back to where you came from?” I spat angrily. This angel was truly pissing me off.

“I have my reasons. Are we going to do this, child, or has your courage failed?”

Within a flash, I brought the stones to life, and the beam that shot towards him was massive. I was angry, and the stones responded.

He caught the beam on his blade, and it ricocheted to the side, where it blasted the rock to pieces.

“That was… strong. I don’t wish to destroy you. Life will do that for me.”

“Life destroys all, asshole,” I seethed. “That’s part of being human. We live and we die.”

“Everything in its time.” He lowered his sword, which totally confused me. “You said he bled ichor? Are you lying to me?”

“No.”

“That should not be, but I believe you. I don’t think you're wise enough to lie about something you can’t understand.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Everything and nothing. What is it you need from me, seeker?”

“I plan to pluck a feather from your wing.”

“Do you?” He didn’t sound very surprised by the fact that I was here to pluck him like a chicken. “Only the one?”

“Yes.” I held up the stones and they glowed brightly.

“Peace, seeker. I don’t want to fight a human, even a magical one. Your stones are powerful, but they could never truly harm me. I am a part of the life force of everything. Your stones can cause me annoyances, but in the end, they are but a scratch.”

“You’ll give me a feather?”

“Can I?” he chuckled. “Or must you pluck it yourself? Prophecies are tricky and usually full of vague clues that lead you to your doom.”

“I have to pluck it.”

“If we have to fight, I will, but if a feather is all you need for your quest, I will allow it. Come, seeker, and pluck your feather from my wing.”

I started forward, and he unfurled his wings.

They were so large that my feet felt like lead as I approached him.

I walked up the stone steps and behind the altar until I stood by his wing.

My knees were knocking together, being so close to him.

I could feel the power that coursed through him like an electrical current.

I reached out and withdrew my hand.

“Do it,” he sounded bored. “What is a feather to one as I?”

I reached back out and grabbed onto one of his pin feathers and pulled with all my might. It came free, and golden ichor dripped from it.

“Go, child. I hope you find what you seek. Your life is already cursed, I fear.”

I held up the stones, and a portal back to the field opened in front of me. As I stepped through, I heard him whisper.

“All is as it should have been.”

Did I win, or did I just kill us all?