Chapter 2

He returned a moment later. “It’s safe. Come on,” Alec urged, tugging on his arm.

Alec patted the winged boy on the back as he retched up water from his lungs. Each cough and spasm caused the angel’s snaky black locks to clatter in movement, reminding Alec of the bedtime stories his parents used to tell him about Medusa and her petrifying gaze. As their eyes met, Alec was instantly mesmerized by the angel’s piercing golden eyes, and realized how true the myth must have been. For a split second, he could neither breathe nor move; his heart seized up and he wondered if he had truly turned to stone. Immediately smitten, he tried to shake himself free of his physical discomfort, as he would a bug bite or a stubbed toe, but the pangs of attraction would not subside.

Finally, when the stranger had grown still in utter exhaustion, Alec dared to ask, “Are you well? Can I help you? “

The youth lunged upward, attacking Alec with his fists.

Alec responded to the angel’s anger with his own, releasing his pent-up grief and rage. He knew that it wasn’t right to attack someone who was wounded and afraid, but at that moment, he just needed to release his own hurt.

The boys continued to pound on one another until they both fell back on the shore, panting in exhaustion. They lay there until they heard the sound of nearby voices, as their scuffle had alerted the attention of the human hunting party they had just evaded.

Both bolted upright, panicking anew.

Alec grabbed the angel by the hand, cried, “Come on!” and pulled him deeper into the forest.2

Alec crouched behind a tree, panting in panic and fear as the hunters continued to pursue them. The angel huddled beside him, his wounds bleeding and raw. Their adrenaline had ebbed; now both were on the brink of exhaustion.

As Alec struggled to make a plan, a wave of dizziness washed over him. The Cold Iron arrowheads transfixed in the angel’s wings were beginning to overpower the elf’s senses. He closed his eyes, letting his head fall backwards against the tree trunk with a painful thump as he fought the urge to swoon.

“The arrows,” he moaned, pinching his eyes shut. “Cold Iron.”

“Good idea! We can use the arrows to fight back!” the angel replied, inspired by Alec’s words. He shut his eyes and flapped his wings vigorously to shake them free. Loosened by the jostling of the angel’s movements, the arrows began to fall to the forest floor.

“No, don’t! You’ll hurt yourself even more! Let me help…”

The angel shook his head and continued until every arrow had fallen from his wings. “Here, I’ll give you one,” the youth began, but as he bent lower to pick them up, a flash of a smile crept upon Alec’s lips.

Alec laughed as he recognized his surroundings. “There’s no need, we made it! We’re home. We’re free now.” Closing his eyes in concentration, he grabbed the youth by the shoulder and used his green magic to enter the tree beneath him.

Alec watched as the winged youth gasped in panic. He stared at the wall of bark that he had just passed through, pounding on it with his fist to confirm that it was real.

“What—what happened?” the angel spluttered.

“Cold Iron poisons me. It kept me from helping you. I couldn’t pull you into a tree until you were free of it. But now, you’re free of metal and we’re both safe from the hunters.”

“Let me out!”

“Shush, not so loud! Stay quiet until the hunters pass. We’ll be safe in here if you’ll just be still,” Alec warned.

“But….

“Come sit. You should rest. Come on, this is my old home. I have some ointment in the pantry to put on your wings.”

“But we’re inside a tree!” the angel said, fidgeting uncomfortably.

“So? All elves can dwell in trees! I cannot believe that this would be your first time.”

The youth gulped. “But I am not an elf.”

“Are….are you really an angel, then?” Alec asked, daring to add in a reverent whisper, “Did my parents send you?”

“What is an ‘angel’? I am a vanth,” he replied, as if the title alone needed no further explanation.

“What is a…?”

“And who are you? Why have you done this? How did you come out of the water, and how are we now inside of a tree?”

“I’m sorry to have startled you, but I didn’t want you captured by those humans. My name is Alec.” The elf offered a hand in introduction, which his guest did not take.