Chapter 14

"Many centuries ago - "

"Wait, centuries? That's like thousands of years. What is this, a history lesson... "

" Will you please just let me talk. "

She pursed her lips and looked away. Acting all innocent. But what did she have to do with things that occurred centuries ago? 

"Like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, many centuries ago the universe was ruled by Gods. They were at the very top of the heierchy of power. And right beneath them were the angels. Everything was run smoothly. There was an established system of organization. Everyone had a purpose, a place in which they fit in. 

The two most powerful beings were tasked with caring for the lesser ones. It was their responsibility to govern them and listen to their grievances. 

Of course, angels weren't that common to come by. There was only a limited number of us but we made up for our quantity with our strength. 

Female angels were relished the most. We basically worshipped them.. " Nuriel had never told this story to anyone. It always did evoke emotions he chose to forget. Because it made him recall the pain he felt of losing everything that truly mattered to him. 

"Why? were females more powerful? " Flame asked. Somehow, listening to her gave him the strength he needed to go on. 

" No, although all angels were powerful beings it was the makes that wielded more power. We cherished our females because they were even more rare to come by. 

I guess that for every female there was about ten males, and this threatened our race. And as the years passed by.... the females reduced in number, " This was where it got tough. 

"It started with two, a mother and daughter. They were found dead in their home. The daughter was barely twenty years old. Angel younglings took longer to grow. They needed time for both their wings and bones to develop. 

So twenty years was comparable to a human ten year old. It was the females son that found them..." Nuriel went quiet. And Flame instinctively reached out her hand and held his arm. 

" Was it you? " she asked and he frowned. 

"What? Oh no, no it was not, "Many centuries ago - "

"Wait,  centuries? That's like thousands of  years. What is this, a history lesson... "

" Will you please just let me talk. "

She pursed her lips and looked away. Acting all innocent. But what did she have to do with things that occurred centuries ago? 

"Like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, many centuries ago the universe was ruled by Gods. They were at the very top of the heierchy of power. And right beneath them were the angels. Everything was run smoothly. There was an established system of organization. Everyone had a purpose, a place in which they fit in. 

The two most powerful beings were tasked with caring for the lesser ones. It was their responsibility to govern them and listen to their grievances. 

Of course, angels weren't that common to come by. There was only a limited number of us but we made up for our quantity with our strength. 

Female angels were relished the most. We basically worshipped them.. " Nuriel had never told this story to anyone. It always did evoke emotions he chose to forget. Because it made him recall the pain he felt of losing everything that truly mattered to him. 

"Why? were females more powerful? " Flame asked. Somehow, listening to her gave him the strength he needed to go on. 

" No, although all angels were powerful beings it was the makes that wielded more power. We cherished our females because they were even more rare to come by. 

I guess that for every female there was about ten males, and this threatened our race. And as the years passed by.... the females reduced in number, " This was where it got tough. 

"It started with two, a mother and daughter. They were found dead in their home. The daughter was barely twenty years old. Angel younglings took longer to grow. They needed time for both their wings and bones to develop. 

So twenty years was comparable to a human ten year old. It was the females son that found them..." Nuriel went quiet. And Flame instinctively reached out her hand and held his arm. 

" Was it you? " she asked an" he assured her and she let go. So much for trying to be affectionate. 

" At that time my father was the ruler of the angels. He ruled directly aside the gods. When news broke about that incident, everyone was in disbelief. Myself included, they carried out investigations but the killer was never apprehended. And not long after That, another female was killed, "

"But, thought you were like immortal or something. How were they killed? " Flame cautiously asked. Hoping that her question would not upset him. 

Nuriel sighed, then he ran a hand over his face. 

" They were not simply killed, m'eudail. They were butchered! Their were cut into peaces as if they were nothing more than a kill from a hunt. Their wings were chopped off !They were beheaded and their hearts ripped out of their chests. Then they were set aflame! " he finished off quietly. 

Flame was sorry that she had asked. 

"About twenty years later, there were only a handful of females left. And that meant that our race would not continue, "

"And you never found whoever was behind the murders? " 

Flame could not understand how they would be unable to find that animal after so much time. She did not know who was behind it but she already hated the person. 

"They did. My father had left for an important meeting a certain morning. The angels had had enough and they thought he was doing nothing to help them, even if that's all he had been doing. They wanted him to give up his throne, and he was supposed to go and address them. But he was still reluctant to leave my mother alone considering everything that was happened. I was set to go with him as next in line for the throne. And he figured that there would be too many beings there. So he appointed a group of his best warriors to watch over her while we were away. And it was while he was addressing the beings that.... that... " Nuriel cleared his throat, then he spread and folded his wings again. 

But this time, Flame did not complain about it. 

She could see that the story was affecting him somehow. 

"You know, you don't have to tell me all this, "

" Of course I do. You deserve to know.... " he moved several steps back to stand beside the wall and away from her view. 

"While we were at the meeting, one of the warriors my father had left came running into the hall, " Nuriel still recalled that day. 

The warrior didn't need to say anything. 

He had known. 

He had looked into the warriors eyes... and he had known. 

" Nuriel, " Flame whispered. She had never known her parents. But she could only imagine how much it must have hurt him to lose his. 

"They murdered her in cold blood. Made it such that she would never take in another breath! " he pushed aside all the emotions that were threatening to overcome him. 

"Did you find out who did it? " he was in pain. He might act unaffected but she could see that he was. And her heart ached for him.

"Yes. It was the gods! " The warrior had been fortunate enough to make it out alive. But he had seen them. 

And that was when everything changed. 

"The gods? " 

Flame had not seen that coming. 

"Apparently, they felt threatened by the growing power of the angels. So they decided to put an end to the race. They do not care about ruining lives. 

All they valued was power. 

On learning that, the few remaining angels sought revenge. My father was at her forefront of that mission.  war erupted. 

Though all that resulted from it was more loss. 

More destruction! 

Everyone suffered, including the lesser beings. They lost their homes, their lives. They lost everything. " 

And Nuriel also lost the only other person he had left. He lost his father. But that had not hurt much. For in the time since his mother's death, his father had been long gone. To be replaced by a being fueled by the desire to shed blood. 

" Who won? " Flame inquired. 

Nuriel chuckled and shook his head. 

" No one won. It's just the amount of loss that was different. Whereby both sides suffered loss, it was the angels that lost more. I was among the few of us that remained. We were exactly twenty one angels while the gods were over a hundred.

We were willing to fight to the death. Regardless of being outnumbered. But most of us were still young, barely capable of taking on one god even if we combined our strength, "

And the gods had made it clear that they would not rest until all the angels were dead. 

"So what did you do, I take it that you found a way to defeat them? " They had to have done so if he was standing there talking to her. 

" And where exactly do I come in in all this. Because forgive me but I am sure that am not an angel, " 

Nuriel smiled past the pain he was feeling from reliving that experience. 

" No m'eudail, you're not an angel. But if you'll just be patient, I am getting to that, " 

Telling her would not be the issue, making her believe was the real problem.