Chapter 16

" Like I had already told you, the gods sought to shed blood. 

Our blood to be exact. 

But even we knew that challenging them would be pointless. Because apart from being few, most of us were young... some barely even grown. 

Eight of the eldest ones wanted to just throw caution to the wind and attack them head on. They said that death was inevitable so they might as well just quicken the process. 

The rest of us were against their plan. We thought it would be wise to have a plan first. So that when the time to clash arrived, we would take down as many of them down with us as we could. 

But the eight argued. 

They said we were just scared. Which I guess was true to some extent. 

We had sought refuge in the jungle.

Then one morning, the eight of them just left , "

Nuriel still remembered the sight of their wings as they were walked away. 

" This is no life! If we are to die then we will do it like the warriors we are! " they had said. Then they had left. 

" It was hard on the rest of us. Trying to survive while repeatedly looking over our shoulders. 

Two days after they left, we received news that all eight if them had indeed been killed, " the news had not been a surprise. But that did not mean that it had hurt less. 

Those had been their brothers. The ones the rest of them had looked up to. 

" We dwelt in those woods for nearly a year , "

"That long? " Flame asked. 

" It isn't as long as you might think. But it felt like eternity. The worst existence imaginable.

We decided that we had had enough. So we prepared ourselves for battle over the course of that time. And when the day for us to charge arrived, we had all accepted our fate. 

All thirteen of us. " 

That was a day he would never forget. As the son of the king he had never gotten a chance to interact with others and make friends. Those were the first actual allies he had ever had. They had become family. 

A family that was more than prepared to die together. 

" That morning we gathered to plan everything and... well, say our final goodbyes. But as we were huddled together, we heard footsteps approaching. They sounded close, so we assumed that it was the gods and got ready to attack, "

"Was it them? " she urged on when he took too long to continue. 

"No m'eudail, it was not them. It was Aurelia, the queen of fairies and the holder of the accounts. "

Flames brow curved up. Then she crossed her own arms. 

"The who of what now? " 

This was all just too confusing for her. 

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Nuriel went and joined her, seating directly across from her. The chairs were large Built for angels with enough room to rest their wings. 

" Up until then neither of us had ever seen one. We had heard stories and rumours from our parents and the others but we had all assumed they were just that. 

Stories. 

It was believed that fairies had existed way before the gods did. They preferred to live in isolation and far away from civilization . 

Aurelia approached us..."

Such a gentle looking being she had been. He recalled the sound her feet made as they treaded barefoot on the jungle ground. How she had assured them that she meant no harm since all thirteen of them still had their swords drawn. And in her eyes, he had seen both kindness and pain. 

" Apparently angels were not the first beings the gods had tried to eliminate. They had also targeted the fairies centuries before. Managing to kill all their men in the process since they were less. 

And all because of power. 

The few remaining fairies had fled to another domain where they had tried to start over. But with time, they had all been found. 

Found and brutally murdered. All except her. She had been their queen. So they had all used their powers to keep her safe despite her refusal. And after that, all she wanted was to die. Because what was life when you had no one to share it with, " Flame noticed the intense way he looked at her when saying that last part but she chose to ignore it. 

" When it comes to fairies, once one dies, then their power goes directly into whoever is closest to them. As long as its a fairy of course. Which meant that Aurelia had absorbed the entire power of her race. Something which turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing. Over time the power became too much to bear. And she could no longer contain the accounts without killing herself in the process, "

" What are the accounts? " Flame asked , curious to know. 

" She never explained that to us. All she said was that fairies were categorised into groups accordingly to the account they possessed. And that we would all find out when the time is right, "

All of them had been confused at that time. So they asked her what exactly it was that she wanted from them. 

" At first we thought she wanted to assist us in the war. Such help would have been greatly appreciated. And we were in a way right... only, she wanted something else in return. She said that she had a way of getting rid of the gods for us. And in return, we would ensure that her race continued. "

Flame was still waiting to hear where she fit in his story. And so far, she did not have any luck. 

"She said that she was going to release her powers into the wind. That she had already chosen noble souls that would wield them. And in exchange of assisting us, she wanted us to tie ourselves to them , " 

They had thought she was joking at first. Then they saw the seriousness in her words. 

She was a being that had dwelt the the universe for longer than all of them. And her power was evident in how she spoke. How she handled herself without fear. 

" We all discussed the offer some were a little hesitant at first but after some time, we agreed to take her up on her offer. And to make sure that we would keep our word, we allowed her to take a piece of each of our souls- "

" Okay wait, just hold up for a second. This is all getting too messed up, " Flame cut in. But he ignored her and went on. 

" She placed an emptiness in us that would not be fulfilled unless we found our chosen and bonded them to us. After that we prepared to all go and fight, but she said that she would do it alone, "

They had refused. Even started the journey to the city where most of the gods were. 

"On our way there, I don't know what happened. All I remember is waking up on the jungles floor hours later. Some of the other angels were up by then end the rest woke up minutes later. We were afraid of what had happened so we hurried to the city. "

She had done it. 

The fairy had managed to finish off all the cursed gods. And she had also gotten her other secret wish fulfilled. 

She had finally joined her race in death.  

Flame listened as he finished his narration. 

" That's all really touching and historic and all but I still don't see-"

"We waited, " he cut her off this time. " For over three centuries we waited to all find our chosen. And eventually, we gave up hope. Until..."

He leveled his gaze with hers. Speaking with firm clarity. 

" Until I saw you in my dreams, " he finished off.

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Flame straightened her back. Then she huffed out a breath before massaging the back of her neck. And after that she pinched the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed and hung her head down. 

Then she laughed. Long and hard. 

Nuriel stood. That was not the reaction he had been expecting. 

" I'm sorry... it's just.. " she uttered admist her laughter. 

" It's... just that you... you... " she wrapped an arm around herself and leaned back against the large seat. Still drowning in laughter. 

" I can assure you that this is not a laughing matter, " he seriously stated. 

But she refused to hear him. Refused to believe a word of what he was saying. He had dreamt of her? He knew where he was going with all that. Next he was going to start telling her all sorts of insane things about how they were soul mates and were meant to be. And that was a boundary she would not let him cross. It was enough that he had taken her there and changed her view on the entire universe. Now this... NO! she had had right about enough of it all. 

" You know, you almost had me for a while there. But you just ruined it with the whole chosen thing, " she stated once her laughter died down. 

Nuriels wings spread and folded. Then he clenched and unclenched his fist. He could feel his control slowly slipping away and he paced to the bookshelves. 

" Look angel, I don't know what you take me for but -"

" Enough! "

He roared, pounding his fist on the shelf. The wood broke and volumes of books fell to the floor. 

" Enough, " he repeated a little calmer.

Flame jumped in her seat. Her heart gaining speed and her hand rose up to her chest as if in an attempt to prevent it from jumping out. She stared at him with wide and shocked eyes. 

And he returned the stare with a very intense one of his own. A vein was ticking visibly at his temple and his chest was heaving as if he had ran miles with no rest. 

He did not look angry.... he looked furious. 

" Do you have any idea how hard it was to relive that part of my existence? Never in my life have I allowed myself to go back to that time, " he took calculated steps towards her. The words ground out past gritted teeth and his silver eyes unblinking as they peered into hers.