I hit the ground. Hard. I sat up, wincing. My forehead stung, it felt like someone had burnt it with a hot poker. I
reluctantly opened my eyes.
I sat at the edge of a main street of a small town, at the base of a huge mountain. The mountain stood tall, its peak
touched the clouds. Everything was strangely quiet and there was no one in sight. The air around me was crisp and cool. The temperature was perfect, not too warm yet not cold. A huge black forest surrounded the town. Voices whispered my name, inviting me in to be whisked away to another place. “I miss you,” sounded in my ear. I swung around, looking for someone behind me. The voice seemed as though its owner was right behind me.
My black hair whipped around my face, so I quickly pulled it up into a ponytail. I stood up, hazily and moved toward the town. My legs hurt from hitting the ground, so I shook the numbness out of them as I walked along the road. As I walked I could feel eyes burning into my back. The feeling of uneasiness that flowed through me, made me forget about the dizziness and the pain from my landing. I pressed forward, hoping to remove myself from the range of those unseen eyes.
Hundreds of strange archways lined the main street. No buildings, nor houses or anything just these archways. The archways were all completely different. One arch was covered in pink lilies; another was covered in assorted weapons. Each demonstrating different atmospheres and emotions, they were excellently designed and detailed.
At the end of the street was an enormous fortress. Made from the same rock, it looked like it had been carved from the mountain itself. My legs faltered and I fell to the ground.
“Hey, are you alright?” An arm wrapped around one of mine.
Memories flooded my mind.
A girl stood far in front of me, her hair was as black as night. “Ellie,” She called. “You coming or not?” A prick of jealousy trickled though me for a moment. Why was I jealous of a girl I had never seen before?
“Uh, yeah, wait up,” A girl appeared beside me. Her hair was chocolate brown that sat neatly just below her shoulders. She wore a gorgeous long blue dress and gladiator sandals. In her hands were silver high heels.
“Your heads been so far up into the clouds lately,” the black haired girl said when Ellie reached her.
I ripped away, and the arm that was around mine pulled back.
“Whoa,” A female voice said, behind me. “What the hell was that?” I sat on the asphalt, running my hands through my hair. Beads of sweat stuck to my forehead. My heart raced. I felt my lungs long for breath, but the shock coursing through me did not allow it.
“You okay?” A girl appeared in front of me. I noticed that she refrained from touching me. Her coffee brown hair sat in her auburn eyes. Her lips were nice and round and freshly coated with lip gloss. A lavender fragrance hung around her.
“Uh, yeah,” I said. Her face was round and caring. Aside from her restricted smile, she seemed like a nice person. I consciously took a deep breath.
“I’m Ellie,” She held out one of her freshly manicured hands and then pulled it back, cringing, as she had remembered what happened moments before.
“Raven,” I replied. I tried standing up. My legs still felt like jelly and I felt as though I may throw up. My head still spun.
“Do you do that,” She waved her hand toward me. “All the time?” I noticed how tall she was compared to me. She would have only been about ten centimetres taller than me, but it seemed to make all the different. Her waist was tight and her long legs caused a spike of jealousy.
“Nah, it’s just usually when I’m taken by surprise, get really angry or really sad,” Ellie seemed relieved. “Just stuff like that, large rushes of emotion.”
“So, where are you headed?” Ellie asked. “’Cause I’m guessing you’re new here.” A large gust of air flew by me, strangely cold for such a warm day. Ellie muttered something underneath her breath.
“Umm, I dunno,” I said, trying to remember whether Joanie had told me where to go. “Where do I need to go?”
“You may need to go to the castle and sign in,” Ellie pointed towards the massive fortress at the end of the street. After a moment of silence. Ellie said, “You want me to walk you there?” She smiled sincerely.
“Uh, yeah okay,” I said. Ellie began walking towards the magnificent building. I only just noticed what she was wearing, a short black skirt and an untucked, white button-up shirt. She looked like she had recently been at work. Yet her hair could only be described as organised chaos. Locks of chocolate brown hair hung crazily round her face, and her straightened fringe was moved to one side of her face covering one of her eyes.
“So, umm, what is this place?” I asked, placing my hands in my tattered pants pockets. As we passed through the citadel gates, I began feeling better. My legs no longer felt like jelly, and my stomach had settled.
“This is Sacred Mountain,” Ellie said monotonously.
“Sacred Mountain?” Bells rang in the distance. I looked around, trying to locate where the bells had come from.
“The morning bells,” Ellie stated, guessing what I was looking for. “They come from the bell tower on the northern edge of the island.” She said, pointing off into the distance.
“So, this place – Sacred Mountain, what is it?” I asked. We began walking up the old steps at the bottom of the palace. They were marble like the rest of the building. Sitting around the steps and –what I guessed – the rest of the palace, were quaint gardens with tiny lilies copying the colour of the rest of the building. I looked up, above the door where the words ‘Sanctus Mons Montis’ craved into the stone in an elegant script.
Ellie hesitated. “Go inside, ask to speak with Regina. Tell her you’re new – well she probably already knows – she’ll run you through the whole procedure and explain everything, I promise,” She opened the door for me.
“It was nice to meet you Ellie,” I said, taking hold of the door, allowing Ellie to let go.
“It was nice to meet you too Raven,” She replied. “Good luck.”
I walked through the door and carefully shut it behind me. I turned to find a large office. The white walls were plain and there was barely any warmth in the room. Classical music was being played on a small mp3 docking system near the door.
In the middle of the room was a huge wooden desk. A young woman sat behind the desk, filing her nails.
“Uh, hi,” I said, trying to gain her attention.
She looked up. Blonde curls danced around her make-up covered face. Her blue eyes were bored and annoyed. She looked at me, judgingly. I felt a bit self-conscious, comparing her to me. “Yes?” My vision flickered. A memory.
“Regina, we have a problem,” The girl at the desk stood up as a graceful woman walked into the room. The womans rich auburn hair shone in the light, sending bright flecks of crimson around the room. She walked with a strong sense of superiority and wisdom.
“What is it?” the woman asked. A man flung the door open for her. She stepped out into the sun and the receptionist followed.
“Its Alex,” Regina spun around with a look of rage. “And Ellie,” The receptionist’s voice went quiet in fear. “And Lorelei.”
“What happened?” Regina said darkly. The receptionist hesitated. “What happened?” Regina roared.
“They, ah...”
“Spit it out Brittany!” Brittany cowered away.
“They left,” Brittany said quickly. “This morning. To the forbidden cave,” Rage left Regina’s face and was replaced with horror.
Regina clapped her hands twice. A young man in armour appeared at her side.
“Ready your forces,” She said to the soldier.
“Ma’am?” He seemed confused.
“We head to the Forbidden Cave.”
“Excuse me, but are you okay?” The receptionist asked. I was still standing in front of the desk, swaying slightly. “Hey,” I looked up at her. She had that you-should-get-yourself-checked-out-look on her face. “You okay?”
“Uh yeah. Can I, uh, talk to Regina?” I asked, shakily. Brittany began typing at her computer for a moment.
“Just a moment,” She picked up the phone, pressing a button. “Yes, there is a woman by the name of...” she looked at me.
“Raven.” I looked around the foyer. There were five or six doors along the walls. Most were open, revealing long hallways behind them. Unlike the foyer, these hallways were steel walled.
“By the name of Raven, who wishes to speak with you,” Pause. “Yes, okay, uh huh, okay,” She put the phone down. “You can go in,” She said pointing towards a door near the desk.
“Thanks,” I said. I walked over to the door and pulled it open.
Inside was a huge oak desk with two chairs in front. On the desk sat a top quality computer and a few photo frames. The smell of disinfectant overpowered the room. The walls were covered in bookcases, and the empty patches revealed a light, powder blue wall.
A woman sat at the desk reading a thick book. She wore a fitted, black suit which made her auburn hair and her green eyes stand out. Crimson hair hung in her face, as she silently read her book. Her book was bound with very old, black leather and in gold writing was the words ‘Pulvis et Umbra Sumus’. Looking up, she seemed to only just notice that I was here. She was the woman from that memory... I realised.
“Always enjoyed reading fantasy, it makes you want to just jump inside the book and be the main character.” The woman closed the book and placed it gently on the table. “It’s quite a new book, you may have heard of it, ‘We Are Dust and Shadow’,” I hadn't, and I guessed she understood that from the look of confusion on my face. “It’s very well written and fairly exhilarating, you should read it sometime,” She stood up from her desk, smoothing out the wrinkles in her pants. Everyone seemed to tower over me here, this lady was no exception. “I’m Regina, Ruler of Sacred Mountain, and you are Raven Jones, yes?” Her face was sharp and angular. With high cheekbones, she looked very professional and uptight. She was quite thin but her age was evident. The worry lines were chiselled deep in her forehead.
“Uh, yeah.” This lady seemed quite odd. The smile on her face seemed to contradict the feelings she was emitting. There was a strange sadness clinging to this room.
“Oh my god Alex, why did you go?” A piece of a memory touched at my mind.
“Please sit,” Regina pointed toward one of the chairs in front of the desk. I did as she asked. “Now you’re probably wondering what you’re actually doing here,” I nodded. “Okay, so at Sacred Mountain, we are the people who care for everyone else,” For some strange reason I didn’t understanding what she was saying. It was like she was speaking a completely different language. “We are angels.”
“Huh?” I said. Regina ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
“How about I tell you what’s going on and you save any questions until I’m finished, because I may just answer your questions along the way,” I nodded. She seemed angry.
Regina stood up and began pacing the room. “Good. Now Sacred Mountain coexists alongside Earth. We have been here as long as they have, and we shall stay until their race is destroyed. We are angels. Yes, we are God’s elite army,” She said, looking at the shock plastered on my face. These people were saying that they were angels! Maybe I was just going crazy, thinking I’ve died and been asked to join a race of imaginary beings. Or maybe...
“Everyone that lives here guard the people that live on Earth. Two of us are sent to guard a certain faction of the population; they are usually a man and a woman. Each performs certain tasks to fulfil their jobs purpose. For example, you will meet two people who are the Angels of Light; they are in charge of the type of technologies that are to be made that include light and where they allocate types of light. Get it?” I nodded, trying to take in the information.
“Now you have been sent here to take one of these positions. Remember, this is a choice that you are given. You may withdraw your position and thus sent to either Paradise or Tartarus. But I ask as a personal favour that you do not give in too easily to the temptation. It is very hard to find one with enough spirit as yourself, and I see something in you that can change a dear friend of mine,” Regina sat back down, and typed something in her computer with lightning speed.
“Your position is as follows, you will be appointed to the guardianship of the dead. You will become caretaker of Purgatory, and you shall care for everyone and thing within. You shall go by the name of The Angel of The Fallen. You shall be situated in the Underworld with the other Angel of The Fallen, which I will order another to show you,” She pressed a few buttons. The computer grunted in protest. “If you ever need help of any sort, you beg of you to come ask me, for anything because your roommate probably won’t help you at all.”
“Why not?”
“Let’s just say...” She grappled for the right phrasing. “Let’s just say that your roommate isn’t quite the... nicest person you will meet here,” Oh great... [/i The computer spat out a number of pages. Regina stapled them together and handed the bundle to me.
“Take this. It outlines your duties, and everything that you need to know,” She stood and walked out the room. I followed sheepishly.
I felt something in the air around us, like a sliver of light passing through a dark room. It was so strange; it looked like a small meteor streaming through the air above me. This was the first time I had ever seen something like this, and I had a feeling that it was not going to be the last.
“Your escort shall be here soon. I’m sorry I can’t show you around myself, it’s just I have a meeting soon that I must prepare for,” She began to walk away. An older man rushed past me running straight toward Regina.
“Regina,” The doors to the palace opened and Ellie walked through. Regina looked her way and nodded. “Regina, the energy levels in Tartarus soared just two minutes ago,” I heard the man recount to Regina.
“Hello again,” Ellie said as she reached me. “It seems that I’m the one who is to show you around. You want to get going?”
“Uh yeah," I said, following Ellie out the door.
“So as I said before this is Sacred Mountain," I looked out at the street in front of me. There were now hundreds of different arches, most of which I didn't see as we walked along the road before. Around the village was a vast forest. It was dark and mysterious. I knew I wasn’t going in there. [i]Ever.
“You see the arches lining the streets? Well of course you do,” We walked slowly down the steps. “Each is an entrance or a doorway of sorts. They are designed according to the people who own them. Like that one,” Ellie pointed toward an arch to our left. It was covered on CDs and disconnected speakers. “That belongs to the Angels of Music, Aria and Zamir,” As we walked along the street, we would stop every so occasionally at different archways and Ellie would tell me about the people who lived there. She told me countless names like Dante the Enduring, Zuri the White and Delilah the Night Rider, most of which I forgot almost instantly.
“The Forest around us is called The Forgiven. No one but Regina was here when it was first planted. It’s called The Forgiven because grudges are held until death and no longer. So the dead shall be forgiven, hence the name.”
“Angels die? I thought Angels were immortal,” I said, confused.
“We are, but...” Ellie paused. “Umm how do I explain? We are immortal but we can die. We can only be killed by demons,” She explained. Now I was even more confused. I had so many other questions. “We cannot contract common diseases like humans can. We have these strange antibodies that do not allow us to get sick. I don’t know the details but yeah,” she finished lamely.
“Demons?” I asked. Regina's offer to leave was getting better by the minute. Angels die but don’t, and now there are demons to contend with?
“I’m not doing a very good job of explaining any of this am I?” She asked, running her hands through her hair. “Demons are kind of like what they are portrayed in books on Earth. And they aren’t all red before you ask; I seem to get that question a lot. They can change into whatever or whoever they want,” Great.
We stopped at a pitch black archway. I This archway - unlike the others - was very plain. The other difference was a large keypad on the left side. “Okay, this door is different to the others. This is a Master Door. You see, the other doors go back and forth from two locations only. This door, however, can go anywhere. Kind of like a Great Glass Elevator. You see these buttons,” Ellie pointed toward the strange keypad. On the keypad, there were about eighty buttons. Three quarters of the board was covered in blue buttons. Along the top was one red button, one yellow button and a green button. “These buttons can program in a route which you can use. You get it?” I nodded. Chains began to clink, frightening me. This place was hauntingly quiet, like the rest of the village except for this strange jingling. A figure appeared from behind the archway. A man came out of the shadows wearing a long, black cloak. A thick chain was latched to his wrist. He was thinly built and his black hair covered his eyes. His pale face was riddled with scars, each running from his hairline down past his chin. He looked up at me, his black eyes glimmering. He pulled out a huge handgun and pointed it at me.
“Woah!” Ellie pushed the gun away from my forehead, forcefully. It didn’t budge. “This is Raven, she’s new. She’s not going to try and kill anyone,” His gaze never left me, even when he replied to Ellie.
“How do you know?” He grumbled. His voice was very rough and angry. He looked at Ellie, and she gave him a look that screamed ‘trust me'. “It’s on your head,” Ellie nodded as he began lowering the gun. “And if she steps even a toe out of line. I will be waiting,” his intense gaze lingered upon me after he had put his gun away.
“Raven this is Ulysses, Ulysses this is Raven our new Angel of the Fallen,” Ellie said happily.
Ulysses nodded in my direction – I guessed that was his hello. “I don’t know why you have to introduce them to me all the time, they never stay long,” He said darkly to Ellie. “He usually gets rid of them pretty quick. This time you shouldn’t even bother introducing her to him, might as well send her straight back to Regina.” My vision blurred. I could feel a vision coming.
"Uh, Ellie?” Ulysses’ voice sounded inside my head. My head was burning so I knew it was a memory.
“Yeah Ulysses?” Ellie asked. I could still see Ellie and Ulysses talking yet all I could hear was this memory.
“Uh, I was wondering.... I was wondering whether you and I could...”
“I’d love to,” I could tell from her voice that Ellie was smiling.
“Well we best be off, lots to do. See you later, Ulysses,” Ellie began walking away. I smiled at Ulysses, receiving none in return and followed Ellie back the way we had came. I looked back to see Ulysses disappear behind the archway. Even though I couldn’t see him anymore, I still had this feeling as though he was still watching me.
“So, what’s going on between you and Ulysses?” I asked casually. She stopped quickly, causing me to almost run into her.
“What? Nothing. Nothing,” I gave her an 'I’m not that stupid' look. “Okay, okay. We have been hanging out for a couple months now. But he seems so hesitant to even talk to me,” Ellie began walking again.
“Do you know why? Why he’s being so distant?” I asked. She looked down, as if in shame or sadness. I found it nice to just talk with Ellie. She seemed to like me a lot too, which felt strange. I was friends with people back home, not the other way round. They put up with me, they were nice but everything they asked or did had some sort of hidden purpose or consequence. But Ellie, she had class and natural warmth.
“Well I shouldn’t be telling you this, but his roommate died four weeks ago. She was his best friend and he cared about her. She was killed by demons - fourth one this year, at least that’s what we assumed,” She needed to tell me the rest of this story because I didn’t understand any of it anyway. “She was captured by demons and when we raided their cave we only found her necklace. Ulysses was devastated, and ever since he has been like that,” She pointing behind her. “Angry, paranoid, unsocial. It hurts to see him like that, but all I can do is hope that he pulls through,” she shrugged her shoulders.
“You have to help him,” Ellie looked at me, confused. “I’m serious; you have got to help him move on. Memories are to be learnt from not dwelled upon. Take up the initiative and help him. It may even help you,” I sounded like such an idiot but it seemed to get through to her.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” She slapped me hard on the back, forcing the air to rush out of my lungs. “You’re alright, you know,” I bowed my head slightly. Why did that line seem so alien? I had friends before and they thought I was ‘alright’, but I don’t think any of them really said it very often.
“So where do I live?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah, right. Uh... sorry about that,” Ellie looked quite flustered an embarrassed. “Uh… this way,” She said turning to our left.
We walked between two portals into an open field behind them. The field looked like it had been through a wild fire; the grass was black and – strangely enough – still smouldering. A leaf fell from a tree nearby, as it touched the burning field it burst into flames.
In the middle of the burning field was an abandoned portal. It was black and very plain which made it foreboding and mysterious. Hostility radiated from its stone cracks.
“This is it,” Ellie said, pointing to the portal.
Great.
Points:
Time spent:
Canary word: Present
Possible AI signals:
Original Text:
Are you sure you want to delete this comment? This cannot be undone.
Mark this comment as a review? Points will be awarded to the poster.
Your comment was posted, but it wasn’t long enough to count as a review. Reviews need about four complete sentences (at least 250 characters). Try writing another review that explains your thoughts in more detail — the author will appreciate it, and you’ll earn points for it.
125,018 Literary Works • 672,856 Reviews
Icy here to review!
there aren't a lot of things in particular to point out here, aside from a few grammer issues. Just rememember to link together your sentences and not leave out crucial facts that although you may be able to picture the reader cannot.