Awake by Nightfall by Emilia Sherman (well read books .TXT) 📕

There is only one known way to kill us. If there wasn’t then, there would be a lot of us. The only people who knew how to kill us was, of course, the Radiant Council. Oh, right I forgot to mention. My mission, Leon Knight, also discovered how to kill an angel.

You see, I am a Seeker. My duty as a Seeker is to follow my mission that is given by one of the Radiant Council. Since, I didn’t grow up with any special powers; I was forced to learn about the human world and train to become a Seeker. Seeker is the lowest thing you can be. The job could get dull. You spent most of time in the mortal world searching for Nephilims or Fables. Nephilims were usually simple to find because they didn’t know how to control their gifts. Fables were tougher considering the fact, they knew about us and could hide.

You see, a Fable is a Radiant that betrayed the council. The reason they are called Fables is because they escaped here and lived among the humans. You know, act like humans but hide their real powers. There aren’t a lot of them since it was hard to escape from the Radiant Council but some had the advantage on escaping their clutches. This brings me back to Leon Knight.

Since Leon was my friend before he became a Fable, the Council thought that I would know what happened to him. Him knowing how to kill one of us was bad news to the Council. No one knew how he got his hands on those details, but he managed to find them. The Council thinks he’s searching for an army in the mortal world. He was probably also searching for the poison there, too. All of this was a very bad thing for him, once the Council finds him.

This was bad news for me if, I failed this mission.

~~~~~

Our arrival didn’t go according to plan.

First off, I was having trouble discussing about the mission to my fellow Seekers. I was assigned a Healer, and Water Manipulator. Both were women, which I knew in the future was going to be a problem for me. Not only that (even though it was true because women have emotional issues), but my mission was already known by every Seeker in our world. We lived on this floating island above the mortal world called the Day Star.

Everyone knew my mission was marked for failure. They didn’t know all the details on way we were searching for Leon but everyone knew it was a cursed mission. So, no one wanted to come on this quest. There were already many Seekers that tried to succeed this mission, and failed. Leon was just impossible to find. Untraceable. When the Seekers come back from the mission, they seem distant, almost unapproachable. No one knows why but it happens to all of them.

Like I said this mission was cursed.

But since this was my first mission, I couldn’t turn it down. I have to prove I could be a more than average Seeker. So, I got a Healer who wasn’t serious, and Water Manipulator who was fierce. Both were inexperience and because of this, they weren’t so keen about making me leader.

I already made a mistake on our arrival. Since there is no night or day on the Day Star, I had trouble knowing what time it was on earth. We left our island and dived towards the earth. We were supposed to land during midnight, when most humans would not be awake. Instead, we were flying above a beach around dawn. I chose the beach because I thought it would be deserted. I didn’t plan on the plane coming right at that moment.

The weird thing was I have seen pictures of planes. Big objects that went against gravity and floated in the sky. I seen enough photos to know that most planes are not supposed to be on fire.

It exploded right in front of us. We were taken by surprise. We were only trained to fly above planes when we come across one. But they never said anything about fire.

We circled above it, trying to see if any humans survived. Mostly out of curiosity. Unfortunately, nothing, of course, the humans were helpless. We flew away from it, ignoring as the fiery object went crashing down to the water. We moved on, without even a second thought. This is how they train us on the Day Star.

We were trained to hate the humans. We were supposed to vent our anger onto their uninteresting, witless heads. We are their superiors. When they wandered off, we weren’t supposed to look for them. When one of them died, we did not care. We simply turn our backs on them and continue on our mission.

We landed in the beach, softly. We all watch as the plane crashed into the water. The waves, formed by the interruption of the ocean’s peace, slowly came towards the beach.

That’s when I saw her.

At first, I didn’t know it was a girl. I couldn’t really describe what I saw. She was inside some type of bubble. The bubble slowly disappeared and she began floating slowly down the sky. Against the odds of gravity. It was obvious that she came from the plane, but I couldn’t understand how she survived from the blow.

My fellow Seekers followed my gaze and urge me to go after her.

I spread my wings and took off. I flew fast and I caught her before she hit the water. Her cold stiff body crushed against the warmth of my own. I sped towards the beach.

She looked like any other ordinary human girl, but I felt like she was more delicate. Her shoulder length hair was damp and black and sticking to her pale, oval shaped face. Her whole body was covered by damp, clothes that were freezing. I wasn’t positive but I think there was what looked like mashed food all over her shirt. Even though I was utterly grossed out, I had no choice but to hold her close so, she didn’t freeze to death.

I place her body gently in the sand. The sand began to stick everywhere on her body, like it was magnetized.

“Did you see that?” The Healer named Aria Griffin asked. She had a round shaped face with a tiny figure, but all Healers were small-like. Her short, brown hair bounced whenever she moved or talked. She was never a quiet one. “She fell out of the sky, in a bubble?”

So, I wasn’t the only one that saw the bubble. “Quiet. She’s still breathing. She could be hearing everything you’re saying. I am still trying to figure out how she survived.”

“How can that be, though? All of those people.” Aria continued, not listening to me.

“She should have died like the rest of the people.” The not so friendly Water Manipulator, Tamara Flores muttered. She was more force than grace. Her body was built like a man. She had broad shoulders, tall figure. Her face was oval with a pointy chin. Her caramel skin made her even more intense.

“I said silence.” I yelled. Why did the Council give me two women to deal with? “Put away your wings just in case.”

Our wings folded and vanished beneath the skins of our backs. It didn’t take concentration or strength to put them away. It came natural to us. No pain. We just had to make sure that we were not covered on top. Clothes would rip off our bodies when our wings spring out. I had to go shirtless whenever we were in flight. The girls had to wear these custom made shirts that only covered their chest and had an opening for their wings.

“Darien, isn’t it obvious? She has to be one of us.”

“I know what you are thinking, Healer. The answer is no. We have a different mission.”

“If she used it in the sky, they will know she fell here. They will come for her.” Aria went over to the girl’s body and knelt down, began inspecting the body. She placed her finger on the girl’s neck, rested it there for a moment, and turned to me. “Faint heartbeat.” She mouthed, more to herself than to me.

“Seekers will be here searching. Maybe even the Heartless.” Tamara said.

We all winced. Heartless were the warriors of the Fallen. The Radiant looked for descendants that had amazing powers that they could use against the humans or each other. Heartless were feared among Seekers like us. They could do just about anything from controlling your minds to possession. We may be the superiors over the humans, but the Heartless were the superiors in our kind. If the Council found out about a girl like this, it would be possible they would send Heartless after her.

I wasn’t positive but I think she had the Guardian ability. We haven’t had one of these in awhile. Since they were a powerful gift to have in war, they were the biggest targets. If she was able to conjure up a shield around when she was unconscious then she would able to do a lot more when she was awake. The Council would just love to have her on their side.

“We need to leave.” I finally said.

“Heal her.” Tamara said ignoring my orders.
Aria placed her hands on the girl’s forehead and her heart. She started to say a chant under her breath. I watched closely on the girl’s reaction. Her face at first was confusing to me. When a Healer uses their magic, we were instantly healed. This girl was cringing in pain. I pulled Aria away from her.

“Stop. She still has her shield around her. You are weakening her. Try using your mind to calm her down.” I glanced up to the sky, curious. “Other Seekers will be on her. I’m surprised no one appeared here yet.” I didn’t need others to see my group stalling. I also did not want to be seen helping out a human. Embarrassment was out of the question on my first mission.

“I am trying but there is no connection. We should try using Tamara’s water to heal her from the inside.” Aria stared at me urgently. “They cannot find her, Darien. At least, not now. We can protect her for awhile. We can make sure humans find her and they can take her to the hospital.”

“So you are suggesting that we take this girl under our wing.” I crossed my arms over my chest. I looked at my fellow Seekers. We were supposed to work as a team. Their choice was clear. They already decided to help the girl and didn’t care what I said. Typical.

Why should I help an insignificant, little girl? It’s not like the Council would do anything bad to her. They would treat her like a queen. Then, political will intervene. They would force her to choose sides. Then, she would have to constantly watch her back, trusting no one, because everyone would try to kill her. She wouldn’t have the strength to last but maybe one day in our world.

But maybe, she could help us on our quest? Not in the way the women were thinking, but in a whole different scenario. A plan began to form inside my head. If Leon was searching for an army, then she would be the perfect addition for him. I could use her as bait. We were certain that Leon was in this area. How could I make