Tarnished Halo (Angels' Realm Book 2. Published on Amazon) (1st rough draft)

C.T.G. Chapter 2: My Keeper (Rewritten)

Chapter 2: My Keeper

The sensation of falling is all I know, all I've known, from the time I was able to spread my wings for the very first time, till the day I plummeted from the heavens. Flying is all that I know, all that I am, flying is apart of me.

The membranes in my wings arch together upward, drawing a hiss from my lips that are open in a silent scream. My wings feel like they are on fire, as my body shoots across the heavens like a falling star. To mortal eyes, my body is nothing but a beacon of light, casting an arch across a random city, like a new rainbow after a storm.

Pain ripples through each individual feather on my wings as I streak across the sky like a meteor shower. I am falling down hard towards earth, with the utmost grace of an asteroid getting ready to blow up half of the planet in one strike.

I know it's going to hurt, hurt so much when I land. My wings are already aching to fly, to stretch them to their full wingspan of twelve feet, to catch myself. Even a fledgling bird at a young age is taught to catch themselves in mid-flight if somehow they are falling out of the nest or a nearby tree. My wings won't stop this fall, they've been broken beyond repair, because they are no longer the beautiful shimmering white-gold they once were. My wings are now black at the night, stripped of their grace and beauty, they will always be scarred, missing feathers, and pointed bat claws at the tips of the top edge of my wings that'll scare everyone, including myself.

Tears burn down my cheeks as the wind bites against my face, leaving me feeling like there is no air circulating as I plunge downward. I reach out to try and touch a cloud as I fall through them, the clouds evaporating at my fingertips, making it difficult to grab onto something, anything to stop the fall.

It's useless to try and stop the descend. This will be my last time flying, even if I'm going out with a bang.

I'm falling...

Falling...

Falling...

I awake with a start, my heart is nearly pounding out of my chest that I'm clutching the silk material in a tight fist, taking a few deep breaths. I'm lying stretched out on my back, and sit up, trying to shake out of the same nightmare that always plagues my mind when my senses aren't on high alert, when I'm at my most vulnerable time, and that's when I'm asleep.

My nightmare is the reason I despise going to sleep, it gives my mind time to formulate a plan against me, and it makes me feel weak in a way I've never been, not even after my untimely Fall.

Twisting my head to either side, it cracks, and I release my grip on the material and try to stretch my arms above my head. Silver catches my eye at the same time I hear something rattle. My dark eyebrows pull together into a frown, as I put my arms back down, and survey the unquestionable iron that is wrapped around either wrist. When I examine my wrists closely, I move my legs and bite back a curse when I note that my ankles are also wrapped in this iron meant to hold the Fallen.

Chains. The bastard had the nerve to put chains on me?

My upper lip curls back in a snarl, and I try to pull my arms apart, trying to break the bonds, but all the chains do is clink and rattle, creating what little noise is inside where I'm at. I tilt back my head and look up to where the chains go up and over my head, an endless chain link that suspends in the air, the chain link hooked up to the ceiling, making it impossible to escape.

"You have got to be joking." I mumble to myself, twisting my wrists and pulling them to my chest, giving my arms a hard yank that has me flinching at the pain. Even though I'm chained up, I won't give in so easily.