Falling ~Book Three of Winged~

The Friend

  "You have friends other than us?" Dominic asks, tilting his head slightly. Etheriel rolls his eyes.

"What kind of friend?" Malachai asks curiously.

"An Angel who can protect Trinity. He lives on an uncharted island in the South Atlantic ocean." Etheriel replies and continues to hold me.

"How are we suppose to get there?" Nathan asks.

"A passage." Dominic replies quickly and I feel Etheriel start to shake his head.

"No, you wouldn't be able to find it without at least being there once before he has it warded from Angelic and Demonic sights. We would have to get there by boat. It's completely safe there." It's silent for a second before Malachai speaks up.

"Then we should get going." Dominic nods in agreement.


Etheriel folds some clothing from my luggage and sets it back into my suitcase. Someone lightly knocks on the bedroom door before opening it. Dominic walk in holding a separate suitcase.

"I got you some more clothes for the trip. Who knows how long you will be there and I doubt that there is a washer or dryer on that island." I go to take the bag from him, but he holds on and stares down at me. He eventually lets go and leaves, shutting the door behind him and leaving Etheriel and I alone.

"Is your friend nice?" I ask lightly, breaking the silence between us.

"He is... different... But he is nice." Etheriel replies and zips up my suitcase. "Don't worry about it. He will take care of you."

"You won't be there?" I question, narrowing my eyes slightly. He gives a half sad smile.

"No, but he will protect you. We will be working things out here." Etheriel brushes some hair out of my face.

"How long have you known this friend?" I question and Etheriel is about to answer, but commotion downstairs gets both of our attention and we leave the room and quickly go down stairs. Etheriel freezes at the bottom of the stairs, making me run straight into him.

"You need to leave." Dominic's stern voice makes me look in his direction. He has his demon blade in hand, facing Sammael who is standing by the wall. He must have came through a passage. His eyes flicker to me and he takes a step toward me which immediately causes everyone to move to protect me. Sammael's eyes graze over everyone before landing on me again. Etheriel moves away from the staircase and I follow close behind him and edge toward the kitchen, away from Sammael and kind of toward Nathan.

"What a group of guard dogs you have here..." Sammael comments and yawns before starting to crack his knuckles. No one says a word and Sammael glances around again, his eyes pausing briefly on Malachai. Sammael raises his hand and as he does so, a passage opens on the wall close to me. Dominic turns and looks at it, his eyes widening. A black shadowy tentacle stretches out from the passage and toward me.

"Get her away from that!" Dominic shouts and Nathan obeys and tackles me just as one of the now many tentacles strike toward me. One of the tentacles coil around Nathan's ankle, instead of mine, and pain flashes across his eyes as the piece of Hell makes contact with him. The tentacle whips back and pulls him toward the passage.

"Nathan!" I yell and scramble to try and take his hand. The other tentacles start to coil around him and he is dragged into the passage. The passage closes and I stare at the spot.

"Oh well, I guess I'll take an Angel... Let's see how strong he is." I turn just in time to see Sammael disappear.


"I hate boats." Malachai mumbles, holding his knees to his chest. The boat jumps out of the water a little whenever we hit a wave and every time Malachai groans and shuts his eyes. I watch Etheriel drive the boat seemingly aimlessly in the dark. I see no land masses in sight. Dominic sits next to me with his eyes shut. Salty ocean mist sprays over me every once in a while which has made me cold. I have goose bumps all over my arms and I am shivering.

"We will be there in about five more hours!" Etheriel calls as we jump another wave. Dominic opens his eyes and sees me shivering next to him. He wraps his arm around me and pulls me toward him. His heat immediately starts to spread to me as he presses me to his side. I relax against him and rest my head against his chest.

"I think I'm going to be sick..." Malachai mumbles and then hurls over the side of the boat. Dominic stares at him with his eyebrows furrows and then looks down at me and his face softens. He starts to stroke my hair which is damp from all the constant mist. I close my eyes and try to find a way to fall asleep.


I don't sleep much at all from the jerking of the boat on the waves.

"There it is..." Dominic mumbles and I look up. We are approaching an island covered in trees and with a white sandy shore surrounding it. There is a large hut like house a little bit off the beach that we are heading towards. There is a boat dock that looks like it is only big enough to dock two boats. Etheriel slows the boat down as we approach the lone island. Etheriel stops the boat on one side of the dock and gets out, tying the boat to a metal anchor like shape that is attached to the dock to keep the boat from going anywhere. The boat sways and Malachai gets off the boat as quick as he can. Dominic grabs my luggage and we both follow Etheriel off the boat and down the dock. We step off of the dock and make our way toward the hut. The trees further up on the island almost completely blocks out the sun. We step into the tree line and onto a wooden walkway that leads all the way to the hut.

"Etheriel." We all stop walking at the voice and look around. "What are you doing here?" Etheriel looks up into the trees and we follow his gaze. Standing on a branch, leaning against the tree, is an Angel with his pure white wings out behind him, staring down at us. His eyes, unblinking, scan over all of us before going back to Etheriel.

"Why have you brought a Angel turned Demon, Angel of Death, and a... Nephil onto my sacred island?" I blink, shocked that he was able to point all of us out.

"I need you to protect her. She was marked for death by a Demon and she needs your protection." Etheriel calls up to the Angel who tilts his head and his eyes flicker to me.

"What is wrong with her?" He asks and just stares at me.

"She was injected with Demon blood." Etheriel replies. Dominic glances back at me. In a blink of an eye, the angel disappears and reappears right in front of me. He leans in and stares into my eyes. I lean back away from him.

"Interesting." Is all he says. He has a really powerful and heavy presence around him. He tilts his head and lifts his hand to my face. I lean back more and he pulls his hand away. He disappears and reappears in front of Etheriel, walking toward the hut.

"Welcome to my Home." He says to us, glancing back. "I am Zerachiel, but you can just call me Zerach, and it is nice to meet you all." Dominic and Malachai hesitate suddenly and glance at Etheriel. Zerach steps up to the hut and opens the door, letting us in. His eye go to me as I walk past and follow me. Dominic nudges Etheriel in the side and whispers something to him. Etheriel doesn't reply and looks at him. Dominic turns and stares at Zerach, standing stiffly. Whatever he realized Malachai already realized it too, but I still have no clue what's going on. Zerach's hut is one big room with a kitchen, dining room, living room, and bedroom all out in the open. There is one door that probably leads to a bathroom and another near the kitchen area. There is no lighting in this place, but there are windows to let in light. The kitchen is rather surprisingly modern with a stove, refrigerator, sink, and counters with a large island too. The dining room is a table that looks like it's handmade with homemade chairs. The living room is simply a slightly worn couch and handmade coffee table. The bedroom area is a bunk bed with thin mattresses.

"When's the last time you were on mainland, Zerach?" Dominic asks with slight hostility for some reason. Zerach looks at him and tilts his head.

"Nine months ago." Zerach answers and stares.

"When was the last time you were in Heaven then?" Dominic continues and Zerach narrows his eyes at him.

"Over two thousand years."