Falling ~Book Three of Winged~

Island

  "I'll see you again soon." Etheriel brushes some hair behind my ear before pulling me into a tight hug. I hug him back tightly, not wanting to let go.

"I love you..." I whisper to him and he pulls away some and smile down at me.

"I love you too." He leans down and kisses me lightly. He takes a step back and Dominic pulls me backwards and into a hug.

"We are going to go, save Nathan's ass, and take care of the Mark of Death on you." He reassures and smiles at me. I laugh a little and hug him tightly. He pulls away and I turn to Malachai who has a small smile on his face.

"Hey." He says and hugs me. "See you soon." He pulls away and I nod with a small smile. I take a step back on the dock and watch as they walk down the dock and get on the boat. Zerach walks up beside me and stands by me as we watch Dominic untie the boat and Etheriel start the boat. Etheriel looks up and looks at me and then glances at Zerach beside me and back to me. I show a false smile and watch as he backs the boat up and turns it around. Whenever they get so far away that I can't see their faces, Zerach turns to me and leads me off the dock with his hand on the small of my back. He already retracted his wings back into his back while we were at his house, talking.

"You and Etheriel are... together?" Zerach asks as we step onto the wooden plank pathway that leads back to the hut.

"Yeah..." I reply and look down at our feet as we walk. He holds the door open for me and closes it behind me.

"Are you hungry?" He asks and tilts his head. I shake my head and he stares at me. "Tired? I doubt you slept any on the way here." I nod and he gestures to the bunk beds. I walk over to the beds and sit down on the bottom bunk. I take my shoes off and push them under the bed and then curl up and pull the sheet over me. I can feel Zerach's eyes on me for a little bit until I end up falling asleep.


I'm standing at the edge of a cliff, looking off the edge. I can't see the ground beneath me, it's just a dark abyss. I look around and see a dark forest behind me and just fog ahead of me. Something begins to crash through the forest and I squint trying to see what it is. The something is heading towards me at a fast speed and my heart begins to beat faster. I start feeling panicked as the crashing gets closer and closer to me. Suddenly, it goes completely silent and all I can hear is my hammering heart and my own breathing. I look around and something grabs my ankle. I look down and there's nothing there. I step back away from the cliff and shake my ankle. The force is pulling me towards the edge slowly. I try to pull away, but the force suddenly jerks me and I fall forward off the cliff. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out. I just keep falling and falling and as I go further down, it feels like the air around me is heating up. It gets hotter and hotter. I'm sweating and I'm burning up. Orangish light flickers wildly below me and I squint trying to make out what it is. As I get closer, I begin to panic. I'm heading towards a pit of flames. My voice finally works and I start screaming and yelling. It feels like my blood is boiling. I fall into the flames.


"Trinity!" I jump awake, wide eyed, staring at the bottom of the bunk above me. I'm drenched in sweat and its really hot. I breathe heavy and my eyes flicker around, landing on Zerach, who is sitting on the edge of the bed his hand frozen in midair. He woke me up. I sit up and lean against the wall

"I'm sorry." I apologize and wipe sweat from my forehead.

"No, it's okay. You were tossing and turning and then you started yelling." Zerach stands up and goes to my luggage. He unzips one of the bags and pulls out some clothes. "Here, it gets pretty hot here during the day." I get out of the bed and take the clothes from him. I go across the room and to the bathroom. I change into the shorts and tank top and then come back out. Zerach has already made my bed and is in the kitchen messing with something. I walk towards him and before I even get close to him, he turns and smiles.

"Want some fruit?" He asks lightly, tilting his head. I walk up next to him and watch as he cuts up some star fruit. He hands me a slice and I nibble on it as he continues to cut the fruit. It's kind of hard to explain what this tastes like. It's kind of tastes like an apple yet a little citrusy, but with the texture of a grape. It's juicy and has a kind of tangy aftertaste. Zerach watches me out the corner of his eye and blindly cuts the fruit up.

"What do you think?" He asks and slowly sets down the knife, picking up a slice of star fruit and taking a bite out of it.

"It's strange, but it's good." He nods and puts the knife in the sink to be washed and then pulls out a container and sets the sliced up star fruit into it. He doesn't put the lid on it and picks up another piece to eat. I take another piece to and take a bite. Although I am wearing shorts and a tank top, I'm still sweating from how hot it is. I discretely look at Zerach and see that he isn't sweating at all; he doesn't even have a slight sheen. He is wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a forest green tank top and he is bare foot. I watch Zerach put a lid on the container and then set it in the fridge.

"I'm going down to the beach to work on a project, would you like to join me?"Zerach asks as he goes over to the sink and starts filling up a metal water bottle with a screw top and then sets it into a woven bottle holder.

"Sure." I reply and follow him to the door. We walk to the beach and then along the tree line until we get to a spot where there are sawhorses with a plank of wood on them. Right at the tree line is a hand built tool shed. He drops the water bottle off in the shade and then goes into the shed. He comes out with a hand saw and goes over to the plank of wood. To the side of the shed is a stack of trees that he must have cut down at some point. I go over to the tool shed and sit down, leaning against it. He starts sawing the piece of wood.

"You're staring." Zerach says after a little while and he doesn't even look at me or stop.

"Sorry." I say quickly and look down at the sand. He laughs lightly which is a wonderful sound, making me look back up at him.

"No, it's okay." He replies and looks up at me finally. He sets the saw down and walks over, leaning down and picking up the water bottle. He opens it and takes a large gulp. He holds it out to me and crouches down slightly.

"You need to stay hydrated." He says and I take the bottle from him. I take a small sip before handing it back to him and watching as he screws the lid back on. He sets the bottle back down and then stands, going back to sawing.


I watch Zerach saw wood all day and screw them together. I'm still not sure what he is wearing, but when he calls it a day the sun is starting to dip below the horizon and we start heading back. Zerach goes into the kitchen and starts making something for us to eat. He makes a salad with fresh greens and some chicken that I'm not sure where he got. After we eat, I change into different clothes and lay down on the bottom bunk. The whole house is dark except a few candles that are burning around the giant room. Zerach cleans up in the kitchen and then blows out all the candles. He walks over to the bunks and sees me watching him. He tilts his head and then sits down on the side of the bed.

"Can't sleep?" He asks and I nod. He raises his hand and slides it onto my cheek.

"Somnus."


Whatever Zerach did last night, made me sleep straight through the night without even waking up to the storm that hit in the middle of the night. Zerach has decided to show me some places on the island. We go around the house and walk deeper into the forest from the back where there is a generator and a water pump that pumps water from the water table under the island and filters it, leading it to the sinks, toilet, and shower. There is a slight impression from the trail we are taking being walked more than a few times. We walk for a while before I start to hear running water. As we get closer to the source, the water gets louder and louder. We come out of the tree line and I see what all the sound was. It's a waterfall that leads off into a spring that goes to a river. It's beautiful and completely natural. I go to the edge of the water and put my hand in the cool water. You can see all the way to the bottom. I look further into the water and see some fish swimming around in the crystal clear water.

"Nice isn't it?" Zerach asks behind me and I nod, smiling. I stand up and look up at the waterfall.

"Is there any way for us to get up there?" I question and look back at Zerach. Zerach tilts his head and looks up at the top of the water fall.

"Yes, its about an hour walk to walk around the wall and to an accessible point or you could climb the rocks." He gestures to the rocks beside the waterfall. I nod and walk to the wall of rocks. "It's unsafe." Zerach follows me. I step up onto a flat piece of rock on the wall and then reach up and grab a hold of a notch in a rock. Zerach mumbles something and then starts climbing beside me. He gets above me at some point. My fingers are slightly sore now as I take a hold of a thinner sharp rock. I look down and wedge my foot in between two rocks. Bad step. The rocks are still wet and slippery from the storm last night and my foot slips. The sharp rock cuts into my hand and I begin to panic as I glance down at the ground ten feet below me. I look up at Zerach to see him pulling himself up over the edge.

"Zerach!" I yell and loose my grip, falling. Time seems to slow as Zerach turns around and sees me falling from the rocks, slicing my hand open. He suddenly appears next to me, his wings out. He didn't jump or climb down he just appears. He wraps his arm around me while the other tries to grab a hold of one of the rocks, slipping a little before stopping. One of his wings is wrapped around me, pressed up against the rocks behind me as his body is pressed up against mine. I look up at his hand that is gripping a rock tightly, cutting into his hand. Golden liquid slowly drips from his hand. His blood.