Grounded ~Book Four of Winged~

Old Structures

We walk for a while into the woods and the sun begins to start to go down while the temperature starts to drop along with it. I have no clue what we are looking for or what it looks like. I walk next to Etheriel and think about Eli. I hope he is okay. I didn't think that he would get hurt... It's my fault. We continue to walk forever until the sun is all the way down and the moon is the only thing providing dim light for us to see.

"We are here." Azrael announces and I stop, looking around. I don't see anything. It's just the same trees and messy unkempt undergrowth.

"I don't see anything." Etheriel says out loud and I am relieved that I'm not the only one.

"It's hidden. Can't just have something that humans can stumble across." Azrael responds and takes a few steps forward before lifting his hand and setting it against something that I can't see. The air shifts and Azrael begins to absorb some kind of energy off of the invisible thing he is touching. A old crumbling stone building begins to fade into existence. Azrael takes his hand away and the building is completely visible now. It looks incredibly old before modern architecture existed because it's a bunch of large stones stacked on each other with no cement holding them together and it's all deteriorated. There is no door just a doorway leading into the lit building that shows stairs going straight down into darkness. Zerach steps inside the building and picks up a large torch that was hanging on the inside, already burning. We follow Zerach into the building and down the crumbling stone steps with Azrael walking behind me. I can feel the energy radiating off of Azrael behind me. I carefully step on each step since this place seems very unstable. It is dead silent beside our footsteps. There is no ambient noise. It's eerie.

"What is this?" I whisper. I'm not sure why I whispered, but it just came out as a whisper.

"The mortal realm backdoor to Heaven." Zerach replies and Etheriel nods. I stop in my tracks.

"What? That kind of thing exists?" Etheriel and Zerach stop several steps down and look back at me. "Wouldn't that be some kind of problem?" I question and Azrael leans against the wall standing on the same step as me.

"It was created in case something like this happened and Heaven became inaccessible. It's not really a problem because it is extremely challenging to detect and changes locations very often. The entrance up on the surface is usually enchanted so that it is invisible to the naked eye. Humans can't enter through the doorway above either." Zerach explains.

"How did we find it?" I question.

"Because there's a small gap in the security in that Archangels can detect it, its just a little difficult." Azrael says and suddenly runs the tips of his fingers down my bare arm. I look down at his hand and his touch is electrified, making my hair stand on end and giving me goosebumps. I pull away, uncomfortable, and start walking again. I take the steps slightly faster to get next to Etheriel and slow down once again once beside him. We are going really far down. I step down on a step and my foot slides against pebbles of crumbling stone before the chunk of the step cracks and just breaks away from the staircase. I begin to fall and my breath hitches and I fall forward. Etheriel tries to grab my arm, but misses and Zerach's hand makes contact with my upper arm, but it's only a graze and I continue to fall into the darkness.

"Trinity!" Etheriel yells and I put my arms out in front of me to try to catch myself on a step and to make sure that I don't hit my head. I hit a step and it makes my body go over my head, starting a tumbling motion. I tumble down the stone steps, each step smacking into my body in pain. The back of my head smacks the stairs a couple times before my head hits the edge of a stair and I lose consciousness.

Etheriel

Trinity disappears into the darkness and we all start sprinting down the stairs, not caring if one of us slips and falls because it won't hurt us.

"Trinity?" I yell and never hear a response back. I have no clue how long these stairs are. Zerach reaches the end of the stairs first and the torch light slowly lights up the room as he walks further in.

"Demon..." Zerach whispers and shines the torch around, stopping when it lights up someone crouched in front of him some. Zerach quickly gets closer, lighting up Eli crouched over Trinity. I approach fast and drop down beside Trinity. She's unconscious and has blood coming from a gash near her hair line. Eli looks okay despite being completely out cold earlier. I have no clue how he found this place or got to it. He pulls out a handkerchief and holds it against the gash on her head.

"Mammon? How did you get here?" Azrael steps forward and glances down at Trinity before looking back at Eli, confused at the sight of him. "You shouldn't have been able to use a passage to get her. All Angelic and Demonic abilities should be nullified as soon as you step foot into here."

"I know... I don't know. I woke up and suddenly I was here and now I can't leave through a passage or summon anything." He responds and pulls the handkerchief away from Trinity, looking at the wound through the blood. I hate the way he looks at her. He cares too much and I hate it. I hate it because once she was beside him 'in love' with him and I don't want things to end up like that again. Eli closes his eyes and tilts his head slightly.

"Why are you guys here?" He means here as in this crypt leading to the back door of Heaven. Even without any Demonic power, he knows exactly where we are. "Nevermind." He whispers and looks back down at Trinity. Eli presses the handkerchief against her hairline again. She's still bleeding pretty bad. I press my fingers against her neck again and feel her pulse. It weak, but steady. It doesn't worry me too much. Eli quickly picks up Trinity before I can stop him and stands up, carefully holding her to him. He stares down at her and I desperately want to punch his face. He's changed. He's drastically different than what he was. He is responding to her every command and suddenly he is here when she's hurt. It's like his life is revolving around Trinity's.