Guardian Angel Service

Chapter Ten

"So now what do we do?" Evangeline asked.

"I don't know." Coal replied quietly. He was slouched against the wall, his left wing still broken. He felt extremely cold and it had nothing to do with the temperature. He could barely see his own hand in front of his face, the light from Evangeline's phone doing almost nothing against the darkness. The memory of his death was brought to the surface of his mind. Right before he became a Guardian Angel, he was surrounded by darkness. He had no body, no soul - just drifting in eternal darkness. He has been too afraid of the dark ever since, constantly surrounded by some source of light.

Just when he couldn't take it anymore, he heard something. It was soft and left as fast as it came but he heard something. It took him no more then a second to realise what it was.

"Evangeline," he hissed, "turn off the light!"

Either she didn't hear him or was about to enquire why, Coal will never know. The next moment, his senses were overloaded. Thousands upon thousands of screeches filled their ears, the sound almost making him drop. Evangeline lifted her phone until it faced a ceiling that was not there before. Numerous red, beady eyes stared at them.

Bats!

In an instant they were running. Faster then they had ever ran before. They had no idea where they were going, no thoughts at all. Their bodies were moving on instinct, pure survival instinct. They leaped over boulders, slid beneath walls, turned every corner. They didn't know how long they were running for but by the time they had realised it was too late.

A large cavern opened up before them, jagged rocks and ancient carvings surrounding them. The walls stretched up so high that they couldn't see the top, only dark swirls of magic that descended from it. The sound of the bats that pursued them were gone but a whole new horror awaited them. All across the cavern floor were beasts. No, these creatures shouldn't even be called that.

Over a dozen ten feet tall abominations lay before them, all as still as death. They had the muscular torso of a wolf but the agile legs of a fox. Their large snouts shot up in unison as they sniffed the air. Ivory teeth appeared between their jaws as their soulless eyes turned to face them.

Evangeline was in shock. Never had she seen anything so terrifying. Coal was gazing at their appearance but Evangeline could see beyond. The magic... there was none. It was impossible. Everything, even the Mortem, had magic within them. These... things were literally nothing. They didn't exist. But they were stood right before her.

They had something other then magic, Evangeline could tell that much. Something that held the both of them in place. Something that was daring them to move, amused. Something wicked.

When the closest of them took a predatory step towards them, something sprang from beside them. No, not something.

Someone.

They were moving so fast, Evangeline couldn't even tell whether it was a girl or boy. They twisted and turned with the shadows, slicing through the creatures. The creatures dropped one by one, turning to ash before they even hit the ground. When the last one was turned to ash, the dark swirls swooped down from the top of the cavern. It devoured the ashes, absorbing whatever that thing in them was.

The person who had saved them slowly came to a stop, then strolled towards them. They wore a simple jumper, the hood falling below their eyes, and jeans. The hood had fallen back and a girl stood before them. It was impossible to see her eyes beneath the mop of straw-like hair. She pulled her knives back into slots and stuffed them into her backpack. So far, she hadn't acknowledged their presence as she wiped the clunks of ash on her jeans off. Suddenly, applause erupted from behind them.