Angel Academy

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Aurora's POV:

"I don't know" replied Shade calmly, after listening to yet another one of my theories. 

We walked across the scorching lands with the hoods of our cloaks pulled up to protect our heads from the sun rays that continued to burn down on us. 

"It's obviously a trap" I mumbled more to myself. 

"Yeah, we've known that since Emrick paid you a little visit" added Shade. 

I nodded my head and turned around, walking backwards to see his face. 

"But why is Emrick even helping, isn't he Lucifer's son?" I questioned, becoming even more confused. 

Shade's face morphed into one of confusion as he searched for an answer to my question. I let out a small sigh and began to walk forwards again, scanning the area for any signs of water. 

"I don't know, but to convince him to work to release the man who killed his father he must have been offered something big" he replied after a minute of silence.

"There!" I exclaimed, pointing to some trees in the distance "do you think that there will be water there?" I questioned, hoping that I wasn't hallucinating. 

Shade looked at me slightly startled by my outburst before he averted his attention to the trees. 

"I don't know, but it will probably be our last chance to collect some before we arrive at the river," he said logically. 

We headed straight for the trees at a brisk pace, and after at least half an hour of endless walking we finally arrived. The trees that grew here were greener than the ones that stood tall in the dead forest that we had previously travelled in, it was actually really weird to see so much lush green plant life in the middle of a barren land. 

"Do you think that this is some kind of trap?" asked Shade as he looked around the greenery. 

"I don't see why, they want us to come to them," I said knowing that we were doing exactly what Emrick wanted, so his demons had no reason to attack us.

Shade nodded his head but drew his daggers anyway. 

"Not all demons follow Sebastian," he said intelligently. 

I drew my own daggers and stayed alert as we pushed through the plant barrier that revealed a large oasis surrounded by all sorts of plants and rocks.  The water that it held was an alluring royal blue colour which shone brightly as it reflected the suns brilliant rays. Resisting the temptation to dive into the waters unknown depths, I walked carefully around the area to scan for any sort of life. 

I was looking down at the lake's peaceful surface in concentration when water jumped from the lake and sprayed into the air causing me to jump backwards, falling over in the process. I scrambled back away from the water as quickly as I could and scanning the area in sudden panic. That was... until my eyes landed on Shade. 

He stood by the waters edge with a variety of rocks scooped up in his arms and had a huge smirk on his face that he tried to hide with an apologetic look. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I gasped, clutching my chest to feel my heart pounding against my rib cage. 

"Calm down Princess, I was only testing to see if the water's safe" he replied no longer fighting to hide his grin. 

"By giving me a heart attack?" I asked while getting to my feet.

"Nope, that was a bonus" he laughed, irritating me further.