Flying Without Wings

I sat on the end of our bed staring at Bastian. He had been asleep for two long days and his stab wound was healing well. Wake up, wake up, wake up, I urged him. I had a feeling he was staying asleep so he wouldn’t have to explain himself to me. But I knew him, he loved food as much as I did, and he would need to eat soon. I had Clementine make him breakfast and left our bedroom door open so the smell of eggs, hash browns and mushrooms would come wafting up the stairs. A fresh pot of coffee was next to his bed and I took a sip of my own cup glaring at his shut eyes. I had been wearing the same pajamas since returning from the Woodeared Inn and hadn’t run a brush through my hair for just as long. I was tired from all that had happened over the past few weeks and didn’t really care how I looked, and neither did any of the Angha Soldiers that had taken residence in my tiny town house. Even Audrey kept her quips at bay, I must have been projecting my mood well. Marvillo sat at the end of the bed curled up in a ball, he was a wake but making small snoring sounds, he was telling me and everyone else that came in the room that he was terribly bored but suitably content. I really should take him out for a run, we both needed to get out of the house but, Gomez didn’t think it was wise to be jogging alone. I didn’t see what the big fuss was about, I was never really a target. I stood up and started to pace the room, I could hear the soft voice of Clementine floating up the stairs as she cooked. She had healed well after being lashed in the caves and seemed to be the happiest soul in the house. Being a part of the Angha Soldiers again seemed to be doing a lot of good for the once troglodytic group.

I had arrived home from the pub to find Harry, Pete, Lewis, Andy, Abigail, Colin, Wendy, Pat, Lydia and Evelyn waiting eagerly to hear what had happened to us. News had traveled fast of Bastian being stabbed and Freddy killing Kent and the group hadn’t let me even sit down without asking me 1000 questions. Audrey had finally shepherded everyone downstairs and away from me, before I started attacking them. I had been shocked to walk in and only find 3 Angha were left in our home. At first I had thought something horrible had happened, that the Zimrugh Saviors had broken in and taken them again. But Pete and Lydia had returned the rest of the Angha to their owners, the ones they could find anyway and by the looks of things had enjoyed each other’s company a lot. Lydia had been sitting in Pete’s lap when I had first climbed down into the kitchen for a moment’s peace. Embarrassed they both had risen quickly and set about making food for everyone. It did warm me a little, after everything Lydia had gone through with Johnny she was still open to love and out of any of the Angha Soldiers, Pete was the most beautiful. His big lips curled at the edges whenever Lydia walked into the room. Ahh those first feelings of love, how wonderful there were. I sat back down next to Bastian, my own love and felt annoyed, so I hit him on the arm. “Bastian wake up!” I shouted, unable to control myself any longer, “you can’t pretend to sleep forever.” Marvillo fluttered and snuffed loudly, startled by my outburst. Clementine called up the stairs asking if everything was alright, “Fine, fine,” I called back and looked back at Bastian. I looked into his big brown open eyes.

“Bea.” He whispered reaching for my hand. I evaded his grasp and started pacing the room again.

“I know you’ve just been stabbed and I should be worried about that, and I am, but I am more worried about what you have not been telling me.” I stopped and stared at him, daring him to act coy.

He blinked slowly and took a pained breathe. “Do we have to go through this now, can I have something to eat first?” He winced slowly sitting up, I knew the smell of breakfast would wake him.

“No.” I said “have some of this French Press, but then you have to tell me what all this prophecy talk is about.” I saw him flinch as I said the word, I thrust a steaming cup into his hands, 2 cups of coffee later, Bastian finally started to talk to me.

“Ok now don’t be mad” Bastian started staring into his third cup of coffee. “But I had to be sure about you before I told you anything.” He ignored my indignant huffing and continued, “I’ve always known what Angha are, ever since I was a small child living with my grandparents. My grandfather had an Angha and it would follow him everywhere, I desperately wished that I could have one of my own one day. His was a skinny little thing and supper fast with silver wings, it was a Whippet I think. He told me that when I was older one might come looking for me, and if I was very lucky I would get to share it with a girl.” Bastian blushed and stole a glance at me. “Of course at that age I didn’t like sharing and I didn’t like girls but I always hung on to the idea of having a skinny flying creature of my own. There was a scroll framed on our wall that said; when a descendant of Chao falls in love with a Westerner, they will bring peace to the world of Angha. The story tells of a part Asian boy who falls in love with a blonde girl named after an insect. The Angha in the story is half black and half white and belonged to both of them equally. The story surrounding the prophecy tells of a bond of three that cannot and will not be broken… that is just roughly translated of course, it was written in Mandarin, and no one ever knew what a girl named after a bug could mean, Bea.” Bastian looked up from his mug cheekily. “My grandpa, Chao, always told me that the boy would be in his family, but no one knew who the girl would be or when this prophesy would come true. He told me to never tell a girl I’m seeing about the story unless I am sure I loved her and that she really loved me. He said most would probably be working for the ZS, get scared if I told them the tale, or would just be the wrong girl. Made me very paranoid of every girl I met – not great for dating. But I knew the moment I saw you that I would love you forever, and when Marvillo appeared at our door just a few months ago I had a feeling that we were the three that the story is about.” He took my hand in his long tan fingers and patted Marvillo with his other hand.

“I am not named after an insect.” I huffed looking into my own cup. “Why did you never tell me till now, if you have known I was the one for months?”

“I don’t know, I still wasn’t sure.” I opened my mouth to object but Bastian continued. “No, I was sure about you, always have been, but I couldn’t believe I was the boy in the stories, the descendant that would free the Angha and their people. I didn’t really believe it until Kent stabbed me on that rooftop last night. I knew if I was worth killing, I must be needed to live.”

“That was 2 nights ago,” I said, maybe Bastian really had been out of it. He looked shocked but Clementine came through the door carrying breakfast and another pot of freshly brewed coffee before he could say anymore.

“Darling you are awake.” She exclaimed putting the tray over Bastian’s legs and giving him a kiss.

“You are all better too I see.” He said squeezing her plump arm. “This looks delicious, I feel like I haven’t eaten for a week.” He grabbed a hash brown and crunched on it happily.

“There is plenty more, Audrey brought enough food to feed every Angha Soldier in Cullen, I think she hoped there would be more of us still here. I’ll leave you two be.” Clementine squeaked after glancing at my glowering face. “I’m sure you have a lot more to discuss.”

She toddled out of the room and I turned my gaze back to Bastian, he was busy feeding Marvillo a fried egg until he too noticed my scowl. He quickly wiped his hands on his singlet and pointed to the old nightstand next to our bed. “If you want to read the prophecy it is in there, my grandfather had me it translate it into English as a soon as he thought my writing was good enough. It’s in the poster holder.” I slid open the smooth wooden draw and popped the plastic top of the poster holder off. A scrolled piece or parchment slid out into my lap, it was thick, like wood. “It’s written on bamboo, of course.” Bastian laughed thickly as he tucked into another hash brown. I read the prophecy over and over, it certainly was describing us. The Angha painted on the scroll was black with a white splodge on his furry chest.

“Marvillo,” I murmured touching it, “where is your grandfather?”

Bastian stopped chewing and spoke with a mouth full of potatoes, “dead, I think, there was a war years ago, about 10 I think. Everybody says Dr Salem killed him with one of his potions, but my grandfather’s body was never found, same as my parents. Dr Salem was apparently coming after me when he was finally captured and imprisoned. Funny, with the war between AS and the ZS it sometimes easy to forget there are other people out there with power, and it was the police that caught him. Dr Salem figured if he killed all the Chao’s there was no way the prophecy could come true. Since then I’ve always had Angha Soldiers watching over me, but never really known who they were.”

“But we always knew who you were.” Humphrey was standing in the doorway munching on a crisp piece of bacon. “I’ve been watching over you for the past 5 years, when Gomez went undercover with Zenasia I had to disappear too, all part of the plan, so I was assigned to you. I’m the one that brought Marvillo to your door.”

“What?!” we both explained, at least Bastian didn’t know everything, I thought.

“Yes I’d tried a few times with different Angha’s, but they all left, already bonded with or promised to someone else I guess. But when I saw Marvillo lost in the park across the way, I knew he was the one. And that you two were as well.” He finished his bacon with relish, feeling very proud of himself.

“Yes we all know you think you have saved us.” Audrey cooed coming into the room as well. “How are you feeling daaahrling?” She said stroking Bastian’s face. The fact that everyone was fussing over him was not helping my rage. They all knew as well, they had all lied to me. Audrey seemed to know what I was thinking. “Don’t take it personally Bea, we all loved you the moment we met you, but as Bastian said, we had to be sure. And we never really know anyone, look at me and Gomez, I thought my husband was dead for years and thought you were gone too.” She nodded at Humphrey who was suddenly very interested in whatever was happening out the window. “I know how it feels when you have been lied to.”

“And have you forgiven him.” I said glaring at Audrey, she looked hurt. “Will you take your lying husband back and pretend nothing happened, what about Monty?”

Audrey hesitated, and looked to Humphrey. “I don’t know, with Bastian being stabbed, the explosion in the caves, the return of Mavis, I haven’t really taken the time to analyse my love life.”

“What is there to decide, you’re my sister in law, you are my family, you can’t leave us for Monty, you barely know the man.” Humphrey shouted incredulously at Audrey.

“Well I hardly know Gomez either, the man is basically a stranger, a ghost from my past, and Montgomery has been there for me, that is what is important.” She glared back at Humphrey her jeweled bosom rising and falling quickly. “And it’s none of your business anyway you’re a liar too!” Audrey stormed out of the room. I had to admit, I loved that even among this war and even though Audrey was older she was having the same issues as any other girl would have. I looked into Bastian’s face, I did love him. There was really nothing I could do about it, but I was going to make him pay for this lie, just for a little while longer.

“Where is Kent?” Bastian asked returning to his slightly cold breakfast.

“Well he’s dead of course.” Humphrey laughed then less jovially, “don’t you remember?”

“No I just remember being stabbed, then being thrown in the back of that awful van.”

“Thrown?? We were careful,” Humphrey said defensively, “not easy to carry a bleeding man down a spiraling staircase, full a busy pub full of drunks and across a slippery car park, you’re alright though.”

“I’m stabbed!” Bastian exclaimed.

“You’re fine, Freddy the barkeep who is also an Angha Soldier, killed Kent just in time. I’m sure Dr Salem already knows, so Lydia and Evelyn are out recruiting more AS again. Freddy already has an army of soldiers at the pub, even if they are drunk ones so he should be OK there. The rest of the group feel if anything was going to propel this ever looming war into the now, the killing of Dr Salem’s son would probably do it, so we are getting ready, don’t you worry mate.”

“But he is in prison, he can’t just leave can he?” I asked feeling I probably didn’t want to know the answer.

“I’m sure he has a plan to, but is probably just waiting for the right time to strike, him getting out doesn’t make me that nervous. After all he is just a man, I’m worried about why he had Zenasia capture the Angha’s cries, they are what have the power to really control people. I want to know who and why, Gomez could never get that information out of Zenasia, I don’t think she even knows. A lot was going on in her house under her nose without her knowledge. She couldn’t even feel her own Angha in the house, ludicrous! I always know where all my Angha’s are.” Humphrey said scratching his stubbled chin. Everyone was looking a little worse for wear since the stabbing on the roof. Like they hadn’t eaten, showered or slept since then. “I’m going to hop in the shower then try to get some shuteye now I know you’re alright. I know you probably don’t feel like you know me well, but I know you mate. As I said, have been keeping an eye on you for the past few years, I should never have let this happen.” He turned and left the room and that moment I realized he felt responsible for the stabbing. A lot of people probably did, if Bastian was part of the prophecy he was sort of a golden child, I guess that made me one too. No wonder everyone knew who we were, where we lived and our names. The tram ride where we first met Monty, Audrey and Humphrey, the way everyone kept arriving at our house. The way Gomez had first looked at us. It was all making sense in my mind now. We were part of their plan, not part of their team. We were the golden egg they needed to protect, not fight alongside. I looked at Bastian’s face and felt he was thinking the same thing, but he of course had known the part he was to play all along. I was still catching up to this world of dogs that could fly, heal and connect, of Soldiers, Saviors and prophesy’s, of real life good vs. evil, of villains and gunfights and my lover being stabbed by the spawn of a mad mastermind. It really was all rather exciting, I could hardly remember what my life was like before. Working in an office, going out for brunch on the weekends, enjoying a wine at night, who was that girl? and when this is all over was she going to come back? I thought of the people and creatures in my house, somehow I didn’t think it would ever go back.