The village unfolded like an impasto painting, heavy with texture and vibrant oil pigments. A kaleidoscope of tents, reclaimed wood, and colorful trailer parts brought the canvas together. Different makeshift posts and baskets, where the birds perched and grouped after their morning ritual of gathering in the gardens, topped each pitched structure.

  I watched everything come to life as the light grew stronger and the activities more bustling. The gentle clinking of glass bottles echoed from deliveries, and the cheerful greetings of neighbors filled the atmosphere with warmth.

  As I took in the scene, I soon spotted Ellie coming up the path, pleased to see I was already out on my own. With Raziel still next to me, Ellie gave both of us a friendly good morning before walking past us up the stoop.

  She knocked and the front door creaked open, drawing my attention to a couple stepping out: the gray-winged man from the day before and beside him a freckled woman. The couple greeted us all warmly, and Ellie pulled me over to introduce me to Gibel and his wife, Meddy.

  Meddy wore her blonde hair in a waist length thick ponytail and a simple long dress under her tan apron. The couple greeted us all warmly, and they ushered us inside.

  Gibel excused himself for a moment before he returned, unwrapping a sheet. Ellie excitedly tugged my arm and my heart raced marveling at what he presented.

  Without acknowledging him, I reached for my staff from his hands. I couldn’t take my eyes away. It felt lighter as my fingers glided over a now smooth and glossed surface up to the gems I didn’t realize laid embedded. He buffed the chips in the metal and intricate carvings concealed fractured parts of the wood. There was noticeable damage, particularly around the black gem in the collection of seven, but it displayed its beauty gleaming in the casting morning light.

  “This is absolutely stunning. You did this?” I asked in awe, finally meeting his gaze.

  He was almost as tall as Uriel, and beamed proudly. “It was a lot of work, but it was a pleasure working on it once again. It’s a beautiful piece, isn’t it? I think this one’s one of my favorites. But you should see what I could do with the bow.”

  “You’ve worked on the other Guards?” I asked, my interest piqued at the mention of another weapon in the collection.

  Ellie explained, “Gibel is the one who forged the metals for the Celestial Guards and used to maintain them. He knows all the secrets.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” the gray-winged angel laughed. The secrets are locked in the wielders. Already, Mia has displayed her powers differently than Gabriel. I’m sure Arianna has some unique tricks.”

  “Mia?” I questioned.

  “You’ll meet her soon,” Ellie said. “She’s the reincarnation of Gabriel.”

  “Where is she?” I said.

  “People have swarmed her ever since she arrived, wanting to meet her,” Ellie said.

  I scanned back over the bustle of the dirt streets, feeling a knot form in my stomach. “Why?”

  Gibel laughed. “Sounds mad, but both of you are like living relics.”

  “It is,” the metal lady confirmed.

  “I guess,” I said.

  “Don’t let them intimidate you. They’re all good,” Meddy said, coming up to Gibel’s side.

  Meddy invited us to sit at the table when Zeekiel let himself in. Meddy turned from her food prep and her face immediately lit up when she noticed his paused presence waiting for her to notice.

  Ellie got up and approached him with a favor. “Can you stay here for a while? I already ate and need to try to clean up a bit.”

  Zeekiel’s eyes shifted over to Raziel and glared. “I suppose.”

  As the front door behind her, I leaned into the table. “I’m not complaining, but she won’t leave me alone lately. I’m confused.”

  “Yeah, because she messed up,” Zeekiel explained, taking her seat, placing himself on the other side of me and across from Raziel. “Uriel’s first choice to stay with you was Ellie, not me. And now Dana’s missing and you got hurt. Honestly, things would have gone better had she been with us.”

  “I guess,” I said.

  “Well, I know. Maybe if all these feathered fucks didn’t keep putting pressure on her, she wouldn’t be over thinking it.” Zeekiel bobbed his chin in Raziel’s direction.

  The four-winged angel’s outer white wings bristled, defensively asking, “What do you mean?”

  “You and Uriel telling her to do the whole vow thing. Both of you need to leave her alone. You too.” Zeekiel looked back my way. “Don’t let this guy fill your head with bird shit. He needs that piece back because he can’t be without it. In ancient times, prophets lived for a long time, practicing to obtain an angel like him. It would be faster to just kill you than prolong the pain.”

  He was speaking to me as if no one would have told me, or I wouldn’t have figured it out for myself. His manner insulted me; he clearly thought I was stupid.

  Raziel was steady with his words. “Nothing’s ever private around you, is it?”

  “I like to be where the secrets are,” the demon smirked.

  “And what secrets did you find?” Raziel asked cooly. “Because everyone knows what happened. As for Ellie, she’s the one who approached me for more information, but you should already know that living in every crack of the shadows.”

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  Zeekiel scoffed. “You know, since you can release the consumed ones, why don’t you go back and help the ones your buddies got injected into jars?”

  The four-winged angel pointed, “I didn’t even know it was a power I had until I helped Ellie.”

  The morning’s peaceful start was dissolving into another confrontation I never asked to witness. I was also pretty embarrassed by the situation between Raziel and me. I really didn’t want to talk about it, especially in front of these people I just met.

  “Can you stop, please?” I asked, turning slightly to Zeekiel.

  “Look, I know you don’t know our world. No offense,” Zeekiel said.

  I dramatically rolled my eyes back. Maybe I could have slipped away if I had just let them fight.

  “No, no,” he scolded. “I know both our worlds and I can guarantee that you don’t know shit about shit. I’m not going to watch this guy take advantage of you.”

  “Okay,” I muttered, crossing my arms.

  He gestured towards the front door through the archway. “Ellie needs a friend, not people demanding things from her.”

  I was going to accept Ellie’s offer to teach me finally how to fight, but guilt gnawed at me for not consoling her about Dana.

  "Okay,” I snapped again. “I get it. I won’t bring it up to her. I’ll just have to look for someone else.”

  “Acquire the best partnerships you can,” Gibel finally spoke up. “Really, it’s all in their personal power and knowledge. Quality over quantity. It doesn’t have to be Ellie if she doesn’t wish to do it, but it’ll be difficult for you to start anywhere else,” he advised, as his gaze shifted to the side in thought.

  “Why?” I pressed.

  “There’s not many like Ellie. Those like her, born to two archons, don’t have the strongest wings to make the connection you’re looking for.”

  She’d mentioned she had parents, despite Raziel explaining the one called Mother created the angels and dragons.

  “She has wings?” I asked, confused how she could hide such a thing.

  The gray-winged angel nodded. “She was born pinioned, meaning the outermost wing bone is missing, causing her wings to remain underdeveloped and unable to fully manifest. But her wing roots are strong; if she finds a vow, her wings can be repaired.”

  “And then she’d be able to do magic…” I said, hoping I was picking up on what he was saying.

  “Exactly. Now I know there’s different, um, emotions,” he said, looking between Zeekiel and Raziel, “but this shouldn’t be an opportunity either of you pass up. As you try to find more vows, you’re going to learn the rest of us are going to start at a fairly higher level than you’re at right now.”

  His words left me anxious, but Meddy’s voice cut through the silence, offering a welcome distraction as she shared her stories. Trying to break the tension, Meddy shifted the conversation to telling tales about their life at the Sanctuary.

  She explained how another man lived with them, helping on the field, but he also had knowledge to surgically detach wings. There were apparently roots connecting an outer blade that needed to be removed. Doing it wrong meant eternal suffering or immortal paralysis.

  It wasn’t common for Mother-born angels to remove them. But when the sickness became more prevalent, it was known that the first sign was of the black ink to ooze through balding wings.

  Vows with humans were still a regular occurrence and angels could hold up the extra weight with their vows, but they believed they could avoid getting sick by removing them. Especially when there was no way home after the gates to their home World were closed.

  People moved in for the surgery and stayed to work and recover. Everything started with the farm, which was their only intention: cultivate the land to make food similar to back home, but more came and resided, and it grew.

  The doctor, despite passing on his teachings to have the procedure done on himself, left after realizing he was ill. The dynamic of the Sanctuary changed when Uriel came to live there. “We have people visiting from all over to stay for their last moments before they are released,” Meddy said. “Unfortunately, we have to separate them. We’re not as put together here and don’t use a barrier like in other places. Everyone comes and goes as they please for as long as they need.”

  I listened as I ate oats bigger than anything back home. It tasted fairly normal, but the fruit was metallic, and I couldn’t swallow it. Others around me had no issue and Gibel even asked if I was full before I gave him the rest. I didn’t have the heart to admit I didn’t like it, though I could have eaten more than my fair share of oatmeal.

  “Now that my staff is easier to grip, I think defeating those monsters won’t be too much of a problem,” I said, admiring my staff propped against my lap.

  “You talk about defeating them as monsters,” Gibel said, waving his spoon. “They are still archons. They need to be released, not defeated. Doing so is saving them. Once they're taken over, they can’t do it themselves.”

  I sat with embarrassment for a moment. “You’re right,” I whispered

  “They’re Guards,” he emphasized. “You need to be better than those who chose to start a war with them. ” Gibel told me about the wood given by Mother, the ores from their home, and the pieces of the once-powerful celestial souls bound to them. I thought about Thor’s Hammer or the Sword of Superman. Only I wasn’t transformed into an instant god holding it.

  And it wouldn’t until I found an angel, which everyone insisted was Ellie, despite everything Zeekiel warned me of earlier.

  “Afraid you’re too strong for Ari?” Gibel teased at Ellie’s hesitation when she came back.

  “I don’t know,” she said, looking down. “I don’t know how to do things like that.”

  “You’ll feel different. Both of you. You shouldn’t fear it, should look forward to it.”

  I left Gibel’s disappointed, but the fire inside me still kindled. As I walked away, Gibel’s words echoed in my mind, fueling my desire for magic. I yearned to feel magic, as I did when Raziel assisted with lighting the Moon Staff. A burning flared in my chest, needing to reclaim that strength, that sense of being invincible.

  As we approached Ellie’s home, a quaint cottage with an overgrown yard caught my eye. She had a decent yard that was adorned with another small trailer-like home, overgrown and run-down in the back. She explained it was where Zeekiel stayed when he’d “come around.”

  Ellie sighed, drawing my attention to the garden. “I haven’t been able to tend to my flower for a while,” she said, frowning at the disaster of well-intentioned flora that either grew wild or reached petrification around her house. “It looks bad.”

  “I can help,” I said, following her inside.

  The metal lady led me in, where the state of her living space mirrored the wildness outside. She hadn’t yet cleared out the dead pots or the litter their passing made. Leather scrap pieces took up a workspace beside her bedroom and kitchenette, all in a studio layout.

  “It’s still a mess. I swear it was even worse than this,” she apologized as she picked up her work station.

  “It’s cute,” I said, looking over the small layout. “So, I guess I’m sleeping here?”

  “Well, yeah. Zeek’s using the trailer, and it’s broken, anyway. So, you can sleep in bed with me.”

  “Oh. Sure. I mean, I can just go back to the basement,” I stumbled through my words nervously. Her bed was big enough for two people, but I’d never shared a room, let alone a bed, with someone before. I wondered if I was going to snore again or if I tossed a lot.

  “Well, since you’re better now, Raziel will use it. He’s been trying to sleep on the couch at Meddy’s. Really seems like he’s not getting any rest. We can’t be tired while we train.”

  As the conversation eased, I grabbed a straw broom from the wall to help her sweep.

  “Is he training us?” I was almost excited.

  “No, I’m teaching him,” she explained. “So he doesn’t have to rely on his magic.”

  “Imagine having to teach an all-powerful being on how to fight,” I laughed.

  “It’s not just about fighting,” she said. “It helps build confidence and control.”

  I smirked. “You should have enough confidence to at least try to make a vow with me.”

  Her demeanor dropped, eyes shifting nervously away from mine. “I should go find another pillow and blanket for you,” she said, her voice barely concealing the sudden tension. Dismissing herself from the house and our conversation, she hurried away. I did my best to tidy up, waiting for what felt like an eternity for her to find extra bedding.