Liam dropped down noisyly to the ground, his huge wings flapped once before folding up behind him. He had skipped going to the lake and rather chosen to go to the waterfall instead, standing under the falling water was much better than dunking yourself in a lake. He was already shirtless and he did not bother taking off his pants before stepping into the water. The water here was really shallow, reaching only up to his knees, he walked under the water fall, welcoming the cascading coolness that washed over him, it felt refreshing on his skin.
Closing his eyes he tried to drown out his thoughts but he could not, the dark image of Renard constantly played in his subconscious, this corruption had spread faster than anything he had imagined and he did not know why he was feeling pity towards him, he had after all, chosen the path he was on now and he would face it himself. But what had made him change? He knew one of the reasons was power. Renard had always been an Angel who enjoyed receiving attention and what else was better than receiving attention other than power and worship. He had wanted that for a long time now. So somehow, Liam was not totally surprised when Renard had switched but the way he had and the situation around it was not something Liam had foreseen.
Bringing his hands to wash his hair, he tried to remember how the war had broken out, Angels were supposed to be guardians to the humans and for an exceedingly long time, they were. At first, they had been fighting against the demons and for the humans but over the years, the things had changed. And although, he could not entirely place the blame on the Angels because the humans could be super annoying, he sometimes wondered what kind of a creature were they any way?
They would by their own will, summon a demon thinking they could put it under control, and then when things got out of hands and they needed help, the Angels would swoop in and protect them, binding the demon away but these same humans would only get the motivation to summon another demon to try to control it again. It really frustrated some Angels to the point where they switched sides. There was only so much so Angel could take and it seemed the once heavenly beings got tired of being just guards. They also wanted to be worshipped.
He got out from under the water fall and walked out of the water, stretching and flapping his wings in the process to get the water out, continuing in his thoughts. Humans had brought this up on themselves, the Angels were only sent to help maintain the balance and honestly they almost did but these same humans made things even more difficult, some Angels ran out of patience. Liam chuckled, even he himself almost did but his human had been only but a child, she could not summon demons. His heart melted, but still they had come for her and taken her away from him. It had all been Renard's fault.
"Liam!" He heard his name and turned. On the other side of the stream was an Angel riding a wagon. Sheila. He flapped twice and was off the ground, coming down to settle beside the wagon on the other side. Sheila got down.
"Been a while renegade." She laughed. Like most renegade Angels, she also had a cloak on but that did little to concealed her wings. Liam beamed as he approached her, she was one Angel he so much admired because she was running the same course as he was.
Sheila was younger than he was, although their ages were unknown but he knew she was younger than was, but her thinking, her mentality and her ways were far matured, maybe even more than his but he did not like to think that.
Sheila did daring things, like stealing into a demon's place to rescue their human captives and so far she had been successful in every one of her missions. So much so that the demons had come to know her and in as much as her doing was to rescue the humans, it kind of put them in more danger than she had expected.
For one, the demons would usually keep their human captives locked up until they needed to use them but knowing that the renegade Angel Sheila might show up any time and without warning to take away their captives, the demons now made sure that whatever humans they had in their captivity did not stay alive for long.
It made it harder for Sheila because she could not be every where all the time but then there demon's choice also limited the number of humans they got. Why pay to get a dozen humans when you were not going to kill them all at once? Getting a dozen humans would mean that more than half of them would be rescued before they were used. It was a loss for the demons.
But at least she was doing something, and it was worth doing well.
When she got closer to Liam who was grinning from ear to ear, she gave him a playful punch in the tummy and he ruffled her already disheveled hair in return.
"As far as I know, there would only be one reason to find you around these parts." Liam said, crossing arms across his chest.
Sheila laughed, bouncing up and down. "Ohh yes."
"Ok, calm down." He chuckled. "How many this time?"
"Three. All boys."
"Just three? That is rather low." He was worried.
"I know right?!" She laughed.
"You are happy?" He raised his brows at her. Why would she be happy that she could only get three. Usually it was always more. "Does this not mean that most of them have been killed or used or something?"
Sheila sighed. "No Liam. Demons do not purchase so many humans now for the sake of recurring a loss any time I attack." She punched his arm.
"Oh, is that so?" He said, rubbing the spot on his arm where she had punched him. Not like it hurt or anything but Sheila could throw a powerful punch if she really meant to, she was one of the best fighters he had ever come across. She could definitely take care of herself and she had done so all these years.
"You want to see them?" She asked Liam, walking back towards the wagon.
"Errr...." Liam was shaking his head slightly with both his shoulders raised up. He was not in the mood to see a human now, he still had one he had left back in the forest, but Sheila was not looking at him, she reached for the covering and lifted the black tarp that covered the wagon to reveal three human boys sleeping, they were all still very young.
"You drugged them?" His eyes widened and he faced her.
"What can I say?" She returned the covering and shrugged her shoulders. "Human teenagers or humans in general, do not know who is for them and who is against them, they almost blew my cover! This one was a narrow escape."
Liam laughed and walked closer to the wagon, using his finger to shift the tarp away so he could see them again, he asked because he was curious. "Where did you find them though? The forest? The bar?"
Sheila grinned and raised an eyebrow at him. Liam knew that look and he shook his head. "Ohh no you did not. Again?!"
"What? I had to do it! It was either that or those demons would use these humans for their potions or something else. I had to do what I had to do. I had to rescue them."
"Rescue? You mean steal Sheila. You stole them away." He cocked his head to the side and smiled at her.
"Rescued Liam. I rescued them." She corrected, rolling her eyes at him. "Shy way, they are out now and not in so much danger as they were when they were in that demon's house. Do you know he has an Imp?!"
"And you had to go to Master Krane's place. Honestly, I am not surprised that he has an Imp, he is always experimenting with one thing or the other That demon is... is...."
"Mean?"
"Yes! And he is..."
"Obnoxious?"
"Yes! That and.... more!"
"Liam..." She took hold of his hand. "I know very well how to take care of myself and I have been doing that besides..." She smirked. "... I have you to call on if I am ever faced with more trouble than I can handle."
"I worry about you Sheila. What you are doing, I must say is very commendable but still risky. You are gathering enemies for yourself." He softened.
Sheila laughed. "And when did you become scared of demons Liam?"
"I am in no way scared of demons and they know that." He placed both hands on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "I am scared for you Sheila. There are no more Angels out there who would do what you are doing now. That is, without a price attached to it."
"I know that. That is the reason I have always wanted you to join me Liam. You still can."
He sighed and released her, looking away. "You know very well that I can not. And you also know the reason why I have refused to join you."
"You can not or you will not?" She frowned.
"Sheila please..."
"Are you still sulking because of what happened then? Liam it has been years! Over ten years if I am not mistaken since her human self was taken away from you. You have her now as Phidian. Can you not let it go? It was in no way your fault."
"It is different and.... difficult. It might as well have been my fault." He turned away from her.
"You are allowing this guilt to eat you up Liam and you have been allowing it to do so for years. It is weakening you a whole lot." She climbed back on the wagon and took hold of the reins.
"Where to?" He turned up face her.
"A place. Up in the mountains. It is secluded and demons do not come there often, it is too cold for them. These humans should be safe for a while." She snapped at the reins and the lone horse trotted forward.
"And then what?" Liam walked to keep up.
"And then Liam, we pray for the next move. See you later renegade."
"Wait!" Liam called, thinking of the human he had left in the forest, he could not be burdened by her but at least Sheila could help take her off his hands.
"What is it?" She pulled on the reins to stop the horses.
"I have a human with me. I found her in the forest."
Sheila's eyes widened. "You did?! Where is she now?"
"She is still.... in the... forest."
"Liam!" She shrieked. "In the forest?! Alone?!"
"She is not dead." He rolled his eyes and almost regretted because Sheila shot daggers at him with her gaze. "I will bring her to you."
"No, I am coming with you to where she is." She jumped down from the wagon.
"And them?" He pointed to the tarp covered wagon. "The humans?"
She shrugged. "I will bring them with me."
"To the forest? Back to the forest?" Sheila paused and thought about that for a while, taking them back to the forest was a terrible idea and she could not leave them out here to go with Liam to find this human girl whom he had so irresponsibly left in the forest either. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"You will bring her to me?"
"I will.. Promise. Up in the mountains." He laughed.
"Ok renegade, you had better." She got back on and slapped the reins, the horse moved forward.
Liam stood a while, watching the wagon bobble up and down, rocking as its wooden wheels made its way along the uneven ground. As he watched them face away into the distance, he thought of the human girl he had left lying vulnerable on the forest floors. She would still be alive right? He groaned in frustration and took to the skies, heading back to the forest. He would have to get her to Sheila and out of his hands.
https://m.goodnovel.com/book_info/31000039026/Paranormal/Hunter's-Chorus?shareuser=22216334&ch=apps
