Mortal (4 page)

Kara thought of her mother and Sabrina
with the green symbols on their faces. It had to be connected. She
began to grow angry.

"Archangel Ariel, the recent flu
epidemic...my mother’s sick...she has these green markings on
her."

"She is not sick, but infected by Dark
magic—her soul has been taken," said Ariel somberly. "The markings
on your mother are the marks of a dark warlock. The sickness that
is spreading and killing the mortals is caused by his dark
magic."

Kara’s expression turned sullen. "I
need to get to her. She needs my help."

"There’s nothing you can do for her
now," said Ariel gently. "Only the death of the dark warlock will
reverse the effect and save her soul. There is no other
way."

Kara leaned back in her chair and
tried to stretch out the tension in her back that her rage was
causing. She couldn’t feel her arms anymore. One thing was for
sure—she was going to kill this warlock.

Ariel raised her voice.
"This dark warlock has been dead for over a century.
Something
or
someone
with great
knowledge of dark magic has raised him back from the dead. They
have unleashed an unspeakable evil upon the mortal
world."

Kara chewed her lip uncertainly. She
didn’t like the wavering in Ariel’s voice; it was almost as though
the archangel thought they couldn’t defeat this guy.

"I’m sure we can defeat this dark
warlock," said Kara, aware of all the eyes watching her and
thankful that her voice came out strongly. "I mean...we’ve defeated
demons before. We’ve been to the Netherworld, and we’ve faced some
pretty gruesome creatures. I’m sure we can defeat one
warlock?"

Kara heard murmurings around the
table, but they were quickly stilled.

"He’s not just any warlock,
Kara," said Ariel. "He is the warlock, Wergoth, a creature born
from darkness and skilled with dark magic. As supernatural beings,
we angels have abilities beyond the mortal realm, but we do not
possess magic, especially dark magic. No
ordinary
angel can defeat
him."

David whistled loudly. "So that rules
us out. What the heck are we doing here then? To play board games?
I’d kill for a game of Dungeons & Dragons right
now."

Kara screwed up her face. "I don’t
understand. What do you mean we can’t defeat him? We have to! I
have to save my mother!"

The archangel’s eyes
flashed ominously. "The warlock cannot be destroyed by any means we
possess. Soul blades, firestones, moonstones, or any other weapons
we use on demons, will not affect him. Only
magic
can defeat him."

"And how are we supposed to get
magic?" asked Kara, fighting to stay calm.

"Maybe if you’d stop asking stupid
questions, she would tell us," said the blond girl in a flat
voice.

Kara glared at the girl across the
table. She wanted to slap her for being so impertinent. Before she
knew what was happening, she stood up, her hands curled into
fists.

"Kara!" whispered Jenny, her eyes wide
as she grabbed a hold of Kara’s arm and pulled her down. She shook
her head gently. "Don’t. Not now. She’s not worth it."

"Oh...she’s worth it,"
whispered David. "I’d say she’s
really
worth it."

A smile spread on the
girl’s face. "Did the
famous
Kara wish to say something to me?"

"That’s enough, Ashley," said Ariel,
her lips pressed into a hard line. "There’s no need for that
now."

Kara lowered herself back into her
seat and hid her trembling hands under the table. She was surprised
at her sudden outburst. Something about that girl made her hair
stand on end. She gritted her teeth and tried hard not to imagine a
fight.

Ariel leaned forward. "Magic was what
defeated the warlocks long ago. The angels and white witches fought
side by side to destroy the last of the dark warlocks. And as the
mortal world evolved, the white witches died out—and their secrets
died with them."

She folded her hands in front of her.
"And yet there is one who can help us. You must seek the help of an
old Cornish witch who goes by the name of Olga. She is the last of
the dark witches and over a century old. The legion knows that she
has been dabbling in the Dark arts for many years. You will find
her in the remote village of Boscastle, in Cornwall, in the United
Kingdom. The old witch is skilled in necromancy. Her charms, spells
and dark incantations make her the terror of the
village.

"She alone holds the knowledge and the
means to destroy Wergoth. Your job is to convince her to fight with
us—to destroy the dark warlock once and for all."

"Why do I get the feeling it won’t be
easy to convince her to help us," said Kara, reading Ariel’s
face.

"Let’s just say witches and angels
haven’t always been allies. In fact, they hate us."

Kara frowned. "They hate us? Why would
they? What happened?"

Ariel shook her head and sighed. "It’s
a very long story, and we don’t have time to get into it. Olga is a
dark witch, which makes her extremely powerful and very dangerous.
She doesn’t care much for the Legion, and she despises angels. She
will not be easily persuaded. In fact, she has already killed five
field teams."

David and Kara shared a
look.

Ariel paused and glanced
around the table. "But because her magic is the only thing that can
destroy the warlock, it is a risk we must take. We know the warlock
plans to perform a ritual with the souls he’s collected, but we are
ignorant as to what kind of ritual. He will use the longest night
of the year to perform this rite. We cannot allow it to
happen.
If he is
not defeated by the winter solstice, then all the mortals whose
souls he has stolen will die. Their souls will be destroyed
forever."

"
When’s the
winter solstice?" asked Kara.

"
December
twenty first."

Kara
wanted to
jump out of her seat. "But that’s in three days!"

Ariel’s expression was grim. "
I’m
sending out two of my best teams to the witch’s village. Sasha,
Raymond, Ling—you’ll be on Ashley’s team." Ariel’s eyes moved
across the table. "Jenny, Peter, David—you’re on Kara’s
team."

Kara saw the relief on David’s
face.

"Both teams must work together and
watch each other’s backs. You understand me?"

Ariel focused on Kara and when she
spoke next her voice was even. "And now, Kara, I must tell you
specifically why you’ve been summoned back."

Kara squeezed her hands together under
the table. Ariel’s toffee-colored eyes mesmerized her, and she
couldn’t look away.

"This assignment
needs
your
special
talent
,
but in a
very different way. The dark witch can detect angels. She can kill
you in a blink of an eye, and not before she has enjoyed torturing
you first."

"Sounds like fun," whispered
David.

"So far, it has been
impossible to seek her help without suffering causalities. Kara, we
need you to approach her without her detecting that you are a
guardian. Think of it as an
undercover
assignment. We believe
your
elemental
part will act as a distraction. The witch will be unable to
see your angel essence. Where ordinary angels have failed, we
believe you will succeed."

Kara could feel the tension across the
table. She started to panic. Her throat was tight, and she thought
her head was about to explode. Her elemental power was still very
wild and hard to control. Simply snapping her fingers wouldn’t
activate it; it was triggered by her emotions—and they were
extremely hard to control. Her elemental power was more like a time
bomb with a short fuse.

Ariel paused, as if giving Kara the
time to prepare herself for the worst. "The legion has never asked
another guardian what I’m about to propose to you,
Kara."

Kara could feel the unease in the
chamber. The field agents and GAs strained to listen.

Kara leaned forward and shook her
head. "But I’m still an angel. If, like you say, she can detect
angels, then surely she can detect me too? My elemental part is
still only one part of me; the rest is angel. She’ll be able to see
right through my M-suit."

"Not if you’re not wearing
one." Ariel held Kara in her gaze. "You see, Kara, on this
assignment, we need you to be a
mortal
."

K
ara followed David, Jenny and Peter past the thousands of
anxious faces who stood in line to be sorted into their new
guardian angel lives at orientation. Their voices buzzed like
millions of bees as they waited in the holding chamber that was as
large as ten football fields. The air was humid with a smell of the
sea. Most of the newly dead that Kara passed were happy, but
amongst the cheerful faces a few miserable looking souls stood
out.

A young boy of about fifteen with
disheveled brown hair in a black t-shirt and faded jeans nibbled on
his nails. He shook as if he were about to write his final school
exams and hadn’t studied. Kara remembered how terrified she had
been when she had died and found herself amongst thousands of dead
folk for the first time. The unknown is a terrifying thing. She
felt sorry for the boy, but soon he would be all right. His petty
officer would take care of him, just like David had taken care of
her on her first day.

Her eyes wandered over to David. Were
they ever going to have a normal life together? It seemed every
time they felt like they were getting somewhere as mortals, they
would get called back to the GA squad. She had never truly shared
her feelings with David as a mortal. It would have been so much
easier if she could remember the adventures they had shared as
guardians, but as mortals their relationship had to grow on its own
terms. He knew she liked him, but it was much more than that. She
could never bring herself to say it—the words simply died in her
throat like a bad cough. What if he didn’t feel the same
way?

Kara felt like a fool. She was on
guardian angel duty. Any kind of emotion was taboo. Her feelings
towards David would have to wait. She had more pressing matters to
worry about. She could see the tiniest of frowns on David’s face.
She could tell he was worried—and with good reason—the legion was
sending her out on a suicide mission.

At first she had thought Ariel must
have been joking. But Archangels never joked. The entire CDD unit
had stood frozen, waiting to hear if she would dare to confront the
dark witch as a mortal. She had stifled a nervous laugh and then
had nodded her head.

It still felt like a dream.
To be a guardian angel, you had to be an
angel
, not a
mortal
. And yet, here she was on her
way to meet with an oracle who would help her prepare for this
extraordinary quest.

They passed several different offices
with colossal wooden doors and flashing neon signs that flickered
and buzzed. A door stood ajar and Kara could see a room with papers
scattered on the floor and half a dozen oracles scurrying around on
their giant crystal balls.

She followed David down a hallway.
Kara could feel Jenny’s anxious eyes on her the whole time, but she
ignored her. She didn’t want anyone to know how nervous she felt.
She wanted to jump out of her angel skin, get back to the mortal
world and help her mother. Thinking of her mother gave her the
courage she needed to keep walking.

Think of mom...

The hallway ended suddenly, and they
stood in a large opening. A single door was set against the far
wall in the massive space. It was like a Super-store with only one
door for the main entrance. Bigger and bolder than the other doors
in the orientation area, it seemed out of place.

David walked up to the door and
scrutinized it. "This is it."

Kara stepped closer and examined the
door. It was ancient, with half-moon scuffmarks on the front that
had worn away the stain on the wood giving it a two-toned effect.
There was no handle. Above a large wooden frame was a brightly lit
neon sign:

Manufacture Division #
000—0001

Below the neon sign,
someone had taped a note:

CAUTION, MESSY
OFFICE

ENTER AT YOUR OWN
RISK!

"Sounds like my old bedroom," said
Jenny. "I used to drive my mom crazy with my clothes lying all over
the floor. She was such a neat freak. I told her I was expressing
myself." She twirled on the spot. Her purple hair sparkled against
the neon lights, and Kara thought she looked like a military fairy
with her combat boots and purple bomber jacket.

"Nothing wrong with being a little
neat," said Peter looking as though someone had taken away his
favorite toy. "It makes finding things easier when you’re
organized."