Part 23 (1/2)

”Well, I also thought this guy wasn't your boyfriend, but lookie here!” Ok, I guess he is not as ok with it as he lets on, but who can blame him. Isn't that a father's duty?

A couple hours later we are in a big building supermarket, picking out sinks, taps, showerheads, thermostats, electrical plugs, bulbs, sockets, terminals, paint cans, basically everything technical when it comes to finishes. We also pick out some boards that dad and grandpa would use later to make kitchen cabinets, some screws, hinges, k.n.o.bs and accessories for the cabinets. We pick out two linoleum plates of 200x60mm that we'll use to make into the kitchen counter, and a handful of interiors doors and long cords of wires that I don't know what he wants them for.

”Looks like we are moving out soon, princess,” dad says from across the table as we sit by a small diner after the shopping trip.

”Dad be nice. Don't make grandpa cry,” I joke, laughing as my grandfather feigns a grimace.

”Of course I'll miss you two, but d.a.m.n it will be nice to be able to unroll again on my sofa in silence!” We all laugh good-humoredly.

”When does this party start?”

”In an hour,” Penuel says looking at his wrist watch.

”How long are you planning to stay there?”

”I'm not sure dad. Do you want me to be home by any specific time?”

”No, it is alright. Just send me a text though, when you find out what time you plan on coming home.”

”I will,” I say, sending him a million kroner smile.

Chapter 29.

”Caroline! Just tell me how you two met,” Anne-Marie calls, her voice a little more raised than usual due to the loud music, and her tipsy state.

”In Rundskov Park. How many times do I have to tell you?” I giggle.

”He is so cute. Does he have a friend or brother that is just as hot?”

”Actually yes,” I giggle, and my answer sends my friend into a fit of excited squeals.

Then I hear it, or feel it- I am not sure. Like a thunderous earthquake, rumbling deep in the earth, sending waves of tremors through the solid ground and right into my body. Shockwaves that rock the very center of my being.

I immediately take off, running towards the core of the warm swirling heat. I do not have to take more than a couple of steps before I b.u.mp right into the dark-haired angel. Panic soars through me and my hand twitches nervously as I try to get the words out.

”Penuel! Did... Did you feel it?”

”Sh... Calm down, Caroline. Yes, yes I felt it. It's begun. We need to leave now, and run for the shelter of the s.h.i.+eld.” As he says this, he pulls me with him to the garden outside.

”Caroline, where are you going?” I hear someone call me from somewhere, but the two of us just keep walking towards the darkest part of the garden. The second we arrive, Penuel soars into the air, with me held tightly against his chest.

Another jolt soars through us, dislodging me from his arms, and he just manages to catch me before I land on the ground.

We safely make it through the s.h.i.+elds. I embrace the rich thick air that seeps into my senses, invigorating me, just as another wave rips through us again, sending us scuttling over the moist ground.

Araqiel suddenly lands by my side.

”Thank G.o.d you made it. They are attacking the s.h.i.+eld. You have to start reinforce it now because they have come with the Divine Army. They are doing some serious damage fast.” I nod as I scamper to my feet. Penuel is soon by my side too.

”They are attacking from the South. You need to come with me now, and let us put to practice what we trained,” he says quietly but firmly, holding my hand and leading me towards that end of Rundskov Forest at super human speed.

I guess the sweet boyfriend act is done.

Another wave of energy is released, knocking us off our feet and attempting to throw us backwards, if it wasn't for the angels grabbing onto swaying tree trunks while tugging onto my hand.

The moment the wave pa.s.ses, Araqiel holds me to herself and flies me fast to perch onto one of the tall birch trees, hiding within its foliage. Before me I see a swarm of floating angels, hundreds of them, retreating to a distance and then swooping back fast and hard as a unit to collide against the invisible s.h.i.+elds.

”Caroline, now!” Araqiel whispers to me in her quiet but firm way, so that I do not miss the tension in her voice.

I close my eyes and concentrate on what I've been taught to search for. To feel.

I feel the different energies around me. Those of the two divine angels beside me, the overwhelming energy of the epitome, and then I feel the strange hundreds of pockets of warm energy from the creatures outside. I hold onto one of those energy pockets, and let it seep into me while I connect to the energy of the epitome, and I let it flow through me to the latter. I then connect with two other energy pockets and do the same.

I am held in a trance as this happens, and have no way to protect myself from the overwhelming flow of energy that knocks the air out of me as the army before us collides again with the s.h.i.+eld in synchrony. The great wave of ricocheting energy dislodges me from where I am perched and sends me flying to the ground. I land in a painful heap, my hand twisted at a strange angle, and I feel the blood spilling from a cut on my forehead.

”What is that? Kill it!”An order comes from one of the creatures ahead in their strange language, and almost immediately a double-edged sword is sent flying my way, missing my neck at a hair's breath as Penuel swoops in fast, sweeping me off the ground and heading into another thicket.

”They...” I gasp. ”They almost killed me!” I exclaim, fighting for air while my arm sends sharp pangs of pain through me.

”Yes, they can throw anything at us though the s.h.i.+eld, but they cannot come in. Yet. You have to keep them out. Araqiel and I will hold onto you so you don't fall again,” he says, quietly but resolutely.

Once again, despite my feelings and the pain I am in, the angels give me an impossible task and expect me to carry it out at all costs. When will I learn to stop expecting compa.s.sion from them?

”We'll try s.h.i.+eld you from harm as much as we can,” Araqiel adds in the same quiet tone. I nod in answer. What other choice do I have?

They quickly fly me to one of the tall trees, and we three squeeze together onto a tight fork between a strong branch and the tree's stem. It is a good position, allowing us to see our enemies, yet concealing us. The tight squeeze on this large tree would protect us from being easily dislodged from it. The angels then wrap their arms around me, being careful not to touch the injured arm, and then they spread their wings around us, coc.o.o.ning us.

I close my eyes once again, feeling more confident in the shelter they have provided me, and concentrate on the energies I want to manipulate.

I quickly realise that without the worry of falling off or being discovered, and with my adrenalin as a catalytic factor, I am unstoppable. I turn out all the irrelevant distractions around me, the warm breaths from the angels I want to protect, thoughts of my parents, worry for the imprisoned brotherhood; and instead focus on not letting the enemy in. I don't only feel the energy of the s.h.i.+eld around us, I see it at the back of my head. I trace it gently, patiently, finding all its weak points. With each weak point I find, I pull energy from the creatures around us, take it forcefully, as they are now fighting my pull and expend it to the s.h.i.+eld.

”They know,” I whisper so low that only beings with heightened hearing senses can make out what I am saying. ”They know that someone is stealing their Essence.

”Are they fighting you?”

”Yes, but I am still winning.”

”You are. They are not attacking anymore,”

”No, they are strategizing.”

”Can you hear them?”

”Yes, can't you?”