Chapter 6

The angel still hasn’t woken up by the time we stop travelling for the night, and we aren’t entirely sure what to do to make sure we don’t lose him.

“Tie him to us? Like, pretty sure if he tries to make a run for it and he’s attached to another person, he’ll think twice, right?” Yvo contemplates, sifting through the gear for a rope. I reach out a hand, stopping his search.

“No use. He could just untie it. We’ll have to guard him.” Yvo doesn’t seem like a massive fan of the suggestion, but it’s what we end up going with anyway. I take the first shift, to let him get some sleep; he’s looking worse and worse every day we’re out.

He looks…ill. Sickly. Weak.

I don’t like seeing him like that. He’s powerful, and always full of life, despite how annoying that can be at times. Seeing him so haggard, is, well. It’s a little sad, to be honest. I know my own limits, and I know I can go one night without sleep.

Settling myself down next to the angel’s sleeping form, I prepare for a, hopefully, uneventful night.

And, it actually is uneventful for about three hours. And then the angel wakes up, and keeps asking questions.

Grabbing him by the wrist, I drag him a little further into the trees, so he doesn’t wake Yvo. “Can I talk now? Because you’ve got some questions to answer, buddy, and I don’t plan on going quietly unless I get them answered.”

I stare at him, still gripping his wrist, in case he makes a dash for it. “If I answer, will you go with us?” I ask hesitantly, searching his eyes for any sign of a lie. “Sure. Angels keep their promises, even fallen ones,” he says after a moment, shrugging.

Nodding, I wait for him to ask his first question, now I’m actually prepared to answer it. “Alright. So. You’re taking me to someone else, right?” He asks, his tone, somehow, sounding bored. Like this doesn’t impact him in any way.

I nod again, more comfortable getting the answer across with as few words as possible. “Right. And, am I going to be chopped up, or kept as some weird pet?”

I shake my head, leaning back against a tree, and glancing up at the moon, as she drapes her rays down on the forest, providing us with a sliver of light.

“You’ll be sold.”

The angel stares at me, looking rather disappointed. “Of course I am. Is it seriously too much to ask to just…be able to live my life?” Rather than sounding frustrated or angry, he sounds…tired. Like he always knew this is how it’d end up.

“What’s your name?” I ask after a moment, knowing I shouldn’t be familiarising myself with the angel, but wanting to know more about him at the same time. What kind of life does he want to lead? Why was he cast out from the heavens? Who is he really?


He stares at me for a moment, trying to figure out what I want, before realising I really do just want to know his name.

“Kossiq.”

“Koss-ique?” I ask, and he sighs. “No, ick, not ique. Koss-ick.” I stand still for a moment, before repeating it. “Kossiq.”

He glances up at me, looking a little less cold than before. “Yeah. So. What’s your name?” I think about his question for a moment, before realising he’d hear it from Yvo even if I didn’t tell him now.

“Martin.”

“And the other one?”

I slowly release his wrist from my grasp, redoing my hair in a ponytail instead, and trusting him not to run off. He doesn’t. “Yvo. He’s the one who found you,” I explain, leaning my head against the rugged bark of the tree trunk.

“Oh - a Diviner? They’re more popular with angels than normal humans are. The angels all make fun of humans for being weak.”

I stare at him, before snorting. “Speak for yourself; you look like a twig.” He scowls at me, before a chilly wind wisps through the trees, tugging at his tunic/robe thing. He shudders, wrapping his arms around himself, and realising for the first time that he’s wearing my scarf.

“Oh- thanks for the scarf. I’m basically wearing a sieve, it’s about as warm as that anyway,” he says with slight annoyance, keeping his wings tucked behind him. “What happened?” I ask quietly, gesturing to his wings.

He frowns for a moment, his eyes boring into mine. “Those mercenaries broke them, so I wouldn’t be able to fly. What idiots they are, it’s not like I can fly with them anymore anyway.” My eyes widen slightly, and I ask “really?”

Kossiq looks almost…amused, now. “Yeah? I mean, flying is a divine power, my wings wouldn’t be big enough or have the right physics to be able to lift me, without that power.” I nod, staring intently at him.

“Why did they do that then?”

He shrugs, picking off a loose feather which had made its way onto his clothes. “Either they were stupid, or they just wanted to hurt me. Arseholes, the lot of them. Do you plan on tying me up and throwing me in a cage as well?” He asks, his gaze accusatory.

“No. If you come with us without a fight, we have no reason to.”

The angel thinks about it for a bit, before sighing. “Yeah, I mean. It’s not like I could escape anyway. I saw what you did back there…you were the only attacker, yet you beat them all. And what, they didn’t get even a single hit on you?” He asks, raising his eyebrows.

I grimace for fraction of a second, before regaining control of my face. But, Kossiq doesn’t miss it. “No. You didn’t get out unharmed, did you.” It isn’t a question, and I only shrug.

Kossiq steps forwards, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Show me. I can heal it for you.” I stare back at him in surprise - I mean, I know angels have healing powers, but…why would he help me?

“What do you want in return?” I ask after a moment, knowing better than to agree to anything before knowing all the conditions.

He sighs, lifting his hand to pat my cheek. I flinch a little at the unexpected friendly touch, but my eyes never leave his. “You got me away from the mercenaries, so I’ll probably survive a few days extra. Just, don’t hurt me, and that’s the price.”

He’s got to be joking? ‘Don’t hurt me’ is a terrible exchange, I was expecting something like ‘let me go’.

“How can you be sure I wouldn’t go back on my word?” I ask him, my stare hardening to try and remove any surprise from my eyes. Kossiq shrugs, suddenly poking my side. Pain jolts up from his touch, and I feel my eye twitch.

“How bad is it? I’d rather not have to bleed all over the place, but I don’t cry, so that option is out,” he says, completely brushing over my question. We stare at each other for a few minutes, before I eventually sigh.

“Just a small cut.”

Kossiq gives me a look which says he doesn’t believe a word I just said, but I ignore it, and turn back to our makeshift camp. “If we’re doing this though, let’s do it before Yvo wakes up and knows I got injured.”

The angel looks at me quizzically, but follows me back to where our small campfire is, providing us a little light when combined with the moon. “Why don’t you want him to know?”

I have my back to him, so he doesn’t see my expression when I shrug. “I promised him I’d be careful. He’ll worry. And he’s got enough on his plate to worry about right now. I don’t want him to have to add me to that mix.”

Kossiq is silent for a moment, before resting his hand on my shoulder again. “You’re actually quite nice, aren’t you?”

I shrug his hand off, looking at him blankly. “No.”