Chapter 2

Creatures With Wings

Part Three

You’ve seen how strict they are about their hierarchy, but. Grabbing a spear, she stepped outside the garage into the yard, still filled with guards, with no interest in protecting the mansion. The wind grew stronger by the second, testing nature’s unyielding spirit. 

Her eyes swept across a small army of angels outside the grill gates. A few were airborne, while the rest observed her with eyes full of vengeance. Most of them wearing white gown, except the bunch right outside the door. They were all females wrapped in red form fitted attire, its surface adorned with delicate, silver filigree. Their ears beautified with jewellery sharp at the lobes and attached to a layer of tiny red wings that gracefully covered the ears. The jewellery also included a small, elegant piece that wrapped around the top of their ears, resembling a pair of delicate silver wings. Their eyes enhanced by the intricate crimson makeup that framed them. Delicate red crystals decorated their faces, casting a radiant glow.

“How am I able to see all this clearly?” Manya said. They all unleashed their wings. A shiver ran down her spine. “Where are you, Ira?”

Against the frigid, moist gusts carrying the salty fragrance of the ocean, she struggled to keep herself from shivering. The ground tremored—her head whipped to the garage entrance. “Is he back?” She took a few steps forward, only to witness Ira leaving the mansion through a hole she had just widened.

Ira carried Darsh in her arms while white hair laid on a floating rectangular object, appearing at ease on its glass surface. What in the world is that thing? And why is she carrying them? Weren’t we supposed to run?

Manya heard a cry of a female angel struggling against the grill door. She passed her arms through the gap in the grill doors to receive a touch of her beloved. Another angel stepped in and pulled her back into being elegant, but couldn’t control her tears and trembling arms.

Is she a girlfriend? A sister? Or partner? Just a few more minutes, mamu. I’ll find another path after making sure she’s safe. Manya glanced back at the mansion. There has to be another way inside there.

Ignoring her best friend, Ira’s gaze fixated on the crowd outside. An angel prevented Manya from approaching Ira. She pushed away his hand. “Don’t touch me.”

As soon as Ira crossed the gate, the weeping female angel rushed and embraced Darsh. Relieved to be in the presence of someone she cared about. Filled with anger and vengeful tears, the girl gazed at Manya with her piercing eyes. A handful of angels expressed their gratitude to Ira. Sooner, the same group of angels, along with Darsh and white hair, disappeared through a door-like opening formed of white light.

Having experience with professional fighters, Manya had gained an instinct for detecting danger. Her instincts alerted her to the slight change in the posture of the angels outside the mansion, prompting her to strengthen her grip on the spear. They appeared even stronger compared to the half-injured but still alive group surrounding her, and Ira was nowhere to find.

Do I have to trust their kind against their kind? Wait, that’s different. The patterns on female angel wings leading the strong hoard were unique compared to the others, more intricate and expensive. “Is she the leader?” Manya said. “Wait—if you guys work on hierarchy.” A sly grin appeared on an angel’s face, standing inches away from her. She instinctively evaded a spear, emitting a white glow.

She rushed to a safe distance from them, as it allowed her to blame her destiny for encountering so many. “Don’t you guys have dignity!!” The sudden pause filled her with a pleasant surprise. “Hundreds of you. Against a single, innocent, good to eyes looking human girl. It’s just unfair!!”

The angels began whispering amongst each other. Manya experienced a feeling of triumph, no matter how small. Are they idiots? They aren’t; you are! Run, dammit. She climbed the fountain border, but still couldn’t get a sight of Ira. “Does she run away?”

Right before her escape, a powerful force exerted pressure on her. After a hard struggle, she glanced upwards and spotted a small white triangle in the sky, not larger than a clip-art. The angels were unaffected by the mysterious pressure, and so did the guards.

“No matter… how much pressure you put on me.” Fighting the extensive force, she stood up. “This is nothing compared to the weight of Ira!! Nothing is heavier than my best friend!” The intensity of force overpowered her strength, made her legs giving in. “Nothing in this entire world is heavier than her!!”

“Shut up!!!” Ira’s voice spread around, but still no sign of her. A rectangular technology landed vertically in the middle, pushing away the angels and the pressure that was once concentrated in that area—sent Manya in a state of overdosing the fresh and light air. What surprising were the guards, unaffected by any kind of pressure. And no angel in the area dared to even brush past them. Even their feathers were cautious. 

Are they statues? She chuckled. “They are statues. But their clothes? Wax statues!”

Within seconds, an angel descended onto the rectangular technology.

“Ira!” Manya laughed with pride. “I knew you wouldn’t leave me!”

But all Ira offered was aggression, which she showered upon the angels standing in the path to Manya. Butchering them into birds without wings. Thick black blood from the angels drenched her wings and skin. Approaching Manya, she grabbed her top and pulled her up. “Who’s heavier?”

“I was joking! You know how I—” Manya said. Ira enveloped her in her arms, covered with black blood. “Is this washable?”

“Let’s get away from this place,” Ira said. They flew up, but within seconds of being in the air, a powerful impact knocked them back to the ground. “There goes my last chance to escape.”

“Last?”

“That bastard had wrecked my wings. Can’t fly anymore.”

In the next instant, Ira swiftly intercepted a trident—inches before Manya’s neck.

“It’s harder for me to fight them in my current state,” Manya said.

“Who said you are fighting?” Ira said.

***

“Who has disturbed my sleep?” A high-intensity, piercing voice—caused every life present there to halt. However, once the swarm of gazes fell on the origin, every single angel, including Ira, burst into laughter. It was only Manya, standing there wiping away her unwelcomed tears.

“Where are you going?” Ira said.

Manya’s feet marched towards an old woman, her face beaming with the warmest smile. The old woman’s eyes overflowed with comfort and affection. Ira saved Manya from a heavy sword swing by pulling her back—snapping Manya out of her emotional foolishness.

Thousands of small black objects emerged from the fountains around, creating a protective wave around the mansion. Once more, Manya glanced at the old woman by the mansion’s entrance; her previously enchanting smile transformed into grief. And sooner tears welled up in the old woman’s eyes. “Why do I want to wipe her tears off?” Manya whispered.

During the ongoing battle, Manya evaded the attacks of the angels, who had reached an alarming level of skill and intensity. “Manya!!” Ira approached her, angel’s sword grazing her wing and halting just inches from Manya’s heart. Ira asked if she was okay. Manya nodded, noticing the pain spreading across Ira’s face.

Ira smiled, “I am fine.” In a split second, she pushed Manya away, sending her tumbling backward a few feet. Manya watched in horror as a powerful force hit Ira. Her wings to emitted smoke.

“Ira!”

“You dared to believe it is within your power to annihilate a celestial being like myself?” Darsh yelled.

“Sacrificing peace to cure the soulless hearts,” a voice echoed in Manya’s ear. As she whipped her head, she had fell beside the legs of the old woman. “And I thought I won’t live to see you again.” The old woman sighed. “God and his ways.” Air gently embracing her green puffed sleeve maxi dress.

“Who are you granny?”

A powerful tremor shook her attention back to Ira, who lay injured on the ground. Standing up, a sudden voice halted Manya’s movement. 

“He’s on his way,” the old woman said. 

She turned to the old woman. “Who’s on his way?”

Another tremor made her rush to Ira. A faint sound resonated from her right. A rectangular object, approaching her at a fast pace. It moved vertically, trapped her inside and hit away Darsh before coming to a stop beside Ira. At the sight of Ira’s wings, her hand again started trembling. The temporary boost of confidence and strength had vanished.

Even with her injuries, Ira pushed through and fought to raise herself. While trying to compose herself, she left bloody handprints on the glass of rectangular pod between them. Half torn wings, enveloped by the blood of her brethren. Tears running down her neck.

Ira smiled. “You look like a doll wrapped in its box.” She glanced at her wounds. “This is too much blood. Even for an angel.”

“How s-should I open this?” Manya said.

While smirking, Ira shook her head. “I have said before that was the last chance for me to escape.”

Manya’s eyes widened, and her mouth opened slightly. Before long, she recognised Ira was the one responsible for trapping her.

***

Tears streamed down Manya’s cheek as she begged Ira to free her. She pounded her fists against the unyielding glass, but it was futile. She pressed her forehead against the cold glass between them.

“Why are you doing this?” she said. Ira smiled. “Open this! Let me out!” No matter how frantic her punches became, the glass refused to budge. Not even a tiny scratch appeared. “I can’t lose you! Please! Open this!” With each word, a powerful impact echoed through the rectangular trap.

“Open this, please!”

“I won’t,” Ira said.

“Please open this! I-I can’t lose you!”

“Don’t worry, it’s difficult to get rid of me. I won’t die.”

Ira’s hand pressed against the glass, a thin barrier between them. When Manya placed her hand on the glass, the warmth from Ira’s hand embraced hers.

“Please, Ira, open it.” Her voice trembling. The thought of being separated from the one person who had shown her kindness and care in the world without hope—suffocated her.

“I couldn’t even get to wear your clothes,” Ira said.

“Open! Or I’ll kill you!” An object captured Manya’s gaze. The old woman held a cube emitting blue light, which defied gravity as it rose into the sky and vanished.

The sharp pain in her knuckles matched the ache in her heart, a painful reminder of what was slipping away. She doesn’t want to get pulled apart from the person she cared for. Not again.

“And I thought I could keep you away from all this,” Ira said. “I thought I’ll complete his quest to help you reach, Sev—” A powerful push from behind stumbled Manya away from Ira.

“End it!” The old woman’s voice pierced the air. 

Manya glimpsed at the idle guards stepping forward, and heavy weapons appearing in their arms out of nowhere. Dirt and blood splattered across the glass as she landed, obstructing her view of the chaos outside and Ira, who stood beside her. Is she ok? She punched the glass. “What if she dies because of me? Why? Why the ones closest to me? Why? Krishna! You take away the ones who cared for me. They are not the ones. It was never their fault. It was me for being wretched, who cause nothing but despair in lives of those closest to me.”

The tormenting thoughts of Ira getting hurt by Darsh and his lackeys consumed her. “Open it!! Ira!”

A hand covered in black blood appeared on the glass. “You know, I have never seen him smile like he used to do with you,” Ira said. “You were special to him, to us. And all we wanted for you was to be safe and happy.” The pod Manya was stuck in rose vertically from the ground. Her view was hazy because of dirt and black blood. “Goodbye, Manya.”

The box ascended. “No! Stop it! Ira!” Within moments, the glass surrounding her enveloped by a blue hue. Through the hand imprint of Ira, the outside world appeared blurred, but she saw a massive blue-shaped object approaching another of distinct shape and white. 

Their collision produced a blinding burst of light that carried intense shockwaves. It wiped out every trace of dirt and blood surrounding the box. The surreal scene felt like a dream slipping into darkness. Her chest ached, fearing it could be her last moment with Ira. Ira became her friend when guilt and helplessness had consumed her. A true friend.

“None of my friends were happy around me. They were just being nice.” Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t lift her arm to slap herself for being a bad luck to others. She wished for either an explosion or her breath to stop. 

“I don’t think I can rescue you, mamu,” she sobbed. “Even Ira suffered because of me. Even if I find you, I am sure that you will still live an unhappy life, as before.” The pod pierced through the clouds. “I-I-I just don’t deserve to live, or to meet such caring friends and family. You shouldn’t have found me. Dhruv wouldn’t have died. I…”

“I know little about mortals, Ms. Manya. But I am sure of one thing. Whoever they cry for holds a special place in their heart.”

‘Destination–Aptitude Sorting Facility,’ a voice announced.