Читать книгу The Falling of the Stars - Lina Fischer - Страница 12

The Aftershock

I jumped as I heard footsteps approaching, and felt an instant relief as I saw Eden’s face light up.

“Astoria!” he yelled as he ran towards me. “I heard you scream, is everything alright?” he asked, worried. Suddenly, the sharp pain came back, and with every breath I took it consumed more and more of my body.

I looked over Eden’s shoulder at my mother. She’s dead because of me. I broke down in his arms.

“She’s dead, she’s gone,” I heard my father say as he checked her pulse. I saw a tear roll down his face as I walked over to him. He put his arms around Mom and me, and it was like time stopped. The memories flashed before my eyes like a nightmare. This will haunt me until the last breath I take.

“Dad, I’m sorry,” I said quietly, but he shushed me before I could say anything more.

“Astoria, none of this is your fault. We knew it was only a matter of time until he came for you,” he tried to reassure me.

“Who is he and why is he after me? What did I do to him?” I exclaimed.

“He’s the one we do not talk about. He is the devil, one of the most powerful shadows there are. No lighter has ever been able to fight him,” he explained.

“What are you talking about?”

“Once there lived shadows and lighters together in peace, demons and angels like you’ve read about. They got along well and even started their own families – that is until the demons got jealous because the angels had healing power and were able to perform magic. They don’t know why; it is said it was a gift from God, because they’re his children.

One day a demon went to Satan and begged him to give them a gift, so they could be treated equally. Satan was never one to do as he was told, so he gave him a task to complete first: He would only give them power if they sacrificed every angel they knew and brought them to him.

The demons did as they were told. They came back to the village and attacked the angels. They weren’t ready, got taken by surprise, and had no chance against them. But the demons didn’t manage to capture everyone; seven of them managed to escape.”

“The seven archangels, right?” I interrupted.

“Yes, the seven archangels Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Saraqael, Raquel, and Remiel managed to escape the shadows and searched for protection from God.

God was furious when he heard the news, and he cast a spell to prevent the shadows from entering our world. Nonetheless, some of them always found their way through with portals, and a war started between the lighters and shadows.

It went on for over a decade, and many people died. Everyone thinks that all of this is a silly myth, but we know it is the truth,” he told me.

“How do we know it isn’t a myth?”

“Because they still exist.”