Tess opened her eyes slowly as her alarm went off. Five o'clock in the morning. She wished Gabriel would have picked a better time to head for Naliak. She looked at Silas with a smile. Tess was still laying on his chest, feeling the movement of his body every time he took a breath. It made her smile, she curled in close to him. It didn't last long, since she needed to get moving. She got up, careful not to wake Silas and walked to her bathroom. As soon as Tess saw her hair in the mirror, she grabbed a brush and rapidly raked through her tangled mess of blonde hair. They had to meet Gabriel at the school at 5:30. She checked the clock in the bathroom, 5:07. She didn't know why he had picked the school to meet up, but she wasn't about to question his order. She walked back out of the bathroom and grabbed a shirt, a clean pair of jeans, and a pair of socks. She set the clothing on the bed. She heard Silas sit up and glanced at him.
"Good morning." She said shyly.
"Good morning." Silas answered. She felt his lips press against her neck. It gave her chills and it took all of her will not to kiss him back. She quickly grabbed her clothes off of the bed and went into the bathroom to change. The last thing they both needed was a repeat of last night. When she came back out, Silas was sitting on the bed, running a hand through his messed up hair. She glanced at the clock.
"It's 5:15, we need to get going." She said quietly. Silas nodded and handed her the Seers book. She was glad he did or she would've forgotten. Tess opened her door and peeked around the hallway. The house was dead, which meant her parents were still sleeping. That was a relief, she didn't need a tearful good-bye from her mother and she could just see her dad giving a nod before she walked out the door.
"Coast's clear." She said to Silas, who stood up and followed behind her. They silently moved down the hallway, that was until Caspian found them and began meowing for attention.
"Dang it cat, shut up." Tess growled in frustration. Caspian hissed and padded away stiffly. Tess noticed Silas stifle a laugh. They made it outside and both of them sighed in relief. Now they just had to get to the school.
"I can get us there in half the time." Silas told her. She climbed on his back and he took off. The wind lashed cruelly at Tess's clothing as Silas ran. She closed her eyes as her stomach seemed to jump in her throat. They arrived at the school with plenty of time to spare. Gabriel was there, along with a couple of what seemed like legions of angels. Tess opened her mouth to ask a question, but Gabriel didn't give her a chance.
"Don't worry, they are only visible to you. I cast a cloaking spell around this area." Tess nodded in understanding. She looked around.
"So what exactly are we doing at the school?" She asked.
"You know the tunnels from Naliak that I talked about?" Tess nodded.
"Well, there is one that leads here." Gabriel said, "It is concealed from the human eye and from Seers, unless you know they are there." Gabriel turned toward the track and walked to the middle area that was grass. Silas nodded for Tess to follow. She stood beside Gabriel while he began to mumble a removal spell. There was a shaking like an earthquake and Tess grabbed Silas's arm to keep herself from falling. Loud thuds began and the Earth started to collapse. A stairway made of stone was soon revealed, cascading into darkness. Tess gasped in wonder.
"Eighteen years and I had no idea." Gabriel smiled.
"Pretty nifty, huh?" He began descending down the stairs. He turned back, holding out a hand for Tess.
"Welcome to our world."
~~~~~~~~
Tess descended the stairs quietly and looked around. The air was a bit frigid and Tess rubbed her shoulders as she got goosebumps. She stayed close to Silas while the army ventured into the long tunnel. Once everyone was in, Gabriel called for a halt. Tess heard the snort of a horse and wondered how they had even gotten it down the steps.
"Seal the entrance!" Gabriel shouted. Tess grabbed onto Silas again as the ground began shaking violently. There was a loud grinding of stone on stone before they were cloaked in complete darkness. Tess heard footsteps and a small whisper.
"Lumen..." The cavern became flooded with light as torch's lit themselves. Gabriel had his hand pressed against the stone wall.
"Wow." Tess whispered as the long tunnel began to light. She ran her hand along the stone walls. They were covered in drawings. Each of them interact in their own design. Tess came across one covering the wall completely. They were beautiful black swirls. She knew this art. Tess gabbed her dagger out of its sheath, looking at the handle. The designs matched the ones on the wall. Silas came up beside her.
"My father made this drawing, before he battled Akbar." Tess looked at the endless swirls.
"They are amazing." Tess looked over at Silas. He stared at the drawing and for once she saw his emotions crumble while he stroked the wall with one hand. There was moisture gathered in his eyes. Tess touched his arm.
"I miss him, I miss them both." He said quietly. Tess squeezed his hand lightly, Silas smiled at her in a silent thank you. He took one last glance at the wall before continuing forward.
"How long will it take to get to Naliak?" Tess asked Silas.
"We will get there at sunset if we're lucky." Tess groaned, that meant hours walking the tunnel. She looked up when she heard clicking of hooves and Gabriel was walking toward her, leading a horse. The horse was pure white and sleek. He held out the reins to Tess and she took them confused.
"This is Melderick and you will be riding him at the battle, you two need to get to know each other." Tess's jaw dropped.
"Are you serious?" Melderick nudged her chest with a soft nicker.
"Like I said, demons and angels battle olden style, which means you'll be riding him." He walked away. Tess really didn't know what to say or do. She yelped when strong arms pushed her up onto the horse.
"Up you go." Silas said and handed her the horses reins again.
"You have ridden a horse before right?" He asked.
"Of course." Tess retorted, urging the horse into a walk to prove her point. She heard Silas laugh. It wasn't too long before Tess heard aggravated shouts and someone shouting from behind her. She spun Melderick around and saw Diana trotting toward her on a black horse.
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"Make way!" She shouted in frustration as angels scattered, trying not to get trampled. Diana pulled the black horse up beside Tess's white one.
"Easy Leorm." She cooed to the black horse. The male snorted and stomped his feet. Melderick stepped sideways nervously.
"Nice horse." Tess commented, looking at the jet black stallion. He was definitely built strong and for war.
"No one else can ride him, but me." Diana smirked. Diana leaned back on the horse. Tess noticed she was riding bareback.
"So what do you think about of all this?" Diana spread her arms out wide, gesturing to the whole tunnel.
"It's cool, but I feel like we still have a long ride. How long have we been down here?"
"Thirty minutes." Diana laughed and Tess sighed. Diana leaned over close to Tess's ear.
"Hey, at least you get to enjoy the view of lover boy here, am I right?" Diana nodded at Silas, who was walking in front of them.
"Diana!" Tess elbowed the angel playfully. Silas turned around, raising an eyebrow, to which Diana responded with nonchalant whistling. Tess suppressed a giggle and Diana winked at her. Silas turned back around, pretending like he didn't care, but Tess knew he was curious as to what they were talking about. She sighed and watched the army march slowly around her. The rhythmic sound of Melderick's hooves began to make her drowsy.
~~~~~~~~~~
Tess opened her eyes. She grabbed onto Melderick, forgetting where she was. The horse nickered and Tess sat up, looking around. She hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep.
"Good morning sleeping beauty." A voice whispered in her ear. Tess realized Silas was sitting behind her.
"What are you doing up here?"
"Couldn't have you falling off this poor beast in your sleep now could I?" Silas's breath tickled her ear.
"What does Gabriel think?" Tess asked.
"See for yourself." Silas answered. Tess looked at the head of the army and saw Gabriel frowning at them. She laughed.
"He looks pleased."
"As bear who just got woken out of hibernation." Silas joked. Tess looked around.
"Where's Diana?"
"Probably off harassing some other poor soul." Silas said, Tess noticed there was a bit of annoyance in his voice.
"How close are we to the end of the tunnel?" Tess asked.
"Actually we should be coming out of it soon. You were asleep for a pretty long time." Tess frowned. feeling a bit lazy.
"Someone should've woke me up." She said irritably.
"No, you need the rest. Besides, you're cute when you sleep." Silas whispered in her ear. Tess elbowed him in response, taking Melderick's reins from him. Tess noticed a natural light coming from above them and knew they would be exiting the tunnels soon. She felt Silas swing off behind her. He looked at her expectantly.
"What?" Tess asked.
"You can't ride the horse up the stairs."
"Oh." Tess got off of Melderick, not realizing how stiff she was from riding. She stumbled, almost falling over, but gained her balance. When they began ascending the the stairs, Tess became aware of how dry the air was. She emerged from the exit and looked around. Naliak was a complete wasteland. There was desert for miles with sparse trees here and there. The setting sun cast an orange glow across the cracked ground. Gabriel stood beside her.
"We will make camp here, there is a water source a little ways to the East." He pointed and Tess saw the pool of water. She wondered how many there were on the island. She helped set up the tents quickly as the sun continued to disappear. Gabriel had made it clear that Silas would be sleeping far away from her, but there were things Gabriel couldn't prevent. Tess laid down in her sleeping bag and closed her eyes.
"Quin ego dissero in tui sensa." She whispered, just loud enough for the spell to work. She waited for a couple seconds before sending her thoughts towards Silas.
Silas? She waited for an answer.
Tess? How are you doing this?
It's a spell I learned. Remember, the whole Seer thing. She answered. Relief and pleasure washed over her at hearing his voice.
How nifty. Tess stared at the top of the tent she was in. The tent flap was worn with age, but still kept them sheltered.
Tess?
Yes?
You want to know something? Silas asked, I'm just as scared as you are. Tess tensed.
Silas I swear-
Don't bother telling me not to worry about you, I'm going to, okay. Tess sighed.
You should focus on staying alive, not on me. Don't try anything stupid with your angelic essence. Tess warned. There was silence for a couple of seconds.
How do you know about that?
Gabriel. Tess smirked. She could almost see Silas's annoyed look.
So don't try using it on me Silas, promise me that.
I can't do that. Silas answered.
Silas, you have to. Promise me. Silence.
Silas? Silas! Tess sat up and rubbed her forehead as it throbbed. Silas had shattered their connection. Tess laid down again, but she couldn't sleep. Knowing that Silas never answered her, disturbed all of her thoughts. She needed answers.
~~~~~~~~~~
Tess waited until midnight before inching out of her sleeping bag carefully. She stepped over the angels that slept in the tent with her, including Diana. Tess crept out of the tent and looked around. She looked to the East, seeing the water shimmer in the moonlight. The island could reveal answers if it wanted to. She needed answers.