Marcus had long been fascinated with the remote continent of Antarctica. He dreamed of going on an expedition there, uncovering the secrets of the frozen land, as his heroes from favorite fantasy novels did. However, he knew that such a journey in real life would be a massive undertaking, requiring a vast array of resources, expertise, and permissions, and that there was much more to uncover on other parts of Earth. Now, they had to go there, but under the wrong circumstances, it was one of the last resorts to uncover the truth about the monstrous creatures that called themselves angels.

Luckily, they had Mr. White on their side. Marcus still held a grudge against the man for withholding the information that could have possibly saved his family but had no other choice but to work with the man for his resources and connections. Ordinary people could go to Antarctica only as tourists with restricted access and places they could visit, but this man could go anywhere he wanted. Marcus never asked what Mr. White did and how he obtained his wealth and this did not seem like a time to ask.

In less than a week, Mr. White easily assembled a team of experts to help them plan and execute the expedition to Antarctica. Mr. White knew that he would need individuals with a wide range of skills and experience, from pilots to scientists and survival experts. He withheld the goal of the mission offering a large sum of money for those who joined and hit them with an NDA to sign if they agreed to go.

Marcus and his team left once again to explore nearby ancient ruins before they left Egypt when a single point in the sky exploded with light. Marcus and the team were startled and watched as the ball of lights flew south in direction of Mr. White’s mansion. Angels never came alone, this was the first time, and something felt deeply wrong, but Marcus shrugged the feeling away and continued digging through the site, his team following.

Mr. White watched in awe as the Angel landed gracefully in front of him. He only saw one up close once, fifteen years ago, when it flew near him and left him with a strange mark they translated only recently. Its skin was glowing with a golden light, almost transparent in some parts, but its eyes were wrong. They glowed with an otherworldly light, but it was not a light that brought comfort or hope. Instead, it was a light that filled him with a sense of unease and dread.

As Mr. White looked closer, he realized that the creature's eyes were full of darkness, a deep blackness that seemed to go on forever. There was no glint of light or reflection in those eyes, no hint of emotion or humanity.

"Who are you?" Mr. White asked, his voice trembling with fear.

"I am an angel, Raphael" the Creature towering over him replied. "I am your salvation, a sinner!" The creature came closer to him and Mr. White instinctively took a step back.

“You hide something human,” The Angel said. “You are playing with things far beyond your understanding.” It said with an uncanny voice and flew inside the mansion.

Luckily for Mr. White, Marcus and his team moved all the artifacts away from the mansion, returning some to the ruins and moving most of them to the airport to bring with them on the expedition.

The Angel, Raphael, flew back towards Mr. White, landing only a few feet away from him, inspecting him with black eyes, filling Mr. White with dread once again.

“Are you working towards redemption, human?” Raphael asked him and gently flicked its wings, causing a rush of wind to swirl around them. Mr. White felt the breeze lightly brush against his face as the angel lifted itself slightly off the ground, hovering just above him.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Raphael gently flicked his wings once again circling around Mr. White and in doing so exposed what looked like a black scar on its right arm. On that scarred area of his arm, there was no glow, nothing, it looked dead flash and Angel quickly hid it from Mr. White’s eyes.

“Yes,” Mr. White barely muttered. “Of course almighty one.”

“You lie human,” Raphael said. “I will be keeping my eye on you,” Angel said and spread his wings flying away, with such force that it almost knocked Mr. White to the ground.

Mr. White couldn't shake off the eerie feeling that lingered within him after the encounter. As he waited for Marcus and his team to return, his mind was consumed with thoughts of the angel, and what its presence might mean. The way the creature had looked at him, with its dark, penetrating eyes, had filled him with a sense of unease he did not know was possible.

He couldn't help but wonder why the angel had come to see him, and if it knew everything they have discovered so far. And if it knew, why did it just leave, something felt off once again. As the hours ticked by, Mr. White tried to keep himself busy, going over the details of the expedition on Antarctica in his mind and trying to plan for the days ahead. But no matter what he did, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong, that the encounter with the Angel had set something into motion that he couldn't yet understand.

As Marcus and his crew returned, only one look at Mr. White’s face was enough to confirm his suspicion that the Angel did in fact come here to visit the wealthy man.

Marcus could see it in Mr. White's face, the way his eyes darted around, and the tension in his jaw. There was a sense of unease about him that was almost palpable.

“What happened?” Marcus asked with a worried look on his face.

Mr. White looked up at him, his eyes filled with a sense of fear that Marcus had never seen before.

“He came,” Mr. White said. “I am afraid they know.”

“He, who?” Marcus asked. "The Angel that darted from the sky earlier today?"

"He said his name was Raphael," Mr. White continued speaking as if ignoring Marcus. "Seeing it up close, that creature, it's not natural, there is nothing divine about it."

"Relax," Marcus said in a calm voice laying his hand on top of Mr. White's shoulder. "Tell me exactly what happened."

They entered the mansion as if hiding from the sky itself and Mr. White told Marcus and his crew everything that happened. He described the creature in the smallest details from its unholy eyes filled with deep blackness to the way it moved and how it for a brief second showed what looked like a scar.

"That's not good," Marcus said shaking his head. "It, they, are most likely onto us." Most of the people in the room shook their heads in agreement.

"Mr. White was right not wanting to go public with the information we had, if we did we would most likely be all dead by now." Mar us continued and everyone went silent for a second.

"What should we do then?" Ava asked, breaking the silence.

"What is there left to do?" Marcus asked, looking around the room. "We need to continue, to uncover the full truth. If we give up now it's most likely the end of humanity." Most of the people nodded in agreement, some bowed their heads slightly.

"I am going to continue looking for the truth and then for the solution," Marcus said. "I don't have anything to lose anymore. This is bigger than all of us, we owe it to ourselves, our loved ones and the rest of humanity to at least try."

Marcus could see the tension in their faces begin to ease. He could see the determination in their eyes, the fire that burned within them. They were fighters, all of them, and they wouldn't let anything stand in their way.

"You're right," his brother Jensen was first to speak, his voice strong and resolute. "We can't let fear control us. We have a job to do, and we will get it done."

The rest of the group murmured their agreement, and Marcus could feel a sense of pride and satisfaction swell within him. They were a team, they grew close all these years under Mr. White's pay, and they would stand together no matter what.

"Okay then," Marcus said, his voice ringing with confidence. "Let's continue…"