Nevaeh: The Fallen

Chapter 1

A thousand stars were now replaced with the brightly colors of pick, yellow and blue. Morning was always my favorite; it reminded me of new beginnings and great happiness. The house I lived in was surrounded by several cherry blossom trees, and they too brought me happiness, especially in the mornings. It was still damp outside; dew drenched the grass and the petals of the cherry blossom trees, this made the smells more distinguished. I walked outside, and breathed in the fresh, summer air, stretching and yawning; and welcoming the new day. The sound of water flowed near by; it was a river full of many, slender, glowing fish.

"Good morning, " A voice said behind.

It was Mikelle. One of my closest friends; she also lived in the woods where the cherry blossoms grew. Her skin was very fair, which complemented her scarlet red hair and emerald colored eyes. She tended to always wear her hair back in tight braids and bands made from vine. She was a brave warrior with a fiery spirit. Something I unfortunately didn't possess. She was my other half; but we were complete opposites from each other.

I responded with a smile, "Good morning Mikelle. How did you sleep?"

"Alright. Thank you... Tea?" She asked, as she cupped the glassware in her hands.

Mikelle outstretched a cup towards my direction, and I took it with a nod, "Thanks."

"Trials began tomorrow. Are you ready?"

"No... when am I ever ready?" I joked.

"You need to take this seriously Nevaeh. It won't be as easy as training- you know that. People have died in trials," Mikelle grabbed my arm and began to squeeze with frustration, -"And this time, I won't be there to protect you."

"Uh- Ow?"

She loosed her grip, and my arm fell limp; she began to speak, "Promise me you'll do some practice before the trials tomorrow evening? You literally have royalty coursing through your veins. Meaning you need to practice harder then everyone else. The angel warriors... they looked up to your parents- now?... they look up to you Nevaeh.

"I know!"

 She crossed her arms, -"That's if you survive the trials... You have too."

I assured her with a smile, "I'll survive them."

She drew her sword and pointed it towards me, "Prove it."

Mikelle was always a serious girl. Her parents raised a warrior, not a pampered princess like myself. She was always ready. Ready for anything that came her way, and that's why she always made sure I was prepared,

"Catch."

I caught the sword that she had pointed, and watched her pull out another from her back. She was more like a mentor than a close friend. In this New World, aging stopped at the age of twenty, and after that, time became nothing. So, yes... We're immortal, but that doesn' t mean that we can't experience death like any other. The power of an angel was weak in the New World, meaning the only power an angel had, was the power it was given at birth; that and its agility and strength. Angels are fast, but we are not fast enough. Not like a vampire anyways. So, that's why we had to train. Train hard- until we dropped, and that's why Mikelle became my mentor. Not because I was weak, but because I was stubborn, and I was also born with a gift... A gift that was unknown, and with that, it had to be protected.

Mikelle has the gift of telekenisis. Meaning she can read anyone's mind, including devil created creatures. This never created problems in the household, because my mind mostly stayed silent; autopilot, which put Mikelle more at ease, since it was one less mind she didn't have to tone out. However, since I remained silent on the inside, she'd always know what I was thinking, because i'd always tell her on the outside. Truth was everything to me.

"You've improved... Well done."

I handed her the sword, and Mikelle grabbed it, and then placed the two swords back on her back and spoke,

"I've taken the trials before, and I barely got out of them alive, which shows that it'll be even harder for you. Before the trials start, you will be placed in front of different forms of weapons. You'll choose the one that calls to you most."

"You're swords... they called to you?"

"Yes."

"How will I know if the weapon is calling to me?"

"You'll just know."

"Mmh..." I swallowed.

"Once they began, you'll be placed in groups of four. So, fortunately for you, you won't be completely hopeless.... You're a great climber Nevaeh, so climb high. Use your abilities as an advantage, because the things you'll face, will mainly lurk on the ground."

"Things?"

"The devils creatures. That's what you'll fight."

"How many?"

"One creature per person... I know you're scared and when we get scared, we tend to run... the warriors I was placed with were cowards... they ran",

Mikelle's voice weakened, "I lost my brother that day, he always cracked the best jokes... he was gentle... Kind. A great warrior he was, but unfortunately... his heart was to good for him and he became scared... he became weak. He ran- so I ran behind him, yelling... hoping he'd stop. But, the cries of the forest deceived him, it scared him, and he ran even faster towards it... the cries led him right into a trap... " Her eyes began to fill in tears, "Maybe if I ran fast enough I could of stopped him in time- or if I- If...."

I ran up to her and began to hug her tightly, as she fell weakly to her knees, "I'm sorry..." I said, as I pressed my head against hers.

She continued, -"Every single one of them strayed away from the path and from each other, and that's how they all got killed.- one by one..." Mikeele reached down and began to pluck some flowers from the ground and repeated, "One by one..." She looked back up at me and cradled my face in her hands, "I only pray that you're placed with a suitable, well trained crew, that won't make the same mistake that mine did... my brother... he reminds me a lot of you Nevaeh. I lost him... but, I don't plan to loose you too."

"You won't... I promise."