Dawn of a Thousand Suns, Book I: Arch De Angels

Chapter X

The hut was in the middle of the aspen grove, quite close to the city, but it felt as if they lived in the middle of the dense forest. The sky was clouded, ready to rain.

"Where are they?", Michael thought. He took the stick carved by Uriel and practiced aiming the tree. However, he soon recalled Lucius's warning and put the stick down. Before he was fully recovered, they forbade him to move around a lot he was supposed to be in bed right now, but he could no longer bear staying in the bed and went out to breathe in some crystal clear air. Uriel had carved out the fighting cudgels for him and Lucius and promised to teach how to use them, but, because of Michael's illness, training was put off.

That day he survived, but swimming in the icy river left him with a long-term mark. According to Lucius, Michael's condition was the worst, that's why most of the money they had was being spent on his recovery. Michael was already fed up with sitting in the hut doing nothing. They mostly lived on the money Uriel got by stealing, but sometimes Lucius also sold his medicine. After that night, it seemed as if some invisible wall had appeared between the two, which was slowly collapsing, although its demolition proved to be a long process, despite Michael's multifaceted efforts.

Lucius collected plants in the woods, concocted herbal medicines, and sold them in different neighborhoods in Mondelay. The boys brought a lot of news from the city. They found out that the hordes of mysterious creatures also attacked other cities of Al-Moravid outcomes of those attacks were more brutal. Townsfolk started discussing magic and supernatural powers openly, but nobody knew who the enemies were and what they wished to achieve. At first, many people believed it was just another attempt to overthrow Al-Moravid by the neighboring kingdoms, but as they later found out, the attacks had started in several countries simultaneously. People panicked, as they no longer knew whether there was a safe place anywhere in the world. The ships no longer dared sail as they were attacked too, and no one really knew what the reason behind all of this was.

Looting became a widespread activity. People dressed in black robbed everyone, which terrified the townsfolk more, who already saw monsters lurking in every corner.

Dozens of martial arts schools were opened in Mondelay. People did not spare the last penny so that they could at least learn how to defend themselves and were getting ready for the forthcoming attacks. Refuges from Madriel killed the hope that Mondelay would not be attacked for the second time. They were attacked three times and were forced to leave the city. Whenever they reached a different destination, they only saw ruins and rubble, before they ended up in Mondelay, in the city which was not yet fully destroyed.

The rumors about the mysterious creature living in the mountains near Mondelay spread around in the city, which made the villagers nearby desert their homes. They sent the guardsmen to the mountains to find out more information, but not a single of them returned to Mondelay.

Amidst all of this, Michael had to sit at home idly. He angrily kicked the stone and went back to the hut door, limping.

"Why are you so angry?" he heard Lucius's voice. Michael turned around quickly.

"You think there is nothing to be angry about?" he answered, angrier than intended, as his right foot toes were still hurting, 'I have to sit at home all day while you can go out and about and have fun. Lucius just smiled in the answer that made Michael even more furious and was about to blow up, when Lucius stopped him: "I have good news for you" Michael was all ears, Lucius smiled widely, "Tonight Uriel is going to train us and from tomorrow onwards you can join us in the city."

Michael could not believe his ears.

"But didn't you tell me I had to stay in bed at least one more week?" he asked, whispering.