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

Chapter XIII

Michael and Uriel were not back yet. Lucius could not understand the reason for their being so late. His gut told him that something was obviously wrong. Laili was restless, which made it very difficult to fall asleep. Time moved slowly, and he put all that on his groundless anxiety. At least he had already made his mixtures, which he planned to sell in different neighborhoods. If he had not enough sleep, it would be difficult to wake up early, but obviously, there was nothing he could do about it.

He tried to go out as often as possible, hoping to see familiar sights. The only things he could lay his eyes on were the mystical shadows of hundred-year-old trees, which, swallowing the moon behind the bushy branches, let both the imagination and fear run wild.

The fire was still crackling in the fireplace. He heard a strange noise behind the door. He had only made one step towards the entrance when the door burst open and blood froze in his veins. Uriel was standing at the door, covered in blood, with his blond hair stuck to his wet face. He could barely stand on his feet.

"What's wrong with you? Where is Michael?" Lucius rushed towards his friend to help him...

"No time for explanations," Uriel stopped him, "grab your medicines, take Laili and follow me..." He had such a miserable voice that Lucius could easily guess how much effort it took him to even utter a word.

He got down to work instantly, woke Laili up, grabbed his medicines, and threw them all in his bag.

"Now what?" Lucius followed Blondy, who was already standing at the door.

Holding Laili and his bag, he followed Blondy, whose hair now had turned red. The darkness covered everything around Blondy and the children, following him.

Uriel was bleeding. He could barely stand on his feet. Lucius could not wait to bombard him with questions.

The bleeding became stronger. If Lucius did not help, they could not reach the city. He stopped as soon as the thought went through his head. He put Laili down.

"I have to see the wound, or else you won't be able to continue," he told Uriel. He took off the shirt, tore it. Uriel did not object, he obviously knew Lucius was right, he just sat silently on the ground while Lucious was treating his wounds. As they continued their way to the Mondelay, they heard the bells ringing from the city.

"What is going on?" Lucius asked Uriel.

"I will explain later," he answered, frowning in pain.

"Don't worry, he is alive," said Blondy in a frail voice and Lucious finally sighed with relief.

The dark forest looked sinister and smelled damp. The roots of the trees tangled and intertwined like snakes, made it even more challenging to walk. Lucius was careful not to fall. He had no right to fall. He was holding Laili with one hand while helping Blondy with the other.

Mondelay was unfamiliarly alive at night. The streets were overcrowded, people were standing like sardines in a can. Huge bells of the church were booming. The entire crowd was moving towards the wall of the noble neighborhood. Fierce screams sometimes broke the sickening silence around. The boy wondered what was happening.

The closer they got to the wall, the more people appeared around them. People standing in the longest queue near the main gate doing everything to reach the place first. However, the gates were protected by armed soldiers.

Uriel headed towards the soldier on the horse. Lucius recognized the commander. As soon as the commander saw the boys, he whispered something to the guardsman standing next to him, who led them to the destination. The soldiers made a narrow passageway in the crowd. It was so tiny that they struggled to move forward, however, they soon forgot about it as soon as they ended up on the other side of the gate. Lucius expected Uriel to explain why the guardsmen behaved like that, but the wounded and exhausted boy could barely stand on his feet, let alone explain everything. They headed towards the streets, which had turned into ruin after the last attack. Uriel suddenly stopped and weakly pointed out the building that miraculously was still standing. It was a sign they had to enter there.