Angelic Omen

The King

Grand arches towered over me as I stepped into the castle. The entire place seemed to be bright and lit, despite there being no visible lights to do so. Angel magic, I presume.

The angel guard led me through the halls of the castle, passing a few other guards on the way before reaching our destination. The throne room.

The throne room wasn't as big as I'd imagined, but was still quite vast. Large windows lined the far wall, sending beams of radiant sunlight into the already normally lit room. Along that same wall were the thrones. I didn't see the king and queen or their son, but after looking around I spotted them off to the side. They were speaking with a few guards, chatting and laughing casually. Strange to me for royalty to be as casual as this with their subjects, but maybe it was just an Angel thing.

The guard that lead me walked over to them, and I followed him. He cleared his throat to get the royals' attentions, and kneeled as they turned to him. I did the same, not wanting to disrespect him (despite him not being the king with my true loyalty).

King Montelor was a taller angel with long hair tied back in a low ponytail. He had two sets of feathered wings on the sides of his head instead of the usual one, some kind of birth defect as I've heard, and his golden crown floated and inch or so above his head. The cloak he wore was velvet red and lined with a white fur. Next to him was his wife, Queen Lynilis, who had a slight blue tint to her pale skin. Her eyes were a bright green that glowed slightly (not an uncommon feature among angels, or demons for that matter). Their son, Prince Fjonxor, was also there, a feisty young angel with sky-blue eyes like his father.

"Greetings, Kjirnok," Montelor nodded in acknowledgment to the guard that lead me in. Montelor motioned for him to stand, and he obliged, as did I. "What brings you here?"

The guard, Kjirnok, nodded towards me. "This one had requested to join the army."

Montelor's gaze moved to me, observant and dignified. "Is that so?"

I nodded. "Yes, my liege. My name is Inarix Farisee, and I hail from Cyclodae."

"Cyclodae. Beautiful place, that is," Montelor smiled.

"Of course."

I had never actually been to Cyclodae, but I'd heard stories and seen a few pictures. As it could be inferred, demons aren't exactly welcome in Montelor's kingdom.

"What is your combat experience?" Montelor asked me.

"I've fought before," I replied calmly, "A few demons found their way to my place. Multiple times, actually."

I wasn't exactly lying with this statement. I had fought demons before.

Just not killed them.

Montelor sighed. "And I apologize for that fact. We still need to find the bridge they've seemed to make use of."

So they haven't found the Gateway. Good.

Montelor nodded to Kjirnok. "With the captain's permission, I'd say Inarix here will make a fine soldier. You can take him to him now if he's not busy."

"Of course, your Majesty."

Kjirnok bowed his head to the royals before bidding me to follow him. I glanced at Montelor and the royal family one last time before following Kjirnok away.

———

As Kjirnok lead me through the castle, I took note of the many places we passed, making a mental map in my head of the place. I might need to sneak around later on. Soon enough, Kjirnok and I entered some kind of meeting room, with a long table set in the middle that had chairs all around it.

At the other end of the table sat an older angel with ruffled light gray wing feathers and darker gray eyes. He seemed almost void of color, like a very old photograph. He looked at us, realizing our presence. His eyes looked tired, like he hadn't gotten much sleep in a while.

"What do you need?" The angel asked irritably. Either he was the kind of guy who didn't like people or he was just tired. Possibly the latter, judging by his exhausted demeanor.

"We have a new recruit, Captain," Kjirnok motioned towards me. "The king has approved of him if you do."

The captain stood and walked to me, his strides confident and his gaze, earlier tired, was now strict, hiding whatever drag he felt. He observed me closely, looking me up and down as if assessing me. Which he most likely was.

"You seem like a tough one," the captain said. He nodded in approval. "What's your name, kid?"

I took offense to that. I was eighteen, I wasn't a child. "Inarix."

"Inarix, huh?" The captain mumbled. After a moment of thought while still assessing me, "I'd say with a bit more training, he'll be a good one. I'll expect you report back to me by ten tomorrow morning."

I nodded. "Thank you, captain."

The captain had already turned around by the time I said it.

———

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