Draiks and Angels: Rescued

4 - Riddle

Dracona flew back to her home for lack of anywhere else to go. She couldn't stay at the skyscraper with the Angel there, so home it was. She flew high until she reached a rich area of the city. She dove sharply and sped toward the grounds of a large mansion, opening her wings just in time to not crash into the earth. She glided over to the main building, to a small door in the back. She unlocked it with a fingerprint and walked into a large kitchen.

It had two ranges, two refrigerators, four sinks, four ovens besides the ones in the ranges, two dishwashers, plenty of counterspace, prep tables, appliances, and tools. Almost everything was packed neatly away. There was a toaster and a microwave sitting out on the counter, but the rest of the appliances had nice covers over them. There was a metal cover over one of the ranges. Three of the sinks had their faucets turned all the way sideways. The last had dirty dishes waiting to be washed. The far end had a small dining area for staff. There was a small table but only one stool. A gas fireplace nearby provided comfort in the winter and next to it a pile of chairs was leaned into the corner.

She walked quickly through the stainless-steel room and into the foyer. This space was humongous compared to the size of the mansion in general, taking almost half of the square footage. There were two grand staircases leading to the second floor, where a landing wrapped around the entire foyer. In between the staircases was a huge Maya carving covered in Mayan hieroglyphs. Her father was an archaeologist and had brought it back from one of his digs. There was a gorgeous chandelier in the center of the entry, before two large doors that Dracona had never seen used. There was a smaller door on the side that guests normally came through.

Dracona paused. Where was she going? She was home, but what was her plan? That Angel asked her to find... Sera? The Angel, Sera, by talking to others like her whom she didn't even know existed. He did give her a ransom note. She fished it from her pocket and read it:

I have the Sera Angel. None can deliver. I will make her mine if you do not comply. Dispatch the Archangel to the south human Flight, alone.

It was awfully short. Written in first person, so only one kidnapper, then? She didn't like the implications of "make her mine" but maybe that meant Sera was safe until the kidnapper thought the Angel wasn't complying. Angels. He had said "we" when talking to her so there must be more of them. What was the Archangel? Obviously, an Angel. She thought she remembered reading something about an Archangel before, but she couldn't pinpoint what. "South human Flight" was another question. Maybe specified "human" because the note went to non-humans? Would an Angel be considered non-human? Why was "Flight" capitalized? What did it mean? Was it a place?

Dracona frowned, looking at the note. Too many things she didn't know. If she was able to find more of "her kind" would they know the answers? How could she find them when she's never run into any in all her twenty years? Maybe... She glanced up the stairs. Maybe she could find where she had read about the Archangel, at least. That would mean going into the library, though. She felt a knot rise in her throat and hastily pushed it down. She was fine. She could do it.

She flew past the stairs to the second floor and walked down the hall a short ways to a closed wooden door. She paused with her hand on the doorknob. She took a deep breath, opened the door and walked in. There were two small tables with four stools each in the center of the room. Lush green carpet covered the floor. There were two tall windows that came close to the ceiling with sturdy shelves over the top frame that oddly didn't have anything on them. Bookshelves covered every wall. They sagged heavily with tomes. Dracona knew some were in languages she didn't know. Some had no titles on their spines. Some were as thin as notebooks and others as thick as textbooks.

Tears sprang to her eyes. She could almost see her father sitting at one of the tables with four or five books strewn about him, studying. So he would have something interesting to teach his students at the university, he would say. She remembered laying under the tables playing with her dolls; doing her homework at the next table over; retrieving books from the high shelves for him so he didn't have to get the ladder.