Ebony Wings

23

~Ali~

Through the darkness of our sixth night, we cleave through an ocean of stars. My head lolls forwards and backwards between consciousness and unconsciousness, the journey a never ending blur of land, water and constellations. All the while, Ethan's alabaster wings carve a continuous pattern through the soupy air, singing me into abyss with his silent song.

I can't remember when I closed my eyes, but as the wind strokes my senses awake, my eyes open to a horizon of soft, pastel coloured buildings and the fleecy yellow sunrise.

My shoes skid over a dusting of fine gravel as we connect with the rooftop of a squat, cuboid building on the outskirts of the small prairie village we find ourselves in. I drop our bag onto the floor and take a moment to regain the stability in my legs. I wander over to the building's edge, squinting against the sunlight, trailing my eyes up and down the deserted street below.

We are in the Philippines now! So much closer to attaining salvation than we were yesterday. Or the day before. Or the day before that. Except it's already day seven. I simultaneously want to bawl my eyes out and run back home at the thought of what is to come. And while these are very valid options in coping with my short term mental health, neither of these suggestions would result in me living to see the forty-eight hours. I knew this was coming. I know this is coming. So I have to pull myself together.

"So," my morning voice croaks in the silence. I brush my eyes open and smooth back my wind swept hair. "What's the plan from here?"

"Well, Cagsawa Ruins is the aim. We have no time to waste with this." Ethan scans the area for passers, while Jack pulls out a small GPS system Thessaly provided him with. It powers up with a chime, taking a moment to pinpoint our location.

I fidget nervously in the small wait for our new direction, steely determination igniting again at our proximity to The Book. Yet, undermining all of this is the nagging whisper that even if we achieved uncovering The Book of Angels, we will never be able to open it.

Jack points across the town, towards the rising sun. East. "That way."

And so we go.