The Morningstar Brigade

Chapter 18

XVIII

URIEL

Day Two. Eleven Days Remain.

The War Room, Morningstar Keep

Uriel stared up at the War Room door in front of him and sighed. "Today, I'm supposed to start training to become a member of the deadliest warriors in Eden. I gave some big speech to the Vigilant, and now I can barely walk through the door. What was I thinking?" he said, slapping his forehead. "Eli, if you ever want to just rescue yourself, I'd sure appreciate it."

"So," a voice called from behind Uriel, making him jump, "are you planning to stare at that door until you're fashionably late, or did it just do something to really offend you?"

Uriel picked up the map he had dropped in his surprised and turned around to see a young man about his age leaning up against the wall opposite him. "I, uh, neither," Uriel stammered, still a bit frazzled.

Isaac's smile widened and he walked over to Uriel. He slapped the nervous initiate's shoulder playfully. "I'm messing with you. Aren't very quick on the pickup, are you? I guess that's not a surprise, considering you were in a coma the last time I saw you."

Uriel frowned, fumbling for words and trying to figure out if he should be offended. "Well, I-" he began.

"Ah, don't worry about it, I like that. It works for you." The rumpled young man thrust his hand out eagerly. "Name's Isaac, from Utopia. Shepherd initiate. I helped save your life, no big deal or anything. I guess we're going to be working together now. Nice to meet you."

Uriel stared at Isaac's hand a moment, then laughed and shook it, smiling. "I'm Uriel. It's nice to meet you, too. To be honest, I was a little nervous abou-"

Isaac raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Uriel? I mean, I get you didn't choose it, but that's really what you're sticking with? Dumb name." He shrugged. "Ah well, we'll work with it. I'm sure I can figure out something less embarrassing after we've saved the world."

Uriel narrowed his eyes at Isaac. "Hey, I'm named for-"

"Anyways," Isaac began, cutting him off. "Considering you were out cold last time we met, except for the part where you somehow wiped out a dozen Nephilim with a flick of your wrist, there wasn't much time for small talk. Where'd you come from?"

" Well..." Uriel stopped. He waited a moment, eyebrows raised at Isaac. He had paused to see if he was going to get cut off again. Isaac stared blankly back at him and motioned for him to answer. "I'm from Sanctuary. Fisher Eli is my dad and-"

"Ah, a Fisher's kid, gotcha," Isaac said, cutting Uriel off once more. "Well, there's nothing wrong with a little nepotism here and there, am I right?" Isaac chirped happily, jabbing Uriel's ribs with his elbow. "Well, don't worry about missing some of the regular introductory training. You didn't really lose out on much anyways. Mostly ideological stuff, how to avoid endangering civilians... a bit of a bore to be honest," Isaac commented, scratching his head. He examined Uriel briefly, looking him up and down. He even gave him a quick sniff for good measure. "You sure did heal up nicely, didn't you? Not a scratch to be seen," he remarked. "Well, we should probably head in. Wouldn't want to be late on our first day of training, after all."

Isaac talked so fast that Uriel's head was still spinning trying to catch up, but he nodded mechanically and followed his newfound ally into the briefing room.