Fallen

Chapter 15

Eliza

Blacking out is a strange experience. You blink and suddenly everything has changed. I remembered the training room and Gavin's annoying smirk. He'd been toying with me! I'd been throwing everything I had at him and he was tossing me aside like I had been a fly buzzing in his face. I clenched my fist in the blankets under me and fought back tears. If I couldn't survive a training session, what shot did I have if there were things like Gavin out there just waiting for me to step out of his and Nathan's protection?

I remembered how the session had ended then, with the gun in my hands and a rush of power flowing through my entire body and into the weapon. I remembered firing, and feeling that energy exploding out of me toward Gavin as my rage took over. I couldn't remember what happened after that, but something told me that Gavin hadn't been taken out so easily. Still, it had been a pretty awesome feeling.

I sat up in bed and regretted it when my head began pounding in protest. I clutched my throbbing skull and a groan escaped my lips. It was only after that that I noticed another presence in my room. My other hand shot to the pillow, grabbing the soft bag of fluff and chunking it at the spot my instincts told me the intruder was standing.

"Ahh, a pillow," the familiar voice of Nathan the priest chuckled. I looked over and saw the priest holding the thrown pillow with a stupid grin on his face. I growled, swinging my feet of the bed, battling the pain the whole way. Nathan tossed the pillow back on the bed and laid a polished case on the nightstand next to me. He flipped open the locks and opened the case. Inside was the .45 I'd fired at Gavin earlier, but something was different about it now. New lines and swirls had been burned into the gun, forming intricate patterns that hadn't been on the rather spartan firearm before. There were two magazines next to it, both loaded with bullets etched with tiny symbols in their silvery heads. "That was a fairly impressive display earlier. Even Gavin was a little surprised."

"Really, I can't remember," I admitted, looking at the firearm.

"I shouldn't imagine so. You were out before you hit the floor," Nathan answered, picking up the intricately decorated gun, studying the swirling patterns along its barrel. "You used up a lot of energy very quickly. It's only natural for your body to shut down the first time. Next time will hopefully be different. Here." the priest offered me the gun. I took it carefully, the weapon instantly feeling at home in my hands.

"So, is this my weapon?" I asked curiously. Nathan shook his head.

"Nope. You're weapon won't be something man-made. It'll be something created from your own soul and energy, but this will do for the time being," Nathan explained. "Your powers have altered the gun's very nature, turning it into a much more effective weapon than it ever was before. It'll serve as a temporary weapon until we can get you a little more focused, and should amplify your power a great deal. Go ahead, try it out."

"Alright," I said hesitantly, but a thrill was racing along my spine even as my brain tried to make me afraid. I brought out my flames, and the gun instantly came to life! The lines along its body roared with blue light, tiny flames burning fiercely in the lines, and the feeling of power the weapon sent up my arm was intoxicating! I couldn't keep a grin from stretching across my lips. "Wow."

"Yeah," Nathan said, a little smile tinged with envy on his face. The envy was something I inferred, but the evidence of it was gone as fast as I'd seen it. The priest picked up one of the loaded magazines and tapped the top bullet. "These are special. Silver alloy heads painstakingly etched with Enochian warding symbols. Alone, these babies could handle most any lesser demon, but any demon with any power could crush the bullet with the pressure exerted by its spirit, destroying its supernatural properties. Your power counters that problem by infusing the bullet with enough energy to pierce this barrier. It's an ability nobody has ever seen before, so it should turn a few heads."