Children of the Archangels

CHAPTER 36: THE ELECTRIC GIFT

The fog around Luke was thick. It drowned the golden light that once blinded him and made his eyes milky white. He felt a gentle rocking motion and heard the soft splash of water.

Immediately Luke knew he was dreaming. Where his dream had taken him was his mission to figure out.

Standing in the boat was an angel with wings of white raging fire. His orange hair sizzled like a mix between chaotic lightning and a hearth's flame. He wore beige robes that looked like scrolls that haven taken a beating against time. Strapped to his side was a sword made of red-orange fire. That and his wings were the only sources of light that allowed Luke to see anything in the dense fog.

Uriel, he thought.

Uriel looked down at Luke. Luke felt small, smaller than he should have been. He looked down at himself, his hands, and his feet. He touched his skin as if feeling the world for the first time.

Luke was trapped in a four-year-old's body.

"And the child awakes," Uriel spoke with a curt tone that was also calm—like a stern teacher who commanded respect in the classroom.

Luke wasn't sure if he was talking to him. Luke felt disoriented like he was waking up after a strong dosage of anesthesia. He didn't feel grounded. He felt split between a dream, a memory, and a reality.

"Don't try to speak child, just take in your new reality," Uriel said.

Luke couldn't speak even if he wanted to. His mouth felt like he just came out of oral surgery. His face felt swollen as if he had eaten something he was allergic to.

Luke gently caressed his face and was freaking out. Why couldn't he feel anything?

"The fruit's effects will eventually waver. But I'm afraid you won't remember any of this for a while."

The small rowboat they were in rocked against the water. Off in the distance, Luke heard the roar of thunder.

Uriel smiled. "Either Orifiel is testing me, the Lord is sending me a sign, or an amalgam of the two."

Luke saw one drop sizzle above Uriel's flames, then smoke started to billow up from him like a bonfire as buckets of water spilled forth from the sky. Waves crashed onto the boat. Luke could barely move, and he didn't feel the water touching him either, which would've make swimming difficult.

Meanwhile, the fire of Uriel's wings shrank. His sword quivered under the downpour. Arcs of electricity was now the only source of light that illuminated the sky.

"I surmised that fire was enough," Uriel said. "But to give lightning too..."

A bolt of lightning struck the boat and set it on fire. The boat was already filling with water, and now the fire was only giving it a worse beating. But the rain snuffed out the flame before it could spread. The boat was in no shape to take on any more water. Luke was already struggling to keep his small body above the water.

Suddenly Uriel's image changed. His old, face filled with wrinkles, aged backwards. His wings of fire arched into blue-purple plasma, and his hair went from a state of half-fire and half lightning to full chaotic static. His hair grew long and went passed his shoulders. His sword changed to red lightning, but his papyrus scroll robe stood the same.

Another bolt of lightning struck just next to Luke, zapping the water and causing it to rupture like a fat pimple. Water sprayed onto Luke, but amongst the thrashing waves and heavy rainfall, the splash only served to wake him up to the fact that he was about to die.

"The last student I invested one element into, he betrayed me and turned to Lucifer. He stole the Book of Life and stood against me and the Lord. What chaos will erupt when I instill two chaotic elements in one diluted angel?" Uriel seemed to be asking himself this very important question.

Lightning exploded from the sky and this time the aim was clear. Luke had no reaction time, he was going to get fried.

He closed his eyes and waited to die. The light was blinding as it came for him.

Luke felt nothing. After all, he was numb, so could he even feel his own death? He opened his eyes, expecting to awaken in a beautiful landscape—in the afterlife.

But he was still surrounded by the raging ocean around him. Swells rocked the boat as the wind started to whip up the smell of ozone in the air.

Above him, like a picture snapped in time, was the lightning bolt floating above his forehead. Attached to the lightning bolt was the hand of an angel who caught it in midair.

"The decision to kill him is mine to make Orifiel," Uriel spoke to the air. "Leave us now."

The sky erupted in a show of sparks. Lightning exploded across the heavens like a series of bombs. Mother Nature herself was furious for some reason, and she wanted everyone to know it. After the tempest-tantrum was finally over, the hurricane subsided. The rain stopped, the waves settled, and Uriel picked up the young child Luke and cradled him into his right arm, while he absorbed the lightning bolt with the other.

"You have already divided the archangels," Uriel said, his left hand coated in electricity.

Luke was still dazed, but he seemed to smile at the relief of not being made into fried child.

The smile was reflected back at him by Uriel. "Maybe you'll prove me wrong. I hope so. I don't want to have to extirpate you."

Then Uriel extended the point of his static finger and touched Luke's forehead. Luke felt that much. He also felt the jolt of electricity coursing through his body.

"I've given you possession of two elements, as the prophecy states, but I also put a delay on it. You won't exhibit these abilities until the son of the son unleashes the false death. You will have little time to acclimate to your power, but any pupil of mine should be smart enough to handle such a challenge."

Uriel's wings started to spark and then ignite as it erupted with static once he took off towards the sky. Luke was lost amongst the clouds while the final words rang across his eardrums. "Now, let's find you a proper home."