War of Hearts

15 - The Gate of Life

Trees stood up like spikes, zig zagging the border of the brick road. A river streamed through the deep valley. The water is green, darker in the shadows and more pale in the light, but still green.

"We have to cross the river to get to the temple," Ever said and walked to the bank of the river. Cael and Julian followed her.

"What's that?" Cael pointed to the two statues which can be seen far away in the other end of the river.

"The gate of life," Julian answered him.

"What are the statues?" Cael asked, staring at the two Angel like statues. Both statues were look alike male Angels with wings spreading through their backs.

"Angels," Julian said and washed his face from the water of the river.

The baby tied on to Cael's chest made a small cry, Cael stroked his hair and he fell asleep on Cael's chest.

Ever stretched her hands toward the river and closed her eyes, concentrating. The memory of her first kiss flowed into her mind. The beach, the sand, the wind, the touchings, the waves, the whispers and love. A light smile escaped her lips. She tried to remember every little detail of that moment. She remembered his taste; he tasted like salt and mint. She remembered his smell, he smelled like sandalwood. She remembered how his touches felt like; they felt like milk cream on her skin.

Blue sparks came through Ever's fingertips, at first they were so tiny but within seconds they grew larger. The blue sparks travelled toward the green water of the river. Cael and Julian watched Ever controlling the air around them. The blue sparks parted the river water and made space for the Angels to travel through.

Ever took a deep sigh, she felt as if she's kissing Cael Angelo Fire. As she opened her air blue eyes huge white hued wings appeared at the back of Ever's. Ever felt the pain of her Angel wings coming into air, she felt as if her skin was cracking and bleeding painfully. Cael wondered how beautiful his love is. Her wings were nearly as tall as her body, arching off her back like a concave reflection. Each long, narrow feather tensed and shook in her heaving fury. They slammed upward. When they came back down in a flash of blue silver, she was off the ground and landed on the parted river. She's only used her wings in very rare occasions of her life because she hated the pain of having them behind her. Cael and Julian jumped into the parted river and walked.

The ground of the river was fresh and wet against Julian's feet. He tried to keep eye contact with Ever but she avoided him.

"Ev," it was Cael who broke the silence. "You're more powerful than I ever imagined."

"What were you thinking?" Julian teased Cael. "She's the queen of Angelic." Julian patted the baby's head to check if he's awake, Cael pushed Julian's hand ad hissed. "You'll wake him."

"I just wanted to check whether he's alive," Julian teased.

"Ev, are you alright?" Cael asked.

"Yeah," Ever murmured.

"Cael, can't you put out your wings?" Julian asked.

Cael smiled. "I need to feel so powerful for that. I usually get wings when I'm angry."

Cael raced a few steps to catch Ever's pace. "Your eyes are blue."

"Her eyes change color," Julian said.

"When I'm feeling extra powerful my eyes turn air blue. When I'm happy they turn coffee brown. When I feel nothing special, they turn grey. When I'm angry they turn fire red," Ever explained.

"When she's jealous they turn purple," Julian added.

"I've never seen your purple eyes," Cael said and Ever smiled.