The
Broken Winged Angel:
In a ditch, they were when I found them,
A young lad, battered, raiment in tatters,
Unshod, with his
fine, strong fingers and
Toes webbed, gills clear marked in his
Neck. The other confused
me also and
Ere I understood my mind needs must
Somersaults do, for this figure
indeed
Was difficult to discern. An
adult, yeah,
But how was the face covered thus by a
Gnarled wing, feathers charred, some
Down to the base? T’was
odd indeed!
I saw the lad draw breath, gasping with
His mouth as though
uncertain as to the
First moment learned act of breathing.
Mastering it, however, allowed a more
Gentle
rhythm for the rise and fall of
His young chest, though gills too fanned
The air, a birth-habit
too hard to lose.
The Winged-One, lying there, innocent
Among the fetid filth,
appeared not
To breath and yet the tortured wing did
Twitch and I understood, knowing not
Why, this being lived still
and had a
Spirit more extraordinary than any I
Had heretofore encountered or would.
I thought no more on it but scrambled
Down, first to the lad, comatose
But whole, and then to the other more
Perplexing soul. He must
have heard
Me and the broken wing swiftly rose
Revealing a face possessed of such a
Wondrous beauty it fair
took my breath
Away! I gawked,
yokel-like and fell,
Vertiginous, into the deepest of eyes.
Gold they were, full of love and wisdom.
I gasped and forced my senses to return.
As I reached down to raise him up
His hand reached mine and an electric
Charge ran through my
being entire!
He rose slow but strong, his wings
Closing somewhat crooked behind,
And reached down to lift the Lad, a
Move of extraordinary tenderness.
I hefted him, lad in his arms, and
With a strength I knew not that I
Possessed had them up on the track
And me alongside them in instants.
The Winged-One inspected with the
Greatest of care every fine feature of
The land around; forest in the most
Part but jollied up by a singing stream.
There too my faithful Tulpar stood,
Aysilu, her soft eyes filled with a high
Curiousity, her wings
aquiver, slight.
We had spoke not yet a single word
And so it was I gestured that he should
Ride with the lad and I would lead. He
Mounted with the ease of practice, boy
Held tight. Aysilu would
not take
Flight with any but me, and thus I
Walked and she, obedient, followed.
The Winged-One asked not where it was
We were going, satisfied, it seemed
To place their destiny in my hands.
So it was we trudged aside the cheery
Stream, twixt trees and shrub, bird
Call and the insect buzz accompanying
Us in the cooling sunlight.
The twins
Rose above the horizon, their gyre
Heralding the coming of dark, and I
Pressed on a little faster, desirous
Not to be out with my companions,
So vulnerable, when the Night Mares
Rose to dominate the hours ‘til dawn.
At last the clearing came in sight as I
Heard the first rustlings in the shadows,
And knowing us safe I turned and to
The Winged-One spake my first words.
“Welcome to my Fastness.
Here it is
That thou may in safety rest, tend to thy
Wounds and those of the lad.
Thou art
Under my protection and welcome.
My
Hearth and Hold are thine henceforth, if
It please thee, ‘til
such time as thou so
Wish to take thy leave, and that with
My assistance.” He smiled
his beatific
Smile which caressed my very soul
And with a voice more musical than
Ere music I had heard, and a bow of
The head he said just, “My thanks to
Thee and thine, and blessings be upon
Thee for your kindness.”
I nodded, a
Strange sense of being loved taking
Hold of me. I turned, perplexed,
and
Led Aysilu through the Great Doors
Opened by my Kinsmen, there guarding.
As they sealed behind us, safeguarding
Our safety, slid he from
the tulpar and
Now weary-weak, turned and passed
The lad to my care ere he dropped him.
“Thou hast within this, thy safe domain,
Perchance, a pool, a
pond or wide well?”
I told him that indeed
it was so and
Surmising his intent straightway took
Him to the great bath
house where the
Stream rose, refreshing each minute
The water therein. He
bade me then
To lay the lad in its embrace.
With
Caution I stepped then in, my kinsman
Jamet swiftly rescuing my long-gun,
Pistol and gutting knife from the rust.
As I lowered there the lad my eyes flew
Back and forth to the Winged-One.
He smiled again, again my soul rang.
“All will be well for him; fear not.
He needs that which he is most used
To, so be it that his body can mend.”
His countenance then took on a darker
Mien. “As to his mind, we
will know
Not until his body is restored, for his
Existence, over and again, be full of
Suffering beyond thy imagining.”
As I held the lad, now full-submerged
His gills developed a deep rhythm and
His eyes flew open, confused then so
Terror filled I gasped.
The Winged-One
Took his view and he near straightway
Tranquil. His eyes to me
returned and
As they closed he smiled.
Bid then to
Release him, content was I that he was
Safe. As I stepped forth
to dry, Jamet
Passing me towel and robe, a howling
Cacophony assailed our ears and alarm
Took the Winged-Ones eyes.
“What
Troubles thee?” I
asked. His gold eyes
Dropped once more
to the lad. “The
Hell-Hounds have found us yet again.
I have been sadly inept in the covering
Of our trail. They must
not harm thee
And thine. I shall take
the child and we
Will look to luck and my dear Master.”
I uncertain stared. “I know not thy Hell-
Hounds but they are not welcome here if
They disturb thee, or
indeed us. As to
Leaving, I think not.
They will not enter
In.” He shook
his head sadly and went
To fetch the lad from his sleep. I held
His arm and he turned, questioning.
“What
ere they be, the force-field will
Not give access.” Astonishment took
Him, almost comical it was to see. He
Turned straight to me.
“Thou sayest
‘Force field’?” I
nodded. “Aye, t’is
A necessity to deter the Night Mares
And sad mutant folk.” He
relaxed, the
Burden he had borne in his heart flying
From his exhausted frame, and silently
I, to a nearby chamber led him where he
Could take his rest.
There he smiled
Once more and fell down upon the bed,
Insensible, it seemed before his fair head
Had the pillow warmed, and thus he
And the lad rested for two whole cycles.
………………………………………....
As my guests slept thus my Kinsmen
And I prepared we our
defences, and for
Use of arms. I thoughtful,
ascended up
The winding steps within the Hold’s
Folly, as we had oft thought,
the old high
Tower, built by my great grandfather
When he first settled Free with
his small
Brigade of men at arms and constructed
With care, our Fastness,
building at the
First this fortification.
It was where I
Wouldst most oft choose when reflective
Thought held me
in its thrall. Now, I
Needs must upon
irony muse, for my
Great grandfather had no folly built!
As I stepped out once more, seeing anew
The High Tower’s battlemented parapet,
Second
Light had arisen and thus there
Was, crystal clear, a view of those who,
Menacing,
stood surrounding the force
Field and exterior walls of my ancient
Keep. Thus, also it was, I experienced
The ill-gifted and noxious odour, that of
Rotting flesh we warriors know so well.
‘Hell Hounds’ he had called them, the
Winged-One. Certes they were foul of
Aspect, well
matching their cloying and
Most sickly stench.
Like hounds of no
Type I had seen before; more wolves of
An horrific
sort, but larger by far. Many
Beyond the
counting lay, lifeless by the
Force field, oft piled several high, one
Corpse lying
upon foul remains of its
Fellows. A
myriad others stood, now
Silent, that being more disquieting than
Their prior tumult. More unsettling still
Was the way their numbers
grew on, no
Matter the magnitude of dead, and more,
Too, were prepared in
droves to perish
Thus against the flagging shield. Even
Spread they were now, around all the
Fastness, organised and directed like no
Wolves I had ever seen heretofore, on
Free or any of the planets I battled upon.
A team of our snipers, long guns slung at
Their backs, came too
from within the
High Tower. They unslung
and placed
Upon their weapons silencers and slid
Over the sighting eye a sight-screen,
that
Which identified, though not obvious
to
The human eye, targets where their
Leaders stood among that growing
Horde,
fed in real time analysis by the
Hold’s Central Processors. On mine
Command the triggers were squeezed
And wolves began to fall, the Kinsmen
Rapidly retargeting on others amongst
That most foul multitude. Swift it was,
The resultant chaos. The weird silence
And the organisation broke, with many
Of the creatures turning on each other;
Still more returned in haste to what poor
Cover the forest offered. As that select
Few were removed, so the
snipers turned
To other, random targets, encouraging a
Further flight and
chaos. As they fled
Many would find a
bullet’s embrace, not
Surcease, as they fell to the long guns of
Airborne Kinsmen
who had, used their
Tulsars, to fly high and just behind them.
As I climbed down the steps to order
Time for all to eat and take repose,
I Knew
we had not broken them, but it
Gave us and the force field some respite.
Would that the Mother-Ship were within
Hailing, but no! She was off out of the
System for replenishment of materiel.
Would, too, The Covenant allowed arms
Stronger than the long gun upon
the
Planet Free but it was not so. T’was
not
A good situation we were facing, under
Armed, under manned and under attack
From this growing and repulsive throng.
…………………………………………..
I found them thus, with my dear kinsman
Jamet, a platter and
such by their sides,
Well cleared as they sat, companionable
By the poolside. The precious
lad now
Looked fine rested and well, talking as
He was, with animation.
Jamet smiled
With tender affection, a fine warrior he,
But with a divinely spiritual heart and
Soul also. Whosoever he led would
Follow him into the
very entryway of the
Oft rumoured Planet Perdition. By his
Side sat the Winged-One, his battered
Wing somewhat straighter now. He it
Was
who turned immediate and alert as I
Entered.
Seeing no threat, he smiled the
Smile that warmed the soul. It fell away
To a more grim countenance as he
asked
Concerning the Hell Hounds. I told
it
True as was right and he o'er again said
He leave must with the lad and take
this
Danger away from our hearth and home.
I asked would his wings serve to hasten
His safe departure but he showed
that
One was broke straight through! As
I
Considered his control of pain he then
Asked if he could borrow my Aysilu and
It was my wretched task to explain that
Though he rode upon her as we walked
On,
she was bonded to me alone, as all
Our tulsars were so bonded, and they
Would
not carry off an outsider. I then
Clarified, “It is not hopeless, though
Their pack appears to continue
growing.
How be that so, for they are
none from
Our Free?” He frowned slight,
and then
Responded thus, “My friend, we are not
Of this time or place. In a situation most
Dire, in clear desperation
I slipped us
From that world of water to the place
Between the spheres, and
here we came.
My thought was that we
would be free
From the hunt a while, but it is not so
And we have visited now a
peril upon
Thy fastness. We needs must leave
and
Fall upon their foul Master’s unlikely
Mercy.” I told him straight he would not
Leave for I
had oath-sworn to safeguard
Him and the lad.
I then came up short,
My mind a jangle.
“What sayest thou?
Their Master?
Tell me of thus for it
Paints a picture that’s altogether new!”
…………………………………….........
T’was fortuitous indeed we had whisper
Packs aplenty with us,
brought down to
Service and to check their functionality.
We could, certes, have our tulsars rode
But
their wings spanned right wide and
Made the approach through the forest
Filled
with peril and noise. So it was we
Ten
in this chosen squad used out packs
And lay high above the wolves, awaiting
The
Winged-One’s step forth as bait, for
He confident was their Master wouldst
Come
hither and crow at his capture.
Were he
wrong, demise would rapid be!
The Great Doors now opened.
Slow
They were, to give the watchers time for
Expectation, and then the Winged-One
Stepped out, seemingly a body bag upon
His back. His voice pierced the silence.
“Go, tell he
who leads thee, I am come
To, make parley, for the Anointed One
Hath journeyed
on to higher realms and I
Needs must return him as proof and for
Honourable committal. After thy Master
Hast, careful, inspected my
sorry pack
For actuality, I will be his for whatever
Should please him, after
my dread task is
Undertaken and complete.
Make it so,
And tarry ye not, for I, Christóforos The
Carrier, have spoken with
heavy heart.”
As he spoke I heard a noise so familiar
And yet still it set my
nerves on edge.
I Kicked in the turbo on
the whisper pack
And plunged downward in desperation
Snatching up tight the Winged-One
just
Before a plasma bolt splashed where he
Had stood. It appeared thus then, that
The Hell Hound’s Master
knew naught
Of their interdiction absolute, or cared
Less! As I thus proceeded, my squad
Plummeted to
the weapon, only to see its
Controller take a bizarre movement, a
Half pace forward,
half to each side, and
Then disappear.
Their training was
More than fortunate indeed, for they
Their own turbos
fired and safe skyward
Fled, evading thus the shrapnel of the
Plasma gun as it,
with very great force,
Exploded, killing then countless of the
Noxious Hell-Hounds
in the periphery.
………………………………………..
The Winged-One looked at me, right
Stern. “My thanks, of course, are most
Profound, and
to you I will forever be
Indebted. The
Hell Hound’s Master is
Most serious in wanting my demise. I
Underestimated have, the impatience
And anger which must lie deep within.
That, indeed, or his fear of his overseer.
I needs must ask, though, since thou
Didst not thy tulpars use,
as I had wrong
Believed you would for
this futile
Operation, but used jet packs, why is it
Thou didst not offer them
to me and the
Child so we safe could have left thy fine
Hold? Surely they not so precious are!”
I smiled grimly. “Aye, it
occurred to me
So to do, for a soft moment, and then it
Was that I asked myself,
where wouldst
Thou safely go? Whatever
means thou
Utilised to get from the precious lad’s
World of water to here was
obvious not
In thy gift now or thou wouldst have
Thus departed. So it is thou wouldst
Remain here on Free, with the odious
Hell-Hounds
as companions in the kind
Light of day and Night Mares and sad
Mutants in the
hours of darkness. Now,
If the force
field fails, and almost certes,
Yeah it will, then with my finest of the
Warriors thou wilt depart one way or
Another whilst we here hold a rear-guard
Action which will bring them little joy.
The squad with thee will conceal and
Protect thee as best they can and
with a
Touch of luck and the good God’s grace
Thou wilt be taken to our
Mother-Ship
On her return from her procurement run.
There thou wilt be safe and they shall
Aid
thee in completing thy journey, safe.
It the best is I can think of.
What sayest
Thou? Speak not for
thyself, nor for me,
Speak for that which is more precious
Than all in this fastness,
if thou spake
True, and I believest that thou didst so
Do, and tell me that
this is not the way!”
The Winged-One, Christóforos, bowed
Low his head fleetingly and
then those
Eyes of gold upon me fell and I knew
Absolute, the ultimate sense of
being
Loved ere I couldst recollect in all my
Multitude of turns of my
being. There
Was no more the need to
discuss and he
Accompanied me, with the lad and a
Squad of 10 of my most wily fighters,
up
The Tower once more, where too their
Whisper packs Lay. We looked down
Upon the wall of the dead
beasts and
Knew the force field would fail ere long.
By the Great Doors stood my Kinsmen
With makeshift
explosives – acid and tar
Grenades to use when the doors fell and
The crush of
the beasts became impaled
Upon the stakes.
We expected thus to
Hold them there for some time at least, a
Bottle
neck blocked by their own dead.
As they strained
to enter. Too, warriors
In whisper packs
would rain death down
Upon them as our non-combatants and
Children fled into
our tunnels and away.
Other handmade forms of death awaited
Also, within the keep,
enough, certes, to
Purchase, though the cost be high, the
Time crucial for the
safe departure of
Christóforos, the most precious anointed
One and our folk, to
scatter across the
Forests to the labyrinthine deep caverns.
As all on the tower excepting me, drew
On their whisper packs,
the end seemed
To lie close by. The
force field flickered
A warning as a plasma weapon fired yet
Again from the
forest, and the hounds
Seemed to sense their time was nigh.
My Kinsmen sensed it too, and then the
Most remarkable
thing ever took place!
The weapon ceased firing and full chaos
Stalked triumphant
through the attacking
Horde! It took
some instants, tense they
Were, I can thee assure, until whatever
Was harrying the rear made disarray to
Those foremost
in the attack. All upon
The tower took
up their long guns and
Thus we poured death into the cruel
Horde, turning half
to go back while half
Attempted forward to flee. The force
Field no longer red-lined and we
saw
Then what had troubled them so, and
Were e’en now slaying cosmic numbers.
There, coming from the woodlands were
More
Night Mares than I could count.
Ridden,
they were, by mutants of every
Form and dimension, and there, walking
Calmly
amidst them through the turmoil
Came the Winged-Ones, each exquisite
Near, as the
broken winged Christóforos.
…………………………………………..
More than a century now has passed
Since that testing time. When the Hell
Hounds broke and ran,
disappearing
Back with their Master from whence
They came, our first task was
welcome
And, by God above, the most wondrous
Thing, a solemn Compact agreed
twixt
Hold and Mutes and Night Mares. No
More at odds, we would henceforth aid
Each other should there be some further
Undesirable
interlopers on Free. The
Passage of time has told of its success.
So too has it told of mine, for I have
Aged
not and my Kinsmen age most
Slow. Before
those dear Winged-Ones
Accompanied Christóforos and the holy
Lad back ere he
came from and where
Lay his dread destiny, an amulet was
Given to our Christóforos
and in but
Moments his wing was full restored and
He returned, I later learned,
to a form
Almost immortal and indestructible.
It was then as this host prepared to bid
Farewell he came and embraced me and
To me too gave an amulet. I wear it still
And know should I his
assistance need,
Christóforos will come and stand by my
Side, as it was mine
own honour so to
Stand by his. He swore,
too, that in the
Certain hour of my death he would come
To me and escort me at
the last to that
Place beyond this life where both Love
And Mystery dwell and
are unending.
Finally, though, an enigma for me still,
There was the lad. His name I learned
As these many years have
rolled by and
Christóforos has returned to my life to
Guide me and my brigade
to do battle
For his Master. The lad’s
name was
Emmanuel and it was, I believe, his
Gentle touch as he bade me farewell
Which made my amulet guard my body,
That ages not. Christóforos, will not
Say, merely smiling
his loving smile.
He is dead now, the dear lad, this many
Decades, it transpires,
but he knew it
Would ever be thus. And,
too, the lad is
Alive again! He is the
eternal Traveller,
Moving from realm to realm, crossing
All of times and spaces, giving his life of
Purity
as a sacrifice and template for all
Others who would see, to follow. I but
Poorly understand, though his guardian
And so oft companion Christóforos has
Occasional, made mention of his task,
But
I know this; there never was such a
Person in my long life who so radiated
Goodness
as the lad Emmanuel and my
Most enigmatic friend and occasional
Companion Christóforos. I still a simple
Warrior am, and most blessed. So be it!