The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. I cleared my throat, ignoring the angels who were now all gawking at me. The Fallen Prince included.
“I suppose he can also be called Prince. Highness.” I lifted my eyes to Kaelthos, whose neck was turning dark shades of red. “Dogis a bit crass for a Farasee so esteemed, I think. Quazar is simplest.”
I shrugged, flicking my sandals over to lace them up. I finished and lifted my head to find Quazar’s gaze burning holes through me with a curious expression. There was a slight curl to his lips. His eyes danced with amusement.
Focus, Safah.
I remembered my family proverb.
Holy. To whatever end.
Even if it meant putting up with Kaelthos. Even if it meant obeying a tyrant. All the females before me did what they had to so they could Ascend. So would I.
I flexed my wings, gently wrapping six wings around the lifeless angels, one of them being Fallenspawn. How ironic we were all so different, but in death, the Hallowed and the Fallenspawn all felt the same as I held them in my wings. Theirbodies weighed me down. At most I’d only ever carried up to four angels as their bodies were brought to Papi for angelic embalming before their spirits were siphoned for filing.
“Don’t be ridiculous,”Quazar said down the bond.
I turned to him, just to see he’d put the waistcoat back on, picked up the other bodies with his wings, and had taken two Hallowed from my weight. I didn’t protest. I already felt so much lighter. Without a word, Farasee Kaelthos slipped out of the doors. Quazar and I followed him while everyone else quietly watched us leave.
Chapter 23
The journey from the wingtower to the wingyard was long, more winding than I thought possible on the Efysien Islet, and exhausting. We’d left the temple grounds completely, flying to a stretch of land that was one massive graveyard.
Tomb portals littered the cloudy floor. Most were closed of course since there were no visitors in this wingyard. Cloudy rivers snaked through the wingyard tumbling through cracks in the mountain base that made them fall like a waterfall made completely of iridescent clouds. Bushels of varying flora littered the ground throughout the tomb portals.
“Follow me,” Farasee Kaelthos said.
Quazar and I shared an uncomfortable glance. His face was rigid, set into a contortion of rage and something else I couldn’t put my finger on. I looked away, taking the lead in following Kaelthos. We flew through the wingyard, navigating to somewhere near the back. I couldn’t help but notice how there was still so much land. As if countless more deaths were expected, and more tomb portals would be going up. I frowned at the sight.
“Here are the tomb portals for the deceased angels.”
Kaelthos turned to us.
“Release the bodies so their spirits can be siphoned and their bodies burned by holy fire.” His golden eyes fell to me. “You’re chosen for Incense Order because we know this task is no new thing to you. You will do the spirit siphoning and you will hold onto their spirits until you reach the Spirit Filing Hall.”
I nodded. “Yes, Farasee.”
“You maybe begin.”
I gently laid the angels I’d carried down. Quazar laid those he’d carried down also. We kept the Hallowed together, and the Fallenspawn together. My body screamed for me to get mended, but there was nothing to be done about it now.
I pressed past my pain, my exhaustion, and focused. It was the least I could do. I closed my eyes. A holy hush fell over the wingyard. I thought about the angels, their lives cut short, and how eternally regretful I was that they lost their lives as collateral due to my own anger.
Tears burned the back of my eyes. Ifyused,letting my starry light fill the graveyard. I could sense both Kaelthos and Quazar staring at me intently, even with my eyes closed. I pushed them both far away, let my ethèr spread out over the nine bodies, as I said the prayer Papi taught me since he began training me in Spirit Filing.
“To the Infinite who is, was, and will always be, I commend these spirits. Both your Hallowed and Fallenspawn. For all things, there is a season, a time for all activities in the realms beyond Pasaille. A time arrives for us to be born, and also a time to die. You, Infinite, have made all things beautiful in their time, and placed the Ellelights in the hearts of your angels.”
A light breeze slipped into the quiet of the wingyard as I continued.
“Oh Infinite, let us be wise as the stars, and be taught to number our dawns, to never forget the vapor that is life, and thebrevity of our time in the realms. May we remember our dawns are mere sighs, breaths taken in one moment, and the ending gone in the next. All of us angels are shadows, and our coming and goings come to swift endings, though we live for an Age past another Age. Therefore, every wing of hope we contain, lies with you, forever at your feet.”
Tears streamed down my face unbidden as I continued the prayer to its finality.
“When we are in our darkest valleys, fear will never move us, because there you are, always beside us. Your scepter and crown protect, comfort, and guide us all. Infinite, we have full confidence your goodness and unfailing love will never stop pursuing us, each and every dawn of our lives, through the Ages. And we will forever be privileged to live in your house, all through the Ellelights, always and forever. Arèmen.”
Done with the prayer, I remainedfyused, flexing my hands over all the bodies. I released my starfire, first over their bodies, then into them, sifting and searching for their spirits. With all gentleness and care, I gently took hold of the hands of each angel’s spirit. Each spirit was thrumming and lively even though their physical bodies were dead.
Tenderly, I urged them out of the bodies, siphoning each spirit one by one. Holding onto my starfire, each spirit began siphoning from the bodies, slipping past hearts, souls, and all entrapments of angelic will. With one last gentle tug, I pulled all nine spirits out of their angelic bodies. They were each silhouettes of shining, golden light with ivory, luminescent eyes that blinked out at me.
