Author's Note: Wheeeee big action sequence #3 (or is it #4?)! This was a fun scene to write, unlike the last one. Also, after this is where my Mikael sub-plot gets more important, both for this story and the sequel (yes, there will be a sequel). So please do pay attention. Enjoy!
: Gabrael's POV :
I met Carl, Anna and Mikael in the courtyard later that morning. Carl looked nervous and skittish (nothing unusual there, admittedly). Anna seemed pensieve and determined. And Mikael… she seemed pale and wan, and very tired, as if she hadn't slept at all last night. I looked at her worriedly, but she wouldn't meet my gaze, instead dropping her eyes to the ruby ring she twisted on her left hand.
Sighing, I turned to look at the two carriages, each pulled by six horses.
"Now listen, Carl, whatever you do, don't stare at him," I begged the friar.
I opened the carriage to reveal a snarling Frankenstein struggling against the iron chains and locks I'd put him in. Mikael crossed her arms and silently watched, mildly amused.
Carl quickly turned away. "I'm staring at him. Is that a man?"
"Actually, it's seven men. Parts of them, anyway," I said, winking at Mikael.
She looked away. I don't know why it hurt me so much that she was ignoring me. And I didn't want to go too deeply into it, for fear of what I'd discover about myself.
"Nothing is faster than Transylvanian horses, not even a werewolf," Anna said as we closed Carl and Frankenstien into a carriage. "Anything else, you're on your own."
She punched me in the arm and smiled wanly at Mikael, who weakly returned it. I furrowed my brow; I didn't understand why they didn't get along. Shaking my head, I followed Mikael over to the other, empty decoy carriage. Well, empty but for the stakes and explosives.
"Ladies first," I said, boosting her up.
She said nothing. I sighed; it was going to be a very long trip.
: Mikael's POV :
"Are we there yet?" I asked.
"No," Gabrael sighed.
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No. And before you ask, we're not there yet."
I paused for a moment.
"How about now?"
"Mikael!" Gabrael exclaimed.
"I'm bored!" I whined.
"Well, find some way to amuse yourself," he sighed.
I muttered to myself. It had been a long, boring and awkward two days. I found it impossible to look Gabrael in the eyes, to be alone with him like this. My secret knowledge made it hard to be around him. How sad; gaining the knowledge of how we'd known each other was supposed to bring us closer, not create this horrible awkwardness that I couldn't break and that he didn't understand.
"Humph… amuse myself," I mumbled.
I flipped myself back onto the roof of the carriage and lay on my back, looking up at the steely gray sky. It was one thing about Transylvania that part of me loved and the other half of me loathed; it was always gloomy. Very atmospheric. Wonderful if you're avoiding sun; terrible if you're trying to keep depression at bay.
I dangled a hand back over the carriage and played with Gabrael's hair. He swatted my hand away, annoyed.
"Are you trying to be as annoying as possible?" he asked testily.
"Depends," I shrugged. "Am I succeeding?"
"Too well," he grumbled.
"Good," I nodded. "And you know you love me."
As soon as the words left my mouth, I winced. If only…
My heart fell further when Gabrael snorted derisively. Damned cosmic reminder that he wasn't mine anymore…
Rolling my eyes, I left Gabrael to stew in his bad mood. Probably not very kind of me, since I had caused his bad mood, but I was in too much of a mood myself to try to lift his spirits. I looked back up at the sky, noticing not for the first time how quiet it was. The entire forest was shrouded in the unnatural stillness. No birds chirping, no animal making any noises; I swear even the wind wasn't blowing.
Moving as if on command, I lightly jumped back into my seat beside Gabrael, easily taking the reins from him as he grabbed his beloved crossbow.
The silence was shattered when Verona flew down out of nowhere and grabbed Gabrael and I, pulling us up into the air. She clutched me in her arms, and Gabrael by her foot. She held me at eye level, trancing me to ensure that I wouldn't fight her. Gabrael grabbed her wing as I fought the trance, reaching for the dagger in my boot. He jerked on her wing as I left a long cut along her collarbone (my hand slipped as I tried to slit her throat), and with a shriek she released us both.
I groaned slightly as I landed hard on one of the horses' backs. I shook my head to clear my senses and looked ahead. I stared, then calmly turned to look at Gabrael.
"Well," I said, inclining my head towards the broken bridge not 200 yards ahead of us, "isn't this an 'oh shit' moment."
We didn't glance at each other, but on Gabrael's command we stood up on the horses' backs and jumped onto each horse's back to get back to the carriage. Gabrael reached it first, then turned to grab me as I jumped. But just before I made it, Aleera swooped down and pushed us hard, knocking us off the carriage.
I fell back against the floorboard, hitting my head hard against the footrest. I pulled myself up, then gasped; Gabrael had been thrown down into the horses' harness, his head only inches from their pounding hooves. As he struggled to extricate himself, I looked ahead. I paled drastically as we approached the broken bridge at full speed.
The horses made a mighty leap and jumped over the chasm. I screamed as I was thrown into the air, then grabbed the luggage rack atop the carriage and held on for dear life, gasping in pain as my ribcage collided with the roof. I caught a glance of Gabrael, who was also airborne. He landed on one of the horses' backs just as they reached the other side of the ravine. The carriage snapped free of the harness, and it and I went plummeting down to the abyss.
"GABRAEL!!" I screamed as I fell.
I was terrified, well and truly afraid. For the first time ever, I was falling, and Gabrael wasn't there to catch me. A sense of my own mortality hit me for the first time. I was going to die…
And I'd never gotten to tell Gabrael I loved him.
I heard a great rush of wind and looked up to see Aleera and Verona flying down towards me.
"Save the monster!" Aleera screamed to Verona.
As Verona ripped open the carriage door, Aleera grabbed me and started flying up, saving me from death by collision. She looked down at me spitefully.
"This changes nothing, Mikael," she snarled. "I only saved you because my Master commanded it."
"And I'm only restraining myself from staking you because you're airborne and I don't want to die with you," I snapped, almost weak with relief at the fact that I wasn't dead.
Once we reached the top of the canyon, she threw me towards Gabrael and the horses. I yelped as I fell, but somehow managed to land in his lap, my legs draped over his. He wrapped his arms around me, letting the horses run on their own. Before I knew what was happening, his lips were on mine, our tongues entwined.
For a moment I let myself get lost in the kiss, to pretend that it meant something to him other than a mindless reaction. In that second, I silently told him everything- my relief that I was alive, my newfound fear that we could actually die here, my love for him.
We snapped out of it when we heard Verona's death shriek. Anna chose that moment to drive her carriage towards us so we could jump onto it. I jumped onto the roof; Gabrael sat next to Anna. I rolled my eyes in disgust. Oh, sure. Kiss me, then go back to flirting with Anna. Thanks a lot, Gabrael. Because that makes me feel really special.
I stiffened as I looked the werewolf in the eye.
"Heh… nice doggie…" I said.
The werewolf backhanded me across the face, sending me flying backwards. I knocked Anna and Gabrael over; they each fell to one side of the carriage, and I landed in the horses' harness (exactly the position Gabrael had been in about five minutes ago). I slid my feet under me and pushed up as hard as I could. The momentum vaulted me back up towards the seat. I clambered into the seat and grabbed the reins, keeping the horses steady as Anna and Gabrael were thrown onto the roof by Carl and Frankenstein. Gabrael knocked over one of the carriage's lanterns, setting the roof on fire.
"Well done, dipshit," I muttered.
We all grinned at each other- well, my grin was more a smirk- until we saw the werewolf climbing back onto the roof.
"JUMP!" Gabrael bellowed.
He pushed me none-too-gently off the seat as the werewolf lunged for me. I landed on the road, but there were dead leaves and fir branches to cushion my fall. Poor Anna didn't have that luxury… how sad (note my sarcasm). I heard two gunshots and the thump of Gabrael's landing somewhere near me before the darkness took me.
I woke up and rolled over, groaning. Oh my head…
I forced myself into a sitting position and looked around. The carriage was absolutely wrecked. Oh, perfect. The plan to get Frankenstein to Rome had just been shot to shit…
But I was alive and relatively unharmed, that was the important thing.
Which reminded me. Was I the only one who was alive and unharmed?
I stumbled through the trees, looking for the others, but instead came upon a man dressed only in tattered pants lying against a rock.
Prince Velkan.
I walked towards him, noticing the two gunshots in his chest. Gabrael had gotten him. On the one hand, good; no more werewolf to deal with. On the other hand, bad; Anna would not be pleased.
Velkan stared as I knelt beside him. "Are you… an angel?" he asked, gasping for breath.
I froze for a second before deciding to go with it. He didn't have long to live, and if the thought of an angel would bring him comfort, then an angel I would be.
"Yes, Velkan," I said softly, working hard to keep the accent out of my voice. "Where you are going, there is no more pain, and no more death. Only peace. You have earned your reward. You are going to rest."
"Will my family be there?" he asked.
I nodded. "All the generations of your family await you."
"Anna," he said suddenly, tugging weakly at my hand. "Promise me, Angel. Promise me that you will watch over her. Don't let her come to harm."
"I promise, Velkan," I said soothingly, lying through my teeth. "I will watch over her. Have no fear. Rest now."
I looked up as a disoriented Anna stumbled into the clearing. She fell down beside me, with eyes for nothing but her brother.
"Anna… forgive me," he gasped before he drew his last breath.
Tears filled Anna's eyes as she stroked her brother's cheek.
"I will see you again," she whispered.
I looked up to see Gabrael staggering towards us, clutching his shoulder and leaning against a tree in pain. I got up and ran to him, in relief and in fear of what injuries he'd suffered. Anna also ran to him, but not for the same reasons as I.
"You killed him. You killed him!" she screamed, hitting him.
"Now you know why they call me murderer," he gasped, flinching in pain.
I paled; Gabrael never revealed pain. If he was flinching…
Oh God. This wasn't good.
"Gabrael?" I asked, my voice faint. "What's wrong?"
He grabbed his chest, bending over in pain. Anna seized his trench and moved it aside, staring at the blood and holes in his sweater for a moment before backing away in horror.
"Oh my God. You've been bitten," she said softly.
I moved forward as if in a dream, not daring to believe my eyes. But there was no mistaking the large teeth marks on Gabrael's shoulder. I fingered the wound, watching it scab over under my touch, before looking up into his eyes.
"No," I whispered as I touched his cheek. "No. Not you. I don't want to kill you, Gabrael. I can't kill you! I need you!"
He wordlessly wrapped his arms around me as I broke down in tears, clinging to him.
Funny, how I'd never really noticed how much Gabrael had protected me, until this moment when I realized he wouldn't be able to do so any longer.
Two years of missions flashed before my eyes. Two years of my being needlessly reckless, of blithely skipping along through incredible danger, none of the risks registering to me, because I had him there. I'd known Gabrael would protect me, so what did I have to fear?
How incredibly stupid of me.
And now… now it was too late. I would lose Gabrael with the next full moon. Then what would I do? Could I handle a mission alone, when I didn't have him watching my back (and my sides and most likely my front too)?
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm so sorry, Gabrael."
I broke out of his arms a moment later and walked away blindly, tears obscuring my vision. I dimly heard Anna follow me as I walked into a ring of trees, but I ignored her.
Before I could react, Aleera appeared from behind a tree. She backhanded Anna, then turned to me.
The last thing I saw before passing out from her trance was her cold, red eyes…
