Angelic Faith
By
A. Scott Campbell
Anya Petrova huddled against the cold night of the Afghanistan badlands. Dust and the smell of the animal pens at the edge of the village assaulted her nostrils as she tried to cover her face with a shawl. She shuffled into the Church and placed her back against the wooden doors. She fought back trembling as she thought of the LeTrois. The thought of his hands inside her clothes and his lips upon her brought tears to her eyes. She moved toward the alter and fell to her knees before Christ. She thought of better days when Yuri had been alive. He had been a handsome, Soviet officer who kept her safe and protected her. Anya had always had someone to protect her. Yuri and her father had both protected her, and once even an Angel.
*******************
Anya was a child. She was playing near the hills where the sheep were herded when a group of men had come walking from the north. She had crept up upon these oddities wishing to study them. The men seemed to be arguing talking loudly and pointing at one another fiercely. Their unintelligible words accompanied by flying spittle and out flung arms. Curious Anya crept forward to see better their odd clothes and listen to their language. She heard a few words she recognized like "Soviets" and "missiles" but otherwise the strangers were speaking an alien language and as children are wont to do Anya became more and more curious.
That was when the hands grabbed her, dragging her into the open from the bushes in which she had hidden. The men were startled at first then began laughing at the kicking and screaming young girl. The largest one yelled at her then when she simply screamed, raised his hand and struck her till she was silent. Anya lay on the ground in pain while the men began setting up a rough campsite. One of them kicked her in the ribs till she rolled over to a large rock to be bound. The men seemed to be nervous as night fell watching the hills and skies. Anya supposed them to be hiding from the Soviets. Anya watched as they made a small fire and cooked food for themselves, never offering any to the young girl. Mouth watering she prayed for deliverance.
Anya cried quietly wishing for her dead poppa and thinking of her mother worrying at home. Then she saw the troll. A small but thick man no more than Anya's height was squatting in the bushes watching. When he saw her looking he smiled at her from his misshapen gray skinned face exposing his few crooked teeth. Then he held his finger to his lips shushing her. The little creature amazed Anya and her eyes grew wide, she hastily looked away when one of the men from the camp saw her reaction. The man gazed at the space she was looking at, but the little troll had disappeared. The man came over to her, his western features red. He shouted his gibberish at her and when she could only gaze uncomprehendingly at him, he struck her. Anya's eye swelled. The man raised his hand again his eyes glossy from anger, preparing to strike her again.
That was when the Angel arrived to help Anya, surely sent from Heaven he dropped from the sky and grabbed the man's wrist. He was garbed as a Knight, all metal and crosses. As he raised his sword it burst into flames, just as the priest had always told Anya an Angel's sword would. The flaming sword pierced the man's breast as the Angel drove its point forward. The flames ignited the man and sent him screaming to Judgment. The other men were screaming and the Angel dropped the sinner in his grasp. The rest were doomed. The Angel moved faster than any human and could leap into the air and be upon them with his flaming sword before they could even bring their weapons to bear. Moments later the men lay dead about the campsite and the Angel looked at Anya. Anya feared him. She had not said her prayers dutifully last night and Angels were agents of Heaven's retribution, her Mother had said.
The Angel moved toward Anya sheathing his flaming sword. He untied her quickly and with hands surprisingly gentle despite being encased in armor he lifted her to his breast and burst into motion toward Anya's village. Anya was amazed that though she was moving more quickly than she ever had she was not jolted or tossed about. Looking at the Angel again she could see some features behind his faceplate this close and saw startlingly beautiful ice blue eyes. Upon reaching the village he ran straight to Anya's home. This amazed her at first till she thought about the lessons the priest had taught her. An agent of Heaven would know all. Anya was filled with a peace and Faith she had never experienced at that moment. Surely this was proof that Heaven looked after even its wayward children. Her mother accepted Anya back with tears in her eyes.
Anya stood amazed as the Angel removed his helmet and revealed his perfect features and blond hair. So rare in this part of the world. He spoke to them then. "The blessings of St. Dumas are upon you both. Know that Azrael has punished those defying His will, and that of His Order. Know that your service to the Order is known and rewarded." With that the Angel donned his helm and moved out of the home as rapidly as he had entered.
Though she moved as quickly as she could to the door she didn't seea trace of the Angel as he had moved on his way back to Heaven. Anya began visiting the Church daily after that and the priest taught her as much as he could of the Faith. He had never heard of a Saint named Dumas but had told her Azrael was the angel of Death and had been quite angry to hear that Anya claimed to be saved by such a being. He called it blasphemy and punished her for saying it. Anya held the truth in her heart after that, not speaking it anymore, just learning of Heaven and holding her bit of Faith in her own heart...
*************************
Anya sat in the Church before Christ and prayed for deliverance once again from strangers from the West. LeTrois had moved here selling his guns, after the Soviets were no more. The rebels came to town and bought them, making LeTrois a wealthy man, and thus a powerful one in the little village. Everyone called him The Frenchman and he ruled this little village as his own kingdom. He had set his eyes upon Anya lately. LeTrois was determined to use her as he had the other women that caught his eye. Anya spurned his advances, missing her Yuri and continuing to wear the white mourning dress as she attended the Daily Mass. She still lit candles in Yuri's memory.
Yuri had left Anya enough money that she had not had to work other than her own garden for the rest of her years. Though she was only in her late twenties lives did not last long in this part of the world and she was provided for in her simple lifestyle. LeTrois tried gifts and invitations, which were returned or spurned. The local priest even suffered a savage beating explaining the mourning garb to LeTrois and refused to speak on it further. Tonight LeTrois and his men had caught Anya on the streets and pulled her into an alley where LeTrois had torn open her clothes and groped her, promising her that she would be his even as she spit in his face. Anya had stumbled into her only haven, the Church. She kneeled feeling her eye swell as it had all those years ago when she was a child. She prayed for another Angel. She knew the vanity of presuming she was worthy of such a gift twice in her life, but she needed succor from above as the mortal realm had failed her. The hot tears on her face spoke her need and her clasped hands and bowed head her humility as the candle before her carried her entreaties to Heaven. LeTrois would find her soon. She left her problems in the hands of Heaven to decide as her Faith demanded.
Anya heard LeTrois and his men approaching from outside laughing and talking of her body crudely. Anya remained still though her heart hammered. She was determined to keep the tenets of her Faith and place her trust in Heaven. The doors behind her were kicked open and slammed loudly against the wall.
"So my little Anya, still you cling to your religion?" LeTrois said "Your Soviet husband would not have approved I think."
His men guffawed at this mockery as they moved into the church. They stood grinning as LeTrois walked toward Anya. "The truth, my dear, is that I am God in this village and you'd be better rewarded submitting to me."
This blasphemy spoken in a holy place caused Anya's lips to tighten and her face to pale. "You mock God in His House?" Righteous indignation colored Anya's question.
"Blasphemer." The words were spoken from the doorway of the church. They all looked toward the doorway. He was a vision in red and gold holding a blazing longsword. The Angel she had prayed for had arrived.
"Your foul business brought me here LeTrois, but I will gladly punish your blasphemy as well." The figure leapt upward and LeTrois' minions opened fire, sending chips of granite flying from the walls surrounding the doorway. The blazing sword darted at inhuman speed slicing guns in half as the Angel's fists sent the men flying, unconscious about the church. In moments, only LeTrois, Anya and the Angel stood in the church. The Angel sheathed his sword and walked toward the pale LeTrois as he scampered toward the door scrambling for his gun. LeTrois pulled out the handgun and fired four shots into the Angel's chest and Anya screamed.
The Angel stopped momentarily grunting in pain then quickened his pace to a run and hoisted LeTrois aloft. "Your weapons kill children in the streets of America, they perpetuate unjust crusades, they comfort the unrighteous!" The Angel flung LeTrois out the doorway and onto the dirt outside. The Angel pounced upon him "No More!" He grabbed LeTrois' and forced his face toward the blazing compound he had once called home. LeTrois' remaining men fled the blazing ruins screaming of the wrath of God. The fear and anguish on LeTrois' face gladdened Anya as she watched. Then the Angels fist descended and brought unconsciousness to him. The Angel hoisted LeTrois up and over his shoulder as the villagers peeked out of their windows in awestruck silence. The Angel turned back toward the church and faced Anya who was weeping tears of joy and Faith.
"Know that Azrael has punished this man for his deeds." The Angel spoke and Anya's heart leapt, his garb had changed but the Angel had not, "Know that all injustices will be noticed. Know that you need not fear evil."
With those words the Angel leapt into the darkness and was gone.
*******************************
The next day, men from an American corporation arrived. Their employer, a Mr. Wayne, had sent them. They repaired the damage to the church and cleaned up the remains of LeTrois' compound. In it's place a school and library for the village were built. A teacher from the Wayne Foundation arrived within the week and began classes for all who were interested. Anya watched the work proceed and daily prayed her thanks for Angels and the Providence of Heaven. Anya noticed others from the village joining her more often in prayer and several of them signed up for classes at the new school including some of the bruised local men that had been employed by Letrois. Her Faith had been rewarded and Anya was often comforted by her Faith as the village grew and the school made a better future for her and her neighbors. She often told stories to the children during festivals of the Angel Azrael and how he had come to save her twice through her Faith. Her final thoughts in life while praying many years later were of the Angel and his ice blue eyes.
The people of the village honored her death by renaming the church. Weeping over the old woman in Our Lady of Angels they paid their respects to Anya who had been watched over by Angels
By
A. Scott Campbell
Anya Petrova huddled against the cold night of the Afghanistan badlands. Dust and the smell of the animal pens at the edge of the village assaulted her nostrils as she tried to cover her face with a shawl. She shuffled into the Church and placed her back against the wooden doors. She fought back trembling as she thought of the LeTrois. The thought of his hands inside her clothes and his lips upon her brought tears to her eyes. She moved toward the alter and fell to her knees before Christ. She thought of better days when Yuri had been alive. He had been a handsome, Soviet officer who kept her safe and protected her. Anya had always had someone to protect her. Yuri and her father had both protected her, and once even an Angel.
*******************
Anya was a child. She was playing near the hills where the sheep were herded when a group of men had come walking from the north. She had crept up upon these oddities wishing to study them. The men seemed to be arguing talking loudly and pointing at one another fiercely. Their unintelligible words accompanied by flying spittle and out flung arms. Curious Anya crept forward to see better their odd clothes and listen to their language. She heard a few words she recognized like "Soviets" and "missiles" but otherwise the strangers were speaking an alien language and as children are wont to do Anya became more and more curious.
That was when the hands grabbed her, dragging her into the open from the bushes in which she had hidden. The men were startled at first then began laughing at the kicking and screaming young girl. The largest one yelled at her then when she simply screamed, raised his hand and struck her till she was silent. Anya lay on the ground in pain while the men began setting up a rough campsite. One of them kicked her in the ribs till she rolled over to a large rock to be bound. The men seemed to be nervous as night fell watching the hills and skies. Anya supposed them to be hiding from the Soviets. Anya watched as they made a small fire and cooked food for themselves, never offering any to the young girl. Mouth watering she prayed for deliverance.
Anya cried quietly wishing for her dead poppa and thinking of her mother worrying at home. Then she saw the troll. A small but thick man no more than Anya's height was squatting in the bushes watching. When he saw her looking he smiled at her from his misshapen gray skinned face exposing his few crooked teeth. Then he held his finger to his lips shushing her. The little creature amazed Anya and her eyes grew wide, she hastily looked away when one of the men from the camp saw her reaction. The man gazed at the space she was looking at, but the little troll had disappeared. The man came over to her, his western features red. He shouted his gibberish at her and when she could only gaze uncomprehendingly at him, he struck her. Anya's eye swelled. The man raised his hand again his eyes glossy from anger, preparing to strike her again.
That was when the Angel arrived to help Anya, surely sent from Heaven he dropped from the sky and grabbed the man's wrist. He was garbed as a Knight, all metal and crosses. As he raised his sword it burst into flames, just as the priest had always told Anya an Angel's sword would. The flaming sword pierced the man's breast as the Angel drove its point forward. The flames ignited the man and sent him screaming to Judgment. The other men were screaming and the Angel dropped the sinner in his grasp. The rest were doomed. The Angel moved faster than any human and could leap into the air and be upon them with his flaming sword before they could even bring their weapons to bear. Moments later the men lay dead about the campsite and the Angel looked at Anya. Anya feared him. She had not said her prayers dutifully last night and Angels were agents of Heaven's retribution, her Mother had said.
The Angel moved toward Anya sheathing his flaming sword. He untied her quickly and with hands surprisingly gentle despite being encased in armor he lifted her to his breast and burst into motion toward Anya's village. Anya was amazed that though she was moving more quickly than she ever had she was not jolted or tossed about. Looking at the Angel again she could see some features behind his faceplate this close and saw startlingly beautiful ice blue eyes. Upon reaching the village he ran straight to Anya's home. This amazed her at first till she thought about the lessons the priest had taught her. An agent of Heaven would know all. Anya was filled with a peace and Faith she had never experienced at that moment. Surely this was proof that Heaven looked after even its wayward children. Her mother accepted Anya back with tears in her eyes.
Anya stood amazed as the Angel removed his helmet and revealed his perfect features and blond hair. So rare in this part of the world. He spoke to them then. "The blessings of St. Dumas are upon you both. Know that Azrael has punished those defying His will, and that of His Order. Know that your service to the Order is known and rewarded." With that the Angel donned his helm and moved out of the home as rapidly as he had entered.
Though she moved as quickly as she could to the door she didn't seea trace of the Angel as he had moved on his way back to Heaven. Anya began visiting the Church daily after that and the priest taught her as much as he could of the Faith. He had never heard of a Saint named Dumas but had told her Azrael was the angel of Death and had been quite angry to hear that Anya claimed to be saved by such a being. He called it blasphemy and punished her for saying it. Anya held the truth in her heart after that, not speaking it anymore, just learning of Heaven and holding her bit of Faith in her own heart...
*************************
Anya sat in the Church before Christ and prayed for deliverance once again from strangers from the West. LeTrois had moved here selling his guns, after the Soviets were no more. The rebels came to town and bought them, making LeTrois a wealthy man, and thus a powerful one in the little village. Everyone called him The Frenchman and he ruled this little village as his own kingdom. He had set his eyes upon Anya lately. LeTrois was determined to use her as he had the other women that caught his eye. Anya spurned his advances, missing her Yuri and continuing to wear the white mourning dress as she attended the Daily Mass. She still lit candles in Yuri's memory.
Yuri had left Anya enough money that she had not had to work other than her own garden for the rest of her years. Though she was only in her late twenties lives did not last long in this part of the world and she was provided for in her simple lifestyle. LeTrois tried gifts and invitations, which were returned or spurned. The local priest even suffered a savage beating explaining the mourning garb to LeTrois and refused to speak on it further. Tonight LeTrois and his men had caught Anya on the streets and pulled her into an alley where LeTrois had torn open her clothes and groped her, promising her that she would be his even as she spit in his face. Anya had stumbled into her only haven, the Church. She kneeled feeling her eye swell as it had all those years ago when she was a child. She prayed for another Angel. She knew the vanity of presuming she was worthy of such a gift twice in her life, but she needed succor from above as the mortal realm had failed her. The hot tears on her face spoke her need and her clasped hands and bowed head her humility as the candle before her carried her entreaties to Heaven. LeTrois would find her soon. She left her problems in the hands of Heaven to decide as her Faith demanded.
Anya heard LeTrois and his men approaching from outside laughing and talking of her body crudely. Anya remained still though her heart hammered. She was determined to keep the tenets of her Faith and place her trust in Heaven. The doors behind her were kicked open and slammed loudly against the wall.
"So my little Anya, still you cling to your religion?" LeTrois said "Your Soviet husband would not have approved I think."
His men guffawed at this mockery as they moved into the church. They stood grinning as LeTrois walked toward Anya. "The truth, my dear, is that I am God in this village and you'd be better rewarded submitting to me."
This blasphemy spoken in a holy place caused Anya's lips to tighten and her face to pale. "You mock God in His House?" Righteous indignation colored Anya's question.
"Blasphemer." The words were spoken from the doorway of the church. They all looked toward the doorway. He was a vision in red and gold holding a blazing longsword. The Angel she had prayed for had arrived.
"Your foul business brought me here LeTrois, but I will gladly punish your blasphemy as well." The figure leapt upward and LeTrois' minions opened fire, sending chips of granite flying from the walls surrounding the doorway. The blazing sword darted at inhuman speed slicing guns in half as the Angel's fists sent the men flying, unconscious about the church. In moments, only LeTrois, Anya and the Angel stood in the church. The Angel sheathed his sword and walked toward the pale LeTrois as he scampered toward the door scrambling for his gun. LeTrois pulled out the handgun and fired four shots into the Angel's chest and Anya screamed.
The Angel stopped momentarily grunting in pain then quickened his pace to a run and hoisted LeTrois aloft. "Your weapons kill children in the streets of America, they perpetuate unjust crusades, they comfort the unrighteous!" The Angel flung LeTrois out the doorway and onto the dirt outside. The Angel pounced upon him "No More!" He grabbed LeTrois' and forced his face toward the blazing compound he had once called home. LeTrois' remaining men fled the blazing ruins screaming of the wrath of God. The fear and anguish on LeTrois' face gladdened Anya as she watched. Then the Angels fist descended and brought unconsciousness to him. The Angel hoisted LeTrois up and over his shoulder as the villagers peeked out of their windows in awestruck silence. The Angel turned back toward the church and faced Anya who was weeping tears of joy and Faith.
"Know that Azrael has punished this man for his deeds." The Angel spoke and Anya's heart leapt, his garb had changed but the Angel had not, "Know that all injustices will be noticed. Know that you need not fear evil."
With those words the Angel leapt into the darkness and was gone.
*******************************
The next day, men from an American corporation arrived. Their employer, a Mr. Wayne, had sent them. They repaired the damage to the church and cleaned up the remains of LeTrois' compound. In it's place a school and library for the village were built. A teacher from the Wayne Foundation arrived within the week and began classes for all who were interested. Anya watched the work proceed and daily prayed her thanks for Angels and the Providence of Heaven. Anya noticed others from the village joining her more often in prayer and several of them signed up for classes at the new school including some of the bruised local men that had been employed by Letrois. Her Faith had been rewarded and Anya was often comforted by her Faith as the village grew and the school made a better future for her and her neighbors. She often told stories to the children during festivals of the Angel Azrael and how he had come to save her twice through her Faith. Her final thoughts in life while praying many years later were of the Angel and his ice blue eyes.
The people of the village honored her death by renaming the church. Weeping over the old woman in Our Lady of Angels they paid their respects to Anya who had been watched over by Angels