Chapter 21

Luce's dreams were plagued with thoughts of Penn being tortured and crying. With Luce unable to help. She woke up gasping for air more times then she could remember, but Cam was always there to soothe her and send her back to sleep.

When she awoke fully in the morning all her muscles were stiff from yesterdays training, and tired from such a broken night's sleep. She stretched and groaned feeling her arm muscles pull. Looking down she saw the bruises were starting to fully bloom over her arms.

"Good morning" Cam smiled, handing her a bottle of water. "Let's hurry up and get started on today's training, I want to make the most out of today".
Luce groaned in frustration, getting to her feet and stretching more. Now she understood what Cam was like to give orders.

Without warning Cam scooped her up mid-stretch making her scream, and kicked off the ground flying out the cave into the air.
"What are you doing?" Luce asked shocked.
"I told you we need to hurry" Cam gave her a cocky smile making her laugh.

They landed in a different location from yesterday. Cam didn't want to risk getting Luce upset over what happened last night.
"Ok Luce! We'll start off with more defence to refresh, then start attacking" Molly walked over to a rock to lean against.
"Did you see the arrow which almost hit Lucifer last night? It was glowing blue at the tip" Cam asked.

Luce winced thinking of Lucifer again, but nodded slowly.
"They're called starshots. They're the only weapon which can kill angels. Either that or chopping their heads off" Cam laughed at the thought, but it made Luce's stomach turn, she wasn't a violent person.
"So we're going to make you practise your aim" Molly was busy drawing on the side of the rock, what looked like a target board. Cam gave her a simple arrow to practise throwing, not a starshot as they were too precious.

"Try hit the target" Cam walked her quite a distance from the rock.
"Huh?" Luce couldn't see how anyone could hit the target from this distance.

Cam sighed jokingly. "Like this" Cam took the arrow out of Luce's hand. Gripping it tight, he positioned his body perfectly, then threw it towards the target with such force it penetrated the rock surface, right in the centre of the target.
"Woah!" Luce was shocked. "I can't throw like that!" Luce turned back to him in protested.
"Show me then" Cam smiled, leaning back on his heels.

Luce lifted another arrow Molly had handed to her, and threw it with all her strength. It didn't even reach the target, it fell to the floor in a pathetic fashion.

Molly burst out laughing and Luce turned bright red feeling stupid. Cam was obviously holding back a laugh too "Right" Cam said trying to compose himself. Putting his hand on Luce's shoulder he moved her closer to the target.
"Try now". He was still smirking at Luce.
She glared at him before throwing the arrow again, this time it hit the mountain but completely missed the target.

"Are you blind?" Molly said bluntly. Cam glared at her before positioning himself behind Luce. Handing her another arrow.
"Keep your eye on your target, and position your body like this" Cam placed his hands on her hips, turning her slightly at an angle towards the target.
Luce felt electricity go through the tips of his fingers up her body, making her smile. She could feel his breath on her neck, and felt the rise and fall of his chest.

"Concentrate on the target" Cam bent down near her ear, holding her arm with the arrow in, he held it in the correct position. Pulling Luce's arm back he threw it gently and Luce let go at exactly the right time. The arrow soared through the air and tapped the centre of the rock before falling to the ground.

Luce turned round and beamed at Cam, she was pleased, not only because she hit the target, but because of Cam's close proximity. "Now try it by yourself" Cam smiled.

Molly had sat down on a rock, twirling sticks between her hands watching them closely. Luce picked up another arrow, and threw it how Cam had taught her. It hit the target although not in the middle. Luce's spirits had picked up dramatically from how she was feeling this morning. What happened last night had been almost forgotten.

The rest of the day was long, similar to yesterday, Luce managed to get covered in bruises, although every time Molly hurt Luce Cam would step in and take over. Luce managed to watch Cam and Molly display their attacking and defence techniques. They were 100% better then Luce.
"What's up?" Cam noticed Luce's face drop after watching them.
"There's no way I'll get as good as you" Luce mumbled, playing with some twigs in her hand.
Molly smiled and looked at Cam. "We weren't expecting you to be like that, we're angels remember" Cam smiled at her.

By the time the sun was setting Luce was on her knee's breathing heavily. If possible today was more work then yesterday, but she knew it was teaching her how to attack the outcasts without the others help. She didn't want to feel like a burden to them.

"It's getting late, let's go back" Cam lifted Luce back to her feet and flew back with her. Luce was so exhausted she rested her head on Cams chests and closed her eyes. Before she knew it, Cam was softly asking her to wake up and they were at the cave.

While eating the rest of the sandwiches for tea, Luce sparked up a conversation with Molly and Cam.
"So how come if Ben and Sarah are archangels they're down here? I thought archangels were important?"
"There's different ranks." Cam explained between bites. "Sarah and Ben are quite low down. Although they can still visit the throne, but they're made to stay on earth".

"Mmmm" Luce mumbled, thinking of how the friends she thought they were had a completely different identity, and kept it secret for so long.
"The others should get here either during the night or tomorrow, then Daniel will tell us what to do next." Molly stated. She was starting to lie down on her blanket.

Luce looked uncomfortable and nervous.
Cam soon nudged her "What's wrong?"
"What if...Lucifer comes again while I'm asleep". Luce was fidgeting with her fingers.

Cam took her hands to stop her "Then we're here and we'll help" Cam smiled, but he knew it didn't comfort Luce. She simply nodded, with no change in her expression.
"If you want I'll stay up and talk?" Cam suggested and Luce quickly looked up at him.
"But you'll be tired".
Cam laughed "I'm an angel Luce, I can go a few days without sleep and it won't affect me". Luce felt stupid and she felt her cheeks getting hot. Trying to hide a blush she mumbled "ok".

The two continued talking for just past an hour, Luce finding out about Cam's past, and Cam describing how Luce's lifetimes comes around and what happens. This just made Luce's nerves worse, she didn't want to burst into flames, but Cam quickly reassured her things had changed this time.

Soon Luce began to feel tired. Her thoughts weren't working properly, and she leant her head on Cam shoulder while her eyes began to feel heavy.
Cam knew she needed sleep, and he'd stand over her while she did. He stroked her hair softly, encouraging her to sleep. Soon he saw Luce's body go slack, and peering over saw she was asleep.

Lowering her under her blankets carefully, Cam got prepared to stay watch for the night. Molly was lying down, although Cam knew she wasn't sleeping, just resting her muscles, she would be up and ready at the slightest alarm.

Hearing a sound outside the cave Cam stood up alert, quickly followed by Molly, getting into a position ready to attack, in flew Roland, Gabbe and Sarah.
"Well that was a journey I don't want to go on again anytime soon" Sarah stretched her wings and sat on the floor. Quickly followed by Gabbe who grabbed a water bottle from Molly.

"Welcome back. How'd it go?" Molly asked Roland who gave a faint smile.
"Good. Gabbe's got the sceptre. Ran into some outcasts on the way back, but we dealt with them. How were things here?" Roland replied.
"Lucifer visited Luce again" Cam interrupted, and Gabbe, Sarah and Roland's eyes all went wide with shock.
"What?! What happened?!"
"Luckily Daniel turned up and scared him off" Molly responded. "And we've trained Luce well, although I wouldn't trust her to fight on her own". Cam glared at Molly for this comment, how patronising.

Just at that moment Cam heard another whoosh outside. Expecting Daniel and the others to fly in, he relaxed and waited for them to land in the cave.
But they never came.
Peering over the edge, he saw about 30 black silhouettes of outcasts, hovering outside the cave.
"Damn" Cam cursed.