Finding Heathcliff

Thirty

It didn't take long before Astrid-- her breathing quickened, feet tickling strangely, the knuckles of her hands gripping the waist-high edge of the wicker basket as she fought the anxiety brought on by the new, unexpected experience-- spotted the sea stretching on the horizon.

Forcing herself to douse the nervousness before it would spread like wildfire within her mind, devouring her entirely, she let her eyes caress the wonderful world lying beneath her. Lush green meadows morphed into vast, treeless moors and marshes framed by the boundless, moving, mesmerising blueness of the sea as they sailed on the wind, and soon Rigel and Orion's conversation became only a whisper in the background of Astrid's thoughts.

"No, my lord, it's impossible to really steer the balloon," she heard Rigel explain, "we rely entirely upon the direction of the wind. We can gain altitude by throwing away these sandbags and descend by lowering the flame..."

Astrid stopped listening to them entirely when her mind, on its own volition, made her recall the scent of burning incense she had caught in the air before, while they had stood in front of Rigel's cottage; the thought pulling out the memory of her dream.

Don't trust your demon...

As on cue, several more of the multitude of images which Jophiel's Stella had showed her trickled to the forefront of her mind unbidden, overlaying the countryside she was looking at.

She smiled at the men who were still talking excitedly about flying, so they wouldn't worry about her as she sat down in the large basket at their feet, her back against its side, and closed her eyes, faking tiredness, to better focus on the memories.

Stella's voice accompanied the flashes of the past, playing against her eyelids. Through the few well chosen images, Astrid could perceive Stella and Jophiel's love as a force that took her breath away, the love of an angel for a girl who was not entirely human, but not angel enough, a forbidden love that had cost Jophiel his wings.

"When angels fall in love, and their love is requited, it lasts forever... I can see an angel in your life, too, Princess... You are not who you think you are, don't trust the demons surrounding you..." Stella's words spun into a whirlwind in Astrid's mind again, impossible to follow or understand, and she couldn't recall any of them when Orion shook her arm gently some time later, rousing her from sleep.

"You'll never sleep tonight if you spend the whole day sleeping," he smiled. "Come, let us stretch and have a bite to eat before we take off again."

He pulled her to her feet, bestowing a kiss on her lips, making her notice that she had missed both the flight and the landing.

Exactly as expected, the hot air balloon carrying its three passengers appeared in the sky above the Land's End promontory in the late afternoon of the third day after it left Vega.

Despite himself, Azrael sighed with relief. He didn't like one bit that the girl was here, but at least now she would be close to him, and he could watch over her better. The last two nights when the demon never left her alone had been infinite, he didn't think he could handle another one of those...

He frowned when Ramiel's voice reached him from behind the jagged, wide column of rocks nearly as black as his cloak where he was hiding from view of the girl in the balloon-- he still found it unnerving how she could see him even when no one else could.

"From an angel of death, you degraded yourself to a mere guardian, Azrael," Ramiel commented, chuckling.

"You were supposed to be keeping an eye on our prisoners," Azrael said, the cloak billowing around him as if it wanted to join the balloon floating in the sky. The wind was too strong. They would never manage to land on the promontory without his help.

"The men are harmless, all calm and on their best behaviour, after the wonderful display of your powers," Ramiel chuckled again, then his voice turned serious. "I allowed them to bury their companion in the sea."

Azrael nodded. "I know you regret having killed him, but he attacked you first, you only defended yourself, Ramiel. And his death brings you one step closer to Heaven..." He let his words trail off as he shrugged. It also brought them all one step closer to another war; they both knew it.

Ramiel shook his head, trying to remain serious, but his voice cracked with laughter as he said, "And you expect me to leave you here alone, brother? First, I need to see you settled and happy, it's high time you found a wom..."

"Be quiet, Ramiel, do yourself a favour," Azrael snapped.

He flew from his hideout to the top of the promontory-- a flat tongue of dark rock protruding into the sea, with the entrance to the pit at its tip. There was no point in hiding anymore; the balloon was approaching them, or rather hurtling towards the sea, fast.

Ramiel reached him a split second later. "Hmm, will you really let them fall into the waves? I would give anything to see the demon drown, but the water might be too cold for our little queenie." Ramiel looked at Azrael, eyebrows raised in curious expectation.

Ignoring him, Azrael spread his arms towards the balloon, which wasn't flying anymore, but rather precipitating towards the cold water, whipped into trembling, blue-green foam where the tall waves crashed against the jagged cliffs. The tiniest motion of his fingers caused a sudden change in the wind. The air around the promontory stilled for a few instants before the wind picked up again, but not before Azrael caught an invisible hold on the balloon and pulled it towards safety, despite the wind that tried to tear it from his grasp.

"That was astounding, as always, Azrael. Now let's have some fun," Ramiel laughed, watching the balloon land smoothly, the colourful envelope collapsing to the ground with an elegance of a wilted flower a few metres from them, magically impervious to the wind that should have blown it into the water. "Here comes trouble."

The two angels stood perfectly still, their cloaks billowing around them like black wings, as they observed Astrid, whose eyes had been glued to them for a long while, clamber out of the basket and make her way towards them, before her two companions could collect their wits and follow her.