He hits my face open-handed. It’s barely more than a slap and shouldn’t hurt me and yet?—
Bright, white light bursts from his palm, searing my cheek.
A shocked scream wrenches from me.
The scent of my own burning skin fills my chest and suddenly, I’m pulled back into the past when I faced my jailer’s light magic. He was a Sentinel—an elite angel capable of wielding the purest soul light. There aren’t many Sentinels, but their light can cause extreme damage to dark creatures.
My father shouldn’t be able to wield anything like soul light. His power stems from darkness.
It shouldn’t be possible. It can’t be possible!
But the danger is very real.
I need to move. I need to evade him. I need to retract my wings because they’re an awful liability, giving him more surface area to attack. Even as my scream tears from my throat, I’m trying to pull them in.
His other hand shoots out, grabbing at the disappearing tip of my right wing.
He manages to pluck two long feathers from it before I can fully retract it.
Pain bursts through me again, far more intense than I was expecting.
Holy fuck!I’ve never lost a feather. I didn’t think it would hurt so damn much.
Desperate to get out of his path, I spin to my left, my clawed right fist aiming for his chest as I whirl past. My intention is to push him away from me, but if I cut him in the process, so be it.
He angles his body at the last moment and my claws miss him by a hairsbreadth, slicing only through his shirt, shredding the material instead of his skin.
He doesn’t let go of my feathers to defend himself, keeping hold of them as I follow up with my left fist and then my right. I deliver a flurry of near-hits that sends him backpedaling across the room, evading me by what feels like a mere sliver each time.
My goal is to beat him backward, unbalance him, and unsettle him enough that I have a chance to get out of here.
I need to find the keeper, return to my panthers, and regroup. I have to come to terms with what I’ve learned and re-examine my path. I have a thousand questions, but I won’t get answers in this place.
But how can I escape if the only exit is high above me?
When Taiven and Lucian appeared, they dropped from the ceiling. Since I don’t see any other openings, it’s possible that the entrance is way up there. High,highup there. If I knew how to use my wings, that might not be a problem, but I don’t know if they’re even functional.
My father’s evasion takes him to the pedestal in the middle of the room, which he has to sidestep in his effort to avoid my next punch.
I anticipate his move to his left and drop to sweep my leg across the floor in an attempt to knock him down.
I picture him taking a few seconds to get back up, during which I’m sure I can make it to the side of the room.
Since I can’t be sure I can use my wings, I’ll use my claws to climb instead. After all, they can impale anything. I’ll ram them into the rock and use them as leverage to somehow make it to the top.
In response to my attempt to put him on his back, my father extends his wings. They catch the air and lift him from the danger of my sweeping leg.
Mywings might be a liability to me, but by the hottest fires of hell, he uses his wings to their full potential.
Twisting where I crouch, my hands planted on the floor, I extend my body and kick upward with my other leg.
This time, I connect.
The impact is lessened because he was already mostly out of my reach, but it knocks him a little off-balance.
I shove at the floor with my hands, leaping upward, using all of the strength in my arms, legs, and stomach to move in a flash, throwing myself through the air at him.
One more hit and I’ll knock him to the ground.
