Homecoming
by Damien Hunt

Sosthriel sat upon the ledge, his bare feet dangling over the edge and over the thousands of feet to the rocky ground below, but the Engel held no fear of the heights of the grand Angelitic tower, his home. Majestic wings folded across the broad strong back of the divine being as he continued to sit in quiet contemplation so far above the earth. He tried, yet could still find no memory of Heaven or the Lord above. There was something, something important, that sat unknown within his mind. He could feel it, yet could not pluck it free of the emptiness of his memories. Waking up in his room within the Himmel, the Nonnus standing there with a warm smile upon his face as he softly explained how the Lord above had sent him to earth to serve the faithful of the Angelitic Church. The Nonnus, a priest of the Church, would become the trainer and personal confessor for Sosthriel as he adjusted to his earthly presence and duties. Before that moment, nothing but darkness and the lingering sensation that hidden deep within that darkness was something more, something he missed terribly.

The sound of wings brought Sosthriel’s attention back from the nagging questions his absent memories had plagued him with. Another Engel landed lightly on the same ledge and sat down, looking upon Sosthriel with a friendly smile. He was wearing the same spotless white robes as Sosthriel, bound in strips of cloth inked with prayers and blessings to keep the holy Engel safe from harm and his left shoulder covered by a light shield portraying the healing hand of the Raphaelites order. Beneath the robe he wore nothing else, barefoot, chest, back and shoulders bare accept for the stark lines of the order’s mystical God given tattoo’s, the Signum. The only difference that could be found between the two Engel facing each other would be in their faces. Sosthriel’s face was serious, slightly distracted and framed by the messy locks of his unkept light silvery hair. In contrast to Sosthriel, the other’s face wore a pleasant smile as if all was well in the world, without concern or care of anything and the same light silvery hair was longer than Sosthriel’s, kept neatly combed back and bound in a small strip of votive-cloth bearing yet another prayer for his well being.

“What do you want Abriel?”

He didn’t look too surprised with Sosthriel’s blunt question, just smiled a little more and settled comfortably on the narrow ledge as if he was going to be staying a while. The stoic look on Sosthriel’s face soured into an annoyed frown.

“The Ab wishes to speak with you,” his voice was light and airy, almost a song as he spoke, “best hurry, he did not seem all too pleased.”

Without replying, the angered Engel lifted from the ledge, wings spreading out to take hold of the air and carry the Engel down to one of the hundreds of balconies waiting to admit the Engel to the inner sanctum of their home. Sosthriel entered, the other Raphaelites giving him a wide berth as they, his peaceful brethren order of healers, were unaccustomed to the temper that Sosthriel tended to display. The Ab’s office was not hard to find, every soul in the huge Himmel knew where the order’s Principal could be found, though few ever had the pleasure of admittance to the office. Sosthriel’s annoyance with the whimsical Abriel faded from his face. Though mortal, the Ab was among a handful of souls on earth who spoke to the Archangels to receive the revelation of God’s will. Sosthriel, nor any other Engel had ever seen the Archangel Raphael, only the Ab. The doors opened to admit the small, almost childlike Engel, who stepped forth to the Ab’s summons.
The room was cluttered with books, tables overflowing with papers and maps and many other things that made no sense to the Engel. Not that he cared, his attention was focused on the robed man before him, bearing the regal presence of a man of the lord and looking upon the Engel with grey eyes heavy with the weight of the will of the Lord Above. He smiled as the divine creature entered his office, waved the other priests away and waited for the doors to close after the others departed.

“Good day Sosthriel, please make yourself comfortable.”

He did so, sitting down on one of the couches, perched on the edge of it so that his wings might have room to remain comfortably folded across his back. He stayed silent, nodding in thanks and waiting to hear the word of the Ab. There was a queasiness within him, an uneasiness and perhaps even a bit of anticipation. Too many questions had plagued Sosthriel for too long, questions with no answers and here was one of the few people who might be able to gain him those answers.

“You have served your order, your church and your Lord well Sosthriel,” there was a strange kind of disappointment in his mellow aged, but wise voice, a disappointment that made Sosthriel even more uneasy, “and your prayers have not gone unheard.”

The man stood then and walked over to the Engel and knelt down before him, taking the small tattooed hands in his own large aged hands, “our Lord above has watched you closely Sosthriel and is pleased with your service here on earth, but it is time for your return to the realms of Heaven.”

It hit him like a slap in the face or a splash of ice cold water and the Engel just sat there in silence as the Ab continued, “I know that you have had many questions Sosthriel, that your time here has not be an easy one. But the trials and hardships of earth are ours to endure, not yours. I thank the Lord above,” he pauses and patted the stunned Engel’s hand once more before rising, “and I thank you, Sosthriel, for all you have done to ease the pain and suffering of the faithful.”

The Ab of the Raphaelite Himmel sat back down behind his desk and nodded in dismissal of the Engel, “goodbye Sosthriel, go with God,” and then turned his attention back to the stacks of papers upon his desk as the doors opened to reveal a pair of Baptists, a strange caste of mute monachs who serve and answer only to the Ab, awaiting to escort the still stunned Engel on his way back home. They took his arms gently to guide him along, a slight bit of confused resistance in his steps. In his mind something churned, that something he had always tried to grasp and bring to light was finally in his grasp, he was returning to Heaven. He would finally remember and yet that unknown something in his mind seemed more important to know right now at this exact moment than ever before. Confusion gripped him and the Baptists moved him through the Himmel, carefully avoiding his questioning eyes.

The last of Sosthriel’s doubts and questions drained out of him as he finally entered the chamber hidden deep below the Himmel and beheld the glimmering gates before him, the flickering lights of the holy paradise calling for him to return home. His face, for so long soured by the doubts in his mind, was lifted free of all worry until he lifted his own voice up to join the celestial chorus that flowed from the gates of transcendence before him. He took his last step on the earthly plane and stepped through the gates, purified and free of doubt at long last.

0.1.0