The Angels Have Fallen

Chapter 6-Myrah

Hey guys! Sorry for a bit of a delayed chapter, I didn't realize how busy I'd be this school year. As always, don't forget to let me know how you guys like the book! Thank you so much for reading:)
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    Questions. Non-stop questions. My head was this close to exploding out of annoyance. How idiotic of me to let a stranger accompany me, one that would probably be able to kill me too. Not only that but I agreed to take him to my hometown and then risk my life to take him home -as if I was going to do that- to his family. This kid better be worth it.
    "What's your favorite color?" His face resembled a curious cat as he interrogated me for a reason I do not know.
    "It's red," my voice responded monotonously, just trying not to anger the potential threat.
    "What's your favorite food?"
"Uh, food." I shrugged, I honestly liked all food that was available.
"Okay, favorite kind of music?"
"I don't listen to music, are you done now?"
"Favorite kind of ice cream?"
"I don't know what ice cream is."
"Wait what-"
"Stop making up stuff." I rolled my eyes and pushed my hair behind my ear.
"Myrah, I totally need to get you some!"
"Yeah okay."
"Do you have apple pie?"
"Do you have the physical ability to stop talking?" I stared at him. "Ever since you killed that monster, you've been babbling endlessly, honestly what is wrong with you? Do you like, get energy from killing a hybrid like some sort of psychopath?" I snapped.
Siris looked down with an ashamed frown.
"Well I..I've just never killed anything before. Its uhm, its-"
I rolled my eyes and cut him off to save myself from his innocence. He was too much.
"Always a first time for everything. If it makes you feel better, that monster was a Juckan, it tears you apart to decorate its web. Waited a little longer and you would have had your face mauled in and shreds of your body would have flown all over the place. Now hurry up." I quickened my pace a bit, hoping silently that Siris would freeze in shock and not follow me. Unfortunately he did not.
"I-," Siris blankly stared at me from behind and then walked quickly beside me, his eyebrows knitted together as he considered what I had said. I may not be a therapist but I sure am good at justifying a murder.
I remained silent for the rest of our walk. It had been nearly an hour of his incessant talking, now that it was silent, frankly it was sort of awkward. It's worse that  after supposedly having gotten a concussion and losing his memory, he honestly seemed fine.
I wondered what powers he had. Some type of shield? Probably something to do with healing. No, that can't be it, although he didn't have blood on him after killing that monster, I was stuck rubbing ash out of my eyes so I couldn't see what he did. He had no scratches either, unless they were somehow covered by the ash on him from when I found him. Either way, Juckans are pretty powerful, the odds of getting powers that both protect yourself and attack with a lot of force is rare, or maybe angels work differently. Maybe I should ask later.
At least the ashes are helping him not to stick out too much, he may look like a glorified version of the bartender down the street from my house but that was fairly common. Kiah and its inhabitants probably won't be too happy if they find out that he is an angel. Everyone there is quiet and mostly anti-social, but our town is small enough that everyone knows each other. They'll notice Siris immediately. I'll have to find a way to hide his actual self and then get rid of him.
I stopped Siris before we entered the barrier of our town. He still looked a bit down but I was sure he would manage.
"Here," I handed him my cloak. "Put this on."
"Okay...why?" He took the cloak and rubbed the worn black leather.
"We need to discuss a few rules before we go into Kiah. The demons here have been a bit...rowdy about foreigners. You need to act normal, and not be..." I looked him up and down, "whatever this is, and never use your wings or powers." I pointed to my cloak, "put it on."
"Okay," Siris slipped on the cloak and stretched his wings out a bit, my cloak was pretty big on me so it fit him like a glove. Him and his 6 foot body. I swear these men and their heights are absolutely ridiculous.
"Why are they so rowdy about foreigners?" He questioned.
I pulled up the hood of the cloak and pulled it over his head.
"Fear for their safety." I lied, well not exactly. Technically the angels were a safety threat. I heard of a few reports of angels killing some demons who had gone to capture them. Ever since then, most commoners have stayed away from the angels and the people hunting them.
"It's a good thing that your wings are coated in ashes. Folks around here don't have wings that look as pampered as yours."
"So they are all dark?" He looked at my wings again and then grabbed some more ash from the ground to rub on his body. The soot colored ash made his white wings look more of an ash gray like mine.
"Not always. Now let's go." I grabbed Siris' hand and dragged him towards the main road. We had to pass through the black market and he might get drowned in the mob of people.
"Stay close," I whispered.
"Okay," he whispered and smiled back at me. I rolled my eyes and kept them on the path we were heading down.
HIs positivity baffled me, as well as his misplaced trust in a random person. But of course he must be so privileged that he hasn't had to encounter some type of bad person. He seemed naive, yet still with a humble bit of knowledge in him, it intrigued me.
Siris looked at the booths as we entered the road where the market was and passed through hordes of people who surrounded booths. He was definitely curious, too curious for his own good. The places where you just enter the black markets aren't that bad, just a few rare items that you can buy, it's the deeper part of it that really reveals its disgusting nature.
I noticed his eyes hook onto a hand held harp -beautiful one at that- that appeared to be hand carved and laced with a curse engraved on it. Siris reached his hand out to touch it and I slapped it.
"Don't touch things if you don't have money and don't know the function of it."
"It's just a harp!" He protested and tried to stop me from continuing to drag him through the people.
"One laced with a curse, two, it's meant to be a gift to your enemies. Three, appearances can be deceiving, besides, these guys will rip you off for their trash."
Siris gave in to my tugging and we continued at our original pace.
"Fine." Siris remained close to me, saying 'excuse me' to almost everybody he passes by, as if they cared or something.
I tried my best to find the best route through the demons, eager to get away from the bloodthirsty and vile ones who came to see what was in stock. Not that I was much better of a demon myself, but I don't cheer when they show up with cages filled with orphaned children that they like to watch burn.
I could feel Siris begin to tense up as we went deeper through the market. More body parts, curses, and weapons were displayed on the booths that we passed by. He was so tall that I don't think the people are able to block off all of his view of the merchandise. It might take him a while to process what was going on here.
I felt slightly bad for the kid. Estranged from his world, probably never even heard of things like what he is seeing right now happen.
We both silently stopped as everyone turned their attention ahead of us at the group of people yelling, the whole market went to a standstill. Like bees to a hive, people began to shove past each other to get to whatever was going on. I believe I heard the word 'angel.' Oh crap!
"Myrah, I think it's time to make our big escape," Siris pointed at an alley near us and dodged a shove from an old man who tried to get past him.
I nodded and we both hurried into the alley. It was nearing late afternoon so it was fairly dark, boxes and trash littered the floor, there was a decaying body sticking out of a bag inside a box that I noticed almost immediately. It reeked, as if it had been there for a week.
"What is that smell??" Siris gagged and covered his mouth and nose with my cloak.
"The smell of home," I smiled sarcastically.
"What kind of home is this?" His tone was judgmental and harsh.
"My home," I glared at him, "you are welcome to leave the way you came if you'd like, or get over it and deal with it."
"I didn't mean to offend you-"
"How old are you?"
"I'm 17, almost 18...why?"
"You are just a kid," I rubbed my forehead with my hand and shook my head.
"Your little journey down here will be a great way to grow up." I grabbed his wrist again and pulled him towards the other end of the alley.
"WAIT I SEE SOMETHING OVER THERE, is that a festival or a parade??" He pulled me forward as he peeked out into the street.
I glanced at the direction he was looking at and scowled, great timing. Siris just yelled while pointing at a whole militia operation.
"SHHH," I pulled him back and covered his mouth with my hand. I won't be caught with this kid. The sound of chains, wailing, and soldiers echoed through the road as if it were some sort of cave. A few children playing with a homemade ball were called inside their home and an elderly couple who sat outside to enjoy the fresh air quickly slammed and locked their door.
Siris moved my hand from his mouth and looked at me,
"What is it?"
"Shut up, head down, hood up, if you look up or make a noise I'll leave you to the folks in the black market." I half whispered with a demanding tone. Siris fell silent and complied with my commands. I cautiously led him down the side of the road and tried to appear casual. I could probably mask Siris if I tried to but it wouldn't do any good if I gave him away myself. Besides, those demons are usually too stuck up to notice the likes of commoners like me, usually anyways. The attention of the militia and a group of captured angels didn't seem favorable to me.
Siris breathed heavily behind me, he sounded like he was having some sort of panic attack, which worried me, not for his safety, but for my own and the fact that he would most likely draw attention at some point.
I pulled him forward a bit and put an arm around him. The gesture may not have seemed like much but he calmed down enough to stop making noise. He may have been trembling but silence was enough for me.
    It took a few minutes of walking in agonizing tension for the ground of captured angels and soldiers to pass by us. Siris was visibly flinching at some of the noises and probably didn't clearly see what had been ahead of us earlier. All the angels looked our way as if they sensed who was beside me. I gave them glares and tightened my arm around Siris.
    The prisoners were bloody, covered in dirt, and desperate to survive. They were walking on eggshells around the soldiers, they knew that their lives were practically over, you could tell by the lack of life in their eyes. Small children clung to their mother's chest and tugged at their hair and clothes, some begging for food and some crying out of pain or fatigue.
    Aside from their strange clothes, which looked just like Siris' but much more raggedy, they weren't too different from us demons. They had pigmented wings, a sign of health, and the women had long, luscious hair. The children had chubby faces with bodies that looked like adorable teddy bears, a big contrast to the skeletons that most of our community's children have become. So maybe they were healthier, it would still be a stretch to think that we aren't that similar.
    Siris covered his ears with his hands and thankfully, didn't try to look at what was going on. Had he done so, I feel like he would have lashed out in either anger or fear, the last thing I want is to become exactly like that monster earlier. That reminds me, he said it was his first time killing something...how did he do it so easily? I glanced at Siris and then focused back on our path.
    Once the sound of the prisoners had completely disappeared, I removed my arm from around him and stuffed them into my pockets.
    "Where are we going?"
    "To my home, I need some things for the journey, you need rest." We both did, I still had a headache from my previous hangover and my body was screaming at me for the long walk.
    "And we are heading to the barrier afterward?"
    "Yes, Siris."
    Siris nodded, looked at the ground, and then at the cloak I lent him.
    "What was that back there?" Siris looked at me sadly, my heart tugged at the strings a little.
    "Nothing, don't think about it."
    "...Okay." We both sped up and remained in silence. This time it was more awkward than our previous time in silence, I'm sure he is still trying to figure out what just happened.
    "So uh, Myrah, what do you do for work?"
    "I deliver packages," I looked at him.
    "Oh," he blinked and looked at me curiously, "I didn't expect you to have such a...well boring job."
    "Yeah it's super boring." I lied, again. It's not as if telling him that I deliver to some people who are only slightly nicer than those at the black market would make him think otherwise.
"What do you do?"
    "I'm a musician, and," he smirked proudly, "a future soldier for the palace."
    "Great! I got stuck with a useless angel who is dressed like a carrot." I mumbled and rubbed the temples of my forehead, I'm such an idiot. He is not a future soldier, I know that for sure.
    "What did you say?"
    "Nothing."
    "Now back to how you got here, what's the last thing you remember?"
    "Uhhh," Siris looked at the sky and took a few seconds to think. "Oh right! I was playing the harp in a forest."
    "Seriously?" I crossed my arms.
    "Yes! I can play something for you if you want-"
    "No thank you."
    Siris sighed.
    "And before the forest I was with my mom... they must be worried about me, my parents I mean, and my brother Kyran."
    "I bet they are."
    "Do you think we will be there soon?"
    "Shouldn't take more than two weeks." Which wouldn't matter anyways since his family is probably already imprisoned.
    "Hmm, okay."
    "I forgot to mention, since folks here in Kiah don't like random folks visiting, you'll tell them that you are my cousin from my uncle's side if they ask. Got it?"
    "Oh yeah sure. Why though?"
    "Do you want them to be suspicious of you?"
    "No."
    "Okay good, then we agree to the plan." I looked at his clothes again and gave him a disapproving look.
    "What?" He looked at his outfit from underneath my cloak and looked back at me.
    "You look like a carrot, I'll get you new clothes soon."
    Siris scoffed and crossed his arms.
    "Well I- you... you look like some sort of mutated dwarf!"
    "I-" I glared at him, "How rude." I crossed my arms and ignored him the rest of the trip just to make him mad. He stopped bothering me after I ignored a couple of his questions.