The Angel's Humanhood

15. Old Habits

The night was long for Wahag. He must have tossed and turned a billion times on the makeshift straw mattress. He hated every bit about what was happening. He tried to summon Sal, but unlike the human reflection, he couldn't leave the body and return to it. He tried to experiment with how long of a distance he can travel around the body, but his connection to it felt so weak that it threatened to break if he tried to leave the hut. The best he could do was to observe the body from outside from less than a meter.
He noticed that the bones of the body were now slightly less visible and its skin was less pale. Wahag didn't care for the age of the body, but he definitely looked younger now.
The dawn came uninvited and with it came a knock on the door. Wahag was sure that it would be Dow, but instead he saw hoofs from the crack under the door.
Wahag opened the door and said nothing.
Sal wore his usual cynical smile, "Good Morning?"
Wahag didn't reply, but kept the door open for his guest who made people faint at first sight.
"The girl is coming, isn't she?" Sal's hoarse voice was filled with hunger for something.
"Why do you care?" Wahag questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"The favor you owe me," Sal replied with layers of meaning, "bring the book back."
"These are stolen scripts from God's court itself. There is no way I am giving it to you!" Wahag's tone was openly condescending.
Sal scratched his chin, "do I need to remind you of what happens when you break a favor?"
"This is the human world. Things like that don't work here," Wahag sounded sure, when he really wasn't.
In a move that was wind like, Sal hung Wahag by the throat on the hut wall, "You wanna bet?"
Wahag strained against Sal's arm. He squirmed and pushed, but he was too weak. Darkness threatened to swallow him, but suddenly Sal released him. Wahag landed with a thud. His chest burned as he coughed.
"The book comes to me," these were Sal's final words before he disappeared leaving behind a folded parchment paper.
Dow arrived less than a minute after to find Wahag still trying to pull himself together, "What's going on?" She laid a hand on Wahag's back.
Wahag pushed her hand away defensively, "I am fine."
Dow, who was unfazed by his reaction, turned her attention to the parchments, "Are these from Sal?" She unfolded them, "There is a map to the caves. It says you have four days," she pointed at scribble at the edge of the paper.
Then she moved to the next sheet, "this one is a riddle or poetry of sorts." Before she could read it, Wahag pulled it out of her hands. He confirmed his doubts. It was the first favor.
"What is it?" Dow trying to take a peak.
"It's none of of your concern," Wahag felt an odd desire to hide the fact that he was looking for a chance to repent.
"Okay..." Dow eyed Wahag who was cleaning his baggy cloth from dust. "If it turns out to be something important, I will make sure you regret it."
Wahag rolled his eyes and folded the parchment into his pocket.
Dow kept on examining the map, "the path to the cave goes through the village. Going around it will cost us time we don't have," she folded the map in her pocket and handed Wahag a backpack.
"I am coming with you," Prince appeared from behind the hut.
Dow rubbed the sides of her foreheard, "how long have you been there?"
"I heard you last night talk about finding a cave in the north. You can't cross these woods alone," Prince said in a serious tone.
"We are going together," Wahag couldn't follow his logic.
"Sorry, but you get attacked she will be alone in the fight, if all she has is you," Prince shrugged.
Wahag was about to defend himself, but Dow interjected.
"Prince, you need to be here to take care of everyone."
"So should you," Prince accused, "besides, you said it yourself, the lake can protect them."
"Prince, this is going to be very dangerous," Dow kept rubbing her face.
"Exactly," Prince gave a strong nod.
"We don't have time for this," Wahag turned to Dow.
She lifted her arms in the air in defeat, "fine. I guess it's going to be a field trip."
The woods were peaceful and colorful in the early morning. Nature was Wahag's favorite thing about God's creation of Earth. He was fascinated by the trees and the birds, but the further they walked, the more Wahag started to notice the pieces of trash and the vandalized trees. He could hear their pain. The ground ran darker and the air smelled heavy with metals.
Wahag paused in front of an animal carcass hanging on a tree.
Prince joined him, "going through the village is going to be more dangerous than going through the rest of the woods."
Dow interjected, "Let's keep going."
They walked another hour witnessing more and more displays of horror. There was blood on few trees. The scents were revolting. They all resorted to covering their faces.
At one point, they found a human corpse.
"We are almost there," Dow walked past the scene without pausing.
The first sign of civilization was a junkyard. Heaps of different shapes of pieces of metal. They heard a few gun shots that disturbed the birds. Dow grabbed both boys by the shoulder to hide, but it was too late. They heard a gun reloading right behind them.
"Well, what do we have here?" a woman's voice said.