The next day came quicker than I had hoped. Even though I didn’t have to do this mission for another day or two, I figured I’d grab my gear and head up to Gabriel’s office to let him know I was fully recovered and ready to embark a day or two early and retrieve what he needed me to.

  I took out the letter again, looking at it to make sure I read it correctly the day before.

  “Master Thaddeus,

  There is an important convoy that our scouts fear may have been intercepted along their way here. There are multiple lower leveled scum dead all over the place, but evidence was found that suggests that the package and a small number of guards have survived. It is with utmost importance that you make haste to go recover the package, and if the guards are alive, retrieve them too.

  This mission is so important to the kingdom, that if successful, could result in you no longer needing to do field work and remain as a very important Master level Angel within the kingdom. If you do this, you shall be recognized as one of the only right hands in the entire history of the kingdom to have received such an honor as most die a few years into their apprenticeship of becoming a Holy Order Arch.

  If you retrieve this package successfully, you should be given all that you want, but only upon return with the package intact.

  -G”

  I glanced at it, wondering what this package could be that was so important, it could grant me the prestigious Arch-Angel status. While there were the four main ones, there was only a small handful of others that held such titles but were rarely seen around as they mostly perched themselves up in places that were not accessible by most.

  I looked around room to see if Elise, Selyse or any of the servants where in the room. To my surprise, none of them were. My armor, along with my weapons and bag, had all been neatly placed on the chair for what I had assumed was easier access. I grabbed my armor, sliding it on and noticed that even the inside was shining. I remember them telling me they cleaned my armor, but didn’t expect this level of detail.

  I grabbed at my bag, hoping the small ball was still in there. Upon grabbing it, it felt as though an electrical current went through my hand, and I had noticed that the ball changed colors slightly and possibly grew a couple of inches. I looked at it for a moment longer, trying to figure out what could have caused this. I didn’t exactly know how this item worked, only just that when things went south, I would reappear from this.

  As I went to open the door, I grabbed my sword from its stand and opened the door. Upon opening the door, I saw all the servants standing there, all bowing.

  “Hello ladies, I shall be back in a bit. Let’s see… Hey Elise?”

  Elise looked up.

  “Yes m’lord?” she said, quietly with a hint of sadness.

  “Elise, please keep an eye out on Selyse and the others. You appear to be the most mature out of everyone, so I think you being the one in charge while I’m gone makes the most amount of sense.” I said, hoping she’d agree.

  She looked at me, nodded, bowing while throwing her fist over her heart indicating that she understood very clearly and would be happy to do it.

  I walked over to Selyse, patting her head.

  “Selyse, I need you to be good while I’m gone. Please do not cause any of the guards any problems, and please do your best to listen to Elise while I am gone. I will return.”

  She stood straight up, puffy eyed, and did her best to give a smile before returning to the bowing state. Something seemed weird about everyone today, as if they expected I wouldn’t return at all. I said my good-byes to them, reassuring them that I would be back eventually, and made my way up the stairs to Gabriels’s office. I noticed that the sun wasn’t quite fully up yet, but still hoped he would have been there.

  When I reached the top of the stairs, I noticed his door slightly cracked and someone inside. As I approached, the door opened.

  “Oh… uhh… Hello M-master Angel…”

  A female angel came out, stammering on her words as she exited. She bowed, frozen in place. I had considered questioning her, but as I was about to, I heard Gabriel’s voice behind me.

  “Ah, there you are, I’ve been looking all over for you. Where were you this entire time?” he yelled at her.

  “Master Angel Gabriel” I said, turning around and bowing myself, “I was looking for you and asked this servant of yours to assist me in finding you. I did not know what floor your holiness held for yourself, so I wanted to ensure that I would’ve found you in a timely manner as I had received your letter and have fully recovered.” I stated, trying to keep this servant of his out of trouble.

  He looked at his door, her, then me.

  “Why is it that my office door is open then?” he asked, his tone suggesting that he wasn’t sure if he believed the story.

  “My lord, I thought maybe you had a long night and may have been in your office, so I stepped in real quick and that is when you showed up behind us. I am sorry to have let myself in to your sanctuary like that without permission”

  He looked at me again and let out a laugh.

  “Thaddeus, this is why you’re my favorite. Your loyalty to me is undeniable and picking you as the lead for this mission was the smartest choice I could’ve made. You, female, you may go back to your business. As for you Thaddeus, come on in and let me discuss this very important mission with you in private.”

  I caught the servant of his looking at me through the corner of her eyes, and she looked incredibly nervous. As Gabriel walked past us, she whispered “Thank you” to me before scurrying on down the stairs. I don’t know what she was doing in his office, but by lying on her behalf, I had potentially saved her life.

  “Thaddeus, my right hand, come in. Come in.” Gabriel shouted from the office.

  I stood to an upright position, making my way into his office, opting to stand this time.

  He looked up, raising an eyebrow. “Well? You gonna sit?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  “No m’lord Gabriel, I’d prefer to stand.”

  “Suit yourself then. Care for some wine?”

  I shook my head again.

  “Ah, very well then. I assume you’re here because you wish to get a head start on the mission. Good, good. So. This mission is very important to the kingdom itself. You see… There is a city outside of the kingdom itself where we occupy. When you look out the window, what you see before you is essentially the military might that we have to offer. This version of the holy kingdom is but a mere staging area for our mighty military and its forces. But the city is more… well, it’s where we keep our highest and most powerful individuals. You see Thaddeus, once you become like me, you can go there yourself or you can remain here and be a soldier.

  I chose to remain here because let’s face it, the other Archs aren’t as good as me and never will be. They are weak minded and allow disasters to happen. Let’s take a look at you for example. They thought you wouldn’t make it and gave you a year before you would just kick the bucket. But here we are, ten-thousand years later as my Right Hand, still alive while Michael and the others have lost countless men. Under your belt, you have killed a Lich Lord and several other fierce enemies. You always come back alive, so therefore I made the best decision for the kingdom. Not them. Me.

  So, anyways, the route from the kingdom held area to here is mostly a land-based travel route. But most of the traveling is done in contested areas but since the land itself provides nothing of value to the kingdom, the Order does not care about it. But this created a problem for me. You see… I have taken a very beautiful female as my property. She is from a Royal family and in exchange for my continued service to the kingdom as one of God’s top soldiers, I got the first pick as I’ve done the best work for the last… well… since you first joined me as my right hand. So, your mission is to rescue this woman of mine. I don’t care about the guards. If they come off as weak or cowardly, just kill them. They’re replaceable.

  While I think it is distasteful, I have ordered a couple of guards to relocate your belongings that you left behind into your new home for when you return. Since we both know you will. Then once you get back, I’ll have another task for you. But before you go… I have something I want to teach you. Normally, I wouldn’t pass this down to just any right-hand of mine… but if you hold your arm out, make your hand into a fist, then use your energy to make a bow, you can make an angelic bow. In addition to that, you can do similar things for the arrows too. It’s a very useful weapon. You may also do it with for swords and spears too. One of the Orders mightiest weapons that we can do, and as my protégé, I must ensure you can take out any enemy of the Order with no problem.

  So… any questions?”

  He gave me a lot of information to think about. Angelic bow, new home, another promotion, a hand-picked bride, among other things.

  I looked at him, shaking my head.

  “Very good, let’s get you out there so you can retrieve my property and bring it back to me then. If you go to the portals, they’ll be able to take you as close as they can. It may still be a two to three days flight from there to where you need to go, and I do hope you’ll be quick. Last report was four days ago from our scouts. Once you arrive where you’ll be sent to, a scout will meet up with you to give you a map. As for your armor, we will be giving you the armor that deserve. It’s the armor normally reserved for those such as myself and up, but I believe you deserve it as it will show more clearly just who you are.”

  Gabriel sounded incredibly sure of himself. The way he described this female as “property” made me feel a bit sick to my stomach. While Selyse, Elise and the others are considered my “property” too, I look at them as actual people and not just… what the others see them as. However, I was not going to argue with him about it as I knew it wouldn’t get anywhere and unless I wanted to find myself back at square one.

  He reached into desk, retrieving a couple of shot glasses, a piece of paper and some wine.

  “Take a shot. That’s an order. I will not tolerate you declining again.” He said.

  I looked at the glass as he poured the wine to fill the very top, placing my hand around the shot glass. Once filled, I took the glass and drank it.

  “See? That’s all you had to do. Now… get going.” he said, with his tone going from playful to serious.

  “Yes m’lord, I shall return when the task is done with your bride.”

  He didn’t say anything else, so I took that as a sign to leave. I headed out the door, closing it gently behind me and made my way down the stairs. After getting to the very bottom, I realized that it probably would have been faster had I just glided my way down to the lower level to the portals. However, I remembered that I needed to stop by the Armorer in this area, so gliding all the way down to the lower levels would have been pointless as I would have had to come back.

  I eventually made my way to the armorer, handing him the piece of paper that Gabriel had given me.

  “Sorry m’lord Angel, but I do not carry this armor. You’ll have to inquire about it within the Royal Guards outside of Gabriels castle as I do believe the armor is stored within his castle.” The armorer said, sounding a bit annoyed that I interrupted his work.

  I looked back at the castle, and while it wasn’t a very far walk, I also didn’t feel like running back and forth. I reached into my bag and found that one of my assistants had placed the insignia indicating I was part of Gabriel’s people in there. So, I placed it on my armor and called it go before making my way down to the portals.

  Along the way there, I found myself being bowed to frequently. While I disliked it, I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it. The only bright side to it was that people would move out of my way, allowing me to get where I needed to go faster. Despite this being a high priority task, I made my way to the healer’s tent to see if maybe anyone recently came back from a mission that may require a bit more advanced healing.

  “Master Angel, a word if I may?” asked one the healers.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I approached him, he wore a long brown robe with a healer’s insignia attached to it, which was a plus-sign with a “v” under it. Next to him, was a bed that was occupied but what appeared to be a guard in colors and insignias I had yet to see, but he was one of us.

  “Who is this and what are they doing here?” I asked.

  “Master Angel, this guard came through the portal just last night, heavily wounded. We did what we could for him, but his wounds are a bit more advanced than what we can do.” He moved closer to me and lowered his voice. “Look, I know you know how to do advanced healing… I was there when you fixed those other three and was hoping you could do the same here?”

  I looked around. The room only had him and this guard in it. I motioned for him to unbind the tent door. He quickly went and did what I expressed I needed done before returning.

  “Okay, you keep getting lucky with me coming down here at the right times.” I joked. “But I think this one may be important to the mission I’ve been assigned to, so healing this one may benefit me more than him.”

  I placed my hand over him out, allowing the energy to show me what happened. The thing about my healing ability that I discovered is that before I fully activate the ability, it allows me to see what is broken or damaged. The energy itself allows one’s body to essentially be repaired. Something I found out way later down the road is that if the head is intact, I can essentially use this ability to regrow the body of a being along with their organs. It was quite a powerful ability.

  Looking at the damage to this guard, I was surprised he was still conscious as he had multiple broken bones, puncture wounds, and one of his wings was half missing. The fact he made it here on his own was a miracle, so whoever these guys that donned this armor must have been some sort of elites. But, for a group of elites to be taken out and injured this badly, they must have had faced quite a powerful enemy.

  After the healing ended, he started to move. Upon waking up, he grabbed my armor and pulled me closer to him.

  “MASTER ANGEL, LORD GABRIELS RIGHT HAND, THE ATTACK HAPPENED SO QUICKLY. I FLED TO GET HELP FROM THE HOLY KINGDOM ITSELF AS THERE WERE SO MANY-“

  The healer interrupted him by smacking him.

  “You shall not grab the right hand like that, also, keep your voice down. You’re in a medical tent and while you’re the only one here, you must understand that what you’re yelling may come off as nonsensical.” The healer said, sounding heavily annoyed.

  “No, let him speak. Please guard, start from the beginning. Where you supposed to be escorting an important package for Lord Gabriel, himself?”

  “Right hand, yes sir. There were about a hundred of us. Some others and I lead some of them away, while a few others lead the rest away so a few protecting the package could run off and hide. My group were slaughtered one by one. Please do not resent me m’lord, but after my group came down to just me, I retreated to try and get help. I went several days bleeding out of various wounds before I finally found an active outpost who helped me get here. I’m not a coward though. I swear.” He said, hoping I would show him mercy for him running away.

  “Very well, it’s fine. You did what you could. However, seeing as you survived, I request that you come out with me to the last known location and-” I was interrupted by him, stating he wasn’t going to go back out there and would rather face execution than going back out there and fighting whatever it was that attacked him.

  I looked at the healer, who looked at me in shock. While it wasn’t that big of a deal to me, the healer ran out shouting for guards. I looked at the man again, hoping he’d change his mind but instead, he pulled his sword out. I took a few steps out before drawing my own sword, thinking he was going to attack me, but instead he shoved his blade through his heart, before slumping over. I went over to see if there were any signs of life, to which I detected none.

  The healer, followed by several guards, finally returned. After a quick glance at the now motionless body, the guards dragged the body out of the tent.

  The healer looked at me, confused.

  “Did you order him to do that?” he asked.

  “No… No, I did not. After you left, he drew his sword and took his own life. What could he have faced to make him want to take his own life than to go back in there? Did he mention anything to you, or did you find him this way?”

  The healer went over to a table, unrolling a blanket with what appeared to have several broken arrows within it. These arrows didn’t look like typical arrows that you’d find among Humans or Elves. They were long, the fletching was made of wood, and the arrow itself was black in color and almost looked like it was a stone of some sort. Incredibly smooth.

  “I… I don’t know these arrows…” I said, as I picked one up. “I’m going to run by the blacksmiths and see if they know.”

  The healer nodded and wrapped the rest of them back in the blanket. I placed my hand on shoulder and gave him a nod before taking off from the tent. I was somewhat annoyed now as someone who could have potentially been a guide decided to end his life rather than help, and I was more than likely going to end up backtracking all the way back to Gabriel’s castle anyways to figure out who, or what, created this arrow. What I thought was going to be an easy task, started to take constantly turns and I hadn’t even left the kingdom yet.

  With the arrow in hand, I set out for all the blacksmiths I could find. It was my hopes that maybe one of them in the lower areas near the portals would have an answer as to who made it. One of them pointed me over to an experienced black smith who had been around for millions of years but worked at Michael’s castle. I was not actually sure if I was permitted to enter the castles of the other Archangels, but I figured I was going to find out soon enough.

  When I reached his castle, I came to realize that it wasn’t nearly as large as Gabriels. It made me wonder if Michael wasn’t as full of himself as Gabriel was. As I came up to the entrance, one of his guards stopped me.

  “Halt, state your business.” The guard demanded.

  “I am the Right Hand of Gabriel.” I exclaimed.

  The guard looked at me up and down, unsure what to say next. He took a step backwards, opening the outer doors to allow me in.

  “Guard, may I ask you a question?”

  “You may Hand of Gabriel.”

  “Where is your smith?”

  “The smith is on the Second Floor. While we normally don’t allow the right hands of others within the castle itself, if you are here on business you may enter. Please check in with the guards in the single-story building just inside, and they shall accompany you.” He stated, his tone suggesting he was annoyed just by my presence alone.

  “Thank you, I appreciate your assistance.” I said, as I walked through.

  As I walked through this outer door, I was greeted by a small courtyard that was mostly grass and had a water fountain in the middle of it. Off to my right was a small area where it appeared that the servants slept which seemed more suitable for livestock than actual humanoids to sleep in.

  While I was looking around, admiring the architecture design of Michale’s inner castle, I noticed someone approaching me out of the corner of my eyes. I turned my head to see a female guard approaching me. Which confused me a bit, as I had only ever seen females be servants.

  “Master Angel of Gabriel, what brings you here to my masters’ castle? Did Gabriel perhaps tire of you and wishes to pawn you off on him?” she said sounding semi-serious.

  I looked at her, confused.

  “No… I’m here looking for a smith. I have this weird arrow that the healers found multiple stuck within a guard that I was hoping to have identified.” I said, holding up the arrow.

  She snatched it out of my hand rather quickly. I don’t know exactly what I did to be treated this way other than be the right hand of another Arch. She looked it over before motioning me to follow her as she started to walk away. I quickly followed behind her as we went up a couple flights of stairs. Once we reached one of the floors, she pointed me to the end of the end of the hallway and handed the arrow back.

  I thanked her and made my way down the hallway to an unmarked door. Unsure if I could right in or not, I knocked.

  “Enter” a voice from the door yelled.

  I opened the door, and to my surprise, saw a human working.

  “Excuse me, are you the smith of this castle?”

  “Aye, I am. But I don’t make gear for your level.” He said, without really looking up.

  I was confused but came to realize that at the angle he was at along with the dark glasses covering his face and the room being somewhat smokey from the lack of proper airflow, he may not have realized who I was.

  “Blacksmith, step away from your work and approach me briefly.” I yelled over the sounds of clanking hammers.

  He set his tools down, removed his glasses and put his hand over his mouth.

  “My apologies Right Hand of Gabriel. I did not know you’d be paying us a visit. What… what exactly did you venture over here for?” he asked, sounding a bit worried.

  “It’s quite all right. I was told the closest smith to the portals that may know who, or what, made this arrow would potentially be you. I do hope you do, because I was supposed to be gone about an hour ago for a mission but wanted to collect further information before leaving.”

  He took the broken arrow from my hands. Inspecting it closely, touching the arrowhead tip, smelling it, and even tasting it. He looked at me, then looked at something else before finally running over to an area with bows.

  “Ah yes, this is a crossbolt from a race that I do not know the name of but have seen the damage they can do. Not many people survive after being shot by these. Let me… just… dig around some… ah ha! I do have an unused one, still intact. These… are the same… Master Angel, don’t tell me you’re going to engage these guys with that level of armor…”

  I looked at him, unsure what to say. I finally found someone that knows of the arrows, knows that anyone who gets hit with these arrows don’t survive, then wondered about my armor.

  “You see, I have this note that states I was supposed to get armor suitable for an Arch-level angel but was in such a hurry that I forgot to check in with the Armorer within Gabriel’s castle.” I explained.

  He looked at me, laughed, and held his hand out.

  “Master Angel, no matter who’s castle it is, we still must carry an order out to provide you with said armor. Let me see that request.”

  I handed him the note, wondering if I was going to somehow get Michale-branded armor, or if it really mattered in the long run. One would like to assume that the armor they made was going to be essentially a “one-size fits all” type deal. I watched him as he read it.

  “Hmm. These are very specific. Almost like Valkyrie armor. Lord Master Angel, how many missions have you returned from?”

  I thought about it for a moment, unsure how to answer.

  “Truthfully smith, I do not know. Gabriel did state that I was the only one who has managed to survive for as long as I have being sent out on these missions and usually sends me when the task at hand is too much for normal angels. My most recent mission, I defeated a Lich lord or something-“

  “AND SURVIVED? Hoo-wee, okay. I shall not question your authority then.” He said, as he started to walk over to another closed door.

  “So uhh, Right hand of Gabriel, I do have this armor stashed away, but it is slightly different. The previous one was a bit on the stiff side but this newer armor I’ve made is a bit more flexible. Hasn’t been tested out yet in combat, so uhh… I was waiting for one of Michael’s right hands to come to me first, but they all seem to vanish after a few missions. So, it’s yours. I just… come help me with this door.” He said, while grunting trying to open the door.

  I walked over to where he was struggling and firmly grabbed the door trying to pull. With no luck pulling the door open, it occurred to me that this door may open inward, so I pushed on the door instead, resulting it opening. The smith looked up at me with a “oh…” expression.

  At this rate, I had started to wonder if I was going to end up leaving after dark as I kept having delay after delay. Although, this delay was because of my own doing. I decided to follow him into the room myself and saw the armor towering over him. I began to wonder if he was going to attempt to get it out of the room himself.

  “Excuse me, may I assist you?” I asked.

  He looked at me, then the armor motioning he didn’t need my help, so I watched as he climbed up a short ladder as he removed everything one by one and handed it to me. To my surprise, the armor was very light. Rather than just putting it all on the floor, I put the armor on as he handed it to me. Unlike the armor I was wearing, this armor ensured every exposed area below the neck was covered and was lined with a thick cloth of some sort.

  “This armor looks amazing on you, sir. I’ll have to let my master know that I gave it to you though.” He said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

  “Thank you for the Armor, what should I do with my old armor?”

  He looked at it and lightly kicked at it with his foot, shrugging, before walking out of the room.

  He didn’t say anything else to me and just pointed at the door. I thanked him for his time and the armor, making my way out the door. As I reached the door, it opened and there stood Michael. I quickly kneeled, hoping he wouldn’t berate myself or the smith for the gift.

  “Hmmm. I thought I smelled the stench of Gabriel around my castle. I thought that little snake was here but turns out to be you instead. What brings you to my home, Right hand of Gabriel?” he said, sounding as if I interrupted his meal.

  “M’lord, I am here as I needed help identifying an arrow and was told your blacksmith could assist. In addition, I came to see about… well the armor I am wearing.” I said, trying to be as polite as possible.

  He walked around me, slowly, tapping at random spots on the armor.

  “Hmm. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t want you in my home as Gabriel took you into his. However, this is a special circumstance. Tell me young master Thaddeus, how does the armor that was meant for my own right hands suit you?” he said, calmly.

  I looked at him, unsure how to respond. On one hand, he didn’t appear to be angry about my random intrusion. But on the other hand, I did not know if there were regulations against right hands of competing Arch’s to enter castles of others. None the less, this whole experience here had be far more positive than I had expected. I chose to remain silent as I did not know how to answer him still.

  “Your silence tells me that you’re possibly nervous. Ah well. You take that armor, put it to good use and stay the fuck out of castle unless I personally invite you here. You’re just as slimy as Gabriel himself. Using my men’s hard work to your advantage while Gabriel’s staff just sits around all day, doing nothing.” He yelled.

  I quickly found my way out of the room, back out into the courtyard, and out the main doors. The guard standing outside the door laughed as I quickly rushed out. On my way to the portals, I noticed I was receiving a lot more attention than I had wearing the basic armor with Gabriel’s insignia attached to it. But I really stood out now.

  As predicted, by the time I made my way to where I had to be, it was growing dark. While typically the kingdom didn’t do night operations, there was still always guards posted around the portals to ensure the safety and to be an early alert if intruders managed to make their way this far into the portal system.

  After finally arriving to the portals themselves, one of the portal masters approached me.

  “Master Angel, how may we be of assistance?” he asked, bowing.

  I looked around, not too sure I wanted to embark at night, but knew I had to. I reached into my bag, looking for the note that held the order, hoping it’d also have some sort of indication where I had to go. To my luck, it did. I handed the note over to him, who quickly read the cords and looked up at me.

  “Ohh… you’re being sent to handle that? I suppose things must be going real south for them to send one of the kingdoms top right hands that way. All right… lets get you out of here then.”

  He walked over to an unpowered portal, moving around some of the stones before the portal itself lit up.

  “Master Angel, your portal is ready. You may have to navigate to your true destination over the course of a day or two still as we’ve placed you into an area that is considered safe, but the outskirts may not entirely be safe. Good luck” he said, as he bowed again.

  “Thanks portal master.”

  I slowly walked through the portal, wondering what I would potentially run into while on this special task. As I stepped through the portal, I looked back wondering if anyone was going to accompany me, but it looked like I was on my own.

  “Ah well.” I thought to myself.

  On the other end of the portal, it was bright. A few guards were stationed around the portal and upon noticing me, they instantly stood up and kneeled. They were heavily geared from head to toe, and judging from their markings imbedded into their armor, they had seen quite a bit of combat.

  “WELCOME LORD MASTER ANGEL TO THE OUTPOST.” One of them yelled.

  I waved, indicating that I acknowledged them.

  “Guard, tell me, what is something I should know about this area?” I asked, seeing if maybe I could get a general idea.

  “To be honest Master Angel, we do not know anything about this area. We are only meant to protect this outpost and while our armor suggests we may have seen action here; this is a pretty peaceful outpost for the most part. However, we’ve heard reports of potential demon activity in the area and occasionally see Elves and Humans in the distance. Other than that, it’s quiet around here.” One of them responded, sounding as if he was hesitant to admit this to me.

  “Hmm. Okay. Very well then, thank you.”