The Revelation of Light and Dark (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 1)

He blinks to clear his focus, much as I did moments ago when his own eyes mesmerized me, and starts his story. “Millenia ago—”

“Millennia?” I exclaim because I sort of thought non-human creatures might be a modern thing. Honestly, I’m assuming this is a story about aliens recently landing on earth and secretly integrating with our society.

“Many, many, many millennia ago,” he clarifies, “there was an angelic rebellion in heaven.”

“Heaven? You mean, like up there?” I ask, pointing a finger upward. In my mind, though, I’m trying to remember exactly what a millennium is.

A thousand years, I think.

Carrick looks at me in exasperation. “How about you listen to the entire story, then ask questions? Otherwise, we’ll be here all night.”

“Noted,” I mutter. Settling onto the couch, I vow to listen and keep my mouth shut. But yes, fairly sure a millennium is one thousand years, so he’s talking about many thousands of years ago, and that’s a bit mind-numbing. I go on hyper-alert, though, and listen intently to what he says.

“The legend says God found out about the rebellion, and he swept up all the guilty angels. He split them into two factions—those who were open perpetrators and those who were sympathizers. His punishment was to banish the angels who actively set about to unseat him to the Underworld. He stripped them of their wings, most of their powers, and cast them mercilessly out of Heaven, where he trapped them permanently in the land of fire and brimstone. They would be responsible for ruling the place where dark souls went to suffer for eternity.”

“So Hell is real?” I murmur. Again, I ask for clarification. “Heaven, for that matter?”

Carrick shrugs. “Isn’t that what faith is all about? At any rate, those who were mere sympathizers, but who did not join the rebellion, also angered God to the extent they too were banished. But they were cast out to live their lives on Earth. Denial of the beauty of Heaven was a severe punishment.”

“But they kept their wings?” I ask.

Carrick shakes his head. “They were stripped like those cast to the Underworld but they were allowed to keep more of their powers, albeit they were muted on Earth.”

“You’re saying these cast out angels walk among us? What does that have to do with what I’ve been seeing?”

“No, I’m not saying these cast out angels walk among us,” he reprimands, a sharp rebuke for interrupting again. “The minute God cast them from Heaven, they were angels no more. But as I said, this was thousands and thousands of years ago and as happens with everything—whether it be Heaven, Earth, or the creatures that walk upon or below it—evolution happens. Over thousands of years, stories handed down are changed and molded to fit different cultures and societal beliefs. All you need to know, that in this modern era, the angels expelled from Heaven became known as fae when their banishment started.”

“Fae?” I murmur. I’ve heard that term, of course. “Like little fairies that fly around Ireland, right?”

“Not really,” he says dryly. “Those angels cast to the Underworld became Dark Fae. Already filled with darkness because of their unholy desires to depose God from his throne, they evolved into creatures that were filled with evil and dark intent. It was fortunate they were trapped in the Underworld because they would have destroyed earth long ago. Those angels cast to Earth who were allowed the grace to keep some of their powers became known as Light Fae.”

“Does that mean they’re good?” I ask curiously.

After a moment’s pause where he seems to want to berate me for another interruption, he says, “That’s actually a good question. What you should know is that all things that are born good have the capacity to turn bad, and all things born bad have the capacity to turn good.”

“That’s not helpful,” I mutter.

“Think of it this way,” he says, leaning forward in his chair. “Once cast from Heaven, they lost angelic status and were no longer filled with holiness. They walked upon the earth and evolved, sometimes not in a good way. They formed societies, established hierarchies, and they made their lives within these new limitations. But the Light Fae didn’t stay on Earth.”

“What? How? Where did they go?” It’s like a light bulb goes off in my head, and I blurt, “Aliens came and took them to another planet, right? And then they came back somehow?”

It’s a hypothesis and the minute the words are out of my mouth, I realize it’s a stupid one. Carrick’s expression is openly mocking of my stupidity.

There’s a moment he just stares at me until I return an appropriately abashed look for interrupting him again. Giving a slight nod of acceptance, he continues.

“To understand where the Light Fae went, you have to understand why they wanted to go.” Carrick shifts in his seat, settles into it, and re-crosses his legs. “When they were exiled from Heaven, they were left with certain powers. One of the most powerful was that of glamour, where they could hide their supernatural attributes. They had to for they were far too glorious for mortal men to behold. For a time, they co-existed with modern man, glamoured so as not to reveal themselves, and, eventually, modern man evolved, too. But the ability of Light Fae to reproduce is incredibly rare, and so soon, they were in the great minority among the human population explosion, especially as it spread across the globe. The Light Fae were afraid their existence would be discovered and snuffed out.”