The Ascended (The Saving Angels 3)

Summoning enough of my new power to help all my friends wasn't as effortless as it might have been under less dire circumstances, but I was still able to assemble more than I would have thought possible. I couldn't help wondering briefly, as I cast it out with all my might, if The Light had bestowed my extreme gifts to me for a situation such as this. Was it his plan to make my final act one that would at least bring peace to those that he held in such high esteem?

I realized after several pain filled moments that my body had gone numb while I was focused on my friends. I could no longer feel the weight of the insects the covered me nor could I feel their painful bites. The end must be near and my only regret was that I would not see my love one last time.

I felt a tugging on my arm that was firmly wrapped around my head. Horrified, I pictured the monstrous bugs chewing their way through my arm and carting it off to the dark forest to never be seen again. A whimper built up in my throat and spilled out of my trembling lips. The pressure on my arm increased and before I could comprehend what was happening, I was hauled to my feet.

Strong arms encircled me.

"How the hell did you do that?" Shawn asked me incredulously, giving me a bone-crushing hug.

"Do what?" I asked confused. I pulled out of his arms and saw that everyone had encircled me, awe-struck. Lynn and Sam reached out and grasped my hands in theirs. "Where did they go?" I asked in a trembling voice, scanning the area around me, frantically looking for the loathsome bugs.

"You drove them away," John said, looking at me in disbelief. "I felt it when you cast it out. I swear I felt the ground move."

"So did I," Jaime piped in, standing close to me like she was drawn to me.

"I don't understand," I said, sinking down on one of the logs around the fire pit. "I was just trying to send comfort and peace to all of you."

"Well, you most certainly did that," Paul said with a laugh. "By ridding the camp of the bugs, you definitely brought peace and comfort to Amelia and me," he continued, dragging Amelia into his arms.

"So you guys think that I—was somehow able to use my gifts to drive all the bugs away?" I asked, my tone making it quite clear I thought they were all a little crazy.

"How else do you explain what happened," Sam asked, joining me on my rough seat.

I shrugged my shoulders as I fought the impulse to weep. My emotions were a mess from the energy I had exerted and the relief I felt that all my friends were safe was tangible. The whole experience felt like a dream if not for the multiple bites that covered my hands. I studied the bloody mess for a minute, sickened that chunks of skin were missing from my knuckles and the soft flesh that made up the back of my hand. I looked up at my friends and saw similar angry bites on the exposed chests of the Protectors in our group.

"When you expelled all that energy, what results were you trying to achieve?" John asked, not bothering to hide his intrigue.

"I only had one thought, which was to give all of you peace before you died," I said apologetically, realizing how morbid it sounded that I had contemplated their demise.

"Amazing," John said, deep in thought. "Obviously The Light felt the best solution to bringing us peace, short of killing all of us, was to use you."

"You are correct," Haniel's deep voice said behind me.

"Haniel, dude, your timing really sucks. Where were you like five minutes ago?" Shawn asked, not bothering to hide his disgust.

"I believe my whereabouts are no concern of yours," Haniel said, making the chain of command quite clear.

Shawn opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it, snapping it back shut. He glared at Haniel though, making his distaste obvious before sinking down on one of the logs with Sam.

Haniel returned his stare before finally answering him. "My duties were to get all of you to this destination and to deal with Victor directly. Any further assistance goes against my instructions from The Light."

"So, we're just supposed to fend for ourselves," Sam asked quietly.

"You are not by yourselves. You have a Gift," he said looking pointedly at me.

"What?" I sputtered. "Not again with the gift?"

"Krista, how can you keep denying that?" Lynn asked me.

"Because it all seems so ridiculous. Why am I the one that's been "blessed" with such extraordinary gifts when I'm only going to be here for a short while?" I asked, clearly fed up with all the hero worship.

"What do you mean 'short while?" Shawn asked, standing up to glare at me now.

Crap, I had let my emotions take over and wound up showing my cards before I was ready. "Come on guys, surely you know I can't carry on with any of this after we're done. If Mark can be saved then I'll spend the rest of my life thanking The Light, but if he has to be destroyed…" my voice broke and I had to swallow several big gulps of cool air before I could continue on. "If he has to be destroyed, there will be nothing left for me," I finally finished flatly. I turned away from their stares that had shifted from horrified to pity.

"How do you know?" Sam asked in a voice filled with thick tears.

"Because Sam, it's what we we're created for," I said, all fight gone from my voice. "I don't want to be special. I just want my Protector back and if I can't have him, I have no purpose," I said, turning from my group and striding purposefully for the tent. The fact that I now possessed extra abilities and could stand up to Victor's dark powers didn't bring me joy, instead it only seemed to widen the gap between what Mark and I had once shared.