Dark History

As Zyxel reached over and placed his hand over her own hand, Trinity was startled by the unexpected touch. Her body instantly reacted before she had a moment to process. Instinctively, her body jerked around and she pulled her hand free, causing her center of balance to tip off center. Before she knew what was happening, her body had slipped off the edge of the cliff, and she was free falling straight down towards the forest below.

Watching herself fall, everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. She saw Zyxel's outstretched hand just narrowly missing her, and her mind went into overdrive.

Zyxel had attempted to grab hold of her before she fell, but her small frame slid away from his grasp too fast to catch her in time. Without a moment's hesitation, he leapt off the edge of the cliff. Large black wings appeared from between the shoulder blades on his back. He pulled his wings in tight and dove straight down, allowing gravity and the wind to help accelerate his fall.

When she saw Zyxel dive off after her, she tried calming her mind. 'Ok,' she thought to herself. 'Don't panic! Just count. I can count, right?' She closed her eyes and started counting, trying to keep herself calm. 'One... Two...' Her eyes flung back open wide with panic. 'Oh shit! What comes after two?'

As he caught up to Trinity, he pulled her into his arms and stretched out his wings to slow their descent. She flailed around in her panicked state. Her heart was racing due to the adrenaline rush from the fall.

Beating his wings hard to change their trajectory, Zyxel barely had enough time before the tips of the trees were within their reach just below them. Gliding safely above the treetops, Zyxel maneuvered her body around so that the length of her body lay across both of his arms.

Holding her body close to his chest, he smiled down at her mischievously. His icey blue eyes gleamed with amusement. "You know, if you wanted me to wrap my arms around you, there were much safer ways to go about doing that!" he teased her.

Trinity's eyes widened in disbelief at his comment. 'He did NOT just say that!' she screamed in her mind.

Zyxel grinned and chuckled softly. He leaned in close and whispered softly into her ear. "Don't worry. You're safe with me!"

Suddenly being acutely aware of the short black and red dress that she was wearing, as her dress was flapping in the wind as they flew over the trees. She reached down with her right hand and held the edge of her dress against her legs so that it didn't fly up in the wind. Her cheeks grew red from embarrassment over having put on the dress. But she hadn't expected for this to happen.

Surveying her surroundings, she realized he was still flying over the trees, and he wasn't taking her back to the cave in the mountains. "Where are you taking me?" she asked, concerned.

"You've been cooped up with my moody self for three weeks. I figured I'd take this opportunity to let you get out and enjoy yourself for a day!"

Trinity's eyes widened once more, this time with excitement. "But my staff! It's back in the cave, I can't walk on my left leg well yet."

The edge's of Zyxel's lips curved up into a warm smile. He stared down into her eyes, as he pulled her in closer to his body. "That's why you have me! I won't let anything bad happen to you!"

Staring back into Zyxel's eyes, she couldn't help but smile back. "You aren't anything like what I thought a demon would be like." She felt a rumble in his chest as he gave a soft laugh.

"I want to know. What do they teach you these days about us?" Zyxel asked out of curiosity.

"Didn't you learn any of this when you possessed me before?" She had been curious about which memories he searched through her mind for. This would be the perfect opportunity to ask without directly asking.

Zyxel's eyes glazed over as he looked away from her gaze. "I'm sorry for what I did that day! You got lucky, being able to contain my energy inside you. Not everyone is as lucky as you. It could have ended much worse. I never meant to put you in that position!"

Trinity tucked the end of her dress in between her legs to keep it from flying up, then reached up and touched her fingertips against his cheek. "I'm here, aren't I? I'm fine! You do not need to apologize to me for something that didn't happen!"

Zyxel turned back to look at her and gave a weak attempt at a smile. "Your heart is too pure and filled with so much kindness. It's a refreshing experience to encounter after all these years." He touched his forehead against her own, and this time gave a real smile.

Picking his head back up, he stared ahead of him as he continued to fly low above the trees. "When I possessed you that day, I wasn't only trying to find sanctuary, but I was also trying to flee from Amara. She attacked me as soon as we both got pulled through the rift. The only reason for her to do this, is if she is planning something big, and she needs to get me out of the way. I just wish I knew what it is that she is attempting to do."

He let out a small sigh as he continued on. "I don't know if you realized this yet or not, but when I first entered that church, I did not know your language. Otherwise I would have spoken it when I was attempting to ask the priest for his assistance." He looked down at Trinity and gave a small laugh. "English wasn't a common language back then, as it is now! The memories I searched through were memories that would teach me about your world, and your language. The words I spoke to you in your room that first day, was the first time I'd ever spoken English."

"So, you don't automatically know every known language?" Trinity asked suddenly.

Zyxel burst out in laughter. "How would anyone be able to automatically know every language without learning it first?"

Trinity hid her face in his chest, out of embarrassment. She couldn't believe she'd asked such a ridiculous question. "Well, you are a divine being, it's only natural to think you can speak every language!"

Zyxel was trying not to laugh, and instead just smiled at her flustered reaction. "I can assure you, that although we can learn much faster than a human, we do still have to learn it just the same! After I learned how to communicate with you, I helped teach you the incantation that I required. Being forced to remain in possession didn't appeal to me too much, nor would it have been fair to you! Learning your language took about a full day, and after teaching you the spell, you showed no outward signs of refusing to do the incantation. I'm assuming now, that you must have been searching through my memories during that time when I was trying to learn your language. I never suspected that you didn't know the truth."

Trinity pulled her head out from hiding as she reflected back over what she understood so far, versus what he was just now explaining to her. "Just about everyone told me that you had forced me to say that spell, while others called me a traitor for helping you."

Zyxel snorted. "They're just dimwitted fools who don't know any better! While speaking in the divine language, it can be difficult for a human to resist the effects caused by such words. However, the Demon Spell I taught you is unique. It took an incredibly long time to perfect the spell that we required, after the side effects of our evolution began taking its toll on us."

Then the tone in his voice became very serious. "The essence of the spell, has been kept secret even from the angels. They cannot even hear the words being spoken past the initial spell at the beginning that prevents them from hearing it. Otherwise, had Amara known anything about how the spell worked, she would have killed you to break the link between us. This secret is kept, not only to protect us, but to protect the bonded humans as well. However, this spell cannot be forced. It has to be done willingly, or it will not work."

Trinity couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had willingly helped him, he didn't force her. Apparently, her mind became so conflicted between what she had done and everything she must have learned, versus everything she had been taught growing up all her life; that she blocked out everything from her mind entirely. But still, one thing stood out in his comment, that she didn't quite understand. "The... side effects of your evolution?" Trinity whispered back.

Zyxel remained silent for a moment, before shaking his head slowly. "I will not get into that." He whispered. His voice was low and filled with pain. "It is a long, and complicated story. Filled with a dark history that humanity should never have to experience ever again."

Trinity could see how much he was hurting from whatever incidents he must have experienced. She wanted to comfort Zyxel, but she wasn't sure how to even respond.

But still, she had to know. "This dark past you speak of, did demons used to trick humans into gaining their souls to torture them?"

Trinity felt Zyxel tremble at her question.

Zyxel took a deep breath and let it out slowly, before closing his eyes and giving a very slight nod of his head in confirmation.

Trinity tensed up in his arms. "And... did you?" she asked hesitantly.

Zyxel looked away from her, avoiding her gaze. He stopped his flying, and repositioned his posture to be able to hover in the air, his black feathered wings flapping slowly, just enough to keep them suspended in the air. His grip on her loosened slightly as regret over his past actions flooded him.

The lack of words and refusal to look her in the eye, said everything that she needed to know. Not caring that he was still carrying her above the trees, she began flailing about trying to get out of his arms.

Trinity's reaction didn't take him by surprise, he knew she might react this way. What took him by surprise however, was that he hadn't taken precautions for her safety. He held her close. "Trinity, wait! Stop! Just hear me out! You don't know what it was like back then! What we were forced to do to survive. Just listen to me for a second!" He tried holding on to her, but she was flailing about too much.

Trinity didn't want to hear anymore. She just wanted to get away from him.

Zyxel continued to attempt to keep a tight hold on her. "Trinity, stop! If you keep this up, you're going to-"

Trinity pushed with all her strength and he lost his grip as she fell out of his arms.

"Trinity!" he screamed. He dived through the tree branches as she fell, landing on one branch after another. Her body twisting from each impact until she collided with the hard ground below.

When Zyxel finally reached her, she was just as badly beaten and bloodied, as she had been the day he rescued her from the alley. She lay there on the ground, unmoving and barely breathing.

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(Questions in the Author's Comments below!)

Books I am currently writing:

- The Forbidden Luna

- Divine Banishment