Emmet Tash had been in my Year Six class. The first time we met, I extended my hand to shake and as soon as our skin touched we both tensed and hastily finished the greeting. In that second we recognised each other as powerful angels and that we shared a bond. To outsiders we seemed good friends and we were but we had no option really; our bond made sure of that. For those who don’t know, a bond is a relationship between angels that means they enhance both their powers when they are together or combine their forces to make an attack that can’t be performed singularly. Though the power of a bond is rarely used as one or both of the pair could fade due to the energy required. After our primary school graduation, Emmet seemed to disappear. I hadn’t seen or heard of him or from him since. To answer his question, yes, I was surprised.     

                                                                                        . . .

Emmet then took me back to his house. Once we were inside he led me to a room filled completely with shrubbery and plants of all different kinds. I was amazed at how ordered and neat it all was. It was then that I realised Emmet had changed a lot, not just in character but in appearance too. He was tall, which he’d always been, but now he had muscles and it was really obvious in the tight navy shirt he was wearing. His eyes were more alive and his skin was no longer pale but slightly coloured with a tan. He looked at me in amusement.

    “What?” he asked, the corners of his mouth twitching. A sparkle played in his eyes. He thought I was looking at him. Well, yes I was, but not in that way.                                                                                     “No!” I answered firmly, “No! Don’t even think it!” A smile slid onto his face, a knowing, sly grin that made me want to hit him.                                                                                                                                           “You sure?” he questioned. I made an indignant noise in my throat, arms crossed in a final way. Maybe I had been wrong. Maybe he had asked my friend, Helen, if she thought I would date him because he actually had a crush on me and not for a joke.                                                                               “We’re getting off track,” he remarked, “I didn’t bring you here to flirt with me,” he needed to realise who was flirting with who; “I brought you here to show you my talents. Shall I?” I nodded and so he did.

Suddenly he was covered in a shimmering curtain of fine matter and he became a tiger. After pausing a moment, he changed into a dog, then a flower, a snake, a tree, a bridge and the Eiffel Tower. Finally he became himself again and started on his second power, as all angels have two. All the garden began to dance but there was no wind, then the room was enveloped in flames, following that a torrent of cool water quenched the flames but it didn’t wet me or the ground, after that a wind ripped through the building, until finally any plant that had been burned healed itself. Emerin stood before me watching for my reaction. I was impressed; he could shape-shift to anything, it seemed, and could control the elements, but I wasn’t the only one who thought his display interesting.

It was one of the Rage; Tyrancius, if I wasn’t mistaken. A tall, stick-like figure hidden under a black hooded cloak. Everything about him was dark, everything except his eyes which were evil smouldering coals. There was a sound not dissimilar to steel on leather and a shimmering sword was held in the scarred hand of our foe.