Sideways Light

Angels moving up and down between the clouds and the surface look like brilliant luminous rain showers.  The seraphim with their silver light, always moving down alone, and then back up with the bronze colored light of an accompanying cherubim.  It's a dazzling sight, especially looking up from the surface.  That's why they always tell the new ones to go into the light. 

Little glints of sideways light always caught Favrashi's eye.  That was an angel doing something unusual, not doing their job. The one that he was trying to follow now kept disappearing into patches of clouds, but he was still with it, so far.  Flying about a mile above his target, he always tried to stay between the stray angel and the sun.  That made it harder for the angel to see him.  It's an old trick.  Every time he caught a glimpse, he darted down lower.  For now, he was just watching.  He didn't know enough to attack.  Not yet. 

As he worked his way closer, Favrashi caught sight of what he was looking for.  The sidways flashes definitely had a bronze tint.  A seraphim was moving a cherubim.  That's a no-no.  The rule is, you always take the new cherubim straight up.  They have to be given understanding.  They have to know that they can no longer actively participate in the lives of the ones they left behind.  As he began to accelerate downward, Favrashi deftly pulled his long black bow from his back and notched an arrow.  Rapidly closing the distance, he fed the bow tension by tightening every muscle in his arms and chest.  The final two hundred yards collapsed in a split second as he released his missile, which exploded into the unsuspecting angels head with a nearly invisible burst of searing heat. 

In the same instant, Favrashi stopped his dive cold, and was taking the hands of the new cherubim, and looking into his scarred and confused eyes. "Don't be afraid, everything is alright.  You're safe."  He was crying.  When they're so new, they can't let go very easily. The cherubim was frantically trying to explain, "We were going to fix a mistake I made.  A lot of people are going to suffer because of some things I didn't take care of."  Favrashi continued to reassure him, "Listen to me" he said calmly.  "You can't change what's happened. It's already been done. They've gone on without you."  A little less agitated now, the cherubim still tried to explain, "The other angel, the one that came for me, said we might be able to make things better..." Favrashi cursed to himself.  "I know it's hard for you to accept now, but in time you'll understand.  Your actions in the world were like ripples on water.  If you tried to fix every ripple from just one action, it would take you for ever, and you would end up doing more harm than good."  He could tell the cherubim was becoming calmer and more convinced, but still resisted letting go.  That damned angel had given him a taste of hope for the impossible. 

Favrashi started leading him up slowly.  "I'm going to take you some place where you can rest.  You'll learn all about these things.  In time, you'll understand."  As they began to ascend, the cherubim was still talking, more to himself than to Favrashi.  "The other angel... sounded so sure...  said the others could help us..."  Favrashi clenched his jaw, and slowly stopped. Fighting to remain calm, he smiled and looked the cherubim in the eyes.  "The angel said there were others?"

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