Chapter 4
The arctic air bites and scrapes against my skin, filling my lungs like I just swallowed a jug of ice water, and every part of my body freezes in pure shock. My tears disappear in the wind as I rapidly fall, spinning around in circles until I stretch my arms and legs out, hoping to stop it. I force my eyes open, looking down to see the horses below me and how they are flying around, and some are super close. Underneath them are tall mountains, again all filled with flying horses that fly around them. A nearby scream reaches my ears, and I look to my left to see Riley and five other students rapidly falling. I try to move my body towards him, but a gush of wind sends me spiralling to the right and losing sight of Riley altogether. I gasp as I fall right past a horse who moves to dodge me, and I try to breathe and think.
They wouldn’t just want to kill us.
This has to be a test...and what could they want? I look back up at the horse I just passed, Professor Louton’s words drifting back to me.
“These are flying horses, and they are gifts for new angels. They will be your familiars, yours to look after and trust in. Now catch one.”
Catch one? How the frigging heck am I meant to do that? I look down, seeing two brown horses right under me, and I mentally try to steel myself for landing on one of them. Inches before I reach my hands out for the horse’s mane, the horse flies away, leaving me tumbling down in the air. I scream, spinning around and taking a few precious seconds to flatten myself again against the air and look for another horse. I glance at the mountains below me and see a horse right on the tip of the highest mountain, its white fur shining, reflecting the moonlight.
Perfect.
It’s already still and landed, which should make this easier if I can just get near enough. Flattening my hands on my body, just like I’ve seen in action movies, I direct my body towards the tip of the high mountain and right towards the horse. As I get closer, it turns its gaze and looks up at me. The horse’s white wings spread out as we lock gazes, and I beg whoever is listening that this horse doesn’t move. My heart feels like it is in my stomach as I get so close, knowing this is going to hurt as I land. I’m inches away from the horse when the horse moves it wings and takes off. Tears sting my eyes as I see the snow below me, knowing there is no way I’m going to survive this.
I’m sorry, mum and dad.
I’m sorry, Riley, you’re on your own.
I’m—
My thoughts are cut off as suddenly the horse is below me, and I land on its back with a thud, smacking my head against its back hard enough to make me dizzy. I lock my hands onto the horse’s mane as I sit up, the world looking fuzzy as we literally fly on top of it.
“Hello, you saved me,” I whisper to my horse in pure relief. A smile fills my lips as I glance around, seeing Riley on a brown horse, flying right towards me. In the distance, I see Vesnia on a black horse with a long grey mane, and she waves at me.
A long whistle sounds in the distance, and my horse takes off, flying in the same direction as all the others with riders. I look back once, my smile dropping from my lips as I see two students’ bodies on the mountain, snowflakes falling on their lifeless bodies as blood spreads around them in the white snow.
What kind of academy is this?
The horses fly up for a long time through the clouds, and I keep my eyes high until we break out of the clouds and into the night sky, and there’s a castle floating in the middle of it. The castle sits on a floating rock, and around the castle looks like a jungle full of thick trees of all different colours. There are a few small houses around it and beautiful gardens in between them. The castle itself is stunning, like straight out of a Disney movie stunning. The castle has what must be dozens of white spired towers and bridges connecting all of the castle to the main part in the middle. When I look up expecting to see the moon, instead, it’s a floating orb of intense light, with angels in a line like a barrier all the way around it. The orb is shining the same light that the moon would give off, but I doubt we are on earth anymore. It certainly doesn’t feel like it. I stare longer at the orb, and I soon realise the angels around it aren’t real, they are made of stone.
I get a strange urge to fly up and touch them, but another loud whistle gets our horses’ attention. My eyes just briefly meet Riley’s before the horses are swooping down, taking all the air from my lungs at the same time. I hold on as tightly as I can, fearing I’m going to fall off any second, and when I open my eyes, I see we are flying around the castle and getting lower each time. The other horses form a line behind me, and my horse is the first to land right in front of an angel with a whistle in her mouth, which she drops and smiles at me.
“Welcome, new students! I am Professor Nina, and I will be teaching you everything there is to know about your new horse familiar. For now, please come and collect a whistle necklace and secure your bond as I’m sure none of you want to be pushed off a cliff again!” She laughs as she speaks, like it’s funny.
It’s frigging not.
My horse seems to understand and walks forward before lowering down so I can slide off easily, the horse’s wings brushing against my cheek.
“Congratulations, Miss Lightson. This horse is almost legendary among us angels. No one has ever been able to catch her, and she has been around almost as long as Master Gabriel,” Professor Nina comments, smiling at me, but something darker twinkles in her eyes. My aunt used to tell me just because something looks like sugar doesn’t mean it’s not salt. “Now press your hand onto your horse’s head and learn her name.” I nod and lift my hand, placing it on the side of the horse’s head. Suddenly an ear-splitting voice speaks into my mind, and a warm feeling travels around my chest.
Ayda.
“Her name is Ayda,” I whisper, lowering my hand and seeing an angel blessing mark on her fur, and it glows a white colour.
“A lovely name. Now here is your whistle, and you may ask Ayda to go and rest while I work with the other students,” she tells me and walks away.
“Thank you for catching me, Ayda. I guess I owe you a favour, because what kind of angel can’t catch herself?”
Ayda neighs at me before running off, stretching her long white wings into the air and taking off into the sky. I slip the silver chain around my neck, letting the thin, silver, star-shaped whistle hang on my chest as I look up at the castle, which is meant to be my new home.
Welcome to The Angel Academy.
Chapter 5
Twiddling with the whistle necklace, I stare up at the tall towers of The Angel Academy as we follow Professor Nina inside. The doors are made of pure clouded glass, and the warmth of the inside makes my cheeks burn as I stare around. The room is a giant square with at least six dark wood staircases disappearing up and down to other floors. The walls are littered with paintings, hundreds of them, and in every single painting there is an angel.
Self-absorbed much?
The floor below our feet is shiny, glossy wood that creaks with every step we take through this large space. We all stop right in the middle of the room, and Riley stays close to my side.
“One second, we are just waiting on someone,” Professor Nina explains from the staircase she stands in the middle of.