Part I: Azure

The sinister Yaziel sends his slave, a young peasant girl named Dessa, to retrieve the Essence of Good from the fallen angel Azure.

Slivers of broken rocks sliced into the calloused meat of Dessa’s bare feet as she darted up the dry riverbed. Though the pain made her cringe, she refused to slow. The only time she stumbled was when her blood would slick the larger stones she tread and cause her grip to falter.
    She wouldn’t allow herself to pause- not even to catch her breath- she had to find Azure; she had promised Yaziel that she would, and she couldn’t disappoint him again. Her life depended on it.
    Tonight he had taken precautions, after her last failure. If she slightly turned her head, she could see the dark shadows that he sent to accompany her as they lithely darted in and out of the trees.
    There had been one point when she had tried to stop, to sit down after a particularly small rock had cut through her muscle and lodged itself between the bones near her toes. But Yaziel’s dark shadows had yowled, they scratched and tore at her arms until she stood and began moving once more.
    Now that part of her foot had bruised so deep that it was nearly black, but she could barely feel it anymore.
    Since she was running against the wind, locks of her long, thick brown hair kept getting blown in the way of her vision. She used her pinky finger to push it back behind her ear, only for it to slip out again a few moments later.
    The rocks became more moist the further up the riverbed she traveled. Eventually it led to a small trickle of water, and then a steady stream. She moved from the creek to along the banks, following it like a path.
    Finally, a tall, dark figure in the distance caused Dessa to slow.
    She crept closer, careful to avoid decaying leafs and twigs that could make noise and give away her presence. She used the wider tree trunks to conceal herself as she took meticulous alternating steps between boulders and logs.
    Once she was only a few feet away, she paused behind a cluster of birch trees to study the stranger. To her relief, instead of attacking her for stopping, even the dark shadows hindered.
    Upon closer examination, the person was clearly female, which made Dessa feel slightly less intimidated, but still anxious: The woman was celestial. Though she was alone, she was poised and content.
    She had dark russet skin and even darker hair that fell over her large and exposed breast and came a few inches short above her naval. A white cloth wrapped around her narrow hips and fell past her bare feet to the flat stone of the small waterfall of which she was standing on.
    She had one hand slightly cupped in front of her, with the other moving in a circular motion on top of it. A dense white mist was plummeting from the condensed space of her palms. It spilled downwards and hit like large droplets of water at her bare feet, then burst outwards and vaporized.
    Sensing Dessa’s curious eyes, she turned her head and offered a timid smile. “Hola, mi amigo,” she said, closing her hands together to sojourn the mist, before moving them over her heart. “Usted no tiene que ocultar- yo no le doleré. Aunque debe ser más cuidadoso. Es peligroso para una joven chica para estar preguntándose estos bosque solo de noche.”
    “Are you Azure?” Dessa asked, cautiously stepping from behind the safety of the trees.
    The woman nodded, smiling more brightly with her large blue eyes than her lips. “¿Le puedo ayudar?”
    Dessa reached into the worn leather satchel that she had slung around her neck and retrieved the scroll that Yaziel had instructed her to give the angel. She presented it in a very shy manner.
    Trustingly, Azure took the scroll and unfastened the black ribbon which held the message closed. She unrolled the wrinkled paper, holding it between her thumb and index finger. Her eyes scanned each line very slowly, making sure to process each word.
    The further she progressed in the letter, the sadder her expression became. She heaved a sigh and closed her eyes, her fingers retracting into her palms and crushing the parchment. After a moment, it burst into flame. When she opened her hand again, the wind caught the ashes and carried them over the ledge of the waterfall.
    “Debo haber sabido que Yaziel no abandonaría buscar para mí. Bien, mi amigo, parece como si sea realmente mi enemigo. Pero yo no le juzgaré, puesto que sé que tiene más probable fue atado contra su voluntad- lo puedo ver en sus ojos. Por favor, permítame mostrarle lo que Yaziel tan anhela desesperadamente.” She reached to her neck and snapped the clasp of a silver chain hung around it, then handed it to Dessa. In the middle dangled a large pendant: It looked almost as if it were made of very thin glass, but when it fell into her open hands, it felt obscurely heavy.
    Inside of the clear sphere, a thick, spectral mist danced. The deeper Dessa stared into it, the more at ease she became. She almost felt happy.
    “La Esencia de Bueno,” Azure smiled.
    Tears began to slide down Dessa’s cheeks, and she broke her longing gaze away. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
    Azure tilted her head, her thin eyebrows pulling down in confusion for a fleeting moment, before shooting up in surprise.
    In one hand, Dessa’s fingers tightened around the necklace. In the other, her fingers tightened around the hilt of the small silver dagger that she had just forced into the angel’s abdomen.
    She yanked back her arms, retrieving the items in both hands, then took off running before she could see the betrayed expression on Azure’s face any longer.

Author's Note

Alright, I've never taken a Spanish class a day in my life. All of Azure's dialog came from an online translator, so I'm sorry if it's butchered.
Also, this is just a short story I wrote when I was bored. I'm not sure how faithful I'll be with continuing the series. Which means if you like it, I'm sorry, but don't expect there to be a part two anytime soon.

Reviews

[GrandDystopia]

It's a shame you might not write a part two, this is a very intriging start to what could be an epic story, i lked the imagery and themes that you used also. Great work, your prose is very strong, hope to read more :)