Obsidian Chapter 2

2

Early in the morning, screams could be heard coming from the wooden cottage. Izachiel stood among the trees, crouching down to hide. He gathered his courage to go inside and face the furious Mariana.

"Are you afraid?" Samael chuckled. He sat above him on a branch in the crown of an oak tree, swinging his legs cheerfully. Today, he had concealed his form under a black hood; after all, he rarely showed himself in daylight, but Izachiel could see the hooves above him, which were more than familiar to him, kicking in the air.

"You're in a pretty good mood for someone who has your toy," he gritted his teeth over his shoulder. He had hoped it would be the other way around, that Samael would be furious and Mariana, without the influence of the obsidian, would be relieved. That it would be her again, drowning in her sadness, but her nonetheless.

"I'm not the one stealing here," Samael gave him a crooked smile on his hairy goat face. He looked like a strange animal, an absurd cross between a human and a beast. And he smelled just as animalistic.

Izachiel showed him his straight back and strode firmly toward the wooden house.

He walked through the wet moss with a squelch and knocked on the door. The desperate cries ceased, and in the next moment, the door flew open. "Why are you knocking and coming through the door? You never did that before." She pierced him with her eyes. Izachiel entered somewhat timidly.

"I know it was you. What do I have to do to get the obsidian back?" she asked him in a resigned tone as they stood facing each other in the modest room, lit by the gloomy January morning.

"Please, try to accept this from me."

He pulled a crystal clear crystal from under his cloak, damp with morning dew.

"I thought it was broken," she said in surprise. She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "This one is useless to me, I need the black one. Only with it can I forget Janek."

"Because it's enchanted and clouds your mind. Mariano, don't you realize that the devil is sucking your soul through it? That's why you're losing your emotions and your memories."

She raised her face defiantly. "I know that, and I don't care. The main thing is that I feel better. You know yourself that I don't enjoy life, I don't want to be here. When I got the stone, suddenly nothing bothered me anymore, the day was brighter from the morning because I didn't think about what I had lost. It's as if Janek was never born. It's such a relief."

"I understand you, but you can't fall for the spell, it will destroy you. If you accept my crystal, the enchantment of the obsidian will disappear and its natural power will return. When you have both stones, balance will be restored. With its help, you won't get Janek back, but your sadness and grief over his departure will eventually fade, and you will accept reality as it is. This path is not as quick as Samel's spell, but unlike it, it will not destroy you. In time, you will see flowers bloom again on your journey, and eventually you will find lasting peace..."

"Stop this nonsense! When I prayed to God, he did not help me! And that is why I will not listen to you. The only one who really helped me was the one you constantly revile."

"Try to listen to me. I beg you from the bottom of my heart, accept my crystal and I will give you the obsidian in return. But until you do, I will not give it to you."

"Why are you tormenting me like this?"

"I care about you, Mariano."

"I don't want your stone!" she cried, full of anger and despair. "And I don't want his stone either. I want Janek..." She sobbed, her face in her hands.

Izachiel held a clear ball in his hand, heavier than it looked, and stared into the void. "You knew what would happen. It must have been clear to you right after he was born. When the first sacred being appeared at his cradle..."

"No sacred beings ever visited him. It was just steam condensing from the stove in the corner of the room."

"Mariano," he spoke to her quietly and calmly, "unicorns were exterminated by humans a hundred years ago for their magical horns. Only a few remain, so it's no wonder they fear humans and appear to your eyes only as condensed steam. Like all mystical beings, they took on the faces of animals in order to survive here.

When you deny it like this, you're just lying to yourself and hurting yourself. They've been meeting with him since he was a baby. When he grew up, he started talking about them, and eventually decided to leave on his own. Jan is extremely important to them, he is a bridge between worlds. He was born chosen for this destiny. He accepted it before he was born. Remember how he himself claimed that your world was too harsh for him. He is more connected to their world."

"I don't care about unicorns, I hate them! I hate them with all my heart. And all the other vermin that hide in the forest! Because of them, I lost my son, the only thing I had in my life."

Janek was ten years old when he disappeared without a trace. The people in the village thought he had wandered off and drowned in the swamps in that cursed forest behind the house. But Mariana knew what had happened because Janek had told her that one day he would leave. He was preparing her for it. She thought it was just childish talk and always waved it off. But when he didn't stop, she began to talk him out of it: she told him to stop fooling around with his fantasies, that of course he would never leave! God, how stupid she was...

She snapped out of her reverie and exploded at Izachiel: "It's all your fault! I don't want your stone, and I don't even want to see you! Why is God punishing me, why did he take the only loved one I had? What terrible sin did I commit, I who went to church regularly and prayed devoutly every day?"

Izakiel remained calm, even though he was tense as a string inside. He wanted to explain it to her, but at this moment, in her state of mind, anything he said would be useless. He would rather take the blame himself if it would relieve her.

"Mariano, you will meet Janek one day, don't worry. Your son is still close to you, even if you can't see him. But you must stop tormenting yourself. Until then, fill your time with something meaningful. He is well, he is not suffering, I swear to you."

"I don't believe you. And I won't wait. I want the black stone back, give it to me! Then I'll forget everything and be much happier."

"I won't give you the obsidian," he said stubbornly. "You blew out the candle last night, fine, you made it clear that you want to break off contact with me. I came today because you called me so insistently and also so we could talk one last time. So now I'm leaving. But despite how you feel right now, I'll always be ready to return at your command. All you have to do is call me in your mind or light a candle, and I'll appear right by your side."

"Just go, disappear," she snapped at him, "but bring back what belongs to me."

Izachiel felt anxiety gripping him. It was a sign that he was going against his resolutions, against the principles that had been instilled in him when he was finally accepted among the guardian angels after his last incarnation. It had been a long and colorful journey through many lives, sometimes very cruel and painful, sometimes happy and full of joy, and he had earned and desired this promotion to the ranks of the guardians of light. However, Mariana is the first human being he has accompanied since his incarnation. She is his first charge, and such a difficult case at that. He cannot handle it, especially since he has not yet been completely freed from the memories of human emotions, and he feels as if they are growing stronger within him. He clenched his right hand into a fist and swallowed hard.

"I won't give him to you!" he shouted after her and disappeared from the house.

Samael was greatly amused by the scene from his perch in the tree. He grinned from ear to ear when the dejected Izachiel appeared in the yard, his face marked by his own disappointment and anger. "That woman is your hell," he chuckled so hard it sounded like a growl.

"You've made enough mistakes. If this continues, I'll probably welcome you among my brothers soon."

"Leave her alone." He whined rather than said the sentence.

"Oh no, you're blind. Can't you see she doesn't want you?" he shouted amusedly. "Your sabotage is pointless, and you're just cutting the branch you're sitting on. I'll give her new enchanted obsidian. We're shoveling it into piles underground, there's so much of it there. And when the spell consumes her entire soul, I'll lead her into the world of the dead. After all, that's her own wish. And there's nothing you can do about it." He flashed his yellow eyes with rectangular pupils at him.

Izachiel pulled a crystal ball from under his cloak in one hand and an obsidian one in the other, looking at them as if he were making a decision. Each was as large as his palm. The crystal reflected light, which shattered into pieces around it, resembling frozen water from a mountain stream. The obsidian ball was as black as the deep night and seemed to hide the secrets of the entire universe within it. It was so tempting that it even drew Izachiel's consciousness into it. He felt it, that hypnotic magical power, and fought against it. He tore his eyes away from the black sphere and looked at Samael with a strikingly firm gaze as he said, "I will steal every piece of obsidian you give her. And anything else."

Samael sneered. "Be careful with your wings, my friend. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong either, until I lost them," he taunted, and then vanished.