Chapter 14: The Children
The bolt of lightning struck directly at the two people on the rooftop with almost conscious perceptible rage. Abaddon looked at the flash with narrowed eyes that spelt danger. He could sense that the powerful lightning was targeting him.
Without hesitation, he raised a dark wing to shield both himself and Aisling from the sudden strike.
As an ancient being, he had been exposed to all kinds of attacks, ranging from fire and swords to guns and divine magic. When he was younger, he could have been injured by most attacks. However, he was at the threshold of true immortality.
He could not be injured easily except by other half-immortals and true immortals or unique weapons made for dealing with immortal beings. Elemental forces were not a threat to him. Even if he was plunged into a sea of fire, he would not feel much. It would be like a warm summer day.
Therefore, he was not afraid of using his body as a shield against a mere lightning strike.
However, the simple tickle he was expecting from the lightning did not come.
Instead, the lightning penetrated his wing and flowed through his body. He reacted with speed and pushed away Aisling, who was still coming down from her peaked pleasure. Her boggled brain did not have a chance to process anything.
She only found herself sitting on her bottom on hard obsidian.
Abaddon had forgotten how the sensation of pain felt because he had not been injured for a long time. When the electricity pierced through his wing, the sting seemed to penetrate his sensitive nerves like a thousand sharp knives.
Demi-angel wings were sensitive to sensation, so they were always concealed using magic. It was considered taboo for a person without an intimate relationship to touch the wings of a demi-angel. Breaking the restriction would often result in death.
The excruciating pain from the lightning amplified as the current flowed through his body and to his core and limbs. If it had been a weaker man, they would have screamed in pain. Of course, the force of the lightning would have also killed them.
Fortunately, Abaddon Rex had a high pain tolerance.
The only unusual expression he made was a frown because he was puzzled. He should not have even felt the lightning strike and yet, it had injured him.
For a moment, he remembered the warning given at the Temple of Oracles, but he shrugged it off.
Perhaps, it was a freak occurrence.
He knew that it was not an attack from another being because he was always vigilant. He had already widened his senses to explore the area, and there was no enemy in the vicinity. This was expected.
The Obsidian Tower was his territory.
No one could enter the area easily.
The roof access door opened and the Cadre of Four appeared. The vigilance in their eyes was obvious. While they were not as strong as Rex, they were quite capable of fighting off most enemies.
Unfortunately, there was no enemy to face.
"My liege, what happened?" Ammon cried out.
He rushed forward and stood before Abaddon before the others could stop. His blue eyes glowed in an eerie manner as he looked at the demi-angel's wing. He could see the extent of damage to the nerves and bones.
"It is nothing." Abaddon concealed his wings.
The pain of the action caused him to wince.
"I should find Samiel to have a look at you. I can Travel to Phoenix immediately and bring him back." Ammon was a little flustered because he had seen beyond the damaged feathers.
Phoenix was far, but it would only take a few moments to get there through a gate.
Panthalassa was a large continent, so the landmass had been sectioned into three main countries: Farallon, Phoenix and Izanagi. The three had centralised governments, and each of them was headed by three demi-angels.
However, the demi-angels were not always reliable, so the daily government operations depended on the Order.
Samiel was one of the unreliable demi-angels who were supposed to lead Farallon. However, he had not appeared in Farallon City for over a year. Rumour had it that he was living in Phoenix, but no one could confirm the information.
Unfortunately, he was the only demi-angel with medical experience, relating to angelic beings.
"You will not find him. The wound will heal in a day or two." Rex answered with patience.
Though Abaddon had a reputation of being a hard leader, he had a lot of patience when it came to his Cadre. In a way, they were like his children because he had been with them for thousands of years, before civilisation, when the world was still a wilderness.
Ammon, in particular, had grown up under his care. The man was the child of a minor god in Egypt, and he had been charged with the responsibility of staying in an abandoned temple in the desert. Abaddon Rex had picked him up on a whim while travelling the world.
Somehow, he had raised the little Ammon from a tiny crybaby deity to a mighty demi-god. The long relationship made him accept the care given by the child, even when it was unnecessary.
The forgotten Aisling stood up, and her mouth opened and closed without knowing what to say. She had not even noticed the lightning bolt. She had only realised what had happened after hitting the ground with her bottom and seeing the damaged wing.
The Cadre of Four looked at her with naked hostility.
It was not that they were unreasonable people. However, to them, their Rex was an invincible force of nature. He could not be harmed if he did not allow himself to be vulnerable. Moreover, he had saved each of their lives.
Even Oceanus, the most casual and carefree of the four, could not help glaring at Aisling.
"What did you do?" Ammon asked with a cold blue gaze.
Aisling did not have an answer.
She could hardly say that she had been dry-humping their liege shortly after meeting him and did not notice his injury because she was lost in the throes of pleasure.
She wanted to say something, but she felt lost and ignorant. She had not felt so clueless since that tragic incident in Ireland. But since she had come to Panthalassa, it was like she was no longer a person who was in touch with nature and the strings of fate.
She felt like a child.
It was like her life had always been on easy mode with cheat codes, and she was suddenly playing an unknown game in hell mode. Her eyes became a little moist, but she refused to be the kind of girl who cried when things became hard or did not go as expected.
"I don't know what happened." She finally said.
"Are you sure? There is only one person on this roof with the bloodline of an elemental witch." Malena's eyes washed with black colour and turned into a starless night.
Aisling could not find a response to that because she was an elemental witch. But she was sure that she had not used any kind of magic, consciously or subconsciously. But again Abaddon did not harm himself.
"You should go home and rest. Ms Flynn and I have matters to discuss." Rex ordered.
Even though they were dissatisfied, the four could only glare at Aisling before leaving.
"I really don't know what happened," Aisling said again as soon as the roof access door closed.
Abaddon could see that the woman had clear eyes. But with his brain not addled by pleasure or pain, his thoughts became a little clearer.
The timing of the lightning strike was a little too coincidental to be unrelated to Aisling. However, he had not felt the flow of magic in her.
And she was not powerful enough to hurt him. Her power was too minuscule to even affect him, and he would know the moment she used any power on him. Otherwise, her former attempts to use divination to look at him before they met would not have failed.
But something had led to his injury.
'The banshee will be your undoing, destroyer.'
The words spoken to him in the Temple of Oracle seemed to reverberate in his mind.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone