Y is for Yesterday

          “May I request information?” Zacharius asked of the angels in front of him.
          “That is allowed. We will not reveal our knowledge of that which you seek until your questions have been asked. We have until sundown.”
          “Thank you angel.” So many questions, where to begin? “Your Labyrinth was said to be impenetrable. How is it that the demons broke through?”
          “They were led by a demon whose power rivaled that of our Praesa. It knew of things it should not. Our defences did not last.”
          “Do you know why the demon knew such knowledge?”
          “We do not. It was an abomination, a demon lived at its heart yet the creature was deformed. That may have been one of many reasons.”
          “The defences in place now. The wall I passed through to enter your Labyrinth, the guardians and the feathers. Were they placed after they broke through?”
          “Yes. The wall to halt their army, the guardians to protect the survivors. The feathers to hold tis place from them. Our Praesa’s sacrifice before she fell.”
          “The room before the final guardian, a similar power-cast was used there which was placed at the Labyrinth’s entrance?”
          “Yes. Many fell in the attempt to use it. It was the Sleep of Angels.”
          “And the guardian at the entrance to the high stone pass, was that so that angelkind could travel across without fear of pursuit?”
          “The guardian was placed before the Confining was cast. Angelkind flew across after destroying the platform. The guardian held for a time before it fell.”
          “The other defences  held them back?”
          “And protected the survivors.”
          “Could you clarify?”
          “The first wall defence held the army back. The guardians there after protected the survivors until those inside broke through them. The last Sleep of Angels was cast but after the abomination completed the symbols of the traveller’s door. The door was destroyed after and those remaining completed the power-cast. The abomination killed our Praesa after the guardian was set. In her death she released the library of feathers, once the guardian failed our feathers smote it down. The guardians are part of a power-cast sealed within the light, it rebuilds our power-casts over time.”
          Zacharius paused. ‘We', ‘our’. Not ‘me’, ‘mine’. What was the angel? “What are you?”
          “This body holds the knowledge of the library. Those that you see here have divided knowledge of our history.”
          “I understand. What happened to your Praesa’s body and the abomination?”
          “The Praesa was carried within the feather shield until the demons had died or been killed. Once gone volunteers took her to the Hall of Meeting. They lay her at the head of her seat and buried her there.
          The abomination was taken using the transport power-cast to the chasm, it was cast down into it and there it lay until only the bones were left.”
          “What was your Praisa’s name?”
          “Saisa.”
          “Saisa?” Something stirred in his memory. “There is a reading of Saisa, a scroll in our Elders’ library. Is Saisa the author of that scroll?”
          “It begins ‘My children of light shall never fall,’?”
          “Yes.”
          “She is the author.”
          Saisa, a Fire angel born from a long line of Fire angels and a relation of Phoenix.
          “Is it possible for you to record information?”
          “If it is deemed to be of importance.”
          “Saisa had children who must have left the Labyrinth and settled somewhere else, records have been located by our historians. My Praesa is a descendant of her line. Her children continue to live.”
          “We deem this worthy to be recorded.”
          “Thank you.”


Zacharius, nephili, found in Enfractu
Phoenix, lord, governor and protector of Frellick, found in Enfractu.
Saisa, lady, governor and protector of the Labyrinth, relation of Phoenix, found in Enfractu.
Praesa, title of the governor, protector, lord or lady of their city or area. Term found in Enfractu.