Angel's Ride

Leaning against the slightly rough hay bale, Hazel blew out a sigh of relief. Who knew adventures could be this exhausting? After trekking down the elevated terrain—and tumbling twice over tree roots—she then had to sprint a decent distance to catch up with the wagon she’d seen earlier. On the other hand, Sofi had simply flown ahead, cheering her on like a track coach. Fortunately, the farmer took pity on her disheveled state and offered them a ride to the capital. They’d arrive just before supper.

Sofi lay sprawled atop the hay bale, humming to herself and lazily kicking her legs. Her wings had disappeared at some point during their exchange with the farmer. “Oh! Oh my Goddess, I totally forgot. How can I call myself a guide when I don’t even know who I’m guiding?” She sat up abruptly, eyes wide. “Sorry, honey, but what’s your name? Oh, let me also cast a sound barrier!” She waved her hand and a shimmering transparent sphere enveloped the cart.

Frankly, Hazel had forgotten to introduce herself, too. Between learning the lore of an entirely new world and struggling to hitch a ride, it had completely slipped her mind. She hadn’t even realized she hadn’t eaten at all today. Adjusting her seat, she turned to face the angel.

“I’m Hazel. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hazel—what a lovely name! Hehe, a pleasure to meet you as well, Hazel!” She beamed and reached out her hand for a handshake. “You humans do this to greet each other, right?”

“Yes, we do,” Hazel replied, returning the shake, “By the way, what happened to your wings?”

“Oh, humans aren’t allowed to see angels. Obviously, you’re an exception since you’re not from this world. But if a regular human lays eyes on an angel’s wings, it’s considered disgraceful. Our wings would wither, and we wouldn’t be able to stay in Sein anymore. So, when we visit the mortal realm, we simply hide them using light magic!”

“I see.” Hazel titled her head thoughtfully. I suppose it uses some form of light refraction to make them appear invisible. I figured magic was more like the type in Henry Patterson—cast a spell and voilà! I don’t know about other types of magic yet, but this seems a bit more… science-based than I expected.

“What’s Sein?”

“Our home! It’s alllll the way up there,” Sofi pointed toward the sky.

“In the clouds?”

Sofi made an ‘X’ with her arms. “No, silly! Clouds are still part of the mortal realm. We live a little higher than that. Well, technically, the ground is made of clouds—but they’re different clouds! We can walk on them, lie on them… oh, and we also tend to sheep up there! They’re suuuuper big and fluffy, and their wool turns iridescent in the light. I love napping on them. Hey! Maybe after all this is over, I can ask Lady Helena to let you visit!”

Hazel smiled, “I’d love that.” She made a mental note to ask Sofi more about Sein and magic later. For now, she watched the surrounding lush meadows roll into pastures and golden wheat fields as they slowly approached civilization. A few farmers paused their work to wave when they passed; others remained focused, diligently harvesting crops and tending livestock. In one field, a herding dog directed a flock of sheep into a smaller pen. The peaceful scene helped quiet the darker thoughts gnawing at Hazel’s mind.

But there was something she couldn’t ignore any longer. Swatting away Sofi’s fingers that had started playing with her hair, she took a deep breath.

“Alright,” she said, “Now that I know how this world came to be and the situation with your goddesses… why am I here? You said I had to save the world, but I’m just a simple office worker. I make Excel sheets and PowerPoints for my piece-of-crap boss. I wake up every day to sit in a cubicle and stare at a screen.”

Her chest tightened and though she wanted to stop, she felt like she barrelling full-speed down a highway and her brakes were broken. “Then, my coworkers force me to go get coffee for them because I’m the ‘newbie’, so obviously, I have to go through their stupid office initiation; and of course, I also get yelled at for my coworkers’ mistakes. And after a long flippin’ day of surviving this crap, I go home, microwave ramen, and pass out. Sometimes, I just skip dinner altogether. And I’m not even athletic! I can’t catch a ball. I’ve had low stamina my entire life, and I sucked at gym class. There’s noooo possible way I can fight your enemies for you. So tell me—what the heck do you want me to do?”

She hadn’t meant to dump everything on Sofi, but once she started, all the anxiety she hadn’t even realized she was carrying came pouring out. Looking back, it was strange how quickly she’d embraced her new reality, calling it an adventure and marveling at the scenery. However, now that the adrenaline had worn off, reality was starting to sink in. She was not qualified for any of this.

Sofi’s expression fell and her wings drooped slightly. She quietly mumbled, “Oh… I’m sorry. I didn’t know. B-but, you can’t go back now, so—”

“What?” Hazel’s voice cracked, panic rising in her throat. As much as she hated her job, she had no idea how she was going to survive here, much less fend off a demon.

“I mean! You can totally go back!” Sofi quickly corrected herself, holding up her hands. “As long as you complete your mission!” She clasped her hands together and bore a hole into Hazel with her pleading eyes.

“You mean—saving the world?’

Sofi nodded vigorously. “Of course, you won’t have to do it alone! I’ll be right beside you, and we can find allies along the way. That’s my job—as your guide!”

Hazel groaned, pressing her palm to her forehead. “Sorry…”

Sofi waved her hand and said, “No, no! It’s my fault for not telling you sooner. It’s my first time guiding someone and I got super distracted.”

“Still… I shouldn’t have lashed out at you for something you have no control over. It’s not your fault either.” Hazel exhaled slowly. “So, what’s the plan?”

Sofi slid off the hay bales and sat across from Hazel, daintily adjusting her dress to cover her knees. Then, a glowing circle appeared midair, from which she pulled out a scroll. “Ahem!” she began, eyes scanning its contents. “As you know, Lady Luxeria is currently recovering and unable to prepare for the next demon war. Although it’s only been exactly ninety-eight years since the last one, Lord Acheron noticed some odd activity within the demon lands and swiftly informed Lady Helena. We suspect they have advanced their war preparations knowing Lady Luxeria is weak and will strike within two years. Our priority is to keep the demon army from invading the Osten Empire, but our ultimate goal is to defeat the Demon King—so that no more wars will happen ever again.” She looked up for a moment to gauge Hazel’s reaction.

Hazel gave a small nod, signaling her to continue.

“This is where you come in. We needed a suitable vessel to contain divine energy and you, my dear, are perfect! Every lifeform in this world is born with mana, but since you aren’t from here, your body is like a blank slate! First, we need to get you to the Evertree. Since it’s the birthplace of deities, we’re hoping it’ll fill up your body with divine energy. The lake surrounding it is dense with mana, so it might be a challenge—but we’ll figure something out!”

“Uh…but what if that doesn’t work?”

“Hehe! Well, we won’t know until we try!”

Despite herself, Hazel smiled. Sofi’s relentless optimism was starting to rub off on her. If it were just me in charge, I’d probably be spiraling.

“So, how are we going to get there? We were lucky this farmer was willing to give us a ride for free, but realistically, we’ll need money for food and supplies considering we’re going to be here for a while.”

“Good question! First of all, the Evertree is just past the capital. We’ll stay there for a few days since I’m sure you’re starving by now. We should get some swinauk, hehe! Ooooh, I can already taste it—uh, I mean, I highly recommend it!” She giggled and reached back into the glowing circle, digging around for a bit before pulling out a few different colored coins. “As for money… I think I have some I got from Firiel a while back. I’m not sure how to use them, but you probably do!”

She leaned in closer for Hazel to see, “Look, this copper one is called a len, the silver is marti, and gold is just… well, gold. Firiel explained their values, but I kinda forgot. Sorry!”

Hazel picked up a silver coin and examined it. A swirly, cursive letter ‘O’ was stamped on one side, framed by two olive branches; flipping it over, the head of a wolf stared up at her from the back.

“Here, you can take the rest of them,” Sofi dropped the pile of coins in Hazel’s hands. The len and gold both had the same designs as the marti, and they were all the same size.

“Hey, Sofi. This is an ‘O’, right?” Hazel held the coin up. “I was wondering if this world’s language was similar to mine since we understand each other, but back at the abandoned church, I saw some markings I didn’t recognize.”

“Oh yes, we are speaking Laekan. If we weren’t, I’m sure Lady Helena would’ve cast a translation buff on you, but I haven’t detected anything of that sort. I can show you the alphabet if that helps.” She wrote a set of twenty-six golden letters in the air with a glowing finger. It was indeed the Roman alphabet.

“In my world, we call it English. And yes, we use the same alphabet,” Hazel confirmed, surprised to see her native language in a fantasy world—and very relieved that she would have no trouble communicating with the citizens here.

Sofi waved away the letters and wrote a new set. “What you saw at the church was probably Aethir. It’s an ancient language used by the divine and the only humans who know it are Lady Luxeria’s saints. I can teach you if you’d like!” A set of 32 letters shimmered in front of Hazel, full of loops and dots, like old English calligraphy. “After all, you’re about to be this world’s hero. It’s the least I could do.”
Hazel studied it but shook her head. “Why don’t we focus on the mission for now? We can do that later when we have some downtime,” — she silently counted the coins in her palms for a moment — “and you should keep these for now. They’ll be safer in your inventory.” She handed them back to Sofi.

“Alright! Just let me know when you’re ready.”

They continued chatting until the sun set upon the city walls—the painted sky glazing the battlements with pink and orange hues. Sofi eagerly shared her knowledge of trends and gossip about the capital’s elite. Apparently, a low-ranking count had unearthed a palm-sized sapphire from his crystal mine. He ordered it to be crafted into a luxurious brooch and gifted to the flower of high society, sparking a whirlwind romance between the two and igniting a new fashion craze. Sofi also took down the sound barrier, so the farmer occasionally chimed in, sharing tales he’d heard from fellow farmers and merchants. By the time they arrived at the city gates, night had fallen.