The First Teardrop

Not so long ago, on the bridge between forget and remember, there was a single tear drop. This was the first and purest sign of sadness that this or any world has known. The tear of an angel.



The sun broke through the clouds, and the sun’s rays seemed to turn to liquid gold as two angels sat on a fluffy white cloud looking down upon the world they left behind. The first angel, Saharra, seemed picturesque. She was as everyone pictured angels; flowing blonde hair brighter than any star, warm blue eyes as if the ocean was contained in them, and of course glimmering white teeth that were always shown in a curved smile. The second angel, Aurora, was much different. Her long hair was a waterfall of dark black curls, and her eyes were blue. They were not the same warm blue of Saharra’s eyes; Aurora’s eyes were a piercing blue, an ice blue. Behind those eyes Aurora could never lie. They were almost literally the window to her soul.



Just as they were different in appearance, they also were polar opposites in personalities. Saharra was always cheerful, always bubbly. She never seemed to want more, or less. Yet it always seemed too much, in a way fake. Aurora was a different case all together. She was a little more…laid back. Always wide eyed, and innocent, she didn’t plaster on a smile and just tell everyone everything was alright. She wasn’t afraid to say how she was feeling. The best way to describe her was melancholy. Aurora loved heaven in all its splendor, but at times the only thing she wanted was to go back home.



“Aurora you know we can’t sit here all day. The Elder’s will notice that we’re gone.” Saharra whispered. She hated to get in trouble, and only came down here because she knew how much Aurora missed Earth. Besides, that’s what friends are for. “Please just a few more minutes,” Aurora begged one of her only, and definitely her best friend. “Well um… I can’t. I gotta go,” Saharra said standing to leave. “Please, please don’t leave yet. I just wanna wait ‘til you can see the sun over the Earth. Please,” Aurora implored Saharra with big puppy dog eyes. Saharra looked nervously from side to side, knowing that they were too close to the bridge and if they were caught it would mean trouble, but she sank back onto the cloud next to her best friend.



Although on the outside Saharra seemed cool and in control, inside she was being torn in two; whether to stay loyally with her friend dangerously close to the bridge, or to go back to the safety and security of her chambers. Her eyes darted nervously from Aurora’s face to the dark and foreboding bridge. “Come on Saharra your not afraid of the bridge between Forget and Remember, are you?” Aurora asked, a little annoyed with her friend’s trepidation. “Yeah, yeah I am. It’s creepy and dark and icky. Plus what if a darkling comes by and sees us. It would destroy us,” Saharra said as a shiver went down her angelic spine. “Come on, you know that darklings hate the sun. They only cross the bridge when they’re summoned. Plus no one is stupid enough to summon one during the day. Would you grow up?” Aurora finished in a huff. But even after all that convincing Aurora was starting to get a little scared herself. The bridge connected Earth and the “Other Side”. Well, let’s just say it’s not Heaven. The “Other Side” was extremely dark on this particular day, which really freaked Aurora out. Its dark vapors billowed with extreme violence and turmoil. Every once in a while it was almost as if lightning the color of blood, struck somewhere behind the ominous fog.



As if that wasn’t enough the bridge itself screamed, “GO AWAY, RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!” It was originally made from some form of pallid brick, or stone, but now as the years past and the many demons and darklings crossed over the bridge to wreak havoc on Earth, its substance had been worn away to an unrecognizable state. Even though the bridge was sturdy and could hold the weight of even the biggest of demons, it was cracked and almost crumbling. There were black railings on each side so the summoned, whether demon or darkling, could not escape its Master’s call. At the tip of each rail was a jagged point that was crudely made and in each was the power to restrain even the most powerful demon. The gates on the side nearest Earth were always open, like claws waiting to ensnare their next victim. But the gates to the opposite side were barred and guarded. But from behind the toxic mist you could hear them clawing at their chains desperately attempting to be freed.



Aurora appeared to come out of her trance by a particularly cruel memory of her former life. Her face was ashen, drained of all color, and her breathing was uneven and shallow. She was shaking. “Aurora are you ok?” Saharra asked as she noticed the fearful state of her friend. “Yeah, let’s go now,” Aurora said shaking her head as if trying to throw the memory from her mind. As they started to stand, there was a shrill screeching, and a thunderous scraping noise coming from the bridge of Forget and Remember. “Aurora what is that, that horrible noise?” Saharra asked starting to quiver with fear. “I…I dunno,” Aurora stuttered. Both of their gazes fell upon the swelling smog belching forth from the “Other Place”. There were mysterious figures emerging from the darkness. The angels stood frozen in fear as the gigantic guards slowly trudged to the gate. If Aurora and Saharra didn’t know any better they’d have said the guards look…fearful. The blue-gray trolls that guarded the gates glanced nervously at each other before heaving the weighty gates open.

At that moment the lock was undone and the gates flung themselves open the guards enormous bodies were engulfed in vivid blue flames. Their wails were unbearable. As the flames licked at the last of their skin they fell to the ground in a charred mass, dead. Their eyes clouded over, their mouths remained open in a silent scream.



Saharra turned away from the horrific sight. “Saharra we need to leave, NOW!” Aurora whispered urgently just as a horde of lower level demons burst through the gates. There were bigabees, googones, and even a few imps. Most were red with some kind of jagged horns protruding through the top of their heads. Each demon had a pair of small black leathery wings growing revoltingly from their backs. Their yellow fangs were all curved into an evil sneer.



“There must be a hundred of them,” Saharra sobbed. Her throat closed at the mere thought of it. Aurora gasped at what charged through the gates next! There was a ghastly rumbling and out from the smog marched forth row after row of higher level demons. Blue scales cover all of their bodies, including all six of their tentacles. Their whip like tails thrashed back and forth viciously as the multitude of them marched on and on across the long bridge. “There are so many of them,” Aurora said awed by the large quantity of demons charging across the bridge heading straight for Earth.

The next occupant of the bridge caused Aurora and Saharra to fall to their knees with fear. This time it was only one darkling, but this darkling was the most powerful of them all. His name was Nickolie the Great, he could wipe out an entire species with the blink of an eye, and (what did you think happened to the dinosaurs?) He could set the world a blaze in blue flames faster than you can scream. He could freeze the world into a ball and juggle it with the rest of the planets as easily as you could turn on a light. The universe was his play thing, his power was never ending.



He looked nothing like you’d suspect a powerful demon to look like. On the contrary he was quite handsome. He walked with a purpose and his strides were momentous. He wore dark jeans with black boots. Nickolie’s trench coat billowed behind him as he strode across the bridge. His skin was pale, but smooth. He had sharp features positioned in an evil scowl. Nickolie’s deep green eyes darted from side to side checking for danger. His mustache and goatee gave his face a more gaunt appearance. Nickolie’s black locks flourished in his wake. And from behind his long black trench coat he was graced with two stunning black feathered wings.

He snapped his long thin fingers and immediately a frightened imp appeared at his shoulder. He asked him something the angels could not make out, and his face became livid with rage, and the imp begged for its life. As Nickolie regained his composure and made a slight hand motion and instead of flames the imp imidiately turned to solid ice. The frozen imp fell to the ground and shattered into a million pieces immediately destroying its essence. He walked on as if nothing could stand in his way.

“We have to stop him,” Aurora moaned in hushed tones. “WHAT?!” Saharra almost screamed, but Aurora flung her hand over her mouth to hush her just in time. “Shhh, he’ll hear you,” Aurora warned hiding behind the cloud and dragging the shaking Saharra with her. “What are you talking about, what can we do against him? He’s one of the most powerful darklings the world has ever known,” Saharra murmured, pulling Aurora’s hand off of her mouth. “Exactly, that’s why we must stop him, we must stop him now before he destroys the Earth,” Aurora spoke quickly but quietly. “What about all the other demons?” Saharra asked trying to find anyway out of the situation of fighting the most powerful darkling. “We wait until they have passed through the portal at the other end of the bridge, and just before he goes in we send our strongest light denotations at him. But he must not see us or he will do the same to us,” Aurora said as if she had been planning this for years. “Ok, but what if he sees us or hears us or…” Aurora cut off her babbling friend. She held a finger to her lips and motioned for Saharra to look at the gate. There Nickolie was standing by the gate watching as each of the demons past through the gate. About half of the demons had past over to Earth already.



When there were only about ten demons left Aurora and Saharra had their plan ready, and were hiding behind a make shift barrier. The last of the lower level demons past through the gates and entered the portal. Nickolie turned on his heel and had one black boot already in the portal when something caught his eye. Nickolie quickly teleported from the gate to the center of the bridge just as two light denotations hit the ground where he was standing mere seconds ago. He whirled around and immediately saw the small white cloud, and chuckled to himself. He flung his hands out to the side and immediately they burst into blue flames. “Come out, come out, where ever you are,” Nickolie taunted laughing in their faces (well, sort of). He threw a flaming denotation as the very top of the cloud. Aurora screamed as the denotation nicked the top of her wing. Blood flowed from the cut staining her white pure wing a deep crimson. “Aurora are you ok?” Saharra asked crouching even lower behind the barrier.

“So I’m dealing with a bunch of angels. Why can’t you ever mind your own business?” Nickolie shouted to them as he sent another round of denotations straight at them. Each time the cloud became smaller and smaller, but at the same time his attacks became weaker and weaker. “We have to fight back, or we won’t have any protection,” Saharra spoke softly to Aurora. “No, we stick to the plan. Let him attack and get weaker, we wait until there’s just enough room for both of us,” Aurora instructed her. “Well, the cloud ain’t gettin’ any bigger Aurora,” Saharra murmured fearfully.

“Come on angels, you attacked me first remember!” Nickolie shouted at the ever shrinking cloud. He appeared to be enjoying him self tremendously. “On the count of three…1…2…3!” Aurora called as both angels jumped up and attacked at the same time. Nickolie barely had time to react; this reaction was much less graceful than the first. He flung himself on the ground out of reach of the full blast of the attack but not enough to clear it completely. His arm now was bleeding profusely from a deep gash just above his elbow. “I’m surprised angels, I didn’t think you had it in you,” Nickolie commented through gritted teeth, “But you’ll have to do much better if you want to defeat me,” He screamed as he hurled another denotation at the cloud. “Aurora I’m scared, I don’t know if I can do this,” Saharra said panting. “Come on he’s been throwing denotation after denotation at us, he’s got to be getting tired,” Aurora commented more to herself than to Saharra.



The cloud was shrinking fast, and the angels knew they had to do something soon or they would be totally exposed to his oncoming attacks. “Ok I have an idea; we’ll each fly to one side and attack him as many times as possible. He can’t attack us both so one of us will be able to hit him,” Aurora said with a note of finality in her voice. “But won’t he just target one of us?” Saharra asked shaking with fear. “That’s a chance we’ll have to take, now come on, NOW!” Aurora said as both she and Saharra flew to each side fire rapid denotations at the darkling. He jumped, tumbled, and some times flat out flopped to the ground. There were a few near misses, and some even made some kind of contact. When Aurora and Saharra had finally flown back to the cloud to rest Nickolie had several cuts and scraps; including a bloody lip and a slash on his left cheek.



Nickolie steadied himself and prepared for the next attack. His attention was focused on the blonde for he had noticed she was a little slower on the draw. This plan left him exposed to the attack of the darker angel, but he wasn’t worried about that. Nickolie felt that she would be so shocked by his attack on her friend that she would stop. He focused almost all of his energy into a denotation and waited hands at the ready for heaven’s little angels.

“Ok, ready for another round?” Aurora asked a little more confident noticing the little damage they had inflicted. Hey they had made some progress. “I don’t know Aurora, what if he realizes what we did?” Saharra asked, still a little shaken. “He won’t come on we have to finish him off,” Aurora pleaded her friend. Saharra agreed and once they both had regained a little energy flew out from behind the cloud. That was all Nickolie needed, he struck. He shot his denotation straight at her heart, while dodging Aurora’s denotation by mere inches. His denotation flew fast and true straight at Saharra’s heart, she barely had time to react at all. She flew up hoping to get away but she wasn’t fast enough and was hit dead on in the stomach. She fell back to the cloud limp. “SAHARRA!!” Aurora called after her friend. She looked back and saw the darkling smirking at what he had done. “You will die for what you have done demon.” Aurora shouted at him as she focused all of her energy and emotion in to that one denotation just like the Elders had told her. Nickolie was shocked so shocked he just didn’t get out of the way in time. The denotation hit him directly in the heart and his essence seemed to explode as it flew in a million different directions each piece scratching Aurora’s exposed flesh like glass. But she didn’t feel it she was numb, as she floated down to the limp body of her best friend.



“Aurora…did we…did we kill him?” Saharra asked gasping for air. “Yea, yea we did,” Aurora said closing her eyes so as not to she her friend as she clutched her stomach and warm blood trickled through her fingers. There was so much pain in her eyes, but there was also peace. “A...Aurora, you’re my…best friend,” Saharra said mumbling trying so hard not to give in to the pain. “No, please don’t do this Saharra. I can get you back to the Elders, they can heal you. Please,” Aurora managed to utter biting her lip ‘til it bled from the awful sight of her dying friend. “Don’t…forget me…ok?” Saharra said forcing her way through the pain to tell her friend how much she loved her. Aurora grabbed her hand, “I could never forget you, and you’re my best friend too. Don’t leave me Saharra.” Saharra smiled at her friend for the last time as she peaceful closed her ocean blue eyes and her hand went limp. “NO!” Aurora yelled as Saharra’s essence broke down. It didn’t explode like Nickolie’s it just seemed to fade away, and all that was left was Aurora on her knees gazing down where her friend had just died, again.

For the next few days, and even weeks Aurora withdrew from everyone, she just wanted to be alone in her pain. One day when the sadness was so deep and cutting that she couldn’t take it she went to go see God. The angel at the desk told her that he had been expecting her. At this Aurora was a little confused but was too tired to ask. “Aurora my child you’ve finally come to see me,” The Lord spoke in a deep comforting voice to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” Aurora said avoiding his eyes. “It’s fine, everyone deals with loss a different way,” God told her kindly. “That’s just it Lord, I can’t deal with this. There is no release,” Aurora sighed. The Lord just looked down at her and smiled knowingly, he had waited for this day to come. “Aurora I’m going to bestow a gift upon you, to help with the release. Would you allow me to do so?” He asked the question like a father, or a best friend. “Yes please, I would like that very much,” Aurora said looking up for the first time since their meeting. Just as she did so her eye brimmed with tears, and without warning they started to spill endlessly from her eyes. “Lord, Lord I’m leaking. I’m leaking sea water. What’s happening?” Aurora asked confused and slightly afraid at this turn of events. God just smiled as his eyes softened as he looked down upon his creation. “Do you remember how blue Saharra’s eyes were; it was like the ocean was in them?” the Lord spoke gently to her. “Now my eyes are like the ocean too,” Aurora said as more tears trickled out of her ice blue eyes, no not ice blue, ocean blue.