The Angel’s Guardian

The war. It had been raging on for centuries. Ever since the Princes of Hell had broken free of their fiery prison. They were the only ones who had ever escaped from the underworld; nevertheless, they bred and multiplied faster than they could be destroyed.

Eventually, The Seven each had their very own army of leviathan offspring to command, and they waged a merciless war upon the living. The Angels fought the demons relentlessly for years, using the earth as a battleground. Blood was shed on both sides and countless innocent people were slaughtered, just for being in the way. 

Finally, the hordes diminished to a handful of demonic soldiers, and the rest went into hiding. So… the Angels left. 

It was no longer worth fighting and they refused to sacrifice any more of their kind or time to hunt the ones they had left behind. The world was left to fend for itself, but the problem never went away. They were still under regular attacks.

The people left behind created armies and weapons to defend themselves and hunted the demons in hiding. Their main goal was to find and kill the Princes of Hell, who to this day, have never been found. They built cities surrounded by great walls to protect themselves and started a new peaceful life within, with houses and shops and roads and everything you’d expect from a modern society. 

For anyone not in the army, life felt almost normal. 

#

Deep underground beneath the city of New Capital, in the operations room at the army headquarters, the noise of people working is almost deafening. Heavy boots stomp across the cold concrete floor, groups discussing missions and strategies, phones ringing and alarms buzzing on the computer screens.

From one side of the room, Colonel Julian Stephens ushers for Captain Aiden Becker to join him in his office. 

Aiden stands out amongst the crowd with his jet black hair, mossy green eyes and standing much taller than the other men. His muscular arms are crossed over his chest, and he holds a stern expression as he overlooks the work being carried out. He wears a black combat uniform with everything tucked in and laced up flawlessly. His hair is short and tidy and the only thing out of place is a large, jagged scar on his left forearm showing clear teeth marks from some sort of beast.

Stephens is an older man in his sixties. Exhibiting a thick handlebar moustache and a buzz cut that he hasn’t changed since he joined the army decades ago that is now adorned with silver and white hairs. Entering the office together reveals that Stephens is only as tall as Aiden’s shoulder, although is not considered a short man compared to others. 

Once out of sight of the other officers and staff members, they both relax in each other’s company, and take their seats. “We’re having someone transferred from the Stranton base. They’ll be joining your team, so I need you to bring them up to speed. Give them everything they need, a list of duties, combat training, weapons training and daily itineraries. I want them doing everything the way we do it.” Stephens says firmly. 

In recent years, the base had been running like a well-oiled machine under his command and he’d not been shy about how proud it made him. They’d had countless successful missions, and everyone seems happy with their current leader.

“No problem. What do we know about them?” Aiden isn’t thrilled at the idea of having someone new join his team, but it isn’t anything he hasn’t done before. Having a different reputation to Stephens, Aiden is considered to be much stricter and authoritarian which doesn’t win him any popularity but does keep everyone in line.

“Not much right now. All I know is that they got themselves into some trouble over there and they expect us to whip them back into shape.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“They beat a man nearly half to death. Apparently, they confessed immediately after the event and accepted all consequences without any dispute. So now they’ve been transferred here so that we can sort them out.” He says sympathetically. He’d had a lot of soldiers come under his command having had a bad start in life, and almost all of them had proven themselves to be invaluable to the operation.

“Yes sir. When does he arrive?”

“Sometime in the next hour. I’ll let you know when he gets here. In the meantime, Helena is waiting in the cafeteria to have lunch with you. You better not keep her waiting.” He raises his eyebrows in warning and points towards the door.

“Yes sir. I’m on my way.” Aiden mocks a salute and heads straight out.

When Aiden lost his parents as a child, he was alone. His grandparents were too old and frail to care for him and he had no uncles or aunties to turn to… no one. He spent months in and out of foster homes, never staying for more than 2 weeks. He was too old for anyone to want to adopt him and too young to take care of himself. But, after 6 months, his father’s best friend Julian Stephens showed up at the foster agency asking to see him and offered to give him a home until the right family became available. It turns out, they were the right family. Julian and his wife Helena had never been able to have children of their own, so they gladly welcomed the opportunity to raise someone close to them who needed their help.

Upon entering the cafeteria, he immediately sees Helena sitting at one of the tables, with two lunch trays ready for him to join her. He walks over and sits down next to the spare tray and notices her tray is almost empty. Taking a deep breath, he prepares to be told off for being late. 

“It’s about time. Where have you been?” She scolds.

Lieutenant colonel Helena Stephens is easily one of the scariest yet warmest women in the entire base. At exactly 5ft she could pack a punch better than most of the bigger men, and she is not averse to giving Aiden a hit whenever he is even slightly disrespectful. Her grey hair is always tied back into a tight bun as she doesn’t have the time or the patience for it to be getting in the way. 

“You better not meet anyone while I’m away.” She warns.

“I haven’t dated anyone in over a year, what makes you think I’ll find someone in a week?”

She shoots him a warning look that made him nervous, a look only mothers can give. “It might happen. I know there’s someone out there for you, I’m just saying I better be here to meet her and give her my approval before you get too involved.” He had only been serious with two women, and she hadn’t approved of either of them. Each relationship had ended abruptly, and she blamed him for not checking with her first. “I’ll be able to tell you in an instant if she’s even worth your time.”

“Yes mother.” He laughs, knowing she’s probably right.

Before they have time to finish eating their lunch, Aiden receives a message advising him that the new transfer has arrived.

“See you next week.” She says as she squeezes his arm lovingly.

“See you next week. Knock ‘em dead.” He kisses her forehead goodbye and walks away shovelling his sandwich into his mouth.

“I always do!”

Aiden heads for the colonel’s office then notices him walking out of the elevator doors at the other end of the corridor. With him is a beautiful woman that he’d never seen before. 

The first thing he notices is how untidy she looks. Her long unkempt chocolate brown hair cascades down her back and is dragged behind her ears out of her face. Her hazel eyes practically shine across the room they are so bright and striking. She wears a baggy oversized white t-shirt, denim shorts, brown lace up boots (left unlaced) and dozens of gold bangles on her wrist. He thinks it looks completely ridiculous, but she doesn’t seem to care.

Every detail about her is the opposite of what he is usually drawn to, except every detail seems to make her more stunning.

Feeling sure that countless men and women had fallen for her beauty and charms, and remembering the reason for her transfer, all made him wary of her. However, his first priority is his job as Captain, and he won’t allow anything to get in the way of that.

Colonel Stephens calls for him to come over, and he does so without hesitation.

“Aiden, this is the newest member of our family, Lieutenant Stella Drake. And Stella, this is Captain Aiden Becker. You will be joining his team and answering directly to him.” 

Aiden nods professionally at her and keeps his hands behind his back. She flashes a warm heartfelt smile at him, but when he doesn’t respond she adjusts the bag hanging heavily on her shoulder and looks around curiously. 

“I’ll let you take over from here; I need to make an important phone call. Enjoy your first day Lieutenant.” 

Just as Aiden is about to talk and begin the induction, someone interrupts him nearby.

“Stella?! Stella Drake?” A man’s voice shouts across the room with a hint of excitement and an accent native to Wayken.

Together they turn to find the voice and see a scruffy man racing over. He has two different colour eyes; one deep brown and the other bright blue, and a huge, beautiful smile that seems genuinely pleased to see her. He isn’t like the others. He is creased, untucked, and has a tattoo hiding behind his right sleeve.

“Roman Main?!” She bounces on to her tiptoes to reach his shoulders and pull him in for a warm embrace. Aiden notices straight away that she has a similar accent to Romans, but not quite as strong from living in Stranton for so long. “It’s so good to see you.”

“You too.” He wraps his muscular arms around her and squeezes tightly. He breathes in the sweet strawberry scent of her hair deeply that reminded him of home. 

Stella gestures to end the hug by putting her arms down and gently pushing him away but he doesn’t seem to notice. His eyes are closed, and he is clearly engrossed in the moment. The soldiers around them start to laugh and make comments at Roman, teasing him for being too clingy with the pretty new girl. 

Just as things are starting to get awkward, Aiden loudly clears his throat causing Roman’s eyes to snap open and he embarrassingly lets her go while taking a large step backwards. He looks at Aiden who is now standing with his arms crossed and glaring at him with discontent.

“So, err… we’ve been friends since we were kids.” Roman tells Aiden, uncomfortably running his fingers through his hair. “How have you been? Still causing trouble?” He asks Stella as she ruffles his shaggy hair playfully.

“Well…” She begins to say but is quickly interrupted by Aiden.

“Lieutenant, I’m trying to give her an induction before they start serving dinner.” He snaps. “Report back to your station and you can talk later in your own time.”

Stella doesn’t react to his abruptness and confidently remains unchanged. Roman on the other hand, appears humiliated in front of his friend and tries to defend himself to no avail. “Sorry sir. I just meant…” 

“I don’t care. Let’s get this over with, follow me.” Aiden curtly starts to walk away.

Stella and Roman roll their eyes at each other with a smirk and a shrug.

“Later.” She whispers as she follows her new Captain.

He shows her all the different rooms that she’d need to know from the armoury to the cafeteria while giving her lists of information that she would never remember in one go. She does her best to keep up with him, not wanting to make a bad impression and eventually they come to a room that requires a key which he hands to her to open.

“This is your bedroom. Do what you want with it but keep it clean. Your patrol shift starts tomorrow at 6am in the weapons room. You’ll be paired up with McGregor; he’ll explain everything you need to know.” Without waiting, he leaves, closing the door firmly behind him.

And with that, she is alone. 

His cold and uncaring behaviour isn’t a surprise compared to previous leaders. If anything, it made things easier. Getting attached to people always made things complicated in the long run. Aiden was so neat and tidy that she was sure they wouldn’t get along anyway, yet something about him made her curious to get to know him. 

Her new home isn’t exactly cosy. There are no windows, and the walls and floor are just cold grey concrete. A wooden wardrobe stands in the corner of the room next to a simple wooden bed with a pillow and a blanket. It even has a TV and its own ensuite bathroom, barely the size of a broom cupboard, but it has a toilet and a shower that means she can have total privacy. It’s one of the best rooms she’d stayed in for a long time, and she doesn’t have to share. 

Maybe she could be happy here, or maybe she’ll be shipped off to somewhere else before the end of the month. That’s the price you pay for keeping dangerous secrets. 

{Stella’s POV}

After my morning run and getting lost more than once, I head to the cafeteria for breakfast by following the smell of bacon and eggs wafting through the halls. 

Eager to start my first official day right, I collect my hearty meal, piled high with greasy foods, and look for somewhere to sit where I can eat in peace. Starting in a new place can be overwhelming with questions about where I’m from and why I had to be transferred, and I’d rather not deal with that before the sun has even risen. Fortunately for me, I find Roman sitting at a table alone and don’t hesitate to join my old friend.

“Hey trouble. How’s it going?” He asks, looking thrilled to see me.

“Yeah, good thanks. Just trying to find my way around, this place is like a maze. You ok?”

“Good thanks. I didn’t get to speak to you yesterday with Captain Stick-up-his-arse standing there.”

Seeing him irritated makes me giggle. I’ve always thought he looked like a puppy who couldn