Page 31 of Azriel

“You’re really strong, huh?” asked Vali.

“I’m average.”

“You angels must all be stronger than humans and nephilim.”

“Yeah, but I’m not particularly strong compared to some,” said Azriel. “There are angels with a lot more strength.”

They passed the edge of the town, and Vali knew the darker blobs below were trees. The road out on that side was a pale strip, and the patches of woods grew bigger. Farms were far to one side, but Vali couldn’t make out much due to the distance.

“What would happen if you kept going up and tried to reach the stars?”

“You couldn’t breathe after a while,” said Azriel. “Some have tried a long time ago, but the air gets quite thin.”

“Have you ever flown into a cloud?”

Azriel snorted. “It’s like fog even though they look more solid from the ground.”

A clearing ahead was a big pale patch, and no one lived by it. It was also highly unlikely that anybody would be walking close to it at this time of night.

“Is this it?” asked Azriel.

“Yeah.”

Vali’s stomach grew funny again as Azriel took him lower. Once he landed, he set Vali down, and his legs quivered a little.

“That was a little scary but kinda fun,” said Vali.

“Most nonfliers experience that at a young age because they want someone with wings to take them up, and it can be scary for them too.” Azriel’s right pointer finger lit up. “Colors are muted for me unlike some angels with night vision, but I know you can’t see as much as I do.”

Vali stared at his finger. “You can make light?”

Azriel sighed. “Yeah. It’s not that great of an ability, but it has some uses.”

“Not that great? Do you have any idea how useful that would be if humans could do it? We’d save on candles and lanterns.”

“But angel fire can keep going.” Azriel’s finger went out, and a blue flame appeared in his palm. “I don’t even need a finger that lights up.”

“That’s amazing!”

The flame vanished, and Azriel’s finger lit up again. “At least I can see how pretty your hair is.”

Vali struggled to keep the scowl off of his face. “You don’t have to lie about my hair just because someone made fun of me yesterday.”

“I’m not lying, and it’s not just your hair. I think you’re beautiful.”

“I know I’m ugly, and you don’t have to try and make me feel better.”

Azriel tilted his head. “But I’m not trying to make you feel better. I really do think you're handsome, and I like your hair.”

“How could you like this when it’s the color of a damn carrot? If you want to see handsome, check yourself in a looking glass. If you could hide your horns, and you went down the street, you’d probably have women crawling all over you.”

“Ehhh. I’d rather they not do that.”

“Either way, they’d love your blond hair and your blue eyes,” said Vali.

Azriel squinted as he thought. “Okay, but that’s here. Humans have things they’re used to seeing. On the angel’s side, I have things I’m used to seeing. I think we must have different perceptions of what looks good, so your orange hair isn’t abnormal to me, and I think you’re handsome. I can guarantee you, if you were an angel in my realm, you’d have other guys wanting to get into your trousers.”

Vali blinked at him. “Oh. What about lady angels?”