Era

Era

Anna Brights

Translator Anna Brights

© Anna Brights, 2025

© Anna Brights, translation, 2025

ISBN 978-5-0067-8512-0

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

From the author.

“Drug use carries serious health risks and can lead to irreversible consequences. This book describes cases where the characters face the negative consequences of drug use. The author urges readers to reflect on the importance of a healthy lifestyle and avoid any form of addiction.”

Chapter 1

I stood in front of the gate, which shimmered with golden light, like liquid amber. They reflected me, but I was not seeing an angel, but something completely different. I didn’t have wings right now, even though the legends always depicted angels as snow-white and pure. My wings were as black as a moonless night, and it made me look demonic. Unfortunately, I forgot what they look like, and I rarely let them down in my angelic life. In the reflection, black eyes stared back at me – I was more the embodiment of darkness than light.

I took a step forward and found myself in the Celestial world, which is legendary on Earth. Vast expanses filled with light and energy stretched around me. In the distance, majestic cities could be seen floating in the air, and I felt the air getting heavier, filled with a premonition of something important.

I’m here again, and it’s not good, I’ve rarely come here voluntarily. Except maybe to see my friends. I didn’t have many of them here, Vito the angel and Tatiana, my mentor, the Archangel. At that moment, I realized that my fate would soon be decided. I was teleported here, and I knew why.

What could I have done wrong? I didn’t save the man. More precisely, I didn’t save him because I felt it necessary to let him go. Yesterday I was in the hospital, where an old man was lying on his deathbed. His family surrounded him, crying with happiness. They thought the end had come, and it was a relief to them.

I could have saved him. I could spread my black wings, give him an angel’s kiss, and preserve his soul in a corporeal shell. But I’ve been thinking too long. At that moment, death had already appeared, but not in the form of an old woman with a scythe, but in the form of a beautiful woman in a black robe. Her eyes were hidden under a veil hat, and only her bright red lips stood out on her face. It was with these lips that she kissed the dying man, and his soul left his body.

Death could kiss an angel, but that would mean his death. I’ve heard a lot of stories about such cases. One day, an angel intervened in a death ritual, and death kissed him. This angel found himself in a stone hall where all the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire were saying goodbye to their brothers.

Now I was standing in front of the gate, and I knew that my fate would be decided today. Perhaps I will be sent to Earth, where I will be unprotected and subjected to suffering. Or I will be sent to the Underworld, where I will feed on the negative energy of people and serve demons.

The angels were afraid of losing their wings and going to earth. For some of them, it would be a welcome outcome to descend into the Underworld, but I didn’t want that fate for myself. Living in the dark, feeding on the negative energy of people – it was unbearable.

I stood there and wondered what my fate would be. But there was no fear. I was ready for any turn because I knew there was no place for weakness in this world. Only strength and determination will help me survive.

I heard footsteps in the distance. Turning around, I saw Tatiana, my mentor and friend. Her blue eyes always radiated warmth and support, but now there was disappointment in them. She nodded at me, and I followed her.

The next night, I was sent to a new ward, a beautiful woman with snow – white hair and a smile that could melt any heart. She was a movie star, but no one really loved her. Her life was full of carnal pleasures and lies. With her, I saw what love is, what passion is, the pain of deception, and momentary happiness.

One night I saw her lying in her bed, crying and taking pills. I knew she wanted to die, but I couldn’t stop her. I could have saved her, but then she would have remained unhappy, and her endless men would have continued to take advantage of her kind heart, beauty, and her body. I decided that releasing her soul would be the right thing to do, and she would suffer endlessly.

I was immediately sent to jail, there was no advice. Tamara and Mikhail were fighting a war with demons back then. And it was not appropriate to investigate the crime of an angel like me. Then many of our people died, the demons did not spare anyone. The most important thing was to preserve the peace of the Celestial Empire and prevent the demons from destroying all the angels. The war ended a couple of decades ago, Mark and Tamara signed a peace treaty, which was backed up by the blood of an angel and a demon.

During that time of war, I went to my new ward. And here is the same old man who lost his angel in the war, sitting in front of me. His wife was still alive then, and he was happy. I felt his love for her, and warmth spread inside me. At that moment, I thought how great it is to be human and feel this wonderful feeling. But his happiness did not last long, his wife died, and the old man suffered for her for a long time. His children were taken from an empty house and brought to him, the old man was often ill and was a burden to the whole family. He begged death to give him a kiss, because that was the only way he could meet his beloved again.

The sky turned orange, heralding the arrival of a new day. I got up to enjoy the colors of nature, but I heard footsteps and saw several pairs of shiny black eyes in the hallway. It was Mark, surrounded by his demons. He moved confidently and swiftly, his commanding bearing speaking for itself. Huge black wings spread out behind him, which sparkled with fiery red tongues in the light of the Celestial Empire.

“Ready to go to Hell?” Mark asked in a low voice, grinning.

“Don’t even dream about it! I replied sharply, wishing I could glare at him.

“Why don’t you want to join us?” You won’t even have to change the color of your wings.

The demons behind Mark laughed softly.

“You don’t help people, but feed on their negative energy. And come to them before you die to take away the last particles of their fear,” I said.

“That’s exactly the difference between us and the angels,” Mark gave me an appraising look. “Your friend Adrian doesn’t regret joining us. He’s released, he can fly wherever he wants. Angels don’t have that luxury.

“I’d rather stay on Earth and suffer for the rest of my days than go down to your hell,” I snapped, realizing that no one has the right to talk to the lord of the Underworld like that.

“Era,” he said softly, calling me by name. “We will meet anyway, whether on Earth or in the Underworld.

He slowly turned around and headed down the far corridor with the demons. This path led straight to the Underworld.

In heaven, where time flows differently, there was a fuss. Glowing angel-like creatures scurried about as if something had happened. I could feel the tension in the air, like before a storm. One of the angels mentioned the death of an angel. Or something even more terrible.

I tried to listen to their conversations, but angels can hide their thoughts. Their speech was like the whisper of the wind, eluding comprehension. Soon, guards and Tatiana appeared at my cage. She didn’t say anything, just gave me a look full of secrets.

They took me to the meeting room. My heart sank with anxiety. I wanted to shout, “Hey, I haven’t run out of time yet!” But I knew it was useless. But on the other hand, the sooner I leave this place, the better it will be for me. Mikhail, Tamara, Tatiana and Mark with their creepy sparkling eyes and horns on their heads will disappear from my world and memory forever.

As always, there was a circle in the center of the hall. Tamara was standing in the middle of it, her face tense with fear. Michael, the Archangel, stood nearby, his face remained impenetrable.

“Era,” Tamara began “now you will go to the new ward. Your mission must be completed. You have to keep him alive, no matter what the cost.”

She handed me a metal pendant on a tray. I took it and opened it. There was hair inside, which I knew belonged to my ward. It was necessary to find him quickly. The pendant also gave me the ability to become invisible to people’s eyes.

Then they brought me another tray with a small glass flask on it. There was a piece of my ward’s soul inside her. I knew what I had to do: drink this part, put on the pendant and go to him immediately.

But deep down, I was tormented by the question: why did they change their minds? Why am I being sent on a mission again? I looked at Tamara and Mikhail, but they didn’t say anything. Tatiana, standing to the side, lowered her eyes, avoiding my gaze.

I realized that I had no choice. I would have been executed tonight. Of course, I wanted to go to Earth, but the decision wasn’t made by me, and no matter how much my gut protests, as long as I’m in the form of an angel, I have to obey. I took the flask, took a sip, and felt everything freeze inside. It was like an icy liquid, freezing all the senses. The fear was gone, and only determination remained.

Tamara nodded and said loudly.

“Fly, Era!”

With these words, I flew away, feeling the pendant guiding me to my ward. I knew he was in a dark place, and that he wasn’t sober. But I was ready. My mission has begun.

We walked in silence along a long corridor decorated with frescoes and statues. I could feel my heart beating faster and faster. I knew that something important was waiting for me, which could change my fate forever. Ahead was the trial of an angel named Era. It’s me.

When we entered the hall, I stopped to look around. Tamara, the ruler of the Celestial Empire, sat on the golden throne. Archangel Michael stood next to her, his gaze cold and stern. I felt a chill run down my spine.

But my attention was caught by a figure standing in the center of the circle. It was Mark, the head of all demons, the king of hell, the lord of the Underworld. His black mask with bright red stones sparkled in the light, and the grin on his face disgusted me. Not to mention his terrible horns that curled inwards. His creepy eyes sparkled with flames.

I knew that Mark rarely appeared at such meetings. He only came when the angels wanted to invite someone to descend into the Underworld and continue serving the demons. I wasn’t ready for that option. My path was chosen by me, and I will not allow any demon, even a lord, to decide my fate.

Tatiana stood behind me, and I felt her support. She knew that my fate was hanging in the balance, but I wasn’t going to back down. Tamara, the guardian of the laws of the Celestial Empire, rose from her golden throne and said loudly:

“Era, you’ve broken the holy rule once again. This is the third time you haven’t saved a man.”

I stared at Tamara in silence, her eyes glistening with tears. She understood that my action had raised doubts about the authority of the guardian. Mikhail, the second most important angel in the Celestial Empire, stood next to Tamara, his face was unreadable, but joy could be seen in his eyes. He knew that if I was spared, his place on the throne would be closer.

“What did you do?” Tamara continued and didn’t let me answer. “You were supposed to protect our charges and keep them alive.”

I was silent, but my silence was louder than any words. I knew what I had done was wrong, but I couldn’t change what had happened. And even if I were given the opportunity to change something now, I wouldn’t do it. The souls of my charges deserved peace.

“Era, you’re going to be executed,” Tamara said. “You will lose your wings and go to Earth.”

I felt my heart skip a beat, it’s one thing to imagine how this would happen, but it’s another to hear this verdict here in the courtroom, in front of witnesses. My exile from the Celestial Empire meant that I would never return here, but I knew that this was the only way to become alive. To experience the full range of feelings and emotions accessible only to humans, but not comprehended by angels.

“I’m ready to go to Earth,” I said, looking straight into Tamara’s eyes.

Tatiana, my mentor and loyal friend, ran up to me and grabbed my hand.

“The Guardian! What is it?” she exclaimed. “Please give the Era one last chance!”

Tamara looked at Mark, who was boring into me with a look full of wild interest in my person, it seemed, he even licked his lips.

“You have a choice,” Tamara continued, as if she hadn’t heard Tatiana. “You can go to Earth after going through the execution of an angel, or you can go to the Underworld and continue to serve our demon brothers.”

I closed my eyes and made a decision, but I was about to repeat it when I heard a voice.

“You have one day and one night to make a decision,” Mikhail said, signaling to the guardian angels.

I was grabbed by the arms and dragged to the cage. I saw Tatiana watching me go, full of fear and pain. The gates of the hall closed, and I found myself in a cage under the open sky.

Night fell on the Earth, and I looked up at the bright stars, feeling my heart fill with joy. Soon I will be free from the shackles of the Celestial Empire and will finally be able to become a human being.

I remembered how I became an angel. I woke up in a place where light and darkness intertwined in a bizarre pattern. The endless sky stretched around me, studded with stars like diamonds. I didn’t remember how I got here, but I felt like it wasn’t just a dream.

Tatiana was standing next to me, blue eyes, snow-white robes and big white wings. She looked at me and said,

“Welcome, child.” You passed the test. Now you will serve in the Celestial Empire.

I didn’t understand what she was talking about, but I felt I had to obey. The woman took my hand and led me through the vast expanses of the sky. We walked past angels with wings of different colors – gold, silver, emerald. But none of them had wings like mine – dark, almost black, like night.

“Why do I have such wings? “I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

Tatiana stopped and looked at me with a slight smile.

“Your wings are a symbol of your destiny” she said. “You will protect those who need help and punish those who break the laws. But remember that power is not given to you in order to use it on your own.”

I studied a lot before I was given my first mentee. I had a few other angels with me, we were all children. And we all lost something very valuable and important to us back on Earth. We all had our memories erased, Archangel Michael did it skillfully, but sometimes I had a picture of a burning house in front of my eyes, my face was wet with tears and there was a burning smell in my nose.

And now the day has come for accepting the angelic essence, we all take turns drinking nectar, which tastes very sweet, but as soon as it enters the body, it turns into poison and it seems that it breaks your ribs from the inside. That’s how the man in me was being killed, and on the same day we were supposed to spread our wings. Everyone throws out their wings in turn, and, overcoming the pain, I also open my wings for the first time. And they’re pitch black.

From that moment on, I was not loved in the Celestial Empire, black wings mean I am a demon. But it wasn’t like that, I was an angel. One of the angels, Vito, treated me very kindly. He’s a good friend of mine, and for the first time we learned to fly and traveled around the Celestial Empire in a race. Now we rarely meet, he has a ward, and I had them too.

The first was a little boy, I was afraid that something would happen to him, I always protected him. He was born into a big family, and his mother and father didn’t care about him at all. They worked a lot, and the boy spent a lot of time alone. At first, I felt very sorry for him, because he couldn’t find a common language with any of the people. But when he turned eight, I realized that there was a huge darkness in this little boy. He killed his dog, and then my angelic heart literally bled. I cried over the poor dead animal, but I couldn’t bring it back to life. Then the boy killed an innocent cat that had accidentally wandered into his family’s yard. That’s when I realized that if this creature in human form gains physical strength, then humans will take the place of animals.

And so, one beautiful summer day, as always, I accompanied my ward. He was playing with a kite and did not look at his feet, his gaze was directed at him. There was tall grass ahead, and the boy did not see that there was an abandoned well right there. He fell right there, and I could have saved him, but I stood there and watched this cruel creature die.

After this incident, I appeared in court. It was the first time I was teleported to the Celestial Empire; it was unpleasant and painful when you are literally twisted and sent through space. I was losing energy at the same time, but it recovered quickly.

Tatiana, my mentor, was more worried about me than I was. She tried to convince the council that I didn’t deserve to be punished.

But Tamara and Mikhail were adamant. They said that I was unworthy to wear angel wings and should be banished to the Underworld or sent to Earth. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but I couldn’t do anything. That was when I felt fear and found myself in a cage for the first time. That night was endless, raindrops were falling from the sky, cold, and the sky seemed to be crying with me. Tatiana managed to convince the council that I was worthy of another chance.

Chapter 2

When I finally reached the place where my ward was, I found myself in a noisy bar. People were dancing, laughing, and drinking strong drinks. But in the midst of all this fuss, I noticed him – a young guy with curly hair and brown eyes. He was tall and strong, but there was something strange in his gaze.

There were girls hanging around him, but they seemed somehow inanimate to me. Their auras were dim, as if they had already lost their vitality. One of them came up to him, kissed him and took out a small bag of powder. My ward smiled and accepted the powder. I realized that it wasn’t just alcohol, but something much more dangerous.

His aura began to sparkle, they went up the stairs to the second floor and found themselves in a room. A dirty, dim room where the walls screamed about what they had seen here. He fell on the bed, laughing and smiling. I felt a chill run through my body. It was wrong. It was too dangerous.

But I couldn’t just leave. I should have stayed and helped him. Most likely, I was given one last chance, Tamara won’t forgive me anymore, and I’ll really be executed.

This time, everything was not going as usual. There was a taste of blood in my mouth, as if something foreshadowed trouble. My ward, calm and confident, suddenly closed his eyes and smiled, as if sinking into a dream. But his dream was strange: distorted images and shadows surrounded him.

The girl standing next to him didn’t give up. She took out a syringe and bound my ward’s arm with a tourniquet. I appeared in front of her suddenly, and she looked at me in horror, seeing my physical appearance. Her eyes widened in fear, and she screamed, dropping the syringe. At that moment, I spread my wings, and the girl screamed and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

My ward continued to sleep, his altered sleep did not allow him to wake up. I removed the tourniquet and took his hand. The first time I did this, I saw the black-colored poison begin to seep out of his veins. I held his hand until a white liquid began to appear, and my ward’s blood became clear.

I sighed and went back into the invisible realm. My ward woke up a few hours later, looking around in confusion. There’s a black feather from my wings on the bed. I looked at it warily and bit my lip. He went to the window, took out cigarettes and lit up, still not understanding what had happened to him. His blood was pure and he was sober. He remembered going into the room with a girl, but she wasn’t there. He looked around the room, saw a syringe and a rubber tourniquet, and left, heading through the dark streets to his house.

His house was a small apartment on the second floor, cluttered and dusty. He took a shower, and I saw him naked. His body was beautiful, as if he was made for the light. If he were an angel, he would be called the standard of beauty in the Middle Kingdom.

I was sitting on the windowsill in my ward’s room, watching him. He slowly, as if reluctantly, collected the scattered things, but soon gave up this occupation and went to bed. His breathing became even, his eyelashes trembled, and he fell asleep. I thought about how he sleeps, and noticed that his eyelashes were long and beautiful. They were trembling slightly, as if he was dreaming.

But this dream wasn’t like the one he’d had at the hotel. He was walking through a sunlit clearing towards a girl. She was very beautiful, and he was smiling, enjoying this dream. Suddenly, he turned over, and I noticed that his aura was purple-green. It was strange, because people usually have yellow or bright white auras. I thought about what that might mean.

At that moment, I felt the effect of the drunk part of my soul weaken. I decided to take advantage of this moment and go to the Celestial Empire to ask Tatiana what this aura means. I knew that she was always ready to help me and answer my questions.

When I arrived in Celestial Empire, I was surprised by the silence in the corridors. Usually there were always a lot of angels here, but there was no one there now. I saw Tatiana standing in front of me with her eyes downcast.

“Era, what are you doing here? What is it?” she asked.

“I want to know what the purple-green aura means,” I replied.

Tatiana lowered her eyes and said nothing. It was strange, because she always answered my questions. Now I got the feeling that she was hiding something from me, and it made me uneasy.

“I can’t tell you anything,” she finally said. “You have to go back to your ward. He’s always in danger, be careful.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, but Tatiana didn’t say anything again. Her blue eyes darkened slightly, and I realized that she was holding some kind of secret.

At that moment, Archangel Michael appeared in the hallway. He quickly flew up to us and said loudly.

“Era, what are you doing here?” You should be by your ward’s side, and I ask you not to appear here in the Celestial Empire again until you have enough energy.

I felt that Mikhail and Tatiana were feeling fear. Something had happened, and I had to find out what it was.

But Mikhail didn’t say anything. He just teleported me back to my ward’s apartment. I was there at the moment when dawn began to break through the window. I looked at the sleeping man and realized once again that he was very handsome. If I were a human, I would experience the full range of emotions from such natural beauty. But now I could only say that it was really beautiful. But the cluttered apartment’s furnishings didn’t match that beauty.

I decided that I had to figure out what was going on with my ward and his purple-green aura. I knew it wasn’t just an accident, and that there was more to it than that.

And now my ward has awakened. His face was clouded with pain, and he continuously touched his head, as if trying to calm an invisible ailment. He was getting ready to leave, and I saw how his hands deftly put clothes in the bag, as if they were not just things, but symbols of his upcoming adventures. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, he said something unintelligible and went to answer it. There was a thin woman on the threshold, an emotion of irritation and even anger could be read on her face.

“Alex,” she said loudly and crossed the threshold of the apartment. “When will it all end? You’ve littered the whole apartment, and I still haven’t received the rent.”

“Don’t yell! Alex barked and continued packing his bag.

“What does that mean?” the woman was surprised and widened her eyes.