The Archangel’s Gift: Voyage to Heaven

Welcome to THE ARCHANGEL'S GIFT! Our story begins with a mysterious disappearance.

Serafina was just a girl when her father tried to invade heaven.

She would never forget the sight of people lining Rome’s airdocks as the dashing Captain Salvatore Ventura set out to defy the Archangels. Boys wore homemade aeronaut coats, waving toy skyships as they watched their hero fly away into the blue. Young women cheered loudest of all (much to the chagrin of Serafina’s mother).

But why did a few of Serafina’s neighbors avert their eyes, muttering to themselves? Why was the local cantore, the holy man whose congregation her family had attended for years, yelling angry words over the roar of the crowd? First Edict. Blasphemer.

Damned.

Serafina didn’t yet know what those words meant. But even if she had, she wouldn’t have doubted her father’s courage. No one had ever made it through the wall of storms guarding the Archangels’ holy mountain, but everyone agreed Salvatore Ventura would be the first. He was different from the reckless explorers who had died probing those forbidden storms. He was cleverer. He was bolder. He was the finest aeronaut the island of Rome had ever produced.

People were still saying that after his planned two-week voyage stretched into a month.

Two months.

Three.

The local authorities declared Serafina’s father dead after six months. She should have had time to weep. She should have held her mother’s hand while their cantore recited the psalms and commended her father’s soul to the Abyss below. But she never had the time, never had a chance to truly mourn him.

Because by then, Salvatore Ventura’s errant expedition was yesterday’s news. By then, the first holes were opening in the universe’s fragile walls.

And the monsters were pouring through.

***

UP NEXT: We catch up with Serafina twenty years after her father’s disappearance. Spoiler alert—things are not going great. For starters, she’s trapped in a castle under siege by a horde of demons.

Not sure about all my weird fantasy words? Check the glossary here.

Paid subscribers: Read my commentary on this chapter here. You can also dive deeper into extras: geography, history, and lore. There’s even a map! It’s all right here.

I will also be serializing this story on Royal Road. You’ll find it here.