Despite me being faster, cars are definitely useful, that’s what I thought while sitting in the back seat of the vehicle, where prisoners usually go.

  Cassiel was in the front seat, while Ramond was driving as they discussed the dead.

  Next to me was a young police officer, he was merely 22 years old, I think.

  I grabbed the badge and kept staring at his appearance, his true form was nothing more than a toy badge, the power came from the Sefirahs and the number drawn inside.

  It irritates me that it took so long to think of doing this; if my servants in ancient times had magic for this, it would have made war much easier.

  “No” — I murmured softly, I shouldn’t think about war, that life of mine ended almost 800 years ago, now I am paying for my actions, this kind of thought makes me not surprised that I continue in this world.

  “Is everything okay?” — I turned my head to the left, staring at the young police officer, his hair was short, his lips were full, and his skin seemed smooth, that was the most I could assess about him, my eyes do not see color, so I cannot see the color of his eyes or hair.

  “Just a bad memory” — I tucked the badge inside my clothing, the temperature of the object did not bother me, my stone skin felt almost nothing.

  “I imagine you have many of this kind due to the job, sir…” — the young man did not finish the sentence, he did not know my name after all.

  “My name is Assan and believe me, I have more than you can imagine” — I turned my face to the window beside me, observing the streets of the island as we headed to the Lido ferry.

  “Mr. Assan, how dangerous is the man you are after?” — a discreet smile formed on my lips with the question, which soon faded as I turned to see the boy.

  “Imagine a person capable of killing you anywhere at any moment, someone capable of eliminating anyone he wishes without a chance of failure” — it was a lie, but scaring young people is fun, unfortunately, it did not have the result I expected.

  “Then, let’s make an effort to catch him!” — the young police officer took his phone out of his pocket and began to write something frantically.

  “Boy, what is your name?” — I remembered that it is a matter of courtesy to ask this.

  The young man turned his face in my direction, his eyes widened, probably realizing that he still had not introduced himself.

  “I’m very sorry, Mr. Assan! My name is Matteo, I joined the force a few weeks ago, I’m still not completely adjusted” — the young man scratched behind his head, embarrassed.

  I just turned my face back towards the street again while I waved my hand to not be bothered.

  The two victims we checked a little while ago were hanged, but they did not see what hanged them, their bodies also had specific parts extracted.

  “Obviously a rogue mage, probably from the Asian or African continent, but why did he come to such a place close to the Vatican? He must know his actions will not go unnoticed…” — I then widened my dead eyes, a frightening thought came to my mind, a thought that I forced myself to make disappear from my mind.

  I looked out the front window and noticed the sea water, we had arrived at the port, Ramond directed the car to the entrance, where he paid a ticket to enter the ferry, after ten minutes of waiting we boarded the large ferry and the vehicle was parked, it would take approximately forty-five minutes to complete the crossing.

  I got out of the vehicle, irritated with myself, in fact would be faster if i was flying, damn it, I climbed some stairs to go to the bow of the ferry.

  As I walked through the ferry, I passed by several people, men, women, adults, elderly, children, countless people I would never know, people who live in the same city, but never even exchanged glances, people in the same corridor who would never exchange words.

  I heard a man arguing on the phone, a mother talking to her child in her lap, an elderly couple talking about a war in Europe, three children running down the corridor with their father behind telling them not to run.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I continued down the corridor and went out to the bow of the ferry, I jumped over the fence and merely walked to the tip, where I stood watching the waters and the distant city.

  “Hey, what are you thinking about?” — I heard a familiar voice coming from below where I was.

  “Hanging underneath the tip, Cassiel?” — I sat at the tip of the bow and looked down, i saw some strands of red hair waving in the air.

  “You usually go to isolated places to think, it was faster to get here from the outside” — I could hear the disdain in the woman’s voice, as if it was something trivial.

  “I don’t like being followed” — I shoved my left hand in my mouth and grabbed one of my canines, adjusting it in my mouth.

  “Just tell what you are thinking, you have more experience than anyone else in this city” — insistent as ever.

  “I've been wondering why a wizard would come to a city so close to the Vatican” — I could hear a murmur coming from Cassiel, as if she was also thinking about it.

  “Considering he is harvesting organs, it must be planning to summon something.” — Great, same thought.

  “If you've already thought that, why are you here?” — Get out of here.

  “You wouldn't be nervous about that, get to the point” — Irritating.

  I stayed silent, I didn't want to share that thought.

  “The question isn't what he's doing, but why he's doing it here,” — I replied and looked towards the city in the distance.

  “Considering the waters, he must want to invoke the 69” — Cassiel's voice became lower, she must be thinking.

  “If it was him, any place with water would do, there must be something more specific” — I replied, even though I wanted to pretend it was the 69.

  I heard Cassiel's feet tapping below me, she must have reached to the same conclusion as mine.

  “He wants to invoke the 170” — she understood quickly.

  “Yes, the 170, when controlled, can reveal all the mysteries of the Sea and everything that lives in it” — I looked in the direction of the Basilica of St. George the Greater, my assigned post.

  “Don't tell me this wizard is so insane?” — For the first time, I heard concern in Cassiel's voice.

  “I hope I'm wrong, but if he really seeks the knowledge of 170 for this” — I bit my gray lip, unfortunately, both my teeth and my mouth were made of living stone.

  “All the port cities would be flooded with the uncontrollable awakening of the Queen of the Beasts of the Seas” — Cassiel came around the end of the bow, climbing up close to the railings.

  “However, only the Lord can command Leviathan” — Cassiel then finished the sentence.

  “It's natural for a human being to become arrogant, this mage must think he would be able to control the Queen” — I saw Cassiel putting his right hand in his pants pocket.

  “If it is possible, the 170 will know how it is, and even if it is not, he will try anyway” — I held the release of my wings on my back.

  “We just have to find him before he can summon it” — Cassiel took a lighter out of her pocket, I stared at her, curious.

  Cassiel opened the lighter and after three clicks, a flame ignited. I saw how the flame began to move as Cassiel stared at it, divine energy filled that flame which then flew on its own to the sky, I looked at Cassiel, surprised.

  The minimum requirement to become a Knight rank in the church is to be able to chant the prayer in the midst of a battle, managing to fight and chant.

  The woman in front of me was able to chant without needing to speak, something that the low-level Knights can do outside of combat, if she can do it in the midst of one, she might already be at the highest level among them, even being just a Baptizer.

  “You are scary for your rank, did you know that?” — a smile formed on my face; however, Cassiel didn’t even care about that.

  “Don’t tell Seth about this, he will bother me” — she put the lighter away in her pocket, I looked up as the flame flew away.

  “What prayer did you use?” — I stared at Cassiel.

  “By day He guided them by a cloud, and all the night by a light of fire” — she turned, walking to jump over the fence and return to the main area of the ship, I understood the message.

  “May He guide you” — my large gray wings opened on my back, I jumped up with a flap of my wings and took flight, following the flame.

  “May He guide you” — I barely managed to hear Cassiel's voice in the distance, i would leave it to her to come up with an excuse for Ramond and Matteo, my gray wings flapped in the air, a body like this is not capable of flying, but this body does not follow the logic of nature, all of my body is composed of rocks that received life by the breath of the Lord when my soul was placed, the wings fly with that same blessing.

  As my body moves by the blessing of the Lord, it also feels things thanks to it, I can feel the wind hitting my face, even though it is not the same as having a body of flesh and bones.

  Flying through the skies is something for which we humans were not made, however, it is an extremely pleasant experience.

  I followed up high while following the flame summoned by Cassiel, the temperature was quickly decreasing as I ascended, further and further away from the earth and the water, until eventually reaching the clouds.

  The temperature of my body reached a low level, the air pressure was lower, but despite that, none of these things bothered me, my body hardly felt the cold, breathing was not necessary.

  I reached the flame through the clouds and stopped in the air, observing it; at dusk this flame will return to the city of Venice, guiding me to the target.

  While I waited in the air, I became thoughtful about that boy, Saulo, an unlucky one; the last students of these two died due to Cassiel being a horrible teacher, always leading the students into life-or-death situations... on the other hand, the only two surviving students proved to be elite.

  “May this boy not have the same luck as their second student, being stuck in a village in Norway must be horrible” — I thought aloud, even though little sound came out and no one was there to hear me, a habit that develops when one lives for centuries...