The little girl planted a petite little kiss, on the stranger's milky white, pale skin.

"Like satin." she thought to herself. "Skin like satin."

A largish cut was healing, and an ugly purplish bruise was fading from the side of the stranger's delicate cheek, but the girl had to admit, he looked much better than when they had first found him.

******************Flashback*****************************

She and the rest of her village heard the sounds of terrible fighting going on above them, the sounds of death and destruction that caused them to flee to the caves in the first place. Still, everyone was startled by the loud crash that sounded in one of the Greater Caves, sounding as if something was falling through the Earth herself.

The little girl wiped grimy hands on her doe-colored trousers, and ran with the rest of her village to investigate the crash. She stopped short, and gasped in wonderment, as everyone around her did. A large, badly beat-up machine, that resembled a humanoid soldier, laid thrown like a forgotten rag-doll in the middle of the enormous cavern. The hole in which it had crashed through, was quickly filling up with debris, probably from an explosion of some sort.

The girl stood staring, lost in her imagination of why such an incredible fight took place, when an incredulous voice rang out about the surprised chatter of her people.

"I sense life in there!" the voice cried out. It was her mother. "It's faint...and fading very quickly, but it's there, clinging to what little life is left."

"Yes!" cried another. "Life...human life, inside that machine!"

Her people then began to swarm the metal soldier, and pried open what they identified as the cockpit. What they saw in that chamber horrified even them, who were used to dealing with death and injury. Most gasped, and some even turned to retch.

"Horrible." someone murmered.

Damona risked a glance at what they carried out of the chamber, and were gathering around. She gasped, and felt her stomach turn. All she saw was blood, everywhere. She forced herself to look into the chamber, where they had pulled the body from, and turned away for fear of vomiting. The chamber, was like a pool of blood, it was simply splattered everywhere. The body which she identified just barely as a young boy, was covered in so much blood, that he himself was nearly indistinguishable.

A piece of metal was sticking out of his side, which someone removed with a gut-wrenching twist. She glimpsed something white through the fresh flow of blood, and realized it was one of his ribs, split with a nasty fracture. The boy bled from a horrid gash on his forehead, blood bubbling between his lips, as he struggled to stay alive.

Her people gathered around the stranger's broken body, joining hands. The chanting began, in the mysterious language of the Earth herself. All around Damona, the magic tingled in the air, as her people called on Mother Earth herself to knit the boy's bones, and cease the bleeding. The tingle in the air faded, as the chanting winded down to a meer murmur.

Nobody dared to speak, or even whisper. The boy's chest rose steadily, the blood stopped flowing, the broken bones fused together. Damona released the breath she hadn't realized that she had been holding. Everyone around her did. They had saved the boy, using the healing arts known only to the Cheysuli.

******************************************************************************

Damona's mother offered to take the boy in with them. She smiled at the time. Even before they cleaned him up, her mother could already see that he was a beautiful creature. She had been right indeed. Damona brushed the now-clean lusturous golden locks from the boy's forehead, careful not to touch the healing gash on his head, wrapped in bandages. She sighed, and traced a finger down his soft skin.

"Would you be mine, my pretty angel?" she whispered, with childish infacuation. He was so unlike the dark-skinned ones of her race! "If only you would wake, I do sorely wish to see the color of your eyes." She called to her mother in the next room. "Mama!"

Her mother padded in softly as a deer, graceful in her every movement; another Cheysuli trademark.

"Yes darling?" she asked in her melodious voice.

"Tell me about the angels again?" Damona asked. Her mother sat on the edge of the bed, next to the boy's blanket shrouded form. She began in a hushed tone, as to not disturb the boy.

"Angels are serene beautiful people, who watch over the ones they love. They have clear innocent eyes, and wish for nothing else but peace." Damona glanced down at the golden-locked boy.

"Surely he's an angel, Mama, he is very beautiful. And he looks so innocent sleeping there. But why, Mama, would someone hurt an angel like that?" she inquired suddenly. Her mother frowned briefly, a ling appearing between her large eyes.

"I think our angel here, is what we call a fallen angel. An angel who sacrificed their very immortality to protect the one they love most. Indeed, this one nearly sacrificed his life. Anyone with less of a will to live, would have died."

Her mother reached out a long-fingered hand, to stroke the boy's delicate cheek tenderly.

"I wonder who he loves. He's going to wake up soon, isn't he Mama? He's been sleeping for a good two weeks now." Damona's mother smiled, at her, planting a kiss on her daughter's forehead.

"Any moment now, my precious. Any moment, your angel will open his eyes, and we will be blessed with his presence forever. As you know, angels don't die."

................To be continued

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Okay, what did you think? I need more feedback, AHHHHH! J/k. sorry it took so long for part three, but I went on a 7 week sabbatical. Part 4 will be out shortly, I promise!!!