The four soared over the land. It had taken the evening and the night to make it to Montana. The sun was rising and the world was warming as they passed over the Montana border towards the Big Hole River.

"I can see it! I can see the water sparkling in the distance!" cried Gabriella. Indeed, they could see the waters of the river shining in the sun. They watched with wonder as the landscape lit up almost immediately, the sun rising to meet them like an excited host.

Any exhaustion or sleep the four had was instantly forgotten as the excitement set back in. Their home for the rest of their lives was somewhere on the other side of this river. They swooped to the water's edge and flew low, spray rising behind them. Gabriella giggled as she lowered her hands, brushing the water with her fingertips. Chess felt the urge to push her into the water but thought better of it and banked away, his wing tip skimming the water. Dante and Viviana were holding hands, while their free hands were dipped in the water. They all smiled and banked up at the edge of the river, shooting back into the sky towards the sun.

"How far is it from here?" asked Gabriella, looking back at Dante and Viviana.

"Well, if the map's right," said Dante, taking a map out of his pocket, "it should be just about… five miles away." He put it back. "We should be able to see it soon."

Sure enough, the black speck on the horizon turned out to be a very small town. In fact, it was almost small enough to be called a village. Large birds of prey soared high above, circling lazily. Chess took the lead, drifting towards the ground while the others followed. Landing just outside of the town, the four stopped. "Let's hope this place is the sanctuary," said Chess, "because none of us brought hoodies to hide our wings."

"It has to be," said Dante, frowning. "It is the sanctuary."

"If it's not, I blame you."

"Look, I'm sure it is, kiddo! Trust me!"

"For your sake, you had better hope it—"

"Look out!" yelped Gabe, leaping backwards.

Instinctively, Chess hopped backwards just as Dante and Viviana leapt backwards too.

Something dark shot to the ground with a large thump, followed by two other littler thumps. The four looked on in awe as the three somethings straightened up and folded their wings behind their backs.

The middle was an older man with gray hair. He was tall and dark skinned; his smile was pure white. The two on either side of him were kids; young ones, at that. The little girl, not even six years old, had curly blonde hair up in pigtails. She stared curiously at the four as the boy on her left, opposite of her, tried to look tough and dangerous, but there's only so much a seven-year-old can do to look dangerous. They all had matching wings, black with white tips. It was amazing.

"Welcome," the old man said in a very thick Italian accent, "to Wisdom, Sanctuary of the Descendants."

"Thank you!" said Gabriella, beaming.

"Sanctuary of the Descendants?" asked Chess, confused.

The old man's smile never left his face. "Yes, yes. Please, come inside to my home!" He turned and the four followed, matching smiles on their faces.

As they walked through the buildings and weaved their way onto the dusty street, they saw faces peeking their way out from behind doors and windows. The four looked around anxiously, now, wondering if they were friend or foe. The old man in front of them, now holding the childrens' hands, let his wings hang open. Well, if he is showing his wings, thought Chess, then I guess it's okay for us.

He led them to a nice home. It was painted pure white with dark green shutters. The roof's shingles were also dark pine green. "Piero," he said, turning to the little boy, "hold the door for our guests."

"Ci, papi." He ran forward, feet pounding the ground, to open the door and hold it.

The man turned to the little girl. "Will you get them some water, Bambi?"

"Of course, Papi!" She ran inside, giggling, pigtails bouncing.

At last the man turned to Dante, Viviana, Chess, and Gabriella. "Please, please come in. You are welcome to my home! Come, step inside." The four walked inside, following him, as the little boy forgot his tough act and just watched the four walk in, a smile on his face.

The man led them to a spacious living room with three dark green sofas. He took the leftmost one and motioned for the winged kids to sit down. Chess and his sister took one couch, while Dante and Viviana took the other. Looking around, Chess saw that the walls were lined with bookshelves, full of books. Most had titles in other languages. On the wall hung multiple paintings; the largest one was a picture of angels in heaven. A picture of the Last Supper hung over the arch to the kitchen. The room smelled very, very faintly of garlic.

The room was silent. The old man with the dark skin and the white hair smiled and looked them over. The little boy, Piero, ran into the room and vaulted over the couch to sit next to the old man.

Gabriella spoke up. "Thank you for inviting us into your home, Mr…?"

"Oh! Where are my manners? I'm sorry, I am Enrico. This is my son, Piero, and my daughter…" The little girl walked slowly into the room, balancing a tray of glasses of water. The four didn't know how thirsty they were until they saw the glass cups. The girl passed them out one by one.

Viviana said, "Thank you. You're such a helpful little girl." She smiled and blushed, rushing over to Enrico, sitting next to Piero, hiding her face behind him. He scooted away from her but she followed.

"My daughter is Bamalina. And you, my friends, are in Wisdom, Montana; the Sanctuary of the Descendants."

All four started to talk at once. They immediately stopped and muttered apologies to each other. Dante took the floor. "Thanks, Enrico. I am Dante and this is my wife, Viviana."

"I'm Gabriella," said Gabe, smiling.

"Chess," said Chess last, nodding at Enrico.

Dante spoke up again. "There's… there's so much I want to ask. How are… where… why is—well, I mean—"

"What he's trying to say," interrupted Viviana, smiling at him, "is who are you? How did the Sanctuary get here? Why here, in Wisdom?"

"Why do we have wings?" asked Gabriella. "How come there are more like us?"

"How long have you been here? Are—are we welcome to stay?" asked Chess.

Enrico laughed. "Goodness, goodness. Not all at once. How about this; I will answer all of your questions if you do one thing for me."

"Of course," said Gabriella immediately. "What is it?"

Enrico smiled. "Where did you all come from?"

Smiling back, Gabriella crossed her legs. "Well… I guess I'll start… uh, from the beginning." She started with living with Chess, describing her life with him. She told about how Top Hat came along, kidnapping her. Enrico's brow furrowed and only became more bunched up as the story progressed. She went on to tell of the brutal training—torture—that Top Hat put her, Dante, and Viviana through. She ended with escaping with her brother, and starting their journey to Wisdom where Dante and Vivi heard about the Sanctuary. She took a sip of her water. "And… well, here we are," she said, putting down her glass.

Enrico sat back against the chair, stretching his arms out. The two kids had fallen asleep on each other, looking like angels in their slumber. "So. Top Hat… he wants to use us as weapons, now?"

Dante nodded. "Yes. If Chess hadn't come in time, we would have all been split up and shipped to other countries within the next few days, at least."

"Please, Enrico," asked Viviana. "Who are we?"

This question made the old man's face light up. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Ah, there's the question. I have the answer to that one."

The four also leaned in, eyes wide, listening for the information that they had been wondering about their whole lives.

"We, the children of wings," he said, breathing in as his wings glinted in the sun coming in from the window, "are the ninth generation of the descendants of angels."

The room was struck by silence. The words rung in their ears, disbelief in their eyes. "Wait… what?" asked Chess, confused. He couldn't be a descendant of an angel; heck, he stole and swore hundreds of times. He couldn't be an angel. Not like the ones in the pictures on the walls, at least.

"My great, great, great grandfather and his best friend were archangels. Together, they had defeated a great enemy and were granted one wish each. Well, during their time on Earth, they saw that it really wasn't so bad. My grandfather met a woman, my great, great, great grandmother, and was sad to leave her. For his wish, he wished to live on the Earth. His friend also made the same wish and followed in my grandfather's footsteps. My grandpa and grandma got married and lived in her home country of Italy to have beautiful children… with wings.

"The children grew up and also met human mates and continued to grow and spread. They stayed close to home, though, and continued to prosper. This continued for years but the group slowly dispersed and moved away. The main branch of our group continues to move around to keep from suspicion; a high concentration of people with wings really arouses suspicion, especially in close cities. This group I speak of… is the one you are in at this very moment." He let the four digest the information in silence.

Chess couldn't believe it. He… of all people… was the descendant of an angel? He always pictured Gabriella as more of an angel. But… it was his past. He couldn't deny it if it was the truth. It was the only thing he could hold on to. In fact, the more he thought of it, the better he felt. He knew who he was. He knew where he came from. He knew he was among friends, among—among family. Only one question left.

"We… we don't have a home, Enrico," said Chess slowly as the four pairs of eyes were turned on him. "We can't go back to our cave. Top Hat knows where we live."

Enrico laughed, a great kind laugh. "My boy, you don't think I was going to kick you out, do you?" His eyes sparkled. "No, no of course not. The four of you, each and every one of you, may consider yourselves family. This is your new home. You are not alone. You never have been alone, and will never be alone." He stood up slowly, majestically, looking like… well, like an angel. "Come, my friends, follow me. Let me show you where you will stay." The two children woke up, stretched, and followed Enrico as he walked towards the open door, the sun shining in brightly, lighting up the room like a beacon.

The four stood up. Dante put his arm around Viviana who was silently crying, her mouth turned up in a smile. She dabbed at her eyes with her hand. Gabriella turned to Chess, smiled, and slowly took his hand. Chess smiled warmly at his little sister and gave her hand a squeeze. Together, as a family, they followed him to the light and to the rest of their wonderful lives.

Ahh... gets you right there, doesn't it? So lovely.

Thank you so much for reading. I really, really hope you enjoyed it!

Please leave a review if you would like.

May your heart always remember its wings, and take to the sky in all times of need.