Nephilim’s Journey
A Moore World Novel 01
Author: D. R. Rosier
Copyright 2018. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission.
Table of Contents
Prologue – Portia
Chapter One – Jason
Chapter Two – Portia
Chapter Three – Jason
Chapter Four – Portia
Chapter Five – Jason
Chapter Six – Portia
Chapter seven – Jason
Chapter Eight – Portia
Chapter Nine – Jason
Chapter Ten – Portia
Chapter Eleven – Jason
Chapter Twelve – Interlude
Chapter Thirteen – Portia
Chapter Fourteen – Jason
Chapter Fifteen – Portia
Chapter Sixteen – Jason
Chapter Seventeen – Portia
Chapter Eighteen – Interlude
Chapter Nineteen – Jason
Chapter Twenty – Portia
Chapter Twenty-One – Jason
Chapter Twenty-Two – Portia
Chapter Twenty-Three – Jason
Chapter Twenty-Four – Portia
Chapter Twenty-Five – Jason
Chapter Twenty-Six – Portia
Epilogue
Afterword:
Other erotic fantasies by D. R. Rosier:
Non-erotic Fantasy titles:
Book Description
Prologue – Portia
July 18th, 1927
The sky was clear, and the air felt warm and pleasant on my wings. The mountainous wilderness vista below me was beautiful, as I searched around the small town of Colorado Springs for what I knew must be here.
I wasn’t worried about being spotted by the humans in the area, I was covered in concealment spells that kept me safely hidden from view. The supernatural world had to stay secret, it was one of my charges, and the reason I was out here, far to the west.
Colorado Springs was small, and didn’t warrant a supernatural population, which meant if there was something out here, it was a rogue, and splintered off from society for whatever reason. Being rogue wasn’t a crime in and of itself, not as far as I was concerned, but being spotted by humans, and slaughtering some of them was.
In general, vampires, mages, and shifters lived near or inside large cities where they could conceal their nature and blend into the sea of humanity.
I’d been in Chicago at the time, when I’d heard the rumors and flew to the west to discover the truth. The forests below me were choked with human hunters, looking for a rabid wolf pack. There were also a few humans who were looking for proof of the supernatural, some survivors had sworn the attack wasn’t natural. Preternaturally fast, and far too big to be a real wolf they’d said. Fortunately, most humans disregarded such stories out of hand, but they wouldn’t if they managed to get proof.
Which was where I came in.
It also really could just be rabid wolves, but I highly doubted it. I’d been doing this for many years, countless centuries, and this felt like a rogue wolf shifter to me. For whatever reason, they were unwelcome in their own pack, and no other pack would ever take them in. Packs were insular, they didn’t welcome rogues from other packs. Ever.
Inevitably, the rogues headed west, where outside of the major cities, there was a lot of places to get lost in. Wolf shifters weren’t meant to be alone however, and were very social, which probably meant the shifter had at least gone a little around the bend, if he or she hadn’t completely lost it. As a rule, shifters didn’t hunt humans, but cut off from supernatural society those constraints could be challenged.
Rogues also had to avoid Fae settlements if they could, which wasn’t always easy since a Fae could get close enough to a shifter to spit on them, and never be detected. The Fae generally stayed away from cities, even more so than the shifter packs which stayed near a city, but far enough away that they could shift and run in the nearby wilderness. The Fae were amoral at best, evil at worst in my opinion, but they were cautious, and didn’t reveal themselves to humans.
In short, they weren’t my problem, and I had no right to intervene in their activities, no matter how much I abhorred them personally.
It was more than possible for a rogue shifter to hide themselves from humans, even without the backup of being able to call on a mage’s memory spells, or a vampire’s compulsion, but this one has failed to do so. If I found him or her, I’d put them down, plain and simple. They couldn’t be allowed to risk exposing supernatural kind to the rest of the world.
I heard a loud yell from a group of hunters over the next rise, and turned in that direction and poured on some speed. I’d hoped to find the rogue on my own, but detecting their shifter magic was a short-range skill and not simple out here in the middle of nowhere. Still, I was annoyed that the humans were being dragged into it, even if it did make my job a bit easier.
Still, using humans as bait wasn’t exactly my gold standard.
The yell of surprise turned into a scream of pain as I flew over the ridge and down the other side, just in time to see a wolf the size of a pony bite off a hunter’s head. I cringed, pulled my sword, and dove at full speed as the rogue turned to the other two men in the hunting party.
It was over before the rogue even knew I was there, as I landed and took his head simultaneously. Shifters were fast and fierce and predators, but very little in creation was as fast as my kind were. The edge of the silver glowing white blade cut through sinew, bone, and flesh like a hot knife through butter, and his head fell to the ground.
I released two spells into the hunters, and their eyes went glassy. They would only remember seeing a rabid wolf pack, one of them taking their friends head before they ran off. I didn’t regret the need to cover it up with lies, but I wasn’t happy about it either. I turned to the large corpse, held out my hand, and white fire flew from my fingertips, and incinerated the rogue. There would be no proof of the supernatural on my watch.
I took a deep breath, and prepared to leave it all behind. The human hunt would continue, but after a few weeks they’d give up, and assume the rabid pack had left the area. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best I could do. I went to take off when I felt it, two more wolf shifter auras, and I turned in that direction.
I moved through the forest like a ghost, still concealed with spells so the two shifters wouldn’t see me coming. I stopped several feet away from them and held back the sulfurous string of curses that rose onto the tip of my tongue.
It was two young children, wolf shifters, a boy and a girl who I suspected were fraternal twins. They couldn’t have been older than six years old. What had the rogue been thinking, attacking humans when he had children to care for?
My sword felt heavy in my hand. No pack would take them, they were just little kids, but they were rogue, and wouldn’t be welcomed. I couldn’t leave them behind either, they’d grow hungry, shift, and do what they had to do to survive.
I knew what I had to do, they’d turn rabid and attack humans, or at the very least risk exposure. I gripped the sword tightly, and my knuckles turned white.
What choice did I have?
The question hung there in my soul for a long moment, I’m ashamed at how long it did.
I sighed, I couldn’t do it, and I sheathed my sword.
“Who are you?” I asked, they both jumped as I appeared before them.
> The boy said, “John,” and the girl said, “Tammy,” and after a moment’s pause, Tammy asked, “Are you an angel?”
I nodded absently, as I curled my white wings against my back.
“I’m Portia.”
Four young and innocent eyes looked up at me with trust, what the hell was I going to do now?
Chapter One – Jason
July 5th, 2057
“Bring it, hell spawn.”
I smirked at the demoness, as she rushed me with a flurry of sword strokes that had me backing up on my heels, my sword flitted in parries and blocks that all humans, and most supernatural beings, wouldn’t even be able to track.
She was really good with a sword, considering she wasn’t a true warrior, no doubt from countless millennia of using one. I wasn’t too bad either, but I’d only gotten my sword four years ago, on my fourteenth birthday. Sometimes it felt like all I did was use my sword, and learn magic, but the truth was… I was probably a bit spoiled.
Her string of attacks finally lost momentum, and I pressed back hard, using all I knew to put her on the defensive and back on her heels. It worked, for a minute, then I might’ve gotten a bit cocky, and my sword was knocked to the side as she lunged forward, and I felt the sharp steel of her sword against my throat.
“What did you call me?”
I grinned, “Call you? What do you mean mom? Hearing things again?”
“Wise ass son.”
The truth was a bit more complicated than it would appear, my mother wasn’t really a hell spawn, since she was one of the original angels that fell from heaven. A demon yes, hell spawn no.
I was just a bit of a wise ass.
It also meant I was half angel, half human warlock, a Nephilim. Nephilim weren’t the most highly regarded supernatural races, which meant my training had been rather intense as I’d grown up. My parents were determined to keep me alive, which was something I could get behind.
I had a few advantages, like angels I could cast spells without speaking the words, but only once I learned and studied the spell the hard way. It took effort, more so than a mage or warlock took to learn a spell, but once I knew it I could cast it immediately without delay. I was also directly connected to both the magic of the mortal plane which was elemental magic, and the magic of the infernal plane, or hell, which was infernal magic. Unlike a warlock however, I didn’t need a patron demon to access that magic, I had my own link, being my mother’s son and all.
Magic was very complicated. Normal spells, counter spells, four types of wards, five including lesser wards which were unique to my family. Then there were the magic types, infernal and elemental, the latter of which was fire, water, earth, and air magic. Since I had both magic types, I had multiple affinities, which was another aspect of magic, using magic without spells. Not only could I tap directly into the four elements, but with infernal I could detect magic, use balefire, command others, which was a light version of compulsion, and lastly, I had a natural protective shield.
Of course, using natural abilities through affinities cost more magic to use than spells did, so it was better to use spells where I could, and the more narrowly defined the effect or protection, the more efficient it was in magic use.
I could also teleport, but only where I’d been. Which right now meant it was rather limited in scope, since I’d spent all my life in Seattle. Before I could flit around the planet, I’d need to do it the hard way first.
In theory I was also immortal, unless I was killed. I stopped aging about a year ago. Angels and Demons could only be killed on their home plane as a rule, so dying on this one meant banishment back to hell, or heaven for a day or so for those immortal species. Me? Well this was my plane, if I died on Earth I was done. So, I wouldn’t age, but my chances of living forever were extremely slim.
The reason Nephilim weren’t favorites, was our powers and abilities dwarfed the mortal supernatural races, we were faster than shifters and vampires, as fast as angels, and our internal magic capacity dwarfed what a mage could hold, and it was entirely possible for a Nephilim to destroy an angel, on this plane, for keeps. It wasn’t something I was interested in doing, but it kind of made all the other races fear the Nephilim.
Unfortunately, that didn’t mean I couldn’t be overwhelmed, not just by an angel either, but a large group of mages, vampires, or even shifters could take me down if I wasn’t cautious. The supernatural world was a violent place, often strength of power ruled, though political power was still a factor.
In short, I was very powerful, but that came with some heavy threats from those that didn’t know me. I’d had it driven into my head never to reveal myself to an angel if I could help it. Well, outside of my mom, Lilith, and Aunt Malina that is.
As a result, and with some help, I’d developed specialized concealment spells. Normal concealment spells would hide everything, but I’d learned how to suppress my aura of magic enough to show up as a mage, or a warlock, on other supernatural being’s magical radar. With effort, I could even appear to be human, as long as I kept my golden wings hidden.
I’d say I was a bit spoiled, because my mother and father had other mates, I’d learned from one of the best mage’s in existence alongside my mage half-sister, or at least, she was the most powerful mage in Seattle. I still had a lot to learn though, most of what I knew was for concealment, defense, and offense, along with a few useful spells for day to day applications. I had a sentient spell book that contained hundreds of volumes about magic I continued to study. My father taught me how to make one, which basically involved enslaving a demon to a book, and having said demon read the library.
Kind of like a kindle, it could hold many books and display them on command, but with magic instead of technology, and it was intelligent besides.
My sword returned to my hand, and I sheathed it. An angel’s sword glowed white with their power, after years of wielding it, the sword absorbed some of their power and became a part of them. Mine would eventually glow a bright gold, the color of Nephilim magic, but after just four years, the current glow would barely qualify as a night light. It was also invisible to mortals, when sheathed.
“A little bit?” I admitted innocently.
My mom snorted, “You’re actually really good for your age, when you can stop yourself from getting cocky. But I’m a succubus, not a fighter, so you shouldn’t be too proud of yourself.”
I shrugged, it was true enough. She was still the best swordswoman I knew.
She continued, “Which is why you should visit your grandfather in Chicago, one of your grandmothers there will sharpen your skills. She’s a Nephilim, has been around for Millennia, and is a true warrior with a sword. I know for a fact she could cut me down without breaking a sweat.”
Wait, what?
“Umm, does dad know about this?”
Leave? That sounded like an amazingly bad idea. Plus, I kind of had a date later, at the cat shifter house. Cat shifters were… very generous with the physical love, and I was eighteen and male. My dad was mated to their alpha, and one of them was my half-sister, but that left a good twenty or so to make friends with, and I’d barely gotten started. They were all incredibly beautiful, sexy, and alluring, and their pheromones kicked that up another notch.
I wasn’t actually that shallow, well maybe I was. But… there weren’t a lot of Nephilim girls on the ground, other supernatural beings would be too intimidated to truly date me. I’d learned that the hard way a couple of years ago. It was just… easier to scratch the itch, the cat shifter women were generous, nice, and always happy to see me, and they had similar needs.
She smirked, “It was his idea. We really don’t have more to teach you. You’re at the point in your magic that only personal study will make you stronger, and no one here can improve your sword work. He mentioned it to his father, who talked to Korinna. She’s agreed to finish your sword training. I’d advise you check your wise ass comments at the door, she won’t put up with them.”
&n
bsp; I wanted to argue but I knew what she’d say. I was powerful, extremely so compared to most, but right now my sword work didn’t measure up, not really. If I ran into an angel, and wasn’t concealing myself well enough, I would live or die by their whim. Some angels actively hunted my kind as abominations, some others would turn away as long as I didn’t attack them. At least I’d have a chance if I let Korinna train me, depending on not running into the wrong kind of angel wasn’t a good plan. Still, I wasn’t sure I was ready, I was comfortable at home.
“Can I fly there?”
I didn’t get to fly too often, and it was an amazing feeling.
She shook her head, “Too big a chance of being seen by an angel, it’s a long flight. Teleporting is out as well, since Annaliese is out of town, and Julia’s never been there. Take one of the cars. Stop somewhere along the way for the night. Conceal yourself as a mage, the council there knows your coming to visit the city, but they don’t know what you really are.”
Annaliese was a vampire, and one of my mothers. Vampires weren’t really undead, not like the legends say. In truth, they were humans that were possessed by demons. Not intelligent demons, animal ones, hell’s equivalent to an animal predator. The person retained their own will, and gained power from the demon animal. Strength, speed, compulsion, healing, immortality, and when much older, other magical pluses, like being able to teleport like a demon can. Of course, the vampire has to drink blood to sate the demon, or it can become aggressive, and will affect the human host’s personality, making them feral, animalistic, and bloodthirsty. That was the trade off, and if managed well it was worth it for them.
Vampires were made in two ways, the most common was when a vampire passed a small portion of its demon essence to a human, turning them. Over time, that essence would spawn into a new demon, and then grow in power slowly over the years, as it fed and grew on the life blood of humans. The second and much rarer way, was a warlock could summon a whole demon from the infernal plane, and possess a person with it. It was rarely done, and usually as some part of pact or deal, but it made that vampire extremely strong as a newborn, equal to ancient vampires that have lived for centuries or even older. Annaliese was the former kind, and thousands of years old. Julia was the second type, and was my father’s guardian by pact, but also his mate.
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