Minor Nephilim

by Randall Morris

  CHAPTER 4

  As Shade entered his house, he heard three loud barks and his three-headed dog, Cerberus, lunged at him. Shade laughed as the dog tried to lick his face.

  “I brought something home for you, buddy. Are you hungry?”

  Cerberus wagged his tail and barked an affirmative response. Share untied the top of the bag and let the remains of the demons they had killed earlier fall on the floor. Cerberus was munching happily on the demon limbs within seconds. Two of his heads fought over the same piece until Shade pulled it from both of them.

  “No fighting.”

  The two heads found new pieces to munch on and Shade threw the piece back on the floor. He started sharpening his swords when he heard a knock at the door. Cerberus looked up briefly, but went back to eating. Shade set his weapons down and answered the door.

  “Lucia… I’m fine. Go home.”

  “Not why I’m here, numb nuts. I wanted to talk about the hunt and you’re my little brother so just sit down and listen.”

  “We’re not related.”

  “I’ll burn your house down. I swear, Shade. You can pout all you want, but you’re my little brother. Leech and Lilith raised both of us.”

  “My father’s a psycho killer… my grandfather’s a psycho killer… my great-grandfather…”

  “Sit down and shut up for a while.”

  Shade looked like he was going to protest, but Lucia summoned fire in both of her hands and made her way towards the nearest wall. Shade grinned.

  “Fine. I’ll go back to sharpening my weapons and you can lecture at me about the hunt. Go for it. I’ll even pretend to listen.”

  “Why don’t you actually listen? I’m trying to help you.”

  “And I’ve told you my entire life that I don’t need your help. I’m not some abandoned puppy that you need to take care of. I can do just fine on my own.”

  “Reaper’s helping his brothers prepare right now. I know that for a fact. So if you and Nissa don’t want my help…”

  “How’d you know I’m going to partner up with Nissa?”

  “You’d be an idiot not to. Are you an idiot, Shade?”

  “No.”

  “Directly answering a question. That’s a new one for you.”

  “Look… if it’ll give me an edge over Fade and Backlash, I’m all ears. Go for it. Tell me everything you can without getting in trouble.”

  “If you keep your mouth shut, I won’t get in trouble no matter what I tell you. You’ll find all of this out tomorrow morning anyways. You can clue Nissa in, too. Just make sure you don’t get caught. I’ll deny that I told you anything. Reaper will vouch for me that I was over at his house all night if you try to get me in trouble.”

  “Why?”

  “We sort of… have a bet. He’s put twenty-five coins on Fade and Backlash. I’m putting my twenty-five on you and Nissa.”

  “I’m gonna lose on purpose now.”

  “I should just go over to Nissa’s place and talk to her.”

  Shade laughed.

  “I’m kidding. Don’t worry. Your money’s safe and you made a smart bet. Just start at the beginning. I’m not going to rat you out.”

  “Alright. Well you know that Dad figured out how to steal angel and demon powers, right? He learned it from watching…”

  Lucia almost said “Shadow,” but she caught herself.

  “…anyways… Weapon and Steam were able to work with some blueprints that Dad drew up to make nephilim gloves. Once you kill an angel or a demon, you can use the gloves to steal their powers. You’ll get your pair of nephilim gloves tomorrow at the hunt. The few that make minor nephilim from this batch get to keep their gloves. Everyone else hands them back in until the next hunt.”

  “I already knew most of that through rumors. What else can you tell me?”

  “Every kill is worth a point. The most points wins. You bring back angel wings and demon heads…”

  “I know all of that, too. It’s the same thing with the contracts Nissa and I hunt down.”

  “Right, but each year Dad or the council picks a certain rule to tweak. This year, there’s a bonus for killing berserker demons. I just found out about it. They’re worth three points each.”

  Shade immediately thought of his mother. Sarah visited on rare occasions when she was taking a break from searching for Shadow. The last time she visited, she had given him some small bags of fine powders and told him all about her training as a berserker.

  “Would you try to cash in on the bonus? I know you did during your hunt.”

  “That was very different. We got a bonus for bringing in angels’ weapons. It wasn’t any extra work really. Reaper and I just killed off a ton of angels.”

  “But it’s how you won and that’s when you got your title. Lucia Lightbringer. Oh and by the way… I hope you know that adding a title to your name is really lame.”

  “It runs in the family. Dad ran around telling everyone he was Leech the Angel Slayer for years. That was before he became King Leech.”

  “So should we go after berserkers or not?”

  “Don’t try it. The nephilim stupid enough to take on berserkers are going to get themselves killed. I overheard Mom say that Muan’s entire army is in the area. Just go for sheer numbers of weaker angels and demons. Play to your strengths. I know you and Nissa have a lot of experience bringing in demon heads for contracts and the occasional set of angel’s wings.”

  Shade resolved then to hunt berserkers. The challenge excited him and he knew Nissa would feel the same way. He also had a pretty solid feeling that Fade and Backlash would be going straight for the berserkers as well.

  “Just in case we run into a berserker, you kill them by taking off their heads, right?”

  “That’s right, but…”

  Shade smiled innocently at Lucia.

  “No, Shade. Don’t go after the berserkers.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll have to talk it over with Nissa. We can’t involve you in our hunt strategies. Thank you for the information, though. We’ll make sure you win your bet with your asshole boyfriend.”

  “No berserkers, Shade. Promise me.”

  “It’s getting late and I need to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow. Good night, Lucia.”

  “If you die tomorrow hunting berserkers, I’ll bring you back to life long enough to kill you myself.”

  Lucia stood up and left. Shade grinned as he made his way over to his bed. He stepped over Cerberus, who was already snoring loudly, hopped into bed, and fell asleep.

  CHAPTER 5

  Shade met Nissa and they made their way to the front of the crowd that was waiting to hear King Leech’s opening speech before the hunt. Nissa saw that Shade had brought Cerberus. She leaned down and scratched the ears behind one of his heads. The other two heads got jealous and they growled at her until she scratched their ears as well.

  “You think bringing Carebear was a good idea?”

  “Don’t call him Carebear. It hurts his ego.”

  Nissa raised her eyebrows, still waiting for an answer. Shade looked around and made sure no one was listening to their conversation.

  “Yes. We need him if we’re going to track down the berserkers.”

  “Your sister visited me last night. She doesn’t think we should go after the berserkers. She wanted me to promise her that we wouldn’t.”

  “And?”

  “And I told her thanks for the info, but we can plan out our strategy on our own.”

  Shade grinned.

  “That’s why I love you, Nissa.”

  Nissa blushed and then bent down to pet Cerberus so Shade wouldn’t see her reaction. She knew he didn’t mean it like she wanted him to, but the words still caught her off guard. Shade removed a small bag from his pocket and showed it to Nissa.

  “It’s the chemicals that the berserker demons snort. My mom gave it to me the last time she visited. I figure we can have Cerberus smell it and lead us right to the berserkers. That’s where
we cash in. Three points per berserker kill.”

  “Sounds like a solid plan. Have you ever killed a berserker before?”

  “No. We’ll be fine though. Just remember to take off their heads. That’s the only way to kill them.”

  “That’s ideally how we kill everything.”

  “So you’re in? Go for the berserkers?”

  “Yup. Let’s do it.”

  The gathered nephilim fell silent as Leech walked through the crowd and then turned to face them.

  “Welcome, new recruits. Normally I love giving long speeches at the beginning of the hunt, but I don’t have time for that this year. You’ll pair off and be ranked according to the angels’ wings and demon heads you bring back. One point for a pair of angel wings and one point for a demon head. This year, we’re adding in an extra bounty on berserker demons. Each berserker demon head is worth three points. If any of you find the major demon Muan, you are to report it immediately. Do not attempt to fight him. You will lose.”

  Steam cleared his throat to get Leech’s attention. Leech looked over at him and nodded.

  “My daughter will explain everything else. Happy hunting to all of you!”

  The nephilim cheered as Leech walked over to Steam and the two of them left. Lucia held up her hands.

  “Minor nephlim and middle nephilim will be patrolling the area. You can summon us at any time with your gloves. Each nephilim will get a pair of gloves that can steal powers from dead angels and demons. If you get enough points to become a minor nephilim, you can keep your gloves. They’re also how you summon us if you need help. Clap three times and the nearest minor or middle nephilim will be there in seconds to help you. The top three teams will become minor nephilim, so there are six total openings. Everyone else will turn in their gloves at the end of the hunt and can try again next year.”

  Lucia looked around and saw that the nephilim gloves had been handed out.

  “I like to have some fun with the start of the hunt… so here’s what we’re going to do. You can all start when I burst into flames.”

  Shade rolled his eyes.

  “She’s such a show off.”

  “3… 2… 1…”

  Lucia’s entire body was engulfed in white flames and the nephilim all rushed off beyond the walls of Necropolis. Shade let Cerberus sniff the berserker chemicals.

  “Go find it!”

  Cerberus sniffed at the air and ran off beyond the walls. Shade and Nissa followed at a jog. It wasn’t long before the two crossed paths with an angel.

  “So the nephilim are out in the open today? Good. We have an army in the area. I’ll go get them after I kill the two of you.”

  Shade whistled for Cerberus to come back and then charged the angel. The angel swung at Shade and Shade ducked under the blow. He spun and struck the angel’s side with both of his blades. Instead of digging into the angel’s flesh, he felt his blades bounce off of something hard. Shade rolled and backed away a few steps.

  “He has some kind of rock defense magic.”

  Nissa nodded and started searching her trench coat. The angel lunged at Shade with a spear and Shade jumped out of the way.

  “Have anything?”

  “Yes… I just need to find it.”

  Shade chopped at the angel’s head with his blade. The sword stuck in the angel’s head and he laughed before he removed it.

  “Nissa…”

  “Oh here it is.”

  Nissa pulled a small bomb from her trench coat and tossed it at the angel. It stuck to his left hand, beeped three times, and then blew the angel into hundreds of tiny, rocklike pieces. Shade retrieved his blade and used it to cut off the angel’s wings before sheathing both of his swords. Nissa touched the pile of rocks with her nephilim gloves and Shade bent down to do the same.

  “Rock defense. I guess it’s a pretty cool power. This guy was pretty lame overall, though.”

  “You’re just saying that, because I killed him.”

  “Your dad would have killed him a lot faster. Why can’t you fit a rocket launcher in your trench coat?”

  “Not really sure. No matter how many times we’ve tried to duplicate Dad’s trench coat, we can’t get it exactly the same. Mine holds a lot less. Still more effective than you, though.”

  Shade flipped Nissa off and she stuck her tongue out at him before Shade had Cerberus sniff the berserker chemicals again and they were back on the hunt.

  CHAPTER 6

  Leech looked over the fortifications at the rebuilt nephilim outpost. He called over Selene.

  “The walls need to be taller and I want spikes at the top.”

  “My king, the walls are already…”

  “Great. They’re still too short. I’m here because your last fortifications failed, Selene. That won’t happen again. I want them taller and I want spikes on top. I’d also like stations along the walkway at the top of the wall with fire ready to go at any moment.”

  “And a moat underneath the wall with crocodiles in it.”

  Leech grinned as he turned and saw Lilith. Lilith looked serious about her request.

  “No crocodiles.”

  “Then no bowls of fire along the walkways. You’re being the ridiculous one this time, Leech.”

  Selene looked confused. Leech sighed.

  “She’s right. Forget the bowls of fire along the walkway at the top. I want an extra two feet added to the top of the wall and then add spikes. That should do it.”

  Selene hit her chest and bowed before returning to the construction of the defenses.

  “Anyone going after the berserkers?”

  “Shade, Nissa, Fade, and Backlash.”

  Leech grinned and nodded his approval. Lilith turned her head so that Leech wouldn’t see the tears that would accompany what she was about to say. She tried to hold her voice steady.

  “He reminds me of Shadow. Everything he does reminds me of Shadow.”

  Leech opened his arms and Lilith walked into a hug.

  “Me too, Lily. Me too.”

  “Can we ever have him back? Do you know where he is right now?”

  “Sarah said she’s spotted him a few times, but he always disappears before she can reach him. I don’t think it’s safe to go after him. He’s beyond saving and tracking him down is disrespectful to his sacrifice if we can’t bring him back.”

  “How do you know he’s beyond saving?”

  “Because I’ve consulted with Steam. I’ve read ancient texts. I’ve asked the nephilim in my head. I’ve tried everything I can think of.”

  “What about the angels?”

  “I don’t have any contacts up there and neither do you. I’m sorry, Lily. He’s gone.”

  “Bumalin has contacts up there. I mean… they all hate him and would love to see him dead if he wasn’t blackmailing them, but…”

  “That’s a good point. I’ll try to track down Bumalin. Wow, Lily, that’s two brilliant ideas you’ve had today!”

  Lilith looked up at him.

  “What was the first one?”

  Leech waved his hand across the bottom of the wall in the distance.

  “A moat with crocodiles at the base of the wall.”

  Lilith laughed.

  Weapon had told Lilith and the rest of the council that he was fine with leaving the decision to Leech. He was lying. He left his nephilim underlings in charge of forging weapons and tossed on his trench coat. Once he was outside, he removed his motorcycle from one of the interior pockets and got on. He needed to find the berserkers before any of the nephilim from the hunt took a shot at them. It was time for Muan to die.

  Shade and Nissa killed several demons and angels on their way to the berserkers. Nissa cast a simple shrinking spell on the demon heads and angels wings before Shade stashed them in his backpack. After the first angel with a rock defense, none of them had any additional powers to offer. Nissa speculated that they were just all still in training.

  As they came to the top of a small hill, Cerberus lo
oked at Shade and all three heads barked. Nissa patted him on all three heads.

  “That’s a good boy, Carebear.”

  Shade looked down at the forest below them and saw pitched tents. They had found the camp of the berserkers.

  “Got a game plan for this part?”

  Shade shrugged.

  “We run down there and cut off heads until we have a shitload of points.”

  “That’s really it? That’s all you’ve got? We’re crazy outnumbered.”

  “I’m guessing none of them are high on their insane chemicals right now. Maybe we can sneak in and take them out in their individual tents?”

  “That sounds a lot better. If there are too many, though, we run. No debate. We turn around and get out of here.”

  Shade nodded and they made their way down to the closest tent. Inside, they found a berserker snoring loudly. Shade made his way over. The berserker awoke and tried to call out, but Shade put his hand over his mouth and slit his throat. He quickly hacked off the berserker’s head, Nissa cast a shrinking spell on it, and he tossed it in his bag.

  “Three points for interrupting this guy’s nap.”

  “Don’t get cocky. Let’s hit a few more and get out of here. This place creeps me out and I don’t want any of the berserkers getting a chance to attack us.”

  As Shade and Nissa entered the next tent, they saw two nephilim they recognized. Fade and Backlash were lying unconscious on the floor. Shade turned to leave and was hit quickly in the face. He blacked out.

  When Shade came to, he gave his eyes time to adjust and looked around. Nissa was on her knees, her hands bound behind her back. Fade and Backlash were in a similar position to Nissa’s left. A jaguar paced in front of them. It turned into a small demon.

  “So Shadow really did tap that angel? Good for him. I’m Muan. I knew your father before he went insane.”

  Muan looked Shade over.

  “Wow. The resemblance is just…”

  “Let us go, Muan.”

  “I might let you go, kid. Out of respect for your dad. These three, however…”

  “You’re a coward.”