Danielle adjusted her glasses and looked down on her slender but not necessarily athletic frame. “Hey, what are you trying to say? I’m tough.”
Alan opened his mouth to apologize but Danielle threw a punch that glanced off Alan’s shoulder. Her fist was half the size of Alan’s and felt more like someone tapping him to get his attention, than trying to hit him.
“Just kidding,” Danielle laughed. “I’m not the one that is going to train you.”
Before Alan could ask another question, the sound of the warehouse’s front door sliding open met his ears. Danielle looked at Alan with a smile as he squinted over her shoulder to see who was walking towards them. All he could see was a group of massive figures descending the hall.
Danielle threw a casual thumb over her shoulder clearly enjoying the moment. “They’re going to train you. Good luck.”
Chapter 29
“And you left him alive?” Her voice was smooth. She had a way of talking that was silky to the ears while still intimidating anything that lived. It was one of her many traits Dominic admired.
Dominic Drencher rocked back and forth in his new slippers, heel to toes. “Yes, as was instructed.”
“Good.”
The room was dark, too dark for Dominic to see more than a figure hugged in shadows. She sat in a tall chair covered in darkness at the far side of the room. “What shall I do next? We have more than enough followers. Alan Price is nowhere near able to compete with me, much less our superior numbers. Maybe, I should have killed him altogether and just ended the possibility of his future meddling.” Dominic paused thinking about his brief interaction with the young man. “He didn’t even appreciate my cooking. Everyone likes my cooking.”
The woman spoke, not amused with Dominic’s ramblings. “No, let him train and prepare. I know Michael well. He needs somewhere to direct his attention. I will allow him to have his pet. I need you on something else.”
Dominic smiled ear to ear. “Oh, does someone else need killing?”
“No, not this time.”
“Oh,” Dominic could hear the disappointment in his own voice. “Killing is my absolute favorite. What then?”
“Dominic, are you aware of our heritage? Of how the Fallen were first condemned to earth?”
Dominic was aware that she already knew the answer to her own question. Of course he knew, she had told him herself many times before. He hated when she did that but he had no choice but to humor her anyway. “Yes. After the war in Heaven the Fallen were cast out to await their punishment on earth. The Fallen and the Angels came to an accord to abstain from physical confrontation. And that’s why you have people like me to do your bidding.”
Dominic’s tone took on an air of disdain. He couldn’t help but feel a lip rise in disgust. “And that is why Michael has people like Danielle Turner and Alan Price.”
“Very good, Dominic. You are correct. My Fallen brothers and sisters are unwilling to engage the Angels. Not only do they have superior numbers but also the strength they possess is hard for even us to rival. However, what if I were to tell you that I’ve discovered something to tip those scales? Something to even the odds that have been so unfairly stacked against us.”
Dominic licked his lips. He squinted trying to cut through the darkness. “What is it? What have you found?”
“Weapons, Dominic. After the great fight in Heaven, all the celestial weapons were ordered to be destroyed to ensure nothing like that could ever happen again. The knowledge of celestial weapon-making has been lost for millennia, until now.”
Dominic dared to shuffle his slippered feet forward just a few inches. He had to see her; just a glimpse would be enough.
She continued with a sure voice that practically corrupted men with its sound. “A book may be in the possession of a mortal, a book that I have spent my entire earthly life tracking down. We need that book, Dominic.”
He would do as she asked, more for his own amusement and the opportunity to kill again than anything else. He took another step forward. “Whatever you command. You will have your book. You will have your weapons. Heaven and earth will belong to you.”
Chapter 30
Alan felt his feet lift from the ground. His body sailed through the air once again. The feeling of flight was short lived as he came down hard on the padded training room ground. Air escaped through his lungs on the heels of a grunt.
He lost track of how many times she put him on his back. Sweat beaded down his face in tiny streams as he fought to regain and control his breathing.
“Do you need help to your feet, Alan Price?”
Coming from anyone else, Alan would have thought the question was an insult. However, in the short time he had gotten to know his training instructor, he knew she was sincere in her question. “No, no,” Alan said still on his back looking into the bright lights overhead. “I’ll stay here. The floor is comfortable and you won’t be able to throw me again if I’m already here.”
A young woman’s face surrounded by a curtain of long curly blonde hair appeared above him. “Well, we can’t have you lying down in a fight. I would take it easy on you but what would that teach you? Our enemies will not hesitate to throw their full strength against you when the time comes.”
She extended a hand with a smile. Alan reluctantly took it and shook his head, “I know you’re right, Angel. It just doesn’t feel like we’ve made any progress the whole morning.”
“I know you can’t see it since we’ve only just begun but give yourself more credit. It took me three moves to put you on the ground that last time instead of one.”
Alan wiped perspiration from his face and tried to buy himself more rest time before his instructor would have him start again. “So you’re not an actual Angel, even though your name is Angel? You’re a human just like me who was chosen, a…a… Nephiluminum?”
Angel’s lips cracked into a smile, “Yes, that’s right. I am a Nephilim just like you. Angel isn’t my real name; it was the name I earned when I was chosen. My real name is Angelica. Now, enough stalling, let’s try again. Remember what I taught you; fluid motions, make your strikes count, anticipate my moves. Ready?”
Alan looked at the woman who stood a head shorter and a hundred pounds lighter than he. Despite the size difference, Angelica was still strong, fit and fierce. Alan took a deep breath and took a wide stance, “Let’s do this.”
Angelica nodded slightly, extended an arm and motioned with her outstretched palm for Alan to approach.
Alan calmed his breathing and placed both fists up and close to his face as instructed. Each step brought him closer to the woman who mirrored his own stance. Alan knew better than to hold back. He had tried that tactic before, thinking he was faster than her and could potentially hurt her. The last few hours had proved otherwise. Alan was already missing the days when he thought he was the fastest horse in the race. Angelica was equally as fast, much stronger than he was and, to top it all off, she knew what she was doing in a fight.
This time when Alan approached, he didn’t plan to hold anything back. Still a few feet out of range from his opponent, Alan decided to change his approach: instead of continuing his slow forward progress, he threw himself forward, arching a fist back in the process readying a strike.
Angelica’s eyes blazed with surprise, then approval. “Good,” she said as she sidestepped his attack and planted her right fist into his ribs.
The pain was staggering but Alan refused to go to his knees. Instead he bottled the pain and wheeled around with a right high kick. His kick was poor at best, new to the art of fighting; Alan had a limited knowledge of strikes as his disposal.
Angel caught his kick in the air and sent her own left leg out, striking his one planted foot steadying him on the ground. Alan once again found himself falling to the training room’s white padded floor.
Laughter and applause from the training room entrance met him as he picked himself off the ground. Both Alan and Angelica directed their gaze to the figure of a l
arge man standing just inside the doorway. “Very good, Alan. Angelica is a great teacher; she will have you competing with the best of us in no time. Still, in the meantime you have to earn your stripes, as we all did.”
Angelica glanced at the silver digital clock on the far wall. “Is it that time already, Arch?”
The dark-skinned man nodded with a twinkle in his eye and another deep laugh, “Yes, it seems time goes by quickly when you are throwing around new students.”
Angelica turned to Alan, “You are doing well. Excellent use of the punches and strikes I’ve taught you so far. We’ll do more work on your kicks tomorrow.”
Alan nodded and awkwardly hesitated not knowing how to say good-bye to a Nephilim instructor. Images of bowing came to mind.
Angelica sensed his hesitation and extended an outstretched fist with a wink.
Alan smiled and struck her fist gently with his own.
“Come along, Alan,” Arch said from the doorway. “You’re mine for the next few hours.”
Chapter 31
“While Angel is strengthening your body and instructing you in fighting techniques, I’ll be here to make sure your mind is equally strong.”
Alan nodded along with what Arch was saying as he adjusted his seat on the steel kitchen chair. The two men sat across from each other alone in the clean room designated for sharing meals. “Tell me, Alan, what do you know of our gifts as Nephilim?”
Alan pursed his lips and concentrated on answering Arch’s question despite the hunger he was beginning to feel. It was strange, sitting in the kitchen during mealtime and not eating. Alan forced his mind from the thought of food and started to speak. “I know that Angels have chosen a select group of humans to give powers to here on earth to act on their behalf. I have speed, so do Angelica and that Dominic Drencher guy. They both have strength as well. I’m lacking in that department as of now. Oh yeah, and Danielle can heal. That’s it, I think.”
Arch smiled revealing a perfect set of white teeth. His brown eyes smiling on their own. “Agreed, everything you said is accurate, but what if I were to tell you that the powers you have witnessed are but a taste of what people like you and I are capable of?”
Alan’s interest peeked as he felt himself lean in closer to the table and chose to ignore his stomach’s protest once again. “Are you telling me that we are capable of more than just speed, strength and healing?”
Arch nodded. “Each Nephilim’s attributes manifest differently. Think of it like an individual fingerprint. For some only one gift is given, but for others through practice and force of will, a multitude of attributes can be attained.”
Alan’s mind was running wild with the possibilities the future could hold for him. Michael had told him that speed was only one of his gifts. “What else can we do? What are we capable of?”
“Well, I’m glad you asked,” Arch said with a wave of his hand. “It’s lunchtime now, isn’t it?”
Alan sat back eyes huge. “Can you make food appear magically? Because that would be—awesome.”
Arch gave another of his signature smiles and ran a hand through his short, greying hair. “Well, that would be something wouldn’t it?”
Alan nodded slowly.
“No, I can’t make food appear but I can make us something to eat.”
Alan caught motion to his right out of his peripheral vision. His head snapped in that direction on instinct. What his eyes told him was happening, his brain knew was impossible. The kitchen was alive with a flurry of cabinets opening and closing on their own, knives chopping food that floated out of the refrigerator and pots and pans being readied for cooking.
Alan did a double take back and forth between a grinning Arch and a busy kitchen void of any human hands. “Tell me that I’m not going crazy and that there are things moving in the kitchen by themselves.”
“You are not going crazy and I am controlling the things in the kitchen with my mind.”
“You’re telepathic? You can move things with your mind?” Alan leaned back in his chair nearly tipping himself over. Realization hit him like a lightening bolt. He grabbed his head with both hands. “Am I telepathic, too!”
Alan leaned too far back in his moment of clarity and fell crashing to the tile floor. Pains that had been in recession from his previous training lesson again reminded him of their existence. Alan scrambled to his feet. Before he could try to right his fallen chair, Arch motioned with an outstretched hand and the steel kitchen chair floated into an upright position.
“To answer your question, Alan, I do not know. Your powers are still manifesting themselves. Telepathy could be an ability; healing like Danielle's could still also be an option. I’m here to answer any questions you have and widen your knowledge base on who we are and the role we all play. The last member of our training team will instruct you on how to find your abilities and what they are.”
Alan had heard every word that Arch said but he still couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight of the moving kitchen. “I can’t wait. What are you making for lunch?”
“Hamburgers, with all the fixings. I love hamburgers.”
Alan shook his head still in disbelief as he stood in awe, talking under his breath, “Mind hamburgers.”
Chapter 30
“So when do I get a cool name like yours?”
“What do you mean?”
“Yeah, Angelica is Angel, Danielle is Valkyrie, then we have Arch and Guardian. I mean those can’t be your real names.”
Guardian looked at him with a measured stare as they walked out of the warehouse and into the afternoon’s setting sun. The warehouse district was abandoned, leaving the two men alone and free of any prying eyes. “You are correct; my real name is Jacob Johns. Guardian is the name I earned when I was chosen. Arch is Aurther Penmore.”
“Great, so when and how do I get my name?”
The tall muscular man looked Alan up and down with something similar to disapproval.
Alan nearly recoiled at the stare. Guardian was nothing like Angelica or Arther. His two teachers before were friendly and warm. Even while Angel was tossing him to the floor, she had done so in instruction.
“You will earn your name in time. It is important to us all to use our chosen names while out and in the presence of the enemy. If they knew who we really were, they would seek to hurt families, friends, those we love.”
Alan thought about who he had in his life that could be affected by his enemies knowing his identity. Alan drew a blank. Well, I guess there is an upside to having no one who cares about you.
“I was informed that you have already discovered your gift of speed.”
The judging tone Jacob used was a clear indication that he was well aware of Alan’s sticky fingers and questionable shopping habits as well. “Yes, that’s right.”
Jacob fixed Alan with a hard stare. “Well, let’s see what other skills our organization has deemed fit to bless you with. Doing this will require a high level of emotional and mental strain. What was happening to you? What was going through your mind when you first found that you could run faster than any human alive?”
Alan placed both hands on his hips and looked to the ground. It wasn’t that he didn’t know the answer to Jacob’s question; it was that he knew it all too well. “I was alone, scared, freaked out and angry.”
“Those are powerful emotions. Allowed to rule you and left unchecked, they would destroy you. However, through training and willpower you can choose to harness those feelings and use them for something good.”
Alan would have rather sat at the kitchen table hours on end or even been thrown through the air half a dozen more times than talk about his broken, emotional past. He forced himself to make eye contact with Jacob. The man was a few decades older than he; despite this, he rivaled Alan for size. A strong jaw and a scar that ran from the corner of his left eye to his cheekbone made him look more like a professional mob enforcer than a Nephilim.
“Do you understand what I’
m saying to you, Alan?”
“Yes.”
Jacob’s voice softened the slightest bit, “It brings me no pleasure to discuss things that no doubt will be painful for you to admit. But to learn and harness your skills, we’ll need to strengthen you from the inside out. Now think back to the moment that you found your speed. Relive the events and feel the emotions that pushed to the surface. Control them and I want you to hit me.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Alan took a deep breath and approached Jacob.
“I want you to hit me in the chest as hard as you can.”
“Okay, I would say ‘I don’t want to hurt you’ but you know what you’re doing.”
Jacob didn’t respond. Instead, he placed his muscular arms by his sides and motioned Alan to strike. “Remember, relive the events that made you who you are today.”
Before Alan could second-guess Jacob’s tactics or remind himself how wild this entire situation was, he assumed the stance Angel had shown him that morning. Fists up, he sent out a strike towards Jacob’s chest rotating his hips to make sure the full force of his body was behind the punch.
Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes (The Nephilim Chronicles) Page 8