He shut his eyes for a moment, just listening. Listening to the birds, the wind through the trees, the crunching of the snow… A sense of urgency rushed through Noland. He opened his eyes and saw a hunter ten feet in front of him, holding a gun at him. His eyes were black… The gun fired.
Achaia sat by the fire munching on the last bag of plane crackers, lost in thought.
“Hey.” A voice spoke right next to her.
Achaia looked up startled to find that it was Amelia looking down at her.
“Mind if I sit with you?” Amelia’s voice was nice, not filled with disdain at all, as it had been before.
“Sure,” Achaia said out of surprise, at a loss for any other response.
“I wanted to apologize for the way I’ve been treating you.” She tried a smile, a pathetic attempt. Achaia could tell this was hard for her.
“They told me about your gift. I guess I don’t really blame you at all. I probably would have locked myself in a room alone and refused to talk to anyone if I were you. I think it’s really brave that you make an attempt at still living a normal life.”
“Brave? Or Stupid? It’s not without sacrifice,” Amelia said looking down.
“I know…” Achaia agreed looking into the flames. She had a feeling growing in the pit of her stomach that something wasn’t right.
“Oh no, not like that. I mean sure. It comes with the territory. It’s just that I guess my gift gets the best of me and I tend to alienate people. The scary thing is that a lot of the time I don’t really care. Does that make me a monster?”
“No. I think it’s just your human showing.” Achaia smiled.
Amelia chuckled and nodded her agreement. They sat in silence for a few minutes eating and warming their hands.
Achaia without knowing why kept growing more and more anxious. “What’s wrong?” Emile asked.
Amelia looked at her. “Yeah, you’re really pale. Are you okay?”
“Something isn’t right…” Achaia stood.
All of a sudden Emile looked horrified.
“You feel that?” Achaia asked looking at him.
Emile turned to Olivier. His voice was sharp. “Where’s Noland?”
Noland ducked just as the bullet tore a path into the tree behind where his head had been.
Trying to scramble up, his feet kept slipping on the snow. He settled for side-ways motion, crawling behind the tree; where he was finally able to stand. He risked a peek around the tree trunk only to be met with another bullet. It missed him by less than an inch.
He could feel blood trickling down his face where the debris from the first shot had clipped him. If he could get close enough, he could knock the guy out. But how was he supposed to get closer to a possessed guy with a gun? He peeked around again.
He hadn’t heard footsteps, he couldn’t tell where the man was. Another shot fired.
Noland ducked back behind the tree again. The tree vibrated as the bullet lodged in the tree behind Noland’s head. Noland strained his ears, listening for the crunching of the snow, as the man walked.
“Can the little Nephilim come out and play?” An inhuman voice taunted.
“Put the gun down and we’ll talk about it.” Noland replied, straining to listen to any movement from behind.
“What fun would that be?”
Noland heard tinkering sounds; the demon was reloading. Noland took the opportunity to bolt out from behind the tree. The man was still some distance away. Noland knew he couldn’t reach him before he finished reloading, he wasn’t as fast as Olivier, so he ran in the opposite direction.
The possessed man raised the gun again, and Noland dodged behind another tree.
“What are you doing out here alone in the woods?” The demon asked. “You’re a young Nephilim. Where are your mommy and daddy?” The demon laughed.
Noland felt a fire ignite in his chest. When he exhaled, smoke issued with his breath. Noland took the risk and ran out from behind the tree. The gun fired.
He ran from tree to tree, advancing on the demon. The possessed hunter shot at Noland, tree bark flying like woodland shrapnel all around him as he sprinted.
Noland paused behind a tree as he got closer, and well within the hunter’s range to get a clean shot. He waited for the demon to move, hoping he would come closer, so that Noland stood a chance at reaching him before the demon could stop him. But the demon was just far enough away to be able to easily shoot Noland before he could get to him.
“HEY!” A voice called from behind the shooter.
“Achaia no!” Emile’s voice cried out.
Noland stepped out from behind the tree to see Achaia followed by Emile. She marched toward the shooter, her face livid.
What is she doing! Noland panicked. The shooter looked confused for a second, then raised his gun again. By this time, it was in Achaia’s reach. She raised an arm and knocked the gun out of the hunter’s hands and grabbed him by the throat.
The hunter, instead of looking surprised or alarmed, looked back with confusion, his pupil-less eyes scanning her face. He spoke with a gravelly voice, “I thought I helped kill you sixteen years ago.” Achaia knit her eyebrows in comprehension, and looked deep into his black eyes. “Get out,” she spat through clenched teeth. Her voice was harsh, cold, demanding. Noland had never heard her speak with such authority.
The man’s body hemorrhaged in her hand, and collapsed, unconscious, to the ground.
Next to the body stood a rage demon. Five and a half feet tall, its body looked like that of a wolf. Its legs were scaled over with talons on its feet. The face was scaled as well, with lion-like jaws, but hawk-like, unforgiving, eyes. Achaia stood face to face with the creature, ten yards from Noland.
The demon had a snarl that echoed in Noland’s chest. He ached with fear for Achaia. She’d never fought a demon like this before. The demon’s teeth dripped with something that melted the snow where it landed and caused it to steam.
Emile was frozen in horror, and Noland found that he was having a hard time making his legs work as well. They both just watched as the demon and Achaia stood staring into each other’s eyes. Black, to red.
“I think you have me confused with my mother.” Achaia said venomously. “What is your name?”
“We were Legion then. We were recently unbound and released. I am Lussa,” the demon sneered. “You look just like her.”
Achaia didn’t even appear tempted to back down. Noland stared in fascination as much as in fear. “What do you want?” she asked shortly.
“I’ve already found it,” he answered in a voice that sounded more like the pounding of a heart. “I hardly expected to stumble across you in a forest. I was just having a bit of fun. My master will be pleased. And your only protection, little baby Nephilim… How convenient.” He laughed, a shuddering laugh that sounded like a smoker’s cough. He turned on his back legs, and broke into a run.
Noland’s heart raced. They couldn’t let him get away. He would come back with reinforcements. Noland knew he and the others were only lightly armed. There was no way they would be able to hold off a hoard of rage demons, not for long.
Achaia was already sprinting after Lussa, running like an Olympian toward the vault. Noland ran through the trees and into the clearing after them. He pushed off the last tree he passed, launching himself into the air. As he watched, Achaia spread her wings, and in a mixture of flight and jumping she land on Lussa’s back. She clung to his fur, riding him like a horse.
“Achaia!” Noland yelled pushing harder against the wind. Lussa, in a fit of frustration was bucking like a bull, trying to dislodge Achaia from his back.
Noland had nearly reached them when Achaia grabbed Lussa by his top jaw as he roared, and twisted. Noland heard the snap of the bones as she broke his jaw. Achaia slid from Lussa’s back, letting her wings catch her on the wind, and flew backwards. She pulled his head back with her, by the jaw still clutched in her fist, and yanked it down.
The abrupt change
of direction against his momentum, broke his neck and separated his head from his body with a loud crack, and the sound of shredding muscle.
Lussa’s body twitched as black pus poured from his lower jaw and neck, where it had once connected to his face. As Achaia straddled Lussa’s steaming remains, they disintegrated before their eyes. His head alone remained in her hand, a spoil of war.
She dropped the trophy to the ground and it rolled away from her, the hand that had held it shaking, and bloodied.
“Kaya—” Noland said catching up to her.
She turned to face him as he approached. Her eyes were no longer red, they were back to being their lovely combination of blue and green. She was shaking.
“I…”
“Shh… you were amazing!” He grabbed her hands as he reached her and held them to stop their shaking.
“What the…?” Olivier said as he, Amelia and Yellaina emerged from the trees onto the scene.
“Achaia killed her first demon.” Emile said proudly. He had followed them into the clearing and was standing behind Noland.
“Awesome! Way to go Frenchy!” Olivier exclaimed walking out to congratulate her, punting Lussa’s head like a soccer ball.
“With her bare hands.” Emile added.
Olivier stopped in his tracks, eyes widening “Whoa.” Amelia and Yellaina looked on with pure amazement.
“You did very well.” Noland said softly, smiling and bringing her attention back to himself.
Achaia stood frozen, letting Noland’s warmth trickle into her via their clasped hands. What had she done? And how had she done it?
This whole two bodies in one thing is insane, she thought. She looked up to Noland’s eyes to see that they were still flames. This didn’t scare her as it had before. In fact, it seemed kind of normal. “What now?” She asked softly.
“Now we go back to the cabin to figure out what comes next. And we bandage up that hand.” He said leading her toward the others. As they walked he dropped her hands by her side. “We need to get out of these woods.”
The rest nodded and agreed and they all walked back to the cabin. “He’s definitely found us.” Olivier clarified.
“Nothing gets past you!” Emile laughed.
“Shut up!” Olivier punched Emile’s shoulder lightly. “What did I miss? I want all the gory details.”
“After you get that hunter back to wherever he came from.” Emile said, in a fatherly tone.
“That is awesome, Frenchy!” Olivier exclaimed as they stalked up the porch steps. “I mean, you ripped off its freaking head with your bare hands! Is your gift strength do you think? Like Noland.” He stopped on the porch and looked at them thinking of the possibility.
“I don’t think so. I’m not as strong as him.” Achaia shook her head. “It was more about the momentum and the leverage.”
“It was more than that too.” Emile added with a glance at Achaia and Noland. He was playing it off as if these were all new theories. “Her eyes were red. I think her gift might be battle. Warfare in general. I think she’s just a great fighter. I mean— think about who her father was.”
Emile felt a pang of guilt as he felt his stomach drop. He knew he had upset Achaia.
“Is,” Olivier corrected. “Who her father is.” Olivier opened the door and they all filed in.
“Was that his gift? Battle? I knew he was a great fighter, but was that his gift? Before he—?” Achaia asked as they all took seats around the fire.
“We don’t really know. Our parents don’t like to talk about him. Your dad wasn’t exactly social. Not with other Nephilim I mean. His best friend, Naphtali, is a Seraphim. Other than that… He didn’t really associate himself with anyone that reminded him of Satan. And after your mom, anyone who reminded him of God. I don’t know how he and Naphtali remained friends after he became human.” Emile shrugged off his jacket.
“And how was it I was able to sense that the demon was in the woods with Noland?” She asked. Still looking at Emile.
Emile glanced at Noland. Yellaina and Amelia looked at each other with slight smiles. “I don’t know. I think that’s enough for now,” Emile said. “There’s a lot about Nephilim you don’t understand yet. I think we’ll leave today’s lesson at that.” He smiled at her and went to sit on his bed.
“Yeah,” Noland started with a small cough. “Right now we need to decide what comes next.”
Yellaina smiled. “I think that since Achaia has her wings, and the demons obviously know she’s here, we need to move.”
“Moscow is probably thinking we’ve gone AWOL.” Emile said.
“We have.” Olivier clarified again.
“Not intentionally.” Noland corrected.
“Flying sounds great, but there’s no way she’ll make it to Russia. She’s not that strong yet…” Olivier added. “At least not flying wise.” He smiled at her again “Rambo.”
“And she’s injured,” Amelia said pointing at all the cuts spread across Achaia’s visible body.
“I think we should fly to Paris, and catch a plane to Moscow. Paris is crowded enough for now, we can layover there. But we should leave tonight.” Noland said decisively.
“Under the cover of darkness—,” Olivier added in his best ‘epic-movie-voice’.
“You’re such a nerd,” Achaia laughed. “I’m glad we’re friends.” She said smiling.
Olivier smiled widely at her, patting her leg, happy to finally have another nerd in the group. Emile was happy his brother had someone else his age, with similar interests, he’d always felt bad for Olivier being left out for so long.
Yellaina looked down, Emile could feel her disappointment. He knew she didn’t want to fly at night in the cold. He wasn’t really looking forward to it either. But he was looking forward to a warm hotel room, an actual bed, and real food.
They all stood and moved about the cabin, packing everything back into their book bags. Yellaina returned the pots and pans to the shelf and Amelia worked with Achaia folding the blankets back and putting them into the cedar chest.
When everything was put back the way it had been, and dark had begun to fall, they cloaked themselves with jackets, grabbed their bags and walked outside into the star-strewn night.
11
City of Angels
“Those who have the privilege to know
have the duty to act.”
-Albert Einstein
Standing in the snow outside the cabin preparing to leave, Achaia realized just how cold it was. She knew it would only get colder the higher they went into the clouds. She moaned to herself.
“Here,” Noland said reaching his hand out for her bag. “Trust me, they get heavy after a while.”
Achaia handed over her bag, and he threw the strap over his shoulder.
“Everyone ready?” Emile asked, securing the bags that he wore himself. Everyone either grunted or nodded, and Emile took off into the sky. Olivier and Amelia followed and then Noland, Yellaina and Achaia.
They flew in a “V” formation like a flock of geese. Achaia had a hard time flying at first since she was shivering so violently. She felt the frigid wind sift through the feathers of her wings, just as it cut through the roots of her hair. Flying was like running, it took her a while to find her rhythm. Every time she drew her wings up, she felt like she was falling a little. Every downward beat of her wings was a fight against gravity. The faster they flew, the more momentum was on her side, the easier it became.
Noland broke out of formation and went up the “V” on his side, touching each person’s arm once, warming them. Yellaina was going blue in the lips before Noland grabbed a hold of her arm for a few seconds. Achaia was last in line. Noland fell back, flying next to her. He grabbed a hold of her hand and rubbed the inside of it with his fingers. Heat surged through her entire body. A heat that would last a while. Her palm began to sweat and Noland let go, flying back to his spot in the formation.
As the trees began to thin, Emile stopped for the
m to rest in the tree tops. They stood on branches in a cluster of trees at the border of the forest, in near silence. The only sounds were the rustling of the wind through the branches, and everyone trying to catch their breath.
Achaia was sore in her back where she had cracked it falling with the shadows. She was also sore from her entire body weight pulling on her wing joints every time she beat her wings. Her face felt like ice, and her cuts all stung. After they had all had some water, and a minute to breathe, they were off again.
After a while Achaia started to see little lights below them and realized they were city lights. They blurred as the rushing wind caused her eyes to water. They looked like tiny stars.
The wind in her ears was deafening. She’d gone mentally and physically numb in her exhaustion save for her sides and abdominals hurt from trying to hold a plank position, breathe, and fly all at the same time. She was cramping badly and her breathing was becoming shallow and short.
As they started their descent, she couldn’t even feel her wings. As far as she knew someone else was keeping her up in the sky. She was tired and beginning to lose her breath entirely when Noland went through the “V” one more time to warm everyone.
When he got to her he grabbed hold of her wrist as everyone began to land. She was glad he did. He landed before her, holding her arm. Her legs had forgotten how to stand and she stumbled into Noland as they reached the street. She would have fallen over if it weren’t for him holding her. She also appreciated being wrapped in warmth.
They had landed in a back alley somewhere in Paris. Achaia guessed they were in the Red Light District by the looks of things. They walked toward the main street, passing bright green garbage bins and a few stray rats. Once they reached the main street, they stopped.
“Okay, I say we find food, then a hotel.” Emile suggested.
Noland released Achaia’s wrist, where he had still been warming her. “Sounds good to me,” Noland agreed patting his stomach. “I’m starving… Well not literally but…”
“We get it.” Achaia smiled. “So right or left?”
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