Seraph

  More demons met her and she chopped them down. One by one, two by two, and even three by three. They stood no chance as she blocked, parried, and slashed her way through the lot. Many of the demons where utterly destroyed, some were badly injured. Wings were torn and limbs hacked.

  Finally, the last demon fell at her hand. She looked down from the balcony and saw Roth and Deviat trying to leave. As he was being carried to safety, Deviat watched in horror with one arm over Roth’s shoulder. They were by the main entrance leading to the courtyard, and their plan was to get Deviat safely over the drawbridge.

  Rapha jumped from the balcony and looked at them; Roth stopped before they could make it out the door.

  “Master, you need to make it over the bridge. I will hold her off.”

  “No, Roth, we can make it together.”

  “I must hold her off or she’ll kill us both.”

  Deviat was truly afraid for his existence. He had lost thirty of his best men and now Roth was about to sacrifice himself. Or perhaps he could win, after all Roth was quite an accomplished warrior. He not only fought in the great war in heaven, but he was also involved with the Nephilim civil wars more than 9,000 years ago. He was strong, aggressive, and had been a wise first officer for countless millennia.

  “Make it to Lord Satan and tell him of what you’ve seen here.”

  “Roth . . .”

  “GO!”

  Deviat stumbled out the door into the courtyard, barely able to move without the aid of his best friend. Roth stayed inside the main hall of the castle and closed the door behind him. He took out his sword and assumed a battle stance. Rapha could have ended it all by killing them both as they spoke, but she hated the idea of cheating herself out of testing her limits.

  Roth cried, “Ok . . . monster, it is just you and me.”

  Rapha smiled. “No. It’s just me.”

  Roth went on the offensive with a magnificent flurry-filled fury. Rapha didn’t even break a sweat as she dodged most of his attacks. Roth misstepped and created an opening that Rapha took advantage of, backhanding him, and he flew across the floor and into a wall. Roth had been hit hard before but had never been hit that hard. However, he got up because he knew the longer he stood against her, the more time Deviat had to get away. So he would take as much punishment as he could.

  When Roth was fully on his feet, Rapha was just a step away. He swung but she caught his fist in one hand and punched him in the gut with the other one. Then she punched him in his face and pummeled him until he spat blood. He futilely fought back, missing one attack and blocking the other. She hit him with her knees and massive legs, sending him flying from one place to the next. Roth was knocked into columns and beams and other various structures that held the house up.

  Eventually the house began to crumble around them. Roth was exhausted and physically spent. This was definitely the worst beating he had ever received. As Roth lay there on the floor of the main hall, she grabbed his sword and stabbed him in the back. The sword went through his back and came out on the other side into the floor. He was stuck and could not move. Rapha’s work here was done, but she still had unfinished business with Deviat. Before she could leave, Roth spoke to her.

  “You and your brothers—” Roth had to pause, his body wracked by a terrible cough, “will suffer a fate worse than hell itself. You will die—” again painful coughing interrupted him, “like your people before you. You will destroy yourselves—” he coughed, “and when you die, you will be utterly destroyed. . . . Soulless abominations, there is no heaven or hell for you in which to find rest—” a final cough seized him, “or punishment. . . . Annihilation is your destiny.”

  “We have learned from the mistakes of our ancestors,” Rapha said. “We will not destroy ourselves. We shall be fruitful and multiply, subdue the earth, and claim it as ours. The union of the sons of God and the daughters of men will once again reign upon the earth as the dominant race.”

  Rapha left the castle and it crumbled with Roth still inside. She walked with a purpose away from the destruction, never turning around as if she were afraid she would turn into a pillar of salt if she did. She followed the blood trail and noticed that the drawbridge had been lowered.

  General Deviat was stopped in his tracks. He should have been long gone by now and would have been if Anakim had not been waiting on the other side of the drawbridge, daring him to cross. Anakim was the first born and most promising of his triplet siblings. He was 8’4” tall and 390 pounds of rock-solid muscle. A natural born leader, almost as smart as Rapha, and almost as dangerous as Emim, he was most certainly the best warrior. He was extremely overprotective of his siblings, and the need to protect was the reason he was standing before General Deviat now.

  Deviat was in shock and dared not move. He turned around to see Rapha walking toward him.

  “Please . . . please forgive me. Can’t we work something out?”

  Neither Rapha nor Anakim said a word.

  “I will not tell Lord Satan of your existence. . . . I won’t even tell him how my men were slaughtered or how my home was destroyed. . . . I will make sure you are left alone . . .”

  Still no word.

  “I will no longer harass Lilith.”

  “DON’T YOU EVER SAY HER NAME!” Rapha screamed.

  Anakim grabbed General Deviat’s sword and sheath, and Rapha stabbed him in his heart and chopped his head off his body. General Deviat fell to his death over the drawbridge and into the Sea of Fire moat.

  “What are you doing here?” Rapha asked her brother.

  “I could not stay home knowing that this fat slob could be violating you.”

  “Thank you, but I can take care of myself.”

  “Clearly.”

  “Did mother send you?”

  “She did not . . . come now we must get back. This much devastation will not go unnoticed.”

  “Then let us leave this place.”

  On the morning of the second day, Anzu left his humble home in the city of Sheol and set out toward General Deviat’s estate in the dark Forest of Deviance. He walked to the outside of the city limits and gated to the dark forest. When he arrived he saw a pillar of smoke rising into the sky and his black heart dropped. He sprinted and when he reached the gate he could see that the extravagant estate was no more. It had crumbled to the ground with various fires that needed to be put out. Lilith. She had always been seen as a recluse, but she wasn’t considered a betrayer. She had clearly become a traitor and was planning sedition. Brazenly attacking a high general in this manner was crossing the line, even for her. Once Lord Satan finds out about this there will be literal hell to pay. The only problem was that he had to prove that Lilith was somehow connected to all this. Without actual proof of her involvement, it could be explained away as a human rebellion. Human uprisings were not uncommon in hell. Though the demons were clearly more powerful, they were outnumbered fifty to one. Every now and then a human would free himself and incite a rebellion. Each time, however, they were crushed.

  Anzu walked all over the estate and looked for any evidence that would lead to Lilith’s involvement. He poured over the footsteps. There was indeed a struggle here, but not nearly enough footprints to suggest a human uprising. There were demonic footprints and prints of one or two others, neither belonged to Lilith. Dead end. Not willing to give up so easily, he bent down and inspected the prints more closely. Dipping his finger into the bloody mud, he noticed that red dirt was mixed in with the fertile ground of General Deviat’s estate. He had encountered this red dirt in one other place: Lilith’s cave. I’ve got you. He knew it was a stretch, and not nearly what he would call evidence to present to Lord Satan, but it was a viable lead in his mind. Anzu knew what he had to do to find more concrete evidence. He had to go see her. He flapped his massive raven-like wings and rose off the ground. Higher and higher he rose until he was well on his way to the Ottocom Desert.

  “YOU DID WHAT?” Lilith yelled pacing back and forth while
her brood sat at their table.

  “We . . .”

  “I heard you . . . I just didn’t want to believe that you both could be so stupid.”

  “Mother . . .”

  “Quiet, Rapha. . . . Have you the slightest clue of the danger you have put us all in? Deviat wasn’t just some insignificant low-level demon. He was a general. One of Lord Satan’s best. He will send a battalion to come looking for him, and when they find out what we’ve done, Lord Satan will surely throw us all into the Sea of Fire,” she panicked.

  “I think I speak for all of us when I say we do not fear him.”

  “Anakim, that is because you are too stupid to not know any better. . . . He is the vilest, most untrustworthy, and evil being in the entire universe . . .”

  Silence.

  “Do you not think that you should be careful how you speak about a being that tempted the Lord for forty days in the wilderness?”

  More silence.

  “Mother . . . You’ve always told us that we are the only ones of our kind and that we should protect each other. How could I just sit back and let that pervert violate my sister?

  Lilith had no answer for Anakim.

  “Mother, tell us what we should do and we will do it,” he asked.

  “I . . . do not . . . know. I am certain that he will send his troops to march on us . . . millions . . . maybe even tens of millions.”

  “Then we do not just sit here and let them come for us.”

  “And where do you suggest we go? Plead our case to The One in heaven?” She laughed nervously.

  “No, we go to earth.”

  “And do what, Rapha?”

  “You told us that our people once ruled earth nine millennia ago. We should go and reclaim it as our ancestors once did.”

  “What Rapha says is good, Mother,” Emim chimed in. “We can take it territory by territory. We will bring down their kings and generals, and crush their cities.”

  “Their men will be our slaves and their women shall bear our offspring,” Anakim added.

  Lilith thought about the plan and was genuinely impressed by it. She had surely trained them well and they obviously were amazing students.

  “Mother, are you with us?” Anakim asked.

  “. . . Yes, I am. That is truly a genius plan. I have been seducing the sons of Adam far too long. . . . It is time for them to become useful. . . . After you take the first city, I will lead a horde of incubi and succubae to help further our cause.”

  “Yes, Mother . . . ,” Rapha agreed.

  “Where shall we strike first?” asked Anakim.

  “New York. There is a very powerful warrior there. His name is Seraph.”

  “Is he the one who killed our father?” Emim questioned.

  “The very same. If we kill him first, then the rest of the world will offer little resistance.”

  “Then we will destroy him,” Anakim confirmed.

  As the four of them discussed plans to overtake the earth, Anzu walked into the cave and called out.

  “LILITH!”

  CHAPTER 11

  LILITH!”

  Anzu screamed out at the mouth of the cave. He marched into the dwelling as if he owned it. This personal vendetta against Lilith was about to come to a head. She was up to something and now was the time to find out what. He knew Lilith had something to do with the devastation he found at General Deviat’s estate, he only needed to prove it. He could imagine the kind of reward Lord Satan had in store for him, finding a traitor in the midst. Maybe he’d be given a promotion, a grand home, or maybe his own territory where he would welcome the guilty daily.

  But what he saw shocked him beyond belief. Not only did he find Lilith, but he also found something he was ill prepared to handle—giants, three of them. Anzu had only heard stories of the Nephilim in the old age. He heard they were big, nasty, and ferocious beings. However, no matter how many stories and legends one hears, there is nothing like finding out for one’s self.

  “Anzu . . . what a surprise,” Lilith greeted him.

  “What in the hell is this?” he said, stopping dead in his tracks.

  “Anzu, your language,” she giggled.

  “Lilith . . . what have you done?”

  “Why . . . whatever do you mean?”

  “. . . Monsters . . . How . . . Why would you create these . . . monsters?”

  “THEY ARE NOT MONSTERS . . . These are my children.”

  “Children? They are an abomination! Don’t you remember what the Nephilim did all those years ago? Have you forgotten the devastation and the chaos their kind unleashed on the earth? This abomination is the reason for the Great Flood!”

  “You shut your mouth, you filthy bird,” Lilith screamed.

  “I will not! I know that it was you who brought down General Deviat.”

  “Actually, it was me,” Rapha said, rising to her feet.

  “Ah yes, you will receive punishment worse than the deepest pit of hell.”

  Rapha smiled.

  “Lord Satan will certainly learn of your treachery.”

  “Yes, Anzu, he will learn but only if you’re alive to tell him. Kill him!” Lilith commanded.

  Anzu started backing away, but never turned his back to Lilith and the Nephilim for fear that he would be cowardly attacked from behind. Anakim stepped forward, separating himself from his family, and gave chase to Anzu.

  Anzu turned around and broke into a full sprint. He ran as fast as he could, made it outside, spread his wings, and flew into the air. He rose forty feet in the air faster than he ever had in his entire existence, but just when he thought he had escaped, Anakim landed on his back and they began free-falling.

  They fell uncontrollably, and Anakim was on the offensive during the whole fall. Anakim head-butted Anzu and ripped off a wing, and then they crashed into the sand with Anakim landing on top. Anakim picked up Anzu and threw him as if he were a rag doll. Anzu tried to recover, but he was grossly outmatched and badly wounded.

  His swings were futile, and even when they landed, they were ineffective. Anakim, however, proved that he was indeed the better warrior. He crushed Anzu with bone-jarring blows to the head and body. When Anzu got desperate, he shot fireballs from his sword. Anakim didn’t even bat an eye as he took out the sword he stole from the long-gone general and deflected them. When Anakim grew tired off the “fight,” he decided he would end it in style.

  Anzu, bloody and battered, attempted a halfhearted swing, partly because giving up was against his nature, but he was simply exhausted. However, to Anakim battle was battle and Lilith had taught him to make his enemy pay for all their mistakes. Anakim chopped Anzu’s arm off. Anzu backed away screaming at the top of his lungs. Anakim threw the sword at Anzu and it sank deep into the demon’s chest. Anakim rolled forward, grabbed the sword, and in one fluid motion spun around and sliced Anzu’s face in half. The top half of Anzu’s face flew off and landed in the sand, the rest of his body fell lifelessly to the floor. He was finished.

  Lilith and his two younger siblings approached Anakim as he stood over his fallen adversary.

  “You are all ready for the battle to come.”

  “We are,” Anakim said.

  “You must understand that Seraph will not be as easy as the weak demons you have faced here, but I have faith that you will destroy him and grind his bones into dust. Trust your training and trust each other.”

  “We will do it, Mother,” Rapha added.

  “Emim, take Anzu and throw his carcass into the sea, and we will leave for earth and claim it.”

  “Yes, Mother,” Emim said.

  They were ready to leave hell behind, to escape the inevitable punishment that they would all face if they stayed. However, this campaign to claim earth wasn’t just to escape the devil’s wrath. It was their chance to have a home where they could live and prosper. The only thing that stood in their way wasn’t seven billion souls that posed little to no threat, but the one heavenly warrior who protected them.r />
  Lilith opened a deep red portal and they all walked through it—ready for battle.

  It had been three long earth months since John and Camilla had had a real conversation. They had barely seen each other at church and when they did, Camilla kept it moving, not allowing John an opportunity to communicate. Each Sunday was the same and today was no different, but this Sunday John was determined to speak with her. This situation had gone on far too long, and he was sick of it. He was several steps away from her and he was about to lose his opportunity.

  “Camilla!” he yelled.

  She kept walking toward the car where her parents were waiting.

  “Camilla!”

  “Hey, there’s John.” Her father waved.

  “Wait.” John fought past the crowed of churchgoers.

  “I’ll drive, Dad.” Camilla took the keys from her father and started the car.

  “But John’s coming.”

  “Let’s go, Dad,” she said sternly.

  “He looks like he really wants to talk.”

  “Daddy . . . ,” she whined.

  “Fine.”

  Richard Adams entered the car and before he could even put his seat belt on, Camilla sped off. John was literally a step too slow. Camilla left John to choke on exhaust fumes on the beautiful sunny day—not a cloud in the sky, and yet it was raining in his heart. John had spent three months calling and texting and even showing up at her job, only to be ignored. This was one of his best chances to talk to her, which had become too few and far between. His heart ached.

  Camilla was no better, but she was just too hurt to deal with him. Even though three months did seem like enough time, she simply wasn’t prepared to talk to him, although she knew she couldn’t avoid him forever. She’d have to talk to him sooner than later, and it was closer to sooner.

  “Camilla, what was that all about?” her mother said in a South African accent that had been weakened due to her permanent residency in the States.

  “Yeah, you two were inseparable ever since you were kids and now we hardly see you together.”