Legacy of the Watchers Series Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by Nancy Madore

  It was unimaginable!

  But it was not happening yet. There was an appointed time, somewhere in the distant future. As the shock began to subside, a kind of intolerance and revulsion for the sons of men developed in Lilith and all the other Nephilim throughout the earth—for word of the impending war was spreading fast. A new, much more hostile division between the races was emerging. The sons of men were only aware of it through the change in the Nephilim’s behavior toward them. There was now a menacing quality to the giants’ reign that bordered on vicious. A new level of mistrust and hatred was building. The sons of men were never more aware of their inferiority. Indeed the Nephilim would not let them forget it. The Nephilim couldn’t seem to stop wondering; Why does He love them so much? Look what they do to each other—to their women, their children, themselves!

  The angels and their descendants began speaking in a different tongue so that the sons of men wouldn’t be able to understand what they were saying.

  Terror reigned in those days. Yet, surprisingly, though the sons of men were never more ill-treated, they were peculiarly content. In spite of their fearful, superstitious natures, they remained eerily unaffected by rumors of the impending disaster. Every indication of what was to come was virtually ignored. There was only one man, a descendant of the prophet Enoch, who took it seriously enough to make preparations for the event, building a great ark to carry animals and people alike, but he was a laughingstock among the rest of his people. With all that was happening around them—the Nephilim’s oppressive behavior, the prophecies, the dreams—somehow the sons of men couldn’t see the writing on the wall.

  As for the Nephilim; not one of them doubted the coming war. They differed only in their strategies for surviving it. Many of them turned to the angels for help, but even the angels couldn’t agree about what to do. Yet none of them sat idly by. They valued life too much for that. They prepared for the coming disaster, doing everything from building enormous ships to securing shelters for themselves in the mountains, and even creating weapons to use against the approaching army of angels. A few, like Gilgamesh, set out on great journeys in search of a secret that would render them immortal. The sons of men watched this seemingly bizarre behavior with their usual superstitious musings, but their conclusions fell so far outside the reality that it confirmed for all time the giants’ opinion that they were innately wrong about everything. For some reason, Gilgamesh’s behavior interested the sons of men most. His quest for eternal life intrigued them. They believed his obsession was brought on by grief over the loss of his friend, Enkido, whose life had been taken by the Emim in the battle of the Cedar Forest. But his Nephilim brethren knew that it was the news of the impending war that had pushed Gilgamesh over the edge. Arrogant and seemingly indestructible, he had actually begun to think of himself as a god. He refused to accept that his life could ever come to an end. He abandoned both the Kalag-ga and the city of Uruk for his journey, and was never heard from again.

  Meanwhile, Lilith and Asmodeous—along with most of the other Nephilim in Kiriath Arba—formulated their own plan for survival, trusting completely in the wisdom of the three angels who were guiding them.

  It was easy to see how Asmodeous’ father, Azazyl, came to be the leader of the Watchers. He was not demanding or overbearing, but led with a quiet authority that was indisputable. His manner, like his beauty, was flawless; so flawless that it made the event all the more terrible. He was gentle and kind, although melancholy and sorrowful. He introduced their new language as he launched into the haunting narrative of the origins of the Nephilim race and continued until he revealed the dreams foretelling their ultimate destruction. Being first generation Nephilim, Lilith and Asmodeous grasped the new language instantaneously, easily comprehending every terrifying detail.

  Chapter 29

  The Story of the Watchers

  As Told by Azazyl

  “We were born of light, among God’s earliest creations. Unlike human souls, we are complete without physical matter. However, we are able to utilize matter to create form if we so desire. Simply imagining the magnificent wings of an eagle can provide us with the ability to soar to great heights. We can be small or large, beautiful or terrifying. We can choose the form that best suits our needs. We are eternal. We cannot be destroyed.

  Although angels can duplicate matter, it is a limited reproduction. It’s never exactly the same as the original. God created man. The secrets of mankind’s creation were not shared with us.

  Angels do not experience the same sensations as man. Even so, in duplicating man, we were shocked by how much sensation we were able to enjoy. The longer we remain in this form the stronger these sensations become, bringing us closer to the experience of man.

  It has been said that angels do not have free choice. This, like so many of man’s concepts of the great mysteries, is incorrect.

  As angels, we believe our purpose is to watch over and protect God’s many creations. We’re acting on God’s behalf, but of our own free will. We act, as men do, as we believe God wishes. And also like men, we often disagree about what those wishes are.

  You are shocked to learn that angels do not personally know God? God is a mystery to every living creature, whether of flesh or spirit. We know more than you do only because we are immortal and therefore have experienced more. We have had millenniums in which to roam freely throughout the many universes. We have seen more than man is capable of imagining in his short lifespan. Even so, there is much that even we do not know. There are legions of beings more knowledgeable than the angels, spreading throughout a vastness that no consciousness can begin to comprehend. In my existence I have seen many things, but I have never seen or spoken to God, nor have I met any other being who has done so. Those who claim to have spoken to Him tend to dwell in lower consciousness. Those who pretend to know His thoughts often have devious intentions. It is my belief that neither spirit nor flesh can ever comprehend Him. He is the creator of all things. He creates but does not destroy. What becomes of His creations depends entirely on them. Their fate is a combination of their actions altogether and as individuals. Every action has a consequence. This has always been my understanding.

  The universe is a vast expanse of God’s handiwork, scattered through time and space in the same way various living organisms are scattered upon the earth. There are wonders large and small; mysteries that take centuries—and even sometimes millenniums—to comprehend. I have explored many wonderful things and in the course of this I have found joy.

  I chose to be a Watcher. I had traveled ad infinitum, and I was ready to serve. The earth was relatively new. I was intrigued.

  For as long as I have existed there have been Watchers who keep a vigil over each of God’s creations. We watch to ensure that outside influences do not interfere with the natural course of things. We are instructed to sound the alarm if their existence is threatened, or if self-destruction becomes imminent. It is my understanding that this was the will of God but, again, I have no way of knowing if this is true. Yet I never questioned it. Although I have not seen God, I have seen many of His creations, both with and without souls, and I have learned many things.

  Mankind is unique. They are made in God’s own image, meaning they can actually re-create new souls even as they bring forth new flesh. Every offspring of man generates a new soul. This had not been done before. Souls, like angels, had always been created separately. Souls are immortal, but unlike angelic spirits, they cannot truly exist without living matter to operate within. They become completely ineffectual and hopeless outside their physical selves. They are utterly dependent upon living matter. You can see what happens when their physical matter breaks down or is damaged. The soul virtually withers within it. It needs functioning matter, such as a working brain. Some souls are stronger than others in that they can make better use from less effective matter, but even those are limited by the physical restraints they exist within. And sooner or later, all matter, particularly flesh, chan
ges, breaks down and eventually dies. But the souls do not die with it.

  When we realized that man was capable of reproducing souls and saw the rate at which they did it, we wondered where all these souls would go at the time of their deaths. But as mankind began to die, we noticed that their souls were being drawn away to another, secret place. I don’t know where that place is, but it is rumored that there is a special legion of angels who keep guard over them. It is supposed that these legions sit in judgment of them, determining which will take another form and live again—whether on the earth or in another place—or remain in limbo forever. I can’t say if this is the case, but it does appear that souls are brought forth readily enough when new beings are created in other places. Perhaps mankind’s ability to produce souls so abundantly was specially designed for this purpose. This is only a supposition. But one thing is certain; all creatures with souls direct their own actions, while creatures without souls act on instinct. These are the secondary creatures, existing only to complement those creatures with souls. As in the case of the souls existing on earth, these secondary creatures would be the fish, animals and birds. Creatures with souls are the center of everything in their realm.

  Perhaps I shouldn’t have volunteered to be a Watcher over mankind. From my first glimpse of them I was instantly transported into an entirely unfamiliar frame of mind. The very sight of them threw me into a tortuous tumult, frightening in its intensity. Never before have I seen such a creature. The baffling inconsistencies of their behavior both terrified and thrilled me. In between moments of astounding beauty and grace, there were those of extraordinary malice. Mankind nurtures and loves even as it devours and destroys! Their inexplicable desires and, conversely, their debilitating fears kept them at odds with everything, even themselves. I watched them in agony from the very first.

  There were two hundred of us Watchers in all. Mankind had a similar effect on each of us. We watched them tirelessly, not merely as protectors would, but with an anxious interest and constant wonder, always speculating about what would happen next. We were in awe one moment; horrified the next. What sort of beings were these? They could love and kill with equal fervor. They marched to their own destruction on a whim. Recklessly they assumed that God himself was watching over them, ready to jump in and save them at the very last moment. Perhaps it was the heat of our own zealous watching that they were feeling. In some ways they were quite perceptive. But in others they were careless, abandoned, and dense beyond understanding.

  Samyaza was the first of us to put the idea into words. Our longing was palatable, a tangible desire that eliminated the need for words. But in order to manage it—for we wished not only to taste the ways of flesh but to actually live as men—we knew we would have to all descend together. Otherwise, the remaining angels would have been obliged to sound the alarm. If even one of the two hundred had been against it, we wouldn’t have done it. But we were unanimous in our desire.

  We took a solemn vow to act as one and then descended onto Mount Arnon, forming flesh for ourselves just as you see it today. Though we are a perfect likeness of man, the true sons of men instantly perceived that we were different. The men were apprehensive, but the women were as desirous as they were fearful.

  Though the flesh we created for ourselves was not exactly like that of men, it had the same alluring and terribly corrupting influence over us. You, Asmodeous and Lilith, are born of this earth so you don’t know what it is to exist without that relentless influence. When first experienced, it is all at once exquisite and agonizing, a metamorphosis into terrifying chaos from the gentle peace we had existed in before discovering man.

  I had fallen in love with Naamah, the daughter of Lamach, long before our dissent at Mount Arnon. She was beautiful and passionate, yet terribly sweet. When she became pregnant from our union I was astounded. I was petrified but I was also descending even further into the wild recklessness of the flesh. None of us knew what the result of these unions would be. Would our offspring be flesh? Would they have souls?

  Ohya, the son of Samyaza, was the first of all Nephilim to be born into this world. It was a momentous occasion, and all of the Watchers came together to witness it. It was as if Ohya was the firstborn child of us all.

  Ohya was just like any other child at first. Certainly he was flesh, and it appeared he was endowed with a soul. We concluded—mostly because it was our desire to believe that it was so—that our offspring would inherit all their characteristics from their earthly mothers. Since our flesh was merely an imitation of them, it seemed logical that the mothers’ traits would dominate within our offspring.

  However, Naamah and I were not as fortunate as Samyaza. Our firstborn was terribly deformed and did not survive. There was a very high mortality rate in those first years, and I’ve made some interesting observations in this regard. The first is that the longer the Watchers reside on this earth, the better chance our offspring have to survive. It’s as if our flesh becomes more human the longer it is exposed to humanity. And each progressive generation born from our offspring looks and acts more like the sons of men.

  You were our third attempt to have a child, Asmodeous, and a more perfect specimen I have yet to encounter.

  As for our surviving offspring, the Nephilim, their superior size and abilities became obvious within the first year of their lives. Other tendencies became apparent as well. The first generation Nephilim was predominantly male. We supposed this was because our spirits were male. We began to wonder if we had the ability to produce females. The few females that did occur—until you, Lilith—had all been stillborn. The secret must reside in the mother; for it has since become apparent that women who successfully bring a female Nephilim into this world often continue to give birth exclusively to daughters. In addition, we could see that the Nephilim had a higher aptitude for learning, and like us, they had a gift for understanding language and other concepts.

  In most other respects the Nephilim children took after their mothers. They inherited mankind’s strengths and weaknesses alike. Nephilim were born with the same reckless nature of the sons of men, along with their tendency toward corruption.

  It was only natural that you should want to rule. We anticipated it as inevitable. But it has proven to be our downfall as well. For the souls of the sons of men who were killed by Nephilim have revealed what the Watchers have done. Their accounts of the Nephilim have been spread throughout the universe. And even though mankind has killed just as many, if not more, of their own, the Nephilim killings have been deemed unnatural. All that the Watchers have done—coming to earth, sharing secret knowledge with mankind, bringing forth Nephilim offspring—has been brought before the highest councils of angels and we have all been condemned. We have interfered with one of God’s creations, irreversibly altering their existence forever. Even now, legions of angels are gathering. Our time draws near.

  The Watchers are unlike the angels who are coming. We are to them as mankind is to the Nephilim race. We will not be able to defend ourselves against them. Our only hope was to escape, but now it is too late. We have been prevented from leaving our fleshly bodies and are therefore obliged to remain on the earth until the appointed time.

  In the coming war, the earth itself will be ruptured and nearly ripped asunder. The flesh of the Watchers will be disintegrated, and our spirits will be captured and imprisoned in a fiery abyss that exists in the center of the earth. Once all of the two hundred Watchers have been secured in the abyss, the earth will be re-sealed. There is no escape for us. Even now, should we attempt to destroy our fleshly bodies to release our spirits before the war, angels stand guard at all the gates, ready to capture them.

  However, there is hope for you. The warrior angels will not destroy God’s creation altogether. They intend to save mankind through the descendants of Enoch, because theirs is one of the few remaining bloodlines that have remained completely free of Nephilim blood. The angels have searched no further. They will save no one else.

>   But there is something else, and it is the key to everything. Your souls—the Nephilim souls—are the real threat to mankind. Your souls are not like human souls, but neither are they like the spirits of angels. We knew they were different a long time ago. We noticed that when a Nephilim dies, his soul does not go with human souls to the sacred place. It does not go anywhere. It would seem that there is no place for it to go. It simply stays here, displaced, on the earth.

  These souls remain here, but they dwell in a parallel world that separates them from the world belonging to the flesh. We have been concerned with the plight of these souls—the Qliphoth—many of whom remain trapped in that parallel world to this day. But we’ve been exploring ways to help them return to the real world.

  The only way for a Qliphoth to live again is through a living body.The Nephilim soul, like its body, is stronger than that of the sons of men. The stronger soul will dominate, while the weaker one will simply wither under the other’s influence, lying dormant until the body dies or the dominant soul leaves. It is crushed under the dynamic energy of the Qliphoth. Also, while human souls lose all thoughts of this existence quickly after leaving their bodies, Nephilim souls seem to remain intact indefinitely, just like the spirits of their fathers. But there is still so much we do not know. The first descendants of the angels have the strongest, most effective souls. With each consecutive generation, their souls become more human. I don’t know when (if ever) these souls actually become human enough to finally be accepted into the designated place for human souls.

  But it is no longer just the parallel world that the Nephilim souls must overcome. The coming angels have prepared a new place for the Qliphoth. It is a terrible place of darkness such as no living thing has experienced before. It was once the location of another of God’s creations, but now, that creation having been eradicated and its world destroyed, it has become a great chasm of nothingness. The chasm is so immeasurably deep and imponderably dark that even the spirit creatures dare not go there. Anything getting near it is immediately trapped in its blackness. You must avoid that place.