by JN Moon
A small tremor of dejection beat through me, my legs trembled as a wave of heat swept over me from the battle that had just ended.
The purebred nephilim were gone, only our half bred nephilim friends remained, which gave me solace. At least I wouldn’t be on my own without her. On my own and immortal. My worst fear.
As I turned my glance to the new situation which caused silent confusion amongst us, running my fingers through my matted hair and wiping the bloody sweat from my face, blinking rapidly at what I saw.
In the distance stood Marcus, my close nephilim friend. But we had all watched him die and mourned his loss heavily. He was with Emidius, a strange demi-god who took on human form when dealing with similar creatures, and next to her Jamie, my comrade from a war we had been caught up in two years past.
My mouth dropped open as my mind registered Marcus, but my heart told me to be cautious unless it was a trick. I forgot to breathe for a few minutes and my body was tense, but as his eyes caught mine, he beamed the biggest smile I’d ever seen. My exhaustion turned to excitement in that instant, adrenalin coursing through me.
“Marcus!” I called. I rushed towards him, bloody tears streaming down my dirty face. My face hurt, my smile was so wide. He looked different. Still dark, his wings like midnight and slate grey eyes but restored, vibrant, at ease. We hugged, and I held him fast with so much happiness.
But before I could say anything else Emidius bellowed, “Jamie and I have saved your renegade friend Marcus.” Pausing now that she had our attention she added, “There is a price.”
I thought, there always is...
Raising her voice louder, she said, “You will establish yourselves and create order from this chaos. I helped you before and this turmoil was the result of my assistance. Sort yourselves out, Marcus will help. You will establish a Council of the Supernatural. Each race will have two representatives. Failure to do this will be your own demise. Frankly, I am sick of clearing up your messes—that includes you nephilim. See to it.”
As she turned to leave, her proud head held high, I caught Jamie’s glance, and took the opportunity to see him. She carried on without him. God, I was glad he was stubborn and stayed behind. We had been through Hell together, and as I surveyed my friend, he held out his hand and we embraced.
“Where have you been? Can you tell me? I’ve missed you,” I spluttered.
“Everywhere! I’m not the same as I was. I’m not flesh and bone although I may seem it. I know I feel solid, I don’t quite understand it all myself. I’ve been to different parts of reality.” Whispering, he added, “I’m not even sure I’m allowed to say.”
“You’re happy?” I asked.
“Very. And you? I see no change in her.” He glanced at Rachel.
“No, but I have my friends. I’m not alone.”
“You’d never need to be, remember that. I have to go, but we’ll catch up soon.”
“How do I contact you?”
“I knew you’d ask that. Here, take this.”
He handed me what looked like an amulet, an oval shaped pewter disk with a strange creature and some ancient looking writing. The figure in the middle had a lion’s head, human body, and snakes for legs and held up a wand in its right hand. I had no idea what the writing said or where it was from, and didn’t have time to ask him.
“Take this, keep it safe. If you need me, focus on me, my face, myself whilst clasping it in your right hand. Do not let this get into the wrong hands, it’s very old and irreplaceable. It was great to see you.” Patting my shoulder, his face was animated as he headed off for another adventure. Jamie was always so lucky.
But that wasn’t the end of our astonishment. Damien, Rachel’s strange vampire friend, arrived with some children. Children born from vampire and nephilim—dark nephilim- that is those who had turned away from their celestial heritage and had taken to drinking blood from vampires, as Marcus had. Those nephilim and vampires were now dead, the purebred nephilim killed them as an abomination against nature. But the children had escaped? I didn’t know how and though I feared those devilish infants, I was too overcome with joy to see my friend to question anything much.
One of the children had grown at a dramatic rate since I’d spied her along with others, and their appearance startled me. Black feathered wings that were much too big for them, large eyes with crimson pupils, and hands so claw like they barely resembled that of their paranormal parents. They were disturbingly quiet and the vampire, Damien, obviously some hold over them.
My estranged lover, Rachel looked on at Damien, their eyes met and my heart crumbled in that moment. All was lost, he, whoever he was, had stolen her love from me. Anger and loss compounded me and I turned away.
Nathaniel, forward and brash as ever, shaking his head, stared in absolute horror at the children, blurting out, “Who in Hell are these? What are these?”
I turned away because I couldn’t help but chuckle at his complete incompetence in the situation, it was comical. He always knew how to put his foot in his mouth. Sad for the kids for sure, but he had now made an enemy of them no doubt! As I glanced to see who would answer, I noticed the children looked at him with loathing.
Damien remained calm, compassionate even. “These, my friend, are the Cambion, though not true Cambion. A new species, hybrids from vampire and nephilim with all the strengths of both and none, let me assure you, none of their weaknesses.”
Everyone was silent, except Acacius who had kept his knowledge about them a secret, as I had.
Nicolas stepped forward, a huge smile spread across his face, “Well, well.” He walked over to them having lost all his fear in the battle just fought, and placed his hand on the smaller of the two boys. The two boys were holding joining hands; the girl was holding Damien’s other hand.
Nicolas was a natural and not condescending. Being turned vampire at an older age than most, his plump frame, receding hairline and plain features made him the picture of a supernatural uncle. Everyone needs an uncle like him. He was genuine. It amazed me that one could live so long a vampire, having seen so much death and having forcibly been a part of genocide, and yet he had maintained empathy.
Smiling, he spoke to them. “A new species? How fascinating! We will help as much as we can, but we cannot do anything unless you help us to understand you.”
The children’s faces grinned back at him and I saw their tightened postures relax a little.
Me, I wasn’t so sure. Having spied one before, I knew their appetite for death and they would indeed need guidance. They were growing at an astonishing rate. The girl I’d seen a few weeks prior had grown already in human terms of many years. They would become formidable. And my intuition told me, if we didn’t gain some control they could indeed be a threat to all species.
Damien spoke, “We will need a place to stay.” As he said this he was looking at Nathaniel who had the largest place, a beautiful Georgian town house in the centre of the city. Nathaniel’s brow furrowed, his jaw dropping open before adding quickly,
“I think the place that the nephilim reside in would be more suitable, I am not a child person. Acacius, you’re from the divine, I think you and your nephilim friends would be aptly suited to help these children. But how in the hell are we to get them there without being seen?”
Acacius dismissed Nathaniel’s words with a flick of the wrist, “Easy, don’t worry about that.” He strode towards Marcus, “What happened? We thought you were dead?”
“I don’t know, everything went black and cold. The next time I was aware, Emidius and Jamie were standing over me. It is truly a gift to see you brother!” And they embraced, smiles filling their faces.
Aaron and Halina waited for their turn to hug Marcus. Few words could express our happiness at having our friend back. And I knew instinctively that Emidius would not reveal what magic she had conjured to bring him back. I, for one, didn’t care. He was back and that was the main thing.
“Well, let’s get these children home,” Acacius be
nt a little to address these cambion. Then straightening up he asked, “Damien, I believe? I need to speak to you since you are the one looking after these young creatures,” Acacius added.
Damien answered the questions before they were asked. “As with their parents, these children appear to mortals as human children. Humans only see what they want to believe.”
Watching them discuss the future of these hybrids, I was fascinated in the power shift. Nicolas used to be a weak and frightened character but had now stepped up to helping these souls, and Nathaniel was clearly doing his best to shirk all responsibility. I smirked, I’d never seen him as a father figure.
Rachel was silent and weighing up the situation as I was, it being much bigger than it seemed. At their rate of growth, I guessed it would be less than a year until they reached adulthood. What then? Who knew? But whatever was between her and this Damien, I was glad he and Acacius had assumed responsibility and seemed to have control over them.
Me, I’m not the father type either...
These children could potentially wreak havoc, but I stopped my thoughts racing ahead. They, like their nephilim parents, could probably hear thoughts, and I didn’t want to express my fears into something that they could manifest.
Sabian, the alpha leader of the lycans, had already run to his human lover, Lauren, and they watched in fascination as the future of this new species played out in front of them. I wondered who the man was in the group of lycans. He looked strikingly different from them, and yet had a semblance of lycan about him. I had noticed that he kept glancing at me, but he avoided eye contact and seemed anxious that I might catch his gaze.
I made my way over to him and asked gently, “Do I know you? I have the feeling we’ve met.”
At first, he averted his gaze, then changed his mind. “My name is Jason, we haven’t met, but I was held captive as you were in the Elite’s war. I was one of the unfortunate ones changed into an experimental when the gene therapy went wrong.” He paused to breathe, then his words spilled out, “I was taken in by Sabian and turned into a lycan- that’s why I look different. I’d heard about you, I’d wanted to meet you. And Marcus.”
I smiled. “It’s a pleasure, Jason.” I shook my head in disbelief at his sheer strength and determination to survive. “After all you’ve been through, it should be me wanting to meet you! That’s an incredible feat.” Turning away I called, “Marcus, come meet Jason!”
Rachel was avoiding eye contact. Weakness and pain gripped my stomach. I wanted to hold her, to kiss her, but she made it clear with her dismissive body language that my feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated. But she was interested in Damien for sure, so to save myself from humiliation, I walked over to the Acacius and the children.
“Who are you?” the youngest boy asked me. He had such an air of innocence about him that would serve him well.
“I’m Anthony. Who are you?”
“Orion. My parents are dead. You, all of you hate us, you fear us.” His voice was strained and pain came from him. The mind and body of a child, confused, vulnerable and scared and surrounded by beings that did indeed see his very existence as a threat. I wasn’t about to lie to him. In the future he would trust me more for being honest.
“Not hate,” I argued “We’re afraid of what you could become. There’s a balance, an order to each existence in this world and every time,” and I emphasised this after all I’d gone through. “Every single time some creature or other tries to upset that, all Hell breaks loose, and let me tell you, even as an immortal, fear and chaos follow. We—including yourselves—nearly died tonight when this happened. But death is too light a word, to be trapped for all time in a realm of demons, of screeching wraiths without escape, immortality of torment and pain. That is why we fear your existence. Do you understand?”
I know it was a lot, like the Grimm Fairy Tales used to scare children into not walking off with strangers, but these children were like the monsters of Grimm. Teach them now or pay later.
“I think so,” the boy said. “My father despised me, though he didn’t say it. Our parents feared us.” Turning to Damien and Nicolas, he said, “But you don’t? Damien, you’re similar to us? You’re part demon, I smell it, just like her.” He pointed to Rachel.
Kids, how I love when they point out everyone’s secrets. So Damien was part demon.
“No, I’m not afraid of you, but I’ve seen more than most,” Nicolas added. “And I don’t fear death. I see your potential, a dream realised. What are your names?”
“Gabriel. And that’s Michael and Orion. We already know we are powerful, we felt that fear in our parents.”
My curiosity filled for the time being, I wandered over to Marcus. He sighed, then grinned at me and as we walked away, put his arm around my shoulder, like an older, wiser brother. He was so much larger than me I was dwarfed by his size. It was good to hear his voice again, reverberating and low like some mythical creature from a tale.
“I’m sorry about you and her, I truly am. After all you went through, but look now we’re both free to do as we please, let’s go hunt? And not with the app, the old-fashioned way.” He winked.
My spirits lifted having him there. God knows the relief, the happiness that my friend was alive. But a chasm of emptiness still sat in my core and I couldn’t bear to look at Rachel staring so intently as Damien. So I left with Marcus.
My eyes were starting to close as drowsiness hit me and I realised I was really hungry. My body ached badly from being thrown around by that creature, that giant of a demon in the fight, and the subsequent battle.
“We thought you were damned,” I said.
“Well, nothing happened that I’m aware of. As I said, everything went black and cold and then nothing until I woke up with Emidius and Jamie standing over me. You want to know what they told me, right.”
“Of course!”
“As she said, after the Elite were shattered, there was, or is no authority in the vampire world. Well, at least not here. Their authority actually covered most of the UK.”
“And I’m truly grateful that she saved you, but why you? I mean I would’ve thought she’d want a vampire to run vampires? It makes no sense. Will other vampires follow a nephilim?”
“Well, it makes perfect sense. I am seen at least as having more control over my emotions, over decisions than most vampires, and I and others will ensure some sort of order is maintained in the supernatural world. It was timing as well. She is going to talk with Sabian, Acacius and get us to form a counsel. A counsel of supernatural beings, which has never been done before. It’s exciting, and judging by the fallout of what happened, with the children, I’d say just in time. Who knows, maybe in the future one of those children may sit on the counsel.”
“A counsel of supernatural beings. That is pretty cool. I don’t have to join I hope, I’ve never been one for rules.” I laughed
“No, Anthony, you don’t.”
We kept our hunting brief that night, too tired for much exertion, on my part anyway. Marcus stayed at my flat, not wanting to go back to his as the last time he was there, he died. We had to divert there to grab some of his clothes. I could hardly lend him mine, with our size difference, and he waited outside whilst I went to grab clothes and various personal belongings he wanted.
Walking back through the city towards my flat, dawn was nearing and I could hear the first rustle of birds waking. A few people went about their business or were returning after a night’s drinking and it was surreal and refreshing to see, to feel the normality of it all. No wraiths screaming from humans, no demons. Just humans and animals and crisp morning air.
My flat was peaceful, no odd feelings of being watched and I felt revived enough after the blood to have a quick shower.
“Can I have a shower first? I know you were fighting the good fight and all, but I was dead! I smell of death, that isn’t good,” Marcus joked.
“That is going to be your excuse for everything now, isn’t it?” I laughed.
“Sure, I’ve to hand it to you, it is a good excuse!”
I threw clean sheets on my bed whilst he washed. I couldn’t wait to sleep, and it was comforting to have a friend there after all I’d been through.
After my wash, we sat on the bed for a while in our joggers and T-shirts and mused over the last few months.
“I have lived so much since I met you, Anthony. Time loops, shadow people, lycans, blood. And now this future, this council of supernaturals,” Marcus added excitedly. He sat cross-legged on the bed, and I did the same.
Reflecting back, I answered, “Well, you did want to find Emidius for so long. She’s an interesting being. She’s not human. I think the term demi-god is to pacify our interest. I’m not sure she’s human at all.” He nodded in agreement before continuing,
“She was human- a long time ago. But that being said, yeah, it’s funny how life turns out. I wanted her to help me for so long, I gave up hope, and then boom! I met you, though you have to admit you thought at first my motives were, well, not just.”
I interrupted him, “You can’t blame me- that was your fault! When we first met, that look you gave Rachel- and to look at you! You look like a movie star, I don’t!” I laughed. “But you were trusting, and honest,” I added.
He smiled, “I was out of my depth,” and nodding, “I do remember how she looked to me, but you did also. Two vampires walking hand in hand. I sensed something different from you both, maybe it was just because you were holding hands walking- I had never seen vampires do that before. And I thought, I want that! I want that closeness with another. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up,” he looked down as he spoke and groaned.
It didn’t matter now, that was over, doomed. I said, “But apparently, you weren’t damned for drinking blood. That makes you wonder.”
He nodded. Even though he was nephilim, and even though a blinding divine light—apparently the Seraphim—had succeeded in wiping out the demons and wraiths, I still didn’t prescribe to his Old Testament beliefs.
He continued, laughing, “And don’t think I fancy you because I’m sharing your bed. I just can’t go back to my flat again.”