“I reject your offer. We were sent here to kill your kind and I’ll be honored above all the angels when I kill the mutant offspring of Michael.”
“You’re stupider than you look if you think you can kill me.”
Shade’s hands froze and his eyes turned white. The angel dropped his sword and started running up the mountain. Shade thought about following, but knew he wouldn’t catch the angel before he reached the peak. He made his way over to Nissa.
“You’re an idiot, Nissa.”
Nissa grinned at him.
“Nice to see you too.”
“That angel is going to tell the rest of them. I assume they have a nephilim killing party waiting at the top.”
“Probably. They’ll be on their way down here soon.”
“Can you fight?”
“Don’t ever ask me that.”
Nissa got to her feet and immediately clutched her ribs. Shade shook his head.
“We’re fucked.”
“Where’s Cerberus?”
“Helping Backlash kill angels a ways back.”
“You brought Backlash with you?”
“He volunteered to help me find you. He’s not the asshole Reaper forced him to be… at least not all the time.”
“When we’re done here, I’m going after Muan again.”
“The fuck you are.”
Their conversation was ended by the sound of approaching feet marching down from the top of the mountain.
CHAPTER 25
As Reaper made his way towards the location on the map, he had to realistically assess his skills. He was confident he could take on several nephilim at a time, but he knew there would be a lot more of these “Nephilim Freedom Fighters.” His best chance of getting his brother out of there alive (assuming Fade wasn’t already one of the nephilim they had killed) would be grabbing him, causing a distraction, and running. After going through a few different possible scenarios, Reaper felt good about the plan.
When he reached the location marked on the map, he saw dozens of slain nephilim. He recognized two of them. The corpses of Enyo and Ares were directly in front of him, covered in blood. He looked around for someone to talk to and that’s when he saw it and fell to his knees. Fade had been hanged from a tree. His lifeless body slowly spun from a thick rope. Reaper cut Fade down and tried to process what had happened.
His initial reaction was rage. They had promised to return his brother alive for 100 coins. He was going to track them all down and kill them for breaking that promise. Next he felt something like sadness, but wasn’t sure where it came from. Reaper never really felt close to his brothers and generally thought they were a disappointment and a nuisance.
“One of your friends?”
Reaper spun and pointed his staff in the direction of the voice. A large demon stepped towards him. He was covered in blood and had bright red eyes.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m an outcast demon known as Nightmare and I can help you get revenge on the nephilim that killed your friend.”
“I’ve heard stories about you and I don’t need your help. Move along.”
“Fine. Just trying to help.”
Nightmare turned and started walking away.
“Wait. Which way did they go?”
Nightmare pointed without turning back around.
“Why would you offer to help me?”
“I want them dead, too. They stole something from me while I was asleep. I want it back. They killed your friend. It looks like our interests are temporarily aligned.”
“He was my brother.”
“All the more reason to accept my offer. Let’s destroy them.”
“What did they steal from you?”
“None of your business. Are you in? I’ve wasted enough time here.”
Reaper was still skeptical.
“How do I know you won’t try to kill me?”
Nightmare rolled his eyes.
“If that was my goal, why wait? I could have ambushed you when you were cutting down your brother from that tree. That would have been the ideal time to strike.”
“Maybe you were afraid of my powers. I’m the eldest son of Steam of the nephilim council.”
Nightmare laughed. When Reaper thought he was done laughing, he started up again. Nightmare was nearly brought to tears.
“I fear no one, little boy. I’ve fought Shadow and lived. I’ve cut down entire armies. I’ve battled the Dragon…”
“And yet this tiny group of nephilim was too much for you to handle?”
Nightmare frowned.
“They stole the source of my power. I still took plenty of them down without it, but I’m no longer used to fighting without the proper… enhancements…”
“Fine. I’ll go with you and help you kill them, but then I’m headed back to Necropolis. You can search for whatever they stole on your own.”
“That should work. Now can we stop wasting time and go?”
Reaper threw Fade’s lifeless form over his shoulder. Nightmare looked at him like he was crazy.
“You’re going to carry that? Are you a fucking moron?”
“No. I can’t let him just sit out here and decay or become food for roaming beasts. I’ll hide him somewhere when we find the nephilim camp, but he’s not going to just sit here until I have time to come back.”
Nightmare shook his head at Reaper and started walking off in the direction the nephilim had fled. Reaper followed.
CHAPTER 26
Pyro and Terra circled each other for several minutes. Neither of them wanted to be the first one to attack. Lilith looked over at Bumalin and could see that he was getting bored.
“Terra, you go first.”
“I went first last time. It’s his turn.”
Pyro shook his head.
“No I went first last time. You’re lying.”
Lilith got down on one knee and looked at Terra.
“Are you ignoring what I told you to do?”
Terra looked at the floor and shook her head.
“No, ma’am. I’ll go first.”
Terra stomped one of her feet on the floor and a rock shot up into the air. She spun and kicked it. Pyro jumped out of the way just in time and threw both of his fiery blades at Terra. She raised both hands and a rock wall shot up in front of her, blocking the flames. She stomped both of her feet and the room started shaking. Pyro fell over and Terra jumped, landing in front of Pyro. She pulled back her fist and Pyro braced himself. Lilith clapped and Terra smiled up at her.
“Very good, Terra.”
Lilith helped Pyro to his feet. He was glaring at Terra.
“What did you do wrong, Pyro?”
Pyro kept glaring at Terra.
“Look at me.”
Pyro looked up at Lilith and she could see tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
“I should have burned her when she jumped.”
“Or at the very least, gotten your hands up so you can shoot some fire out after you fell down. But yes, taking a shot at her when she was in the air would have been a good idea.”
Pyro looked over at Bumalin.
“Who’s that guy?”
“He’s a demon…”
Pyro spit in his direction.
“We hate demons here. Why did you let him in here, Lilith?”
“Bumalin is one of our friends. He helps nephilim. We don’t hate him.”
Terra chimed in.
“No, Pyro is right. We hate demons.”
Lilith grabbed both of their faces and made them look at her.
“Bumalin is our friend. He’s very powerful. Don’t make him angry.”
Pyro and Terra’s expressions changed from anger to excitement. Terra ran to within a few feet of Bumalin.
“Can you show us your powers? We like seeing powers.”
Bumalin grinned.
“Sure. Will you help me?”
Terra nodded eagerly.
“No… I should get t
o help.”
Terra put her hands on her hips.
“Shut up, Pyro. He asked me.”
Bumalin nodded.
“She’s right, Pyro. I asked her to help me. You can have a turn after Terra.”
Pyro crossed his arms and started pouting. Bumalin turned his attention back to Terra.
“I want you to think of a secret. A secret you’ve never told anyone. Think of it and I’m going to grab it from inside your head.”
Terra giggled.
“You can’t do that. No one can do that.”
“Let’s see. You have a secret ready.”
Terra thought for a moment and then nodded.
“Alright. It won’t hurt. I’m just going to touch your forehead and… I have it.”
“You’re just messing with me. You don’t know my secret.”
“I do. It’s an embarrassing secret, though. You sure you want me to tell everyone?”
“You don’t know anything, demon. You don’t have any powers.”
“Terra secretly has a crush on Pyro.”
Terra blushed a bright shade of red and Pyro fell on the floor laughing. Terra walked up to Bumalin and punched him.
“You weren’t supposed to tell him. It was a secret, you idiot!”
“I can fix it. Don’t worry. I can make Pyro forget.”
Terra nodded.
“Do it.”
“Come here, Pyro.”
Pyro scrambled to his feet, still grinning.
“I’m going to make you forget Terra’s secret.”
“You can’t do that. You’re bluffing.”
“Try me.”
Pyro walked towards Bumalin and Bumalin put his fingers on Pyro’s forehead.
“Done.”
Terra walked up to Pyro.
“Do you remember my secret?”
“What secret? You never tell me any of your secrets.”
Terra turned to Bumalin and kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you, Mr. Demon. I like your powers. Don’t tell anyone my secret.”
“I won’t. Thank you for showing me your powers, Terra. You’re a special little girl.”
Terra smiled at him and then Terra and Pyro ran off to play.
“What do you think of them?”
“Simply amazing. I can’t believe they have powers at such a young age with no power rings. You’re teaching them to hate demons? Might be a problem for me and for Razorburn and the brothers.”
“We can teach them that you’re the exception. Terra already likes you. Or we can just tell them that you’re all nephilim.”
“I’d rather they know I’m a demon. They aren’t berserkers. Don’t fuel them with blind hatred.”
Leech entered the room, gasping for breath.
“Sorry I couldn’t make it in time. What did you think, Bumalin?”
“I’m impressed by the whole operation and I’m not easily impressed. I think I may be willing to stay here a while with my demons.”
“Bumalin, I’m going to be completely honest with you. I brought you here because I’m trying to find a way to bring Shadow back. Do you think you can help us?”
Bumalin thought about Leech’s goal.
“Possibly. I’m not sure. Someone would need to knock him out and bring him here. I could enter his mind and see if Abaddon’s soul can be separated from Shadow’s. There are a few angels I can reach out to and blackmail for any additional information. Give me some time to look into it.”
Leech and Lilith smiled at each other and Leech nodded.
“You will have our protection while you figure it out. Thank you, Bumalin.”
CHAPTER 27
Shade and Nissa fought as hard as they could against the onslaught of angels. There were simply too many of them. After they had been cut and stabbed several times, they both started to lose energy. Shade quickly built an icy structure around them and they regained their strength while the angels chipped away at the ice.
“Looks like you’ve started to get the hang of your ice powers.”
“Kind of hard to explain. It’s tied to my emotions and I’m able to channel it now. I knew I needed to act quickly to catch up with you and I’ve been able to channel it to protect you.”
“I didn’t ask for your protection.”
“You’re my friend. Protection is part of the package deal.”
“They’re going to be through the ice soon.”
“Right. We really need to get out of here.”
Suddenly, a spray of black blood covered the ice and the angels stopped chipping at it. Shade and Nissa could hear the angels being attacked by something. Shade grinned.
“It’s Cerberus and Backlash. They found us. We need to break out of here and help them.”
“I’m ready when you are.”
Shade and Nissa readied their weapons right before the ice cracked and fell. Backlash was grinning at them.
“I thought you two would like to join us. I can’t take all the glory for myself.”
Several angels were running from Cerberus, but several others were right behind him, hoping to attack him from behind. Shade and Nissa attacked these angels first. When the angels had fallen, Shade motioned to Backlash and Nissa and signaled for them to hop on Cerberus.
“Alright, buddy. Get them down the mountain. I’ll follow.”
Cerberus hesitated when Shade didn’t hop on, but turned and started barreling down the mountain. Shade turned to face the remaining angels, his eyes glowing white.
“You are an abomination and we will slay you!”
“No. I am a god and you will leave me the fuck alone!”
Shade touched the ground and ice traveled like veins up the mountain path. The angels ran, but the ice followed. Within minutes, it had frozen the remaining angels. Shade’s eyes returned to their normal color and he fell to his knees, gasping for breath.
“Why did you decide to help Shade, Backlash?”
“You got it all wrong. I was here for you, babe.”
“Not interested.”
Backlash chuckled.
“I figured as much. You’re into Shade, aren’t you?”
“He’s my friend.”
“Right… and that works for him. I don’t think it’s working for you.”
“You’re already starting to piss me off.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to pry. I just want you both to understand I’m not like Reaper. I’m genuinely here to help. Fade and I were only doing our brother’s bidding so he wouldn’t…”
Backlash cut himself off.
“So he wouldn’t what?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Backlash, tell me.”
“Now who’s prying?”
“Let’s just say I could use some friends and leave it at that. Fair enough?”
“Sure. For now.”
Nissa couldn’t think of anything else to talk about and the end of their conversation felt somewhat awkward. She reached down and started petting one of Cerberus’s heads.
“Did you miss me?”
“Don’t distract him. I want all of his heads focused on seeing where we’re going.”
When they made it back to Nissa’s house, Nissa and Backlash hopped off Cerberus. Backlash waited until Nissa entered her house and then cast a spell. Chains shot up from the earth. They twisted themselves around Nissa and pulled tight.
“What the hell?”
“Sorry, babe. Shade said you’d try to sneak off and go after Muan again. He doesn’t want you to do that. I don’t want you to do that. I’m pretty sure the three-headed dog doesn’t want you to do that. I’m guessing they care about you. I’m just fucking tired. That was a short amount of time to cover a crazy amount of distance and I killed a lot of angels. I need a break.”
“I thought you just wanted some friends.”
“That’s right. Shade’s friendship is more important right now. Sorry again. He has ice powers. Do you have ice powers?”
�
�I’ll tell him you tried to kiss me.”
“He won’t care. He gave me his approval to go after you.”
Backlash hoped Nissa would buy his lie. She let out a mixture of swear words and shrieks and he knew she had finally realized she couldn’t talk her way out of it. Backlash went outside to wait for Shade. After about half an hour, Backlash saw Shade approaching.
“She’s wrapped up in chains inside so she wouldn’t sneak off. What do we do now?”
“I just got back from speaking to Leech and your dad. They were pissed we didn’t go to the minor nephilim ceremony.”
Backlash waved this off like it wasn’t a problem.
“No need to worry about that. They’ll get over it.”
Shade’s serious expression didn’t change.
“There’s something else.”
“Then tell me.”
“Both of your brothers are missing. Lucia’s already out there looking for them. I told them you were with me and your parents want you to go home immediately.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Help Lucia find your brothers. We have to assume they were captured or…”
Shade paused. Backlash finished his sentence.
“…or killed?”
“Well… yeah. I’m sorry, Backlash.”
“I’m not going home. Not yet. I’m going with you.”
“You need to go see your parents first.”
“They won’t let me leave if I go to see them. Not with both my brothers missing. I have to help find them, Shade. Who knows what happened? Time is of the essence here.”
“Fine. You can come with. At least send them a letter or something.”
Backlash scribbled a quick note explaining that he was alive and that he was going to help find his brothers. He attached it to Cerberus’s collar.
“Run to Steam and give him this. Do you understand?”
Cerberus ran off. Backlash looked at Shade.
“Yeah… it’ll probably get there. Eventually. He’ll probably get distracted along the way.”
“So here’s the last thing we need to figure out. What do we do with Nissa?”
Nissa’s front door opened and Nissa fell outside.
“I heard everything. Let me go. I want to help.”
Minor Nephilim Page 9
