Minor Nephilim

by Randall Morris

  “They’re nowhere, Razorburn. They’re gone.”

  “Then I want to be nowhere too!”

  Razorburn turned and stomped off into the distance.

  CHAPTER 43

  Lucia approached the council with hesitation. Nissa was sitting in the former seat of her father and she hadn’t expected this. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was a little bit jealous. After all, she was the next in line for a council seat. Nissa had just barely become a minor nephilim. Why was she even here?

  Lucia took her place and waited for Leech to begin questioning her, but it was Nissa who asked the first question.

  “Did Reaper ever tell you he wanted to kill Shade?”

  Lucia looked confused.

  “Where did you hear that? I know he didn’t get along with Shade, but I don’t think he wanted to kill him.”

  “Did you plan on helping him kill Shade?”

  “Shade is my brother. Do you seriously think I would ever let anyone kill him?”

  “Answer the question.”

  Leech held up his hand to stop what was going on.

  “This line of questioning isn’t helpful. Lucia isn’t on trial here.”

  Nissa gave Leech an icy stare.

  “Maybe she should be.”

  Leech met her stare and his eyes started glowing green.

  “It was you who suggested the limits on that evidence. Don’t step beyond the bounds we set as a council. Your questions for Lucia can only be about Reaper and the things he’s charged with.”

  Nissa crossed her arms and looked back at Lucia.

  “Where were you when Reaper found the note and decided to go after the rogue nephilim alone?”

  “I was on another mission. A mission you don’t have clearance to know about.”

  Nissa grinned when she realized she had hit a sore spot with Lucia.

  “So you refuse to answer questions from the nephilim council? I move we find her in contempt and throw her in jail for the night. All in favor?”

  Nissa raised her hand. No one else did. Lilith grabbed Nissa’s wrist and put her arm down.

  “You’re done asking questions.”

  There was an awkward silence before Selene asked Lucia a question.

  “Did Reaper know where you were? Could he have reached you easily to ask for your help?”

  “He knew where I was, but I wasn’t easy to reach. It would have taken some time. Maybe more time than he had.”

  Steam followed the question up with one about Reaper’s brothers.

  “Did you know that Reaper regularly abused his brothers? Did you know that he threatened them so that they wouldn’t tell anyone? Did you ever see him abuse them?”

  “I never saw him abuse his brothers. I know he had high expectations for them and constantly told them to attack Shade, but it never went beyond that to my knowledge. I always thought he was just trying to make sure their sorcery was up to par.”

  Leech’s eyes slowly stopped glowing and they returned to their regular bright green.

  “I think we need to know what a competent middle nephilim would have done in that situation. If you had returned to the outpost and found the same note, but it said that they took Shade, what would you have done?”

  “It’s impossible to say. I know what I want to believe, but you can’t say what you would do in that situation unless you’re in that situation.”

  “Then what do you want to believe?”

  “I want to believe that I would have went for help. At the same time, if I was too far from Necropolis and didn’t think I could reach Reaper quickly, I would have seriously considered going after Shade and the rogue nephilim alone.”

  Lilith asked a clarification question that seemed to sum up Lucia’s overall testimony.

  “So in your opinion, has Reaper done anything to merit being brought up on charges?”

  “No. Don’t get me wrong. He’s an absolute moron sometimes, but I don’t think he seriously has it in him to hurt his family or friends. He never raised his hand against me.”

  Nissa tried hard to stop herself from responding, but she couldn’t.

  “Of course he’s kind to you. He needs you. He wants to become king of the nephilim by marrying you. You aren’t in the same situation Fade or Backlash were in. He had nothing to gain by treating his brothers kindly and he didn’t. He beat them and thought he was too clever to…”

  Leech’s eyes started glowing green again.

  “Enough!”

  He turned to Lucia.

  “That will be all. Please tell Backlash he can come in now.”

  Lucia shot an angry glance over at Nissa, but then turned to her father and nodded. When she left the room to get Backlash, Steam decided to intervene before Leech or Lilith lost control at the way Nissa had treated their daughter.

  “I understand that you and Shade have become friends with Backlash, but you can’t let your emotions control your questioning like that. This isn’t an easy situation for any of us. It doesn’t mean we can just ask or say whatever we want to. Lucia isn’t on trial here and she hasn’t done anything wrong.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “There’s no evidence that she’s done anything wrong. If you have some, by all means present it to us.”

  Lilith snickered.

  “There is none. Lucia was just as much in the dark about Reaper’s abuse of his brothers as Steam and Selene were. Would you like to accuse them of what you think Lucia is guilty of?”

  “Maybe I went a little too far. I just wanted to know what she knew about this whole situation and make sure she wasn’t plotting with Reaper to kill Shade and become the rulers of Necropolis.”

  Leech rolled his eyes.

  “Spare me.”

  “Now who’s letting their emotions get in the way?”

  “Again, Lucia isn’t on trial. Are you ready to take your council seat seriously? I don’t want you throwing Backlash leading questions while we interrogate him.”

  “I won’t need to. Backlash’s story is convincing enough on its own.”

  “Good… because the next time you’re out of line like that, I’ll throw you out of here and get someone else to sit in for the rest of the trial.”

  The doors to the council chamber opened and Backlash made his way towards the center of the council chambers.

  CHAPTER 44

  When Bumalin made it back to where he was staying, Coconut tossed him a shovel.

  “Please help me bury him.”

  “Don’t you want a funeral? The nephilim would…”

  “The nephilim aren’t demons. I’ll be there. You’ll be there. Razorburn will…”

  “Razorburn took off. He figured out that Lexi is dead and my son never existed. He isn’t coming back.”

  “Follow me then.”

  Coconut picked up the corpse of his brother and led Bumalin outside the walls of Necropolis. He made sure no one was following and then led Bumalin through the jungle to a large rock. Coconut placed Monkey’s corpse on the ground and got ready to push.

  “I’ll need your help. It takes two to move this thing.”

  Bumalin attached the shovel to his back before helping Coconut push the rock. When the rock moved, it uncovered a large hole in the ground.

  “What’s in there, Coconut?”

  “Our treasure horde. This is where Monkey wanted to be buried. This is where I want to be buried.”

  Coconut picked up his brother’s corpse and hopped inside. Bumalin followed. When they hit the bottom, Coconut handed Bumalin a torch. Bumalin lit it and looked around. It finally dawned on him that the brothers were much better at saving treasure than he had previously believed. While the room wasn’t completely filled with gold or valuable objects, the torch’s light reflected off of a large pile of coins and gems.

  “I had no idea you guys knew how to save your money.”

  “We kept it a secret. To everyone else, we like to pretend we spend it all drinking, whoring, a
nd generally screwing around. We do a fair amount of all of those things, but not enough to put a dent in our treasure horde. Sometimes Monkey would come here and just stare at it for hours.”

  Bumalin pulled the shovel from his back and started digging in front of the large pile of gold and gems.

  “I wanted to blame you.”

  Bumalin stopped.

  “Why don’t you?”

  “Because of what Razorburn said. Monkey went down looting the heavens like some sort of pirate. He was happy. Our adventures with you made us both happy. Going to heaven was ridiculously dangerous, but we agreed to it and we had a good time.”

  Coconut started digging and Bumalin resumed digging as well. When they had a decent sized hole, they lowered Monkey’s corpse inside it.

  “Would you say a few words, Bumalin?”

  Bumalin wasn’t sure how to start.

  “Monkey was an idiot.”

  Coconut smirked.

  “You’re supposed to say nice things.”

  “I’ll get to that part. I wanted to start off with the honest part. Monkey was an idiot. He did things no reasonable demon should ever do. That was also what made him so entertaining. He enjoyed the simple things in life. A full pint of ale. A large demoness ass. The shine of shiny things. He fought bravely every time we went into battle. I almost never had to chastise him for running from a fight because Monkey didn’t run. Monkey stood his ground. He annoyed me to no end. I can’t help but admit that I’m going to miss him, though. There’s no replacing Monkey.”

  Coconut tried to find words, but ultimately couldn’t. He took his gold refilling wine glass and placed it in Monkey’s hands.

  “Goodbye, brother.”

  Coconut started shoveling dirt and Bumalin helped him finish.

  When they were out of the treasure horde and had replaced the rock, Bumalin asked Coconut something he had hesitated to ask until Monkey was buried.

  “Are you going to stay in Necropolis? Obviously this is a huge change of circumstance and I understand if you want to go off on your own.”

  “I’m sticking around for now. Not sure I can make any promises as to how long. I have a question for you, though.”

  “Ask it.”

  “When Gabriel said you gave him information that he didn’t have before, do you think he was bluffing?”

  Bumalin sighed.

  “No. Gabriel is a very wise angel and I’m betting I let something slip. We may be old demons, but we are not perfect. That’s why I’m worried about Razorburn out there on his own. Obviously he’s huge and can take care of pretty much any angel, but he’s also a clear target now. That’s my fault. I still don’t know where I slipped up.”

  “I think I have an idea.”

  Bumalin nearly laughed, but stopped himself.

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “Gabriel didn’t know you store secrets in other demons’ heads.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “I was watching his facial expressions. There was a brief moment where it looked like realization had struck him. It was right after you mentioned that you were storing the secret in a demon’s head. It was subtle, but I picked up on it. I think he’s going to start killing off your friends and associates until he’s sure the demon with the secret is gone and then he’s going to try to kill you. Assuming all of that is Gabriel’s plan, I think it’s best for me to stay in Necropolis until the danger has passed. The nephilim will protect us. You should get a warning out to all of your agents, though.”

  “You know… I think that’s the smartest reasoning I’ve ever heard from you, Coconut. I should ask for your thoughts more often.”

  “There’s one more thing. Now that Monkey’s gone…”

  Coconut looked at the ground and Bumalin started to feel bad.

  “… I’d like to take his share. You’ll pay me double from now on.”

  Bumalin laughed.

  “The fuck I will, Coconut. I’ll give you a raise, but you’re not getting double.”

  Coconut grinned.

  “It was worth a shot. Monkey would have asked for it, so I needed to try.”

  CHAPTER 45

  “Why is Nissa here?”

  “She’s a temporary member of the council until we find a replacement. She’s taking Weapon’s seat for this case.”

  Bumalin nodded and smiled. This was a huge advantage he hadn’t counted on. Maybe the council would actually vote to do the right thing and put his rabid brother down for good. Leech started the questioning.

  “Reaper stands accused of abusing other nephilim, specifically you and your brother. What can you tell us about that?”

  “It all started from a hatred of Shade. He kept talking about how he was a mixed-breed abandoned horror that should be killed. He constantly made me attack Shade. He made Fade do the same. When we won, Reaper would leave us alone for a while. When we lost, Reaper would beat the two of us senseless. I blacked out twice. There was also a time when I thought I was going to die. After he beat us, he would cast healing magic and warn us not to tell anyone. He…”

  Selene cut in.

  “Why didn’t you tell us this was happening? We would have stopped him.”

  “I was afraid. Not just for myself, but for Fade as well. I was worried that you wouldn’t believe me and that he would kill one of us and make it look like an accident or something. It’s not like I had any evidence. He healed me every time after he beat me.”

  Nissa took Backlash’s testimony in a different direction.

  “Why did he make the two of you go after Shade. What do you think his reason was? It can’t be because Shade was the son of nephlim. We’re all descendants of mixed angels and demons. What do you think the real reason was?”

  “He knew that someday Shade would likely get ice powers like Shadow and I think he was jealous. I think he also feared that Shade could become more powerful than him. Reaper’s ambitious. He’s always wanted to rule over Necropolis.”

  “Do you think he wanted the two of you to kill Shade?”

  “He never told us to kill Shade. However, this was all before Shade gained his ice powers. As the council is well aware, Shade’s sorcery was non-existent until recently. Maybe Reaper didn’t see him as a threat yet. Maybe he was hoping the ice powers had skipped a generation. I know he hated Shade and I know he wanted to hurt him. I can’t say for sure if he wanted to kill him or if he just liked rambling about killing him someday, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was serious about killing him.”

  Steam looked at Backlash with great pain before asking a question.

  “Are you still afraid of him?”

  “Not anymore.”

  “What changed? What made you finally come forward with all of this?”

  “I got the courage to ask Shade for help. We went to rescue Nissa from Muan’s forces. Shade is my friend now. So is Nissa. They won’t stand by and let Reaper hurt me anymore.”

  Nissa nodded.

  “You’re damn right we won’t.”

  Nissa saw Selene smile before Leech shot a look in her direction that told her not to interrupt like that again. Lilith asked the final question.

  “If you were on the council, how would you vote? What do you think should be done to Reaper?”

  “I don’t need to be on the council to answer that, because I’m going to do something to him if you let him live. Reaper needs to die. If the nephilim council won’t execute him, then I will. He’s nearly killed me before. He briefly killed Fade once, but we were able to bring him back. No more. He needs to die. The next time I’m alone with Reaper, I will kill him.”

  Leech looked surprised.

  “You realize the consequences of murder in Necropolis, don’t you?”

  “In my mind, Reaper forfeit his life the second Fade’s heart stopped beating. The first time, not the time it became permanent. I’ll gladly sit in a jail cell or be killed knowing that I brought justice to a rampaging monster.”

  Lee
ch shook his head.

  “You’re dismissed, Backlash.”

  When Backlash had left the council chamber, Leech considered his words carefully before speaking.

  “For the crimes alleged, I think we only have two options. We either need to kill him or banish him from Necropolis on pain of death. I’m assuming no one thinks he’s completely innocent.”

  The room was silent.

  “Majority decides his fate then. Those in favor of the death penalty.”

  Leech and Lilith raised their hands.

  “And those in favor of banishment.”

  Steam and Selene raised their hands. Nissa waited a few seconds and then raised her hand.

  “Banishment it is.”

  Steam looked over at Nissa and mouthed the words “thank you.” She still felt like she had betrayed Backlash, but maybe he would accept her reasoning. She knew what it felt like to lose someone and she didn’t want someone else to kill Muan for her. She wanted to kill Muan herself. Backlash needed to end Reaper’s life with his own hands.

  “Bring in the prisoner.”

  Reaper was brought in, still chained and shackled.

  “Reaper, son of Steam and Selene, you are hereby banished from the city of Necropolis on pain of death. You are never to return here for any reason.”

  “Mom? Dad? You can’t let them do this to me! I’m innocent!”

  Steam stood and looked at Reaper with hate in his eyes.

  “You killed Fade once. Backlash told us. I can’t bring myself to vote to have you killed, but I never want to see you again. Get out of my sight.”

  The guards dragged Reaper outside the city while he yelled and screamed. Leech followed.

  “I’m going to give you your powers back so that you aren’t defenseless out here. We mean it when we say never return. I know everything that goes on in my city and I won’t hesitate to kill you if you ever walk through those gates again.”

  Reaper laughed.

  “I won’t return unless I have an army large enough to kill you, Leech. We’ll see how your threats play out then.”

  True to his word, Leech touched Reaper’s forehead and returned his powers. Leech walked back inside Necropolis and the guards shut the gates behind him.