Rise (Dawn Of The Nephilim Chronicles)

Prologue

Gabriel felt something he hadn't in so many years.

Fear.

The storm raged outside, the lighting cast flashing beacons of destruction through the night sky. Thunder rumbled through the bones of the cottage as the wind pushed at the shutters. They wanted to break free.

He didn't know why, but something about tonight gave him a terrible feeling in his gut.

He smiled for his child, knowing it would be best to not show the turmoil within. After all, running and hiding had not been easy on the child.

"What do you have there?" Gabriel squatted down.

Something wiggled through the child's arm, a mass of black fur, whimpering with increasing severity.

"Dada, 'ook. Doggy."

"Yes, yes, a doggy. Where did you find such a creature?"

Gabriel was sure he settled somewhere far away from civilization, somewhere far from the prying eyes of other humans. But to find such a domesticated creature, wandering this far out...

His stomach clenched.

If someone would've told him how he would sacrifice for his flesh and blood, how he would do anything to protect his offspring...

Though he knew the penalty for his transgression, he couldn't bear it. Not after having seen the child grow and develop a personality. No. He wouldn't allow harm to befall his child.

The dog wriggled free from the prison of the child's arms, and bounded over with a soft bark, tail wagging and eager for the bread Gabriel held in his hands.

Gabriel should've stopped, in that moment. He should have considered how it was possible a dog ended up wandering to his house.

He would regret this moment with everything in him in his final minutes.

"Dada, mine?" His child said and pointed at the dog as. The child took the warm loaf and shared it with the dog.

"Yes, we can keep it." Gabriel ruffled the child's black locks.. The child rubbed the hair from its face with chubby hands.

Gabriel walked to the sink and filled a small bowl with water and placed it on the ground. The dog slurped it up leaving a puddle almost as big as its paw next to it. The mutt then tore into the warm piece of bread he'd meant to save for the stew they were to eat, but he could always scrounge up something else.

His child toddled over, tripped over the uneven floor and came dangerously close to landing in the dog's water bowl. Instead of crying, the child laughed as the dog jumped over and started tugging at the child's shirt. But the bits of food on the child's face drew more interest and the child laughed even harder at the dog's persistent licking.

Gabriel smiled, something he hadn't done recently or often. He had been too worried about protecting the child, shielding from the world and the threat which would reveal itself if he ever let his guard down.

The electricity sputtered as the thunder and rain grew in intensity until the glow of the yellow light finally sparked out. It had always been dodgy this far from the city, but with the storms lately it grew even worse. If he cared more he would make a formal complaint, but it would draw too much attention to him, and to his child.

He couldn't afford it. No one could know.

The laws were set in stone. The punishment for all parties involved was death, pure and simple.

He would not allow such a fate to come to his child. He would fight with everything in him.

There had not been a storm like this in centuries and something sparked in his memory, a vague picture of what had happened long ago, what he'd been part of.

Shaking his head, he picked up the child. The dog hung from a threat of the shirt before it fell to the ground. Gabriel swung the child up in his arms all the while the dark yipped and bit at his heels.

He delighted in the happy squeals of his toddler, wishing the world {could} always be so simple, so perfect, and so innocent.

The winds howling increased in intensity around the tiny cottage finally bursting through the windows and causing the door to slam open, ricocheting off the front wall.

Gabriel strode over to close it again, hoping the hinges had not ripped free, but the pesky feeling, the fear that started earlier grew in intensity as he approached the door. The, the darkness outside churned in time with the ominous feeling in his gut.

Before he could close the door, a hand shot out from the darkness, stopping his progress.

"Gabriel. You've given us quite the run around." A sinister smile lined the lips of the man he once called a friend.

"Raphael," Gabriel said, as he moved slowly back a few steps, placing his body in front of his child. "I hate to say it, but it's not great to see you. I'd like it if you would leave now. I'm not accepting visitors."

His child still played with the puppy, unaware of the danger currently occupying the room.

"Gabriel, don't make this harder than necessary. Just give up the child and it will be a painless death." The man stepped farther into the house as dry as a bone despite the deluge.

Shaking his head, Gabriel continued backing further away, waiting until the last moment before scooping the child up in his arms and making a dash to the window in the bedroom. It was just big enough they both could squeeze through.

But to his horror, another dark form stood in the rain, waiting for them as if he'd known they would flee in that direction.

"Stop Gabriel," Raphael said from a distance much closer.

Gabriel felt the sizzle in the air, the power building, and readied himself for the blow. He prayed with every breath for a way out of this situation. He only wished he had more time. The child needed to be taught, not slaughtered, but he didn't figure Raphael was in a conversational mood.

He glanced between the window and Raphael. He was out of options, or so it seemed until the form moved closer to the window.

"Amunro, do not interfere," Raphael called out, "I must do what must be done to insure the purity of our race."

Amunro stood by the window, his arms held out. "Give me the child Gabriel. I swear to you no harm will come to it."

Raphael moved forward, his palm glowing and outstretched ready to throw his power.

Gabriel backed away, toward the open window, the wind blowing through in violent waves."You swear Amunro, no harm shall befall the child?"

Amunro's eyes stared bore into Gabriel, and for some reason, as he swore to Gabriel the child would live, Gabriel believed him. He handed over his child to the outstretched arms of the last person in the world he would've thought.

Blinding pain encompassed his body in its terrible grip. In his last moments, before the darkness reaped him, he watched as Amunro spirited his crying child away, safe to live on.

He smiled as death came for him, his only regret--the hands of time had not allowed him more.

~~<3~~

Hey lovely people. I'm so glad you've started your journey here with me. I hoped you liked this first part. 

Any comments are much appreciated. Please don't be a silent reader :)

Stay tuned for the next episode, and Please Vote. 

~~Kisses my lovlies.