Page 48 of Wings of Destiny
Okay. He was the one who saved my ass and got me out of that stuck-in-the-dark-ages hell hole.
If Josh hadn’t figured out where the Demons had me…
I shivered, the memory threatening to take over.
Josh hasn’t done anything wrong.
I need to stop being so snippy.
I huffed, pushing my eyebrows together. I chewed on my lip, slumping into Seth’s sofa as I crossed my legs applesauce style.
Focus, Dummy.
Derik looked at me like I was an idiot, while Seth practiced breathing and pinching the bridge of his nose. Letting out a final sigh, Seth started again. “Okay, Erin, focus. I know it’s a lot to take in but please for the love of all things holy, pay attention.”
“Dammit, Seth, I’m freaking trying. Don’t be an ass. It’s a lot.” I stuck my tongue out at him.
So much for not being snippy.
Ass.
“Alright. I’ll start over,” he shook his head, eyes closed as he took in another deep breath before continuing. “Nephilim, Angels, and Demons have been at it damn well since the beginning. Angels and their Nephilim children protecting themselves and humans from the Demons who spawned from the pits of Hell. But it wasn’t always that way.”
“Demons, at one point, were able to roam free. Before the Hell pits were created. They wreaked havoc on the Angels and the humans. And their offspring, Nephilim. The Demons destroyed hundreds of civilizations. They craved power, destruction. They captured humans and enslaved them, tortured them. Once they were bored, the people would be massacred.”
“The Angels finally had enough. One specifically, Raphael. He was one of—if not the strongest—Angels to ever exist. He led a civilization of humans, Angels, and their Nephilim children alike to success. Bustling cityscapes, abundance of wealth and health. His people were living long, happy, peaceful lives, spanning an entire continent. His people called their sanctuary Evanyia.”
“With a population that large—as you can imagine—it caught the attention of the horde of Demons parading themselves around the world, thirsting for more and more power.”
“Unfortunately, Raphael’s paradise caught the eye of a Demon by the name of Kerebos,” Derik gulped as Seth paused. “He was the embodiment of death, pain, and destruction.”
“He led his Demons to Evanyia. Murdering any humans, Nephilim, or Angels who stood in his way. The women were taken and thrown into slavery. They were raped,” I flinched. “Tortured and broken. Kerebos relished in the massacres.”
I felt myself slipping again, the images of my own experience with the Demons threatening to take me, digging their talons into the edge of my mind. A hand squeezed my shoulder, knowingly. I shrugged it off, although a part of me was grateful for the brief distraction.
“Raphael caught wind of what was being done to the innocents in his kingdom and gathered his strongest Angels.”
“They built an army to fight against Kerebos and his Demons. Raphael searched for the strongest warriors. Including the human-Angel offspring, Nephilim.”
“Previously, Raphael cherished the Nephilim of his continent and trained them to defend themselves. However, he wasn’t truly aware of their full potential, even while fighting alongside them in the centuries prior. As Kerebos and his Demonic army closed in, Raphael started taking note of the Nephilim within his kingdom. Noticing the strength that they wielded. Some were more powerful than the Angels themselves.” I shifted in my seat, the fine hair on the nape of my neck raised.
Just how powerful were these Angels?
Seth swept his gaze over the room. “The Angels and their children trained as one. Raphael sent the strongest of his army to fend off the onslaught of Demons as they prepared themselves.”
“Their numbers dwindled. The Demons kept coming. More and more of them, as they didn’t need the same amount of time to breed as Angels and humans did, being created and developed enough to fight within months, sometimes weeks. The Angels didn’t stand a chance.”
“Raphael rallied the remaining Angels, called forth their Nephilim children, and forged their power together to form a pit. A place to trap them within the Earth and send them away from their world. Hell.”
Yeah, and a unicorn really traveled to a candy-covered mountain.
“It was their last stand against Kerebos. Raphael’s power was waning. His disciples were weakened from the constant battle, vast numbers of Nephilim being destroyed. He used his final burst of power to send Kerebos and his army into the pit. Closing the Demons off from the world. Or so they thought…”
“Destruction had been brought to Evanyia, thousands of humans murdered. Nephilim and Angels slain. Raphael had succeeded in freeing his people who survived the Demons, however, the guilt and the pain of seeing all who had suffered—who had been taken—weighed on him. His human wife was amongst the humans who were killed, having risked her own life to save the innocent beings ravaged by Kerebos’s Demons.”
“Kerebos finally fell at Raphael’s hand and was thrust into the pit. Once the pit was sealed, the Demons became trapped within. Raphael plummeted, grief and sorrow enveloped him, sucking the life from him. His power rang out as he took his final breath. Lightning blanketed the sky and fire erupted across the mountains surrounding the continent. The rivers flooded, washing away the dead bodies of the fallen. The wind thrashed through the homes of his people who were taken. It was all destroyed.”
“Before his death, his Nephilim offspring and closest Angel warriors, surrounded him. He warned them how determined the Demons could be. How bloodthirsty they would be after having been trapped. They say his pupils turned to white, seeing what had yet to come.”