Only the Beginning

Dakota is taken out for one of her first battles in the protection of Aerie along with some of the Nephilim to face a horde of demons, praying that she has had enough training to survive the fight.

    In two weeks of being at Aerie, Lucifer had held up the oath he’d sworn to Lazerous to not harm anyone at Aerie and to help out with training the Nephilim.  He’d gone on multiple missions with the Nephilim and helped keep them alive when they were injured badly by the demons they fought.  Dakota was mostly convinced that Lucifer didn’t mean them any harm and wanted to help them.  But, she was convinced that he wasn’t the Devil.

 

   Darius was Dakota’s new substitute trainer now for when Joel was gone.  She liked Darius better as a trainer.  He wasn’t so obnoxious like Joel and he spent less time warming up, using that time to work on skills instead.  

 

   Darius was training Dakota today.  She came in at seven a.m. as usual and found herself looking at Darius’s tall, strong form instead of Joel’s slighter form.  He stood by the weapons table in the right corner of the room.  Dakota couldn’t see around his broad form to be able to tell what he was doing.  

   She said good morning as she walked over to the small table in the center of the wall just to the left of the door.  She plugged her iPod in to the dock just as Darius turned.  

   “None of that hard rock stuff in warm-ups, remember?  I like to start calm.” he reminded her.

 

   In truth, Dakota had sort of forgotten about the whole yoga-calm start to training that Darius did as opposed to the warm-ups that Joel did where she put on her music the whole time.   She sighed and set down her iPod.  He let her unlock it and searched around for relatively peaceful music.  

   A moment later, he’d put on some music she didn’t recognize and walked over to her to begin their warm-ups.

 

   Before she knew it, warm-ups were over and Darius let her put on her rock music.  They began with knife throwing, as usual.  Dakota picked up three knives and focused her aim at the target like she was going to throw a dart, the way Joel had shown her.  She drew her hand back to her shoulder and threw the knife.   It landed just outside the center.   She tried again, focusing the hilt of the knife on the very center of the target before throwing it.  The knife knicked the black ring around the red center circle.  

 

   Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Darius eyeing the target, one elbow resting over his arm, his fingers touching his lips in thought.  His eyebrows were slightly raised; the only giveaway to his thoughts on her improvement.

   She aimed the last knife and threw it, watching it quickly flip end over end before smacking its sharp tip into the black ring, right next to the last knife.  Both knives were so close that Dakota was surprised to not have seen a few sparks fly when the metal handles must’ve scraped against each other.

 

   She looked at Darius and saw that he was eyeing her with one eyebrow raised.  For a moment he just studied her, nothing more than amazement clear on his face.   She retrieved her knives and strode back to him.  

   He was still watching her.

   She sighed impatiently.  “What?”  

   “You seem to know what you’re doing but the knives don’t like you, apparently.  They don’t wanna hit the target.”  He teased, unfolding his arms with a small smile playing at his lips.

   “Oh, ha - ha” Dakota said. “You’re funny as Hell.”

   He dropped his head and laughed to himself.  The smile he wore when he looked up again was adorable, Dakota thought.  His hazel eyes sparkled with their own laughter.  She wondered how he’d managed to live in that horrible, dark dungeon surrounded by demons and with Damasen watching him and somehow survived with enough sanity to laugh and not want to kill people.  

   “Well, that’s the only explanation I have for why you seem to aim right and have the right position but, somehow you manage to miss the center.” he chuckled.  

   “So, the knives have consciences now? They can decide who they want to throw them where?”  Dakota squinted at Darius as if to say, Really? That’s your explanation?

   “Gimme the knives.  I’ll show you.” he held out a beckoning hand, palm up.  

   Dakota sighed and pressed the knives into his large hand.  

 

   Darius took one knife from the glimmering row of three and held it lightly between three fingers.  He focused one eye on the target as if he was going to shoot an arrow.  He brought his arm up to his shoulder and kept his focus on the target a moment longer before flinging the knife with blinding speed.  The knife had burrowed itself perfectly in the center of the target with a light thunk before Dakota’s eyes could process its movement from Darius’s hand.  She did a double-take.  She’d never seen a knife fly so fast in her time at Aerie.  This boy had spent over a year in a dungeon focusing on dealing with his werewolf Changes and he could throw a knife like a fastball.  

   He readied the next one, spun, and threw it. The knife flew and hit the target hard, right next to its predecessor.  Dakota struggled not to gape at this amazing event she was witnessing.  

 

   He readied the last one and looked at her as he threw it with barely any focus for aim.  It buried itself in the target, with slight sparks flying as it scraped along the left side of the first knife.  Darius looked at her confidently and at the same time, lazily.  He raised his eyebrow.  The message in his eyes was clear: The knives either like me or you're doing something wrong.  

    Dakota let out an angry huff of breath. “I don’t like you.  I really don’t.  Show off.” she spat in a mumble.  

   He chuckled as she retrieved the knives.  

   She took one in her right hand and held it up, aiming. Immediately, she felt his strong hands at her sides, adjusting the position of her hips and making sure she was just slightly tensed in her core.  He adjusted her head just a tiny bit and directed her arm a little to the right.  He folded down two of her fingers so only her thumb, forefinger, and middle finger rested on the handle of the knife.  She could feel his warm breath down her back and she shivered slightly.  

   “Aim.” he whispered in her ear.

   She squinted at the target and found the dark little hole the knives had made from Darius throwing them.  

   “Ready.” he whispered, his hands resting on her hips. “Don’t move your hips too much.  Not for a simple throw like this.  Just the slight turn and rock when you throw.”

   She focused on the target more intently, her heart pounding in anticipation of the results she would get with the throw.  Her body tingled where Darius’s hands rested so lightly at her sides.  

   “Throw.” he mumbled.

   The sudden word spoken softly in her ear as she focused startled her and she threw the knife with all the strength in her arm.  The knife flew end over end and thunked into the target.  It hit the center perfectly.

   Darius looked down at her, his hands slipping away from her, leaving her chilled.  He smiled slightly.  “See?  You just needed some better focus and some adjusting and voila, you’re golden.”

   Dakota had just readied her second knife when Darius fell to his knees, clutching his head, wincing and fighting back growls of pain.  Dakota knelt beside him, her eyes wide and filled with concern.  

   “What’s wrong?  What happened?” she asked.  

   Just as she asked, he looked up.  “We’re all needed immediately in the dining hall, armored, and prepared to fight.” he said.  “It’s urgent.”

   He looked at her gravely with hazel eyes serious as death.  

   “Let’s go then.”  Dakota replied, gulping back her fear of what might be happening.  

 

   Darius helped her dig through the closet of gear to find clothes that fit her.  It turned out that when Nephilim said “armor” they meant clothes made of tough material in mainly dark colors.  Darius handed her a pile of neatly folded clothes: a black leather jacket on top of a maroon tank top and black pants.  He waved her away, urging her to go.  His hazel eyes gleamed with both bloodlust and concern.  She hesitated a moment before turning and rushing down the hall, clutching her gear to her chest awkwardly.  She burst into her room and quickly changed into the clothes Darius had given her.

 

   By the time she came running down the stairs, armed with a short sword across her back, knives in her boots, and daggers at her sides, Darius and Noah were waiting for her.  Darius was dragging the blade of a very deadly looking sword across a whet stone, sparks flying with each stroke.  She hardly made a sound coming down the weathered stairs but, Darius looked up the second she reached the halfway point down the stairs.  She sometimes forgot that, being part werewolf, Darius had a hundred times better hearing than humans and Nephilim combined.  He led Dakota and Noah down the winding corridors of plain white walls to the dining hall.  Dakota could already hear all the talking going on beyond the huge oak doors.  Darius pushed them open, his muscles rippling slightly with strain.  

 

   The doors opened to reveal one of the most elegant rooms in Aerie.  The room was large enough to fit probably a hundred elephants and was painted with elegant swirls of gold and silver that shimmered along the walls like real magic.  On the far wall rose a large stage that nearly blended with the wall, which was plain, minus the symbols etched into it.  The symbols were for the fallen, the Nephilim, and the Hybrids.  The fallen had a symbol of five stars lined up smallest to largest, plummeting to earth in a blue and gold arc.  The Nephilim had a symbol of a butterfly whose wings were elegantly designed with the Alpha and Omega symbols on them.  The werewolves had the symbol of a wolf silhouetted by a full moon, the vampires had a red eye, and the warlocks had a multi-colored pentagram.  The Hybrid symbols circled the fallen and Nephilim ones making a triangle.  On the stage stood the tall, dark, intimidating form of Lazerous and, behind him, the slighter, less dark and intimidating form of Lucifer.  Beside Lucifer stood Lazerous’s daughter, Genesis, looking predatory and yet elegant like her father.  

 

   Lazerous stood like a statue on the stage in a trench coat with the hilt of a huge sword peeking over his broad shoulder like a curious snow monkey.  Lucifer was smirking down at the stirring mass of Nephilim and fallen below him before Lazerous’s authoritative voice boomed, calling the residents of Aerie to order.  

 

   There was immediate quiet and everyone looked to the stage, the large oak doors banging shut behind them like a thunder clap.  Lazerous gave no preamble to what the gathering was about; he just dove straight into it like he did with most things.  

   “We all know there is . . . something big coming.   Something that we need the help of the Morningstar for.  There is no hiding it.  No need to hide it.  Today, we are sending out warriors to fight an enormous horde of demons unlike any we have seen before.  It is a most unusual situation considering it is a widespread attack.  A group here and there barely two blocks away from each other.”  Lazerous’s DVD eyes scanned the crowd of residents. “All of you must split into groups of between five and ten and fly there now.  Lucifer will be with me. Go and may God deliver you all safely home at the end of the day.”

    That was his usual blessing to those he sent out to fight: “And may God deliver you all safely home at the end of the day.”  As soon as the words left his lips, the Nephilim and fallen had split into groups mostly.  Usually the Nephilim went with Nephilim and the fallen went with fallen.  If you were a Nephilim with your father here like Lazerous was there with Genesis, they left you alone to show they had faith in you and trusted that you would do the right things in your fights.  They didn’t follow you like lost puppies the way some parents do when they know you’re going to do something dangerous.  They didn’t hover; they simply nodded, hugged, or congratulated you on your successes and advised you when necessary.  The fallen were easy going parents to their children and Dakota wanted one.  

 

   Darius rounded up a couple of other Nephilim that he recognized: Mandrake, Ammarah, and Nirvana.  Dakota nodded to herself, approving.  She’d seen these three fighting others and knew that Ammarah looked as deadly as she fought.  She was about as dangerous as Genesis.  Without a word, Darius gathered up Noah and Mandrake in his white wings, disappearing.  Nirvana and Ammarah did the same with Ammarah as their transport with her black wings.  

 

   Dakota got the familiar feeling of her soul being torn from her body and floating in the middle of nothing.  She squeezed her eyes shut and felt herself become whole again, her feet on solid ground.  She opened her eyes then to find them all on the roof of Aerie.  All the Nephilim and angels were spreading their wings and leaping into the air, flying away.  Dakota wondered what she should do.  How will she get to the place where her group will be fighting?  She had no wings and she didn’t know how good an idea it was that Nephilim fly into battle with a human in their arms.  Nirvana and the others spread their enormous wings and took to the air.  She was beginning to wonder if she should just walk to the place of battle when suddenly, she was lifted gently into the air.  She looked up to see Noah carrying her in his arms, his brown and white hair flapping around his face in the wind.  He flapped his powerful copper wings and smiled.  Dakota smiled back and called up a thank you.

 

   Moments later, soaring over the enormous buildings, Dakota saw the swirling clouds of demons in the alleyways and the flashing lights hacking paths through them.  That must be where Joel is, Dakota thought. She could see the different wing colors flickering in the sunlight; blood red, silver, white, copper, even a few with gold.  Joel had black wings so, if he was down there, the black blended with the clouds of demons.  

   Noah’s wing beats slowed and they began to descend on their section of the demon horde.  Darius was already down there, she could see the flash of his silvery sword, slashing down demons.  She could see the shimmer of Mandrake’s white hair and metallic wings as he twirled and slashed and swung.  Nirvana was there too, her glimmering whip making darting circles and clearing huge areas of demons.  

   “Ready?” Noah called to her.  “When we get close enough, I’m gonna drop you and you’ll be on your own.  Remember to not get freaked out by how they look or anything.  Just think about killing them and when you kill them, they’ll be gone in a puff of fire.”  

   Dakota nodded and mentally prepared herself for the horrors she was about to see.

   

   In seconds, she felt Noah’s arms release their tight hold on her and she was falling in slow motion.  She could feel the warm spot along her side that had been pressed up against Noah go cold.  She could see the glowing red orbs of a demon focus on her and she quickly drew a dagger.  The demon looked almost like a lion.  Its fangs hung down out of its mouth, yellow and bloodstained on the points.  Its body was bony and infected in places where it must have been injured long ago.  Its spine rippled it long back almost like the plates on a Stegosaurus’ back.  It snarled as she descended on it.  She poised her dagger to deliver a deadly blow, one that would break its spine and paralyze it . . . hopefully, Dakota thought.

   Then, everything sped up and she was on the demon’s hard back, its blood soaking into her pants, her dagger piercing its back.  The demon was roaring like a ferocious lion.  The others around it whirled on her and the lion’s body began to warm up.  Just think about killing them and when you kill them, they’ll be gone in a puff of fire, Noah had said.  The instant she remembered it, Dakota hopped off the demon’s back and rolled to the ground.  The lion went up in a puff of orange fire that stunk of char and death.  The rest of the demons around her began to close in.  The one directly in front of her was huge and made her heart sink.  She really wished Noah hadn’t left her alone.  It was a spider demon a thousand times bigger than any normal tarantula with even larger eyes.  It wasn’t furry like tarantulas were.  Its legs were thin and seemed to be attached to their own personal daggers.  Its pincers were about as long as Dakota was tall and also looked like daggers.  The spider’s eyes were about as big as Darius’s werewolf paws, maybe twice as much.  The eyes were black and seemed empty yet full of bloodlust.  Dakota scrambled to shove her dagger back in its sheath and draw her short sword from her back.  Oh, how lucky those Nephilim are that they can summon weapons from Heaven and kill a demon in an instant if they strike right, Dakota thought.  She held her sword at the ready. It was a simple double-edged sword of the same silvery-glass metal as Darius’s.  The metal of Heaven, he’d called it. Almost the same as the ones that the angels and Nephilim can summon.  Theirs are slightly different.  They can burn through to your flesh in seconds if you touch the metal of someone else’s sword.  It’s painful but, a quick death for the demons if you strike right.  

 

   Dakota focused on the huge spider demon approaching her, crouched slightly to fight.  She knew it was hopeless to be a human facing a huge demon like this one.  What could she do to save herself?  The best thing would be to strike from the top if you had wings so that the pincers couldn’t get you.  But, seeing it as it was that she did not have wings, she’d have to take advantage of her size and strike from underneath.  She waited for the demon to come a little closer, its dagger-like legs clicking quietly along the pavement.  They’d probably be louder if Dakota’s heart weren’t thundering like a racehorse in her chest.  Then, she dove under the spider and rolled quickly to her back.  She sprung up and drove her sword into the thin shell protecting the spider’s stomach.  She closed her eyes and pressed her lips into a thin line, bracing for the spurt of demon blood that was bound to spray in her face in revenge for the demon’s pain. When it came she shrieked in disgust in her throat.  The blood burned her face and neck like hot water, only hotter.  More like boiling hot water fresh from the stove.  Then, she yanked the sword out and drove it in one more time to make sure it was dead.  She quickly rolled out from under it in time for a huge puff of fire to take the demon’s place and disappear.  She opened her eyes to find that there was a circle of growling demons around her of all shapes and sizes.  The demon's blood was dripping down from her face to her chest and was leaving horribly painful burned trails in its wake.  She used her shirt to wipe away some of the blood, wincing as she did so.  The second she let go of her shirt, a demon that looked like a cross between an ox and a bear leaped at her.  She swung her sword but, the demon was too fast.  It landed on her and its weight was too much.  She tumbled down and felt everything go into slow motion again.  The ox’s mouth opened wide, bearing huge fangs, dripping red blood onto her face along with its burning demon saliva.  Its fathomless eyes looked down at her hungrily.  

   This is my death, she thought.  I will die at the mercy of an enormous ox demon with huge fangs tearing into my throat and my head smashed on the pavement.  My life will have been empty and pointless.  It will be filled with hatred and sorrow.  I will not be remembered for anything but, I’ll be with Mom soon.  I will be in a better place.  That’ll have to do.

   She closed her eyes and braced herself for the agony of smashing her head on the concrete and the horrible feeling of the demon’s fangs tearing into her.  But, neither came.  She heard a battle cry and suddenly, the demon’s claws were no longer raking her sides and blood wasn’t spattering her burned face.  She was no longer falling.  Someone scooped her up into their arms and held her tightly to them.  She could hear their heart thudding quickly in their chest and their heavy breathing as if they’d been running instead of fighting.  Dakota opened her eyes to meet the kind, pure blue eyes of her rescuer.  Noah.  He smeared on the familiar playful smile that always told her that he had some plan he would never tell her about or some message that he thought she’d catch easily.  Neither of those did she ever get from him.  She was never good at reading boys’ eyes or looks or anything.  Nirvana was, Ammarah was but, Dakota wasn’t.  She never knew where they got it from and probably wouldn’t ever figure it out.  

   “Look at you all singed and splattered with demon blood.  You look amazing.” he teased.  

   “Oh hush up.” Dakota swatted him away and got to her feet.

   Noah laughed for a moment before a dark horse with horns and a mane of fire charged him from behind.  He whirled, wiping the smile off his face, and grabbing the demon’s horns tightly, skidding to a halt.  He snapped off its horns and took hold of its jaws as it tried to bite him.  It had small fangs and a forked tongue like a serpent.  Noah forced its mouth open wider and wider, the horse demon shrieking almost ear splittingly loud and trying to stomp on him and rear.  Noah wrestled its head close to him, setting his clothes on fire.  His mouth was pressed closed with effort and finally, the horse’s jaw broke.  It shrieked with agony until Noah whipped out a dagger and slit its throat.  He rubbed his ears, wincing, his almond-shaped eyes narrowing in pain as he tried to get his hearing back.  

  “Sweet angels of God, I never get used to their shrieking.  Where the Hell do they get the lungs and voice boxes for that?”  Noah said.

   “Umm. . . you’re on fire.” Dakota reminded him, gesturing to the nice brown leather jacket that was, in fact, being eaten up by fire.

   He looked down and sighed in frustration.  “I like this jacket, damned nightmare.” Noah’s shoulders sagged and he stripped the jacket, throwing it to the ground and stomping the fire out.  He picked it back up to see that half of one side was completely gone, looking like someone had scissored it off ruggedly.  Noah grumbled and threw the jacket over his shoulder, momentarily blinding a wolf-like demon that had been sneaking up on him.  The wolf growled and shook the jacket off, alerting Noah to his presence.  Noah whirled on the demon only to be pounced on.  Noah wrestled with the demon as Dakota was attacked from the side by another lion demon.  She was thrown back into a nearby wall by the demon’s force and stunned by the impact.  The demon’s jaws snapped at her face but, Dakota had it by its throat.  The demon’s skin was leathery and completely bare of fur as if someone had seared it off.  Though, the crusted blood made up for a portion of it.  Dakota squeezed the demon’s throat as hard as she could.  The muscles of its neck flexed continuously as it continued its attempt at biting her face.  She squeezed harder, digging her short, blood-crusted nails into its filthy skin.  She knew it was an empty hope to try and cut off its air and kill it while it was on her.  It had the element of surprise and about ten times the strength she had.  She had to try though; she knew that if she didn’t the demon would tear her apart right then and there.  She summoned all her strength and squeezed harder every time the lion’s mouth closed and its muscles were relaxed.  She thought of the way some snakes killed their prey slowly and easily.  They wrapped their sinuous bodies around their prey and every time the animal tries to suck in oxygen, the snake gripped it tighter and tighter until the animal died of suffocation.  That’s what Dakota did now.  Eventually, the lion started to gasp for air and Dakota yanked out a knife and drove it deep into the side of the lion’s neck.  She forced it in as far as she could, cracking bone with all her force.  The demon’s blood ran down her hands making more tracks of seared skin.  She yanked out her knife as she felt the demon’s skin warming and let the body fall.  The demon went up in flames seconds before it hit the ground.  She gagged as she took a breath of fresh air.  She realized then that the demon’s breath had been suffocating her with its stench of garbage and blood and death.  She rested her hands on her knees and inhaled more of the city air which was beginning to stink of blood and death.  But, it was still slightly better than the demon breathing hot air in her face.  

   “You did good with that one.  I mean, any Nephilim would have wrestled that thing off them and snapped its neck but, you handled it well for a human with only a few months of training. I’m surprised that Darius and Joel haven’t taught you how to handle a demon without weapons.” Noah said beside her.  

   She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. “We can’t all be like you, Noah.”  

   He smiled.  “I’m not saying you should be.”

   He jumped on an incoming scorpion demon and sliced off the poisonous tip of its tail before driving his sword into the thing’s back.  His glittering sword was slicked with black blood.  Dakota’s knife, on the other hand, was steaming and sizzling from the demon’s blood.  Its blade was eaten down to a sliver of metal.  She’d brought her practice knives.  They were made of simple human metal.  Normal metals were dissolved by demon blood which is why the use Heavenly metals for their weapons.  She growled in frustration and tossed away the melted blade.  

   Noah looked at her, his eyebrows knit.  “What was that?”

   “Brought my practice knives, not my good ones.  It was melted.” she replied.

   Noah laughed.  “Smart.  Wish I could help you but. . .” he shrugged.  “My weapons are summoned not drawn.”

   Dakota rolled her eyes and whipped out her sword to stab a horse demon in the shoulder as it came at her from the side.  Gritting her teeth she grumbled, “Very funny.”  The demon shrieked as she yanked her blade out and it jumped up too fast for Dakota to follow, biting into her shoulder.  As it tumbled back down, still gripping her shoulder in its jaws, Dakota was yanked down with it, screaming as the searing pain of it racked her body.  Immediately, Noah dispatched the demon he’d been fighting with a harsh slice across its chest.  Then, he ran to her side, slicing off the horse demon’s head and quickly and carefully pulling its teeth from her shoulder.  She fought back winces as he pulled it free.  

   Noah was breathing hard and she could see the panic in his eyes as he looked at the wound.  Dakota tried to turn her head to look but, his hand darted up to her cheek to stop her.

   “Don’t look at it.  Stay still.” he mumbled.

   He pulled back sections of her shirt that - by the feel of it - was torn badly by the demon’s fangs and soaked with blood.  His fingers brushed gently over the wound and came away dripping red.  His eyes were full of concern and fear.  

   “That’s not good.” he mumbled.  

   He turned and called for Mandrake over his shoulder.

   The Nephilim came flying over the thinning mass of demons, gold wings retracting as he lowered himself to the ground.  

   Noah mumbled something in the other boy’s ear.  

   Mandrake’s silver eyes flicked over Dakota’s wound thoughtfully.  “Go.” he said, his voice low. “I’ll take care of her.”

   Noah glanced between them for a second.  His eyes lingered on Dakota for a moment before he stood and began to fend off the demons that were closing in on them.  

   Mandrake knelt down beside Dakota and examined the wound more closely, his nearly shoulder-length hair falling in his face like a curtain.

   “Why can’t I look at it?” Dakota asked, turning her head slightly.

   “Because, some people believe that when you don’t look at an injury, it hurts less.  Also, it’s very close to your neck and only God knows if moving your neck would make it hurt more.” Mandrake replied.  

   Dakota remained quiet for a while.  She’d never talked to Mandrake much and knew he wasn’t a big talker as it was.  So, she just listened to the sounds of battle around her.  She caught the sounds of growls and hisses, shrieks of demons, the brief roars of fire as demons of all shapes and sizes went up in flames to return to Hell.  

   “What can you do for it?” she asked.

  

  Mandrake had a crease between his eyebrows as he continued to concentrate on what he could do for her.  “I don’t know.  I can’t use my fire to cauterize it because you’re human and it might just kill you.  I don’t have much in the way of medical supplies except gauze and tape.  This is a demon bite so, that won’t do more than stop the bleeding.  Soon, you’ll receive the poisoning so. . .” he groaned in frustration.  “I guess that’s the best I can do for you.”  

   Mandrake pulled out a small roll of gauze and tape. He quickly worked to make padding with the gauze to soak up the blood and then pressed it onto the wound along with some tape.  With a grim look, he stuffed the supplies back in his jacket pocket and helped Dakota up.  

   When she was on her feet, he nodded a silent salute and flew back into battle where he was needed more.  The demons that had been surrounding them were mostly gone. Slain by Noah, Dakota thought.  She looked to see that he was behind her, dispatching another demon that looked kind of like a goblin with its small size, pointed ears and horrific features.  Noah drove his sword deep into the goblin’s chest and the thing only yelped before bursting into flames.  

 

   He turned around just in time for Dakota to gasp as a shock of pain shot up her back.  Something was raking deeply into her lower back like multiple knives piercing her thin skin into her bones.  The pain was too intense for her, unlike anything she’d ever felt.  Images of what monster could be digging its claws into her flesh flashed before her mind’s eye.   Another of those lion demons with fierce hunger clouding its fiery eyes, a spider demon with fathomless black eyes burning with the desire to tear her apart?  Everything slowed down then.  She would die as she had feared what seemed like only five minutes ago.  The demon would take her down and tear her apart with the fangs that all demons no matter the size or the animal it resembled seemed to have and there would be nothing but a bloody mess of her left.  No one would be able to recognize her when the Nephilim went back through their battlefields in search of the bodies of their fallen warriors.  She would just be food for the demons.  

 

   The last thing she saw as the demon’s claws hooked around her bones and began to pull her down was Noah.   His blue eyes that suddenly struck her as beautiful with their cold coloring were wide, his shirt was clinging to him with sweat, outlining his muscles, and his brown and white hair was pasted to his forehead.  He rushed toward her and that was when her eyes closed.  The pain darkening the edges of her vision.  She heard him screaming her name.  His voice was so full of pain.  But, she knew it wasn’t the type of pain she was in at that moment.  She knew Noah hardly ever went to fight and came back with anything beyond some scrapes and bruises. But, he screamed with the pain of the loss of someone you cared about.  The loss of a friend. At least I died fighting, Dakota thought.   An honorable death.  Then, she was gone, lost in the pain.

Reviews

[Inject Positivity]

Your story becoming more intense with every new chapter and it shows how skilled you are as a writer... The way you have described the scene where Dakota practices targeting her aims with Darius was so very gripping... You painted a complete image how Dakota dressed, and also describing different symbols of the nephilims and others... The journey seemed quite interesting to the fighting place... At first I thought Dakota would miraculously gain wings to fly or something magical was going to happen but whoa!!! Noah came like a superhero to take her... And then comes Dakota's fight with the demons, and what made the scene more amazing was the details about how the demons looked... I was very worried about whether Dakota would be able to fight with them or not but thanks to Noah again for his advice and words that lifted her spirit... Again Noah comes as her savior...

I think this is my new favorite chapter of this book and I'm loving it... So well done Tessa...

Sincerely
Dhiman

[Tessa Melendez]

I like Number 6 actually. That's one of my favorites. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much. It's not finished, but you still have plenty to read. I'm working on number 12 every chance I get...so slow down a little if you don't want to get put on hold. Thank you for taking the time to read it, though. It's much appreciated.

[Inject Positivity]

Lol, its hard to stop you know, I read this chapter half in the morning and half now, trying to read it everyday... First fictional story like this I'm reading so you can guess how excited I am... You don't have to thank mate, I will read it till the end, I'm not going anywhere...

[Tessa Melendez]

Could you check out my newest poem "The Storm" for me. I feel like it's really crappy and needs saving. I threw it together this morning.

[Inject Positivity]

Absolutely!!! Going to your poem...

[Tessa Melendez]

Thank you.