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Day 2 :- College was not normally the next step for the nephelim. But you try saying no to Ras Al Gaul. Raven decided to join him
College/High School/ Jealousy
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." — Nelson Mandela.
College was not normally the next step for the nephelim. But you try saying no to Ras Al Gaul. Raven decided to join him.
Shadow hunters had to deal with the mundane. Ras Al Ghul head of the Nand Prabhat Institute, former Counsel decreed involvement in mundane relations. This is how the Titans were born.
England was a boiling pot of all nationalities. The sun very soon won’t set on the British Empire. Whether deamons or Downwolder’s instigated the WW’s or only took advantage of the carrion and chaos, our historians were not certain as no direct connection has ever been proved. Everyone agreed that nephelim and mundane contact with only the Government heads and the Monarchy was not sufficient. Sighted mundanes often served nephelim families for generations. Many trained but never joined an Institute but worked as middlemen and vendors. Families all over the world were reporting disappearances of mumdanes gifted with Sight.
Ras Al Ghul or as Damian thought of him, Grandfather, retired form the Clave once Damian was born. His focus shifted to his Institute and family. The smaller picture that the larger one of the Clave.
Damian had never backed down from a fight, no matter the danger. This unknown threat was no different. Shadow hunters are warriors, following a divine mandate to protect our world and humanity from Demons and out world influence.
As far back as the Stone Age, monsters and Demons preyed on humans, wanting in on Earth’s magic and the light from our Sun. The Divine appeared and those who answered the call became forever changed. Those were the first Shadow Hunters. Depicted as warriors and protectors in cave paintings all over the world. Some even believe as early as before the continental drift.
That’s why I loved college. Archaeologist is what I wanted to be, the records keeper, ever searching. Even women’s college that was a little limiting profession wise, we shared Cambridge’s library. That’s where Damian and I spent most of our time.
Shadowhunters from other Institutes had joined our investigation and joined colleges all around the world. Here we met Conner Kent of the London Institute, a lord’s son from the English countryside. Donna and Cassie, Amazons from the Thymascarian Institute. There were some others scattered about England, but we just clicked with these three.
I was on my way to the Library just after class to meet up with Damian when i heard a commotion near the sport complex by the eastern gate. I opened my satchel, traced a stealth rune at the back or my palm, called on my magic to glamour me and dashed towards the inhuman noise, drawing weapons as I moved.
Shadow Hunters run towards the type of danger mundane run screaming away from. Those mundane that don’t run away are offered a place in Shadow Hunter ranks.
The Nephelim, however, are not suicidal. They are trained, well and hard in multiple disciplines so that they may survive. Shadow hunters are a community and a family with parents and aunts and uncles and siblings, with husbands and wives, children to come home to.
There is a whole branch of shadow hunters dedicated to Weapons so that when faced with a particular type of monster its weakness can be exploited with silver, iron or angelic blades.
The other Branch of the Nephelim that are healers, who help in birth and heal injuries; mental and physical, and finally death rituals. Priests and doctors rolled into one.
As I all but flew, I prayed to any gods that might be listening. Please don’t let me be too late, please don’t let me be too late . . . My beloved, which I am seriously rethinking, was fighting three lesser Demons in a cramped alley between the indoor sports building and an abandoned building.
The cramped quarters gave him some advantage, and loss of manoeuvrability for the weaker but tall lesser deamons, all by his lonesome. The worst part was, Damian was grinning.
When I reached the mouth of the alley, I saw My beloved, who wore a deranged smile as he expertly wounded, exploited every weakness and unloaded his fury on the miserable creatures. He had no equal in close quarters combat. He could lead an army or stand alone against overwhelming odds.
At least we won’t be needing the Silent Brothers. Or back up.
Damian exited the alley, two deamons dissipated, back to their hell dimensions. The last one shrudured. It was trying to crawl, I unsheathed a spear tipped with seraph and threw it, avoiding Damian, it sailed through the air and drove into the deamons heart. It fell mid-crawl, putrid life blood staining the cobblestone. While Damian Al Ghual continued his unhurried walk towards me.
He was tall and corded with hard, lean muscle. You could tell just by looking at him that he was both strong and fast, but there was more to it. Damian looked ready, even when relaxed. He projected a kind of calm but alert assurance, with a deep, instinctual understanding that if a threat appeared, he would respond instantly and with devastating power.
The Rugby Team got one look at him and claimed him as their own. At nineteen, Damian still had a bit of filling out to do, but to my eyes, he was perfection. No one is without flaws, but in my biased eyes Damian had no equal.
Satisfied of Damian’s safety, hardly a mark on him, I looked around to see if any mundane had caught on. No, no screams of fear at the deamons or our weapons. No apparent huffs of outrage at my gear. I wore the gear of my Institute. In Azarath, an island in the India Ocean we were influenced by the Dynasty’s of Chola and Pandya which were predominant in the peninsula southeast to the Island Archipelago.
Raven was proficient in swords, bows, javelins, spears and shields which were made up of steel, iron, silver or seraph depending on the creature they were fighting.
Damian’s attention shifted from me to somewhere behind me, just when I sensed two shadow hunters, moving quickly at my back.
Back up had arrived, with no one left to fight. “Be quicker in the future” Damian said, at Conner’s put out look. A third presence joined them as the last lesser deamon went motionless.
Donna indicated for Cassie to examine the scene and report with scenarios. Cassie hurried to comply and swiped my seraph tipped spear before the deamon dissipated.
“The ease of slaughter would have felt cruel if they hadn’t come to kill us.”
We collectively ran to the end of the alley. Hooves and claws scratched the stones as a creature made its escape, causing panic as it reached the market. The gate lay far from the center of the village Market, the gate was ajar and skewed, like someone larger than human tried to squeeze through.
We followed the sound of panic and claws marks, walking and then jogging for over twenty minutes, and we had left brightly decorated streets of the market behind awhile ago. Here the air was ominous, the canvas roofs of the stalls faded and tattered, and trash littered the cobblestones. This wasn’t the fun-shopping part of market. You didn’t come to this place unless you wanted something specific you could only get here, and the grim-faced vendors gave us dark looks as we passed.
A strange creature with the shaggy body of a mearcat, a massive beak, and furry tentacles instead of limbs, screeched as we passed, half hidden by a canvas stall. It was hanging upside down off the top frame, anchored to it by its hind tentacles, I had no idea what species it was, which almost never happened. Mostly film where religious in their ability to identify creatures.
A large stone arch loomed ahead, its brown stone worn and scarred. Remnants of red banners hung from it, bleached by the sun to a dirty pink and torn to shreds by the desert wind. Tall buildings with barred windows crowded the arch on both sides, creating a long gloomy tunnel.
We strode through it. A draft fanned us, bringing a thick, potent scent, an off-putting musk. Some kind of animal had marked its territory here.
I fought the urge to unending my canteen bottle. Next to me, Damian, Donna and Conner grimaced and but kept going.
The tunnel ended and we emerged into a round plaza formed by a single type of polished granite.
Strange creatures, different than earth animals and elaborate glyphs, unknown to the Nephelim were carved into its stone façade, once sharp, but now smoothed and blurred by time.
The plaza itself was perfectly round, formed with remarkable precision and paved with slabs of stone that radiated from its center. In the middle of it two stone towers rose. The base of each were vines and creepers that flowed into a three-dimensional arch the top. The two pillars each other, crowned with green and flaming flora burning in twilight.
“This is a portal to Faire,” I whispered.
Conner glanced at me, shocked. We all had been studying and staying here for almost two years.
Damian and Donna didn’t waist time and went about to investigate.
Opposite us, something stirred in the gloom of the pillar arch. Larger that human.
A massive leg moved in shadows, as big as a Zanskari horse and as furry, bay and chestnut colour. Cloven hoof shot out and struck the stone, raising sparks like flint stones. When Conner moved closer to get a better look. Donna pulled him back.
Oh goodness!
This was a mishmash of unrelated species. This unnaturally evolved being, huge predatory cat teeth on a equine body. If anything was guaranteed to evoke instant revulsion among the nephelim, the creature in front of us would be it.
“Is that a guardian?” I asked.
“Apparently.”
Just our luck.
“Seraph weapons won’t work in Faerie,” Damian reminded them. Sheathing his blade and readjusting his knives, staff and crossbow for those with higher iron content.
Runes and sigels also become unreliable, nephelim are already susceptible to fey glamour on earth, but in Farie its even worse.
Conner, Donna were near mirroring Damian. Iron was best against the fey, but other metals besides silver will also work.
“What about Cassie”, Raven asked as she sized up the guardian of the portal. It was not the same creature they chased across Cambridge, from the college through the market to this destitute part of town. It was a puzzle then.
Portals to fairy are usually in nature dense areas and relied on the remoteness and blandness of the area as protection. An odd human stumbling through was not unwelcome by the fey. And this was the first guardian to a fey portal Raven had ever encountered.
It looked like a gigantic horse, but fluffy like those found in the mountains. Raven spied a conical horn near its head, dirty a crusted. When it moved light glinted off it’s yellow serrated teeth, with pieces of meat stuck in between. A Unicorn, a carnivore judging by its teeth.
“We can’t leave with out word” said Donna. She was ready with her weapons, ever a warrior buy worried about leaving Cassie alone in the city. Cambridge didn’t have an Institute just yet.
Jamie and looked up and their eyes met. Raven was the last to keep iron weapons in the forefront. She had a Kuttu katai her favourite knuckleduster through both her fingers, a Katti knife in the hip sheath and a wavy blade Kattari being held by her teeth while she touched various pouches and pockets to make room. A kattari was push-dagger capable of piercing armour, but the H-shaped handle made it difficult to relocate.
I saw fear for her in Damian’s intense gaze. Quickly Raven took hold of the knife lest it drop when her jaw unhinged to drool. Seeing Damian’s care for me evident in his eyes did something to my heart.
“Then it’s decided. We make a report.” Conner filled in the silence when no one said anything else.
“We report the oddity of three Demons so close to campus during daylight hours, a creature, possibly fey that was spying on them or a Us that may have scurried into fairy, threw a Portal located in the middle of some bizarre ancient structure and which strangely enough has a carnivorous unicorn for a guardian.”
Damian frowned, but nodded.
Donna sighed, the first to lead the way back to Campus. Raven covered their retreat. The Unicorn, did not press.
************
A week later, once their Report with sketch’s reached the Clave in London, Jason Todd of the Gotham Institute joined us. Tell, sharp blue eyes fit, about Donna’s age, with a thick continental assent and a charming demeanour. Followed by other Nephelim enrolled in human life and living within a few days traveling distance.
More and more mundane were going missing. And lesser deamons thwarted in kidnapping a college student, kidnapping not eating, and working with fey, was the most promising lead.
Over drinks once night, sitting around the dinner at Conner’s dining table the last of our party and ordered by the Council joined us.
After getting proper flushed, Duke Garfield Logan slammed his mug on the table and declared “I’m here to assist in any way that I can. Your goals are my goals. Your enemies are my enemies. Tell me how I can help, and I will do my best.”
Damian just sighed. Not everyone could hold their liquor. And they should be glad for declaration for support and not a challenge. With the Nephelim, hard to get them drunk, but once they were sloshed, you never know.