Like I said, it wasn’t too tough finding Tasha now that she was in full swing. She had a couple of hours to stir things up, so now we had the sound of gunshot fire to follow as well. When we found them, they had run into armed resistance, and were huddled behind some trees across from where the shooting was coming from. Upon seeing them, I ducked and dodged my way over to their position.

The Chiefs who at the sound of gunshots transformed into their warrior selves, strode over, seemingly unconcerned by the gunfire. Their bodies reacted like a chameleon’s to the colors of the forest, and their wings formed into a shield to protect them. Tasha and the warriors were fairly deep and protected by the forest, but the odd bullet chunked into a tree.

Once I got closer, I could see they were talking in sign language. It was the only language our international crew of warriors had in common, and probably most effective in close combat. Being one of the warriors, I automatically knew the language, even though I personally never learned it.

Tasha was pointing to the treetops, and telling a few of the warriors to scale the trees, cross over to the enemy side, drop down and kill them. The warriors nodded and made their way up the trees.

Neither Tasha or the warriors had transformed. They were just walking around killing Nephilim. All of them, including Tasha, were covered in blood and muck from head to toe.

‘Now listen here, Tasha,’ Chief Jim said. ‘You told us you’d wait until we got back from the cave’.

‘No I didn’t’.

‘Well, we told you then,’ Chief Jim said, making his point.

‘We just came to see what was going on,’ Tasha said defensively. ‘But then we noticed all the Nephilim. They wear the permanent mark of the beast. No,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Not going to happen’.

The shooting abruptly stopped and the warriors who climbed up the trees walked into the clearing that separated the park from native land and stood guard, waiting for Tasha. They were fully exposed and not giving a fuck.

‘Did you try for a peaceful solution before all this fighting started?’ Chief Jim asked.

‘I did try to talk with them,’ Tasha said earnestly, ‘But the problem is the guy I talked with kept talking, and the next thing I knew, he was standing there with a hatchet between his eyes.

‘That’s how the fighting got started. We were trying to be diplomatic’.

‘Did you find anything out’? Chief Jim asked wryly.

‘Yes. We found everything out. The Nephilim are planning to slaughter the festival goers on opening night, which is tomorrow. They’re shipping in fighters right up until the attack’.

‘I wonder how the Dark Angel coordinated this,’ Chief Dan asked reflectively.

‘He didn’t. The Nephilim did it on their own,’ Tasha replied. ‘They’re organized and consider people who come to these festivals to be the exact opposite of themselves and their enemy. They see the festival as an opportunity to wipe out a population that is responsible for the values they perceive are destroying their world. They’ve been planning the assault since Ethan announced the festival.

‘So they’re organized and acting independently of the Dark Angel?’ Chief Dan asked.

‘Looks that way’.

‘Well, that tells us everything we need to know’, Chief Dan replied.

Chief Jim nodded his agreement.

‘The sons and daughters of Satan’s fallen angels have risen to status in the world order,’ Chief Dan continued. ‘They’ve grown and spread their virus until it’s become acceptable. They’ve made their brutish beliefs known and found acceptance among the Crowd. Today, the world is truly divided, and the Dragon knows there will never be a better time to swoop in and take it’.

‘Yes, I think we’re in for it this time,’ Chief Jim agreed. ‘All these Nephilim and their followers are going to complicate things’.

‘They’re planning a slaughter,’ Tasha added. ‘They have satellite communications and weapons. The festival goers have no idea what’s going on, and don’t have any defense’.

‘Well, we’ll have to try to help them out,’ Chief Jim replied. ‘It’s not going to be easy with the Dark Angel and the Dragon to contend with as well’.

‘Not to mention the rest of the fallen angels,’ Chief Dan added.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘Yes,’ Chief Jim replied.

‘What do you want to do?’ Tasha asked.

‘We have to clear out as many of the Nephilim as we can, but I think Dan and I should get back to the cave,’ Chief Jim said. ‘We haven’t heard from Raven, so I’m assuming the Dragon and the Dark Angel are holding back for now, but it would be better if we’re there when they make their move.

‘Tasha, I think you have to stay here and continue the fight. Find the leaders and take them out first. We’ll take Ethan with us and you can let us know what’s going on through him’.

‘No worries,’ Tasha replied. ‘I’ll thin them out’.

‘If the park’s full, there'll be tens of thousands of them,’ Chief Dan said. ‘You won’t be able to get to them all, especially spread out like they are. Try to take out enough of them so they know they’re in a bigger fight than they thought’.

‘They’ll know we’re here,’ Tasha replied. ‘That much I can promise you’.

The Chiefs decided to fly over the whole area, before heading back to the cave. First we flew over the provincial park, then the campsites on native lands. After that, we flew over the ocean on the west side of the peninsula where the Nephilim were bringing in fighters and supplies.

Things didn’t look good. Not from any angle. The miles and miles of connected campsites on the park side were full, as were the ones on the festival side. There was not only a steady flow of ships bringing in more people, but the Nephilim had a number of boats on the water to block festival goers from docking on the west side. They were being forced to dock on the east side of the peninsula. This allowed the Nephilim to bring in a steady supply of fighters, supplies and weapons on the west side. The Nephilim were very well coordinated and proceeding like a small army. There was a considerable amount of money backing them up.

We decided we couldn’t leave things the way they were. Tasha and the warriors wouldn’t possibly be able to do enough damage to slow down the assault on innocent people. We decided we’d try to clear out the perimeter of the park. That’s where the Nephilim were setting up their equipment.

The entire perimeter was built up to some degree. They had brought sandbags and built up little bunkers where they could lay behind and shoot from. We found a number of rifles. A few were AK-47’s, but not many seeing as this was Canada, and laws prohibit such rifles.

We worked through the night, and into the next day. Our progress was slow as we destroyed all of the weapons and assault equipment we found. The area was so large, we never ran into Tasha and the other warriors, although once we came upon their work. We found upwards of fifty Nephilim lying dead at a fortified campsite. Most of them were lying dead, but peacefully with their weapons by their sides, but Tasha left a few hanging from trees. She wanted any passing Nephilim to know, they were the ones being hunted.

We collected all the weapons lying around and destroyed them. Our main goal was to remove the weapons from the scene. That would give the festival goers some chance if we were drawn away to fight at the cave, which was likely. The Chiefs and I did our share of killing. Nephilim are soulless creatures. They see this in themselves, and it produces hatred towards others. They’re violent, and redemption is impossible. We felt no remorse. Technically, Nephilim are human. There are lots of people born without a soul. You probably know some.

By early evening on the night of the festival, we had removed much of the threat from the Nephilim. We had reduced their number, but more importantly, we had destroyed most of the weapons. The main threat now was they were still coming and bringing new supplies with them. While Tasha continued to take the fight deeper into the provincial park and away from the festival site, we turned our attention towards the Western port where Nephilim and their minions continued to arrive with more weapons. That’s where we were when the festival and music began.

The Dragon

The Dragon knew patience. Hadn’t he been cast in the shadows of the Borderland for centuries? Waiting. Letting his anger grow. He had no intention of losing again. Back before anyone can remember, he had laid down the foundation, by sending his angels to mate with human women. He waited centuries, but he knew this was the only way to build an army that could defeat those who dwell in heaven.

The earth, as far as he was concerned, was his. The fallen angels had spread their seed faithfully before they were chased into the Borderland as was he and the Dark Angel. He was still able to follow his progress. With time, more and more Mark-Steppers appeared in the Borderland. All of them passing through life on earth before arriving.

First came the Nephilim, and then their offspring. Centuries and centuries of offspring. They grew to hold sway. Then came the followers. The minions. Those not born of Satan’s blood, but were weak of mind and followed just the same. He knew their number to be great, for more and more of them appeared in the Borderland as well. He knew there were enough to shift the axis of the world, and once the shift occurred, there would be nothing God could do to change it.

The Devil’s desire had been met. Constant greed and flaunting of the spoils had come to be seen as a good thing. Self-gratification was the only thing that mattered. Humans had become animals once more. Animals that could only see the next trinket before them, and not capable of seeing the world burning around them. Soon, they would not be able to escape the fires.

The Dark Angel and the Grendel

The Dark Angel watched the Grendel. It amused him to see how much the music assaulted the fragile mind of the beast. At the first sound of it, the Grendel covered his ears and let out a shriek. Then it began pacing, and not knowing what to do, found a corner, covered its ears and began to whimper.

‘Hiding won’t stop it,’ the Dark Angel said. ‘It will continue’.

The Grendel wailed.

‘Every moment will be worse than the last. It will get louder and never stop. How will you ever find your peace?

This angered the Grendel and roaring, he jumped up and smashed his fist against the wall.

‘They taunt you with their merry making. You who have never fit in anywhere’.

The Grendel squealed, wounded by the Dark Angel’s words. Covering his ears as well as he could, he ran out of the cave and down the mountain towards the source of the music.