Growing up, we’re taught that life is precious. We’re taught to either believe in God, or not. We’re taught that monsters don’t exist, but that Humans can be as cruel as the monsters of our nightmares. We learn how to think, how to feel, that life is a precious gift and we only have one. But of all the things I learned growing up, nothing ever prepared me for what’s happening right now.

***

* The Little Girl -

As I opened my mouth and let out a sound part screech and part roar, I couldn’t help but feel utter glee at the sight of these weak drones running about in fear. But I didn’t have time to enjoy their fear. My goal was so close, and he was the only one either too stupid or too brave to run. He looked so simple, so plain in those human clothes. ‘We will have to fix that once he’s ours.’ I thought.

Quickly, I leapt into the air and crossed the distance between us, landing on a drone that chose the unfortunate path of running past my target. The pathetic creature was crushed underneath me, exploding in blood, guts and sinew. As some of it sprayed on my target, he seemed to forget I was there for a moment, trying to fumble with his clothes and wipe away the mess.

“You’re lucky we have need of you child” I said to him. My voice was still that of a sickly sweet little girls voice. I gagged, nearly puking on him. It disgusted me to be stuck with that voice for eternity. “You need to come with me, or end up like this one.” I said, as I stomped up and down on the drone I had landed on, the boy looked at me with curiosity, disgust, and...and a hint of hatred. I lost all interest in the squishy feeling under my feet as I stared intensely at my target, looking for more of that twinkle of hatred in his eyes.

Hrm, ‘He’s trying to pull away from me.’ I thought. I reached out and grabbed his arm.

***

* Samuel -

Who is this? What is this? “Ahhh!” Came out of my mouth when the little girl grabbed my arm harder than she should have been capable. The pain subsided marginally and I opened my eyes to see the little girl staring blankly at my arm where she grabbed me. I looked down at the smell of something burning, something like...ozone. It burned my nose the way smoke from a campfire does.

As the girl made a sound like something out of a bad horror movie, she let go. I don’t know how my legs started moving, but in what felt like a blink I was up the steps from the terrace and across the street. I didn’t look back at first, not until I heard a liquid thunk. I stopped to turn back and see the cause of the sound. I only got a quick glimpse of the little girl, or what I assumed was her, with a medieval-looking mace buried in her face before a bag came down over my body. I felt something hard hit the back of my neck, and then everything went black.

***

* Raziel -

“They sent only one?” my brethren asked, perplexed with such a rare tactic by our enemy.

“Yes” I replied “One, in the form of a young child. It behaved fittingly, somewhat ignorant of what it was up against, but to turn one so young. They are getting bold, brother.”

“And you took precautions to ensure you were not followed?” He further inquired. “Yes. We covered our tracks. They’ve yet to be able to track us here.” I answered with a confidence that did not betray the nagging fear in my chest.

As we walked, I reassured myself that we were the successful party earlier. We acquired the prize, and prevented him from falling into our ancient foes’ hands, but that may not have been the case had our opponent been more experienced. I still can’t understand why they sent a freshly turned soul though. Hopefully it was simply an oversight on their part.

“Brother Raziel” My walking companion called out to me, “focus, we must report to the Synod.”

I looked ahead, realising we had reached the entrance to our holy council’s chambers. “Of course Brother Darda’il. I was distracted by my thoughts.”

As I pushed open the double wooden doors to the Synod chamber, I took note of how light they felt. They always feel lighter after battle, something I’ve never understood yet reluctantly accepted for what it is. A sign that my age may be finding more solace in politics than battle.

This surely would have pulled me into another reverie of thoughts if not for the surprise waiting on the other side. The seven members of the Synod were waiting on the other side as usual, but they were not seated at their table, as was custom. They were standing in front of the table, in a half circle. The opening of which was facing towards the door, where Darda’il and I came from. I paused for a brief moment, unsure of what to make of this. It wasn’t until Remi’el, true to his name, had the mercy to wave me towards them.

They did not wait for me to get comfortable within the makeshift circle, immediately engaging our group recitation of the declaration of our order. “I command of God, as his friend, with his mercy and strength, those like him. With God as the light I do protect.” As soon as we finished reciting, Gavri’el spoke up “Raziel, we apologise for the unique circumstances of this meeting, but we have not the time to stand on formalities. We are aware your undertaking succeeded.”

“That is correct Luminari Gavri’el. We took the recommended precautions as instructed.” I said, “We are unsure if contact with him will incite harm to us, however one of my harbingers said the defaced soul that touched him seemed to burn on contact with his skin.”

The members of the Synod all seemed to nod in approval, as if this was not news to them.

“And where is he now, Raziel?” asked Saraqae’el.

“In a protective cell, on the lower levels” I replied. “He was still unconscious when I left him. I intend to check on him once the meeting is…”

I didn’t get to finish my sentence, as a Luminari’el burst through the doors to the chamber. “Many pardons Luminari.” The guard kneeled and bowed his head before continuing, “We are under attack. Our location is no longer secret.”

“This can’t be!” yelled Mikhae’el “They have found us?” His gazed turned to me, as if to accuse me of being responsible.

I disregarded the look, but Mikhae’el was right to be surprised. Our base had remained a secret for several decades. I’m sure we weren’t followed, so how did they find us? “Luminari, please remain with your Luminari’els, they will get you to safety.” I would have to dwell on the how and why later. Right now, my priority was clear.

As I ran out I heard one of the Synod yelling to protect the child at all costs. A bit obvious. Something I have always found frustrating about our ruling body. No matter. It is time for battle, and I cannot let my thoughts be distracted.

***

* Samuel -

When I first came to, I wondered if I was hit so hard it blinded me, everything was so dark. I sat up and blinked my eyes a few times, then concentrated hard and squinted in one direction. My eyes started to adjust to the darkness, and vague objects seemed to take shape through the darkness. Relieved that I still had my vision, I stood and started to feel for a door or window, working my way along the wall at the head of the furniture I had been laying on.

At the end of the wall, I hit something that rattled, reminding me of a barn door. Old wood and metal clanking as the wind would push on it. I started to feel around it, hoping this was the door out of this dark room. No windows. No handle. 'Where am I?' I thought to myself, slowly making my way back to what I’m guessing was a bed.

No sooner did I sit down, when a hole started to open in the door where a window would normally be. The initial burst of light was blinding, making me grateful I was not still at the door. “Hello?” I called out.

A man replied back “Are you unharmed Samael?” I stared for a moment, perplexed by the question. He asked again “Samael? Are you unharmed?”

Finally I replied “Who the hell is Samael?”

A female voice from outside the door laughed before saying “He has not been told his true name yet. Are you sure it was not you that was hit on the head?”

“My apologies” the man said, “I am Raziel. My companion is Lailah. Explanations can wait, we have no time to talk.” As Raziel spoke, the hole in the door began to expand large enough for a person.

I quickly jumped to my feet and barrelled for the door, meaning to get past my captors and get out of this place. As I passed through the archway, the man who identified himself as Raziel yelled “Get back!” At first I thought he was talking to the woman. But all belief that these two might have feared me and my mighty attempt at a bull rush disappeared quickly as I looked down the hallway to my left and saw something part-human, part-creature-from-hell.

One look at the thing down the hall, and I knew I didn’t want to screw with it. The legs could be any normal person from the knees down. The right arm looked human until just above the elbow. Everything else looked at home in just about any horror movie. There were no smooth surfaces on this creature. It’s skin pointed and jutted in all different directions, ending in sharp spikes, and was a weird mix of a dark obsidian, and a dark beige like human skin. The left arm ended in a sharp, curved blade, that seemed to reflect the light unnaturally. It’s eyes were black and red, ringed like a target, but the most disturbing thing was the teeth. It looked at me and smiled a big grin filled with sharp teeth that were so white I thought they might blind me again.

Before I had a chance to dodge behind the woman, the creature began barrelling down the hallway. The man was already between me and the creature, and he didn’t wait for it to reach us. He yelled “Get behind us” as he pulled a mace off of his back and thrust it straight at the creature like the point of a sword, while breaking into a charge of his own.

There was a shattering sound followed by a loud thump as the shards protruding from the creature’s head hit the mace first and shattered, followed by its head. The sudden force had the effect of a clothesline one of those wrestlers might use, except the creature landed on its back and slid towards the woman and I. No sooner was it in front of us when the woman planted one of her weapons in the floor. The creatures groin hit it first, and bifurcated it clean. I was still gawking at the two halves of the creature when the woman, Lailah I think, started dragging me towards the doorway the creature had come from. The man lead the way through the door, mace in hand.

We started up a series of stairs, taking them two at a time.. We had gone up three levels when I couldn’t take the silence anymore “Where the hell are we, and where are you taking me?” My question met with an abrupt “Shhhh” from Lailah, which was interrupted just as abruptly. The door she was standing beside disappeared in a hail of shredded metal. Another creature came crashing through the mess it had made, going straight for Lailah.

This one had the same basic features, but both arms ended in razor sharp blades not quite as long as the other creature’s. Lailah parried and dodged the flurry of attacks coming at her. The speed of the two was almost too quick to follow. Raziel stood there, looking ready to pounce, but not acting as his companion and her attacker shredded the walls and railings in the tight confines of the stairwell. I instinctively backed up a couple steps down the stairs to avoid getting caught in the fight.

Suddenly the creature stopped attacking. It looked up, as if listening to something happening above us. Lailah didn’t wait for him to hear the whole message, as she thrust her sword through the creature’s throat and spun it sideways, severing it’s head from the body. She turned to me and stared daggers, which was all the incentive I needed to stay quiet.

We traversed another six floors when Raziel finally stopped, moving to the door on that level and gesturing to Lailah with a series of hand signals. He opened the door slowly to peer through before continuing into the next room and waving us along to follow. We stepped out into a massive room. The room looked more like an oversized balcony of some sort, with walkways that traversed the outsides of the room. Offset from the middle were two large openings in the floor, divided by a single catwalk. I thought I glimpsed another catwalk on the floor below us, but there wasn’t enough time to consider what I saw.

Parts of the balcony looked like they had been torn away, but the damage didn’t end there. The moon shone brightly through holes in the ceiling, lighting the figures dancing below. The cadence was fast as countless creatures like the ones from before fought with people dressed in dark blue leather clothes, the faintest hint of gold stylings reflecting on the moonlight. It was then that I realised the clothes that Raziel and Lailah wore matched the fashion of those people fighting across the expanse of the room.

I turned to them to ask where to next when we were interrupted by someone dressed in the very same style, except his showed signs of recent battle. “Brother Hael” Raziel called to him “Did the Synod make it out?”

Hael replied, “Yes. The Luminari’el got them out safely.” sounding out of breath “Before they left, they asked me to give you this.” Hael revealed an ornate dagger, blue and gold like their uniforms. It curved upward and had 4 secondary blades coming out of it near the tip, all of which had an exotic teardrop shape to them. They curved up with the curvature of the main blade. There was also some sort of symbols engraved on the tips of all 5 blades, too small to make out from here.

Raziel kept his tone even when he replied “I understand. I will do what must be done.” Hael looked at me for a brief moment with Raziel’s comment, sending a cold chill down my spine. Hael did not wait for further discourse as he nodded once each to Raziel and Lailah, before running off towards the ensuing battle.

***

* Raziel -

Lailah and I took up positions close to the boy, and I gestured towards a door on the far side of the Atrium “We need to reach that door. Transportation will be waiting” I said. the boy nodded at me awkwardly, and we started to move. Feeling the weight of the dagger in my hand, I sped up our pace. It’s too soon to unlock him, but I can’t let him fall to our enemy. He’s too valuable.

We were nearly halfway to our exit when a Tonug Gal spotted us and cried out in a guttural half-screech, half-roar. I didn’t stop to look at the response from his brethren. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end from all the eyes now turned towards us.

Lailah and I put the boy between us and the wall as the first of our enemy came bounding towards us. I swung my mace in an uppercut just as one of them was landing, catching it under the chin and launching it flying off the rail and down to a landing it couldn’t possibly survive. The next one thrust his bladed-hand at my head, cutting the air it previously occupied as I ducked and parried his arm with my mace. I thrust my fist where I assumed the bridge of his nose to be to stun him, and then crashed my mace down on his head, collapsing him unceremoniously into a heap.

Out of the corner of my eye I confirmed Lailah was still standing her ground. I didn’t have time to admire her skills though, as I returned my attention to the oncoming horde to find the next wave almost upon us. I parried hard to my left, throwing the attacker off balance as I threw my weight into the kick I launched at the creature on my right. Swinging my mace from right to left, I collapsed the skull of the creature attacking head on before colliding with the one I had parried. The creature to my right regained his balance and lunged. Before it reached me the arm fell off, cut cleanly at the elbow. I looked up to see one of my sisters as the responsible party.

Nodding only the briefest of thanks, I turned and cut another creature down, but the cloud of combat had fully engulfed me, focusing my mind on razor sharp reaction times rather than thought and analysis. It was pure coincidence that one of the vile spawn chose then to launch himself over me as I was moving to intercept his charge. Following his trajectory as he sailed several metres over my head, my mouth couldn’t contain the surprise at his actions, but it was the ornate red dagger in his hand that brought forth the fear.

***

* Samuel -

Everything was happening so fast around me. Fighting in every direction I looked. I was so focused on the blurring mass of people fighting, that I missed the creature coming straight at me with a dagger. I didn’t have time to react, even when one of the blue guys tried to intercept him. I thought I might be saved when I saw Raziel coming up beside the creature, until I saw the blue and gold dagger in his hand, and his gaze set firmly on me instead of the creature.

I can only guess the look of fear that I wore as both the creature and Raziel drew back the daggers and thrust forward and up. There was a brief sharp pain as the daggers were rending my flesh on their path under my ribs and into my heart. The pain subsided as quickly as it had come on, and I found myself thinking  ‘Oh God! Am I in shock?! Am I dead?!’ I looked down at the daggers embedded in me, as I followed the hands attached to them up to the faces of those responsible. The creature's face was hard to read, but Raziel’s showed mixed displays of surprise, concern, and fear.

When they pulled out the daggers, I got the sensation of something tugging at my midsection, but there was no pain. I reached a hand up to feel for blood and injuries, but my hand came away clean, having touched bare skin where the daggers had entered. My eyes were drawn to movement and I looked up to see Raziel and the creature backing up. As soon as they stopped, my focus drifted from them to the sea of bodies. No longer fighting amongst each other, they all stared at me with baited breath.

I almost didn’t notice the sensation rising up inside me. It felt like something building. A warmth, but moving as well. Coalescing. My mind started flashing with memories. Things that I didn’t know before, they appeared and then disappeared. Memories of events way older than me. As the warmth inside me built, I could feel it spreading throughout my body, filling me up. When it reached my fingers, a glow burst through the tips. Beams of white energy were emitting from my left hand, red from my right. The growing sensation inside me felt like it was trying to burst free from my skin. I felt the pressure focusing on the right side of my chest, and then some invisible force shoving against my body as the pressure burst through my skin in coalescing red and white energy.

That set off a cascade of bursting pressure points across my body, each exploding with the mixed colours of energy. Each causing the area of my body it came from to stiffen, unmoving. A weightlessness overtook my body and with it the last control I had in any part of myself. My head moved on it’s own, surveying the room, bringing the realisation that I was no longer on the ground. My mouth shot wide open, erupting in more of the red and white coalescing energy. I watched, helpless, as the beam washed over everyone in the room, reverting the creatures to a human form before they disappeared into thin air. Some of the others, the ones dressed like Raziel, were reaching for their ripped and tattered clothes. The looks of surprise spoke to the lack of understanding, their injuries from the still fresh battle all seemingly healed.

I started to feel the muscles in my body react to my commands finally, struggling to position themselves for the slow landing I was now moving towards. My weight was barely on the balls of my feet when the whole world faded to black.

***

* Raziel -

“With respect Luminari Uri’el, I disagree. Keeping the boy here is no longer viable. We have been attacked once, and we likely will be again.” 'It was by pure luck that we weren’t wiped out last time', I thought to say before reigning myself in.

“We have no reason to believe that, Brother Raziel.” Mikhae'el contradicted. “The forces that attacked are gone. Nowhere to be seen.”

“They disappeared in front of our eyes, Luminari.” I said. “There's nothing to indicate they weren't simply sent away.”

“You are grasping at straws, Brother Raziel.” Uri'el said, adding “We mustn't be rash in our actions, lest we be caught unawares.”

“I do not preach rash behaviour, Luminari.” I interjected. “I preach sane wisdom. I now believe the use of such a young unlocked Tonug Gal to have been a distraction.” Their faces were masks, hiding any sign of whether or not my pleading was finding refuge. “It was a calculated ploy, meant to draw out our complacency.”

“I am inclined to agree with Raziel on this matter, brothers” Saraqae’el’s voice broke through “Wisdom and prudence are our best allies in this matter.”

“Thank you, Luminari Saraqae'el.” I nodded in respect, and breathed out a sigh of relief.

“What would you have us do then?” Uri'el spoke up, a measure of frustration in his voice. “Should we all pack up and leave this place we have invested so much time and resources into?”

“That is not my place to decide Luminari, however I counsel an immediate alternative.” I replied.

“Speak up then, brother. What alternative is that?” Rafae'el asked.

I cleared my throat and paused a moment before saying “I ask permission for my team of harbingers to take the boy north. We have a safe haven on the shores of Hudson Bay that would suit our needs.”

“Illogical!” Mikhae'el exclaimed. “That is counter to your claims that you act upon wisdom.”

The Synod broke into the sounds of debate, and I shook my head on instinct as I did so many times in the presence of their bureaucracy. It was only by the patience of Saraqae'el, who raised his hands to silence them, that they came to quiet down.

“There is much wisdom in such action.” Saraqae'el said. “A small group can move more easily without being detected. Should you make it to the location I know you speak of, safety will be assured.”

I took one step forward to impart the need to say more, and imply the importance. “There is one more thing.” I paused to ensure I had their leave to continue. “I suspect they found us here by way of a spy.” This immediately started another chorus of debate, but I raised my voice to continue over them, feeling a twinge of guilt at the disrespectful behaviour. “This is only a strong suspicion right now. However, if the spy is close to me, they will be more easily rooted out in a small group.”

Raising my voice, albeit not the most respectful act, garnered the silence I needed until I finished. There was a pause while they contemplated my words, before Saraqae'el spoke up. “All in favour of granting Raziel's request?”

There was a succession of “Ayes” from Saraqae'el, Rafae'el, Remi'el, Uri'el, and Akrasi'el. Gavri'el and Mikhae'el remained silent.

“Our will is spoken” Saraqae'el said. “Your request is granted, Raziel. We will make the necessary preparations on our end. We leave the rest in your hands.”

“Yes Luminari.” I replied, pleased to hear their acceptance.

Once I was outside the Synod chamber, I turned to find Darda'il still waiting for me. “Brother.” I called out to him “Advise my Harbingers to prepare to travel.”

“Certainly Brother Raziel. When are you leaving?” he asked, knowing this meant my request was accepted.

“This evening, after dusk.”

“And what shall I tell them when they ask why you did not bring them this order?” He enquired.

“Let them know I've gone down to see the boy.” I replied. With that, I headed for the stairs to the lower levels. I presumed the lack of further discussion meant Darda'il was off on his task as well.

***

* Samael -

When I first came to, I was worried they had stuck me in another dark room. That fear quickly disappeared as I opened my eyes to see light. I blinked a few times before realising I was in some kind of barracks. There were several rows of bunk beds spaced evenly throughout the room. It wasn’t until I sat up that I noticed the slender figure of a woman standing near my bed. She turned at the sound of movement, and I realised it was Lailah.

“You are awake” she stated matter of factually “I will send for…”

“No need” Lailah did not have a chance to finish as Raziel appeared through a door and interrupted “I am already here.”

“Raziel, you are still the only person who can sneak up on me” her mood seemed to lighten slightly with his entrance. “The Synod, did they approve your request?”

Raziel chuckled for a moment, then replied to her question “Yes, They did. We leave tonight.”

“Good. The sooner we get him away from here, the safer he will be.”

“Get me away?” I jumped in “Where are you taking me?”

Raziel raised his hand as if to reply, but Lailah was quicker “We will need to move you to a safer location. Somewhere the Tonug Gal hopefully cannot find you.”

“The tow-na-what-now? And what do you mean 'hopefully'? If someone doesn't start talking sense, I'm outta here.” I said with a bravado I wasn't comfortable I could back up.

“Lets go back to the beginning” Raziel said with his hands raised in a calming fashion “How much do you know about modern theology?” He asked.

“You mean God, Moses, the Ark? That kind of stuff?”

“Don’t forget Angels and Demons” Lailah piped in.

“All of it” Raziel replied “Everyone knows the story about how God created the Earth, Adam, Eve, all of that. Or at least they think they do. What they know is the mythical story that has been passed down through the ages.” He continued “But the truth isn’t based on supernatural events.”

I sat with surprising patience as Raziel explained

“Humans were a combination of an accident, and purposeful meddling by a race known as the Seraphae’el. A name that humans later came to refer to as Seraphim.”

“Oh God, this is going to hurt my brain, isn’t it?” I asked, but received no reply.

“The Seraphae’el were scientists first and foremost. They sought a way to create a new race, and imbue them with the energy of their life essence. Induce a sort of gift to evolve. The idea worked, but not quite the way they expected.”

Lailah jumped in, impatiently saying “Humans, demons, angels. He gets the idea. Get to the parts that matter to him. We can fill in the rest later.”

Raziel sighed “The evolutions lead to two splits from normal humans. The Tonug Gal, who humans in history have called demons, and the Murefre. Us. What humans think of as angels.” Raziel paused for a moment, letting that sink in “There is no heaven or hell. Just here and now. Just us versus them, with humans stuck in the middle.”

“So what does that mean for humans?” I asked. “What does it mean for them to be stuck in the middle?”

“That's where our opinion differs from our foe the greatest.” He replied. “In the language derived from the Seraphae'el, we refer to humans as 'Admo'. Meaning 'God is man'. The Tonug Gal use the word 'Adna'. Simply translated, it means 'obedience'.”

“What does that mean? 'God is man'?” I asked.

“It means that there is no will or plan from a greater being.” Lailah stepped in. “The only will, the only plan, is that of the dominant species on the planet. Now, we do have a guiding hand in that will and plan, but only within the confines of the will of the people.”

“Okay, so you guys are some sorta angels, and what? Thousands of years old?” I asked, then motioned at Raziel as I said “'Cause you don't look a day over 35.”

“No. Well, yes. I'm thousands of years old. But that's not true for all Murefre.” Raziel corrected. “This is where things get a bit difficult.”

“Yeah, because you weren't already rewriting my entire understanding of the history of the human race.” I threw at him.

“Humans do not naturally carry a predisposition for Murefre or Tonug Gal.” Raziel said. “The predisposition is placed there by an already unlocked member of one faction or the other.”

“What do you mean 'put there'?” I interrupted, unsure if I wanted the answer.

“Meaning a Tonug Gal or a Murefre have sex with a human female, one that's already pregnant. They pass on their energy to that child, like the genetics of a father.” Lailah said.

“From there, the child grows up as a normal human.” Raziel continued. “As they get older, they may be approached by someone from the appropriate faction. If so, they can be unlocked.”

“What, like breaking the piggy bank of special magic power inside them?” I said sarcastically.

“Like opening their heart and releasing the true self buried deep within them.” Raziel corrected, again.

“So are you saying that I'm one of these...Murefre?” I asked.

Raziel paused “Not exactly.” He seemed to be contemplating how to answer that one. “You are...a sort of hybrid.”

“Wait, so my parents were a Murefre and a Tonug Gal that got together!?” I blurted out.

The look on Raziel's face could only be described as disgust, and I thought Lailah might start to gag. “That's impossible.” Raziel replied. “It isn't possible for Murefre or Tonug Gal to...intermingle. Not amongst themselves, or each other.”

I stared at them both for a second, and then asked. “So what then?!”

“The next part will be harder to hear” Lailah said, softer than I would ever expect her to be capable of “When our kind mate with humans for the purpose of creating a Murefre child, that warrior will also watch over the mother to see her safely to birth.” She paused a moment, suddenly looking like a weight fell on her shoulders “One night, when your mother was on her way home, she was attacked. Our Murefre brother, your predecessor, tried to defend her, but he was outnumbered and overpowered. The attackers were Tonug Gal.”

I turned for a second, trying to grasp what I was terrified was about to come next.

But Lailah continued “Our brother was made to watch...as they held your mother down. One by one, they forced themselves upon her. They taunted our brother, like it was some sick game, and when they finished with her they murdered our brother.”

“Somehow, this caused you to inherit energy from both our species.” Raziel added.

“How? How could I not know this?” My mind was reeling at the implications. Angels, demons, a secret history to the human race, and the worst part of it all. They put my mother through that. I didn’t want to believe any of this. It had to be a lie, or this was some sick dream. But the memories...the memories that came flashing back to me. I remember all of this, as if I was there. How is that possible? “What are these memories!?! How do I remember these events like I was there?” I yelled out with anger as my mind was flooded.

Raziel waited to reply “Those who share a common lineage from the Saraphae’el’s energy, have a collective memory. You have all of the memories of your predecessors, and you gain any memories from those who still exist.” He paused again, seeking the words perhaps? “The same is likely true of your Tonug Gal lineage”

The images that flashed through my mind were too much. “I think I’m going to be sick” I turned my head, looking for a bucket or something. I grabbed the first thing I saw, a helmet I think, and threw up in it.

Lailah spoke up, sounding almost pleased “I’ve seen worse reactions.” But I found nothing about this funny, not even after I threw up two more times.

***

* Samael -

I was woken up shortly after midnight. My guess is that Raziel didn't want dead weight that his team had to carry, so I didn't have to worry about being knocked unconscious. Frankly, I was just appreciative of the rest after the last two days.

Raziel and his team had already gathered, so it was Lailah who came to get me and take me up to the motor pool, if that was the right word.

"Good, you're awake" Raziel said as Lailah and I walked up. "I told Lailah to hog tie you and carry you if necessary, but I think that would be more embarrassing for her." He sounded like he was joking, but I had the feeling he wasn’t lying either. One glance at Lailah confirmed that, as she flashed a devilish smirk at me.

"As I was saying," he continued "we will be heading into a remote area of Canada. The population density is lower up there, but it will be harder to be found, and more importantly harder for the Tonug Gal to cause collateral damage if we are found."

I was surprised to hear that last part. Even after their story, nothing about these guys screamed 'saviours of humanity' to me. I continued listening despite my reservations though. "We will be taking two vehicles. I will be in charge of vehicle one. Lailah will be in charge of vehicle two. We will travel together, but you have all been provided with details on checkpoints along the way." Raziel sounded determined, with an air of no nonsense. "If vehicle one carrying the package falls behind, vehicle two will wait at the next rendezvous for two hours before contacting the Synod and initiating search protocols."

Raziel's tone suddenly got darker "But if vehicle two falls behind, vehicle one will wait no more than four hours at the next checkpoint before continuing on. Make no mistake, the package is the priority."

Without another word, everyone went back to loading the vehicles. Two black SUVs. This all felt like some clandestine government operation from a movie. 

Before heading to her vehicle, Lailah directed me towards the vehicle I was riding in, so I walked over to it.

Raziel was standing next to the vehicle. He directed me towards the back seat “You will be riding back there with me. We have some things to discuss.” he said briefly as he opened the door, then returned to watching the others fill the back compartments of both vehicles. I lingered for a second, debating saying something, then reconsidered and got into the SUV.

I was sitting in the vehicle for only a few minutes when the back hatch was slammed shut. Two of the people loading the vehicle got into the front, quickly followed by Raziel getting in beside me in the back. Raziel leaned forward to talk to the man in the driver seat “Tzadkiel, vehicle two will follow us out. Go when you’re ready.”

“Welcome to the Murefre Express” the one called Tzadkiel said, trying to imitate a pilot “Please fasten your seat belts, leave your trays in the upright position, and keep all limbs inside the vehicle during takeoff and landing.” As he finished, he looked back at me and said “Don’t worry kid, I drive really well in all the video games.” He stared at me the whole time while jerking the steering wheel back and forth, and I suddenly found myself reaching for my seat belt without taking my eyes off of him.

Raziel interjected before Tzadkiel could say anymore “Tzadkiel is one of our younger recruits. He gets carried away sometimes. The other one is Exousia, and by her look you can tell she doesn’t approve of his antics.” Raziel chuckled, but the smile faded quickly. “We have a long trip ahead, but there are plenty of things to discuss Samael. Lets start with any questions you have.

I could feel us start to move, but I was too busy collecting my thoughts to care. “Why do you keep calling me ‘Samael’?”

“I am aware your birth name is Samuel. All Murefre take a different name when their energy is unlocked. But in a case where the Murefre that spawned them is no longer among us, they take the name of their predecessor.” Raziel paused for a moment, then released a brief sigh “Your most recent predecessor perished last month, while seeking you out.”

“Other than the one responsible for my being?” I shook my head in disbelief. “Okay, so I’m going to be stuck with the unlucky name from now on?”

“Yes. No Murefre will ever call you by your given human name.” Raziel replied.

I sighed. “Okay. So how about where the hell are we going?”

“We’re heading to a remote Native reserve, Fort Severn.” Raziel replied matter-of-factually.

“You said it was in Canada, right? Why are we going to a remote place in Canada?” I was genuinely curious why we would be going so far to reach a remote location, when there were plenty of other options that didn’t require crossing the border.

Raziel didn’t miss a beat, replying “Because we need to teach you, and we can’t do that with the constant threat of a Tonug Gal attack. There are more here than anywhere else in the world.”

“Teach me what?” I asked?

“How to fight,” Raziel replied “Or rather how to access your knowledge of fighting. How to defend yourself, what it means to be a Murefre, and more importantly we hope to learn more about what you are.”

I was starting to think I couldn’t have a conversation with Raziel that didn’t cause me a headache, but I was determined to get answers. “With everything that’s been going on I’ve been so distracted I haven’t even asked when I can see my family.” I suddenly realised that I hadn’t thought about them this whole time, but there was something else... “They must be worried sick...but why don’t I feel guilty…?” This didn’t make sense. I didn’t feel bad at all.

“It was only a matter of time until you realised that” Raziel didn’t seem surprised at all at this realisation. “When you become a Murefre, there are certain natural acclimations your mind makes. One is that the mission takes precedence over your emotions. Because of that, your familial relationships no longer hold as much importance. You are effectively freed from the burden of your human life.”

“Wait!” Did he just tell me I’m brainwashed? “So you’re telling me I don’t get to think for myself anymore?”

That suggestion seemed to disturb Raziel “You obviously haven’t been paying attention to Tzadkiel. Of course you still think for yourself. But you no longer have the potential for uncontrolled emotions interfering with your actions.” Raziel paused, and then added. “At least, a normal Murefre would not. We don't know how the Tonug Gal side will affect that. They tend to be very emotional.”

“So far all I’m hearing are negatives to this whole ordeal.” I was not impressed, and apparently my emotions were preventing me from showing it. “When do the positives start kicking in?”

Tzadkiel abruptly spoke up “Oh hell kid, you’re in for a treat. You’ll be saying ‘I know Kung Fu’ in no time.”

“Tzadkiel is too melodramatic.” Raziel threw a disapproving glance at Tzadkiel “You’re not some messiah, or saviour, or anything of the sort.” His determination to make that point was evident in his voice. “You’re unique, some might even say special, but we’re not pinning any responsibility on you to turn the tide of our war.”

Tzadkiel interrupted Raziel before he could continue, “$5 says we’ll get him to say ‘whoa’ before the week is out!”

This time Raziel ignored him, “You do have advantages though. Both your Murefre and Tonug Gal energies will provide you with enhanced strength, speed, and agility. As previously mentioned, you also now have all memories past and present of your predecessors.” Raziel said “We have on occasion been able to release potent amounts of focused energy during times of extreme need. This, however, has become less and less reliable over the centuries.”

I almost jumped when Exousia finally broke her silence “It is said that our ancestors could rely on pure energy in a battle, rather than physical weapons.”

“So it is said. Though only the Synod knows for sure, as such tales are only spoken of in the historical documents kept in their private library.” Raziel added.

“So no wings...flight...cool armour?” I still wasn’t feeling overly excited about what I had been pulled into.

Tzadkiel, trying very hard to show that he was the clown of the group, said “You can choose one when you hit level 10 kid, but only if you spec lots of points into the right skills.”

“You do realise I’m 21, right? I’m not exactly a kid” I was getting a bit miffed at the constant references to being young.

Raziel smiled at that “Tzadkiel is just glad he’s not the youngest anymore. He’s been the kid for over 30 years now.”

That made me stare at Tzadkiel in the rear view mirror for a moment. He looked like he was in his mid-to-late 20’s, but he’s been a Murefre for over 30 years? “We don’t age like normal humans, do we?”

“No.” Raziel answered firmly, then after a brief pause added “I have been a Murefre since Alexander the Great was on a conquest to take the known world.”

I held my breath for a moment, trying to let that sink in. My history wasn’t so great, but that would mean he’s been alive since before Christ. “That’s insane!” I exclaimed. “You’re more than two-thousand years old? How have you survived that long?”

“‘Cause he’s just that good” Tzadkiel chimed in with a smirk on his face. “Of course, I’ll be much more handsome when I’m over 2000 years old.”

I decided I had been told enough crazy things for now. “How long before we hit our first stop?”

“Our first checkpoint is Cochrane, ON. We should reach there tomorrow evening.” Raziel said.

“Fine, I’m going to try sleeping off this headache you guys just caused.” Who knows, maybe I’ll wake up and this will all be a dream.

***

* Samael -

“Raziel. We’re 5 minutes out” I heard a female voice say. “Better wake Samael.”

“Don’t bother” I said groggily “I’m awake.” I looked up to see Exousia in the driver seat. It took me a moment to realise Raziel was in the passenger seat, and it was Tzadkiel beside me in the back. “How long was I out?”

Raziel replied “Over 16 hours.”

“16 hours? I’ve never slept that long in my life!” I exclaimed.

“It’s common for new Murefre to sleep a lot in their first few days.” Exousia said.

“Awesome.” I sighed “So I’ll be catatonic for a few days.” If I was going to sleep a lot, maybe it could be somewhere comfortable. “So we’re almost at our first stop? How long will we be there?”

“Until dawn.” I heard Raziel from in front of me. “Murefre can stay awake indefinitely, but the longer we go without sleep the more we actually need it when we do sleep.”

“So you're recharging your batteries as well.” I said, trying to be facetious.

“Some Murefre show marked declines in speed, strength and agility the longer they go without sleep.” Exousia added without humour “Despite no other outward signs of exhaustion.”

“Well, I will let you know if I notice an increase in the instances of me getting my ass kicked.” I said sarcastically.

“We’re here” Raziel said as I felt us coming to a stop. “Go-bags only. I’ll get our rooms situated. Wait by the vehicles until I get back.”

As I got out of the vehicle, Lailah pushed a duffel bag at me while she fussed my hair and said “We could hear you snoring a mile back. Armaita thought you might have turned into a Tonug Gal.” Lailah pointed her thumb over her shoulder after the woman coming around vehicle two.

I caught my breath for a moment as I turned to look at her. She was a slender woman, fit, maybe mid-twenties. She had deep reddish-brown hair, in a ponytail that came around one side, a pale complexion, and a hint of a few freckles on her cheeks.

The woman spoke up in an Irish accent “Aye, but we figured if you had’a turned, Exousia would have tossed yer ass out o' the wagan.”

I stared at her a moment, completely forgetting manners. The women on Raziel's team were all beautiful, but there was something more about this one. Something unspoken. It was the sound of Raziel's footsteps that finally broke my pensiveness, and I realised Armaita was staring right back at me.

Our locked gaze was interrupted by the jingling of keys flying through the air between us, ending their flight in Lailah’s raised hand. “Two rooms, adjacent. Usual split.” Raziel said from in front of vehicle one.

Lailah beckoned the women to follow her, as Tzadkiel and I grabbed our bags and followed Raziel. Before we entered the rooms, Raziel turned to everyone. “Tzadkiel and Taharial, you have first watch. You're the most rested, and I want fresh eyes out here.”

I took Tzadkiel's duffel when he offered it, feeling the weight of it, then stepped into the room behind Raziel, closing the door with my foot.

“Get some rest.” Raziel said. “The next leg of our trip is short, but after that the last leg will be long and uncomfortable.”

There wasn't a muscle in my body that urged me to debate with him. Despite having slept for so long already, I still wanted more. I walked over to the bed furthest from the door and collapsed onto it, letting the black take me for what felt like the hundredth time in only a few days.

***

* Raziel -

Either the kid had good instincts, or lots of dumb luck. Picking the bed furthest from the only door and window in the room meant whichever one of us was in the room stayed between him and imminent danger.

I went over to the window and pulled the curtains shut, then grabbed a metallic, folded sheet from my duffel bag and hung it over the window. It was a thermal blanket, which made for an effective method to block the Tonug Gal from using a sort of infrared vision to see bodies of heat inside. It couldn't prevent some devices from seeing past the wall, but it helped.

After assessing the room, and concluding it was as secure as I could make it, I headed out the door to the women’s room and knocked. I was pleased when the door opened a few inches, and Charmeine was standing five feet back with her weapon in hand. We trained specific tactics to maintain security in a situation like this, and it was important that they followed that training.

The door opened wider after Charmeine nodded to the person behind it, allowing me to step in. I nodded approval at the thermal blanket hanging over the closed curtains, then turned to Lailah. “With me.” I said, and turned to walk back out of the room.

I walked along the path, confident in the sound of soft footsteps behind me. I reached for the handle of my door, pausing to look around and see if anyone was watching. When I was sure no one else was, I headed to the next room down and inserted the key, unlocking the door and opening it. Lailah was right behind me, and I heard the door click shut quietly with her inside.

“Is Samael asleep?” She asked.

“Yeah. Out cold.” I replied.

Lailah walked over to me and pushed me back firmly until I hit the bed and fell back. She climbed up on the bed, straddling my waist.

I pulled her close and kissed her, then gently encouraged a few inches of distance. “You need to know a few things for the third leg of the trip.” I said, breathing a little heavier as my heart beat faster.

I reached up and started unzipping her jacket. “Coordinates 51 degrees 22 minutes 58.9 seconds North.” I pulled the jacket off and discarded it somewhere on the floor. “80 degrees 21 minutes 49.8 seconds West.” I finished.

Lailah reached down and started unzipping my jacket. I reached into the left pocket and pulled out a palm-sized black box, slipping it into her pants pocket as I sat up and let her pull my jacket off.

“5386508” I said. “Punch the number in and clamp the box shut, then toss it in the water at those coordinates.”

Lailah reached for the button and zipper on my pants, undoing them with speed that still surprised me. She slid forward, reaching behind herself and pulling away the only thing covering my lower extremities. I started undoing her pants and sliding them off, then flipped over, putting Lailah on her back to finish what I had started.

“Is that all of the business?” She asked, breathing heavy through her own excitement.

I nodded, but in the pitch black it would be lost, so I said “For now.”

“Then it's time for pleasure.” She wrapped her legs around me and pulled me closer, and all sense of responsibility disappeared.

***

* Samael -

When I woke up, the sun was already above the horizon. Raziel was taking something down from the window, and his bed was made. Truthfully it didn’t look slept in. Either way, it reminded me of those perfect beds you see in pictures of a military barracks.

"Good, you're awake." Raziel said. "You have 15 minutes. Our train leaves 45 minutes after that."

Train? I didn't recall mention of a train before. I got up and headed to the bathroom. 15 minutes wasn't enough time to shower when I’m this tired, but at least I could brush my teeth and change my underwear.

After I finished up I grabbed my duffel bag and headed out for the vehicles. I was about to open the door to get into vehicle one when Raziel grabbed my shoulder and said “You’re riding in vehicle two. Charmeine will take your spot in vehicle one.”

“Uhh, okay...why?” I asked, confused.

“We can’t get too consistent in our behaviour. That’s how we get caught off guard.” He answered. “It would also help for you to get to know the others.”

“Okay.” I replied, then I turned and got into the backseat of vehicle two.

As soon as we were all in the vehicle, Armaita spoke up in that Irish accent “‘Lo cub, welcome to the hot group.”

"The...'hot group'?" I asked timidly.

"Aye. Now ye get to hang out with three hot women, instead of two guys and the honorary male of the team, Exousia."

I burst out laughing at that. It wasn't very funny. Maybe it was the Irish voice that made me laugh. It occurred to me that I hadn't laughed since this all started, which was saying something. I’m the kinda guy that laughed at everything. Including the really bad jokes. Especially the bad jokes.

Apparently Armaita didn’t get what I found funny and asked. “Ye got the devil in ye, cub?” She paused for a second, then the whole vehicle got really quiet until the Asian woman beside me reached forward and smacked Armaita on the arm.

“Why did you have to go and say that?” The woman said quietly, as if I couldn’t hear.

“Shite. Sorry Taharial, I wasn’t thinkin’.” Armaita said apologetically.

I looked back and forth between the two for a minute, then asked “What did I miss?”

Lailah spoke up when it became evident the others would not. “You’re part Tonug Gal.” She said, as if that answered everything.

“So?” I questioned the statement.

“So we don’t actually know how much. The Tonug Gal are highly prone to being emotionally driven and unstable. Effectively the opposite of us. Your sudden outburst of laughter at something that wasn’t funny surprised us.”

“‘Ey!” Armaita jumped in, “It was bloody hilarious!”

“Not even slightly.” Taharial added her two cents.

“Well, for the record I would have laughed at that joke even before you guys stabbed me with your fancy knife.” I said defiantly.

Armaita seemed to take that as a declaration in her defence when she added “Spotty dog, this one. Ye know good humour when ye hear it cub. Ye are a keeper.” She finished her statement with a wink that made me my cheeks feel warm.

Taharial shook her head in disapproval. “Don’t get any ideas, Samael. She winks at every guy she meets.”

I looked away to hide the awkwardness a bit more and realised we were coming up on the train station already. As Lailah turned to pull into the parking lot, she said “Minimum baggage. everything else will be transported to our destination via alternate means.” By the time she finished talking, we were parked and getting out of the vehicle.

***

* Samael -

The train ride was quiet and uneventful. I had my first real taste of the power and reach of these people on that train though. Somehow we managed to get an entire train car to ourselves. I relished the fact that I could sit in a corner by myself watching the landscape.

Every once and a while I’d be jostled out of my revery by the sound of one of the others sharpening their weapons. They would just look my way, some apologetic, others a little bit annoyed.

When we pulled into the Moosonee train station, there were already 2 vehicles waiting for us. Black SUVs like before, but I was fairly sure they weren’t the same ones we left behind. When we were getting into the vehicles, I noticed Lailah and Raziel step away to discuss something.

“What's up with that?” I asked of the others. They looked my way, and Charmeine managed to accomplish a dismissive smile that said nothing more than “Why do you care?”

When Lailah came back she seemed to be bent out of shape over something, but it wasn’t until Raziel pulled away in one of the SUVs with Tzadkiel and Exousia that I finally asked “What’s goin’ on, Lailah? Where are they going without us?”

“You don’t need to worry about it.” She snapped, then added “Charmeine, you're front passenger.”

“Dibs on middle!” Armaita exclaimed. I'd never known anyone who liked riding in the middle seat. I was starting to wonder if she was more of an odd type than Tzadkiel.

Our drive was fairly short. I was surprised when we got to our destination though. It looked like a poor man’s docks. There were small boats on shore still on trailers, but only one was sitting partially in the water. It looked like a large black inflatable, tethered to shore so as not to be pulled out by the tide.

“Get in the Zodiac.” Lailah said flatly, as she pointed in the general direction of the inflatable.

I looked at her and narrowed my eyes. I was tired again, and the attitude I had been getting from Lailah was starting to wear. The look must have spoke volumes to her though, because she quickly added “Please.”

With that, I walked down to the inflatable and tossed my bag in before I hopped in myself. Charmeine and Armaita followed me in. Armaita directed me to sit in the middle of the inflatable. She sat behind me, and Charmeine took up a position with the motor. Taharial got in next, straddling the right side of the boat, up at the front. Lailah tossed her bag in and then grabbed the boat and gave it a bit of a shove before she jumped in, and then straddled the left side front of the boat opposite Taharial.

After we floated a few metres out from shore, Charmeine flipped down the engine, turned us and started us down the river. As we headed along the river, Armaita produced a device from her duffel bag. She handed it to Lailah, who typed something into the device and then handed it back to Armaita.

Every so often Armaita would check it and give Charmeine a thumbs up. At first we were following parallel with the shore, but after a bit we started to pull away from it as it curved off to our left.

Finally, when we were far enough out that I couldn’t see the shore anymore, Armaita made a slice motion back and forth in front of her neck and Charmeine cut the engine. I looked forward to see Lailah reach into her pocket and pull out a palm-sized black device. She flicked it open with her thumb and pressed several buttons, then snapped it shut and dropped it in the water. She looked at all of us and said “Get comfortable. We may be waiting a while.”

Lailah wasn’t kidding about waiting. I had no idea how much time had passed, but it felt like I might be reaching Raziel’s age. I was about to ask what year it was when I saw a weird-looking tube smoothly raise up from the water behind us. I turned to Lailah, but she was watching it as well, the difference was she didn’t seem surprised.

“Engine up!” Lailah yelled at Charmeine, who quickly did as asked. No sooner had Charmeine complied when a large black metal frame displaced the water beneath the tube that had preceded it.

A moment later our inflatable jostled as something bumped below it, and I started to realise what was happening. The water beneath our inflatable was displaced as more of the black object rose out of the mysterious depth, and I couldn’t contain my amazement as I exclaimed “Holy shit! A submarine!?!”

I was still gaping at what just happened when a hatch flung up and open, allowing 3 men and a woman to climb out. They were all wearing dark blue dress pants, winter parkas, and black berets. Just looking at them made me cold. The woman said something to the three men, who moved towards our inflatable.

Lailah hopped out of the boat first. She looked at us and said “Up and out. Grab your gear.”

The three men walked past us, heading to your inflatable and began to remove the motor, then deflate it.

We followed Lailah over to the uniformed woman. Once we were all within earshot she said “Lieutenant McKay, Executive Officer of the HMS Steinbach. My Commanding Officer wants to speak with you before you stow your gear. Follow me.”

Our actions were that of silent compliance. We were now guests of what I assumed was the Canadian navy, and I don’t think any of us wanted to piss off our hosts. We followed Lieutenant McKay down the hatch she had climbed out of. You often hear or see how tight subs are supposed to be when they show you in Hollywood, but like everything else in movies and TV, you don’t really realise it until you experience it yourself. I doubt any two of us could have fit in the hallway shoulder-to-shoulder.

We hadn’t walked more than a half-dozen metres or so when we reached a hatch. Lieutenant McKay told us to wait where we were, and disappeared through the hatch. I couldn’t see where she disappeared to, but I could tell this was some sort of command centre.

The Lieutenant was only gone for a moment when she returned with another woman. The new woman was dressed in the same clothes. She looked at Lieutenant McKay and said “Thank you Daniella.” That seemed to carry a notion of dismissal, as Lieutenant McKay headed back into the command centre. The other woman turned back towards us and started shaking our hands. “Welcome sisters. Brother. I’m Lieutenant-Commander Denise Campbell, C.O. of this vessel.” She leaned forward and continued “But in private, you may call me Sraosha.”

That caught me off guard. They actually had people inside a foreign military? I raised my hand and opened my mouth to speak, but Sraosha raised her hand quicker than I could get anything out. “Not here. I’ll show you to your bunks to drop off your things, then we can head to my quarters to talk in private.”

We passed through several hatches and went down a level before we reached the bunks where Sraosha told us to drop our bags. We didn’t stay there long though, as She quickly moved us along to her quarters.

Her quarters weren’t luxurious by any standards, save for those we just came from. They weren’t ideal for 6 people to fit in, but it seemed like this was the only way we could all speak in private.

Once we were all inside, Sraosha said "So you're what all the fuss is about." She looked me over a couple times and then nodded. "You're young. What's your age boy?"

I felt like I was being questioned by my grandmother, so I automatically replied "Twenty-one, ma'am." The look on her face soured as she said "I'm not a ma'am, though I suppose I deserve that for calling you boy."

Sraosha abruptly turned to Lailah and said "You need to tell those old fools in the Synod to pull their heads outta their asses." She shook her head in disapproval, then continued. "We may have our people spread throughout major organisations in every damn country, but calling on the commander of a military vessel that is few in number is bordering on reckless."

"You are always so dramatic, sister." Taharial suddenly blurted out. "We have people in the Canadian government that will provide a cover story."

"Speaking of which," Lailah cut in "what is our cover story?"

"You're a special operations team running a training op before going into the real thing." Sraosha replied. "So if anyone asks who you are, use your Murefre name. They'll think it's a codename." She smirked at us, then added "if anyone asks about your mission, just tell them it's classified."

"Are there any more? I mean, like us...on the sub, that is." I asked before I could think better of it.

Sraosha answered before the others. "There isn't anything on this planet like you, to be frank. But Murefre, we amount to anywhere between five-to-ten percent of the population in any given country.” She paused, then added “That puts our numbers upwards of four hundred thousand.”

"But that doesn't answer my question." I said.

Armaita scrunched her nose at me "Do the math cub. It's a safe bet there's at least one other Murefre on this ship jus' by how many of us there are."

"You mean you don't know?" I gasped.

"It's called compartmentalization." Sraosha stated "Like this boat, if part of us is breached that compartment is sealed and won't cause the rest of us to drown."

"You guys watch too many movies." I sighed, as I rubbed my temples with one hand.

"Unless there are any other questions, I need to get back to the conn before Daniella scratches my boat." With that, Sraosha led us back to our bunks and then departed.

Raziel wasn't lying about this part of the trip being long and uncomfortable. We couldn't move around on the ship, and there wasn't anything to do, so we were either relaxing in our bunks or eating in the mess.

Sraosha wanted minimal interaction between us and her crew, that included her X.O., Lieutenant McKay. So we talked in private when there was no one around, and I twiddled my thumbs when there was.

We were on the sub for roughly twenty-four hours when Sraosha came down to tell us to prep for departure. We followed her up to a hatch that looked like the same one we came in through. We climbed up and out of the hatch and found that her people were already preparing our inflatable.

Sraosha turned to us and said "This is an older sub, not really meant for launching Zodiacs, so you are going to have to get in and wait for us to submerge." She paused for a moment, then added with a smirk "We wouldn't want you falling in the water after all."

The others directed me to get in first, then they got in and positioned themselves in the same place as before. I was in the middle. Armaita behind me, Charmeine at the motor. Lailah and Taharial at front left and front right, respectively. The people that prepared our inflatable for us were already inside by the time we were situated. Sraosha waited for us to give the thumbs up before she receded back into her sub. It took another minute before I felt a shift, and looked to the side to see the water swallowing up the black frame of our previous transportation.

Charmeine waited until we could only see the strange tubes coming out of the top of the submarine before lowering the engine into the water. Armaita confirmed our position on the GPS she now had in her hand, then pointed in a direction which Charmeine willingly obliged to send us in. After nearly two days of travel, and very little entertainment, I was eager to see what waited for us on shore.

***

* Raziel -

Leaving Samael with the others was a difficult choice, but a necessary one. I couldn't be sure how the Tonug Gal found our base back in New York, but if it was a member of my team, I felt I could better control the situation this way.

If somehow that person was in this group, then I could deal with them. If they were in the other group, then they would be less likely to make a move along their route, with no backup.

Alternatively, if they are tracking us by some other means, I expect that they would follow us instead. We were travelling by land, after all.

“Raziel!” Tzadkiel raised his voice at me.

“Yeah?” Apparently I had allowed myself to become lost in thought.

“What the hell are we doin’? This terrain is not vehicle friendly” He said.

I replied, barely keeping the annoyance from my voice “We’re playing the decoy, Tzadkiel.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“And what happens if the others are attacked and we’re not there to help them?”

“The route they are taking won’t allow any significant number to attack them, so they’ll be fine.” Tzadkiel didn’t seem to like being left out of combat, but even worse was when you took him into the wild. He wasn’t overly fond of nature. He might think that I’m punishing him for some reason, but truth is the more ornery he gets the better he fights.

“Fine. Let them have all the fun." He replied, bordering on indignant. "We’re almost at Kashechewan.”

"When we get to the river, pull off to the side. I'll signal the ferry." I said plainly.

"Ferry?" Tzadkiel blurted out "There's no ferries out in the middle of nowhere!"

I looked at Tzadkiel and Exousia, then smiled. "There is for us."

He just smiled and shook his head, knowing it didn't require any stretch of the imagination.

It only took another five minutes to reach the river. When we pulled up, I got out and stood at the edge of the water. I pulled out a flashlight, aimed it west, and flashed a series of blinks. To anyone else, they might think it was Morse code that when translated looked like gibberish. In reality it was a very old, very dead language that we had created a version of Morse code for.

The flashes I got back told me the signal was received and our ride would be here in a few minutes.

When the ferry showed up, it took a few minutes to load our SUV. The problem being the rather narrow space to lower the loading ramp. Although the ferryman wasn't Murefre, he was competent in navigating the boat into position. One of the reasons why he was part of a network of humans that we employed from time to time.

Once we got loaded, his skill was truly put to the test. Navigating the Albany River was a chore, even for him. There were so many channels and small islands breaking up the path. We had one place just outside of town, on the southwest end, that would suit our needs and keep a level of privacy. The trick was getting there.

While we navigated the river, I made sure that everyone checked their gear. I used that opportunity to watch Tzadkiel and Exousia. Their focus remained singular, leaving some hope that it was not a traitor that gave us up. But if not that, then we may have greater problems.

My thoughts had trailed off again, and I nearly didn't notice that we had come to a stop. The ramp was lowering to the ground, giving us a clear path to exit the ferry. The ferryman came up to the SUV, and I handed him a duffel bag full of payment. Once he stepped back, I signalled Tzadkiel to go.

Because Kashechewan was both small and remote, there were no places for visitors to stay. This classified as an Indian reserve as well, and not one where we had allies that I knew of. I decided our best choice was to rough it in a clearing close to the airport. That way if we needed to disappear fast, we could head for an airplane.

It only took a few minutes to get to the service road leading to the clearing. We pulled in and went to the far end, positioning ourselves close to the small body of water, while giving us good coverage. The hard part was covering up our vehicle. We managed to find a space in the trees to park it, but we used camouflage netting to prevent easy line of sight recognition. Our other task was building shelter. It needed to be big enough for the three of us, sturdy against any weather, and yet inconspicuous. It was past midnight when we finally had something that met our needs.

I turned to Exousia "You have first watch." she nodded in compliance. "Eight hour intervals, then we switch. I'll go next, then Tzadkiel." I got a nod from both of them that time. "We're going to be here for a day or more, so get comfortable with your surroundings."

Exousia headed outside the shelter, leaving Tzadkiel and I to get comfortable on our makeshift beds. I hadn't actually slept since before we left the city, so I figured I had some catching up to do.

***

* Samael -

"Are we there yet?" Armaita said with a giant grin on her face as we pulled up to a cabin.

“For that comment Armaita, you get to go to the airport and pick up the rest of our gear.” Lailah said sternly. Taharial tried to stifle a laugh, but failed ineffectively. “And you can join her Taharial.”

That garnered something close to a scowl from her, but she seemed inclined to do as she was told anyway.

“Kids these days.” I said in jest, which got a scowl from Armaita and Taharial.

Lailah, Charmeine and I exited the vehicle promptly with our duffel bags, allowing Armaita and Taharial to move into the front seats. We were barely at the porch steps when I heard them spin the tires and take off back down the road.

I didn't realise until we got inside the cabin just how big it was. Lailah had said something about it being custom designed to be used as a Murefre safehouse, but at first glance I would have thought of it as some weekend getaway for a billionaire. The front foyer could have been a small party room.

Lailah abruptly spoke up, startling me from my reverie. "It's the kind of safehouse the government wishes it had." she mused "Double thick reinforced concrete walls, extra layer of 3 inch hardened steel with another layer of one inch titanium. Every wall, internal and external, is built the same."

I looked at her in complete awe." So what you're saying is nothing can get in?" I asked.

"Or out. Or between rooms if we want. There are control panels all over the house like the one beside the door there." Lailah pointed to a touchscreen panel beside the door. "A special device we had developed sits under the floorboard in front of the panel." She said as she nodded in that direction. "It scans an electromagnetic wavelength emitted by Murefre, allowing any of us to work it."

"How do you power all of the electronics this far out?" I was genuinely curious, since I hadn't seen power lines coming close to this place.

Lailah looked down at the floor as she tapped the toe of her right foot against it. "Hamsters. We have thousands of hamsters in the sub-basements."

I couldn't believe she got that out with a straight face. But I got the impression she wasn't inclined to answer me honestly, so I decided to let it go for now.

"This place has 12 bedrooms identical to each other. " Lailah said, keen to change the topic. "You can choose any one you want, but we will be taking the rooms around you."

"Okay." Was all I could think to say.

Lailah jumped in again before I could think to add anything else. "Now. Go get some rest, 'cause tomorrow we start training. Oh-six-hundred. That's six AM for the layman's."

"Tomorrow I die from waking up too early. Got it." I replied with a little sarcastic wit.

I decided after that to take a look around before picking my room. If I was going to be stuck here, I was going to make sure I had the Goldilocks bed. Lailah agreed to accompany me as a silent tour guide, while I searched through the place.

Only two of the bedrooms were built into the main floor. The rest of the main floor contained a library, a conference room, an entertainment room that could double as a small theatre, and something I could only think to call a family room positioned across the hall from the bedrooms.

Every room had a cubby of some sort as well. I thought at first it was a closet, but when I opened one up it turned out to be a full bathroom. I couldn't even guess the cost of putting a place like this together.

Upstairs contained the remaining ten bedrooms. Once I picked mine out, Lailah ran through the amenities. "Every room here is self-sufficient." She explained. "You have seen the bathroom, but along the same wall is this," Lailah pressed a recessed button beside the bathroom door, and a series of handles popped out along the length of the wall.

As Lailah pulled on each set of handles, those sections of the wall opened like a large pantry. "Every room has several months worth of non-perishable food and water for three individuals. Both electric and emission-free cooking devices, portable safety gear such as a Geiger counter.” She continued.

I was personally impressed by the individual bathrooms, but this was beyond anything I could have imagined.

Lailah closed the doors and pressed the handles back into the wall with a slight clicking sound. She then backed up in front of the survival wall and put a hand up to back me up with her. She pressed the ball of her foot down on part of the floor in front of us, and the floor clicked, and then slid up on small hydraulic arms. “This is one of several throughout the room.” She pointed to the sections of flooring that had rectangular areas cut out. “Between these chests, you’ll find cold weather gear for 3 people, among various other survival gear.”

“Why?” I asked her. She looked at me for a moment, obviously not getting my meaning. I added “Why all of these amenities in every room?”

Lailah nodded in sudden understanding “Remember when I said every room could be locked down?” She asked, but continued without waiting for a reply. “If we need to lock ourselves down, we won’t do it with the intent to die in these rooms.”

“That seems kind of obvious, now that you mention it.” I said, more embarrassed than I cared to admit.

“That brings me to our last point about these rooms.” Lailah said, as she walked towards the door. “I need you to stand in front of the control panel and place your hand on it.”

“Umm...okay?” I replied awkwardly. As I stepped up to the panel and placed my hand on the it, the blue screen started to react. First it changed to an outline that followed my hand exactly. It made no sound, but there was some sort of data processing beside the handprint.

As the data processed, the screen started changing colour. First it flickered to red, then green, then back to red again. It bounced between these colours a few times before finally settling on amber. I looked at Lailah with a puzzled look and asked “Kind of not good?”

Lailah returned a look of concern “The sensor is confused about your energy. It recognises both Murefre and Tonug Gal signatures.”

“So what does that mean?” I asked.

Lailah pressed a few options on the control panel, then said “It means you can lock the room down, but you can’t unlock it. Not using the control panel, at least.” Lailah reached down and gave a panel below the touchscreen a smack. It opened a few centimetres, allowing her to grab it and flip it down. Inside was a long lever with the joint just above floor level. “If you need to force the door closed, you flip this out and pump it. It will build pressure and close the door.” I nodded understanding, but she seemed to have more to say “If you need to open the door build the pressure, if you haven’t already, then grab the clamp on the end here and flip the lever up all of the way.”

I nodded, not wanting to speak before she was done.

“There is one on the outside of the door as well.” She said. “If one side is pumped and pressurised, the other side cannot be used to release the pressure.

“Got it.” I said.

Lailah closed the panel, then walked over to the window and opened a similar panel to it’s right. “There’s one here for the window as well, though all of these windows are four inches of ballistic glass. Damn hard to penetrate.”

“Great! I’ll take two!” I said facetiously. “Does it come in black?”

“Only if ye feel like buyin' and applyin' the paint.” I heard from the door. When I looked over, I saw Armaita smirking as she stood in the doorway.

"I'll still take it." I said, still in awe of the amount of overkill put into this place.

I think Armaita saw the look plainly on my face, because she decided to add "Have ye shown 'im the basement yet?"

"No. I figured that can wait until tomorrow." Replied Lailah.

Armaita whistled "If ye think this is impressive, ye are in for a treat."

Lailah interjected. "You can brag about our toys later. Is the gear offloaded yet?"

The change of topic to something that most would have considered punishment surprisingly got little reaction from Armaita as she replied "It's in the foyer, waitin' for orders on where ye want it.”

"Good." Said Lailah. "Stow the vehicle in the underground storage, then meet us in the foyer."

Armaita took a moment to look in my direction, before averting her eyes down and walking away.

"What should I do?" I asked, suddenly feeling like a third wheel.

Lailah stared at me for a brief moment, as if to mull over her decisions. "Same orders as before. Stay here. Get some rest. Charmeine will cook some dinner after we're done. One of us will call on you when it's ready."

Third wheel it is, I nearly said.

After Lailah left my room I decided to buck authority and check out the books in the library. Though the sheer number of books probably qualified this place as a small book store, the selection was largely dedicated to things like strategy, martial arts, philosophy, theology, and a handful of scientific studies.

There was a series of books that caught my eye though. They were a large series, taking up almost an entire bookshelf, which went from floor to ceiling. They were labelled by nothing more than volume, and there was a definite age difference between the earliest volume and the last.

I decided beginnings are a great place to start, so I grabbed volume one. When I first opened it, all I could see were weird symbols. After a moment the symbols started to form sounds in my head, like a child trying to sound out new words. Then the sounds formed words, and those words started to make sense to me.

I read the first part of the first page out loud "History of the Murefre, Volume I, Our Creation." What was this language? Why did I recognise it?

Flashbacks of a place that felt familiar came rushing into my head. I had never been there, but I felt like I had. I was at a table, reading a book in the same language as the one I was currently holding. Was this the shared memory they were talking about? It was disorienting, like deja vu only weirder.

I put the book back on the shelf and the flashback started to subside. After that weird event, reading seemed like a bad idea. I decided to head up to my room and get some rest. I wasn't as tired as during the trip but I still felt like a good sleep was necessary.

When I got to my room, I had to do a double-take. Armaita was at the table by the window with two plates of food. The food was causing steam on the window, but I couldn't tell what it was from the doorway.

"Yer food is gettin' cold." Armaita said, as she motioned for me to sit in the chair opposite her.

I walked across the room, slowly at first. “I...uhh...thank you. Umm...I didn’t...how long were you waiting?” I finally got out.

Armaita smiled, softer than I thought possible by any of these women I had been travelling with. It made me a little nervous, and I nearly jumped when she spoke up again. “Only a few minutes.” She said. “...I lost the coin toss...to bring ye dinner, that is.”

“Am I getting boring already?” I asked in jest.

“I’m reserving judgement.” She replied between bites. “I’m fairly sure Exousia, Charmeine and Taharial hate any job that feels like glorified babysittin' duty though.”

“Fair enough.” I said. “What is this, anyway? Fries and some sort of fish?”

“Fish and chips. Ye never had fish and chips before?” She asked with incredulity.

I put my hands up defensively “Yeah, umm...when I was a kid. It’s been a long time though.”

“Aye, well Charmeine said somethin’ about the fish bein' jus' like where she’s from. Plaice? I think…the fish, I mean.”

“Never heard of it, but it’s not bad.” I replied, as I swallowed the piece I had been chewing.

The rest of our dinner was ate mostly in silence. Not awkward, just focused on enjoying the first real meal since before leaving for here. Well, that’s how long it’s been for me at least. At one point Armaita asked what I did for a job before they whisked me away. I had forgotten about it entirely.

“I was handing out resumés” I said. “When I was attacked by that creature, and you guys rescued me.”

“Wait,” I said “What about a job, and money?” I realised that I had no idea how any of these people had the money that they had, or if I was going to be required to work on the side to make money as well.

“Ye took longer than most to bring that up. Taharial is goin' to be happy she won that bet.” Armaita chuckled at her comment. “We have been around a long time. We’ve built up resources, influence, and most of all we own a few major corporations."

"What kind of corporations?" I asked, my interest piqued.

"Let's just say we've been responsible in some way or another for most of the major leaps in technology throughout human history." Armaita answered mischievously.

"Oh, so we can blame you guys for Internet trolls, 4chan, and Facebook?" I could barely hold in my laugh as I asked the rhetorical question.

Armaita decided to answer anyway "This is a case where ye can hate the player, and not the game." Armaita turned away from the table and stretched her legs out, crossing them at the ankles, while leaning against the window sill, then continued "Just because we made the internet, doesn't mean we're responsible for what humans do with it."

"Unless you use the technology as a means of social engineering, that is." I countered.

Armaita half-smiled, but took the bait anyway "So ye think we created the internet knowingly advancing the human race towards a specific goal?"

"Well, you did say that Murefre were responsible for the major leaps in tech, so you must have had a goal." I was playing devil's advocate, but Armaita seemed to be enjoying the back and forth regardless.

Armaita kept her smile, but narrowed her gaze for a moment, as if to try piercing through some invisible barrier between us. "Who are ye, and what have ye done with the timid cub we kidnapped in New York?"

I laughed and tried to think of a witty reply, but all that came out was "Too much time around you crazy people already."

"Yeah. Maybe. Well Samael, you need to rest before tomorrow. One of us will come get ye in the morning." Armaita gathered up both of our dishes and headed for the door.

"Sure. Thanks. For bringing me dinner, I mean." I was feeling awkward again.

"Anytime." She replied as she smiled warmly before disappearing through the doorway.

I decided to take her advice and get some rest. I crawled into bed, but tossed and turned a while trying to fall asleep. I was curious about tomorrow, and maybe a little terrified. I had no idea what was waiting for me.

***

* Samael -

I don’t know when I passed out finally, but I know that when I woke I was curled up in the fetal position, under the covers, with drool on my pillow. I guess I slept pretty well, because I only drooled in really deep sleeps.

When Armaita finally called on me, I had been awake for a while, but too lazy to get out of bed and not tired enough to fall back to sleep. She took a minute to grab black workout clothes out of a dresser. She grabbed the end of my covers and tugged at them, yanking them clean off my bed, before she tossed the clothes on the end of my bed. I was a half-second slow to react, but when I did I immediately found myself reaching to cover up. When she realised I was in my underwear, she politely looked away. I might have caught a hint of rose in her cheeks, but before I could get another look she was heading for the door.

"Those are for today.” She said. “Don't bother showering before training. You have five minutes until breakfast."

I just moaned, but she must have consider that sufficient acknowledgement, because she left the room and closed the door. Well, either that or she was embarrassed to see me mostly naked. I jumped out of bed as soon as she was out the door, and inspected the clothes. They looked like the fancy stuff that pulls sweat away from your body, but I couldn't see a brand name. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realised she only grabbed shorts and a shirt, but left the underwear to me. Not that it would matter after pulling my sheets off. I smiled at the thought, but suddenly felt self-conscious, looking around the room as if someone was watching.

After I got dressed, I went looking for the kitchen. It took me a few minutes to realise it was just off the family room. I had missed it yesterday entirely. Looking at it, I don't know how I could have missed the place though. It was one of the largest rooms I had yet seen. It was a kitchen and dining room in one, but either was large enough on its own to fit all of us and some.

The kitchen portion was shaped like a large U. All of the amenities were present, including a stove built into both the main counter and the island sitting in the middle. There was a walk-in pantry that I could see into, but I wasn't sure I could see it all.

The dining room was the other half, containing a large table that could easily fit a dozen people comfortably. The chairs around the table looked opulent, and easily too much so for a group of people who seemed accustomed to roughing it.

Taharial was just moving food from the island to the dining room table when I came in, so I went straight for a seat. I can't say I recognised what the food was as a whole, but I recognised the individual parts. The main ingredient was scrambled eggs. The other ingredients looked like small pieces of thin steak, and the little white stringy bean things used in stir fry. I could never recall their name.

When we finished eating, Lailah had us relax for a bit. She said something about not training too soon after eating. I was too anxious to sit still, so I decided to wander around the house.

I found myself back in the library. The nameless volumes were too mysterious for my curious mind to pass up now that I was rested. This time I picked a random volume, and opened to the first page with words.

"The Crusades" it read. The next page started the text. "We started the crusades not to bring religion to heathens or reclaim holy land, as the church was lead to believe, but to clean out a rather large and organised nest of Tonug Gal."

The Murefre started The Crusades? "Holy shit." I caught myself whispering out loud.

I put it back and grabbed another volume. The first page read "The Black Plague." Another volume read "Atlantis." What the hell!? Half of these volumes are myth, the other half are history, and all of them talk about Murefre involvement.

I decided someone was going to answer me about what this meant. I turned and headed for the door, but as I was passing through the doorway I collided with something squishy. Wait, not something. Someone.

“Ah! Jeez Samael, where ye goin’ in such a hurry?” Armaita said.

“Armaita, so-sorry.” I said, a little startled. I ran her question through my head, and the frustration quickly reasserted itself. “I’m looking for answers.” I said, as I pushed the book that was still in my hand at her chest. “Care to explain these?"

Armaita had grabbed the book I thrust at her. She looked down at it, then back up at me. "Ye can read these already?” She sounded genuinely surprised “Normally someone takes guidance to focus on their predecessor's knowledge."

"I don't give a damn about that right now." I was feeling more pissed off by the minute.

"Come here." Armaita said as she walked past me towards a chair. "Sit, and I'll explain what I can to ye."

I hesitated for a moment, then decided to comply. Once I was sitting, she spoke up."We have a long history, and not all of it is morally clean." She paused a moment to choose her words carefully. "Our leaders have always made the choices they felt were right for the good of humans and Murefre."

"And what good came from The Crusades?" I asked, almost spitting the question like it was a weapon.

"Stopping a group of Tonug Gal that were buildin' an army." Her answer was calm. "They were buildin' an army to annihilate the Murefre and enslave humans. Fortunately our leaders saw it comin', and used their influence to direct the prominent power at the time."

Armaita lowered her head for a moment. When she raised her head again, she said "Not every choice we've made is the right one, and not every right choice is bloodless."

"So you're saying the ends justifies the means? That collateral damage is expected?" This wasn't making me feel any better.

"No. Not exactly." She replied "More like we try our hardest to preserve life, but sometimes we fail, or only partially succeed."

I shook my head, though I'm not sure if it was entirely in disbelief or disapproval. "It doesn't justify the deaths, Armaita."

"Ye aren't wrong. But how many deaths would there have been if the enemy had their way? Thousands more? Millions?" It sounded like she was pleading with me now.

"But who gets to decide who lives and who dies? That's no one's right."

Armaita looked sad. "No one is choosin' who lives and who dies. Not exactly. Soldiers defended themselves. And unfortunately, some people thought their home was under attack. It's complicated, I guess."

Armaita suddenly stood up. "I was comin' to take ye downstairs for training. We can discuss this later, when ye have thought things through, and when you read more than just the tagline." With that she walked out, as if certain I would follow.

I realised when I did start to follow her that my frustration was already fading.

***

* Raziel -

"How much longer are we sticking around here?" I heard Tzadkiel ask.

"Until I consider it appropriate to move on." I responded flatly. We were on day two of hiding out near Kashechewan Airport. So far there had not been any problems, but I could not take any chances.

"When Exousia gets back we will have some lunch, then you and I will go scouting." I said.

"Dibs on the northeast quadrant." Tzadkiel said abruptly.

"Not today brother. We scout as a team today. We're scouting southwest." I interjected with a firm tone. Tzadkiel didn't argue with me. Being a Murefre meant the mission came first. It was a subconscious directive. One that we were not so much a slave to as we were strongly compelled by.

When Exousia pulled up in the SUV, Tzadkiel and I helped her unload quicker so we could get the vehicle back under cover.

"So what did ya bring us?" Tzadkiel asked.

"Fuel for the generator, more food, more water." Exousia said plainly. "We should be good for another day or two on fuel."

"Good." I said. "We likely won't be here in two-to-three days, so this should be perfect."

As soon as the vehicle was unpacked and hidden again, Tzadkiel and Exousia picked out what to cook for lunch. Nothing extravagant, but we were all accustomed to living off of what was available to us when necessary.

We ate in silence, choosing to enjoy our meal while keeping our ears open to our surroundings. When we finished, I spoke up. “Exousia, you’re guarding the camp. Tzadkiel and I are scouting southwest.”

Exousia nodded, compliant with the orders she was given.

We headed out right away, not requiring anything more than the weapons we carried with us. We spread out to cover more area, staying within eyesight. I had my mace with me, but left it on my back. As I always did on patrol, the short sword normally sheathed at my waist was drawn. I encouraged all of my brothers and sisters to maintain the habit on patrol, but it was mandatory for my team. So every time I looked towards Tzadkiel and saw his warhammer resting against his shoulder, I knew I could relax my attention in his quadrant just a little.

We had travelled 150 metres or so when I thought I caught something out of the corner of my left eye. I looked that way, but didn’t see anything specific. I turned towards Tzadkiel, intending to signal him that I was going to check it out, when I saw him engaged with two Tonug Gal. I started to move in his direction but I sensed something behind me and spun on my heal, swinging my short sword at full strength.

My swing connected with the back end of a pitch black Tonug Gal arm. I caught it below the cutting part of it’s skin, where it was weaker, and cleaved right through. I reached for the mace on my back, while bringing my foot up and driving it into a flat spot on the creatures chest, launching it back against a tree with the satisfying sounds of shattering and a loud crunch.

As my mace was coming free, I brought it down on an angle towards the creature to my right, connecting with it’s shoulder. A loud screeching roar exploded from behind it’s bright white teeth, and I took the opening. I shoved the short sword in my left hand straight between the rows of teeth, going right down to the sword guard. I ducked with the weight of the falling Tonug Gal I just impaled, dodging the swing that penetrated the air where my head was only seconds before.

The third contender was pulling his hand back for a thrust. As he pushed forward with his weaponized arm, I stepped in and parried, then followed through with a thrust of my own from the head of my mace. The hit shattered some of the black shards on it’s chest and pushed the creature back a few feet. I shifted into a stance, ready for it to attack, when a brief whizzing ended in a wet penetrating sound. The creature paused for a second before it’s arms went limp, then it’s whole body. The arrow sticking sidelong through the creature’s head snapping on a protruding tree root before it came to a stop on the ground.

I looked to my left, and saw Tzadkiel, his bow now resting at his side. “You’re getting slow in your old age brother.” He said in jest.

“No time for jokes.” I replied. “We need to get back to camp.”

We broke into a run towards our camp, both knowing what could be happening there. We were fast, even on foot, but in battle it only took a split second for things to go wrong. We were within view of the camouflage covering over the vehicle when a loud explosion replaced what was once the vehicle with a wreckage of flaming, charred metal.

“Dammit!” I muttered a bit too loud. A few more seconds and we’re there. You damn well better be alive, Exousia.

When we burst through the trees into the clearing, I jumped through the air, tackling a Tonug Gal as it was about to land a blow on Exousia from behind. I grunted as one of the spikes on it’s abdomen punctured my clothes and into my shoulder. It didn’t feel deep, but I almost dropped my mace. I opted to drive my short sword into it’s chest instead, not trusting my right arm while the shoulder had a fresh injury. The creature gurgled and coughed a dark liquid before giving up the fight and succumbing to his fatal wound.

I shoved myself up, regaining my bearings as I heard multiple whizzing sounds from behind and to my left. The creature Exousia had in front of her when I entered the battle was on the ground, as dead as his brethren were, with arrows sticking out of their bodies like street signs saying “This way to hell.”

The other Tonug Gal were in retreat, and too far away to give chase right now. The immediate vicinity was clear. I turned to Exousia, her left arm was limp at her side, bloodied. Her left leg didn’t look too much better, and she had some blood on the left side of her face, dripping over a partially closed eye.

Tzadkiel and I were already moving to help her off her feet, but she fought us, as she tried to gather her breath. “They’re going after him!” She breathed out. “It was Temeluchus and Arioch.”

“Are you sure, Exousia?” I knew those names. This was not right. They should be dead. I should know, since it was a member of my team that killed them. “How can you be sure?”

She took a few breaths, then said “I recognised their voices, even in their transformed state. I couldn’t forget those voices.” She paused to breath a few more times. “They said ‘He’s not here. He’s with the other group.’, then Arioch ordered those few to stay and slow us down.”

“Dammit all to hell!” Tzadkiel exclaimed.

“We can’t give chase yet.” I said. “The others are at the cabin by now. There’s no way it can be penetrated, so we’ll wait a few hours for Exousia to heal up the worst of her wounds.” I said a silent prayer that Lailah and the others would be safe, then continued. “Tzadkiel, scout the airport and check on our other transportation. Do not engage the enemy. We’re clearly outnumbered.” My orders were firm, and my tone brooked no argument.

“Got it.” Tzadkiel replied, and then took off.

“How long do you think you need Exousia?” I asked. Individual Murefre had a good idea of how long they needed to heal based on how their bodies felt, and their own capabilities for healing. Of all the times, it occurred to me now that I hadn’t told Samael about that ability. Lets hope he doesn’t have to find out.

“Three, maybe four hours. Most of the wounds are superficial.” She answered. “It’s the head trauma we have to keep an eye on.”

I went over to the SUV to check if anything survived. The wreckage was still on fire, but even through that I could tell nothing was coming out of that unscathed. Our communication gear was kept in the vehicle, and without that we couldn’t radio the cabin and warn them.

I started back towards Exousia, but paused to see Tzadkiel coming back. When he was within earshot, I said “That was too quick.”

“It’s gone, Raziel.” He blurted out in haste.

“The planes? They scrapped them all?” I suddenly felt like the universe was playing a joke on us, and the punchline was “you’re screwed.”

“No. The whole airport.” He pointed to the smoke coming up over the trees.

“DAMMIT!” I yelled. “The communications gear is toast and we have no transportation. This can’t be a coincidence.”

“What next, brother?” I heard Tzadkiel say, sounding somewhat distant.

“Exousia needs to heal her wounds. Three-to-four hours, then we head out after them.” I said. “They are not exactly resourceful. That means they are likely on foot. That is roughly three days travel from here.”

“The others will hold out.” Exousia said. “They are skilled fighters, all of them.”

“Let us hope so, Exousia.” Tzadkiel added. He wasn’t joking anymore. That worried me more than anything we just went through. Hold out Lailah. We’ll be there as soon as we can.

***

* Samael -

“Close yer eyes, breathe, and picture a fight in yer mind.” Armaita said to me. “Let the imagery flow from yer mind, don’t force it.”

“If you say ‘wax on’, I’ll be sure to kick your ass.” I replied with a smirk.

“Focus.” She said sternly. “Now...attack!”

I lunged forward with surprising speed, throwing a roundhouse kick. I hadn’t lead with that yet, and I hoped to throw her off guard. She parried the attack and kicked out towards my planted foot. Before she could connect I threw my weight sideways, planting my right hand and grabbing her head between my ankles. I pulled, and she jumped into the move to guarantee she controlled the landing.

“Impressive. You’re getting better.” She said, but didn’t wait for my reply. She thrust her left foot forward. I dodged to the side, and nearly missed the elbow coming for my head. I blocked with my forearms in front of my face, which left my midsection open to the right hook. She didn’t hit hard enough to break anything, but it was going to leave a bruise.

I retaliated with a downward drive of my right fist, but she blocked before it could connect. She tried to bring her right fist up for an uppercut, but I surprised us both when I caught her fist in my open left hand. Her surprise didn’t last as long though, and she twisted around, grabbing my arm and flipping me over her back. As I hit the ground she dropped on her back and put me in an arm lock.

I could feel the pressure in my shoulder and elbow building, causing me to yell “Yield!”

“Not this time. Yer going to learn how to deal with this.” She said, sounding sympathetic.

I hadn't succeeded yet in finding a way out of an arm lock. It was a favourite submission in MMA for a reason, after all. To hell with it though. If I couldn't think my way out of this, I would try to force my way out.

I tried to find purchase with my feet and free arm, but couldn't get any. I decided to rock myself away from her while pulling with my trapped arm. The first time failed, and she tightened her grip. If she did that one more time my arm might break.

I took a breath, then let out a yell "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I pulled with every ounce of strength I thought I had, and my arm moved. I guess I pulled too hard though, because I didn't just raise my arm, I dislodged Armaita, propelling her through the air. She adjusted in midair, tucking into a roll and recovering.

"Good. You're getting better at tapping into your abilities." She said. "We will rest for the day. Shower and then we can grab some dinner."

I smiled in relief, and she smiled back. I hadn't really had a chance to stop and notice how attractive she was since that first time at the motel. I guess all that training got the blood pumping. She was sweat-soaked in a training bra and spandex shorts, with her hair back in a ponytail and her bangs stuck to her forehead.

I realised I was staring when she smiled again. I awkwardly turned away and walked off towards the showers.

When I got upstairs there was a powerful aroma of food working through the house. The smell was making my mouth water, and my imagination started running wild at what could be cooking.

The kitchen was alive with Lailah and Armaita working on something. I couldn't help my curiosity and asked "What smells so damn good?"

Lailah and Armaita both looked my way, but Armaita had that same smile on her face. She turned to Lailah who said "It's your first day of training, and you had a good start, so we are treating you to a special high protein dinner."

"You couldn't have made that sound more sanitised if you were trying." I replied as I laughed. "So is it spam? Because it smells damn good for spam."

Armaita tackled that one as she replied "It's not spam. Yer just lucky we are required to feed ye." She tried really hard to sound serious, but I saw the edge of a smile on her face again.

It occurred to me that antagonising the people who made my food was probably a bad idea. I looked at the table, which was empty of any preparations.

"Good idea Samael," Armaita said, looking my way. "You can set the table." Was she reading my mind now? "Oh, and only set two place settings. The rest have already eaten."

I looked at Armaita, then at Lailah, and then back at the table, and gave in. "Uh, okay." I wasn't sure what the appropriate placement was for two, so I set us across from each other.

It wasn't more than five minutes before the food was ready. Armaita sat down, while Lailah brought our meals over. A t-bone steak, some sort of seasoning and mushrooms, and what I'm guessing was blue cheese. They had made up some home fries to go with it, but the steak was calling my name, and I felt obliged to answer.

Lailah was surprisingly quick to leave the room, and as soon as she was out of earshot Armaita spoke up. “Ye better like yer steak in the range of medium rare, otherwise we’ll feel obliged to feed ye to the first Tonug Gal we see.”

I didn’t answer for a minute. I had cut a piece of the steak, and seeing the juicy pink inside made me want to forgo the niceties of using a fork. I stuck my fork in a couple mushrooms, scooped up some cheese, and then speared the piece I had cut off.

“You people are geniuses in the kitchen.” I said with half a mouthful still not chewed. “Where do you find the time to learn?”

“We’ve had lifetimes of experience.” Armaita replied. “Remember, the knowledge of our predecessors is ours as well. We just have to learn to access it.”

“If my predecessors learned to cook a steak half as well as this, I’ll never eat another meat for as long as I live.” 'I think I would ask for this as my last meal', I thought to myself.

Armaita slowed her eating  as she said “I was thinking after dinner we could go over some of the historical volumes. If ye would like.”

“Yeah, sure.” I was mildly surprised, but appreciative of the offer. After our last conversation, I half-expected all of them to start dodging further conversation on the topic.

“Good. I will pick one or two out when I'm done.” She said.

“Damn, this steak is awesome.” The other discussion wasn’t uncomfortable, but I couldn’t overstate how great this meal was.

“Ye said that already.” She laughed before adding. “Ye better have more diverse conversation in ye then that, or I’m bound to get bored and pass yer trainin' off to Taharial.”

I figured she was joking, but I replied anyway "Duly noted." Since I was being chastised for my conversation, I decided to try improving on it. "How long have you been a Murefre?"

"Samael! Were ye never taught not to ask a woman her age?" She said as she feigned offence.

I laughed and replied "Well it's good I'm not asking your actual age then."

"Ye have me there." She conceded. "Let us say that my dad fought in World War I before I was born.

"Wow." I said with a small measure of surprise. "You don't look a day over twenty five."

Armaita smiled "Smooth, it appears ye were taught to be a proper gentleman."

Armaita pushed her chair out and stood "Keep up yer winning streak and clear the table while I pick out what we are reading." She walked out of the room without saying anything else.

***

* Samael -

When I went looking for Armaita in the library, she wasn't there. I checked the family room, but there was no sign of her. Finally I figured I would check upstairs and see if she had gone to her room. As I passed my room I had to stop and take a step back. Armaita was in my room, sitting cross-legged on my bed, with three books sitting in front of her.

She waved me over, as if to imply her permission was required for me to enter. I reluctantly obliged her, and walked over to the bed, pausing only for a second to contemplate the situation.

"Ye get three choices to pick from tonight. The Black Plague, World War II, or Hacktivism." She said, then added. "All three are about the Murefre involvement in each.

"Wow. Tough call." I replied. "I'll take World War II for five hundred, Mr. Trebek." I said in my best Sean Connery voice.

"Only if ye promise never to do that again." She was trying hard not to laugh through a serious face. "Now get comfy." She said as she slid back against the pillows and stretched her legs out."

I matched her position beside her, awkwardly looking for a place to rest my hands. I settled with them clasped in my lap, and looked over to see what was on the page she had opened to. When she noticed me doing that, she leaned closer to give me a better view. I glanced at her, and for a moment I forgot we were supposed to be reading.

If she noticed, she politely pretended not to as she asked "So, what would ye like to know?"

"Did the Murefre start the war?" I asked, without thinking to sugar coat it.

"Kind of." She replied. "Germany was, well...complex at the time.” She said, then continued. “One of our brothers at the time was trying to make a community where Murefre and Tonug Gal worked together." She sounded saddened. "Somewhere along the lines, a Tonug Gal started influencing our brother and twisting his perception of events."

"I thought that wasn't possible. That we were...compelled to follow through with the mission." I interrupted.

Armaita shook her head gently. "We are in many ways still human. We are not forced to do or not do anythin'. We simply feel that compulsion." She raised a hand to stifle another interruption. "Anyway. The Tonug Gal convinced our brother that there was a faction within the German populace that was trying to take control through the economy, with the intent to overthrow the Dream."

"The Jewish people, right? Was there any truth to the claims?" I asked sympathetically.

She shook her head again "No. The German national Jewish people were largely humans. They were developin' as a strong people in the business sector." Armaita looked sad as she explained "They were a convenient excuse, and an even more convenient target."

I stopped to let that sink in before I asked "What about all of that expansion?"

"Our brother's mind was so twisted by that point that he was convinced the communal society he was working on was succeedin'." She took a deep breath "He felt that the success warranted pushin' the agenda on other countries."

"And what about Hitler? Was he Murefre or Tonug Gal?"

"Hah!" Armaita chuckled at that "He was a glorified errand boy. He was picked as a public face because he had charisma, but no ambition."

"So what the hell happened?" I blurted out abruptly.

"We assassinated our brother, the Tonug Gal went into hiding, but Hitler had already started developing his mental illness." She replied "He thought he was responsible for the successes of the German Wehrmacht, and that he could keep up the fight. That's about when he started makin' the mistakes that cost Germany the war.”

“Wow.” I said. “That's...nothing like the history we're taught.”

Armaita nodded in understanding. “Ye know all of that talk about Hitler's occult programs?” She asked.

“Yeah. Vaguely.” I replied.

“Hitler knew about us, because of our brothers influence. He was convinced he could find a way to turn himself into a Murefre. That it would let him communicate with God.”

"Is all of history like that? Filled with convoluted events that hide the Murefre's hand in them?" I asked.

Armaita nodded her head as she said "Pretty much. If not us, then the Tonug Gal. We have played integral parts throughout history."

"Let's change topics for now. I want to know how Murefre are involved in Hacktivism."

***

* Samael -

When I woke up, it took me a moment to get my bearings. I felt heavier on my left side for some reason, and there was another weight on my stomach.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes before I attempted to look around. When I did, I saw one of the books from last night resting on my stomach. I looked to my left and realised the weight there was from Armaita. She had passed out curled up against me with her head partly on my chest.

I instantly froze, not sure if I should shake her to wake her up, or just try to slip out carefully. I was saved the choice of that dilemma when she rolled on her back, stretched out, then rolled away from me and seemed to go back to sleep.

I slid out of bed, looked for a clean pair of clothes and headed for the door. Before I reached it, a groggy voice stopped me in my tracks. "Ye don't need to leave yer room. I need to go get changed anyway."

"Uh...Yeah. Okay." I replied awkwardly. "Umm, you can sleep...if you'd...like to...that is."

"Nah. We slept in. Ye need to get yer breakfast and we need to get ye trainin'." She said.

Armaita rolled out of bed and walked toward the door, smiling. It left me with an odd feeling, part curiosity and part allure. When she reached me, she paused to rest a hand on my shoulder and say "See ye downstairs." There was something seductive in her voice that gave me butterflies and goosebumps.

Once she was gone, I changed quickly and headed downstairs for breakfast. Despite Armaita's claim that we had slept in, Taharial was just finishing preparing the food. I went to the table, and nearly jumped when I realised Armaita was already there. She smiled, and I felt those same butterflies again.

"What took ye so long?" She asked in jest.

I slid into the chair across from her slowly, as I was finding myself feeling self-conscious for some reason. I lowered my voice so no one else could hear, and said "You mean how could I have started changing right when you left my room and still be slower than you?" I paused as she smirked and nodded, then I continued. "I think you guys have put a spell on me, deluding my sense of space and time." I returned the smile.

She burst out laughing at my terrible joke, before saying "At least ye're reply wasn't borin'."

We found our banter interrupted by Taharial with a large plate of pancakes and bacon. There was a variety of colours to the pancakes, like they were all different recipes. Taharial noticed the look on my face, and said "Banana, blueberry, strawberry." She pointed at each type as she said what they were.

Armaita joined in to say "Maple butter, regular butter, and maple syrup." Pointing at the three condiments. She immediately reached for one of each pancake, and spread maple butter on them followed by an unhealthy helping of maple syrup.

"Is that even healthy?" I asked.

Armaita smiled with a mouthful of pancakes before quickly swallowing it. "When in Canada..." She said, leaving the statement open.

I considered it a fair point, and grabbed one each of the banana and blueberry. I spread on some maple butter and syrup, then cut a chunk off each and took a bite.

I had never made a big deal over maple syrup before, but this was quite delicious. Better than any of the kinds I had tried in New York.

The look on my face must have said it all, as Armaita started to laugh and had to cover her mouth when she almost spit food out.

We managed to finish the rest of our breakfast without incident, and after cleaning up, we headed down to sub-level one for training.

We had only just stepped foot inside the sparring room when Armaita spun on her heel and brought her left leg up in a reverse roundhouse aimed at my head. I stepped back, twisted, and swung my right arm up to block, then grabbed her ankle with my left hand.

Not willing to give me breathing room, she spun further to bring her free right leg around for another kick. I immediately shoved her left leg away with all of my strength as I stepped back. Her right leg breezing past, centimetres from my face.

"Good. Ye're learning to not..." I didn't let her finish, as I lunged forward with a flurry of punches and close quarters kicks. Every time I got close to landing a hit, Armaita would parry and break into a flurry of her own.

We went back and forth like that countless times. Every once and a while, one of us would disengage, the other would close in, and we'd start again. I had lost track of time, and yet I didn't feel myself getting tired. I was starting to lose focus though. I was noticing more about her physical appearance as the sparring went on, like the sweat glistening on her skin.

In that brief moment I lost concentration, I found myself on my back, with Armaita straddling my waist and pinning my arms. I stared up into her eyes, and saw something I don't think I'd noticed before.

I saw an opening in that moment, and threw my weight into a reversal, flipping her. Armaita found herself now looking up at me. She met my gaze, and lifted her head. On instinct I lowered my head, a little at first, then I committed fully. My lips found hers, and we kissed, sharing the taste of sweet maple and salty sweat mixing together.

"Ahem." Someone said. I panicked and jumped off of Armaita, landing beside her on my butt and hands. Lailah was leaning in the doorway, arms crossed, and a schoolyard grin on her face. How long had she been standing there? My cheeks felt like they were burning. They must be bright red.

"Oh, hey Lailah." Armaita tried to say nonchalantly as she sat up. "Can we help ye with something?" I thought I picked up a bit of annoyance in her voice, but when I looked her way I noticed her cheeks looked as red as mine felt.

"You missed dinner again. Making progress at least?" Lailah asked.

"He's a quick study." Armaita replied. "If we were attacked tomorrow he would be an asset in battle."

"Oh, I’m sure you’ll find him an asset. Come get some food." She said, still smiling as she turned on her heel and walked out.

"I need five minutes to shower." I said

Armaita mumbled something I couldn't hear clearly. "What was that?" I asked, curiously.

"Oh, nothing." She replied innocently as her cheeks went red again.

I headed to the showers, feeling awkward as my male anatomy betrayed me, but my mind was racing at what had happened. Part of me wanted to turn around and do it again. I chose to try focusing on showering so I could get upstairs and eat.

When I got upstairs, food was being set at the table, with only two place settings again. Armaita was already sitting, so I took the seat opposite her. Tonight we were getting some sort of pasta. I think it had alfredo sauce on it, with chicken and some mixed vegetables.

The food was delicious, but my focus was almost exclusively on Armaita. I could still taste the mix of sweet maple and salty sweat, even through the pasta. It was probably in my head, but that made it even more prevalent in my thoughts.

Armaita clearly noticed that I kept staring at her, but she didn't seem to mind. She returned the look more than once, but with a fervent energy there as well. Something I could swear looked like hunger.

We both finished dinner at the same time. It was late, so I didn't think much of it when Armaita told me to clean up and then left without another word. I wondered if maybe something I had missed caused her to be uncomfortable, but nothing occurred to me so I put it out of my mind.

I figured it was a good time to crash, given the pitch black sky outside. So I headed upstairs to my room. First on the left at the top of the stairs was convenient. I opened the door to my room, where I was greeted by two hands reaching from the darkness.

 Before I could react, I was firmly pressed against the wall beside the door, a soft breath on my face as a pair of lips hovered in front of mine, the familiar eyes of Armaita probing mine for their equal in lust.

I closed the gap between our lips, answering her silent question. Reaching down to the edges of her shirt, I pulled it up over her head and discarded it into the darkness.

I lowered my hands down to grab her ass firmly and coaxed her up. She knowingly accepted, wrapping her legs around my waist, and I spun around to press her back against the wall.

She shifted her hips slightly, and I felt the ache between my legs like a throbbing need. I moved my attention to her neck, nibbling at the soft skin, relishing in the shivers it gave her.

Feeling the soft tickle of breath again as she gasped "The bed!" in my ear. With her legs still tied firmly around me, I carried her to the bed, discarding her bra somewhere along the way. I crawled onto the bed, lowering us down slowly while our lips continued to embrace each other.

I reached up with my right hand, grasping for her supple breast, massaging it gently until the nipple became erect. As I did, I felt the button and zipper of my pants come free at her behest. My breath caught at the sensation as her hand probed inside my underwear, grabbing my cock firmly in her hand.

My body threatened to succumb to her grip then and there, and I silently thanked her when she released the me to pull at my pants and underwear.

They slid down my thighs without protest, but required me to finish removing them. As I did, I made out the shuffling of Armaita in front of me removing her pants.

When I leaned down to meet her this time, I slid back and brought my lips to her inner thigh. Her skin became erect with goosebumps when my lips brushed gently against it, spreading where I kissed as I moved up her thigh.

When I reached the top of her thigh, her breath caught a moment and she tried to let out a moan. Not satisfied with the sound of her trying to hold back, I slid my tongue into the folds around her clit, smiling inwardly at the audible sounds of pleasure she could no longer withhold.

I drew circles around her clit with my tongue, building her up as I moved in closer to the prize in the middle. Just before I reached it, I pulled away a couple inches, starting the circles again.

I repeated that twice before Armaita couldn't take anymore. She tugged gently to bring my face up to hers, then she rolled me over, putting me on my back, and pinning me at the hips.

Her need to have me inside her was palpable, overshadowed only by the warm drip of her pleasure onto the skin of my cock as she hovered above it.

She reached down, grabbing hold of it and rubbing her warm juices along the shaft before pulling it up to spear into her as she lowered herself onto me.

I reached up with both hands, gripping her breasts softly as she gyrated in a circular motion, her hands resting on my chest, her head tossed back in the throes of her pleasure.

She leaned forward, swinging her long mane of hair to one side while she shifted to a rocking motion. Our breath came fast and heavy with our growing pleasure, feeling each others climax building.

I lifted my knees to give myself leverage, adding my firm, deep thrusts to the motion and bringing her forward.

Resting my hands on her ass, our pace quickened. I could feel myself filling up, ready to explode with her as her sounds of pleasure came in quick succession with her fast breathing.

We pushed against each other as we both let out a moan of ecstasy and release.

She collapsed gently onto my chest, head resting on my shoulder, our sweat slick between our skin. We stayed there for a moment, savouring the ghostly sensations still lingering in our bodies.

I reached over and pulled back the covers finally, allowing us to seek comfort beneath them. Armaita shifting, cuddling up to my side, settling her head on my chest. I found my hand naturally coming up to stroke her hair.

"Ye aren't boring Samael. I'm sure of that." Armaita said softly as she drew invisible circles on my chest.

I smiled at that, and said. “I’m a little surprised at what just happened.”

“I’ve wanted to do that to ye since we got here.” She replied unapologetically.

“And why didn’t you?” I asked playfully.

She looked up at me, keeping her head resting on my chest. “There’s a natural connection that can happen between two Murefre. It seems random, but tests have shown it’s not.” She continued. “It’s a very strong bond that connects them, making their ability to fight as a team exceptional. There are signs that the connection exists, signs that it’s getting stronger, and signs that it may also become intimate.”

“So what signs did you have?” I asked.

“Before we reached the cabin, there were a few subtle things. Like a feelin' akin to longing. A need to be close to ye. Whenever ye got those headaches during the travel here, I could feel them as well.” She paused briefly. “Even when ye were in the other SUV. But the telltale sign was when we were sparring. Ye and I seemed perfectly matched. Didn’t ye realise how odd that was?”

I shook my head. “Not at the time. I was sorta in the zone.”

“When two Murefre connect as deep as we have, they develop a way of communicating without saying anythin'. It’s more like a sense than communication, really. I've been feelin' it more and more since we got here.” She shifted and started to slide on top of me and gyrate. “Like the fact that right now I can feel yer hormones risin' again.”

I smiled at her, reaching for her hips and replying. “Time for round two.”

***

* Samael -

Sleep wasn’t overly forthcoming last night, so I was grateful for the Murefre ability to go without. It also afforded Armaita and I the chance to get downstairs early and grab some quick toast and eggs without any questions from the others about noise or the shared accommodations.

We managed to get into the sub-level training area before anyone else was awake. Armaita led me into a room I hadn’t seen before. She called it the Armoury. Floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall, and pedestals in the middle. The room had every kind of melee weapon imaginable.

“Take some time.” She said “Murefre are drawn to their first choice of weapons. Often by memories and experience from their predecessors.”

I walked around the room, trying to pick up on the feeling she was talking about. Nothing spoke to me on the wall racks, so I moved to the pedestals. The first one I walked up to had twin double-sided axes. Something inside me demanded that I pick them up. I slid the shafts out of the pedestal base, feeling the weight and balance.

“These.” I said matter of factually.

“And then there are Murefre who are drawn to the same weapon as the one they connect with.” She smiled.

I passed one of the axes to the other hand, freeing my left as I walked up to Armaita. I grabbed her behind the neck and said “Dual-wielding is pretty badass.” and then leaned in and kissed her.

“Don’t get ahead of yerself.” She said, ending the kiss somewhat abruptly. “Pickin' your weapons is not the same as usin' 'em. She walked through the other door in the room, and I followed.

This room was filled with some sort of practice dummies. Wooden, plastic, different metals. They were posed different ways, and all of them looked to be secured to the floor. I walked around the room with Armaita in silence, until we reached a wooden dummy.

She pointed at it and said “Same thing we started yer other trainin' with. Close yer eyes, picture the opponent, feel out the motions. Move when ye're ready.” Then she stepped back to give me room.

I closed my eyes and imagined the dummy where it was. I felt the spinning of the axes in my hands as I rotated my wrists. I thought about attacking the target, and then exploded into action. Swinging for the arms, following through with a swing at a leg, then the midsection, and then a kill shot to the head. I kept attacking in patterns. Damage the weapon arm, immobilise, debilitating blow to the abdomen, kill shot.

I was halfway between a set of attacks when I got this weird feeling in the back of my skull like a voice, but not. I couldn’t ignore it, and it sounded strangely like Armaita. “Behind you!” Was the impression the voice gave me. I swung around and a new practice dummy was swinging down from the ceiling. I dodged right and parried the attacking arm to the left, then brought my right axe full swing into the side of the dummies neck, cleaving halfway through.

Armaita started clapping. “Impressive.” She said.

“Was that you? That itch in the back of my brain?” I asked.

“Aye. Sort of. Not me so much as the sense that comes from our connection.”

I dislodged my axe and walked towards her. “It sounded like you. It wasn’t exactly words, but it made me think of those words being said by you. That’s...unnerving…”

“It takes some gettin' used to. Ye’ll adjust to it, I promise.” She replied.

“Are you saying you want to be in my head more?” I smiled mischievously at her.

Before I could say anything else, our ears were bombarded by some sort of alarm. Armaita didn’t pause to consider what was happening. She began running for the door back through the Armoury. It didn’t take any extra connection between us for me to know what I needed to do. I was half a second off her heels.

As we passed through the Armoury, Armaita snagged some sort of harness off the wall and tossed it back towards me. I caught it and kept moving, deciding I could figure it out as we discovered what was going on.

We pounced up the stairs two at a time side-by-side and came out in the main foyer. Lailah was already standing at the control panel, and I saw the faint glow of green gleaming off of her.

I let Armaita ask the questions, instead of us both trying to talk at once. “What set off the motion sensors?” She asked.

“Tonug Gal.” Lailah replied. “A lot of them.”

“How did they find us?” Taharial asked as she walked in from the main hallway.

“As of yet unknown, but Raziel’s team has missed their scheduled check-ins for the last 3 days.” Lailah said.

“I didn’t know they had scheduled check-ins.” Armaita jumped in.

“Neither did I.” Taharial added.

I put my hands up defensively. “Don’t look at me, I’m the new guy.”

Lailah lowered her head for a moment in contemplation, when she brought it back up she said “Only I knew.” firmly, interrupting further discussion on the matter. ”Raziel, Tzadkiel and Exousia have been running a decoy operation, trying to catch anyone following us.”

“So how did they find us?” Taharial asked again. “No one could have followed us, the sub would have picked that up. If there were a spy on the sub they would have killed us all in our sleep or scuttled the sub.” Taharial paused and looked at all three of us. “Where’s Charmeine?”

As if on cue another alarm sounded, this one wasn’t as loud, and came directly from the control panels. Lailah turned to the panel she was standing next to, now flashing red, and pressed the alarm icon on the screen. The display changed to a map of the house. A section of wall in the kitchen had an icon over it. A yellow triangle with an exclamation, flashing in one second intervals.

“Breach. Kitchen emergency exit. The alarm sounded because the security system detected Tonug Gal crossing the threshold.” Lailah said.

“Shite!” Armaita said, as she walked over to a corner of the foyer and kicked a panel at floor level. A panel level with her upper body opened, revealing a few weapons. Armaita grabbed the twin axes, and closed the panel.

Lailah did the same thing in the opposite corner, pulling out twin swords. They both looked at Taharial, who had brought her katana downstairs when she came. The scabbard was now strapped to her back, and the katana was in hand.

Armaita came over to me, my axes in one hand and the harness she threw me in the other. She grabbed the harness, spun me around, and reached around my front with two of the four straps. She clicked them into place, then grabbed the other two straps and did the same. “Try mounting the axes. No time to pull this one from memory.”

I took both axes and reached over my head with my left hand first, then my right. The left clicked properly, but the right axe missed a bracket. I pulled them both back out, and was about to try a second time when Armaita stopped me.

“Close enough.” She said. “If ye lose one in battle, ye won’t have time to worry.”

“Taharial and I will take the front, Samael in the middle, Armaita take up the rear.” Lailah barked her orders.

We started down the hallway towards the Kitchen, but before we were ten feet in they had already started coming down the hallway from the family room. They were swarming, covering the walls, the ceiling, and running straight down the middle on foot.

Taharial and Lailah broke into a charge, almost leaving me behind. The hallway was long, but we were running at a charging enemy, and it took only seconds to close the gap. Taharial launched into the air, targeting the one’s on the ceiling and right wall with her slashes. As she took that side, Lailah ran up the left wall cutting at more Tonug Gal. I didn't know why exactly, but for some reason I knew they were trying to get in behind the enemy.

That left the middle for Armaita and I, and I could sense that she was fine with that. My first attack was a criss-crossing swing from my axes, starting with my arms crossed. The move caught the first wave, cleaving off several heads and limbs and leaving large gashes in those that survived. As my arms reached their outside swing, two axes came thrusting through on either side of me underneath my arms, catching two more in the midsection with the pointed center shaft. Armaita retracted her axes, coming up alongside me. We moved mere inches from each other, cutting a swath through the creatures, as we smoothly moved in unison. We were working towards Taharial and Lailah who had disappeared on the other side of this group of enemies. Anyone watching us spinning and weaving around each other as we took down the enemy would swear we had practised for years together.

We were nearly at the end of the group when I felt a wave of fear and concern from Armaita. I don’t know if it was because of last night, or the heat of battle, but the sensations from our connection seemed to be getting stronger. I didn’t have time to worry about that though, as I followed where her gaze had been and saw Taharial standing protectively over Lailah, who was on the floor and bleeding.

We cut down the last of the Tonug Gal still in our way, and ran over to Taharial. Once I could see Lailah, I didn’t need to ask what happened. She had a foot of wooden shaft in her left midsection, broken at either end. The other sides of the spear were laying on the ground, and at the end of the hallway was Charmeine with a smug look on her face.

“That bitch is mine!” Taharial said, letting all formality slip from her speech. She was about to break into a run when Armaita and I grabbed either arm.

“Get Lailah upstairs.” Armaita said. “We’ll cover ye.”

Taharial lowered her head, then resigned her struggle to get free and sheathed her katana. She knelt down and grabbed Lailah under the arm, carrying most of her weight as they retreated back towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

Armaita looked at me, and I just nodded. I knew what she was saying, and she knew I would back her up. We turned back toward Charmeine, and started walking towards her instead of back. A few Tonug Gal had remained back with her, but she raised an arm to tell them not to interfere. She started walking, drawing the pike off of her back as she came, Once it was free, she launched into a full sprint.

Armaita and I matched her charge, running side-by-side. As we closed in, Armaita dropped to her knees, sliding across the floor as I launched into the air. We would take her from above and below at the same time. But just before we started the swing of our axes, Charmeine pushed off the ground and put herself into a spiral horizontal with the ground and perpendicular to the length of the hallway.

The move caught us off guard, passing between us. She caught my feet as she went through, throwing me towards the ground. I barely managed to lean into the tumble and land on my back rather than my head. Charmeine tried to take the opening, but Armaita had already recovered and caught the downward slice in her axes. I could sense her protective feelings, and the sense of pleasure in thwarting Charmeine’s attack. I added to the inconvenience by crossing my axes over top of her pikes shaft, preventing her from retracting it.

Before we could savour the victory, and act on our advantage, Charmeine smirked. I couldn’t understand why, so I followed her gaze past Armaita. I didn’t have enough time to react. Only think one word. “Dodge!!” Armaita responded immediately, shifting to her left, but she wasn’t quick enough. A Tonug Gal had thrust it’s sword-like right arm forward, penetrating through Armaita’s right shoulder.

I felt an ounce of fear for a brief moment, but it was overridden by a powerful rage that boiled up from inside me. I threw my axes at the Tonug Gal hovering over Armaita and his friend coming up beside him with so much force it caught them both in the upper body and drove them back into the new wave moving forward.

I was already back on my feet when Charmeine tried to make a thrust with her pike. Without thinking I reached down to parry it with my arm, but ended up catching it in my hand. My black, spike-covered hand. This wasn’t my hand. I tried to move the fingers and crushed the shaft of the pike instead, breaking the end off. I raised both hands, and they were the same. Black, covered in spikes, with fingers like sharp claws.

When I turned back towards the army of Tonug Gal, they had paused. Not sure how to react to what they were seeing. I looked back to where Charmeine was, but she had disappeared. I reached down and picked Armaita up with clenched fists so I didn’t accidentally cut her. Before the creatures could consider their options, I broke into a run for the stairs.

By the time I got to the bottom of the stairs, my hands had returned to normal. Lunging  up the stairs, and only pausing long enough at the top to activate the lockdown panel. I hoped that would slow them down long enough.

Taharial was poking her head out of a room, keeping watch for us. I sprinted to her, let Armaita down on her feet and said “Take her. I’ll get the door.”

I didn’t wait for a reply. I focused on my hand, forcing the black claws to return. They cooperated, and I shoved them through the control panel on the inside of the doorway, quickly ducking through as the door automatically closed. Taharial spun around, but before she could respond the door was shut.

“What are you doing Samael!?” A muffled voice came through the door.

I kicked the wall below the control panel to release the manual pressure lever before answering. As I pumped the lever to build pressure, I yelled “If someone doesn’t stop Charmeine, she’ll just release the door from another panel.”

“Don’t do this Samael! You can’t take them all on!” Another muffled plea through the door.

“I don’t need to kill them all. Just one.” I said quietly to myself.

As I walked towards the stairs, the lockdown panels started to lift. I looked down at my hands and thought of the dual-sided axes I had discarded downstairs. The black substance covering my hands morphed and transformed, matching the images in my head. I smiled, and ran full tilt at the stairs.

The first Tonug Gal coming up the stairs took the ends of both my axe hands in the chest, driving him down the stairs and tumbling his brethren behind him. He hit the floor at the bottom of the stairs, and I used the momentum to push up and off, flipping over the others. I landed with my back to the front door, and every single enemy in front of me. Charmeine was somewhere near the back of this pack, which meant I needed to go through them to get to her.

I shoved off, lunging forward at the first line of creatures. I picked two targets at a time, using my patterns from training as I targeted weapon arms and legs first. Right away I felt the missing reach from my axes, but I couldn’t coax my hands to extend the axe heads any further. I dodged right, nearly catching a close call. I kept pushing myself. Harder, faster. She couldn’t be allowed to live.

A blade caught my right arm. I winced and kept fighting. Another caught my left leg. I couldn’t put as much weight on it anymore. I tried to dodge a thrust for the middle of my stomach, but it caught my right side.

Almost there. I pushed the last few aside and lunged at Charmeine, no more weapons in sight for her to use. One more step and...I nearly toppled into Charmeine. I looked down, and Charmeine had pulled a dagger that was now buried in my stomach down to the guard. I coughed, and blood spattered on her jacket. I felt something sharp stab into my back, and then another one. I looked over my shoulder, but I couldn’t turn all the way. Out of the corner of my eye, I could barely see a Tonug Gal, but he started blur. Charmeine was getting blurry too, and the walls.

“Tears won’t save your sweet lover.” Charmeine whispered in my ear, her voice dripping with acid.

"Why?" I managed between coughs.

She pulled back so I could see her smile. "Just. Following. Orders." The last word was more of a grunt as she twisted the blade inside me.

The fear and rage started to return, but I couldn’t lift my arms. Were they still covered in the axe heads? With that thought my hands felt lighter. I raised them and wrapped them around Charmeine as tight as I could.

“What are you doing?” Charmeine yelled. “Let go of me!”

“I won’t let you have her.” I managed to choke out. My body was feeling warmer. Shouldn’t it be getting colder? I thought you got colder when you lost blood. I closed my eyes and smiled. The feeling was nice. It was getting warmer, and brighter? My eyes were closed, but it was so bright.

Then the light started fading, and I felt a sensation like falling, and a thump, and then the bright light was gone. There was only darkness.

***

* Raziel -

“Raziel! There!” Exousia yelled. I looked to where she pointed, and saw a beam of white and red light coming from the direction of the cabin.

“Pick up the pace.” I yelled. We were close, but the sinking feeling in my gut feared we were too late.

It still took several minutes to traverse the terrain and get in view of the cabin. The front door and windows were all locked down, but as we got closer I could see holes in every surface on the first floor.

As we came up on the cabin, I realised the holes were uniform. Perfectly round, and clean like a laser had cut through them. The front door and lockdown plates had a large gaping hole that covered part of the wall beside it. I signalled Exousia and Tzadkiel to go around the sides of the cabin before walking up to the front. The outside control panel and the manual lever were missing large pieces. Whatever created the larger hole had caught the lower left corner of the control panel, and the entire upper-half of the lever when it annihilated the rest of the walls.

I stepped through the hole, having to duck to fit through, and what I saw was pure destruction. The inside walls were no better than the outside, but it was the countless bodies and parts of dead Tonug Gal that first caught my eye. They were mostly charred, few were recognisable as more than a pile of remains. I looked for signs of my team, but there were none to be found here that I could see.

Beside the stairwell leading to the second floor, I saw what looked like ground zero for a blast. The bodies were spread around a circular area, with only blackened bones crumpled in the middle and what looked like a harness for axes. My first thought was Armaita, but the harness straps were too long. It was sized for a male. I didn’t waste anymore time with the dead. I rushed up the stairs, and noticed one room was locked down with the manual lever out. I checked the other rooms first, but they were all open. Why was the manual lever used on the outside? Did someone try to get in?

There were no signs of battle up here at all. None of this was making sense. The only answers we might find were on the other side of this door. As that thought occurred, Exousia and Tzadkiel came rushing up the stairs. “Survivors? Bodies?” I asked in a whisper.

“Negative.” They said in unison.

“None outside the hallway, that is.” Exousia added.

“This is the only room on lockdown upstairs. We need answers, so we're going in.” I said. “Tzadkiel on the lever. Exousia, stack up.”

I counted down from three in a whisper, and on zero I nodded to Tzadkiel. He squeezed the pressure release on the lever handle and flipped it up, causing the lockdown plate to raise. I rushed in, weapon at the ready, with Exousia hot on my tail. We stopped dead in our tracks just inside the door. The first person I saw was Lailah, laying on the floor, a piece of wood piercing her left from front to back. Armaita was on her back, a bandaged wound through her right shoulder still looking fresh. Neither moving. Taharial sat between the two, her eyes showing signs of recent tears.

“What the hell happened here?” I asked, losing some of my composure as I knelt down to check Lailah’s pulse. She had one, but it was weak.

“They’re alive. We’re all alive...thanks to Samael.” She looked at me, expecting something from me. When I didn’t give it to her, she asked. “Where is he? Did you see him?”

I paused to consider the implications, but shook my head. “There’s a lot of bodies and burned parts down there, but none of them are recognisable...” I left the sentence open for a moment, then added “There was a harness, for dual axes. The straps appeared to be fitted for a male.”

Silence fell over the room. No one wanted to say it, but we were all thinking it.

“Charmeine…” Taharial abruptly interrupted, then paused and zoned into a complete daze.

“Charmeine betrayed us.” She replied, pausing as if that answered everything. We all sat there staring at her expectantly, but she was slow to continue. When she did, there was a hatred in the undertone of every word, and she nearly spit every reference to our traitorous comrade. “She let them in, we were swarmed. Lailah and I pushed to the rear of the first wave, creating a pincer between us and the others. We didn't even see Charmeine until her spear cut through Lailah. Samael and Armaita pushed through to us, and then covered me while I got her up here. They were supposed to be right behind me, but something happened. Armaita was injured.”

She sniffled, in danger of crying again, but managed to bury it beneath more anger and continue. “Samael got her up here, and he was supposed to be putting the room in lockdown, but he destroyed the control panel.” She pointed at the perforated touchscreen as she mentioned it. “He must have pumped the manual lever outside, because I couldn’t open the door from in here. Before he stopped responding, he said he needed to stop her.”

“Dammit!” I yelled for the fourth time in recent memory. 'How many bodies were in that circle.' I thought to myself.

“I’m sorry Raziel. We failed.” Taharial said, dejected.

I shook my head. “No. I failed. I suspected we had a traitor, but even through my paranoia, I never truly believed one of my own team would be it.”

“So what do we do now?” I heard Tzadkiel say, but his voice sounded distant as I drifted off into my thoughts again.

***

* Samantha -

22 years later

Victoria Park

Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

My mom and I frequented the park daily. A perk of living close by. She taught me how to fly a kite here, and how to play frisbee. For as long as I can remember, we’ve come to the same park. Little ever changed here, and I’m happy with that. Change is good when it means a better job, more money, or some other convenience. But life rarely gives us the nice changes, so I keep coming here to enjoy something that doesn’t change.

I had no reason to believe that anything would be different today, so I didn’t think much of the man in a hoody and long jacket that walked up to the bench my mother and I were reading on.

“Hello Armaita.” I heard him say. I thought he was talking to someone else, so I completely ignored him.

But then I heard a voice I’ve known all of my life reply. “Fuck off.”

My book dropped in my lap, as I turned to my mother with my jaw nearly falling to meet the book where it now rested. I can’t ever recall her swearing, and although she wasn’t a prude, it just didn’t sound natural even with her Irish accent.

“Is that any way to treat an old friend?” He said in kind.

I looked up at the man, but couldn’t conjure a memory to match the face. 'How did he know my mom?' I thought to myself.

“Whatever it is ye want, I’m not helping. So you can ju…” Mom paused mid-sentence. Her face suddenly contorted into one of pure shock. I was getting worried now, as I watched the colour drain from her face. She stood up, looking in every direction frantically.

I stood with her, reaching for her shoulder and pleading for an answer “Mom, what’s wrong?” I looked at her, than at the man standing in front of us. “Who the hell are you? What do you want?”

Mom stopped looking around, her gaze now fixed in one direction. She found what...no...who she was looking for. It was another man in a hoody and long jacket. She ran the twenty or so metres to him faster than I’ve ever known her to run, and threw her arms around him. He embraced her with a strong grip in return, while I stood there trying to figure out what was going on.

With everything that had just happened, It shouldn’t have been possible to surprise me, but I couldn’t have expected what came next. Mom released the man from her hug, and punched him in the face. Not slapped, but punched. Apparently my mom was a badass, and no one told me. But then she surprised me again as they both reached for each other and embraced in a kiss. I hadn’t been in many relationships, but I was pretty sure I could recognise passion when I saw it. They had a connection, and I didn't understand why or how.

“Come on Samantha, he’s dying to meet you too” The man said. 'Why would this random man want to meet me?' I almost asked. “Wait, how do you know my name?” I blurted out frantically . I was freaking out at everything that was going on, and nothing made sense. I looked at the man standing in front of me with a healthy quotient of distrust.

He waved me forward, and said “All in due time, child.”

I didn't want to let him out of my sight, so I took a firm stance and extended my hand towards where my mom stood. “After you. I insist.”

The man smiled, then nodded and obliged.

When we got over to Mom and the other man, they stopped their embrace immediately. The first man motioned in my direction and said “Clever, with a healthy amount of distrust for strangers. Nothing like you at her age.”

“What did he mean at my age?” I thought to myself. Now that I was closer, I could see the second man better. He looked my age. There was something familiar about his face though. Like I had seen it countless times before.

Mom spoke up before my tongue started it's barrage of questions. “Sam, this is Raziel.” She pointed to the first man, and he nodded as a courtesy. “And this is Samael.” She said, pointing to the second man.

The one she called Samael stepped forward. I thought he was going to shake my hand, but I found myself in the grips of a firm hug instead. “You have no idea how much I've wanted to meet you.” He said.

“Who the hell are you people?” I asked, still in the grips of the hug that was quickly turning awkward. “What do you want?”

Mom chimed in to defend at least one of my questions “The latter is a great question.” She said, releasing some of her exuberance for a bit of acid in her tone. “What the hell do ye want?” She had taken a firm stance that I had seen countless times before.

“We shouldn't talk here, Armaita.” Raziel sounded like he was pleading a case with Mom “We need to get somewhere safe. There's a lot going on.”

“Ye can start right here.” She said firmly “And I'll decide from there if I want to bother goin' with ye.”

“Dammit Armaita!” Samael said “We don't have time for this. They're coming.”

“Who's coming?” I asked more naive innocence then I intended.

Raziel was getting more fidgety by the second until he stopped and tapped the back of his hand against Samael's arm. Without turning away from where he was looking, he pointed in a direction and we all turned to see what had captured his gaze.

“Shit! They're here!” Samael exclaimed.

“We don't have time. It's going to have to happen here.” Raziel said.

“What do ye mean?” Armaita yelled at him in response.

Samael grabbed Armaita's shoulders and backed her up. “We have to, it's the only way. She needs to be able to protect herself.

Mom's eyes started to fill with tears. I didn't understand what was going on, but it was upsetting her.

“No Samael.” She pleaded. “We can protect her. Let her keep her innocence.” All of her anger from before had faded, and the look she was giving Samael was that of fear and begging. “Please don't. She's yer daughter, Samael.”

“I know.” Were the last words I remembered. There was sharp pressure on the front of my shirt. I looked down to see two knives sticking up into my stomach, just below my ribcage. I waited for the pain and the blood, but there was none. When I followed the hands holding the daggers, it led me to the face of Raziel. I swear I could see sympathy in his eyes as his lips moved. I couldn't hear what he said. I couldn't hear anything, but I knew the movements they made. “I'm sorry.” They said.

I turned to where my mom was, and I saw her reaching for me, tears still in her eyes. Samael was holding her back, but it didn't look like he had to try that hard.

It took me a few moments to acknowledge the sensation of warmth that was growing inside my chest. I looked back down, but there was nothing. The daggers were gone, and Raziel had backed away. The warmth started to spread through my body, and I could feel it reach my fingers. They couldn't contain all of the warmth, so it burst free from the tips. A red light shined from my left hand. I looked to my right hand, and it shined white.

All of my muscles contracted at once, and I couldn't convince them to relax. I was suddenly feeling light, like I was floating. The trees around me looked like they were shrinking beneath my view, but I couldn't look down to see the ground. I closed my eyes, hoping for this to all be over, and everything seemed to get blindingly bright.

Several lifetimes of memories flashed through my mind in seconds, and I remembered where this all began.

I remembered thinking ‘Nothing ever prepared me for what’s happening right now’...and then the world faded to black.

La Fin

Glossary of Phonetic Pronunciations

Murefre - (Mew-ef-ra)

Tonug Gal - (Tow-nug Gal)

Synod - (Sin-odd)

Luminari’el - (Loo-min-ar-ee-el)

Samael - (Sam-ai-el)

Gavri’el - (Gav-ree-el)

Mikhae’el - (Meek-hai-el)

Rafae’el - (Raf-ai-el)

Uri’el - (Yur-ee-el)

Akrasi’el - (Ack-rass-ee-el)

Remi’el - (Rem-ee-el)

Saraqae’el - (Sar-ah-kai-el)

Lailah - (Lie-lah)

Raziel - (Raz-ee-el)

Darda’il - (Dar-dah-eel)

Hael - (Hai-el)

Exousia - (Ez-oh-sha)

Tzadkiel - (Zad-kee-el)

Charmeine - (Shar-main)

Armaita - (Ar-mai-tah)

Taharial - (Tah-har-ee-al)

Sraosha - (Srow-shah)

Temeluchus - (Tem-el-yew-kuss)

Arioch - (Ar-ee-ock)