The Chronicles of the Four Heirs: WAR

Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning more groggy than usual, most likely because I had slept in an actual bed that night instead of my usual lump of blankets on the ground. 

As the sunlight peaked through the window blinds and onto my face, I sat up stretching and looked around my room. The room really did look like something out of a history book, everything was old and dusty, but the decor was outdated, and everything was left just as it was when the original occupants were here. 

On the table in the corner of the room were some clothes that Silas had left for me. As I pulled the folded clothes open and looked at them, they reminded me of a Karate outfit. There were white pants and a white top that buttoned up the front. Pretty on the nose since I was to be learning how to fight like an angel. 

I put the Clothes on and walked down the stairs from my room. When I got into the living room Norma Jean was laying on the couch reading a magazine that had most likely been sitting on the coffee table since before the war began.

“Good morning John,” she said not even looking from her reading material and half-heartedly flipping through the pages.

“Morning,” I replied.

“Silas is waiting outside for you,” she said pointing towards the door. She had been pretty cold towards me the last couple days most likely due to the fact that she had been questioned pretty hard about who I really was or what I was and now she was stuck here with me because we were linked or something.

As I walked out the front door and out of the porch Silas was standing in the front yard with his hands resting behind his back facing off into the mountains. As I got closer, I noticed he was just basking in the morning sun with his eyes closed remaining perfectly still. 

“Good morning John,” He said quietly without opening his eyes, “are you ready to begin today’s lesson?” 

“What will we be doing,” I asked.

“The first step in any Nephilim’s training is to teach you how to center yourself through Scrying,” he stated as he turned to face me. 

“You see the power that flows through you transcends time and space,” he continued waving one of his hands through the air, “the power of a Nephilim even though it is celestial is on par with the cosmic forces of the universe, it is life but also death, and with it you can perform more powerful feats than I.” 

I listened to Silas explain what it meant to be a Nephilim. He explained that the Nephilim were not abominations as many of angel kind would have you believe but a result of god’s love and trust in mankind. The Nephilim were meant to be the next step in human growth, but because of the Angels anger towards the Nephilim abilities and what it meant when they would arrive in heaven, the Nephilim were hunted down by the renegade angels and destroyed as soon as they came to be. From what Silas told me if the Nephilim were to ever rise and take control of heaven, they would hold a status higher than that of the Seraphim because a Nephilim’s power was greater than theirs. 

The angels were not the only ones who want Nephilim around either. Because a Nephilim had a soul they could end up in Hell as well and because a soul can be corrupted a Nephilim could easily rule hell which is why there were demons who specifically hunted Nephilim as well.

“Why am I still alive if the Nephilim are being hunted by both heaven and hell just to be destroyed?” I asked.

“The Nephilim are only hunted by Renegade Angels and the Demonic Legions, also no one knew of your existence to begin with” He said bluntly, “you see after Lucifer’s rebellion, which we call the Rise of the Morningstar, he had his Legions hunt down and destroy the Nephilim. It is true that most Angels look at the Nephilim as an abomination however they are also part human which gives them a soul, and because of God’s word we cannot kill that which has a soul.”

“Wait how does that work,” I asked, “I’ve seen angels kill humans.” 

Silas chuckled, “when a human uses an angelic weapon to kill, he loses his soul, it becomes corrupt and eventually disappears into nothing, also any human who has sold his soul or has no soul to begin with can be destroyed. We as angels can sense a person’s soul or lack thereof. Darkness lives in everything and it is that darkness which we are tasked to destroy.”

He continued his story, “now as with anything in the universe you have an opposite, the other side of the coin if you will. Just as the Nephilim are to Angels, Cambion are to demons.”

Pausing only for a moment to take a breath he continued. 

“The Cambion are the offspring of the succubus. Typically, a succubus will take control of a host body and seduce a human which will give birth to a Cambion. For all the Angelic power of the Nephilim the Cambion has equal in demonic power. However, they are subject to the same universal laws, they also have a soul, so a Cambion who has been taught nothing but love and compassion could go to heaven. This is why the Cambion just like the Nephilim are hunted, but because the soul is already corrupt due to their parentage that is how angels can destroy a Cambion.” Silas paused a moment to let his teaching sink in.

“So, my universal opposite is the demonic version,” I asked.

“Correct,” He said quickly. 

“Ok, so what does all this have to do with centering myself?” I asked confused.

“As with making anything truly centered, one has to understand the light and dark elements of who they are. By accepting that you are both helps you maintain the balance,” he said.

“Ok so what do I do then?” I asked confused.

“In earth’s history there have been many different religions in which a person can achieve enlightenment. Not one was the complete way, but they all had an aspect of the truth. One such religion was what was called Buddhism.” Silas said as he put his hand on my shoulder, “part of Buddhist enlightenment is self-discovery within your own life force. It is one of the many teachings of that faith but what people didn’t realize is that centering one’s own life force is how an angel derives its power and it is this method we call Scrying.”

“Ok?” I replied not knowing where he was going with all of it.

He motioned for us to sit on the ground facing the mountains. As I did, I could feel the cold morning dew on my clothes but also the warmth of the sun on my face. 

“Now meditation is an important aspect of life, it allows you to reflect but also to face that which could be holding you back.” He said quietly, “now I want you to close your eyes and focus, breathe in deeply, and look deep inside your mind, what do you see, what do you feel, what is it that enters your mind.” 

I closed my eyes and breathed in slowly and began to relax as he said, but I didn’t see anything I just sat there. 

“What do you see,” he asked quietly.

“Nothing, it’s all dark because my eyes are closed,” I replied jokingly opening my eyes and looking at Silas.

“Don’t try and focus on what your eyes see try and focus on your spirit,” he said calmly.

I closed my eyes again and instead tried focusing on the center of my being. Within my mind I could see everything that made me, well me. But I didn’t feel any overwhelming surge of cosmic power or awareness as he had described it, I just felt like I was traveling through my own memories as far back as I could go. Just as if I was seeing myself through the eyes of those around me.

Then I felt something, almost like a chain breaking on my body, but it didn’t hurt it just felt like it gave way, I was breathing easier I was more focused, it almost felt like a weight had been lifted off me.

“Good,” Silas said quietly, “now shift your focus outwards, instead of drawing on yourself see what you are around.”

I did as he said and tried to see outside of myself, but that’s all I could see was me sitting there, but I didn’t see me as a person I was seeing what I was, I could see a blue light around me, it felt like I could see my own spirit and the warmth that it gave off was soothing. 

While I was marveling at this newfound awareness of myself, I could start to feel the life around me, the trees, the animals and I could feel almost like a tether to each of them. As I started to move my consciousness around Silas spoke.

“Alright that’s enough for today,” I heard Silas say softly. 

As I opened my eyes, I noticed the sun was beginning to set. “How long have we been sitting here,” I exclaimed.

“Three days,” Norma Jean yelled from behind us. 

I turned and faced her, “What!” I exclaimed, “how... when...,” I was utterly lost on how I lost so much time in what felt like mere moments.

Silas chuckled a little bit, “when you are Scrying, time moves differently, and it can be slower or faster depending on how skilled you get, some like Norma Jean and myself can use our skills to accomplish a great deal in a very short amount of time, almost in an instant. However, with your novice experience in the task what feels like a couple minutes can actually be hours, or days. There used to be humans who would sit atop of waterfalls and do this sometimes for weeks without moving.”

Then Silas got serious, he no longer smiled or carried a cheerful tone, “however there is a danger, the longer you spend Scrying the more you open yourself to attack because you are in a sense helpless. There will come a time where you will develop what we call Omnipresence, where you can see and feel everything in the cosmos, but while you can do that others who can use this skill will sense you. So, while you will soon be able to sense your surroundings and see an attack, if you spend too much time marveling at one thing your enemy could just as easily find you.” 

He straightened his back and clapped his hands together, “now I believe it is time for some food, I’m sure Norma Jean has prepared something wonderful for you, and I must tend to some other business.” He then stood up, turned on his heel spread his wings and flew off towards the sunset leaving Norma Jean and myself standing in front of the cabin. 

As I sat there for a moment and reflected on this lesson, I suddenly felt hungry, most likely because I hadn’t eaten in a couple days. I got up off the ground and started walking towards the house 

Once we were inside Norma Jean motioned for me to sit at the table, she had cooked A rabbit that she probably caught somewhere around the house. 

“Hope you enjoy your food,” she said coldly as she began to walk into another room. 

“Wait,” I said quickly as she stopped in the doorway still facing away, “what’s going on with you, I don’t ever remember you being this cold when we were working together.”

“Your still new to all of this,” she said turning her head in my direction, “it’s not your fault that we were Linked.”

“Ok, Kanan, Silas, and you keep saying that, but I have no idea what that means,” I replied quickly.

She turned and faced me with an angry expression on her face, “that’s just its John, you wouldn’t know what it means, it’s not your fault but it’s not a position I like to be in myself.”

She let out a breath as she rolled her eyes and pulled out the chair across from mine, resting both elbows on the table as she explained, “being Linked means just that we are bound to another forever. When an angel’s spirit latches on to another’s they are meant to guard and protect each other, because what one experiences the other will as well.” 

“I’m lost,” I replied confused, “so we’re like married or something?” 

She said something in Enochian before continuing, “no you i***t, this is worse, basically we’re stuck with each other for all eternity because I’m a lower choir of angel than you, part of my power is stuck in you and part of your power is in me, so when ones of us dies the rest will find its way to its fragmented piece and whatever pain you feel I will feel as well. Then when I die, I will be stuck inside your head forever and my abilities and power will be at your disposal.” She paused for a minute and it felt like she was about to say something else but stopped and look down.

“Oh,” I replied quietly. Now that it was explained I could see why she would be frustrated. 

“Like I said it’s not your fault you didn’t know of your angelic parentage and neither did I. What is worse is that I didn’t even sense your celestial energies when we first were first assigned to each other. There was no soul rejection on our first mission, and then we became so into each other’s lives our spirits became synced so that’s why we are linked.” She said leaning back in her chair, “so if I die you will continue living but if you die, we both die.” 

“So that’s why you were assigned to Silas and me, your here to protect me until I can fight on my own, so nothing happens to you,” I said with my head held down.

“Pretty much,” she said shaking her head and getting up from the table.

“Well for what it’s worth I’m sorry you’re in this position,” I said not looking up.

“Like I said it not your fault you just have to do your best to stay alive,” she said quietly as she got up and walked into the living room. 

I wanted to say something to her, but I didn’t know what to say. Something inside me was telling me to try and continue the conversation but I became disheartened and got up and walked up the stairs to bed.

As I laid in bed that night, my thoughts were racing through my head preventing me from sleeping, all I could think about was how messed up it was that Norma Jean, and I were basically stuck together for all eternity unable to get away from another. 

After hours of tossing and turning I finally fell asleep, but morning came just as had fallen asleep. Again, I walked downstairs to find Norma Jean lying on the couch just staring at the ceiling and again pointing towards the door. 

The next couple of weeks were purely meditation and Scrying. I was learning how to get faster at it instead of taking two or three days. Silas has told me eventually I’ll be Able to do without even closing my eyes, but for now it still takes me about a day to do it. I was also able to see my surroundings instead of feeling them. It was weird at first almost like an out of body experience, but I was told to think of it as extra set of eyes I could see anything with. When I Scryed I could see and feel the life around me, but I could also utilize my basic instincts to sense danger around me. Silas was constantly hitting the back of my head with a stick so I would learn to sense without thinking about it. 

He was also teaching me about creation and destruction, part of an Angels abilities is to reshape the world around them, he said that early humans saw it as magic, but Silas laughed about it as he would teach me. 

Angels and demons do not perform magic they just have the ability to Reshape the world around them, because destroying would mean erasing from existence and they do not have the power to do that. 

“Imbuing your will into something is making something into something else, early human civilizations called it Alchemy,” Silas explained one morning. 

He grabbed a rock from the ground and held it in his hand, “through Scrying and using your will you can reshape an object to whatever you wish, you can turn a rock into a sword for instance.”

“So how come an angel or demon could raise the dead or heal someone?” I asked.

“Your body is made up of a network of complex structures but in the end, it is still made up of matter, for an angel or demon who has been around a long time it’s a simple process to restructure the human body, but we cannot bring back a soul to its body that we do not have dominion over. If the soul resides in Heaven an angel could bring the soul back but if it resides in Hell a demon must ferry the souls back,” He stated, “as far as healing it’s the same principle, we just simply change whatever the problem is and reshape it into healthy cells.” 

The more I learned about angels the more I got confused. A lot of it didn’t make sense but some of it did.

“So today we will work on your ability to change an object or Imbue it,” Silas said.

“Ok so how do I do that,” I asked 

“Begin by Scrying into yourself, see the cosmic power that resides within you and pull at it, then you simply will it into the object you wish to change but you must focus on what you wish that object to turn into.” Silas said as if it was simple.

I did as I was instructed, picking up a rock I started by scrying into myself. As I saw the warm blue light at my center, I began to pull at it, as I opened my eyes, I could still feel the warmth of power as I tried to force it into the rock. When I did the rock crumbled into sand and fell through my fingertips.

“Not enough focus, you are pushing it with your mind and not your Will, keep going.” He said calmly.

I kept trying, but nothing I was doing would change the outcome. Every rock or stone I grabbed would turn into dust instead of the sword I envisioned.

“Alright, I think that’s enough for today,” Silas said a few hours later as I stood over a giant pile of sand and powdered rock. 

“What am I doing wrong,” I asked him.

“Your mind is not focused enough on the task at hand,” he replied, “you’re not putting enough energy into it and you’re not focused enough.”

“I am focused,” I snapped back, “I’ve got to make this work.”

“Remember John you have a limitless supply of cosmic power at your disposal, it’s just a matter of willing it to be yours to use.” He said quietly. It was a little unnerving how calm and understanding he was about training me. But I reminded myself that he’s had a millennium of experience and expertise training people like me, so maybe it just came with the job.