Fighting for Eden

Centuries ago, in a land known only as paradise, a war broke out. The inhabitants of this land were known by many names. They were myths, they were legends, they were angels. Among these angels, two began to rise in power, their voices became the voices of reason and wisdom. For the most part, they agreed and worked together to create a better world for their people. Only one subject divided them; humans. Gabriel believed humans should be left to make their own decisions, to have free will in all things. He believed interfering with humans would cause more harm than good. Lucifer claimed the humans needed the angels, that they should interact and interfere with the humans however they pleased. Lucifer believed the two worlds needed each other to thrive. One could not exist without the other. The two angels fought tirelessly, both sides gaining large numbers of support. Soon neither side could focus on their similarities. It was only their differences of opinion that became important. That was when the first declaration of war was announced. Violent battles raged for years; both sides were evenly matched in skill and ability. Being unable to die, the angels saw no end to the terrible depravity, that was until The Fall. To this day, nobody knows who initiated The Fall, each side claiming it was the other. Terror, rage and sadness were felt by every fallen angel. For as they all knew, once an angel falls there is no way back. Fallen angels are stripped of their powers and forced to live out eternity on earth, never aging, never dying, haunted by the knowledge they will never see paradise again. Once fallen, the two sides decided to live out their eternities differently. The angels who followed Gabriel all agreed they should live as they once did, keeping to themselves, out of sight of humans, never interfering. Lucifers' angels lived their eternities how they pleased, interfering with human nature, taking human lovers and producing children. The children of these fallen were neither human nor angels. They were somewhere in-between, as strong as angels but as mortal as humans and all of them went mad with power. They turned into the worst of society. Power-hungry and charismatic, they lead the humans astray, creating wars, poverty and unrest. They were demons, but no matter what they did, the humans were always attracted to them. They revered and cherished them to the point of obsession. As the children of the fallen grew in numbers, their power and influence increased, as did the humans' obsession with them. Soon a rumour spread among the humans; any man who was able to kill a child of the fallen would gain the power of the angels. The rumour was only half true, the men who managed to kill one of the revered children did gain powers. However, they were not the powers of the angels. Instead of strength and immortality, the humans were transformed into beasts, wild and deadly. They did not live forever but their aging slowed significantly. They were angry and violent and would often attack each other. Luckily, they were able to heal at a much faster rate. The humans were blinded by the greed the children of the fallen had brought out in them. They wanted these powers and did not care for the consequences, they did not care that they would become feral beasts. Soon the children of the fallen were hunted to extinction. Lucifer and the angels were so disgusted by the humans' behaviour they turned their backs on humanity, vowing never to create another human-angel hybrid again. All the angels disappeared, never to be seen by a human again. The only sign left of their interference were the cursed beasts, the werewolves who roamed the earth. The women who bore the curse were not affected in the same way. Although they shared the same ageing and healing abilities, they could not transform into beasts, nor could they mate with a pure human. Only the cursed could mate with each other to produce offspring. Soon, the pure humans cast out the werewolves, for they saw them for what they were; cursed and wild beasts. They hunted and killed any they found just as the beasts had done to the children of the fallen. The werewolves soon went into hiding and, after a few centuries, the humans forgot about the wild beasts. Werewolves became nothing but a legend, a story to scare children.