Rebirth of the Nephilim

Jadis had flown in a few passenger jets in her previous life, generally for the purpose of visiting relatives who lived too far away to drive to. While there had been a certain exhilaration that had come with the first time she had ever lifted off from the tarmac in a commercial airliner, the experience of traveling thousands of feet in the air quickly became mundane. Flight was ordinary, even if she had only ever done it a few times. Planes were a part of everyday life, after all.

Jadis didn’t think she would ever feel that way about flying under her own power.

Soaring just high enough to clear the mountain peaks, Jadis couldn’t help but keep at least one pair of eyes on the landscape far below as she flew at unprecedented speeds. Every river and tree flashed by, barely visible for an instant before she had passed them by. She really did feel like a fighter pilot, roaring through the skies to the tune of a late eighties rock song. It took significant effort to not hum a few half-remembered tunes as she made her way northeast.

There was no accurate way to gauge her true speed since Jadis’ Succubus wings didn’t come with a speedometer, but she figured she had to be going hundreds of miles an hour. Not fast enough to break the sound barrier, which Jadis thought was somewhere over seven hundred miles per hour, but she felt like she had to be near that point. The thought of moving at such speeds in a battle made her shiver a little, if she was honest with herself. While her reactions definitely accelerated to match the speeds she was moving at, to a degree, she didn’t know if she would be able to control her movements as well when going so fast. Then again, she might not need to, under the right circumstances.

Thoughts of how she could use her insane flight speed in battle only occupied a small portion of Jadis’ mind. Most of her attention was focused on how the meeting with Kerr’s clan could go both right and wrong, both for her therion lover and for their group as a whole. She had brought the proclamation with her from the emperor concerning Alex, but she had no idea if anyone in the Verdant Sea, much less Clan Nox, had heard about the decree yet. So far as Jadis understood, the Verdant Sea was historically allied with the empire, and the nation collectively respected the laws of Alfhilderunn so long as they didn’t try to supersede their own laws and traditions. That said, there was no emperor or king or even a senate in the Verdant Sea. The country consisted of countless clans who were largely autonomous, only coming together to make agreements on large-scale issues or existential threats to the greater whole. Jadis wasn’t sure if Alex qualified for an inter-clan council or not.

While much of her thoughts revolved around the future, there was still a third of Jadis that kept her mind on the present. Focusing her attention on the passing landscape wasn’t just to make sure she was flying in the right direction, but also because she was curious about areas of Oros she had only heard about in stories or seen on maps. Jadis had traveled far from her starting place in Weigrun, and yet there was so much more of the Central Continent left to explore.

Her flight path took Jadis over the southern section of the Crook and past the mountains that hemmed the area in on the eastern side. Beyond that range of old and weathered peaks was a vast plain, where huge herds of cow-like beasts could be seen grazing the endless fields. A few small towns and villages located along wide and placid rivers passed by far below, but no settlements of any size could be seen. For all intents and purposes, the land they were passing over was an untouched wilderness. It wasn’t until after they had stopped for lunch and continued on to the next range of mountains that Jadis saw true civilization again.

And Demons.

Two separate mountain ranges that ran parallel to each other created a natural corridor, too wide to be called a valley, where high rainfall and fertile soil had enticed ancient peoples to settle the land. The southern mountains were old with rounded tops, but the northern range was peaked sharply. More noticeably, several of the mountains showed signs of volcanic activity, and one of the tallest had a column of smoke rising from its snowy cauldron. Despite the potential for eruptions, Jadis knew from maps she had studied that this part of the empire was heavily populated, with multiple large cities that rivaled Glanum and Thracina in size. Jadis also knew from both those same maps and the firsthand accounts of Wilhelm and his companions that this was an area that had been hit hard by the demonic invasion.

Keeping high and out of the range of any spellcasters that might confuse her for an enemy, Jadis passed over the walled cities and noted the signs of frequent battles. Demons had taken control of the northern mountains, spending their days hidden within new growth forests and lava tunnels. At night, they would attack the city walls or any target that they saw as vulnerable. Devastating battles had been fought in recent months, and even as Jadis soared overhead, she spotted hundreds of soldiers clearing a destroyed town of both wreckage and corpses. The one good thing Jadis could say was that it looked like there was no lack of manpower in the far reaches of the empire. Unlike Volto, Alfhilderunn had the army to push back the demonic invaders.

As Jadis continued northeast and passed over the section of mountains that sharply turned southeast, following the coastline, she saw several large, winged creatures rise up from the craggy slopes to give chase. At first, she thought they were dragons, but the lack of front legs told her that they were wyverns, instead. She was tempted to slow and face the beasts, but chose instead to ignore them and continue on, out over the narrow channel that dug a deep furrow for the ocean to feed a small, inland sea. There was no saying at a glance if the wyverns were possessed or just wild beasts agitated by her invasion into their already contested territory, and Jadis didn’t have the time to sort them out.

The channel took little time to cross, and as the land beyond came into view, Jadis knew that she was laying eyes on the Verdant Sea for the first time. Slowing her flight, she got both Kerr’s and Alex’s attention so that they could properly see the strange and wonderful view.

Mangrove trees stretched out below them for hundreds upon hundreds of miles. An endless sea of green foliage that completely obscured the ground below. Jadis knew from the stories Kerr had told her and the books she had read that the trees weren’t actually called mangroves, but were instead a plant called lauma trees; but from the illustrations she had seen of them, Jadis couldn’t help but compare them to mangroves. Despite their large, wide trunks, each tree stood on a tangled mess of stilt-like roots that would work to keep them high above any flooding or tidewaters, yet the endless expanse of trees continued far beyond where any danger of a rising sea could reach them. According to Kerr, the world at ground level in the lauma forest was dark, humid, and filled with the sorts of creatures that seemed custom made to make skin crawl. However, with the wide, flat canopies of the densely crowded lauma trees covering everything within sight, the view from above was of a green and verdant sea that waved gently in the breeze.

“Damn, it’s been a while since I’ve seen this view…” Kerr breathed out as she poked her head out of the warm furs and blankets she was wrapped in. “I forgot how green it was.”

“This place… Is beautiful…” Alex commented from where she was bundled up against Dys’ chest. “The taste… Is clean…”

“Yeah, it might taste clean up here,” Kerr responded to the Demon’s words, “but it’s as thick as toe jelly under the leaves. We better not land here unless we want to smell like fungus and tree sap all day.”

“You make it sound so nice down there,” Syd said dryly as she scanned the unbroken expanse of green leaves. “How does anyone live among the trees?”

“They don’t,” Kerr shot back. “Either you live in the mountains, like my clan, or you live in the dunes, up north, where the lauma don’t grow. No one lives under the green if they can help it. Even if your feet don’t rot off from the mud, the frogs and snakes will eat you.”

“Don’t tell me there are giant frogs down there,” Jay eyed the placid-looking jungle warily. “I’ve already been in the mouth of a dragon; I don’t want to get swallowed by a toad.”

“Giant frogs?” the archer scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. They’re only about as big as your—well, my fist, at most.”

“Then how—?”

“Teeth,” Kerr flashed her own sharp fangs. “Lots and lots of pointy teeth. They jump at you and bite off chunks. A whole swarm of those fuckers can strip a man to the bone in a few minutes.”

“Sounds great,” Syd curled her upper lip at the mental image.

“I think… That sounds unpleasant…” Alex frowned as she stared daggers at the trees. “I will not… Bring Hope here…”

“Not if we want her to keep all of her fingers,” Kerr agreed.

“Where to from here?” Jay asked, turning her gaze to the east. “Those mountains in the distance?”

“Yes,” Kerr nodded. “Stay to the north of them and follow the line until you see the cliff that kind of looks like a howling wolf. The Nox Clan camp is on the plateau above.”

Taking off again, Jadis flew as Kerr had directed, crossing the vast green below to reach an impressively tall range of mountains with snow-covered peaks. While the mountains had no Lauma growing on them, they were still lush with vegetation and looked wild and untouched. It wasn’t until half-way up the mountainsides that the trees thinned out and the land turned into vast, tilted plains where the signs of civilization could be spotted. While Jadis didn’t get a good view of any other settlements, once she reached the oddly wolflike cliff face on the northeastern side of the densest section of the range, she slowed down and got a good look at the camp of Clan Nox.

Camp was a shockingly inadequate word for what she saw.

Hundreds of large, round tents in every color imaginable filled a gently sloping plateau, all ringed by a wooden palisade with tall, three-legged watch towers. Each tent looked like it was made from thick furs and heavy cloth, and the round walls with a short cap reminded Jadis of the yurts she had seen in history books that discussed the ancient Mongols. A veritable spider’s web of ropes had been strung between the tents, from which hung all manner of colorful flags, beads, and what looked to be wind chimes. Many of the ropes were attached to the tall watch towers, and as Jadis watched, she saw a therion man leave one of the towers, sliding down the rope like a zipline.

Kerr had never really explained how many people were in her clan, but from how she had talked about them, Jadis had always assumed that there were a few hundred at most. Looking at the massive gathering of people she could see moving through the paths that wound between the yurts, the true number looked to be in the thousands, if not more.

“That’s my father’s tent right there, in the middle,” Kerr called out, a note of resignation in her tone. “Just… fly us in, I guess.”

Tent felt like a funny word to describe a building that was three stories tall and had wooden eaves carved to look like snarling wolves, but the walls were made from fur and cloth just like the rest of the settlement, so Jadis wasn’t going to argue semantics. Regardless, Kerr’s halfhearted suggestion of flying down in the middle of the camp, directly to the clan head’s doorstep, seemed like the sort of thing that could cause violent misunderstandings. Already, Jadis could see that the guards stationed on the watchtowers had taken note of her three hovering forms and an alarm had started to sound.

“I’m going to try the front gate first,” Syd advised. “Let me test the waters. Is there anything I should tell them?”

“Just tell them I’m with you,” Kerr replied. Then, a beat later, she added, “just be prepared to repeat yourself. Not a lot of people in the clan speak Imperial.”

With a nod of acknowledgment, Syd swooped out of the sky, aiming for the gates on the east side of the palisade that were slowly being closed by the alarmed guards. Rather than land on the dirt-packed road in front of the gate, Syd chose to hover just above the closing wooden doors so that she could directly address the three therions in one of the watchtowers who were shouting orders in their native language to the men and women running around below.

The image of a nine-foot-tall giant wearing heavy black armor and carrying a huge sword staff hovering in the air above the camp on blazing wings made of energy tendrils was not lost on Jadis, so she did her best not to make any threatening movements.

“Hello,” Syd called out, lifting her empty hand in greeting. “My name is Jadis and—”

A volley of arrows clattered against the front and sides of Syd’s plate armor, chipping and breaking before falling harmlessly to the ground.

“—I’m here with my mate, Kerr, to visit her father, Nox va Ratosh.”

Syd politely ignored the attack and waited to see what the guards would do next.

“Chto skazalo eto sushchestvo?” one of the men in the tower said to another, just loudly enough for Syd to overhear.

“Mne kazhetsya, ya slyshal, kak oni proiznesli imya Kerr.”

“Shutish?”

A few more arrows pinged ineffectually off of Syd’s chest and helmet, but since they were coming from guards on the ground who looked mostly confused and weren’t doing her any harm, she continued to pay them no mind. Instead, she focused on the trio in the tower, who had started arguing vehemently with each other. The smallest of the three men, who had black fur except for a patch of white in the middle of his forehead, kept repeating Kerr’s name, so Jadis hoped that meant he had understood some of what she had said. Jadis still couldn’t understand the language of the Verdant Sea, but she was hearing a lot of curse words mixed into the vigorous debate. She wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not. After all, Kerr had probably gotten her foul mouth from somewhere.

“Pidoras, blyat!” the black furred therion said again before turning away from the other two and motioned towards Syd. “You! Big thing! You ground! Ostavaytes’ na meste! Stay!”

Doing as asked, Syd slowly floated down to the ground in front of the gate and waited to see what would happen next. Of course, since her other two selves were watching from high above, it came as no surprise to her when the gates opened a minute later and dozens of therions wielding bows and spears were revealed, all pointing at her. The same black-furred therion from the tower walked out from between the rows of armed and alert Nox warriors, accompanied by an older therion man whose red fur had gained edges of gray around the muzzle and the eyes. This man was not wielding a weapon, nor was he armored, and from the cut of his clothes and the way he walked, Jadis got the impression he was more of a scholar, or at least a craftsman, than a warrior.

Coming to a stop before Syd, the older therion called out to her in moderately accented Imperial.

“Who and what are you? And what did you say about Kerr, the most favored daughter of our clan head?”