XXVI

Their birth was a mystery to them on their younger days. She had no childhood, only that she had awoken confused and conscious. All she remembered on that day was the wind caressing her face, and a mixture of a foul stench and fragrance scent filling the air. She opened her eyes and saw dust swirling above her, gleaming and sparkling in the sun's rays. But those are nothing of concern to her, but the being standing over her was.

He was a gaunt figure with a sculptured body covered by cadaverous flesh, and a head crowned with long, black hair billowed by the wind, blowing against his face. She could not see his face, being shadowed by his hair, but she could see his piercing red eyes glowing from hollow sockets; the mere sight of his full face would make any mortal struck with terror. She, however, didn't feel intimidated a bit, felt no fear.

They stared at each other for a few moments, observing I silence. He then moved his hand forward, seemingly to grab her. But before he could reach her, something sparked from inside her; it was the first time she felt threatened and her body reacted on its own. She let the sensation overwhelm her very being, letting that unfamiliar feeling drive her.

Instinct.

Next thing she knew, she found herself rolling sideways and away from his hand, went into a handstand and springing up, kicking his jaw upward. That didn't knock him out however, not even fazing him. As she landed, she saw his eyes intensely gazing directly at her, still observing her movements and gauging her strength. She fell back in a crouch, then launched herself and delivered another hit to the head. What puzzled her was… how come she knew those moves just now? She landed on his right side, spun to deliver a blow but found out he had it anticipated; he brought up his palm and blocked her fist without even looking. She tried to pull back but found it hard as he clenched her in a tight grip. He turned and looked at her in the eyes, as if saying 'I've got you now'. She then found herself flung like a ragdoll, slammed hard to the ground and knocking the wind out of her. But strangely, she felt no pain; just a feeling of joy welling up in her.

He released her hand after the throw, so she quickly got into a crouched attack position. She remembered the first time she smiled, knowing a battle was at hand, but how wrong she was. It's also the first time she felt disappointment.

He stood before her, not a hint of anger, malice or resentment in her eyes – just bemusement. Here was a being before him; not only just as strong and not afraid to come into blows with him, but also determined to finish what she had started. She thought she saw him smile. He then extended his hand to her, whom she replied with a raised brow as her smile faded; she didn't understand at that time, until it dawned upon her the message she wanted to relay. He didn't want to fight, not out of fear but out of leniency towards her; telling her that he can beat her up if he so wanted to. She hung herself in silent defeat, her aggression dissipating slowly. She raised her head then reached out to grab his hand when, in the corner of her eyes, a figure came out of the shadow and attacked.

The other being was lean-bodied with wiry muscles underneath his pale skin. His face was overshadowed by short black hair; behind it, she could see his yellow eyes – almond-shaped and slightly farther apart - peering out. A toothy grin was plastered on his lips, and overall, he had that look of a predator in general. Her eyes narrowed; there's something about him that clearly…annoys her. And hell if she knew.

The raven-haired being before her faced the lean figure, and she could see him sigh – is that frustration? She swore she heard him say something, a name like 'Geurel'. Is that his name? She doesn't know, but she wanted to watch what would happen so she leaned on a nearby rock, and a bit excited. The fight only lasted for a few minutes, much to her dismay. Geurel, though as skilled as she is in terms of dexterity, only managed to land a few blows with his fist which only seemed to annoy the other. A spinning reverse kick by Geurel managed to drive the other a few steps back, and then withdraw; she could see that he favored a hit-and-run tactic to direct melee, a long-ranged fighter as she learned later.

Geurel turned to her. "Sister, are you just going to stand there and watch?"

This surprised her. Sister? But her body moved on its own again and they now stood side by side, facing the other being. She saw his red eyes glow even brighter under his hair as he straightened up, he didn't have any stance standing there, but she could see he's ready for another round. She looked beside her and Geurel grinned back, before nodding. And with an explosion of energy, both of them charged at their mutual opponent.

She started with a leap and a spin, executing an axe hell kick, which the opponent evaded by sidestepping and causing it to be planted instead to the ground, and a kick to the gut sent her rolling. Geurel followed with a spinning chop to his head but was blocked with a sturdy arm, countered with a head grab and then he was thrown. She then tried a leg sweep, but he only jumped high enough and landed with a meteor hammer fist. She rolled backward into a crouch before jumping up to deliver a meteor chop of her own, which was blocked and then grabbed. But before she was thrown, she counter-grabbed his arm and climbed on his back as she wrenched her arm free, pushing herself off with a kick. Geurel met him with a high horse kick to his chest, followed by a spinning jump kick to the neck. He was thrown to the ground but recovered quickly, standing up and gazed at both of them, still with that amused look. Geurel only did was grin back, which earned a grunt of annoyance from her.

The opponent suddenly charged at them at an unbelievable speed, and she could only do was gasp with widened eyes as they were both taken down with a twin lariat. They quickly rolled away before he could stomp one of them in the gut, and crouched. Geurel's grin was swapped with a snarling one in a moment, and she found herself chuckling at him. They stared at one another; red eyes into two pairs of yellow ones, as neither moved.

"Bro-…brother…," she managed, and Geurel turned to her. "I have a plan."

After a moment of discussing their strategy, both charged with Geurel on the lead. Their opponent only stood and watched them come at him, calculating their possible moves then charged forward himself. Geurel launched into a flying kick which was blocked with a grab; the opponent knew that while this one will be the van, she will then hit from the sides, and so he grabbed him in a position where he can be used as a club to either side. What he didn't expect was her somersaulting over their head then delivering a kick to his head from behind. He dropped Geurel after that and before he knew it, another kick was directed to his face from her along with the other's elbow slash. He managed to block both attacks with both arms, and was driven back. Both dashed away quickly to avoid a retaliation from him. What he did next only surprised them both – he laughed aloud.

They exchanged glances in confusion, Geurel shrugging. So she took the initiative and asked away. "Who are you?!"

The being stopped laughing and looked at her with a somewhat fond expression. "My name is Mortigan." He said in a gravelly tone.

"What do you want?"

"I was sent to find you both. Come with me, let's not keep our brothers and sisters waiting."

"We have other siblings?"

"Yes…Now come along, brother Geurel …"

She stopped. Right, they had both their names, but don't have one. "What's… what's my name then?"

"You are my sister… Arii…"

"Rider! Aren't you coming with us?!" Fury heard the caster's angry voice and looked. They were already at a fair distance away.

"Why do you care?" She replied as she strode forward.

Marion ignored her and looked around once more. "I thought this was supposed to be Agartha."

"What's Agartha?" Castiel queried.

"Agartha is one of the secret worlds created among hundreds of realms and dimensions, supposed to be a unique one because it was inside the Third Kingdom with a sun burning in the center. Lord Azrael told me after learning the location of our quest all about it, that one of the world's many entry points is in that cave. But this is not Agartha, I assure you."

"No," Fury chimed in. "This is not Agartha… this is the realm of Neph'l…"

Both angels looked at her quizzically. "How did you know that?"

"Because I was here eons ago…"

They walked on an open field unhurriedly; they were in a wasteland of rocks, metals, ruins and bones on all sides, hills ending in crags and crevices or steep slopes. The earth was a mixture of rust-colored stones and clay, along with condiments of ebony rocks. The sky was filled with the swirling dust – white-and-golden particles mixed with the crimson-and-black ones – flowing towards the same direction they were going. The sun was a dull red one, giving off an eternal bleak atmosphere. It was the realm of the rejects and undeserved; and it was their home.

They arrived upon the edge of a very wide crater, where the dust clouds descended like rain and condensed into the earth.

She noticed a lone figure at the edge, also watching the dust cloud, and as they neared him, she could see his features more clearly. He had a bulkier body frame than any of them, standing a foot even taller than Mortigan. He had hair and beard like bristles, eyes of gold and a mouth full of sharp teeth. He turned to face them, eyeing her and Geurel intently before turning to Mortigan. Mortigan gave him a nod in silent greeting, he grunting back one before returning to watch.

"He is our brother, Absalom," Mortigan spoke without looking at them.

"How come he be a brother to us, and how are we related?" Arii asked.

"We were created by the same thing that will give life to them," he pointed at the spiraling dust. "And that makes us siblings in flesh and blood. And we are the Firstborn."

"Firstborn?"

"Yes, we were the first to be raised out of that pit, but wait we shall for the others to rise."

Just then, all kinds of sounds suddenly filled the air, and they all snapped their attention to the pit. It started from low growls, grunts and groans then rising to roaring, screams and wails. Those sounds were to be the first ones she heard of from her kin; her brothers' and sisters' birth cries. And those will be the same sounds that she will hear of when the Four of them cut them down and trample under their horses' hooves. She braced herself for discoveries waiting to happen. Through her enhanced vision, she saw the very particles of dust in the air as clear as day, clustering together in a tight pack and attracting more to add their own minuscule mass into it, like iron filings to a lodestone. But as she looked closer, it wasn't just dust; she could sense from each particle a life force so small that it's almost impossible to detect. More particles became clusters, and clusters fusing together with electrical jolts, beginning to take form into bones, flesh and blood. Muscles, sinew and organs grew from skeletal frames until skin, as rough as tree barks or as soft as an infant's, covered all in turn. Gasps emanated from their mouths as they took in all the needed air into their newly-formed lungs, followed by the first sounds they made. They started moving, shambling about, but slumping back, and looking around in confusion. Some instantly felt threatened; they hissed and growled in defensive and feral stances as they glared at the ones beside and before them – their instincts taking over like it did with her. Others just seemed to be purely bewildered. Most of the dust particles already had clustered into new bodies as hundreds of them rose from the ground.

Her jaw dropped while she watched in awe at the sight. Is this how she was formed? As she gazed upon her new kin, she took note of the difference between each other. They had different sizes; from the shortest man-sized to giants. Each had their own skin color; some pale-skinned, she included, some fair, some reddish or the opposite bluish, while others have tanned and ebony-black skins. Most had humanoid features – upright, bipedal, two arms and two legs, and the five senses all in their head; but some had additional features like tails, wings, or horns. They were different physically, yes, but she felt a connection to one another, a bond that tied them together. And it also kept them from tearing each other's throats out.

"Silence!"

A loud roar echoed once more, drowning the others in its intensity. It did its purpose, silencing the mob of newborns and getting their attention. All shifted their gaze towards Absalom, and he in turn met theirs. There was this authoritarian aura about him that made them bow down to his will and no one can question him on his decisions. But over time, she learned that only Mortigan had the guts to question him, as he was also a Firstborn and the second to Absalom in authority. There were only two of them and was meant to be; Absalom as the first, the prototype of the race, and Mortigan, the second – as it turned out he was the one who began to bring the race to extinction, its executioner.

"We are brothers and sisters, we are flesh and blood! So quit yapping before I smash your head in!" No one protested; either by their fear or respect of him. "I am Absalom, your brother."

His next words didn't come out of his mouth, when he felt the earth rumble, it was weak but it still made itself felt. The others in the pit felt it too and looked around. Suddenly, the ground at the center of the pit cracked before exploding outward in a shower of stones. They automatically got away from the center and watched in anticipation. The ground moved again, and a muscular arm emerged, before another explosion occurred; it's not really an explosion, but the abrupt and forceful emergence of the last of their kin. Arii was puzzled moments ago where the floating particles of dust after the majority of the newborns were formed, but now she knew the answer.

The dust settled and they all stared as the last of their kin was born. He had a muscular frame just like Absalom's, a fair skin, and silvery-white long hair hanging down to his very broad shoulders. His face was contorted into an enraged expression, coupled by a pair of white eyes which burns with wrath, as he glared at those around him. He bared his teeth as he hunched and clenched his fists in a feral stance with a murderous aura about him. It was as if he had harbored those feelings for a long time, nursing it until it grew to posses him. Arii concluded that the rage must have been already etched in his being; she had realized that, as the last to be born, all the negativities that leaked from those newborns earlier – anger, hate, fear, and other – pooled together and mingled with the dust residue and he was created – an avatar of wrath.

"What do you mean that you were here before?"

Without answering, Fury walked past them into the edge of a cliff overlooking a vast land of black-red rocks and rubble, her sight shifted to a wide crater at a distance.

"I was born here…"

This surprised the two as they tried to digest that information. The Rider? Born here? Impossible! This is a wasteland! "You're joking!"

"And born here as well was the rest of my race… the Nephilims."

"Does that mean…"

"Yes, we were the children of the Neph'l…"