[[Little side note – as I remember or come up with new ideas, the order of there tales many vary. Some thing that happens near the present may be told before a story in the past. Sorry if there is any confuzzlement in the matter. Comment, comment!]]

Edocsil Tales – Chapter 3; Part 1

The Day Love Died

Edocsil Tales – Chapter 3; Part 1: Instincts

I've been noticing strange feelings as of late. Perhaps it is the return of my beloved Twin or the natural instincts I have acquired the longer I've embraced my angelic nature, but whatever it is, it's becoming dangerous.

Reading more ancient texts, I am ashamed of what others of my kind have done. The Nephilim were described as monsters, demonic in nature and the embodiment of sin. They preyed on the human population, causing devastation wherever they roamed. The threat was so immense the Creator sent the Great Flood to cleanse the Earth of the unholy blood. Even in a new world, you couldn't purge human's tendency to sin, and for the Fallen to forget the pleasures of a human companion.

I see the legacy of the Nephilim in my Twin's eyes. Charmah is a living example of the kinds of monsters the hybrids were. I may be joining them someday.

I'm not sure what went wrong – or right, as the case may be – with me. I have always fought my other half, and most of the time succeeded. I refused to be what I was. First I used spells to try and stop the wings from sprouting and the anger to subside. And when I lost it all together I wanted it back. Being thus reunited with myself, I didn't want to lose it again.

Sin is clever. I thought I was in control, but that may not be completely true. I am not even sure if there is anything to control anymore. Maybe the monster is me, that the two halves I image could be one whole.

I've always had a vengeful disposition. A grudge has never easily been forgotten, and what's even harder to forget is your weaknesses, and those who know them. Never let someone beat you more than once. Knowledge such as that is worth killing over. There's exceptions to every rule, even if there shouldn't be. Getting around the rules deserves the same punishment as if you deliberately broken them, as I found out one day…

To be continued….

Edocsil Tales - Chapter 3; Part 2: Torture

CrazyEye had learned a new trick he seemed to like to use on me.

As usual, our duel dragged on. While I had barely put a cut on him, I had plenty of bruises. In a few minutes more I was bleeding from the shoulder and him from his arm. And as always, I usually slipped up somehow.

Using an ordinary sword, I slashed at his torso. He blocked the blow with ease and kicked at my stomach. I dropped my weapon and grabbed his ankle. He wrenched it out of my grip, but not before I'd dug my nails through his pants and into his skin. Thus unarmed, he tackled me to the ground.

This scene seems to be repeated every time, and I never seem to learn anything from it. Pinning me down, CrazyEye grabbed my throat and asked if I surrendered. And like a stubborn kid refusing her vegetables, I said no.

He called his spell a weave. Any trick he did he used this sort of magic. Since he couldn't damage my wings anymore, he had to find a new way to torture me, and that's what the weave did.

The torturing spell was bested only by a broken wing and Nephilim fire. Tearing my throat apart wouldn't have hurt so badly. And the pain wasn't centered around my neck, but spread throughout my body and into my mind. I tried screaming but his grip was too tight. If the sound had ripped from my lips I could have been mistaken for a banshee.

And as soon as it came it was gone, though it felt like many years. When he asked me again if I gave up, I whimpered and mouthed, "Yes."

I remember telling him once, "Someday I'm going to beat you, and you'll have to beg me not to kill you."

He only chuckled and said, "I don't beg."

We'll see, I thought.

Fate has a cruel way of twisting one's words. As it turned out, I was the one begging for him not to die…

To be continued…

Edocsil Tales – Chapter 3; Part 3: Lady Wolf

It was the day after he had again used the torturing weapon on me. Showing such a weakness as the ability to scream and cry had become repugnant to me. So as a wolf in lady's clothing, I approached him.

CrazyEye smiled as I appeared, unaware of my plans. I smiled back. What can I say, I was indeed happy to see him. It had been an entire day since the last we'd met. But trivial emotions such as love weren't on my mind at the moment. A darker, crawling thing was weaving through my heart: revenge.

He spread his arms invitingly, and I sat in his lap, lightly kissing his cheek. In return he kissed me firmly on my lips. Damn that smile.

I felt the dagger in a fold of my blue dress, the one he had gotten me, like it was branding my skin. I wasn't planning on making him suffer too long. My heart simply wouldn't allow it.

Already striking below the belt with my seductive actions, I covered his eyes with my hand so he wouldn't see me reach for the dagger. I would carefully aim it between his ribs until it pierced the very organ that was similarly beating rapidly in my breast as if counting down the moments until his eyes would close for good, never to open again.

CrazyEye reached up and took my hand, pulling it away from his eyes. He couldn't have suspected what I had been plotting…could he? I couldn't tell.

The suspense was too much. Dark violet clouding over my eyes like a wild fire, I reached quickly for the dagger and thrust it at his chest.

Edocsil Tales - Chapter 3; Part 4: Please

Stupid fool, I thought. Why can't he just take a hit instead of hitting back?

My dagger slid between CrazyEye's ribs, but didn't hit its intended target, though it was not far off. A moment before, he knew what I was doing and he slipped a knife from his sleeve to stab at me. He twisted the blade in my gut and I gasped.

Shoving him away, I reached for my canteen. With bitter irony I realized I didn't have any water.

I glared at him impatiently. Such a simple plan he managed to ruin. Not only was he still breathing – laborly, though he was – but I'd received a life-threatening injury as well. Now he'd have time to heal himself, while I had no healing water.

CrazyEye looked back at me with dull eyes. I sunk to the ground, muttering curses. He reached out toward me and I shied away, but he grabbed me despite my efforts. I felt an energy pass between us, from him into me. The pain in my stomach receded slightly. The next time I opened my eyes, I saw him lying next to me, his eyes closed. "Fool," I swore. I kicked at his still form. "Get up."

He didn't move.

Growing quite impatient, as I tended to do, I kicked him even harder. "I said get up!"

He was as stationary as stone.

I glowered and scowled, crawling up to him and shaking his shoulders, slapping his face. There was no response. I placed a hand on his chest,

his blood staining my fingers. I felt nothing but the sticky red substance flowing with gravity's help from his lifeless body. No heartbeat, no rise and fall of his chest.

I was frozen. A sickly sweet taste like poisoned honey settled on my tongue. Revenge tasted just as luscious, thought it left a bitter aftertaste.

My heart shuddered in my chest and seemed to halt in its rhythm. There was a fleeting thought of perhaps I'd done the wrong thing, that maybe the consequences of my actions might be more than I can bear. Ridiculous.

But even as I came to that conclusion, I was wrapping my arms around his motionless form, sobbing into his chest, smearing his blood on my face. "Please get up," I begged. "Please." I pressed my lips to his cool mouth. "Please…"

I can understand why Charm refused to love; it was far too painful to endure.

Thinking about Charm, I began to think of someone else…Yes, it might just work. If a miracle could do the impossible.

I picked up CrazyEye, my love, cradling him against my chest. I whispered into his deaf ear, "Everything's going to be fine…Wait for me."

And with that I ran from the blood-stained ground, the weight in my arms infinitely lighter than the weight in my stilled heart.

Edocsil Tales - Chapter 3; Part 5: Stone Circle

It's amazing what dangerous bridges you would cross to reach your love on the other side.

I sprinted to a spot that would suit my needs. In a dark, secluded part of the wood, there was a circle of stone where strange things occurred. I had some idea of what it was. From what I could deduce, it was a bridge between worlds. I'd used it before to get to the same place I wanted to go now, though I never willingly wanted to go to such a place again.

I laid CrazyEye's body carefully in the center of the stone circle. I stroked his hair, twirling a piece of it between my fingers. Please get up, I begged him silently. Don't make me go down there… My meager effort were in vain, and with a shuddering sigh I turned away from him to the stone I needed, the boulder that was larger than all the others. On it was an etching of a hallowed out star surrounded in a circle that looked as if it would burn you if you touched its points. Here was where I placed the rune.

Around my neck on a gold chain was a smooth, flat pebble that looked like liquid silver that had been frozen solid. On this precious rock was the same design. Father's insignia.

I hesitated just a moment, dreading what was bound to take place. What would I have to give, what would be stolen from me, and what would I return with?

I pressed the rune on the stone star, flattening it against the cold boulder. In a voice just below a whisper, I chanted. The words sounded like wind whistling through the clouds, the sun's rays bouncing off the water, and the crackle of a flame. Such was the old tongue.

The rune grew hot under my hand, but I did not draw away. Darkness seemed to creep in closer as a light shown from behind my hand to fill the entire side of the stone that was on the inside of the circle. With a trained wrist I caught my rune again before it fell through the hole I had created. It was almost entirely black in the void, though what looked like stars shown in a few places. The only thing visible was an endless stair case going down. Wings would be of no help to me here. I would have to walk. A long journey it would be, indeed…

Edocsil Tales – Chapter 3; Part 6: Damnation

The place was called Hell.

In a sense, I called it Home. That's where Father was, as was Mother. The air was stale, hot and dry. The stone structures around were old and crumbling. There would have been weeds and vines covering them if any living thing had dared to survive here.

There was also a deathly silence. Not a soul made a sound; as was appropriate for this region of Damnation. The souls were kept in another section, next to the fire and torture devices.

Why do I know the layout of such a forbidding place?

Father was the first Fallen angel that was banished from Heaven. Thus, he was given charge of the fires of the Shades. All souls had to pass his way before they could find the gates of Heaven. It took a trial of three days to take such a journey. It took me over a day to walk down the stairs. It would be a close race.

The giant throne made a gold and silver, tarnished with age and set with a haunting aura, sat on the peak of a pyramid of stone steps. It was unoccupied. But that didn't mean its owner wasn't nearby.

My footsteps made a soft echo as I climbed the steps. I was careful to avoid the deep cracks twisting around on some of them. I reached the top and kneeled down on the stone. It killed me to do it, but I let CrazyEye out of my arms, setting him on the rock as cold as artic ice. I leaned down and lightly pressed my lips against his forehead.

"Well, well…what have we here? My lovely daughter, come Home at last…"

To be continued…

Edocsil Tales – Chapter 3; Part 7: The Dark Angel

"Well, well…what have we here? My lovely daughter, come Home at last…" The speaker's voice was low and haunting. It had a seductive tone about it, soft and soothing like a gentle sea that could drown a sailor when the inkling arised.

"Not this time, Father," I said, not looking up. Taking a shallow breath, I continued, "I need your help."

"Come now, child, look at me when you're speaking."

Not daring to disobey, I looked up at the Dark Angel. He had a handsome face, matched only by the Creator himself. He had flawless skin, cold ice eyes, and a perfectly shaped mouth. When he smiled the action made you shiver. His teeth were sharp and snow white, appearing as if he would have no trouble tearing out your throat with those teeth, as I know he'd done before.

"Now, that's better." He motioned for me to stand. "Make yourself at Home." The Dark Angel sat upon his throne. His wings as black as a night with no stars nor moon stretched lazily on both sides of him. "Tell me, why have you come? It has been so long."

"As if you don't know," I said quietly.

Father's eyes fell to glance at the dead man at my feet, then back at me. "What do you expect me to do about it?"

I frowned impatiently. "I expect you to give me his soul."

The Fallen answered, "Oh, do you?" In a moment too fast for me to see, he was behind me, whispering in my ear. "What a naughty girl you have been lately, my dear Katara. I would expect this kind of behavior from your beloved Twin. Not from you." He brushed away my hair from my neck, running his fingers along my exposed skin.

A touch of a smile came to my lips. "I would think you'd want me to be bad."

He chuckled. "True. But that's beside the point." Father was sitting on the back of his throne now, his wings curling around him. "What inspired you to commit such an act?"

I looked, shame-faced, at the stone at my feet. "I don't know."

Laughing, the Dark Angel leaning forward. "Oh, I know. Your heart is as black as mine."

"No," I said, adverting my gaze back to him, my eyes flaring violet.

"Ah, see there," he pointed. "You're a Nephilim. Nephilim destroy." Father seemed to get a gleeful look upon his beautiful face. "Quite an invention I created, don't you agree? The most dangerous weapon: a creature that can destroy anything, even the things they think they love."

"I do love him," I spoke quickly.

Father tut-ed. "Such emotions are a curse of the human half; you'll soon get over them. You're still young, you'll adapt."

I frowned, taking a daring step forward, careful not to trod on the body at my feet. "You are trekking off subject, Father. I want his soul and I want it now so I can go home."

The Dark Angel frowned back at me, seeming annoyed that I would be so bold. For many moments we glared at each other in silence while he deliberated what he would do.

Edocsil Tales – Chapter 3; Part 8: Soul

"Very well," Father finally said. "Though, remember this: I will only help you this once. Should this man die again by your hand, I shall see fit to make sure his Light goes out."

I gasped in horror. Surely he wouldn't be so cruel!

"You know my price," he continued as if he were talking about the weather. "A soul for a soul." He grinned with malice. I knew that was exactly what he wanted, my soul, my one thing keeping me from being a complete monster.

"Sorry, Father. I don't have it."

His eyes narrowed. This seemed to catch him off guard, though he tried to hide it. "Then who does?" he said coolly.

I pointed nonchalantly at CrazyEye. "He does. And you're not stealing it from him, wherever he keeps it."

The Dark Angel seemed on the edge of rage, but then he nodded and smiled. "Very clever, my daughter. Quite too romantic for my taste, but clever none the less.

So if you don't have a soul, what are you to pay me with?"

I smiled hopefully. "I don't suppose you could just give it to me as a gift." I already knew the answer.

"Of course not!" he bellowed. "I'm running a business down here, you can't expect me to give away my wares." Now the rage was coming. The Dark Angel was quick to anger, and even my being in his presence was a reason to be angry. I could just tell he didn't feel a connection between us, to his own flesh and blood. I was just a tool to him, and when my usefulness had reached its end, he would get rid of me.

"Then I'll just take it from you." I turned to head in the direction of the soul ferry that would take me to the place where the warriors fought to find Valhalla. I was quickly thwarted. The Dark Angel flew from his roost, slamming into me like a boulder. We soared through the air until I made contact with one of the crumbling walls. The impact was enough to shatter every bone in my body, but his wings cushioned the impact. Though he saved me from a crushing death, he had me pinned in a steel-like grip I couldn't escape from.

"You will not," he hissed. "And you know it."

I wasn't afraid of many things. Fire was one, but I had been able to overcome that fear. What really frightened me was the man – no, not man, nor angel, but a demon - that was smiling so cold at me as I was helpless. "All right," I whispered. "What do you want?"

Father's laugh appeared to freeze the air, chilling me and sending shivers racking down my spine. "I thought you'd never ask…"