Segment from Chapter One "When Darkness Falls"

The rising sun cast little light on the landscape and even less warmth.  Both were blocked by dark heavy snow clouds.  Fierce winds blew across the plains adding yet another challenge to the weary traveler.  Alvar-el, while immune to death by age or disease was very vulnerable to death by freezing, which made him grateful that today his path would keep the wind to his back.  The weather had done little to make this his most recent quest enjoyable.  From the moment he stepped out of Eden and into the material world, the elements of winter had plagued his every step.  Alvar-el’s stay among his fellow Elohim was shorter than usual.  Few of the Elohim went beyond the boundaries of Eden any more. All of their kind knew the price of existing in the material world of men, a price that had cost some of their kind dearly. Snowflakes fell gently to the earth obscuring his vision even further.  Alvar-el squinted as he scanned the landscape before him.  Drifts of snow lay across the wide flat lands of the region.  Bare dead looking trees broke the scenery and there on the far edge of his vision he could just make out a tree line. A river ran along the tree line and judging the distance Alvar-el estimated he would reach it by mid day. Following the river south he expected to find his target, a group of men bearing captives from a recent raid.

Alvar-el reached the river's edge where he stopped to meet the needs of his material body.  It always took him a few days to adjust to the massive range of sensations that came with the physical form of men.  As a being of spirit such things as taste, smell and touch were alien to the Elohim. Some among his kind found the experience to be too much and feared falling victim to the desires of flesh. The Fallen had been Elohim once, now exiles from the divine presence and a potent deterrent against taking flesh. Alvar-el handled the temptations better than most, a significant reason he was sent out so often to interact with men.  A quick meal and a piss, he resumed his journey moving south along the river.  Before long he saw the campsite that marked the group he had been sent in search of.  Six men wearing heavy coats of animal fur and armed with wooden spears guarded the camp. A few crude shelters had been set up in a circle around a large fire.   At the fire pits edge sat three more men, who were most likely the leaders.  As expected the armed group were raiders from a near by tribe. Often the descendants of Cain the Kinslayer raided the homesteads of the peaceful children of Abel.  The raids were usually fast and the focus was women to make their wives or give to the Nephilim.  The number of captives was large for such a small band.  The Elohim did not bother with such events usually, but one of these women was barring a child.  Often the women abducted were pregnant, but this woman carried a rare set of twins.  Why these twins were important to El was unclear.  Alvar-el was only told to retrieve her and the children she carried.  

 The band of men would soon take to drink strong wine to fight the bitter cold of night, making entry to the camp easier. He first needed to identify the one he wanted and to do that he must get a look at the bound women in the camp first.  To do that he must take the risk of separating from his material form and enter the etheric realm. Between the material world of men and the spirit realm of the Elohim lay the etheric realm.  In that between world Alvar-el can move through the camp without fear of detection, but the risk to his physical body was high.  The separation of his spirit from his flesh left his body unprotected. Should harm come to his body he would have little chance of returning in time to protect it,death could be a real possibility. For any Elohim whose flesh is destroyed in the material world their spirit separates returning to the spirit realm, but if death occurred while in the etheric his spirit would be lost.  At the foot of a winter bare tree Alvar-el laid down on the snow.  There he slowed his breathing, allowing his body to become heavy, rooted to the earth.  With the skill of a master he cleared his mind of all thought and in that void built a body of silver light.  Shaping the silver light into a form that resembled his flesh, he projected his spirit into the vessel.. Once complete he projected the image out of his mind into the etheric plane.  The silver glowing body now existed between the worlds and all the land before him now shimmered in a pale bluish light.  Looking down he could see his material body lying as if asleep in the snow at the base of a tree.  Moving forward across the drifts of snow he approached the camp.  As he grew closer details and sounds became clearer. The men talked about the raid, which woman they intended to claim and which they would offer to the Nephilim. 

 A quick count revealed twenty captives, bound by rope to one another and many bleeding from mistreatment by their captures. In the etheric men projected bodies of light. These multi colored forms were projections or auras of emotion. As he moved along the line of women he studied each aura looking for the one he had been sent for.  Each aura radiated in chaotic patterns of black and red, clear evidence of their recent trauma. Spotting the signs of life within such swirling chaos would not be easy and take far more time then he wanted. Deep in concentration reading each aura with care, Alvar-el failed to see the figure approaching the camp. Not until the aura he was reading registered new fear and hysteria did he realize someone new was on the scene. Caution swept over him, this was no ordinary son of men, but a Nephilim. Alvar-el's danger was real for it was possible for a Nephilim to detect him. The Nephilim were the result of Sama-el's Fall and those who were in league with him. The birth of these abominations was a price paid by all. The raiders acted as if they had been surprised by this visit as well, but they could do little except comply with his desires. Alvar-el studied the Nephilim certain that he recognized the one named Og. Og had come to claim his daughter of men. The women were dragged before the fire light that Og could appraise them. There they shivered before the mighty Og, who stood nine feet tall and caused all in his presence to tremble with fear. Alvar-el with time running out resumed his study of the women. As Og too studied the women, Alvar-el spotted the signs of life he was searching for. The woman was young and of rare red hair. Certain Og would chose her for this reason alone, he waited. Seconds later Og made his choice and the women he claimed was hauled from the line up. Her shrieks of terror filled the night air and sent the other women to crying. Once out of the sight of the camp, the leader of the group returned order to the band of men. Satisfied that all was in order Alvar-el started back to his body.  

Returning his spirit to his body, he rose up from the ground. He had long ago grown accustomed to mission like this taking unexpected turns, but something seemed some how not right with this. Og's appearance was out of character for his kind. More questions than answers drove Alvar-el to sneak his way back to the camp. From his vantage point at the edge of the raiders camp he watched. The woman he had identified was missing, obviously taken for bed sport by the leader. Settling in for a long watch Alvar-el was startled by a triumphant scream of rage.  From the makeshift shelter that was used by the group leader came a howl of pain.  Seconds later the half dressed leader emerged cupping his groin with both hands, blood ebbing out to flow down his bare legs.  "Bitch"!  He bellowed.  The men on guard duty appeared on the scene, while others stuck heads out of shelters to see what was happening.  "the bitch bit me". He said through clenched teeth.  Both guards reached into the shelter to drag her out, but it was already to late.  Alvar-el watched helpless to prevent what was sure to be swift retribution. Death came quick for her and her unborn children. An outcome she had likely hoped for.