Nephilim Quest Book 1: Shadowhunter

25. The Opening of the Way 3/3

"We believe the gates might have been created using these Keys, but we can't be sure. Perhaps they were opened and never closed again when the Watchers disappeared. But this is just a theory, that perhaps once they were opened and left open, it became impossible to close them after a while. Like an old wound that cannot heal itself again. Maybe the gates were used in the War of Angels. We do not know. There are so many secrets that have vanished with time.  The locations of the anchored Gates in the physical world have miraculously remained a secret to the Immortals and bad Nephilim. Still, the Immortals have a way of moving between the buffer zone and our world. We know for sure the dark Nephilim take them between the physical world and the buffer zone. Their shadows are involved in this movement too. Coming back to the physical world is not, on the whole, difficult, but humans cannot reach the buffer zone on their own unaided."

"And this is why you have created this place?" I said, gesturing around me in a circle to indicate the whole Centre. "To stop the Immortals and Nephilim?"

"Partly, yes. And partly because we've learned about something very dangerous and ancient that wasn't destroyed, even though it should have been."

I looked around in the library. I realised that there were many more people than I had first noticed. They were leaning on the bookcases, or sitting at little desks scattered everywhere, wherever there was a big enough space. And everyone was reading silently or writing notes.

"So, what is it?"

Lilith and Daniel glanced at each other. They were clearly trying to reach a decision.

"Once we have told you, you are not safe in the outside world anymore. Not until you have learned to protect yourself from the shadows. Are you ready for this? To stay for a long time, if necessary? Can we trust you?"

"I don't know why you have trusted me with this much information already, to be honest," I confessed, "but if you tell me more, I promise I will keep your secret."


"We have reasons to believe that you will keep your word," Daniel said and I got the oddest feeling there was a hidden meaning in what he said that had nothing to do with simply deciding to trust someone. "Also Layla vouches for you. That is why you were given the book.   We suspect you have hidden talents. You should, considering your genealogy. And so you will find you life's work here, in one of our groups."

For a moment I wondered what was so extraordinary about my very ordinary parents. I saw Lilith quickly glance sideways at Daniel. 

"OK. Shoot. Tell me what this dangerous, ancient thing is. Some sort of weapon?" I asked.

"No, it is knowledge. A book," Lilith patted the book on my lap.

"A book. Is that what all these people are searching for? Is it somewhere here in the library?"

"In an indirect way, yes. They are looking for clues in our books about where the book sought by the Nephilim might be. It is called the Book of Watchers – we believe this contains the ancient writings that the angels used to teach their children. It must contain skills that are absolutely terrifying in their power. We fear that at its worst, after reading this book one could literally tear apart the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead. And the Immortals want to find it too, as they believe it would give them free mobility between the physical world and buffer zone. It might surprise you, but we did not know such a book existed until we caught a shadow that revealed information about the book before the shadow's creator withdrew his consciousness, destroying his creation. Ever since then the shadows have been created to be mute. We take this as proof that such a book really exists. The huntress who caught the shadow and forced the information out of it was Layla."

"My grandmother? A Huntress?"

"A Huntress of shadows, yes."

That was something to muse over... For a short, hysterically amused moment, I wondered what mother would say if she knew. But her knowing anything about this was an impossible thought in itself, so I discarded it.

"But how can you know for sure that such a race as these angels actually existed? Aren't they also imaginary creatures?" I realised even as I spoke that I was going to have to revise my interpretation of "imaginary." I stared at a picture of the "Mystic nativity" painted by Sandro Botticelli. A ring of angels was flying over the stable, three angels sitting on the roof, and angels hugging people and pointing at the manger. The angels had wings of different colors.

"They might not be what you'd expect them to be. Much of they way they look in the pictures and reliefs is a human invention, of course. But they did exist here once. The Nephilim are a living proof of this. They inherited a lot of their physique from their ancestors," Lilith explained.

"Living proof? I've never seen any such a thing as a Nephilim!" I said. "Nor has anyone else I know."

I wasn't exactly in a place to deny everything they'd said, having stepped through the gate. And having seen my dead friend with my own eyes, and touched her with my own hands, even if it only was for a fleeting moment. Still there was too much to assimilate in one sitting. I had never been religious, and considered angels to be like fairies – pretty, and not real. Like the angels in Botticelli's painting.

"But you've almost certainly been seeing Nephilim in your life, even if you didn't realise it at the time. You will recognize them if you know what to look for," Lilith told me. "First of all, they are tall. Secondly, their eye color is brilliant – it can be golden, which is often the sign of a dangerous Nephilim. Or they can be brilliant blue, which usually tells you are dealing with a good one.  That's a very general rule, not a fixed one. Nephilim skin can be any color. Human genetics dictate the appearance of that somewhat."

"And they have wings?"

"Well, yes, in a way. Not the feathery things people have been depicting in art, but energy whirls of magnificent colors, which spread out, resembling wings. They are transparent, see-through," Lilith continued. "Of course they keep them hidden unless they are certain it is safe to open them. And they can function in angelic ways without opening them fully. Flying for example."

"Tall, bright eyes, wings they don't show... Anything else? I know quite a few tall, bright-eyed people, without wings, who don't fly. Come to think of it - I never knew anyone who could fly."

"The people you know don't share the last physical characteristic that separates the Nephilim from ordinary people. Heat. Body heat. They have a much higher temperature than we do."

I froze.

"Heat... They are... hot?"

"We are," Daniel said and spread his wings.

***

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