Nephilim Quest Book 1: Shadowhunter

30. Gatekeepers 3/3

"Where did Daniel come from? And his brother? I understand there are not many good Nephilim out there...?"

Mrs. Olanda placed her hands firmly on her round hips.

"Now that is not something you can go asking anyone else about but Daniel. It is a rule of this place that we only hear about someone else's previous life from that person themselves - that includes the Nephilim. They tell you their story if they choose to tell you. Many of us here are from another time, and have often had traumatic experiences before reaching this place where we feel at home."

"I'm sorry..." I knew I was blushing.

"Oh come on, no need to feel embarrassed, Dana!" The wide smile that Jason aimed at me was comforting somehow. "You'd never heard of this rule before, and now you have, and know how to behave in the future."

"Quite so," Mrs. Olanda also smiled kindly at me. "If you are interested in hearing Daniel's story, you can go and ask him yourself."

"Let's get back to the Gatekeepers, shall we?" Jason reminded us. "As you can imagine, we need a lot of Gatekeepers here. If the Immortals get a whiff of the location of a temporary gate, they respond as quickly as they can and they come in force, not alone. Force is their first and foremost tactic and so they gather together into a group before they attack. And first they always send out shadow scouts. This usually gives us time to act."

"We use scouts too," Mrs. Olanda clarified. "For every group that goes time walking, we have one Gatekeeper here by the gate, and two or three others near the gateway on the other side - depends on how many groups we have out at any given moment, and how many Gatekeepers we can spare. They spread out in their positions and stay absolutely still. Sound travels for great distances in the buffer zone, and a keen listener will hear anyone coming from a long way off. If they hear noises, they go check out who is coming. Usually it is our own group of Time Walkers, but there have been occasions when they have been shadows or Immortals. Sometimes even a Nephilim. They are the worst - they have very keen senses, and scouts have to retreat very very silently to avoid being detected."

"Also the Nephilim sense of smell is too good..." Jason sighed, "so no spicy food or smoking for the Gatekeepers."

"Indeed not! And no aftershave or deodorants that smell like an oriental spice market," Mrs. Olanda wagged an index finger at Jason as if he had been guilty of such behavior. "Also no one is allowed to enter the buffer zone if they have a cold. One sneeze could bring a horde of shadows to the spot."

"What do you do if you notice the shadows approaching?"

"We retreat and close the gate from our side."

"Leaving the Time Walkers in a trap?" I didn't get this. "Won't they walk straight into danger?"

"We send a message to the Weaver of the group, and they will weave their way back to another temporary gate - or the permanent gate here. That is why we can never have all the Weavers away at the same time. The number of Weavers that are out there with a group must always tally with the number of Weavers that are here on duty. The Weavers here know where the group has gone and know how to find the Weaver in the past, so they can connect with them from this side, creating a new path for them to follow, and showing them the spot where the gate will be opened."

"Sounds interesting... What exactly do they weave?" I wanted to know.

"You'll learn that soon," Mrs. Olanda assured me.

"Well, I don't think I would be much of a Gatekeeper..." I bent my arm in a mock attempt to show my biceps. It wasn't a very impressive muscle, I can tell you.

Jason chortled.

"You might be good at Oriental fighting, if you gave it a try. I wouldn't be sorry to see you at the gym! And you will be there sooner or later to learn the basics of self-defense and Nephilim-killing. It is compulsory."

He gave me a wink and laughed when I blushed.

"Jason, behave!" Mrs. Olanda shook her head. "Close that for us, will you."

We walked out of the room. I looked over my shoulder and saw Jason press the gate shut using his whole arms. It was done in a few seconds.

xxx

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