6:30 pm
Cain yelled, 'To the pavillion!'
The whole populus pf the isle, dozens of Nephilim, filed across the arc bridges. We lined up in order of rank, so of course I was dead last.
The Nephilim of the other isles also did as we did and united in the open air pavillion.
Sprites joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the lakes.
In all, there were maybe a few hundred Nephilim, a few dozen Sprites, and a dozens of naiads.
At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble
columns. A white fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a water tank.
Each ilse had its own table, covered in fabric wooven form golden thread.
Most of the tables were fine, but the ilse of the lost's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.
Vere was sitting at table twelve with Marmoo, a few other sprites and several beautiful Naiads stuffing grapes into Marmoos mouth.
Acacius was also at that table, regarding Marmoo with a frown.
Esme sat at the sixth table with a bunch of exotic super model class beauties all like her, with pale skin and long raven hair.
Seth was also having fun and sat at the third table. Somehow he'd apparently gotten over being being pummeled by a bunch of rocks, because he was laughing and belching right alongside his big dumb friends.
Finally, Acacius clapped loudly from the center table of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent.
He raised a glass.'To the celestials!'
Everybody else raised their shouted in concert. 'To the Celestials!'
Naiad maids came forward with platters of food: grapes, melons, strawberries, dates, cheese, fresh bread and yes, pot roast!
My emptied out my glass, but Cain said, 'Picture it full with whatever you want, even alcohol isnt banned.'
I said, 'Warm milk.'
'Really dude?' Cain laughed.
The glass filled with creamy white liquid.
Then I had an idea. 'Glen Mclaren 30 year.'
The milk turned into a sparkling.
I took a cautious look then decided. 'Nah.'
I looked at the ceiling and thought of my mother.
Ill get her back, I told myself. No matter where she is, no matter what I have to do.
According to legend she would be in the Underworld. And if that was real place …
'Here you go,' Cain said, handing me a platter of Rare steak.
I was dug in and it tasted really good, like nothing Id ever had before. It seems Nephilum were better at cooking too.
After a while Acacius clapped again for our
attention.
Marmoo got up reluctantly. 'Yes, I suppose I'd better welcome all you horrible accidents to this evening banquet.
Well, welcome and as usual you all make me sick. Our activities director, Acacius, the says the war games will be postponed a day layer so everyone will have the opportunity to sufficiently prepare.
Ilse two presently holds the the jade torch.'
All the Nephilim on table two suddenly cheered.
'Personally,' Marmoo continued, 'I couldn't care less, but congrats.
Also, I should another human stain has joined your ranks. Obed Panes.'
Acacius promptly whispered into Marmoos ear.
'Abel Hayes,' Marmoo corrected. 'That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along, find some empty task to fill your meaningless existence. Go on.'
Everyone shrugged and filed out lf the pavilion. We all headed back to our own ilses. We of the ilse of the lost held a movie night. Watching a projection of a vintage movie embedded into the night sky.
Sounds of cheer resound also from the other ilses as some held sing alongs or continued the banquet and joked around, and the funny thing was, at last, in this climate, I felt
that I was home.
Later in the evening, when the last sparks of liveliness died out, and everyone went indoors. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed onto my bed.
My arm reflexively curled around the Burronjor quills.
I thought about my mom, but I kept my thoughts happy: her warm smile, her butterscotch scent, the tapes she rented out and watched with me when I was a kid, the
way she should softly kiss me goodnight.
When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.
That was my first in the dreamtime.
I wish I'd known how short this peace would last.
The next few days I settled into a routine that felt strangely normal, if you ignored the fact that I was getting lessons from sprites, Naiads and a Yeti.
Each morning I took Ancient dialect courses from Cain, and we talked about the history of the Celestials, treating them like people who actually existed, which was kind of weird.
I discovered he was right: Nephilim science wasnt hard to understand at all despite being way more advanced. Chemistry was a favorite of mine.
After a couple of classes at the forge, I could already remember the names of the 500 elements on the Celestial periodic table.
The rest of the day, I'd rotate through the activities,
looking for something I was good at. Acacius tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick no one was sage when I held a bow and arrow.
He was patient didn't complain, even when he had to dislodge the arrow i stuck in his thigh.
Racing? No good either. The even the the unwakeners from the speed class isle left me in the dust.
They told me not to worry, that even in umawakened Nephilim some divine talent would appear in due time. But still, their pitying gazes didn't really make me feel any better.
And wrestling? Forget it. The murderous looks on the shura class Nephilim dissuaded me plenty.
I didn't plan on dying yet.
The only thing I really excelled at was forging and i was a quick leaner of the sciences, but those werent the heroic trits others expected from my burrunjor slaying greatness.
I knew everyone had their eyes on me, trying to dsicover just what kind of Nephilim I was, but they weren't having any luck.
I wasn't nearly as strong as the shura or strike class unawakeners, or as good at archery as the Apollo kids. I didn't have
Forhe class' skill with divine metal.
Luke told me I might be a normal beta class, fairly good at everything but excellent at nothing.
But I got the feeling he was just throwing his hands into the air.
He was just as exasperated as I was.
But despite this, I didnt hate my new home. I got used the Mist thay crawled over the world at daw, the smell of peaches in the gardens at noon, even the weird noises my horny ilse mates made that kept me up clutching my pillow over my ears didnt seem so bad.
I would eat dinner with the ilse of the lost and wake up to the next day, trying to find what I was good at to no avail.
I tried not to think too much about my mom, never stop wondering: if one day I really could bring her back…
Then on wednesday evening during my first week here, I had my comabt lesson.
Everybody from the ilse of the lost gathered in the big circular arena, where Cain would be our instructor.
We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in armour.
I guess I did okay.
At least, I knew how to swing a sword and I was quite fast.
The problem was, i couldnt find a weapon that felt right. Axes were too heavy abd awkward for me, swords were too light, not balanced enough.
Cain tried his best to fix me up, and eventually I settled for a spear.
We moved on to duelling in pairs. Cai announced he would duel me, since I hadnt done this before.
'Good luck,' one of the friendlier Nephilim warned. 'No one has been Cains match in the way of the sword for the past century.'
'Then I geuss Ill just die then,' I said.
The Nephil warily stepped away from me.
Cain showed me no mercy. With every slash, I got a new fresh wound.
'You need to be more ferocious, Abel,' he'd say, then hed kick my rips after parrying my strike. 'The spear is the weapon of certainty and mercilessness. You must go for the kill!'
Whap! 'Lunge!' Whap!'Now, back!' Whap!
By the time he called a break, I was covered in cuts and bruises.
Cain worte a few glowing gluphs in the air with his finger and conjured up a brazier filed with ice and cool drinks.
Everybody immediately swarmed it. I downed a gatorade and felt a little betterr.
'Okay, everybody circle up!' Cain ordered.
'Today we'll learn a new sword form: 'the riposte', Abel will help me demonstrate it.'
Great, I thought. Public humiliation for the new guy.
Everyone gathered around. Their eyes glinted with a hint of schadenfreude.
They'd prolly all couldn't wait to laugh real hard at me.
Cain told everybody he was going to demonstrate a rippste: A quick counterattack after a parry.
'This is really advanced,' he stressed. 'I've lost to it beofore.
Now no laughing at Abel. This technique is not so easily mastered.'
He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, his sword tip ended up right at my throat.
'Now in real time,' he said, after I repriented myself.
'Abel try your hardest.'
I nodded, and he came after me. Somehow, I kept him from knocking my spear out of my hands. My senses entered overdrive. For a moment I saw his artack coming and I countered. I lunged and tried a thrust of my own.
Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his eyes. His was wary now, and he became more ruthless with his attacks.
The my palms reddened from exertion and I was quickly losing balance.
I knew in mere moments I would go down, so I figured, What the heck?
I he stabbed at me and I caught the edge of his blade with my spwars barb putting my
whole weight into a downward thrust.
Cain was surprised, but it didn't last long. he was much bigger, stronger than me.
He lifted his plate with a grunt and I was dislodged from the ground, spinning the air.
Strangely in that moment my vision was clearer than it had been through our exchanges.
I saw an opening and slashed my spear against his chest, drawing a thin bloody line through his armour just as my feet touched the ground.
Clang.
Cain's sword skittled across the concrete.
The blade of my spear was right up at his throat.
The other Nephilim were silent, in awe.
I lowered my spear. 'Um, sorry.'
For a moment, Cain was too stunned to say anything, still registering what happened.
'Sorry?' His flashed a brilliant smile with his perfect teeth. 'By Altjira's blade, Abel, why are you sorry? Lets go again!'
I didn't want to. My very brief moment of perfect clarity was gone. But Cain gave me no choice.
This time, I didnt last long. The moment our weapons touched, the spear was out of my hands.
After a long awkward pause, somebody in the audience said,
'Beginner's luck?'
Cain stabbed his plaed into the fround. He appraised me with an entirely new interest. 'Maybe,' he said. 'But I wonder ….'
Thirsday afternoon, I had finally caught Vere alone and willing to talk....