Chapter One

The war of Wasis

Once upon a time in the earth. When mankind was young and naïve of much. An ancient evil was sown in the world and began to reign unchecked.

Mankind was on the course of destruction, seemingly by its own hand. But all who were wise and perceptive were aware of the presence of the invisible darkness that was turning the fates of men into a life of hell on Earth.

These were the times when the people desperately needed a savior. And the spirits did not deny them... These were the times of the birthing of the first great heroes.

Not many know how they came about. Whether they were formed or whether they were trained into what they were. But it is an undeniable fact that they did exist and that they did great things for the sake of life and for humanity.

This is the story of Nimrod. A seemingly regular boy who grew to become something so mighty that men dared to call him a god.

But for any great hero to be made, there has to be a great villain.

Tales of old tell of a warrior who fought and conquered lands in the East. He and his band of fighters raided villages, killing the unprepared men and taking their wives, cattle and sheep and farms and lands and houses. His name was Thorne and he was a vicious man, consumed with a deeply seated evil anger.

It is said that one day, Thorne and his band of invaders attacked an island settlement called Wasis, with a mission to lay waste to it, marking it with their footsteps of destruction.

But that day, they were met with resistance so strong that Thorne was wounded terribly and his brother and right hand man, Axel was killed by Andrew, ruler of Wasis. Thorne is said to have been so enraged that he ordered Baris his most vicious fighter to strike down men who cowered before Andrew and the men of Wasis. He demanded that they continued fighting despite the unexpected setbacks. He also promised the hand of the most beautiful lady of Wasis to the man who killed Andrew.

All of Thorne's men received new fire and fought harder than they ever had to. And Bravin, one of Thorne's best fighters was able to kill Andrew.

The victory had been won, but at a such a great price. 

Thorne announced from his sick bed that he and his men would be staying back at Wasis indefinitely, and that it would be their new home until they had recovered fully and could go on raiding.

Thorne asked for the family of Andrew, and his wife and young son were produced.

Though she was crying profusely and in much devastation, Thorne still couldn't help but notice that the woman before him was of a beauty singular in nature. She was not just the most beautiful of all the women of Wasis arrayed before the soldiers. She was the most beautiful woman he had seen in all his travels and conquests.

Thorne immediately rescinded his promise to the man who killed Andrew. No, he had to have this wonderful beauty to himself. Like he had to have the beautiful, fruitful land of Wasis to himself.

He announced himself new king of Wasis and proclaimed that the wife of Andrew would be his wife.

He ordered Baris to take the son of Andrew for safe keeping to ensure that Janice, wife of Andrew cooperated with him. She would live with him and be his nurse until his coronation and subsequent wedding to her.

The second most beautiful damsel in the land was Julliet, Janice's sister. She, Thorne gave in marriage to Bravin.

Within a short while, Wasis was renamed The city of Thorne. And the city began to plunge into a darkness they had not known since the time of the first settlers.

Chapter Two

The Gem amidst the Rabble

Unknown to Thorne, Janice was a devout woman who constantly spoke to God and good spirits. She had been praying ever since Thorne arrived and was now in a state of desperate despair.

Two nights after the war, she was in her room in the Mighty House of The Chief. It had not been changed since the takeover of Wasis. Afterall, Thorne intended to marry her, so she could keep her Queen's room. Although Thorne wondered why a woman should have her own room, he thought it best to recuperate in his own space first while she stayed here. When she became his wife, he would cancel a Queen's room and install a wine cellar instead. Grand! he thought. Just grand.

Janice got up from her bed and went to her window. She was restless. She couldn't sleep even though she badly needed to sleep. She had not slept the night before and had cried all through, earning headaches.

She stood in the bright light of the new moon and looked up at it with red, swollen eyes. It was so beautiful, she thought as a gentle breeze blew through the window and lightly moved her gray silk dress... Such beauty. Such gentleness in such a place of horror.

A thought crossed her mind. If Andrew was here, he would most likely come to her, feeling drawn to the shape of her body, sensitive to the fact that cold air was blowing on her. He would want to warm her. He would walk up to her and hold her from behind and kiss her at the back of her neck... A tear dropped down her right eye and soon more followed from bioth eyes, streaming down her face in quick succession. She grabbed her chest as it broke again and fell down to the floor, shattered. She wailed.

She cried to the heavens.

"Why?!"

"Oh, why have you forsaken me?"

"Why have you turned against me?"

"I serve you daily, albeit substandardly sometimes. But I give my dues when I can and I repent when I have done evil."

"I lead your people in supplication and worship by the side of my husband everyday!"

"Why do you punish me and my people so? Why have you turned this peaceful and beautiful home of ours into a place of death around us?"

"Wasis used to be the gem amidst the rabble. The boisterously fruitful land blooming right in the middle of a dry desert and a life consuming forest."

"Now we are almost as devastated and decrepit of life as the lands of death around us. These soldiers of Thorne have turned our home into a wasteland."

"What have we done, Lord?" she asked meaningfully

"and what can we do to survive this evil calamity that has befallen us?"

"Please speak to your servant and give your people respite".

Then more to herself she said, "This evil man who killed my husband now wants to marry me. Save me from this fate or I will take my life"

Janice had prayed many times and in many places before. But that particular day when she went down on her knees and the moon shone through the high windows of the Mighty House and balanced on her golden head, an angel caught sight of her and was beholden in her beauty and captivated by her plight as he listened. He could not turn away.

The angel's name was Margriel. He was a monitoring angel in charge of watching the vast lands from the regions of Sobatomy to Wasis and beyond. Even to the depths of the Bargij forest.

Margriel had been watching the Earth for years and had seen much, but he had not seen anything to make him stop for so long. Dazed. In Margriel's eyes which had known the splendor of Heaven's beauty all his life, Janice was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. Incomparable to anything or anyone, not even the most glorious angels.

It was a beauty he could not describe. Because it was sodifferent from anything anywhere. And it ministered to something in him that he didn't even know was there... And this creature that moved him so strongly was in impending danger. He had to reach her somehow, some way.

Margriel knew that what he must do was to go to his Lord's presence and tell God Himself who would then give an order as to what must be done... But he knew that the procedure may not be as straightforward as Janice needed and was requesting for.

That day, Margriel did something that he knew in his being was against the laws hat upheld the sanctity of Heaven and Earth. 

He answered the lady's call without first consulting God unto whom the cry for help was directed. He made the decision to go to the Earth... in full form and without any message from the supreme one, only one of his. 

Margriel was not among the first to fall among the brothers of the sky. There had been the great uprising which led to the casting down of a third of the angels. But he was among the first who fell, for a different reason. A more personal one. Lust. Lust after the beautiful daughters of men. At the time however, he did not consider this falling. He thought of it as liberation. Of the damsel in distress... and of his heart which he had just discovered could beat for a reason other than God.