Rise of the Fallen

Chapter I: Ten Years Later

  

  It’s been ten years since Jaq took me in and raised me like his own son. It was hard at first, getting used to living in France, but eventually I came to love it.  Every summer for my birthday, he would always take me camping, where he teaches me how to hunt and tells stories about my father, but this time it felt different. It was like he was forcing himself to smile.
“One time, we were out hunting, and he saw a deer almost fifty feet away through the trees. I don’t know how but he took one arrow and shot it. I thought for sure it was going to miss but the deer ran straight into the arrow’s path. I was speechless, I couldn’t even move.” He laughs but as his laughter faded away into silence. He turns to me and says, “Listed D, are you sure that you want to join the order? You don’t have to.”
“I’m sure. I just can’t sleep at night knowing I’m too weak to do anything. I couldn’t do anything for them then, but I want to be able to this for them now. I have to do this.” I say as I turn towards the campfire.
We sit in silence watching the fire dance until the sun set. Memories of that day begin to flicker inside the inferno. When the sun finally sat, Jaq stands up from the log and says, “Put that fire out and then grab your bow and arrows. When you finish that make your way to the creek. Before we leave you have to take down a deer yourself.” as he disappeared in the darkness.
Taking a deep breath, I get up, put out the fire, and walk over to the tent.
“Where is it?” I say looking around for my bow case, “there it is.” I reach down and grab the case and headed for the creek.
It was almost impossible to move through the forest at first, but thankfully my eyes adjusted to the dark. The branches were still a problem though. I make it to the creek after a walk that seemed like it would never end. I looked around but can’t see Jaq anywhere. I open the case and take out an all-black recurve bow. Hmm it’s lighter than I remember. I pull the bowstring back and the tension’s different too.
I take out four arrows and walk down to the bank of the creek. I look to the left and to the right, but it’s still no sign of him. Walking, along the bank, someone yells from the woods across the creek. I run across it and into the woods. As I get closer to the yelling, I start to hear Jaq’s voice.
Hiding behind a tree on the hill, I look to see what was going on. I turn and see something that for the first time since my parents died truly put fear in my heart. It was a giant with pale grey almost white skin, hands the size of boulders, and drool that melts straight through the ground.
Jaq, who looks like a toddler in comparison, slides under the monster and slices the inside of its legs.  The giant lets out a monstrous bellow and falls to one knee. Jaq jumps onto the giant’s back and climbs onto his neck. Before he could stab it, the giant grabs his arm and throws him. He hurls through the air and crashes into a tree. I turn back around and close my eyes as my heart begins to race.
“This is a dream. Yea, I just have to wake up.” I say to myself
“Ahhhhh!” Jaq screams
My eyes snap open and I look around the tree and see the giant picking Jaq up by the arm, crushing it. My grip around the bow tightens.
“Come on, you’re not weak anymore.” I say to myself trying to work up the courage to save him.
The giant slams Jaq to the ground without letting go of his crushed arm.
“HA HA HA HA HA! Another puny human about to end up in my stomach. How tragic.” The giant laughs as he slowly brings Jaq’s unconscious body over its gaping mouth.
Coming out from behind the tree, I shoot an arrow straight into the giant’s eye. He screams in pain as his blood came out boiling.
Three more arrows left. I slide down the hill to get to Jaq as I load my second arrow and drew back on the bow.
My breathing’s oddly calm as I let the arrow fly into his other eye.
Two more left.
In a rage the giant starts to swing randomly. Grabbing Jaq by his shirt collar, I try and drag him away from the monster, but he’s too heavy.
I load another arrow and aim for the giant’s head. I let the arrow fly, but he easily swats it away.  He turns towards me and grabs a tree and rips it up from the ground.
Run! Go! Go!
I grabbed Jaq and pull as hard as I can and run back towards the creek. When we finally make it back my legs fall from under me.
Breathing hard, I look around to see if there’s anything, anything I can use to kill that thing.
“Nothing, I have to get back to camp.”  I say to myself.
I get up to go grab Jaq, but before I can reach him a tree lands right in between us. I look back towards the forest to see where it came from and see the giant, knocking down trees as he makes his way towards me.
Ok, I have one arrow left and no plan…great. I take my final arrow out of the quiver and load it into the bow.
Taking a deep breath, I pull back the draw string and aim.
I have to hit him through the trees before he sees me.
Can I do it? No, I have to.
I pull back as far as I can and when I saw his grey skull poke through the trees, I let it fly. The arrow flies between the trees and pierces his skull.
“Yes! I hit it!” I say to myself passing out as the giant falls to the ground.
When I come to, I’m looking up at a ceiling I don’t recognize. My whole body aches. I look around for Jaq and see him lying in the bed next to me sleep. I let out a sigh of relief as the sound of footsteps grows louder as they get closer to the room. I look over to the door and a man and a woman walk in.
“I see you’re up. You are a lucky young man. I’m Dr. Miles and this is Dr. Grace,” He says as he takes my vitals, “How are you feeling?” 
“I’m alright for the most part. It’s just my body. It’s sore,” I say looking over to Jaq, “Is he going to be ok?” I ask
“Oh yes, he’s going to be just fine. Although, his arm did get severely crushed and a few rib fractures, but he survived thanks to you.” Dr. Grace assures me while checking on Jaq.
I look over to Jaq’s bed as he slowly wakes up. Groaning he says, “Where am I? What happened? Where’s the…” as he tries to sit up.
“Not so fast Jaq, do you know how hurt you are?” Dr. Grace warns
“Well seeing as I’m the one in pain, yea.” He groans, “What happened?”
“Your boy saved your ass from that Nephilim. Killed it too,” Dr. Miles chuckles, “You call yourself an assassin.”
“Cut the crap. He caught me off guard and all I had was a knife.” Jaq replied. He turns to me and says, “Thank you D. You did great. I’m glad you aren’t hurt.”
“What’s going on? What was that monster?” I ask
“Could we have a moment?” Jaq asked the doctors.
They nod and walk out of the room. Jaq tells me that the giant I killed is called a Nephilim, an abomination that was a child of an angel and a human. Most of them were killed or imprisoned but some still roam the earth often living in seclusion.
“What do you mean angels? Like angels from heaven angels?” I ask in complete shock.
He nods and says, “You were going to learn this when you got to the Academy but angels, demons, fallen angels and many supernatural creatures are real and the Order of the Fallen Cross’s sole duty is to protect the mortal world from the supernatural. So, if you’re really serious about joining the Order and going to the Academy you’ll have to deal with creatures much more dangerous than a Nephilim.”
I sat there in silence and stared up at the ceiling. My mind raced to process the information given to me. 
“I haven’t been that scared since my parents died. You know, at first, I didn’t know what to do but I acted. I moved and took it down. Even though it might’ve been luck, I did it and I just have a feeling that I have a better chance at finding him this way.” I say
“But you don’t have to. Revenge isn’t your only option. You don’t have to live like this. For the past ten years you’ve been living with me and not once have you had any interest in living a normal life.” Jaq argues
“Who says I wanted to have one? I made my decision that night. It wasn’t just a five-year-old overwhelmed with grief. I meant what I says when I took that oath, and it should’ve been on you to get me ready. But no what have I been doing? Living in ignorance? There are man-eating giants in the woods.” I say as I sit up in the bed.
“What do you think I’ve been doing!” he exclaims, “Every summer we go camping. I taught you how to shoot that bow. I taught you how to hunt, how to survive on your own. How to defend yourself. I never thought you weren’t serious; I just want what your parents wanted for you. A normal life and not having to worry about if you’ll make it back alive and revenge isn’t something you should live for.”
“Well, I guess that’s where we disagree.” I says as a woman wearing a slim black dress walks in carrying a clipboard. “Daniel Ross?” she asks as she looks at her clipboard.
“Yes?”
She looks up at me and her deep black eyes felt as if they could see right through me.
“Master Ciel told me a lot about you. I have high expectations.” She says
Master Ciel? “Really? What are these expectations exactly?” I ask
She walks around the room and sits in the chair across from the bed. “As an assassin of course. That’s why you’re here.” She grinned as she crossed her legs.
“Where am I and who are you?” I says as I sat on the edge of the bed.
“You’re in the Academy’s infirmary. After your fight with the Nephilim, you passed out, our scouts found the both of you and brought you here.”
“Uh huh and you are?”

“I’m the new headmaster of the Academy, Jeanne Sinclair, but you can call me headmaster.”
“New headmaster?” Jaq asked, “Where’s Master Ciel?”
She turns to Jaq and look him up and down. “It’s been a while since you’ve been here, but he’s fallen ill in these last few years.”
“Will he be ok? I ask
“The doctors say that he doesn’t have long.”
“I need to go see him. Hand me that wheelchair.” Jaq demanded
“You don’t have to go now. Focus on getting better.” She turns her attention to me and says, “Now Daniel, I have to know…are you serious about joining the Order?”
I nod.  “I need to hear it come from your mouth.” She says in a serious tone.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“Alright then, if you can follow me.” She says as she stands up out of the chair.
I nod and follow her out of the infirmary and down the hallway. We get to a marble door with symbols etched in gold and stop in front of it. The headmaster looks at me and says, “Are you ready? As soon as I open this it’s no turning back.”
I nod my head as she opens the door to a giant room filled with kids. “Go on in and find a seat.” Nervously I walk into the room and the tension’s almost suffocating. Everyone was into their own world and not talking to anyone. I find a seat and sit down in the front row.
Headmaster Jeanne walks up to the podium and says, “Welcome to the Academy. This is an institution that has trained assassins for thousands of years and will train them for a thousand more. Each one of you has come from a life of despair and strife looking to find meaning, a purpose for living. I know because I’ve been there. Joining the Academy will not be easy, many of you will die, but some of you will survive and persevere until the end. There are two phases of the selection process that you have to pass to officially enter the Academy. The first is a test of survival. You will have to survive in a location inside the Nether for a month. If you survive you move on to the second phase which focuses on your combat ability. Any questions?” She looks around the room and then looks at me, “You have any Danny?”
“Uhhh, yea just one what is the Nether?” I says as some of the other kids began to chuckle.
“Great question,” she says glancing at the kids laughing, “The Nether is the world under the world. Essentially, it’s a different space used to imprison the Nephilim eons ago and the Academy was originally built as a watchtower, but after the Order’s conception we now use it as a training ground for our assassins. Away from the distractions of the mortal world.”
She looks around the room one last time and says, “Ok if there aren’t any more questions let’s head out to the first phase of the selection.”
She leads us out of the room and down a spiral staircase. The more we descend the faster my heart started beating. It wasn’t long until we reaches another marble door at the bottom of the stairs. She opens the door and a gust of wind slams into us.
“This is the Nether.” The headmaster says as she walks out from the staircase and needless to say the Nether is breathtaking.
The sun is vibrant, there are plants that I’ve never seen before covering the landscape for as far as the eye can see and the sky if oddly a kind of orange color. I walk out of the staircase and onto the grassy hill. There were all kinds of animals running through the forest below and flying in the sky.
“There are backpacks filled with equipment essential for survival I recommend you find them as soon as possible. Your test starts now” she yells as the others run down the hill and into the forest.