Nephalim

Act 1: Prologue

How does one face the end? Do we go out the same way we came in, kicking and screaming as we tear ourselves from our mother's womb? Mayhaps we take solace in the end, and go peacefully. And what lays beyond the veil? Paradise? Hell? Or is it perhaps an endless abyss, darkness for all eternity.

I often contemplated such things on nights like this. The rain pouring down on top of me, not a soul to be seen. My only companions being my thoughts and the lights of the city street. I was secluded and isolated, but out in the open. Simultaneously alone yet surrounded by people hiding from the night and ran within their concrete abodes that threatened to peirce the veil of the Gods.

It was perfect.

A shiver ran down my spine as I walked through the rain. I swore in the old tongue as I pulled my coat in closer. Being cold blooded ruined nights like these, but it was well worth it. The peace and tranquility was always worth a moment of discomfort.

As I carried on through the night, my tongue flicking to taste the air, I felt a presence nearby. It was an all consuming dark and hateful one that threatened to arrest my very senses.

I stood still where I was and peered over my shoulder. Nothing. I looked down the alleyway, my tongue flicking madly. Still, nothing by darkness, met with the soft pitter patter of rain. I shook my head and sighed, smiling.

"You're losing it you old reptile," I said to myself as I carried on. However, as I strode forth down the dimly lit street, the presence became more oppressing. All my senses started screaming as me, and I felt the fimilar sensation of shifting come over me.

I grasped tightly as my coat, telling myself to keep it together, now is not the time to loose control. All of a sudden, a scream of pain resounded from the alley ahead of me, followed by a blinding white light. My instincts told me to run, flee and hide, but my body ran forth to investigate.

Down this dark unlit alley, was a woman, who's beauty rivaled that of Melia herself. She lay still, unmoving, the familiar taste of rusted iron filled the air with every flick of my tongue. Crouching beside her, draining her silver blood into a small vial, was a figure in black. The shifting in my body had begun.

The figure rose, as if sensing my presence and turned to look at me. I could not tell if it was smiling or scowling, but in an instant, dark broken wings spouted from its back and it took flight.

My body was shaking, I looked down at my exposed hands as scales erupted from my skin, my nails becoming claws. I felt my entire body contort as the change came upon me. Then...

Darkness.