Rise of the Nephilim

Twenty

Everyone was sat there eating in the dark. I guess they couldn't sleep and had the same idea I did. Walking over to the table I sat next to Charlie and Ruby. Wordlessly, Ruby passed me a bar of chocolate and I silently thanked her. For a while none of said anything. We just ate the food and I wasn't going to be the first to say anything, they all looked deep in thought or maybe they were too busy eating.

I wonder why they're all up this late, well, early. Maybe they all had bad dreams as well or just couldn't sleep which is what we all should be doing. Possibly not Michael because he's an angel, do angels even sleep? I might ask him that. I wonder is angels dream, I don't like dreaming except if they're weird or funny.

"Cora, why are you up?" Asked Ruby and everyone was looking at us now.

"Bad dream." I replied and we all went back to eating. Looking around the table I saw everyone else was in pajamas. We all pretty much wore the same though, a t shirt and drawstring pajama trousers. As the night went on everyone slowly drifted out and went back to bed until it was just me and Michael sat at the kitchen table. He moved over three seats and sat next to me, he probably wanted to talk about something.

"What was your dream about?" Michael asked me seriously. I don't know why though, it was just a dream wasn't it?

"It was really weird. Everyone was fighting loads of demons and one by one everyone died until I was the only one left and then I died. But it was just a dream." I hope it was.

"That's strange because I had a similar dream but I woke up when I died." So it wasn't just a dream. "In your dream who died first?" Now we've got to see if it was the same dream but we both had it.

"Charlie died first." I said staring at him.

"And Carter died second." This is creepy.

"And then Finn." Michael nodded. We somehow had the same dream. "This is too weird. We had the same dream, what does that even mean?" I laid my head on the table and groaned, this is something we're going to have to sort out because now the dream means something. "What do we do?"

"We find out why we had the same dream, we see if it predicted the future or was just a dream or someone sent that dream to us. It could be a warning sent by someone?" That's plausible. Someone could be trying to warn us about something.

"How about we avoid any place that looks like that until we know what the dream was. And if we can't do that, we fight differently than we did in the dream. In real life, we all fight together not in groups." I mused and Michael looked slightly impressed.

"Good thinking. We should go get changed." He said after looking at the clock. "Neither of us is going back to sleep and it's four 'o' clock so we might as well start training." Oh no. How do I get out of this one? After the dream I just had I think I should get all of the training I can get. I can't get out of it so I might as well use it to my advantage.

"Ok. Where should I meet you?" I asked.

"Outside either of our rooms."

"I'll meet you there." Running to my room, I went through the wardrobe full of clothes and decided what to wear. For a while now I had almost completely forgotten I had them because now I had adjusted to their size and weight. Stretching them, I looked at them and saw small differences from the first time I had saw them. Know they were slightly bigger and looked more powerful. Also, there were less grey feathers and more black ones. Maybe it was like baby birds, the grey feathers were down and the black and silver were adult feathers.

Picking through the wardrobe, I found that it was mainly my kind of clothes. It consisted of blue jeans (two pairs), black jeans (four pairs), joggers (two pairs), an assortment of hoodies and tops as well as a few leather jackets and to my delight no skirts or dresses though I'm positive that Ruby will try to change that the first chance she gets.

For today I chose my old black combat boots, black jeans, a red and grey jumped top thing and a hoodie. These clothes were comfy and practical which is what I needed. All of my clothes, tops and jackets mainly, had been adjusted to accommodate my wings. Quickly I brushed my hair and put it in a loose ponytail.

I saw Michael as soon as I exited my room and I followed him to where ever we were going. Eventually I'm going to have to ask Oliver for a map of this place, it'll make life a whole lot easier and I won't have to follow anyone around anymore. Michael led me into a room but it wasn't what it appeared. This was more like a huge gym or dojo and I instantly knew what we would be doing today. Fighting.

When I was slightly more normal I trained a little but every time I quit because I got bored, I could never find the right style or sport. The closest thing I found to liking was javelin and street fighting and you don't want to know how I found out the latter. To cut a long story short, I got into a fight and then a lot more of them, most I won but there were a few I lost and had to cover up the bruises so my mum wouldn't find out.

On one of the walls was a whole array of weapons, from swords of all shaped and sizes to war hammers, from bows, crossbows and arrow to battle axes and shields. It was every worriers dream to have a room and a weapon collection like this. How on earth did Oliver ever find the money to afford all of this stuff? This place must've cost millions and this weapon collection must've cost thousands of pounds.

"These are just some of the weapons Oliver has, you haven't seen his armory yet." Michael commented after he read my expression. Hold up, he has an armory? Of course he does and I suppose he has an Olympic sized swimming pool as well. What doesn't this guy have? You know what, I don't want to know.

"What do we do first?" I asked hesitantly.

"We match you to a weapon. Everyone has a weapon that they favor, one which they can wield the best, we need to find you yours. Once you're good with that one, I'll teach you with a different on. Today we'll try a sword. Most of us use a sword and so do our enemies." Good to know. I've always wanted a sword, ever since I saw one in a film. I can't remember which. Nodding, I eye up the swords on the wall.

"Take your pick." Michael steps aside and gestures to the wall of weapons. There were loads of different types of sword, Roman ones without a guard and a round end, Greek ones which are similar to the Roman ones but with more of a guard and no rounded end. Also, there were medieval ones, Japanese katanas and a load of others I couldn't recognize. Oliver sure does love his swords.

"Which one do you suggest?"

"Take your pick, it's up to you. Pick the one which feels right, it usually takes a few times tries until you find the right one." No pressure. I examine the rack of weapons closer and find one I recognize. The sword I used in my dream, I might as well put that dream to good use. Reaching for it, I take it off the rack and hold it awkwardly. How should I know how to hold a sword? Michael smiles at my choice.

"It's the same one from your dream." He noticed.

"Might as well put it to good use." I answer and he chuckles a little.

For the next few hours Michael showed me how to hold the sword correctly and different parries and defensive moves. As it turns out, I was naturally good with a sword. For a while I was able to hold my own against Michael but I have a feeling he was taking it easy on me. Then Finn walks in and watches us for a while. I felt like a mouse and he was a hungry cat the way he was watching us. Focusing on everything around me as well as Michael, I noticed Finn pick up a sword and come up behind me.

As if sensing the swords arc through the air, I spun and parried his blow. Now this was hardly a fair fight. Both of them were coming at me from both sides but I easily held my own against them which was impossible. Time seemed to slow or I moved really fast. Moving forwards, I disarmed Michael and then Finn before either of them could react. It appears swords are my thing. For a moment we all stood there and said nothing.

"I have no idea how you did that. No one is that good in their first fight ever. That's impossible!" Michael said incredulously. I thought he was supposed to this kind of thing! This new sword power wasn't that bad though, it'll come in handy when we're next in fight and now I have more time to learn how to fight with other weapons.

"Maybe weapons and fighting is part of my powers. When I was fighting Ruby, it seemed to come naturally. It's one of those things I guess, and it's useful." Both Michael and Finn looked deep in thought and then looked at each other. It was kind of like they knew what each other were thinking, it was really creepy.