Tribulation

Chapter 5: Into the Furnace

Isaac looked baffled at the old man. "What!?" He yelled. The man looked at Isaac with soft eyes.

"My son, how did you come here?" The prisoner asked.

"Woah, first tell me who the hell you are!" Isaac insisted. The old man sighed and pushed his hair out of his face. It was a pale, gray-brown which made him look ancient. Isaac noticed that his wrists and ankles were chained.

"My name is Azazel. I was once an Angel of the Lord. But I foolishly followed Lucifer and I too was thrown from heaven. When I turned on Lucifer, he threw me in here." Isaac observed the room. It was an old jail-cell, covered in rust and blood.

"So how did you get in here?" Isaac looked at the ground.

"Abaddon." He said. The man's eyes grew wide.

"What!? You tried to fight Abaddon? Are you insane?" Azazel shouted.

"I wasn't alone. I had help from Sarkany." Isaac said quickly. Azazel laughed.

"Figures she would want Abaddon dead. Considering she's Lucifer's mistress." He stated. Isaac sat on the dirty ground.

"That's one detail she left out." Isaac said sullenly. Azazel laughed and sat on the iron bed.

"Well she is a demon, she's not too keen on telling her secrets to the Nephilim." He said. Isaac looked up.

"Abaddon called me that. What's a Nephilim?" He questioned. Azazel sighed.

"The Nephilim, is one single being. You are the Nephilim. Half-human...Half-angel," he explained. Isaac stood up.

"What do you mean half-human, half-angel?" He said, beginning to raise his voice. "Calm down, Isaac!" Azazel shouted in return. Isaac grew furious.

"It's not possible! There's no way in hell I'm this Nephilim thing!" He yelled turning from Azazel.

"Well, look at it this way...you are in hell." Azazel said sneeringly. Isaac turned to Azazel.

"If I'm Nephilim... that means my father... was..." Isaac started.

Azazel finished his sentence, "An angel, yes." The hunter looked down, then again at the man.

"You're hiding something..." He noticed.

The old man took a second to reply. "Well? Answer!" Isaac yelled. Azazel was quiet for at least five more minutes.

"I...am your father." He finally said. Isaac looked in disbelief at the man claiming to be his father.

"Prove it!" He yelled. "Who's my mother?" Azazel smiled.

"Amelia Rose Williams, born July, 24th, 1992. Your name is Isaac Michael Williams, born October,19th, 2014. I was there the day you were born. I stayed with you for nearly a year." Memories of infancy flashed through Isaac's head, memories he thought were just dreams. A young man, clean shaven, the man his father had once been.

"I remember you... I think," Isaac finally said. Azazel smiled.

"I'm glad," He said. They sat in silence for a time.

"Where did you get those scars on your back?" Isaac asked. Azazel looked down.

"When I turned from Lucifer. As punishment with putting me in here, he had my wings ripped out. And as an added punishment he had them do it tendon by tendon. They sat quiet again. Azazel looked at the sword grip that rose above Isaac's shoulder.

"I see Christian gave you my old sword, Faithless, named the Fallen angel who made it... Myself." Isaac stood and pulled the angel blade from its scabbard.