Rebirth of the Nephilim

Eir’s ears twitched at the unique sound of Jadis thundering through the air. Jadis had called it “breaking the sound barrier,” though in truth, Eir wasn’t sure what barrier to sound existed for her love to break. Regardless, the deep, crackling boom of Jadis flying at impossible speeds had become familiar to Eir over recent days. Hearing that noise was a comfort, in a way. So long as she heard that sound, she knew that Jadis was alive and well.

Of course, Eir had other, more direct, means of knowing if Jadis or any of her other lovers had been injured. With a thought, she checked Oracle’s Emblem and saw that everyone’s health was in good condition. Mostly.

“Cora,” Eir called out to her fellow priestess. “I can sense that Thea and Bridget are both being affected by the impurities in the air. Would you please move your aura of cleansing closer to the front line of the defenders?”

“Of course,” Cora acknowledged her request before heading for the forward line.

A pair of soldiers carrying an injured man on their shoulders passed the lovely woman as she left. Seeing the terrible wound to his left calf and ankle, Eir quickly pressed her hand to his chest and called upon the Divine power granted to her. In moments, the torn muscle and tendons were restored, and the skin was renewed to the same condition it had been before the man had been hurt. A wound that would have taken months of recovery, perhaps even permanently crippled him, was healed in a matter of seconds. A miracle made commonplace by the power of the Gods.

And Jadis.

“You have a minor infection,” Eir advised the soldier. “Please be sure to see the healers after the battle, or during a quiet moment, so that we can be sure that it does not worsen.”

“Sì, mia signora,” he replied with reverence.

He and the men who had brought him quickly left, making way for those who would soon follow with more wounds. Eir kept her practiced smile on her face, the warmth she felt genuine, despite the sadness that she hid. The soldiers were so brave; all of them were. She loved them for the sacrifices that they were willing to make and despised the circumstances that forced them to make them. It wasn’t right that these children of Valtar should be forced to fight, no more than it was right that Samleos forced his children to fight.

“You can tell that they are being affected from here?”

Eir blinked, realizing that she had been gathering wool for a few seconds at least. Looking to her side, she smiled gently at the Oracle who stood nearby.

“Yes, I can. I have a spell that I have used to mark those I love. I can sense their health, as well as any ailments that they may have contracted.”

“Oh, that would be so useful,” Jocelyn commented. “To always know when my powers were needed...”

As she spoke the words, Eir spotted the moment Jocelyn came to the same conclusion that Eir had reached long ago.

“Yes,” Eir nodded slightly, her smile not as bright as it had been a moment before. “I always know.”

The two shared a look of understanding before the shouts of soldiers forced their attention back upon the battle at hand.

Truthfully, neither of them had yet had much to do. With all of the healers under Jocelyn’s command, many of them Lares with decades of experience, the majority of the wounds were being addressed before ever reaching the two women. It helped that the soldiers were all also strong and experienced and thus were better able to defend themselves against the attacks aimed at them. But neither Eir nor Jocelyn were under any illusions. This battle had only just begun, and soon all the healers would be drenched in the blood of their allies. Therefore, it was best that she and Jocelyn reserved their strength for only the worst of the wounded.

The first of which seemed to have arrived.

Eir could just barely see Noll and those who had followed him on his mission to provoke a response from the Demons as they arrived. Her view wasn’t the best, but the thunder of their footsteps was easy enough to recognize. Some must have been injured as a gap was soon made in the front line, allowing space for some to move further into where the healers were stationed. When Eir saw the first man’s limp form carried on the back of panting man, she did her best to keep the sorrow from her face. When the body was laid on the ground before her, she used her magic to confirm what her eyes already told her.

“I’m sorry,” Eir said after a few moments, her eyes meeting the gaze of the man who still lingered by his comrade’s side.

“Yes,” the man said, concealing his pain. “Grazie.”

Then he left.

Two aids carried the body away. No one would be left behind for the Demons to desecrate. The dead would be loaded onto a wagon, one of several that had been brought with their small force. Eir hoped that they would remain empty. She knew that they might not be enough.

“Terrance!” Eir called out as she saw the human carry a female soldier through the crowd.

“Can you spare us any healing?” Terrance asked with a strained smile as he set the woman down before her.

“Of course,” Eir said as she placed a hand on the woman’s arm. “Please, stay. You need healing as well.”

Indeed, as badly burned as the soldier was, Terrance was also injured. A nasty burn had wound its way up his arm, charring the skin and leaving behind red fissure that exposed the muscle underneath. An awful wound, but not as severe as what ailed the woman, who appeared to have received the same sort of burn except across the whole of her back, stretching all the way down her left leg.

Calling again upon the Divine, Eir guided the healing through the soldier with one hand, and also through Terrance at the same time with her other hand. Soon enough both were healed to full. Just to make sure, she cast Life Sense upon them both, taking the time to make sure that there were no lingering concerns to address.

“You have a minor infection,” Eir informed Terrance. “Make sure you come back to me later so that I can cleanse you.”

Focusing on the soldier, whose eyes had only just then cleared of the pain that had clouded them, Eir called upon the Divine again.

“You have a greater disease. Please hold still while I cleanse it from your system.”

Minor infections were common enough on the battlefield, even when not facing Demons in corrupted lands. Purging the diseases from every inflicted soldier was generally considered a waste of resources, at least mid-battle, as saving magic reserves for life-threatening concerns was seen as more important. Personally, Eir would have preferred to cure every person immediately, but after months spent in dangerous conditions, she understood the necessity of conserving resources. At least Cora had her aura spell that helped the body’s natural defenses fight back against infections, which would be a significant help for those who stayed within her aura for long enough. Some might not even need additional cleansing later.

The greater disease that had sunk into the soldier’s flesh was not something that could be put off. Eir had no name for the affliction, but her Life Sense let her see what damage the infection would do, and it wasn’t pretty. Within a day’s time, the woman would be suffering from severe fever, nausea, diarrhea, and difficulty breathing. Such a disease would spread quickly in a soldier’s camp, and soon enough hundreds of men and women would be suffering, with many of them dying of dehydration without access to proper treatment and healing.

The slight fear that stiffened the soldier’s features was replaced by gratitude as Eir confirmed that the disease was gone from her system.

“Grazie!” the woman exclaimed as she got to her feet. “Devo tornare al mio dovere!”

With a thankful grin, the woman bounded away, her great speed carrying her quickly to the southern flank where Noll and those under his command were located. Eir sent her off with a wave, praying to Lyssandria that she would see the woman again, alive and well.

“Better get back to it,” Terrance nodded at Eir as he also moved to leave. “Thanks again.”

“Please stay safe,” Eir said as he left.

Then the explosions began.

The eye of every healer around her turned to look upon the distant city. Great bursts of fire and smoke bloomed across its walls and towers, lighting some areas brighter than day, obscuring others darker than night. The crack of Jadis’ speed mixed with the thunder of magic fire, and for one moment the northeastern section of the city blazed like the sun while a dark cloud rose above it. Three figures sped past the cloud, dragging the smoke behind them in a trail that was strangely beautiful despite its ominous energy.

“Do you think that killed the charybdis Demons?” Jocelyn asked, her voice awed by the destructive display.

“I don’t know,” Eir admitted. “I hope so.”

Her hopes were half for a speedy end to the siege and half for a quick end to any Demon caught in the flames. Such a death by fire was not one that Eir wished upon anyone. However, when it came to the horrors that the Demons and cultists had created, particularly the domes that ringed the city with their deadly lightning, Eir could not argue against using any and every advantage possible to destroy them.

The idea had come from Jadis, or at least from the knowledge she carried with her from the world she had been born to before being reborn in her true form as a Nephilim. The concept was not a new one, as even Eir had heard of such things being utilized by armies during sieges before. Large barrels or clay pots filled with a flammable substance, set aflame and then flung by catapults or by magic at the enemy to burn them or at least their defenses away. The amphoras filled with highly refined alcohol that Jadis had requested from Volto would serve the same purpose. Except, Jadis had suggested a change in the design which Sabina had used all of her genius to make real.

Who would think to use eleria, so precious a material that many went their whole lives without ever owning even a single grain of the beautiful gemstone, in an enchantment that was meant to explode? The eleria was, naturally, destroyed in the process. Whatever bits that might survive would be scattered like ashes on the wind. It was a horrible waste, as unconscionable as it was expensive. And yet, as Eir watched the flames engulf the towers of Kastoria, she knew that the enchantment’s effectiveness could not be denied. How many lives would be saved by destroying so many Demons in a single attack?

How many lives would be lost should those same enchantments ever be used in war again?

Eir shook the thought away. She worried. She could not help but worry, not when so many of the people she loved were being put in danger. Not when so much death was in the air. Not when she knew what one person who cared not for the Gods or his fellow brothers and sisters might do for the sake of greed. Eir worried. But she had a job to do. There were people to be healed. That was her duty.

As the sounds of battle rose, more soldiers were moved down the lines, more wounded sought healing, and more healing was given. Eir called upon the power that had been gifted to her with increasing frequency, as more and more of the wounded were in a condition that could not be fixed by those clerics and priests who triaged those that they could. Eir did not fault them for their inability to keep up. They did not possess the advantages that she had. Her strength came not just from Lyssandria, nor just from Destarious. Her strength came from Jadis, whose love was a blessing that lifted her higher than she felt she had any right to climb. But climb she would, to any height that Jadis rose, just so long as it meant that she might stay by her lover’s side.

“Look,” Jocelyn called out. “Some must have survived.”

She was right. Eir grimaced as she spotted the large projectile arching through the air from Kastoria. Several more followed, all aimed at their assault force, but none reached so far. They were out of range, barely, and even those that strayed too close were quickly deflected by the Hero’s holy blade. However, Eir knew that Jadis and the Seraphim who followed her had only the limited supply of enchanted amphoras. Most, if not all, would have been used in that first attack. To slay any more of the colossal charybdis would require different tactics.

“Jadis will deal with the charybdis soon,” Eir stated firmly, her confidence in her love unshakeable. Turning her gaze onto her fellow healer, she spoke her next words softly. “Are you ready for what comes after?”

“Never,” Jocelyn smiled wanly at her, “and always.”

Then more wounded soldiers approached, and they put on their comforting smiles.

There was healing to be done.