Chapter 5

“If you’re the Angel of Death, then why the hell are you here on earth?”
Cecilia asked incredulously.

The old black man gave her a wry smile and said, “Nice choice of words
there. But just to tell you, Miss Cecilia, it don’t matter if you believe me or
not. I am the Angel of Death, and if you can’t get it now, no amount of fire
and brimstone -which I must admit is rather spectacular- is gonna make you
understand. I chose to be here, on earth, ‘cause your friends here are my
department”

“Wait a minute, the Angel of Death is in charge of all Others?”

“Hey mikey, she gets it!” He said in his mellow way, looking amused,
“Actually it makes more sense than you might think. You see, back in the
days when the Gods were creating the races, they created Others and
humans equally. The Gods have a tendency to be rather childish, so Angels
were made as a kind of government so they wouldn’t have to deal with all
you people. Humans were made to manage the earth. The earth was not
created for you, you were created for the earth. Now, knowing that humans
were the laypeople, the Angels were the government, and the Gods were in
charge, what do you think your friends here were made for?”

The seven of them were staring at her with their strange, unwavering gazes,
and at that moment she was acutely aware through all of her human senses,
that danger was as thick as honey in the air. She quickly stole a glance at
each of the Others, seeing a menace in their eyes that she knew was not
directed at her, but seeing the grim cold-bloodedness of it behind their eyes
told her the answer to the Angel’s question.

“The killers...” she breathed, the realization of it hitting her. Entire races
created for nothing but killing, the very thought of it was horrifying and
exciting.

“You’re starting to understand, Miss Cecilia.” Samhael said, his deep,
amused baritone, incredibly mellow for the subject matter, “your species is
to upkeep the planet, needless to say, you may have neglected your duties
somewhat, but the Others are predators. The peacekeepers, if you will, that
should keep everybody in line. They too have been somewhat negligent in
their duties.” He shot a glare at the preternaturals.

“Wait,” she said, not completely believing what she was seeing, “If the
Endless, as you call them, are the true Gods, then why did they let any of us
not do what we were supposed to?”

The Angel grimaced, “That’s the tough part of the story, it seems that
everyone underestimated the sheer persistence and infectiousness of the
human race. Soon, by sheer numbers, they all but obliterated the Others,
and invented their crazed religions that managed to make the killing powers
of preternaturals nearly unnecessary. It didn’t help that around 476 (in
human years) various factions in Europe began fighting against each other
and a full scale war developed, ones that humans never realized, but were
affected by. You recognize the date?”

She ran her history classes back through her mind, when finally it came to
her. “Oh my God,” she said, “The fall of the Roman Empire?”

“Yup, I can’t remember what humans think about it now, but it was a rather
nasty situation at the time. To give you an idea of it: Others are
semi-immortal, from the time they are awakened, they hardly age at all,
maybe one human year for every seven or eight hundred years; and the
only ways they can die are difficult and ugly. There are less than two dozen
Others in the world that are from before the Cataclysm First. All the rest are
dead.” He pushed one of his memories into her mind, the grotesqueness of it
making her catch her breath, and then she knew how devastating it had
truly been.

“The only other thing that came close happened this century, about forty
years ago. There were a series of skirmishes between the rebels and the
loyalists. Since the 1100’s, most of the loyalists had relocated to Southeast
Asia and were doing well in the drug trade, but after a few hundred years,
the rebels were getting tired of it, and decided to eradicate them. The
loyalists put up more of a fight than was expected, and another human war
ensued. I’m sure the name Vietnam means something to you.
“That was Cataclysm Second, because the preternatural population was
reduced to a quarter of what it was. Others reproduce differently than
humans, one is awakened only as another dies; so the number is always the
same. The problem is that strength is gained with age, the youngest are the
weakest. So nearly all of the Others on the planet now are weak youngsters
who have been recruited by the rebels.

“Your friends here are loyalists, which simply means that they respect me,
and therefore the Endless as their superiors, and have pledged themselves
to me. The rebels have become all too human, and decided that I am
outdated and archaic. I can’t fight this battle, because my power lies in those
that accept me, and they are reduced to pretty much these six, and a few
scattered across the globe. I am lucky, because they’re all from before
Cataclysm First, but there are only a few. And that’s why we need you.”

“Me?” The girl asked, making sure she heard right, “Why would you need
me?”

Edan broke in for the first time, “Because tsonna-Astrid here is convinced
that you’re the only human that can learn Other ways.” he said both
reverently and sarcastically.

“There will be another battle,” Astrid declared, “The one to decide both
Cataclysms, and I know that you will be the deciding factor in it. One who
will be of the four kindreds. If you are willing to learn, you will fulfil the
prophecy made by Archangel Uriel as she went up in flames in Cataclysm
First.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” Christina broke in, “The girl will get scared” Then
turning to Cecilia, “Please, in all of my three thousand years, I have never
felt drawn to a human in the way all of us are to you. You are Tsanha and
we all know it, no matter what mage-boy says. And we all need you.”