The Angel in charge of the camp I was assigned to showed me to a cabin. There were three sets of bunk beds in the room and it was fairly large.
That was the last thought even remotely close to happiness I had for about three months.
I guess I kinda expected to be given preferential treatment for being the Son of Gabriel, but I quickly forgot that notion. I considered myself in fairly good shape, not bulging with muscles, but not fat either, but those three months in boot camp taught me otherwise. It took me a week to be able to run the morning exercise without fainting, and another week after that to be able to breathe normally afterwards. But once I got past that, things just got harder.
The first week was spent teaching my brethren, the Nephilim, and I all about how out of shape we were. Pure physical exercise from 6 in the morning to midnight. We started the day with a weighted run, carrying increasing amounts of weight on our backs. The first day was 10 pounds for 2 miles. They added 10 pounds and a mile every day, leading up to a grueling 8 mile run carrying 70 pounds of metal in a backpack. And that was just what we did before breakfast.
After we ate our morning meal, they took us to the gym in camp and had us do a punishing regimen. We had to do between 10 and 50 of every kind of exercise imaginable, and they weights on some of them were increased daily. After that, we ran around the camp twice and then ate lunch. After lunch, they took us out to the lake and made us do laps, and if you weren’t quick enough you were assigned extra laps. After swimming, we were put through wrestling matches with each other and then sent to dinner. By this time, everyone was exhausted, but dinner was at 8. After dinner, everyone spent three hours in melee training, fighting combat dummies. Then, they let us drag ourselves off to bed.
After a week of this, I could feel myself getting stronger. Every muscle in my body was noticeably bigger, and they would continue to grow.
The next two months passed in a haze of weapons and melee training, learning to use swords, sticks, our hands, feet, and heads to fight, along with anything else at hand. Then, they divided us into squads and began war games. Those passed another month of time before the day that we woke up and found all the Angel instructors lined up outside. They called the whole camp to attention, which caused about 1000 pairs of feet to snap together. The head instructor, an angel named Odoman, spoke in a loud, ringing voice to all of us.
“You have been training in my camp for three months now, and I am proud to say that you all turned our much better than I had ever hoped. But that is not enough. You are all Half-Angels, and as such, have never used the kind of powers you have. We shall now begin the month-long training course in which we shall teach you to use the powers that you gained from your Angel parents. Dismissed!”
The Angel’s words echoed in my mind. We had even more boot camp, and powers? Is it not enough that we were going to eventually sprout wings? We had to be able to rip people apart with our minds too?
Oh well, all the more fun.
As I was finishing my evening Melee practice with my scimitar, I heard a twig snap in the forest and froze in place, listening intently. There was nobody out here tonight and I should have been alone. But I could hear someone. A very big someone.
Showing no outward signs of concern or notice, just as my teachers taught me, I prepared myself for a fight. It might just be a bear snuffling for food, or it could be a couple of the other Angels hoping for a fight.
As always, I was way the fuck off in my guess.
Hearing quiet footsteps gaining on me, I timed it until whatever was following me would be about 3 feet away and suddenly spun on one foot, both my scimitars coming smoothly out of their belt-sheathes and into a guard position, one extended towards my enemy.
Instead of an animal or an Angel-child, the 7 foot tall being before me was something I knew now existed, but never once expected to see. Just my luck, catching a Demon sneaking into camp.
I barely had time to register the giant axe in his hands before he was roaring, swinging in a downward slice that would have done me in right there if not for my instincts. Rolling to the right, I stabbed for the creature's armpit, hoping to disable it's attacking arm. leaping up and flipping in the air, I went for a killing blow on a neck I didn't quite reach.
Hitting the ground with a heavy thud, I felt the air knocked out of me before I realized that I'd been swatted to the ground. Staggering up, I ran at the creature again, filled with a cold rage that seemed to fuel my every instinct. My vision tinged blue as I let loose a battle cry and leapt, swinging for the neck with all my force. Landing in a crouch, I could almost feel the surprise in the Demon as his head slid off.
Standing and looking myself over for bruises, I noticed a blue glow starting to fade from my body, as if heaven had surrounded every part of my skin. Maybe that's why I had blue flames on my blades? Doesn't really matter I guess.
Stooping down, I examined the beast I'd felled. He stood a little over 7'1" in life and had huge, curled horns on his forehead. His skin was tinged red and his nails were all claw-like. Scars on his back indicated seniority, for this one was originally an Angel. He had fallen far under Lucifer's rule, his mouth a grotesque, fanged orifice now, his wide eyes the color of brimstone. His blood was black and looked poisonous, his hair mangy and tangled. Grabbing a handful, I lifted the head and began the long walk to the Camp Supervisor.
This was gonna be a hard one to explain.
