Prelude to a Dream

by

Rebekah Daniels

Nephilim Series

Prequel to Celestial Beginnings

Edited by Jason Sinner

Published by Rebekah Daniels

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. This book may not be
reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic
form without the permission of the author, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and review.

This book is a work of fiction and any
resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locals
is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the
author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

Table of Contents

1699 AD; Deep inside the
Scandinavian Mountains

Present Day

Celestial Beginnings
Chapter 1

About the
Author

Back to Top

1699
AD;
Deep inside the Scandinavian
Mountains

“Whoa!”

His long time instructor clucked his tongue
in disapproval. “If ye want any chance of survival, ye gonna have
te be quicker than that, Malachi.”

Rolling his eyes at the overly dramatic
statement, Malachi fingered the new slice through the arm of his
tunic and shrugged. “Nothing a needle and thread can’t fix.” A sly
smile spread across his face. “Maybe I can get Amber or Mayville to
fix it for me.” He chuckled and winked at the older man. Bringing
up the two girls from their camp that were sweet on him would
definitely add to his instructor’s annoyance.

Shaking his head in obvious frustration,
Gerard held up his sword once again. “En garde!”

Smiling at his instructor’s seriousness,
Malachi stuck his arm out to the side and spun his falchion in
circles. “Come on, can’t we be done for the day?”

“No! I said, En garde.”

“The sun is descending, Gerard,” he pointed
out, as if the older man couldn’t tell.

Lowering his sword a little, Gerard eyed him
suspiciously. “Ye got somewhere te be?”

“No.” The answer came out too quickly, his
voice a little too high. Clearing his throat, he shrugged, and
tried again. “No, why do you ask?”

Gerard was a smart and very observant man. A
tall and broad shouldered man, he was in his late forties and had
been Malachi’s trainer for almost a decade. Being assigned as his
trainer, he taught him hand to hand and various weapon combat,
especially on how to properly wield his falchion. After having
become so close through the years, he had also turned into the man
that Malachi went to for help with his studies, or issues regarding
his personal life.

In a way, he was the closest thing to a
father that Malachi felt he would ever have. Plus, Gerard also knew
him better than anyone else alive. Malachi knew this, and in
knowing this, he also knew that he was about to be called out on
his lie.

“Sword up, now!” Gerard raised his sword, and
waited. The moment Malachi had his raised, Gerard swung.

The sound of the metal clashing against each
other brought Malachi back into the now ingrained rhythm. Malachi
would swing, only for it to be blocked, then Gerard would counter,
leaving Malachi to defend himself against the incoming strike.

After a few continuing sets of going back and
forth, Gerard finally spoke up. “I heard something about the
village down the mountain… something about having a te-do
commencing the New Year.”

Without breaking rhythm, Malachi leveled out
his voice. “Really? I hadn’t heard.”

Without warning, Gerard’s sword swiftly moved
in the opposite direction of where it had been swinging. Barely
having enough time, Malachi pivoted and blocked the potentially
critical blow. His hand throbbed from the impact, a testament to
how hard the hit actually was.

“What the hell was that?” Malachi lowered his
sword, and gaped at the older man.

Pointing his sword at Malachi, Gerard leveled
an eye on him and sneered. “Don’t ye lie to me, boy! I was wipin’
snot from your nose as ye cried about your mama, and I still told
it te ye straight.” Before he could respond, Gerard continued.
“When ye would wake up screaming from your nightmares, it was me
that was there. Don’t be lettin’ your ego get in the way te make ye
lose the respect I taught ye te show people. Most of all, don’t
think te disrespect me by lyin’ again.” Malachi opened his mouth to
answer, but before he could, Gerard raised his sword into his
readying stance once more, and snapped, “Sword up!”

Before complying, Malachi swallowed the lump
in his throat. Once again, when his falchion was raised, Gerard
swung.

They quickly got into another rhythm, and
Gerard was the one to speak first again. “Ye know we don’t
associate with the mortals down there. Those people would never
understand what ye are.”

Malachi pinched his lips together and
forcefully thrust his sword toward Gerard’s chest. The older man
easily slid his sword along the side of his, before circling his
wrist and moving Malachi’s falchion off to the side.

The way his instructor could easily defend
himself against Malachi’s attacks raised his ire even more. With
clenched teeth, he ground out, “In case you have forgotten…
you
are one of ‘those people’.”

It was true. Gerard was as mortal as they
come. Someday he would grow too slow to train, too old to take care
of himself, and then eventually die. With the thought, Malachi’s
throat caught fire. That was not a day he was looking forward
to.

Malachi had confronted him about asking
someone from their camp for more time. Gerard just told him that he
had lived his life, and was ready to go when his time came. Of
course, Malachi had taken that personally, thinking that he didn’t
want to stay longer with him.

“I may be human, but it’s not the same, and
ye know it,” Gerard spat out.

Malachi once again pinched his lips together
and nodded. He knew there was a difference. Gerard knew what he
was, who his great-grandfather was, and what the majority of people
in the camp were as well. No mortals were allowed here, but there
were exceptions to that rule.

Years ago, Gerard was invited to stay by one
of the nephilims in charge of the camp. Rumor had it that Gerard’s
village was attached by demons that had slipped in under the radar.
The village was half destroyed by the time the nephilim warriors
got there. Gerard was one of the few people left alive, and that
was only because he had not stopped fighting.

By the end of the battle, the majority of the
villagers were dead, including Gerard’s entire family. Most of the
village was destroyed, but instead of staying to rebuild, he had
wanted to avenge his family any way he could. After much
determination on his part, and an intense discussion between the
leaders of the camp, Gerard was let in. Now, for almost a decade,
he had been trying to prepare Malachi to defend against, as he put
it, “all the ugliness in the world”.

Malachi brought his arm up, and did a
backward swing, arching down toward Gerard. “It’s not fair!” That
was as far as he got before Gerard’s sword came up, and the sound
of metal colliding rang through the air.

Before Gerard could go on the offensive
again, Malachi stepped back and lowered his falchion. “I’m 14 years
old! I don’t see why I can’t act like other boys my age.” This was
an old argument between the two, and one Malachi didn’t ever think
they would see eye to eye on.

“Because ye’re not like the other boys in
that village.” Gerard lowered his sword, and swung his other arm
out in the direction to go to get down the mountain. “Ye’re so much
more important. One day, ye will be a fierce warrior… a leader. Ye
will be such a powerful force that any demon will dread going up
against ye.”

“I don’t think you get it. What if I don’t
want to be the leader you keep saying I will be?”

Gerard didn’t look too concerned. “Nonsense!
I didn’t bring ye up te back down from a challenge. There is so
much evil out there, Malachi… the fallen ones, demons, possessions,
even some humans… the world and the lord will need as many warriors
as it can get.”

Rolling his eyes at the same argument that
Gerard used every time, Malachi shook his head. “Don’t you think
that’s a little extreme? You talk as if there’s evil lurking around
every corner.” He let out a humorless chuckle and shook his head at
the mere thought.

Gerard wasn’t laughing though. “That’s
exactly what I’m saying,” he snapped. Standing there, Gerard
examined Malachi’s reaction, and must not have liked what he saw,
because he let out a loud sigh and sheathed his sword at his hip.
“One day, ye will learn, and that day will be bitter-sweet. Ye will
finally learn why ye and this fight against evil are so important.
Unfortunately, I hate te think what the consequences of that lesson
will be.”

Malachi thought on that for a moment. He
didn’t see what the big deal was. Of course he knew there was evil
out there, but Malachi saw it as the way of the world. Yes, bad
things happened, but if they didn’t, how would you realize how much
good there could be? It was a screwed up reality, but a reality
none-the-less.

So, he trained, and listened to what was
expected of him. This was his lot in life. Why couldn’t he have
both, he thought… become the warrior he was trained to be, but
still be able to live a semi-normal life?

With that in mind, he had already decided
that he was going to the village festivals that night, but that was
the last thing he would admit to Gerard. Instead, he looked to his
long time instructor and friend before he conceded. “Fine. I’ll try
harder. You would know more about this than I would.”

A shadow passed in front of Gerard’s face as
memories, best forgotten, resurfaced. “Yeah, I would.”

Malachi mentally kicked himself for
unintentionally doing that to Gerard. He looked around the camp for
inspiration to quickly change the subject. At that moment, a large
figure stepped out of one of their leader’s huts. The setting sun
reflected off his pail hair as well as the gleaming axe hanging
from his hip.

Using the falchion still gripped in his hand,
he gestured at the man. “Who’s that? I’ve never seen him
before.”

Gerard looked over to see who he was talking
about. “Ack,” he spit out before grimacing. “That must be the
infamous, Gemariah.” Obviously, he was not too keen on seeing him,
and the assumption was confirmed when he said, “It’s best if ye
steer clear of him.”

Still observing, with curiosity, the man he
was supposed to avoid, Malachi didn’t look away when he asked,
“Why’s that?”

“He’s flighty. He’s a rugged Viking that’s
more concerned with fighting for having a good time rather than
fighting for defending what
is
good. If ye’re serious about
trying harder and taking your position here more seriously, then
stay away from him until he leaves camp.”

Out of everything Gerard said, one thing
stood out the most. “A Viking? Isn’t it strange that he would be
here
? Vikings don’t believe in our God… even detest the idea
of him.”

“What better way to spit in the face of
Viking beliefs, than for a nephilim te enter one of their dwellings
and create a Viking nephilim?”

Gerard’s meaning was not lost on Malachi, and
he was shocked at his instructor’s nonchalant attitude about the
idea. “That’s not our way though. You’ve always taught me to be
respectful of other people’s beliefs.”

“I know I have, but with the blood of a
fallen angel in them, a nephilim can easily turn dark. I don’t
condone what happened, but it’s the way of the world.”

Malachi didn’t respond, but instead watched
the tall blonde walk away. He didn’t know what it was, but there
was something about the man that intrigued him. That was something
to think about another day though, he thought. Right now, he had
more important things to figure out.

Biting the inside of his lip, Malachi
contemplated what to do next. He was serious about training harder
and sharpening his focus, but he had also been looking forward to
tonight. First, he had to get away from Gerard, and then he would
be on his way. Tomorrow… tomorrow, he would buckle down, but
tonight he was taking for himself.

******

He looked down and watched the dainty finger
slide down his upper arm.

“How come you haven’t been by to see me
lately?” Rosetta, a girl from the village, pouted, and looked up at
him through her long lashes.

Grinning down at her, Malachi thought once
again how glad he was that he had come tonight. His chest felt
lighter, and he could breathe easier. It was as if an invisible
weight had been lifted from him, a weight that would no doubt
return tomorrow, but he planned on enjoying the freedom
tonight.