Read Angelslayer: The Winnowing War for Free Online Page B

paused, glancing at him with her own painted eyes, touching a finger to her cheek, bracelets rattling.
    â€œYou may continue, Hyacinth.”
    She sighed and turned back to the book. “'Because of the teaching of Arakiel, fornication multiplied in the land'—though Ophur, apparently, was spared of all fornication and even of kisses or any manner of affection.” “Hyacinth, I have a wife.”
    â€œI know, and she is tall and starkly beautiful and will always own your heart.”
    â€œTaran begs for your favor, Hyacinth. He adores you more than the sun.”
    â€œAnd I adore him, but my heart is already given.”
    He suspected her meaning, but said nothing that might encourage her.
    She turned back to the pages. “'And those are the three who made covenant upon the mountain—the Light Bearer, their king; Azazel, their prince; and Arakiel, the singer. Thereafter, they called that mountain Ammon, which means “Oath of Binding."'”
    â€œAmmon, the mountain of Etlantis?”
    â€œThe same.”
    â€œWhy should these three need a covenant?” “To hide themselves.” “From what?”
    â€œElyon. They were pure, spiritually pure. They were members of the choirs of the Seraphim; they sang in the great Trisagion—the Word that brought the world into being. More than this, they did not need women, for they were ever immortal. It was only from lust that they sealed the pact upon Mount Ammon, a pact to cohabitate with the daughters of men. Though they were angels of the Most High, they fell due to lust for trinkets and painted eyes.”
    â€œSo, as with everything else, it all comes down to women.”
    â€œBut think, Captain, is it not, in a certain sense, romantic? The angels looked upon the daughters of men and found them so beautiful that they laid down all they were, their honor, their glory, even their light, for that single taste.”
    â€œRomantic? Try idiotic. All they possessed—the power to create worlds—and they risked it all just to take a woman.”
    â€œExactly as it reads: ‘Thus the angels looked down upon the daughters of men and said to each other, “Let us choose, each to our own,” and they lay with them. They then brought forth the firstborn, those born of Lillith and Astarte and Libet and many other daughters of men who then became Star Walker Queens, terrible to behold, for not only did they bear in their wombs the seed of angels, but also they were taught the secrets of creation—that their words, once uttered, were sealed in heaven; that their breath made real things spoken.
    â€œ'But their offspring, even many of their firstborn, were called Nephilim, for they were born giants, and Elyon caused this that they would never be mistaken for the children of men. In those days, many of the Nephilim were filled with the light of their fathers and ruled as men of renown.
    â€œ'But their seed was cursed and each generation became more corrupt than the last. Thus, the firstborn—the Nephilim—gave birth to the Emmin, the terrors, for they were cruel and had no compassion in their souls. With each generation the light of the angels continually dimmed until it was lost utterly.'” She lifted the seeing stones to rub her temples.
    â€œAre they heavy?” asked Darke.
    â€œYes. We now live among the seventh generation of the angels. Those who believed Enoch, the Followers, claim the Emmin will be the last because they cannot reproduce. They are known as the Failures, for some are born without heads, some without arms, some without legs, some with but a single eye, some with too many eyes, like spiders, but all bearing the mark of shame, all grotesque.”
    She paused, remembering. “I saw one once—a Failure. It was no more than a face that crawled over the ground like a huge crab using its loose skin to pull itself along, groping with its mouth for food, its eyes wide and