Nephilim Prologue (Revised)

Akris watched in horror as his village and those he loved were destroyed and murdered by the Archedaemon Ygraxl. The monster was a charcoal-skinned, horned man engulfed in blue flame, with razor claws and dagger teeth. Eyes the same color as the crimson tattoos that wrapped elegantly around his body stared menacingly at all who dare stand in the way of the forces of darkness.

As lowly cottages and elegant homes were all torn assunder a burned and bloody figure stepped towards Akris amongst the chaos. It was a knight, sans armor, who had tried to face Ygraxl and been defeated soundly. Blood oozed from the brave man's wounds as he stepped forward and collapsed, dead before he hit the ground, dropping his shortsword as he fell.

Grabbing the weapon, Akris charged the eight foot tall destroyer. The heat from the flames nearly blinding him with pain, for he did not share a demon's immunity to fire, Akris ran forward even faster and brought the sword down in a beautiful arc, cleaving Ygraxl's head in two and imbedding the blade in his spine. Black, acidic blood spouted from the wound as the demon spun around without hesitation, ripping Akris' chest open with one slash of his claws.

Akris' sight grew dim, and he could only faintly witness as Ygraxl's demonic regeneration kicked in and repaired the wound as though it had never been. A great light flooded the boy's vision and he heard a voice ask, "Would you like to save this village?"

Coughing up blood, Akris replied, "More than anything."

"Then, I shall grant you power to do so."

Ygraxl continued his bloody onslaught, laughing with malevolent glee, when suddenly his heart was pierced by an ivory spear. Before he could react, six others went through his chest and nailed him facefirst to the ground. Looking up from the dirt, Ygraxl saw Akris, now a perfect being. An archangel. Fair skinned and white winged, the look in Akris shining face was not one of hatred, but one of pity as he decapitated Ygraxl without a word.

However, it was too late. The village had been doomed before Akris had died, for too many were lost, and the earth had been tainted. Nothing would grow, and even if something could grow, there were almost none to grow it.

Akris wept.