Antonio gave his answer aloud. It was set. The next day, they would begin.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Antonio peered down at the fire that smoldered just outside of Juan and Diego’s hut. Neither man had been found. The Nephilim arrived in the garden that morning and it took a few hours to track their way to the hut.
Antonio looked back at Rephaim, his teacher. From him, Antonio had learned the origins of the world. He learned of cultures long extinct and of other worlds. Those other worlds contained life, some like and some unlike him. He learned the ways of space and time. He discovered he could create and destroy with thought which was the way the Men of Nod had achieved victory during the battle.
“So, what now?” Antonio asked Rephaim.
“This is the first place created for man. Now man has come back to the garden. What do you think we should do?”
“You were denied the garden.”
“We were. Just as our fathers were denied the heavens,” Rephaim agreed.
“You have the knowledge of the Men of Nod but not their power. Now that I have brought you to the garden, what will you do?”
“Each of us has his own intentions. Miguel seeks revenge on Diego Columbus for the death of his father. You seek revenge on the Men of Nod for your dishonor. We seek to avenge the fall of our fathers as angels.” Rephaim had knelt down by the fire as he began speaking but now rose. “It’s true we could not enter the garden without the aid of a Man of Nod. Now that you are one of us, we seek our rightful place in the garden.”
“What of the Men of Nod?” Antonio asked. “Will they not stop us?”
Rephaim smiled and his face was full of wisdom and knowledge. “We have lived in the shadow of the Men of Nod since the first days of creation. We followed them to each new land, hoping to learn our path to the garden. Until now, we failed.
“Once, we faced them in combat, hoping to force them to show us the way into the garden but found that neither of us can die. But here in the garden we can die. So can the Men of Nod. We hope they come and we will fight them and we will win. The garden will be ours.”
“What will you do with the garden once it is in your possession?”
Rephaim exhibited a dark smile. “Then, we will challenge God.”
“Challenge God…?” Antonio looked at the Nephilim. Each shared the same dark smile.
The morning before the Nephilim arrived in the garden, Juan and Diego were making preparations to roast a wild boar when they looked up and saw Abuelo walking into their camp.
“Good morning Abuelo,” Juan said and rose. “I would hug you but as you can see…” He raised his arms to show they were covered in pig entrails.
Abuelo smiled and nodded. “No need. Good morning. And Diego, good morning to you as well.”
Diego nodded back. He did not yet fully trust the Men of Nod. The memory of the death of his army was still fresh in his mind. Part of him still feared the Men of Nod and he was careful not to make physical contact with them. Abuelo nodded back in understanding.
“What brings you here on this perfect morning?” Juan asked.
“I come to prepare you,” Abuelo said simply. Something in his tone caused both Juan and Diego to regard him seriously.
“Prepare?” Diego asked.
“Tomorrow you will be greeted by unwelcome visitors. Or they may be welcome; that is up to you.”
“Who will come?” Juan asked.
“Antonio will come. As will Miguel and others.”
“Antonio? Miguel is dead.”
Abuelo smiled knowingly. “He is quite alive, I assure you. And he comes with other men. They are the Nephilim.”
“The Nephilim?” The surprise at the name showed in Juan’s voice.
“You know of these people?” Diego asked Juan.
“Aye, I do. I read of them while in Ethiopia.” Juan told Diego what he knew of the Nephilim. After he finished, he looked at Abuelo. “So, they’re real then? What are Antonio and Miguel doing with them? Why would they come here?”
“Each man comes to avenge what he has lost.” Abuelo told them of Antonio leaving the village.
“How would a man with vengeance in his heart be found worthy by Cherubim?” Juan asked.
“They do not need Cherubim. They only need a Man of Nod.”
“What Man of Nod…?” Then, Juan realized the answer. “Antonio.”
Abuelo explained that Cherubim was only the guardian of the fountain because the fountain led to the garden. The Men of Nod were from the land of Eden and were free to come and go to the garden. Abuelo also explained that when a man came to the fountain, Cherubim merely determined if that man was worthy, it was the Men of Nod who actually conveyed that man to the garden.
“The Nephilim do not have the power to move to and from the garden. But they do have the knowledge of how that power works.”
“Where is their village?” Juan asked.
“Their village lies a few weeks to the west of our village.”
“You know the location of their village and yet you do nothing to stop them?”
Abuelo’s eyes twinkled as if reliving a memory. “We have battled them before. While the Nephilim do not have our power, this does not mean they are
