Nephilim: The Long Journey Home

Copyright © 2013 by Jeffery Lyles.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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All images were taken by Jeffery Lyles

ISBN: 978-1-4759-7880-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-7881-0 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013903378

iUniverse rev. date: 04/17/2013

CONTENTS

Chapter 1.   Pre Beginning

Chapter 2.   The Beginning

Chapter 3.   Rising Again

Chapter 4.   Another Beginning

Chapter 5.   Elementary School

Chapter 6.   Dreams and Things

Chapter 7.   High School

Chapter 8.   Farm Work

Chapter 9.   Hunting

Chapter 10.   Classes

Chapter 11.   The Battle Starts

Chapter 12.   A Different Dream

Chapter 13.   Life after School

Chapter 14.   Working

Chapter 15.   The Accident

Chapter 16.   The Possession

Chapter 17.   The Bust

Chapter 18.   A Night in Jail

Chapter 19.   Life

Chapter 20.   Contracts

Chapter 21.   The Hike

Chapter 22.   Walk-A-Bout

Chapter 23.   Politicians

Chapter 24.   A New Career

Chapter 25.   Getting Ready For War

Chapter 26.   Adam’s First Assignment

Chapter 27.   The Aftermath

Chapter 28.   The Chief

Chapter 29.   Reaching Out

Chapter 30.   Dreams Coming True

Chapter 31.   Rafael is Having a Dream

Chapter 32.   College Bound

Chapter 33.   David’s Proposal

Chapter 34.   Dangerous Speech

Chapter 35.   Serious Ramifications

Chapter 36.   Getting Ready

Chapter 37.   Dream Message

Chapter 38.   Tim’s Liberty Speech

Chapter 39.   Unexpected Mail

Chapter 40.   Finding Yourself

Chapter 41.   Wedding plans

Chapter 42.   The Oilmen

Chapter 43.   Childhood memories

Chapter 44.   Going Home

Chapter 45.   The Warrior

Chapter 46.   The Encounter

Chapter 47.   The Wedding

Chapter 48.   Becoming One

Chapter 49.   Evil Accusations

Chapter 50.   The Story

CHAPTER 1

Pre Beginning

Thor is sitting at a campfire with a Native American Chief. The Chief is wearing a ceremony headdress with a white buckskin tunic with rows of one and one half inch shells on both sides of it and matching buckskin pants and moccasins. His jet black hair is tucked underneath the headdress.

Thor is wearing a red full length tunic with a gold sash and a polar bear skin cape and whitish leather boots. His golden colored hair is flowing over his shoulders. Both looked very impressive and have an aura of authority and maturity about them. There are other people sitting with them. Some are dressed in traditional Native American attire, others in more European looking attire. They appear to be waiting for Thor and the Chief to tell them a story.

Thor and the Chief are smoking the peace pipe. Thor passes the pipe to the Chief and looks at the group. He wants to tell them a story, but isn’t quite sure where to begin.

Before Thor begins his story, there are some things that need to be brought out. Life has always been a mystery. Many people have wondered about the meaning of life and what it is all about. Life is far more then the accumulation of money and temporary power. It is more about what we are to each other. Life is not just what we give up for each other, but what we gain from each other. It is about changes and leaps of faith that some people are not willing to make. It is about what happens to us on our journey. Life is about what we become as we continue our journey.

On the journey of life, some people embrace radical changes that happen to them. However, some people are reluctant to a lot of change happening at once. Most people like small changes that are spread out over a lifetime. Changes that are so small that people don’t notice them happening. It seems like a lot of people tend to be resistance to changes that happens dramatically and quickly. Even more so when it goes beyond everything that they have been taught is normal. The story and song about Angie (and her friend) by the Rolling Stones helps explain get part of this.

There is this man, looking down at this campground, from the top of a mountain. It is a cloudy day with a light fog.

Angie, Angie, when will those clouds all disappear?

Angie, Angie, where will it lead us from here?

He knows there is no way Angie could ever love and be with someone like him. Yet, he continues to look at her and the wheels keep turning in his head. He is hoping that she can accept who he really is.

He flies down from the mountain top and lands on the path that Angie is on. Angie doesn’t see how he arrived there. He looks at Angie and says hi to her. Then he walks away.

When the night comes and Angie goes in her tent to go to sleep, he shows up by the tent. He looks at the tent and then he walks in. He looks at Angie. Angie looks at him. He walks over to her and sits down beside her while she is in her sleeping bag. He reaches his arms toward her and she reaches her arms toward him. They hug each other. He gets up and starts to leave. Angie motions for him to lie down on the ground beside her. He does. As Angie closes her eyes, you can see little tears in them. She loves the way he makes her feel. She loves the freedom and wildness that radiates from him. She is nervous about who he is. She knows there is nothing normal about him.

Angie, I still love you, remember all those nights we cried?

All the dreams we held so close seemed to all go up in smoke

The next day, they get up. He whispers something to her. They hike to a nearby waterfall that isn’t on the map. They admire the waterfall. He kisses her. She looks at him with a great sadness. She is attracted to him. Part of her wants to stay with him forever. She is reluctant to leave her normal lifestyle behind. She has a good, normal, life. He walks away and she doesn’t stop him. Tears start forming in her eyes. She can’t accept how wild and free he is. She has always wanted more out of life then money and social standing. Now that it is being offered to her, she is walking away from it. She doesn’t understand why she is doing this. Everything inside of her is telling her this is the best thing that could ever happen to her and that she is making a mistake.

He goes to a volcano. The volcano is erupting. At the top of the volcano, lava starts to come out. The lava is surrounded by smoke and ash at coming out of the volcano. The smoke and ash is mixing with the clouds over the volcano. The summit of the volcano, where the lava is coming out, turns into Angie’s right eye. The lava starts to turn into tears coming out of her eye. The tears are running down her face. The smoke to the left of her right eye starts to turn into her left eye. Then the clouds and ash start to mingle and turn into her hair. It is a dark brown hair with blue streaks going through it. Angie’s face is clearly visible where the volcano was.

He goes up to the top of the waterfall he took Angie to. He jumps off. Before he lands into the water below, he levels off and flies down across the lake, inches from the water. He reaches his hand in the lake. His hand turns into a talon. He brings up some little fish. He flies to a Bald Eagle’s nest. There is a mother eagle there, feeding her chick. He starts hand feeding the fish to her chick while she is watching him. As he is feeding the eagle chick, the mother eagle morphs into Angie and the eagle chick morphs into a baby. Then, he fades away into nothing and Angie and the baby start to fade away.

He feels completely rejected by Angie. He doesn’t understand how she can turn her back on him and his love for her, to live in a society that has very little care and compassion for her. He wishes Angie could accept the good changes in her life that he would bring into it. He knows, all too well, that Angie is not open to the changes happening in her life that she dreams about.

CHAPTER 2

The Beginning

Thor begins his story. You can feel a slight shudder coming from him as he starts to talk.

He tells about this magnificent place. Light radiated from it. It had a pleasant smell about it, but something wasn’t right. Sometimes there was a bad odor coming from different places in it. As you went further into it, you could see beings there. Some dressed in pure white, others wore traditional African apparel. Others wore more European attire. There was s big gathering of them in a central courtyard. There must have been thousands of them. They were arguing with each other. Some arguments were very heated.

This was not the way it should be. This was not the way it was meant to be. The place shook with disappointment at the beings and the turmoil they were in. Everything about the place suggested beauty and peace. From waterfalls and the vegetation to the buildings, everything looked as if it was planned with an eye on the aesthetic value it would have. The buildings looked as if they were made out of white, translucent diamonds. Diamonds that did more than just capture and reflect light. The diamonds were a power source. A power source designed to sustain the surrounding environment. The buildings provided light and power for the flowers and trees that were there. The roots of the trees could be seen though the translucent foundation of the buildings. Instead of the roots cracking the buildings like they do concrete, the building covered the roots like a glove and made room for them as they grew.

The power that radiated from the building wasn’t just a raw power. It had an emotional quality about it. The power had a calming effect upon everyone and gave them a sense of peace. Today, thousands of the inhabitants rejected that. They were, as it were; engage in saber rattling and looking for a fight. It was unreal that anyone would not be at peace there.

Then, this old man, dress in white, appeared in the middle of them. He immediately got their attention. He seem to have a power so great that it made you afraid of him, and yet, he appeared to not use power or have any need of it. He spoke in a soft voice. Even though some of the beings were very vocal and very loud, you could hear his voice above them. His voice was like the small voice inside of you. No matter how loud everything gets and no matter how much you try not to listen to it, you hear it. There was no ignoring it. As he started talking, the place became very quiet. His voice had a peaceful, dream like quality. When he spoke, it was as if you were in a dream that you couldn’t wake up from. A dream and sleep so peaceful that you wish it would last forever.

Then, he pointed at some and said Get on my right side and to the others he said Get on my left side No one questioned his authority. They did as they were told. Some, however, did so reluctantly. Then he said I have not created heaven to be a place of strife and division. I created it as a place of peace, a place where everyone could be in harmony together. I created heaven as a place where we could join together and be one with each other. To those on my left, I have created a place where you don’t have to be at peace and harmony with each other. It will be called hell. Since you have showed a callous disregard for peace and harmony, you should like it there, but I know you won’t. It will be as you are: completely lawless. The only law will be from those who use their power to keep others in line. It will be a place where you can do as you please, no matter how much the others might object to it. It will be the kind of place that warlords rule over. A place where someone can have power over everyone and everything and that is considered a strength and compassion and caring for others is looked upon as a weakness.

Then, the ring leader of those on the left stepped forward. He was scared and marked. His eyes were full of fury and rage. He looked at God and said How is it that you created of place for me and my followers that is not near as nice as the place you have here? Why would you create a place for us that you know we won’t like? Isn’t that akin to bad and evil? Why don’t you go there and let us have this place? You are the ultimate ruler, so that place will be as this place is to you Then he said, mockingly Completely under your rule and everyone under your thumb.

He continued on Or is it that you are not able to create a place like this again? Why won’t you let us disagree with you and your followers? Do you think it is right and fair to not let us voice our opinion and then send us away when we disagree with you? You always talk how we have free will and yet you are taking that from us. If you really wanted us to have free will, then it wouldn’t matter what we do here and you would encourage us to do as we want.

God looked at him. Then he said You have free will to have a difference of opinion. You can talk about anything you want, anytime you want. However, I will not be allowed to spread hate and discontent and to cause trouble. You are not being responsible with the free will I have given you. There you will have the freedom to do what I won’t allow you to do here. You can rule that place as you see fit. You can be as irresponsible as you want to be there. It will be completely yours. However, I will not allow you to be irresponsible and inflict stress and anguish on those that are here, under my care. Please don’t push my hand. Please just leave now.

The ring leader looked at God and started talking about the creation of the earth. Then he said Remember how you gave me a big part at the beginning of the earth?

The Ring leader is going back to the time when he was given the job of making all the plants conform to the circle of life that was being created. It was a time when God gave him awesome abilities. He had the ability and task to create part of an ecosystem that had a complete circle of life in it. A task of creating vegetation that would live and die and be a part of something beyond itself. A task of creating something that would have the ability to become a part of the animal kingdom and then find itself going into a full circle and becoming a plant again.

He had looked forward to that task. He considered it a competition. A competition that he had every intention of winning. He looked at the one who was given the task of creating animals with disdain. He thought that the only reason God had gave him that task is because animals would have an advantage. They would be able to move freely and look for food and would be able to use plants as food. The animals would have brains and be better able to perceive what kind of environment they were in. He intended to make sure the animals would be inferior to his plants.

The ring leader considered it ingenious when he made plants to have root systems that did more than just hold them in place. The roots would gather nutrients for the plant and the leaves would do the same. He made it so that he could grow large plants, such as trees, at higher altitudes. He made the Noble Fir to not have a full covering like the Douglas fir. The branches would be spaced out so they wouldn’t catch the wind when storms and high winds happen. The wind would go over and below the spaced out branches and not break the tree. Then, when the wind wasn’t blowing, you would only notice how nice the tree looked and not realize the intent of the spacing of the branches. He had made trees to be the tallest living things there are. Taller than any animal. He thought that alone should give him favor with God, even without considering how he made other plants, such as cacti, to thrive in hostile environments.

Then, as an added bonus, he gave plants the ability to use their environment against animals and trap them into what would become tar pits. Once the animals would die, then they would change into this toxic substance that would never be a part of the circle of life. If it were to be burned, it would release toxins into the air that would hurt all animal life. Yet, the carbon that it had trapped would benefit all plant life. He was so proud of himself for being able to do all this. He was expecting great praise for his work. He was looking forward to the day when he would stand before God and show off what he had done. He just knew that God would be pleased at how he made the plants to be superior to animals. He especially liked the idea that he would be able to turn the other one’s precious animals into toxic slime. That was the icing on the cake to him.

The day came when he and the other stood before God. Then God did the unthinkable. He accepted and was pleased with the work of the other one and not his. Then God went as far as to say that he should go back and fix what he had done and make it better. This was more than a letdown. This was a complete insult. The idea that God thought his work was so flawed that he should go back and fix it and make it better was unfathomable. Even the idea that what he had done could be made better or improved upon was asinine.

What he did next is what turned him into the Evil One. Instead of redoing what he had done and asking God for his advice on the changes that needed to be made, he had gone over to talk to the other one about the things that God liked about his animals so much. Then, when he was talking to him, he killed him and fed him to the plants. He was going to have his plants change the other one into toxic slime. Then he was going to ask God if he still like the toxic slime other one more than him.

The ring leader killed him and fed the other one to the plants. But, instead of the other one turning into something toxic slime, his essence came out and God took it and made it a part of him.

That was more than the ring leader could handle. He vowed that there would never be peace again between him and God and that this was war, for all eternity.

The ring leader looked at hell and accepted that it would be his new home, temporarily. Then, the ring leader reluctantly started to leave. As they were leaving, this one in the group, with hair just barely touching his shoulders came forward. He bowed slightly and asked Lord, instead of sending me there, can I go to earth? I have looked at the place from afar and I have seen strife and discontent there. Earth is not a place like heaven is. It seems like it is a place, like hell in a way. The people there fell from grace and you kicked them out of the Garden of Eden and earth became their place of punishment. I have fallen from your grace and I would like to go there too, instead of hell. Then, about a dozen others came forward and said they would like to go there with him too. God looked at them and said You can go, but you will have human bodies. You will live and die there. Your bodies will age. You will be as the humans. Do you still want to go there? The man said yes, and the others, said yes to, but they were not sure of going there.

God knew that they had fell victim to the ring leader’s silver tongue. God was going to give them a second chance. They had no idea of how much of a chance God was giving them. They thought about hell, where power was everything and none of them like the idea of the ring leader having ultimate power over them forever.

The beings arrived on earth as humans. They were all men. They looked similar to what they looked like in heaven. You would not know that they were any different than a normal human, except they were a little bit bigger