David Ascendant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 7) by Brian Godawa Read Free Book Online

only you, Lahmi, who has been chosen.”
    Ittai felt dizzy.
    Lahmi was horrified. “But why?”
    “Because you are a Rapha, a descendent of the Nephilim.”
    “But so is Ittai. He has twelve fingers and toes. His mother was a Rapha.”
    “But his father was not. Ittai is a half-breed. He is stunted in his growth. He will not be able to keep up with you.”
    “But he is stronger than me. He is as strong as any Rapha twice his size.”
    Lahmi was right. Though Ittai had not been blessed with the size of a Rapha, he had the strength of one, thus giving him a decided advantage in battle. Size was deceptive.
    “I am sorry, Lahmi – and Ittai. It will not do.”
    Ittai’s entire world had just been destroyed and taken from him. It was like a second Deluge had washed away all his dreams of becoming a gibborim. And now he was being tortured. The future he had desired dangled in front of him briefly, only to be ripped from him, along with his best friend in the world.
    As usual, Lahmi’s thoughts ran along the same lines as Ittai. He was angry.
    “Why did you bring him out here with me then? Why are you torturing him by revealing this secret and then telling him he cannot have it?”
    Ittai’s skin went suddenly cold. He felt a chill. The thought occurred to him that maybe they were planning on getting rid of him.
    Goliath said, “I knew you two were close as…” He looked over at Ittai with approval. “As blood brothers. So I didn’t want you to be the one to have to tell him.”
    Ittai felt like they were now talking about him as if he were not there. As if they were going to remove him altogether. He gripped his dagger. He would go down fighting.
    Ishbi gripped Ittai’s shoulder tighter, as if to comfort him – or was it to hold him down?
    He whispered to Ittai, “You will be a fine Philistine warrior in your own right.” But those were not the only whispers he heard in his head. As soon as Ishbi had touched him, he heard a dozen different voices whispering vile and degrading things to him. It sounded as if they were preparing him to die.
    Ittai was not going to wait for the dagger that would slide across his throat as he contemplated Ishbi’s distracting words.
    He spun around, releasing himself from Ishbi’s grip and gave the warrior a hard slug in the kidney.
    Ishbi grunted in pain and went down to one knee at the sucker punch.
    Ittai bolted away. He ran deeper into the desert.
    Ishbi got angry. He stood, prepared to chase the little runt.
    But Goliath said, “Let him go. We have hurt him enough. He will need time to get over it.”
    Lahmi wept.
    Goliath watched his brother. He knew this was like separating Ishbi from himself. But Lahmi had to become hard.
    “Dry those tears, brother. You are not a woman. You are a warrior. Now you will be a Son of Rapha. It is time for your initiation.”

Chapter 10
    Lahmi had his eyes blindfolded. He was led to another location not far from where he and Ittai had been. He stood in the warm breeze of sundown, but a chill crept through his bones as he heard the arrival of about three or four other men.
    Goliath said, “Sons of Rapha, this is Lahmi of Gath, our newest tadpole in the service of Dagon.”
    Lahmi heard the men applaud. They were the officers of the warrior cult. His new brothers.
    Goliath stopped speaking. Now Ishbi said, “Be ready to fight, tadpole.”
    Lahmi stood his ground, and raised his hands in readiness to grapple. He couldn’t see through the blindfold, so he felt awkward spinning around, not knowing from which direction his attackers would come.
    The first attack was a slap on his rear, followed by chuckling from the warriors.
    He spun around to try to face the slapper. Instead, he got another slap on the arm, a hard contact. It stung. He tried to reach out quickly and grab the offender’s hand, but he was not quick enough.
    Then a series of hard stinging slaps coming from all directions assaulted him. It made him dizzy. He felt like a fool