That night, Nomad woke up to someone singing. He had never heard the song before but it’s melody awoke something inside of him. It sounded like a chant almost but with more variation. Nomad followed the singing out into the room where Erick’s blanket still lay crumpled on the floor. He turned to see if Erick had returned when a blinding light shone in front of him. The music cut out immediately and he had to shield his eyes from the brightness. Through the glare, Nomad made out the figure of someone standing a few feet in front of him.

Nomad tried to speak but his mouth wouldn’t work. It didn’t matter though, the person was imediately inside of Nomad’s mind and spoke to him in a deep voice that resonated through Nomad’s entire being.

“I am someone who has known you your entire life. Someone you have long ago forgotten, and are only now beginning to remember.”

His voice was the one that Nomad had heard singing.

“I am what you were before, and what you shall be again. You shall know my name once more, before the end.”

The light surrounding him grew even brighter. Nomad shut his eyes tight against the light the form of this person was still clearly visible through Nomad’s eyelids. He had long hair down to his shoulders that flowed around him as though it were caught in a strong breeze. Also, he stood a good three or four feet in the air. The most noticeable thing about him, though, were his wings. He had three sets of wings, each set a bit larger than the previous, all furled out, gently flapping, seeming to effortlessly keep him in the air.

Without warning, the light and the figure were gone and Nomad found himself alone in the empty room.

“Nomad?”

Nomad’s eyes were still shut when he heard Erick’s voice.

“Nomad, what are you still doing up? I thought you’d have gone to bed.”

Nomad turned, blinking as the afterglow of what he had seen began to fade.

“Are you all right?” He asked.

Erick moved closer to Nomad who let out a sigh.

“I’m fine.” He told Erick.

In the dim glow of dawn Nomad could see Erick watching him, nervous.

“What?” Nomad asked, taking a small step back.

“You…you were different for a moment.” Erick said, still perplexed, but he waved it off before Nomad could respond. “I need some sleep.” Erick began walking towards his room.

“Oh, wait.” Nomad called after him. “There’s something for you in the corner.” He pointed and waited.

Erick walked over, bent down and picked up the blanket.

“Thank you Nomad.” Was all he said before turning and going to his room.

Nomad couldn’t sleep. Everything he’d just seen and heard kept playing through his mind. Whoever that person had been, he’d been able to get into Nomad’s mind. In that moment he thought he knew how Erick must feel when compared to him. The visitor had said he knew Nomad from before, but why wait until now to reveal himself? Why not come to me sooner? Why didn’t he stay longer and explain more now? He clearly had powers of his own so why hadn’t he been the one to teach Nomad how to use his powers?

It took a few more hours of pondering but eventually Nomad fell back asleep.

“Nomad, are you getting up at all today?”

He opened his eyes and saw Erick crouched down by his side, poking him in the ribs.

“What time is it?” Nomad asked him, rubbing his eyes and stretching.

It couldn’t be too late, the light in the room was dim and seemed to still be early morning.

Erick allowed Nomad to sit up and then said, “It’s almost nine.” He paused, “At night.”

Nomad stopped in mid stretch and stared at Erick.

“What?” He said. “Nine? How come you didn’t try to wake me up earlier?”

Erick stood back up.

“I’ve been trying, once almost every hour. I was getting nervous. Who knows how much energy you used up last night on your, uh, little trick.”

Nomad continued to stare at Erick. He seemed to be doing his very best to avoid looking at Nomad.

“What trick?” Nomad asked.

Erick turned to look at Nomad and there was a hint of fear in his eyes.

“When I came home last night,” Erick said, still keeping his distance, “the windows were lit up like a star. I had to fly in blind and when I could finally see you,” Erick’s eyes darted back toward the main room, “You were floating in the air. And you had . . . wings.”

“That wasn’t me.” Nomad told him at once.

“Who was it then?” Erick asked.

“Someone I use to know.” Nomad said without thinking.

Erick continued to stare. “I thought that you didn’t have any memory of your past.”

“That’s just what he said to me. He said that he always knew me, but that I had forgotten him, or something like that.”

Erick didn’t look convinced. “Where were you then?” He asked. “I only saw him for an instant, but during that time I searched the house for other minds, and I could only sense the one, yours.”

“He was even more powerful than me,” Nomad replied, “so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was just hiding his mind from you.”

“But if it wasn’t you,” Erick said, “then why are you so drained? He seemed to be made completely of energy, and I doubt that those wings were easy to make either.”

Nomad shrugged, unable to answer that riddle.

Even though Nomad had slept through the majority of the day, he still went to bed that night after Erick went out for his usual evening flight. Nomad half expected the strange visitor to return but his sleep that night was uninterrupted.

“All right Nomad.” Erick said once they’d finished breakfast. “You’ve so far learned to create energy blasts and shields, you’ve mastered telekinesis, energy absorption, and healing. You’ve also shown some ability in enhancing your speed, so all that we’ve got left to do are enhanced strength and, of course, flight.”

“That’s it?” Nomad asked. “After that you’ll have nothing left to teach me?”

Erick laughed, “No, but you’ll have learned all of the basics. All other powers flow from these. It’s like that flame I taught you, that’s just a variation of an energy blast.”

Erick took Nomad into the courtyard of the apartment building and pointed over to a large dumpster he’d brought in.

“Strength’s pretty straight forward,” he began. “Fill your body with energy, bolstering your muscles, ligaments, bones, everything, otherwise the weak link will break and you’ll have to heal up.

Erick squatted down, grabbed the bottom edge of the dumpster with both his hands, and lifted it into the air.

“This power comes in handy if you don’t have time to catch or stop something with telekinesis.”

Nomad watched, amazed, as Erick tossed the dumpster deftly from hand to hand before setting it back down.

“Now, it’s your turn.” He said.

“Okay.” Nomad replied, walking over to where Erick stood.

He squatted down, grabbed the dumpster, and let the energy flow out of his chest and into the rest of his body. He held back, remembering Erick’s repeated advice and began to pull upward. For a brief moment he felt the weight and the strain on his muscles, but then the energy pulsed and Nomad hefted the dumpster high over his head. Nomad tossed it from hand to hand as though it were made of paper. When he set it back down there were two distinct sets of hand prints crushed into the metal sides of the dumpster.

“Well,” Nomad said, flush with pride at having learned that power on the first try, “I guess there’s only one power left.”

Erick laughed and levitated the dumpster back over to the street where it belonged.

“Well,” Erick said, “I guess it’s time to fly.”

Nomad couldn’t help but grin.

“Now flight is the most difficult of powers.” Erick said while he cleared the courtyard of debris. “To fly, you not only have to concentrate on what direction you’re flying in, but how high you are and how fast you’re going. If you lose control of just one of these things, you can end up spinning out of control.”

He gave a few demonstrations, allowing Nomad to observe how his energy flowed.

“I think I’ve got it Erick, can I give it a try now?” Nomad was practically bouncing from one foot to the next with anticipation.

“All right, if you think you can do it, go ahead, just stay low for right now.”

Erick stood back and Nomad began concentrating on flight. He let the energy begin to flow around him like a cocoon. Nomad’s feet became lighter on the ground and his stomach turned in excitement. He looked down to see how high up off the ground he had gone.

He was a couple inches off the ground. Nomad focused on moving in an upward direction, being careful not to use too much energy. Nothing happened. Nomad tried to move to the side and he drifted ever so slowly one way and then the other. It was excruciatingly slow. He pumped more energy into it and managed to move at just under a walking pace, though he still couldn’t rise more than a few inches into the air.

“What am I doing wrong?” Nomad asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t go any higher,” Nomad explained, “or faster.”

Erick walked around Nomad, studying him and his energy.

“I don’t know,” Erick admitted. “It looks like you’re doing everything right. In fact, you’re using so much energy I’d expect you to be breaking the sound barrier or something.”

Nomad kept at it for several more minutes but flight was an incredible drain on even his energy reserves. When he finally touched back down he was drenched in sweat and exhausted.

“No bad for a first attempt,” Erick said in an attempt to brighten Nomad’s obvious sour mood. “At least nothing exploded.”

“Yeah,” Nomad grunted. “I fly so well I still need to watch for tripping hazards.”

Of all the powers Erick had demonstrated, this was the one Nomad had been the most excited for. He’d been mastering all the other powers so quickly recently that he’d assumed flight would be the same. It wasn’t.

“I guess you weren’t just saying that flight was difficult.”

“You’ll get it” Erick assured him. “Just give it time.”

Nomad was trying to put on a good show of things but it was impossible to fully conceal his disappointment. At least now he knew for certain that he couldn’t have been the glowing man. The stranger had flown without the slightest difficulty. Then again, the man also said that he was who Nomad use to be. Was he being literal or figurative?

It had been a long while since Nomad had looked through his bible but he went and found it now, pulling out the torn sheet of paper. He had been a part of a project called The God Child. Erick could be right. Perhaps at one point in time Nomad could fly. By the same reasoning he also could have shown blindingly white like the visitor did too. It became too confusing to grasp all at once and Nomad curled up on the small pad he used for a bed and went to sleep.

That night, Nomad heard the singing again. At first he didn’t think anything of it as he drifted in and out of consciousness to the beautiful music. After a while, though, he woke up enough to recognize what was going on and went out in search of the winged man. The main room stayed dark this time, though the singing did grow louder. Nomad looked out the window and almost tripped over himself as he turned and ran down into the courtyard. The man sat crouched in the courtyard and though he didn’t shine, he sang the song.

“Who are you?” Nomad asked the moment he reached him.

The man didn’t answer right away. By the light of the moon Nomad could see that there was something different about him this time. His long hair hung matted and unkempt around his sallow face. His clothes were old and full of holes and scars crisscrossed every inch of visible skin. Nomad began to think that he’d made a mistake when his eyes passed over the man’s back. Camouflaged among the tatters of his clothes were three pairs of wings lying broken and useless.

A light began to shine from behind Nomad but he was suddenly rooted to the ground and unable to turn.

“They hurt us so much.” Nomad heard the voice inside his head.

The light grew stronger as the man drew near. Nomad tried to turn again and failed.

“We thought ourselves invincible, that no matter what they tried, we would always overcome. They proved us wrong. They forced us to serve them. We fought back and tried to stop them, but in the end they made us forget who we were and they broke our wings.”

“Who are you?” Nomad asked.

The broken man in front of him slumped to the ground and began digging in the dirt.

“Well?” Nomad asked.

“I am what you saw inside of yourself. I am what you were, but not who you were.”

The man began to crawl away from Nomad looking down as if ashamed. He walked with a limp and he sucked on one of his fingertips as though he’d hurt it while digging. Nomad tried to go to him, but still his feet were stuck.

“Who are you?” Nomad asked again, more insistent this time.

The man looked up with pain in his eyes.

“I don’t know.” He whispered and ran away into darkness.

The light still shone from behind and Nomad reached out with his mind, searching for the person he knew must be there.

“Why are you doing this?” Nomad asked even though he hadn’t found anyone else yet.

“You want to know who you are? I am what you were before and what you may become again. The broken man is a warning of how far you may fall again, weaker and more afraid than you’ve ever been before. You must choose your path.”

“How do I choose?” Nomad asked.

Silence.

“What happened that made me like this?” he asked instead.

“That question is for another to answer.”

Without him saying it, Nomad knew that he meant Erick.

“What’s my name?” Nomad asked.

The light began to withdraw.

“I was called by a different name and never knew the one you had.” He said.

“What was your name then?” Nomad pleaded.

The light had almost vanished and Nomad strained to hear his last response.

“I am an angel of the highest order . . .I am Seraph.”

The darkness returned in full and Nomad felt his knees buckle. The world swayed and he fell forward onto the ground in a heap. When he awoke, he was back inside and it was well past midday. Erick didn’t pry but it was obvious he was curious about what had happened the night before.

“I found you in the courtyard this morning,” he explained. “You feeling alright?”

“You were right, kind of, about that glowing person,” Nomad said. “It is me, or was me, or, is a part of me.” Nomad stammered. “I don’t understand all of it, but his name is Seraph.”

“So there’s two of you?”

Nomad didn’t know quite how to think of it.

“Well,” he said in defense of his sanity, “I think that they’re more of just what’s left over from when I lost my memory. After all, Seraph said that, ‘They hurt us’.”

He waited a few moments to build up enough courage to ask Erick his next question, the one he had been told to ask him.

“Who are they, the people who hurt me, Erick?”

Erick appraised Nomad for a few seconds but didn’t find whatever he was looking for.

“I don’t know Nomad,” He lied.

It was obvious that Erick had the answer, and Nomad knew it. In a round about sort of way Nomad knew the answer too.

“It was the same people that went after you, wasn’t it?” Nomad asked .

“Look Nomad, regardless of who’s responsible for what happened to you, there’s nothing you or I can do about it.”

“Fine, don’t tell me.” Anger boiled up inside of Nomad and he left the apartment. “I’m going for a walk.”

He had no specific destination in mind. He turned down one street and up another. He didn’t even bother to conceal himself from those around him.

‘Welcome to Purge City Library’ a sign next to the front door of a tall building read. The receptionist didn’t even look up when Nomad walked in. Not far from the receptionist’s desk ran a railing. Nomad leaned over the rail and looked straight down for three stories. Next he looked up for another four stories. One long ramp wrapped all the way around each floor from top to bottom connecting all the levels together.

“May I help you?” The lady at the desk asked in a quiet voice.

Nomad turned to face her. “No thank you, I’m fine.” He began walking down toward the ramp.

Nomad reached the bottom floor and grabbed the first book he came to. It turned out to be a child’s book, a simple one. Nomad never read much besides his Bible and even that was an infrequent thing. He flipped through the book and then set it down.

How long would it take to read every book in here? He wondered.

If nothing else it would give him something to preoccupy his mind. He needed something else to think about anyway.

Nomad grabbed a stack of books and began to read. Thanks to his enhanced speed he could read much faster than a regular person. He finally started to hide himself from those around him since he was moving at a blur as he read through book after book. After about an hour he’d finished the books on the first floor. Though, considering that the first floor held only children’s books Nomad wasn’t about to go boasting too loudly. He moved on up to the next floor. About half way through he began to get bored. Nomad wanted a new challenge. He took two stacks of books and, without thinking, placed a hand on either stack. Something in his mind hinted that he’d done something like this before, as though he were remembering a power he’d used before losing his memories. Nomad’s mind filled with words and pictures and in an instant he’d absorbed everything written in both stacks. The books glowed ever so slightly as his mind passed through them but nothing too noticeable. By the forth floor, Nomad could walk down the isles and read the books as he passed.

Since the glow of the books was subtle enough, Nomad stopped hiding himself until he noticed a small group watching him. As he stepped into the next aisle, Nomad sent out his mind to study his watchers. A group of teenage boys huddled in the corner and waited for Nomad to come out the other side of the aisle with hungry eyes. It was well passed midday and Nomad had grown a bit tired from all the reading and didn’t want to spend more energy on blocking himself from their minds. As Nomad searched their minds he discovered that they were planning to break into someones house over the weekend. It would be the first time they’d be doing such a thing, planning on starting their own little gang in the hopes of making quick and easy money. It seemed they were thinking about following and then robbing Nomad. They weren’t exactly the brightest group and Nomad doubted they would be very successful.

“Hey,” one of them said as Nomad walked passed them, “What’re you doing?”

Nomad turned to them. There were four of them, trying to look intimidating.

“I’m learning about ancient history, Egypt at the moment,” Nomad said in a bored voice.

He focused even harder and finished reading the row of books in a short burst of dim light. The boys noticed and didn’t know what it meant. They backed up a couple steps, looking at him more warily than before. Nomad nodded and left them where they stood. As he moved back towards the ramp he made a quick glance down to the bottom floor and found a few sleeping babies in the children’s section and absorbed their energy. As Nomad turned back towards the ramp, one of the teenagers grabbed him by the shirt and lifted Nomad into the air.

“Look!” He said, leaning Nomad over the railing. “We don’t need smart mouthed comments or stupid magic tricks.”

“You know there are cameras all over this place, right? Nomad said, gesturing towards one of the security cameras nearby.”

The boy looked uncertain for a moment and then let Nomad back down.

“Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do,” he said as he pulled Nomad over to the corner where the other three stood waiting. “You’re gonna leave here with us and do every little thing we tell you to do. And if you don’t,” he balled up a fist while looking around to make sure none of the cameras could see him. “So, do we have an understanding?”

Nomad was recharged now and wasn’t so tired any more. He wasn’t scared. Nomad smiled up at the one who threatened him.

“Well, Steve,” Nomad said after searching his mind, “I don’t think I can do that.”

Steve stepped back upon hearing his name.

“Hello Dan, Robert, Michael.” Nomad added, nodding to each in succession after searching their names out. They all took a threatening step towards Nomad so he vanished from their view.

For a while Nomad kept tabs on the boys who continued to search for him but eventually Nomad turned his attention back to the books. He finished the last floor right when it was announced that the library was closing. As Nomad left, he felt the minds of the four boys following him. He’d stopped hiding himself again to conserve energy. They stayed a good ways behind Nomad but it was obvious they were following him after only a couple of blocks. If they were going to do anything, Nomad figured it would be when he passed into an upcoming alley. Nomad could have vanished from their sight again but he was curious and wanted to see how this would play out. It might give him an opportunity to use some of his new powers.

“Well, look at this.” Steve said from behind as he and the others stepped into the alley behind Nomad..

Nomad smiled as he turned to face them. He’d become so powerful over the last few weeks that it was almost comical to Nomad to think about the power difference between himself and these four. Just to be safe, Nomad brought out his shield, keeping it invisible and close to his skin.

“You’re a bit of a magician,” Steve said, “vanishing like that, but there’s nowhere to hide in here.”

“I can do more than vanish,” Nomad said.

The boys continued to draw closer, ignoring Nomad’s warning and smirking.

“So,” Dan began, “Where are your headed? Everything out this way is abandoned.”

“Yeah, no one lives out here.” Robert said. “Not even the busses come out this way.”

Dan made to grab me. Nomad sped up and sidestepped him, grabbed his shoulder and threw him over his outstretched leg. Dan landed with a heavy thud.

He cursed when his face met the cement.

Nomad continued to smile up at them while they helped Dan up. They eyed Nomad more warily now. Michael was the next to try his luck and jumped at Nomad. Another quick pivot and redirection meant that Michael ended up smacking into the wall of the alley. He bounced off of it and staggered back holding his broken nose. As one, the other three rushed Nomad, trying to tackle him to the ground. It was laughable how easy it was for Nomad to deal with them. Finally, Steve pulled out a knife and tried to stab Nomad. Nomad let it strike his shield, which flashed and shattered the blade.

All four of them fell back, momentarily blinded and stunned. Nomad used that time to reach into their minds and force them into unconsciousness. One by one they collapsed and soon enough Nomad was left standing alone in the alley.

“I warned you.” Nomad said.

He absorbed some energy from each of them and turned to leave when Nomad noticed that something was out of place. It took a moment to realize why things looked wrong to him. He was hovering a couple feet in the air. He eased upward and it worked. Nomad pushed to the side and he glided over just as he intended. The barrier he’d been struggling with before was gone. Why this fight had helped him overcome that block was beyond him but he wasn’t going to complain.

“Where have you been” Erick asked when Nomad returned to the apartment.

“It has been an amazing day.” Nomad said and went straight into telling him about the library, the boys, the fight and at last the flight.

“That’s great you can fly,” Erick said, “But you shouldn’t have fought those boys.

“I gave them fair warning.” I said and Erick let it go.

When night fell Erick went to bed but Nomad stayed up and replayed the days events over and over again in his mind. He practiced every one of his powers for a bit and finally flew around the room. After a few minutes of flying, Nomad’s back began to ache like he had pulled a muscle he healed it but after resuming his flight again the pain returned. The pain was focused on the middle of his back, right between his shoulder blades. There were no mirrors in the apartment but Nomad was getting better at manipulating his powers and after a few tries managed to form a makeshift set of mirrors that he could use to study his back. At first, nothing stood out. The pain hadn’t started until he was flying so Nomad lifted himself a few inches into the air.

Two small distortions blossomed out of his back, right between his shoulder blades, waving back and forth. They were small and feeble, but there was no denying what they were; wings.

“Your first set.”

Nomad spun in the air.

“Only fragments of what they once were, but they will grow.”

No singing this time, and the light grew much slower than in the past but there was Seraph.

“Why are you here?” Nomad asked.

Seraph’s six wings gently beat the air, his glow still intensifying until it became painful to look directly at him. As if by instinct, Nomad’s wings curled up and over until they came to rest in front of his eyes, filtering out much of Seraph’s glow

“Why do you keep coming back?” Nomad asked when Seraph remained silent and gave no answer. “Am I crazy? Erick’s seen you. Am I changing into you? Or am I creating you?”

Seraph seemed on the verge of answering when his head jerked to look out the window.

“They’re here,” he said and vanished.

Nomad fell to the floor, exhausted, and knew no more.