Luke felt warmth passing through his body, but for a totally different reason. The cherubim statues had sprung to life and for towering figures of stone, they were more agile than they appeared.

Their swords of fire borne down on Luke and he thought he was toast.

Yet, as the piercing hot swords swelled around him, all Luke felt was warmth and some goosebumps. He should be burning in agonizing pain and his skin should be sizzling as it was broiled to a crisp.

But Luke just seemed to figure out that what came with mastery over fire was an immunity towards it—one he never wanted to test out before.

Luke had little time to react. He had to capitalize on the cherubim's confusion. He reached for his whip and surged it with electricity. He cracked it towards the statues and sliced off a chunk from both of the cherubim's main heads.

The statues didn't like that.

He turned towards Sirius, "Get towards the cove. Get the ship in the water."

"I'm not leaving without you," Sirius said holding the unconscious Nil in his arms. "You can't take them both on by yourself, even if you are immune to fire."

"Just go! I'm the only one who stands a chance at holding these things off."

Alpha was struggling to stand without swaying. His face looked green and he didn't need to render himself transparent for Luke to see the vomit he was about to hurl. He was in no shape to move.

Suddenly Alpha disappeared as if he was enveloped by a void. Luke looked towards Sirius and noticed that Nil was gone too. His right eye dilated from a sea of ocean blue and a diamond shape pupil back to gray and round eyes.

"Now they're safe, and we fight."

Luke dodged the foot of one of the cherubim that stepped off its pedestal. These things were only getting started. "No, go stop Jurgen before he gets to the others or escapes."

The thought must've crossed Sirius's mind. "But..."

"Just do it, please!"

Sirius's left eye flashed. "You better stay alive or I'll kill you in the afterlife," he croaked, and in a moment, he was gone. He didn't argue with Luke's logic. He knew whoever Jurgen was working for was bad news, and if he delivered the special herbs to this person then Lord knows what evil stuff could come out of it.

Plus, these statues were made of stone, and Luke knew just how to handle them. He cracked his whip again and sent a surge of electricity coursing through it, but it was intercepted by the flaming swords of both cherubim who formed an X in the air. Luke's whip was snapped, and he was left holding nothing but the handle.

"Let's see you snap this," he said as he charged a bolt of electricity in his left hand and molded it into the shape of a spear. He tossed it at one of the cherubim and it struck the heart and sent cracks and vibrations surging throughout the body until the cherub crumbled into a pile of rocks.

The other cherub saw his brother just be converted into a mound of stone and he didn't look very happy.

Luke tried to charge another spear but was met with a loud whistle from the angel's stone lips. Behind him he looked atop the hill and saw a sight that truly made him wish Sirius was here—but even then, the two of them couldn't possibly stave off against an army of extinct and dangerous animals that looked down upon him. Mammoths, saber-tooth tigers, T-rex's, and everything in-between were about as angry as an extinct zoo free to get revenge on its captors.

The animals started charging down the hill and behind him, the cherubim solidified his sword of fire back into stone and swung at Luke, who barely missed being clubbed like a golf ball across the green. In his place were chunks of grass and tossed earth as if an excavator had just mined the ground.

Luke was stuck between a statue with a sword and an army of angry extinct animals who probably blamed him for their demise.

In other words, Luke was screwed.

The only bright side was that this was a massive hill. Even the fastest animals would take about a minute or two to get down. He had to eliminate the threat on one front so that he could focus all of his force on counter-attacking the other. He turned towards the last cherubim and summoned another spear.

However, this cherub was smart. He swung his sword at Luke before he could get a good aim, and he kept pouncing on him, restricting Luke's opening for an attack. It was already difficult keeping this electrical charge running for a couple of seconds, but to do so while dodging attacks made it grueling.

Then he found an opportunity. It was between the statue's legs. Luke slipped through and sliced at the legs on the way under. The electrical current pierced through the rock like lightning bolts and brought the statue down to its knees unintentionally praising Luke. It then collapsed to the ground and struggled to get back up.

While the statue flopped around like a fish out of water, Luke turned his attention on the horde of animals that were stampeding towards him with anger and bloodlust. Luke needed assistance, and his electrical weapons weren't going to cut it against an army this size.

"God," he prayed aloud. "I know I'm probably going to be reprimanded for striking down your cherubim, but could we postpone the punishment for another time?"

Silence. Classic God.

Luke knew he had one trick left up his sleeve. He summoned a normal flame and started playing around with it in his hand. He sweated as he did so—the effort of concentration he was putting into whatever he was trying to create was forcing the muscles in his right arm to flex as if he was lifting weights. Then bursting forth from his hand was a bird made of fire that squawked with the roar of a flame. Its body looked like that of an eagle, only it had two long stringy hairs atop its eyes that flowed back in the wind like yarn.

Luke collapsed to the ground panting as if he had just given birth from his hand. But he had little time to rest.

The firebird—the Phoenix Luke called it—flew over the army of animals and started releasing fiery feathers that dropped like missiles and exploded upon contact with the ground. Walls of fire erupted amongst the ranks of the animals sending many into a panic, others running in the opposite direction, and some running to put out the fire on their fur.

Although the Phoenix managed to reduce the numbers drastically, there were still some who slipped by and were now on flat ground gunning for Luke. A woolly rhinoceros was trying to spear Luke with one of its two horns that just missed him. Then he had to avoid getting bitten by an aggressive Cordoba Fighting dog who lashed at him constantly until Luke shot a Flame Geyser at him and he ran off barking, only to be replaced by the sharp claws of a Pleistocene jaguar whose harsh roar almost made Luke pee his pants.

Luke knew the Phoenix would disappear, but he wasn't thinking it would happen so soon. Eventually, the last embers of its flame dissipated, and with that, the last of Luke's hope of survival.

So much for the prophecy. So much for the boy who will determine if good or evil prevails. Luke was going to die in the Garden of Eden—and it was all thanks to Victor/Jurgen. He should've finished Victor in the arena like he had wanted to. But the thought of killing a man, even if that man was responsible for his looming death, made Luke uncomfortable. He should die with his mind clear of hate, no matter how much he wanted to give into it.

Just as he had given up, an arching bolt in the shape of a boomerang rang through the army of animals, connecting its electric charge like train carriages and changing the army of furious animals into dancing animals who seized up and fell down into the grass dissolving into dust.

But that didn't stop the few animals around him from circling him and licking their lips in savory anticipation of Nef meat. Then a flaming red sword sliced through the woolly rhino and set its fur ablaze. He ran around trying to put it out but soon collapsed and dissolved to dust. The fighting dog attacked the culprit and leapt at him, barking as he charged and whelping as he went down. The jaguar's growl was silenced and replaced with ash in the wind.

Luke didn't know how to feel—relieved or scared. Whoever managed to down an army of animals in seconds would devour Luke in half that time.

But then, the air around Luke seemed to warm up. Standing behind him was an angel with fiery wings holding a sword of red-orange fire. He wore faded robes that looked like ancient scrolls.

"Young Luke," the angel said. "We must stop meeting like this."