Fallen Masters (46 page)

In contrast to the Enemy, the Council of Elders and the forces of light and good upheld the concept of salvation. They represented hope for all of humanity, yet theirs was a more difficult “sell” in the turmoil and tribulation of the times. Often the members of the Council and the chief elders themselves felt frustration and even despair at the paltry results of their attempts to guide people to the right choices. The flaw in the human makeup that some theologians called “original sin” and others termed “ego” was so powerful that it sometimes presented a chasm between the subject and the right or moral decision that faced him.

What could be done to illuminate the human mind beyond engineering miracles and phenomena to demonstrate the power of the light versus the destructive might of the dark energies? The Council of Elders did not try to manipulate the celestial mechanics in the way the Tribunal had for centuries and to taint man’s search for answers in the heavens with evil and occult meaning.

“Have we been weak or misguided?” Caleb once asked during a difficult assembly of the Council when wars and uprisings seemed to spring up daily upon the earth and the people seemed to be drifting farther from their influence. The Dark Forces were exerting an almost magnetic attraction over the often hapless and gullible human species. “Is it our own fault?”

There was no satisfactory answer to such a question. Caleb and the other Masters of Light—a legion of soldiers who practiced the art of spiritual warfare in the cause of the good—must simply apply their energies more effectively and tap into the energies of the Earth in ways that would block the power of the Tribunal. But how? When? Where? The eternal battle was waged over such questions and with similar desperation … and thus it always had been.

The question of free will lay before Caleb and all of mankind. It was clear that each human being in the earthly realm possessed the ability to choose good or evil, light or darkness. That the balance of energy within a person and in the physical world could be manipulated from either direction—inside or outside. Subtle distinctions and choices could, ultimately, tip that balance all to the side of evil or darkness, almost without the person involved knowing what was happening. Education—for good or ill—played such a critical role in human moral development, whether the source was religion or the positive influence of a strong family, in any and every part of the world, be it a teeming city of millions or a small village just one step above tribal existence.

The energies that had been unleashed on the Earth by the Tribunal were aimed at tipping the balance all toward the Forces of Darkness. Was it too late to reach even one human being who wished to make the choice for good versus evil? Had it become too difficult, with such forces arrayed against the light, even to hope for one good soul, let alone enough to restore any hope for the balance of energies that had existed, however tenuously, through the ages?

CHAPTER

83

Los Angeles

Anderson felt a little disheartened by his conversation with Dawson and with no new leads on the abduction case he decided that if a thing needed to be done, he would just have to do it himself. He settled down in front of his computer and called up the few scraps of evidence left at the crime scene. Perhaps there was something that would tip him off as to why this island was such a magnet for this series of murders. Poking about on the Internet caused him to look at some of the myths in the Book of Invasions, and deeply embedded in Irish lore, he had to admit it was all fascinating stuff.

Legends had it that the Fomorians were a divine race of demons, who had inhabited Ireland for countless generations. They resisted invaders and all newcomers to their territories. Their leader was Balor of the Baleful Eye, the gaze of whose single great eye caused instant death; he could not be killed by any weapon known to man, nor by any warrior. Balor dwelt on Tory Island in constant dread of the fulfillment of a prophecy, namely his eventual destruction by an unborn grandson. Despite his attempts to forestall this end by keeping his daughter Eithne away from men, she became pregnant and gave birth to triplets. Balor cast them into the sea. But one survived: Lugh, who grew up to lead the Tuatha Dé against the Fomorians and who himself killed Balor with a slingshot through his eye.

The Tuatha Dé Danann also claimed divine origin as keepers of the Light Forces, led by Lugh, revered as a god of light, whose summer festival was Lughnasad—still celebrated in Ireland. The Celtic word
lugos
, Anderson learned, could mean “raven,” and there was a link in many of the legends between Lugh and those birds.

Lugh was a warrior-hero, a sorcerer and master of crafts, whom Julius Caesar called “the inventor of all the arts,” In battle, Lugh used his magic powers and an enchanted sword. His surname, Lámfhada, meaning “he of the long arm,” possibly reflected his skill with the throwing spear or the sling with which he killed his own grandfather, the evil Balor.

So, if Lugh represented the forces of light and good … then why would the serial killer claim, if that is what he was doing, the name of a god of light instead of a figure of darkness? How could so many brutal deaths be done in the name of good?

One other thing kept coming back to him as he kept reading. Unlike our concept of good and evil, these gods and legendary men from the distant past were very ambiguous. To call one good and the other evil simply meant that the victorious side claimed to be “good” and named the other, losing side “evil.” Lugh could just as easily have stood for a symbol of darkness instead of light. And maybe Balor wasn’t evil—but who was to say?

None of this made much sense to Anderson and whether this would help him or not he didn’t have a clue. But he knew that time was running out … and that somehow the killings in Belfast had something to do with the President’s son being kidnapped. And if he didn’t solve one or both of these cases shortly there would be consequences beyond anything he could conceive of.

CHAPTER

84

In the Tribunal, Angel Emphatic called upon his ancient ally, Balor of the One Eye, to speak about the impending firestorm of terror to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting Earth. “All of you no doubt know of the power of the baleful One Eye and how we have all benefited from the generosity of its employment over many millennia of earthly time. Now we shall all see a new world broken through the single evil eye of the Dark Master, Balor.”

“My dear Lord Angel and venerable comrades in the cause of righteous darkness. For this moment each of us was created and chosen from the beginning of time by the Source of All and the Giver and Taker of Life. Long ago, many of us transitioned to this side and evolved—through much hard work, I must say—toward perfection.” Balor manifested in this setting as a gnarled old man with a wispy white beard and a bald head. His skin was nut brown and wrinkled, his hands large and his legs rather stubby. He leaned on a bent stick as if he required it for support.

He went on, “There is much value in the ancient magics that gods and men wielded for century upon century in places far-flung across the Earth. I came into being in the place that is called Ireland today. It was, during past ages, the Earth’s very center of spirits and magical doings, misted in cloud and separated from other lands by harsh seas. There, in the navel of the world, I grew to maturity and ruled over a realm not large in size compared to some but unmatched in power. Gods and men were jealous. Although some, like the mighty Romans, were afraid to invade, others were bolder—and infinitely more foolish.

“Though I was defeated by my own grandson in one battle, by a fluke, I died with honor and left a curse upon the very earth that had been my mother. For she abandoned me and stole my magic for a single moment that made me vulnerable to a slingshot—a stone in my eye.” Balor pointed to the seemingly bloodshot orb that he displayed on occasions such as this as a badge of divine honor.

“Because of my eternal curse, the land of Ireland has been plagued with diseases and hungers, with many turmoils and troubles over time. Even the Christians, our mortal enemies—along with all religions—who sought to bring peace and light to the cursed isle, fell afoul of the evil I had wrought and fought among themselves, shedding more blood that I had any right to expect—even at my most optimistic!”

The demonic assembly roared again with approving laughter.

Balor said: “The day of blood is upon us. My trusted minions on Earth have devised an ingenious exhibition that will serve more than one purpose. For the men and women of the terrestrial plane are fascinated with murder and mutilation. They say always that they are repulsed, horrified, shocked at such crimes. But all of them are, more truly, fascinated and attracted to grotesque and violent killings. Well, we have presented them with one of the most delectable serial murders in their history. And upon its completion, ever new horrors and devastations shall be released from the bowels of hell to overrun their land and the entire planet. We are opening a vortex and portal to pass through with ease.”

Angel Emphatic grinned like a death’s-head and applauded his old friend as the Tribunal erupted with cheers and shrieks that shook the outer realm to its very foundation.

The gods of the underworld, ancient and eternal, were well used to the wars between the Armies of Light and the Forces of Darkness. For millennia the battles had raged—on the subcontinent of India, on the plains of Troy, in dense jungles throughout Africa and Southeast Asia. The gods’ agents among mankind, whether they believed in the reality of the divine energies or assumed the struggles were merely between human forces, all too often seemed eager to carry the banners of darkness and light into endless, bloody wars.

To what end? Often they did not know themselves. But our planet was the playground and battlefield of many manifestations of spiritual powers throughout the ages—powers that men called Kali or Zeus or the Sun god or any of a thousand different names, with a thousand different faces. In the end, it mattered not what they were called, only that the energies they sponsored were put to good—or terrible—uses among men, women, and children of Earth.

CHAPTER

85

Grenada

“How can somebody evil make the signs from the heavens hurt people? I thought you always said it was supposed to be used only for good.” Ruby was sincerely confused.

Mama G smiled. “People always have a choice to use knowledge for good or for evil, child. People have done that many times, as a matter of fact. Remember in your Bible stories how King Herod wanted the wise men to find Jesus and report back to him where the little baby was?”

Ruby nodded, her eyes wide with wonder and horror. As always, she was learning more from her gramma than she had bargained for, and she loved every minute of teaching, which was better than being in a classroom. Then again, nothing was better than being with Gramma.

“The Star of Bethlehem was a sign from God. For thousands of years, God knew he was going to send the star to lead those good men to the place where Baby Jesus lay in the manger. But King Herod had an evil heart, and he had his own wise men who told him the same thing the strangers from the East were proving: that a new king of Israel had been born who would one day take Herod’s place on the throne. They were astrologers just like your Mama G. They studied the stars and the movement of the planets, and this gave them special knowledge about what was happening—and what was going to happen—in the world.

“Well, Herod wanted to use this information for his own purposes and to do harm to the little child. In fact, he killed a whole bunch of young boys so that he could eliminate the threat to his kingship. That didn’t work, as we all know now. Do you remember why it didn’t work, child?”

“Yes! An angel told Joseph to flee to Egypt with Mary and the baby,” Ruby announced.

“How right you are. An angel. Another sign from God Almighty to a man on Earth. See, God doesn’t do just one thing or just another thing. He works in many ways—many of them mysterious—to communicate with us, to teach us good things and warn us about bad things.”

“Why did Joseph believe the angel? A lot of people today don’t believe in angels.”

“Child, where do you get your wisdom from? I suppose your mother passed it down to you. She always was a wise little thing. Well, anyway, people don’t believe in angels anymore because they’ve been taught wrong—or they haven’t been taught properly how to believe in God. He is mighty and mysterious. He has many powers. After all, He created the Heavens and the Earth and all the creatures of the earth. That means you and me, too. And he could—if he wanted to—make all of us do just what he wanted us to do. But instead, he gave us free will. That means we can do pretty much whatever we want to. Even if we want to go against his ways and team up with the devil to do bad things. Well, now, I’m getting off track.…”

Ruby did not want to dissuade her grandmother, Mama Greenidge, from going down any track she chose to travel. It was all fascinating for the child. She hung on every word.

“What my point is, is that every bit of knowledge, every God-given science for understanding his beautiful universe, can be put to good purposes—to help people and to make their lives and their families’ lives better. That’s what I’ve tried to do for these past fifty years or so, and maybe I succeeded a little bit at it.

“But by the same token, anyone can turn all that good into bad in a pure second. All the knowledge about the sun signs and the moon signs and all the planets—that can be turned to wrong purposes and make something that is good into something that is evil.”

“I understand what you are saying, Gramma, but I don’t know why anybody would want to do that.”

“Why did Adam and Eve partake of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge?”

The little girl shrugged, realizing that the question was rhetorical. She did not want her to stop. Gramma was on a roll.

“Because they wanted to
know
more and to
be
more. They wanted to be like God, or like little gods. That is the root of all evil—not accepting Jehovah’s role as our father and friend. They thought they knew better, just as we do today. It’s the same story repeating itself, over and over again. We human beings don’t seem to learn very much from our past—or to pay attention to the signs God sends to us. We’re too busy trying to figure things out on our own. Now, don’t let me discourage you, child, from seeking knowledge and asking questions and trying to figure things out. That’s not what I mean. I just want you to know that God is standing by your side with all the answers you could ever want—to questions you will never live long enough to ask. If only you will seek to know what His will is for you as you go along your way, on your journey.”