In Exile (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book III) (20 page)
Read In Exile (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book III) Online
Authors: John J Higgins
A VICTORY
Michael and the loyal Angels had never expected open conflict with Luciferael’s rebels again. This had been Michael’s first battle without Jarahmael, although it was not really a victory save for the Rebel Angels disappearance. Michael clung to the idea that by making the rebel Angels disappear from the battlefield, he had defeated them. He hoped that by repeating his claim of victory, the other Angels would also believe that he was as good a warrior leader as Jarahmael. Michael was insecure about his leadership skills but with his constant repeating that it was a victory he began to feel more confident about his fighting ability. Eventually he became convinced that he could hold his own without Jarahmael’s assistance if Luciferael ever attempted to take over the Heavens again.
The next day at the morning ceremony, Michael led the procession and conducted the ceremony by himself, as the Almighty was off again in another Universe with his Seraphim and Throne Angels.
“Good morning all!” Michael said as he took the seat on the Throne itself. “I want to thank all of you for your efforts yesterday. It was a glorious day for us, all the Angels loyal to the Almighty!
“You should all congratulate yourselves for a job well done! I also want to especially thank those Angels who were wounded in the battle. Their sacrifice made our victory possible,” Michael said as he swept his hand toward one of the upper side rows of Angels, acknowledging the wounded Angels who were assembled there.
“With my leadership and your efforts, we can rest assured that Luciferael and his rebel Angels will never attack us like that again. In my humble opinion, yesterday’s battle and our victory were greater than all of the battles in the War of the Rebellion combined. Let us give thanks to the Almighty!”
Michael then lowered his head in prayer, watching though to see that all of the remaining Angels followed his lead.
Cerebriel lowered his head but thought to himself,
That was no victory! We were devastated by Luciferael’s new tactical configuration for his legions. Had it not been for the rebels’ unexplained disappearance from the battle field, we would have most likely been defeated and the Heavens would have been at risk for a second rebellion by Luciferael and his rebels.
And now for Michael to announce that this battle’s questionable outcome was greater than all of the successes in the War of the Rebellion; it was simply outrageous.
But Cerebriel held his tongue and then just considered things in his own mind. Jarahmael would have followed up on the rebel Angels’ attack to make sure that they had in fact retreated, and the rebels would be unable to attack again. He also would have checked on the Humans to make sure that nothing had happened to them as part of Luciferael’s planned attack.
Cerebriel decided it was best to deal with the question about the Humans by asking Michael what his plans were regarding them.
“When do we check up on the Humans again, my lord Michael?”
“We don’t,” Michael responded. “That will be the next assignment for you and Raphael. You are to make sure that the Humans are safe, without violating the non-interference commandment. Both of you understand that, don’t you?”
The Archangel and the Cherubim nodded their heads in agreement.
“What do we do if we find the offspring of Jarahmael, the Half-Human and Half-Angel child, my lord?” Raphael asked.
“Leave him remain to grow up on the Earth. The Heavens are not ready for any sort of hybrid and it remains to be seen how the boy reacts to the Human part of his life. It is Jarahmael I want. He knows where the Almighty’s Books are hidden; bring him to me immediately after you find him!”
“What about the two Human boys of Adam and Eve? They are innocents as well,” Cerebriel asked.
“Likewise, they remain where they are, Cerebriel,” Michael answered, growing impatient with this line of discussion. “Unless you can prove that Luciferael has found a way to directly interfere with them, you need to let them make their own mistakes and then learn from them.”
The morning ceremony ended not long after that.
Cerebriel said to Raphael, “Come, let’s go. We shall bring along a squadron of my loyal Cherubim to make sure we do not run into any disturbances initiated by Luciferael. He was certainly up to something yesterday, and I want to find out what it was!”
AWAKENING FROM A TRANCE
Lillith awoke when her trance had worn off, despite the efforts and wishful thinking of Luciferael and Beelzebael. She saw that she was back in the Underworld. She vaguely remembered being recaptured by Beelzebael and the rebel Angels in the home she shared with Jarahmael and her son Enoch. She had a spotty memory of coming out of her cave in a beam of light, and not much of the return trip to the Underworld. She looked around further and noticed that she was in a familiar place. She recognized it as a room in Luciferael’s Palace deep in the Seventh Pit. As she came to her senses, she knew that she did not want to be here, she wanted to be back on the surface of the Earth with her beloved Jarahmael and son Enoch.
She recalled being here before many years before, but the palace had become much more elaborate than it was in the beginning days shortly after the defeat of Luciferael’s rebel forces. Typical of Luciferael, there were many mirrors around the room and she noticed that she had her wings again. That must have been how she got here: she must have flown herself, even if it had been in a trance. If she could fly herself in, then she must be able to fly herself out. Looking around the room, she saw that there were no rebel Angel guards around her. She had been left alone.
As she stood up she felt weak. She must have been here for a few days in the trance and had not eaten any of the fruit from the Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden. She always had some of the ever-growing plant around her in her home on the Earth. Fortunately, she remembered leaving some of the plant in Luciferael’s palace when she had been here many years before. She hoped that Luciferael or the rebel Angels would not have disposed of the plant after she had escaped.
Remembering vaguely the layout of Luciferael’s mansion from her previous days spent here, she walked on the tips of her talons very softly to minimize any scraping sound the claws would make on the stone floor. She made her way out of the room and down the hallway, where the entrance to the palace used to be located. There seemed to be quite a few more rooms than she remembered. She had been kept in the third room from the main assembly room that Luciferael had in his mansion, near a portrait that he had painted of himself descending in the Throne Room of the Seventh Heaven. Hearing a couple of the rebel Angels talking and moving towards her, she ducked into one of the side rooms and waited for them to pass by. Because Luciferael had added more rooms since she was here last, it took her ducking in and out an additional five rooms before she found the plant. It had since grown larger, and now filled a corner of the room and was tree-sized, no longer a small limb. Fruit was hanging off the Tree similar to the one in the Garden of Eden, and the Tree that had grown in the back of the cave she shared with Jarahmael. She ate a few pieces and her strength returned. She stored a few more pieces in her tunic and then peered back into the hallway to see if any other Angels were walking about.
With the hallway clear, she continued to the entranceway of the palace and being tired of walking awkwardly on her talons she used her wings and began to fly, heading upwards and out of the Seventh Pit of Hell. She remembered it was the deepest level and that Luciferael was making it the most secure years ago. At the time she was pregnant with Enoch and all she wanted was to have access to the surface. Of course, that did not work out well for Luciferael because her beloved Jarahmael was able to find her and steal her away. And now, despite all her hopes that Luciferael and the rest of the rebel Angels had forgotten about her and Jarahmael, here she was once again.
She decided to fly slowly up along the circular walls that surrounded the main open channel that went up through all of the Seven Pits of Hell. She did not have to stroke her wings much, the thermal heat from the lowest pit moved the air upwards, and she floated up by just keeping her wings rigid and outstretched. Upwards she travelled and stayed in the shadows as much as possible. She passed safely and unseen out of the Seventh Pit and the Sixth Pit of Hell. Steadily she ascended and was almost out of the Fifth Pit of Hell when one of Beelzebael’s Angels recognized her, as he was one of the guards who escorted her back to Hell along with Beelzebael a few days before.
Sounding the alarm, the guard flew after her, and she began to fly fast and furiously, heading straight up, her speed assisted by the thermals. But she was no match for the more skilled and practiced guards of Hell, and they soon recaptured her and brought her back down to the main assembly room in the Pandemonium Palace in the center of the Seventh Pit.
A SCRIBE IS BORN
Adam and Eve woke up the morning after the Battle of the Angels, as they would call it, with the three children asleep behind them in the corner. Adam awoke and immediately grabbed his staff, he wanted to be ready in case there were any further attacks by the Angels. So far no Angel or Human had come looking for those three Angels he had destroyed with his staff the day before.
They wanted to pray to the Almighty for Jarahmael’s safe return, but restrained themselves as he had explained to them that all of the Angels in the Heavens above and the Underworld below could listen to their prayers. The last thing they wanted to do was cause more problems for their friend Jarahmael.
Adam walked out and looked over the landscape in front of their cave. He had never seen as many Angels in flight as he had the day before. Nor could he ever have imagined that they would actually fight one another. The world seemed so different to him after he and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. But yet, he wanted his sons to feel safe in this new world and have happy lives. He thought that Jarahmael’s son, too, should have a nice life, although Adam felt sorry for the child with his deformity. Enoch did have growths on his back for Angel’s wings, but at this age they were not developed to be of any use, and for all Adam knew they may never grow into something useful.
Adam watched as Eve woke the boys up from their sleep. All three of them were ready to go and play; eating in the morning seemed to be of little importance to them.
Eve looked over at Adam and asked, “Do you think we should let the boys go outside and play?”
Adam looked at her and answered, “Yes, I think it will be safe today. All of the Angels have disappeared and none seem to be flying about. What ever happened yesterday seems to be over. Besides, I will go with them and watch over them with my staff at the ready!”
“That sounds good. I am sure they could use the exercise and they can burn off some of their energy.”
The three boys were moving forward towards the front of the cave, until Adam reached out his arms out and herded them back in. “Let’s eat first,” he said to them as he shuffled them back into the cave. “We will go out as soon as you are done eating.”
A while later, the four of them left the cave bound for the fields off to the right. In a short time, Abel was back herding some wild sheep that Jarahmael and Adam had helped the boy collect. The animals became attached to Abel, because he had begun to feed them after their capture and gave them a lot of attention, so they became dependent upon him for their food and attached to him for his kindnesses. Abel clearly had a natural ability to bond with the animals, so no fences were needed.
Cain went to where his plants were as he on the other hand, loved to play in the dirt. He would dig in it, play in it, found plants and planted their seeds in it and watered them just as Jarahmael had shown Adam and then Adam in turn had shown Cain. Cain had a special affinity for the Earth itself, as his father and mother had been made directly from it and he was their oldest offspring.
Enoch, for his part, was more serious but would still help each of the brothers with tasks involved with either herding the sheep or with planting in the ground. But today once he was done helping the two other boys, Adam noticed that the boy did something strange. Adam witnessed this activity as he watched Enoch walk over to a dead tree and peel off some of the bark, rolling the underside of it flat. He then grabbed a soft rock and began making marks on the flattened bark.
“What are you doing?” Adam asked Enoch.
“I am writing,” the boy answered.
“What does that mean? Writing?” Adam asked further.
“It’s a way of storing what one sees or feels or thinks,” answered Enoch.
“What memories are you storing?”
“Memories from yesterday,” Enoch responded. “The Battle of the Angels and my father taking off from me, leaving me here,” he said with some tears rolling down his cheeks.
“Are you afraid?” asked Adam.
“Yes, of course I am. I saw those Angels in action, they can harm people and things that I care about.”
“Neither your father or I will let anything happen to you, Enoch.”
“I don’t think either one of you can promise me that either. From what I see, neither of you may be able to protect even yourselves. Will you take care of me if my father does not return to get me?” Enoch asked.
“Yes, I promised him and now I promise you, I will do all within my power to protect you. If Jarahmael does not return, I want you to think of yourself as my son, just as much as Cain and Abel do. Does that make you feel better?”
“Yes, it does,” Enoch answered and walked over and gave Adam a hug. “Can we go search for my father?” Enoch asked.
“No, better wait for him to return to us, Enoch.”
“But what if he needs our help?” Enoch asked, worry in his voice.
“Your father, Enoch, is a warrior Archangel. He can take care of himself. If he needs our help, I am sure he knows how to ask either the Almighty or us for it. Now let’s get back and see what my other two sons are doing.”