In Rebellion (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book II) (11 page)
Read In Rebellion (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book II) Online
Authors: John J. Higgins
Chapter 14
As the sun was waning in the sky behind him, Michael stood before the assembled Angels on the
Aegyptian
plains and began to speak.
“My fellow Angels, something terrible has happened in the Heavens above us. A rebel army composed of legions of our brethren have formed together to take over our home. We are still not sure of everything that has happened, but we do know that legions of these rebel Angels have been led by the Archangel Beelzebael. They have assembled and emerged out of the Fifth Heaven, armed with the weapons we had used to destroy the dinosaurs. They have been battling through the Fourth Heaven, home of the Dominion Angels. The loyal Dominions are trying to hold the rebel Angels back, but they are far outnumbered and have no weapons. I understand that the Principalities have prepared defenses in the skies of their Heaven to prevent the rebel horde from getting into and through their Third Heaven. They do not have any weapons either but we all know they are particularly skilled in building structures. I anticipate that this may not stop Beelzebael and his companions, but it should slow them down.
“You have been assembled at my request. I intend to lead you back up into the Heavens to reinforce the Principalities in their Third Heaven and attack and drive the rebels back into the Fourth Heaven. We do not have the weapons that the rebel Angels have, but we do have the tools we have been using here on Earth. The laser cutters will be the most handy, as they should be able to disrupt the bodies of the rebel Angels long enough to incapacitate and disarm them
, wound them and possibly destroy them
. The other stone forming and cutting tools, although more primitive, should be something of a defense against the swords and spears of our enemy.
“This is much to ask of you. I have not been able to discuss this with the Almighty. With these circumstances we cannot even access the Seventh Heaven. But I am willing to take it on my own authority and responsibility to battle these rebel Angels back while we still can.
“I know the hour is late and darkness is descending upon us. None of us have ever spent the night outside of our Heavens or our homes since the Almighty created this Universe. I recommend that we make the most of it, find a place to rest near where you are assembled and we shall begin the battle in the morning.
“Are you with me?” Michael called out.
“Yes, our
l
ord Michael!” they all sang back to him.
“All praises to the Almighty!” he called out to them.
“All praises to the Almighty!” they all responded. The Angels soon began singing as they found places to rest for the night.
Michael moved back to the pyramid and rested along the wall. It had been a long day with too much uncertainty. He saw some lights flicker across the sky as the dark curtain of night was replacing the grey veil of dusk. The four spots grew brighter as they approached and he recognized the shapes as brother Archangels.
Raziel had found Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel and they were finally coming here. Michael's energy returned as he saw them land and approach him.
“Greetings
lord
Michael!” said Gabriel. “
Lord
Raziel has told us that an army of Angels has formed in the Fifth Heaven and overtaken their Hall of the Virtues.”
“Yes, this is shocking!” said Raphael.
“Have you any more news?” Uriel asked Michael.
“Yes, Volac of the Order of the Dominions was able to escape to here. Legions led by Beelzebael were overrunning the Fourth Heaven, Volac’s home. He also reports that the Principalities were putting up defenses at the entrance into the Third Heaven in order to keep Beelzebael and his legions from advancing,” Michael answered Uriel.
Michael continued, “Beelzebael's army is
larger than any of the remnants
of loyal Angels
left in any one of the Heavens in my estimation. I have been organizing an army here to take Beelzebael on tomorrow. I am concerned because the rebel Angels are all armed from the arsenal that was held by the Cherubim in the Sixth Heaven and we do not have any of those weapons. Nor will we be able to get to the Sixth Heaven without going through the rebel army and any defense they have in place in the Fifth and Sixth Heavens.”
Looking around, Michael leaned in so only the other Archangels could hear. “I also have a major concern that the rebel army is at least twice the size of what we have thought. That means Luciferael may have split the rebel army and is using the other half to secure the Heavens above him. He may have in mind replacing the Almighty Himself and substituting himself onto the Throne.”
“That would be terrible,” said Gabriel. “We would never be able to tolerate him if he gained that much power. His sense of himself is already much too huge and hard to bear.”
“And we have seen the type of things he creates. Those monstrosities the dinosaurs, and then also the reptiles. All of them were trouble!” said Uriel.
“Yes, we had to rid the Earth of those dinosaurs so the Almighty could make the Earth safe for any other creature. Just to update you,
lord
Michael, once
lord
Raziel found us and told us what was occurring, we spent the rest of the day gathering the Simians and placing them in caves and other sheltered areas in case the rebel Angel army breaks through and is intent on destroying them. Were you able to find Adam and Eve?” Uriel asked.
“Yes. The two Humans are
inside on
e of the chambers of the pyramid behind me.
Lord
Cerebriel and I found them back in one of the caves not far from here,
we
p
laced them into unconscious trances,
and moved them here
for their safety
. It’s best to keep them this way until the danger passes. They would most likely be the first to be destroyed if Beelzebael's legions break through,” said Michael.
“What about Lillith? Isn't she still with
lord
Jarahmael?” Raziel asked, concerned for his friend. “
Lord
Jarahmael left to go talk to the Almighty and make sure she was safe in his mansion in the Seventh Heaven, have you heard from him?”
“No,” said Michael. “The only one from the occupied Heavens that I have heard was from the Dominion Angel Volac, who said he saw
lord
Jarahmael armed and traveling in the second wave of Beelzebael's army. I am not sure what that means, whether
lord
Jarahmael was cut-off from getting up to the Seventh Heaven, whether he did get there and spoke with the Almighty, whether the army was actually His Divine will, or even if
lord
Jarahmael has just changed sides. My bigger and more immediate concern is being able to get weapons. We don't have any real weapons down here on Earth and I don't see any way we can get to the Sixth Heaven where the Cherubim have the weapons stored. I have had the Angels working on the pyramids collect their stone cutting tools as potential weapons. The only things that may be of real help would be the laser lights that the Angels have been using to cut the stones for the pyramids.”
“Didn’t the Cherubim make the first weapons, the ones that are stored in Cherubim’s Sixth Heaven?” asked Uriel.
“Yes, they did. But it took time and means that we don’t have here on Earth. So for now the tools that we have will have to suffice. I am hoping that we can stop the rebel Angel army up in the Third Heaven where the Principalities are, but we had best prepare for the worst here on Earth,” Michael answered and then continued, “In the morning I think we need to secure the Second Heaven on our way up to the Third Heaven. Hopefully the Principalities' defenses will hold long enough for us to get more Angels up to fight before Beelzebael can break through.”
“Where is
lord
Cerebriel?” asked Raziel, seeing that he was not there with Michael.
“He is traveling to the pyramids and organizing the groups of Angels assigned to each of the pyramid sites located around the Earth. I wanted to be sure that our Angels weren't returning back to their Heavens as is customary at the end of the day, thinking that it was all safe
, and ending up captives.
We will need all the Angels we can get.
Lord
Cerebriel is working on organizing those Angels into legions before he returns
here
with them. Then we will have our own proper army, one loyal to the Almighty,” Michael answered.
As Michael finished talking, he began to look tired. “We have all had a long day. The day started out far from what any of us imagined. We should all get some rest. Tomorrow is another day and I am afraid it may be even longer than today.” The four Archangels agreed, turned and walked into the pyramid. Each found a place to rest, each and every one of them more exhausted than they had ever been before.
Chapter 15
Beelzebael decided to keep fighting all night and kept sending in Cherubim fighters. None could break through the defenses
constructed by the Dominions at their lower gateway
. Each warrior sent in would fall back an hour or so later exhausted from fighting and failing to break through. The
narrow channel built by the
loyal Dominions had
tall walls composed of solidified golden cloud material
that
c
ould not be cut or crushed by the swords, hammers, spears, or sound-producing devices. W
eapons t
hat worked well on Earth when the
Angels
were destroying the dinosaurs
were
not working so well up in the Heavens. Beelzebael grew frustrated that he could not succeed in breaking through and went to get some sleep, so that he would be rested in anticipation of moving through the rest of the Heavens the following day.
When the dawn finally began to break, Beelzebael arose and received a status report that his legions were still stuck and not able to get past the Dominions’ defenses and into the Third Heaven. Even though he had not succeeded in breaking through yet, he
was not so upset about it, as it gave him an opportunity to
test the loyalty of the Archangel Jarahmael to their cause
. If Jarahmael did not fight the rebel Angels would constrain him as a prisoner. But if he did fight and succeeded, they would have the benefit of breaking through the loyal Angels' defenses. If something did happen to Jarahmael, so be it, one less thing to worry about. Smiling at the thought,
Beelzebael dispatched one of the nearby rebel Guardian Angels to wake Jarahmael and bring him to the battlefront.
Jarahmael was already up. He had been thinking about how best to deal with Beelzebael and Suriel. Fighting the two of them right now was not the answer; even if he succeeded beating them, he would still be entrapped in a legion of rebel Angels. Beelzebael was still unable to break through into the Third Heaven and wanted him to take care of it. This gave him the opportunity to find a means to escape Beelzebael’s legion and Suriel’s watchful gaze. He could then get back up to the Seventh Heaven and protect Lillith, but hoped that he would not have to harm any of the loyal Angels in escaping. If he failed to escape now, he may never be able to, as Suriel never let him out of his sight, and had checked on him repeatedly as he slept during the night.
Jarahmael viewed being summoned to the bottleneck area as a relief, because now at least he had a chance to get free. Suriel still kept a watchful eye on him, as the two Angels flew in tandem. They landed close together before Beelzebael, a few feet from the entrance to the solidified walls and channel.
“So this is it,” said Jarahmael. He took his hand and rubbed it along the cloud-like but rock-hard wall. “Impressive that the Dominions and Principalities were able to construct this all so quickly,” Jarahmael said to the other two Archangels.
“Yes,” responded Beelzebael. “I have had Cherubim Angels attacking all night, seems no matter what I do, the Cherubim can't break through. You said yesterday that you were quite capable of doing so, so now let's see how well you can do!”
“Certainly,” Jarahmael responded. “Wait for me here.” He reached back and pulled the spear out from between his wings and walked forward. The walls were tall on either side of him, and he knew by touching them that the Dominions had been able to slow down the movement of the molecules in the walls on either side of him. The walls were only shoulder length apart, too close for him to be able to use his wings to fly up and out of it. And the channel he was in made a 90 degree turn, went straight, turned left and then right. The further he went in, the more it was like a maze that kept an attacker confined and heading exactly where the defenders wanted them. He could hear some murmuring in front of him so he knew that in a turn or two he would be face to face with the loyal Dominions.
If he tried to communicate with the loyal Angels at this point, and explain that he was really a loyal Archangel and not a rebel, it would slow him down, as they would never believe him. And he couldn't be sure that Beelzebael would hold back the rebel Angels, they could be right behind him, listening to anything he said. Even if he was able to convince the loyal Angels he was not an enemy, if rebel Angels were following behind him, they could break through, and Beelzebael would succeed anyway.
The only answer he could think of was to try to get up and out of these walls so he would be able to fly, and once airborne he could fly away from the fighting here and back to his primary purpose of getting back to the Seventh Heaven.
He made another two turns. Good! There were no loyal Angels along the sides along this stretch of the walled structure. Jarahmael was in quite a distance in the narrow walled channel. Far enough that if he got free, Beelzebael and the other rebel Angels would be unable to see him fly off to the side and escape.
He thought about taking off his tunic and cutting it with the light swords and leaving it on the ground to make it look like he been in a terrible fight and got the worst of it. But as soon as he started to take the tunic off, the Crystal Prism that he had secreted in one of the deeper folds fell out. The other weapons would hang on him by straps but he would have to carry this prism in his hands. He was afraid if he was confronted before he could find another tunic, this weapon could fall into the rebel Angel army's hands. Leaving the spear
by itself
would have to do.
Then, taking a running start, he ran with the spear extended, took the point and steered it into the ground and used the spear to propel himself up and out of the defense structure, being careful not to fly forward so he could be seen by the defending Dominion Angels and not high enough so he could be seen by the rebel Angels behind him.
Once free, he could use his wings once again. He flew very low to the structure and then
along
the ground of the Fourth Heaven as he turned and headed away from the battleground. That should keep them confused for a while! They wouldn't be sure whether he was battling it out as he had said he would. They would wait for some time before sending in more rebel Cherubim. And when they finally did, and found only his spear and nothing else they will most likely believe that he had perished there. Beelzebael may be disappointed that Jarahmael failed to break through the defenses, but would be delighted that he had perished. Nothing like giving someone exactly what they wished for, he chuckled to himself. Jarahmael knew that would give him some time and anonymity when traveling through the Heavens.
Only
Luciferael
himself knew
that he should be in the army headed by Beelzebael. Now it was just time to put more and more distance between himself and the rebel army of Angels.
Looking behind, he did not see any of the rebel Angels following him, neither Suriel nor Beelzebael nor any of the lesser Orders of Angel legions. Feeling his back though, he did want to replace the spear as one could come in handy again. Flying low along the eastern side of the Fourth Heaven, he circled around and approached the tail end of the rebel legions waiting to advance through the Fourth Heaven into the Third Heaven. All of the rebel Angels were facing in that direction and away from him. He smiled as he scanned the area for another spear. He noticed that there were a few spears that had been stacked against one of the clouds as the rebel Angels waited for the bottleneck to be broken. Slipping in silently, he grabbed one and slid it down along his back between his wings where the last one had been hidden.
Now feeling complete again, it was time to maneuver himself back up into the Fifth Heaven. All of the rebel Angels assigned to follow Beelzebael had already entered the Fourth Heaven, so the way was clear. The rebel army's confidence was extremely high and they felt no reason to leave any guards at the entranceways between the Fifth and Fourth Heavens. This made it easy for Jarahmael to go right through the gateway into the Fifth Heaven once again.