In Rebellion (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book II) (33 page)

Chapter 47

IN HARM’S WAY

Jarahmael was relieved for a moment, now that Luciferael had to break off his attack. He watched as Luciferael flew to the gateway, distracted by the need to hold his own rebel army together. Jarahmael’s plan was working. Luciferael and
the bulk of
his legions were trapped between the Sixth and Seventh Heavens. Michael and the other loyal Archangels' legions had survived and were attacking from below him, while he and Cerebriel were here, attacking his rebel Angels from above.
Only a small group of Luciferael’s rebel force had penetrated the Seventh Heaven and w
ith the bottleneck of the gateway between the Sixth and Seventh Heaven choking off the mobility of his rebel legions,
their foothold into the Seventh Heaven was fragile.
Luciferael struggled as he regrouped and tried to reorganize his legions in an effective defensive position.

But Jarahmael knew that Luciferael and the Archangels of his Auxilium were still very dangerous. As Jarahmael regained his strength, he watched Luciferael assemble a small group of Potentate Angels around him just outside the
entrance to
the Seventh Heaven. Salmac,
T
aap and four other Potentates came up from below and moved closer to Luciferael and his horn. Soon the cruelest-looking rebel Cherubim Angels assembled themselves into a tight formation around all of them,
and spearheaded their way into the Seventh Heaven. They stepped to the sides and a bit behind
leaving
an opening
in front for Luciferael to use to lead
them forward
. All of them now were faced in the direction of the Throne Room. They began to move slowly towards the Throne Room, despite the loyal Angels’ attempts to block Luciferael's path. Simultaneously, other loyal Angels from Jarahmael’s legion attacked Luciferael's formation from the sides, trying to break it apart.

None of the efforts of the loyal Angels were stopping Luciferael's movements forward and deeper into the Seventh Heaven. The rebel Angels in this formation were the best of Luciferael’s legions, battle-tested and determined to carry out his purpose to get back into the Throne Room.

Dubriel was equally determined and landed with a group of his Cherubim Angels, placing themselves between Luciferael and the Throne Room. But before Dubriel and the loyal Angels could attack the formation of rebel Angels, Luciferael
stepped forward to protect his own rebels as he
gave off an amplified blast of sound from the horn that hung around his neck
aimed directly at Dubriel.
The Potentates’ energy magnified
and directed
Luciferael's horn's sound waves to the extent that the blast knocked back Dubriel and his Cherubim, clearing a path to the Throne Room.

Jarahmael was moving along the ground of the Seventh Heaven to join Dubriel, but the blast of the horn stunned Jarahmael too,
who was on the fringes of the aimed sound waves,
knocking him down to the ground. Most of the loyal Angels in the Seventh Heaven
who were in the targeted area in front of Luciferael’s amplified horn
were all dazed and harmed from the blast. Not able to stand again immediately after the blast, Jarahmael watched as Luciferael's other Archangels stormed up from the fighting below and joined the ranks of his protector
Cherubim
as they approached the entrance doors into the Throne Room.
Luciferael’s blasts through his horn were well aimed and did not affect anyone who was behind him, so this strategy allowed his own rebel angels to follow him and reinforce his approach.
Still lying stunned on the cloud-like ground of the Seventh Heaven, the effects of the blast made Jarahmael want to stop fighting, and he would have, save for a voice that came into his mind that told him he needed to get up again and fight; this was not the time to give up.

Nothing seemed to be able to stop Luciferael when he used the horn amplified by the Potentate Angels, Jarahmael thought. He realized this was the method he had used to break through the bottleneck between the Fourth and Third Heavens. A powerful combination.

Jarahmael and some of the other loyal Angels had known of Luciferael’s new use of these horns but none had the time or opportunity to develop any technique against them. Quite understandable as the loyals did not even their own access to these weapons for most of the rebellion.

But Jarahmael was determined not to give up and neither were Dubriel and his loyal Cherubim. Despite being stunned, they regrouped. Dubriel attempted again to block Luciferael from gaining entrance into the Throne Room, but another set of blasts by Luciferael's horns just drove him and his loyal Cherubim further backwards. Despite their valor, Dubriel and his remaining loyal Cherubim were unable to block Luciferael and his rebel Angels from the Throne Room. Nor would they be able to survive many more of the blasts.

Jarahmael realized that he had to do something and quickly, in order to keep Luciferael away from the Throne itself. Gathering himself together after the latest blast, Jarahmael took flight to see what, if any, other reinforcements were available. As he flew past the gateway into the Sixth Heaven, he glanced back down to see how things were going on that level. The fighting continued there with Luciferael's forces entangled in a warrior's dance with Michael's forces, fighting and tumbling in the upper region of the Sixth Heaven. Cerebriel's loyal Cherubim were still fighting to slow down any additional troops of the rebel forces as they moved upwards through the gateway into the Seventh Heaven to support Luciferael's attack. Cerebriel’s and Jarahmael's columns would soon be outnumbered by Luciferael's legions as they would be in the Seventh Heaven fighting Jarahmael’s smaller force while Michael’s larger force of loyal Angels would still be stuck in the lower Sixth Heaven. If the rebel Angels succeeded in taking over the Seventh Heaven, there would be no escape for Jarahmael and Cerebriel, who would then be the ones trapped.

As Luciferael moved ever closer to the Throne Room, he kept the horn handy so he could
aim it and
use it again to strike down any and all of the loyal Angels in his path. Jarahmael decided that he would have to battle Luciferael inside the Throne Room and headed directly towards its center. He would then be in position in the Throne Room to block Luciferael from the Throne itself and hope by some miracle that he could defeat Luciferael before he discovered the power available to him by taking over the Throne itself. He knew that Luciferael was going after the Book of Creation, thinking that he needed them to gain the powers of the Almighty, and that it would take a few moments for Luciferael to realize th
at the Book of Creation was
merely
a
substituted fake. It would take a while longer for Luciferael
to discover
that the Throne had its own inherent power, but it would not be too long before he realized that the loyal Angels would not be able to defeat him once he was upon the Throne. Then it was only a matter of time before Luciferael gained full control over the Universe.

Jarahmael landed on the edge of the skylight and looked down into the Throne Room where he could see the Throne itself. For a moment he thought of taking over and sitting on the Throne himself; he would, after all, use the immense power only for good. He had a quick vision of what had happened to Luciferael from the first day of creation until now, and realized that the same twisted ambition could overcome him as well. Besides, Jarahmael’s loyalty was to the Almighty and he had not seen enough in the Book of Creation to determine how
exercising that level of power could affect an Archangel or
would affect the Almighty Himself.

Having made his decision, Jarahmael dropped down through the skylight and positioned himself off to the right side of the Throne, concealing himself behind some pillars. He did not want to be seen by Luciferael or any other rebel Angel. He would be vastly outnumbered and still needed the element of surprise.

It was not long before Luciferael and his rebel Archangels entered the Throne Room. The other members of Luciferael's lead legions turned and faced the doors protecting the entranceway into the Throne Room. This way they could protect the rear of Luciferael’s formation, and protect their seizure of the Throne Room. Luciferael remained on foot and walked towards the Throne itself. The six Potentates, Beelzebael and Mephistophael accompanied him, while Mammonael remained behind with the other rebel Cherubim to supervise the defense of the entranceway.

The chances of the loyal Angels preventing Luciferael from taking over the Throne and the Heavens diminished with every step Luciferael took, Jarahmael thought to himself
. I will have to fight at least three Archangels and I don't have any idea of what to do with the Potentates.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble at the entranceway to the Throne Room, followed by the doors being thrust inwards. Loyal Cherubim were battling their way into the Throne Room. Jarahmael watched as Luciferael spun around with his connection to the Potentates reestablished. But Luciferael did not have a clean line of fire to send the sound blast down the Throne Room, not without hitting a good portion of his own Angels.

Luciferael then said something to Beelzebael and Mephistophael that Jarahmael could not hear. The two Archangels immediately took off flying back to the entranceway, and started fighting as soon as they landed there. Luciferael then turned and came towards the Throne again, his Potentate Angels still alongside of him.

Jarahmael then saw his brother, Michael the Archangel, and some of his legion by the doors leading into the Throne Room in pursuit of Luciferael and his contingent of rebel Angels. Michael had finally broken through Luciferael’s main legions and was now trying to get through one of the opened doors at the far end of the Throne Room, in pursuit of Luciferael and his small group.

Beelzebael and Mephistophael then took to the air flying upwards and out the entranceway into the Throne Room, with the majority of rebel Angels following the two of them.

Michael's legions continued entering into the Throne Room, determined to protect the Throne. Luciferael slowly faced the loyal Angels’ legions coming at him, now without the protection of his own legions. Michael led the charge, his sword out, ready to battle Luciferael on his own.

From his vantage point, Jarahmael could see that Luciferael was smiling broadly at Michael as he continued to charge against the golden-tipped Angel. Then Jarahmael saw the electrical charge between Luciferael and the Potentates grow bright, and then Luciferael brought the horn back to his lips. The sound blasted yet again before Jarahmael could do anything to stop it, this time aimed at the rear of the Throne Room, and at Michael and his legions. The blast knocked Michael and his group of loyal Angels clear out the door of the Throne Room. Once there on the ground and stunned, they were attacked from above by Beelzebael, Mephistophael, and the rebel Angels who had just fled left the Throne Room moments before.

It was clear to Jarahmael that Luciferael was toying with the loyal Angels under Michael and enjoyed keeping them at bay. Luciferael was not concerned about losing the war, he had already won it. Twice. He stood there unopposed, near the Almighty’s Throne in the Throne Room of the highest Heaven, surrounded and supported by six powerful Potentate Angels. Michael and his legions could not dislodge him. It was only a matter of time before Luciferael figured out that he could control the whole Universe by seating himself upon the Throne.
It would become obvious that no one would be able to dislodge him from the seat and that any command or spell issued from the Throne would become law in the Universe.
Even without the Almighty's Books, it would be impossible to dislodge Luciferael and his Archangels from here. And with the power of the Potentates under his control within that sacred space,
no one knew what other powers Luciferael would be able to exploit.

There was only one hope. Jarahmael had to break the bond between Luciferael and the six Potentates. Jarahmael decided it was time to attack Luciferael, because if he could get Luciferael to use the Potentates again to fend off his attack, there would be a short time where the Potentates had to rebuild their power after they discharged their electrical energy. During that brief time Luciferael would be vulnerable. And at the moment, Luciferael did not have the rest of his Cherubim guards available, his Auxilium and the rest of Luciferael's legion was occupied outside the Throne Room, near its entrance where the loyal legions had been thrown.