Incarnation: Wandering Stars Volume One (29 page)

Fear seized his heart and he felt his body shudder, then convulse uncontrollably.  The convulsio
ns sent him to the transparent
floor where he landed hard on his knees.  Collapsing from the terror in his spirit, he fell forward onto his face, but the motion seemed to carry him through the floor
in a disorienting tumble
until he found himself
on his hands and knees
in
a different place.

Lifting his head
slowly
, he
now
saw
the entrance to a
second structure
that
was greater even than the first, both i
n
immensity and splendor. 
T
he floor and ceiling and walls
—if they could be called such, for they seemed as distant as the horizons and sky—danced
with flame, but were not consumed by it. 
Through the
pervasive
terror
,
Enoch marveled, and wondered how it was possible for someone to craft such a thing out of fire.
 
T
hrough the entrance, at the center of the building,
he could see there
stood a throne of
the most
brilliant
blue colors he’d ever seen.  Nothing on earth could even compare to it.  It
hover
ed
above the ground
.  Its cool light rival
ed
the intensity of the surrounding flame
s
.  Beneath the throne were living creatures that burned with the light of the sun.  Shaped as
circles
standing on end, they were covered with eyes and spinning
in all directions
so that
they appeared as spheres.  E
noch knew them to be
Ophanym
, though he’d never seen them before. 
And he knew their purpose was to support the weight of the throne.
1
6
 
And for each of the
Ophanym
,
one of the
K
eruv
ym
stood
alongside
.
  From beneath the throne
and the
living creatures
, rivers of white fire flowed in all directions.

Enoch shrank back in fear and covered his
face
from the blinding light.
 
With eyes closed, he could
still
see the image that was burned into his mind.  The
One who sat upon the throne
was still and
immovable
as a
mountain
. 
Enoch could feel power and majesty flowing in waves from Him
. 
His clothing shone brighter than the sun itself and the fire
around his throne prevented any others
from coming near. 
Slowly,
Enoch
opened his eyes, but dared not look upon the Holy One.  Instead, he kept his gaze averted a
nd saw a
multitude
of angels larger than any number that he could count, for his language was unable to express such a number, neither could he comprehend their
quantity
.
  Their ranks stretched from horizon to horizon.  And like him, they were unable even to stand or look at the One upon the throne.

A
n omnipresent silence
abruptly
cut through the air.  It was so complete that, until this moment, Enoch hadn’t realized the sheer volume of
sound
that preceded it.

“Come here, Enoch and listen to my voice.”

It was the voice of the Holy One and Enoch knew it immediately.  His
shaking arms and knees
suddenly lost their strength and he began to fall.  Just
before
he crashed into the floor,
one of the
Keruvym
caught him and
lifted him by the arm
.  It
escorted
him through the entrance and into the throne room.
 
Being pulled through the air, Enoch began to panic and dropped his head, suddenly ashamed at his own unworthiness.

“Do not be afraid, Enoch. 
Your obedience is counted as
righteousness
in my sight. 
Come
near
and listen to me.”

The
Keruv
gently set him down upon the crystalline floor, which was surprisingly cool to the touch, despite the rivers of flame
which
flowed beneath it
s glossy surface
.
17

Enoch’s fear dissipated entirely in that moment, replaced by an all-consuming love.

In the perfect silence, the Holy One spoke again.  “My
Wandering Stars
have sent
a human
to intercede for them
, but their purpose is to intercede for mankind.”

Enoch could hear the sadness in his voice and he began to cry in sympathy.

“Because of their hardened hearts and deaf ears, I will speak to you
.  For you
listen to me.  Go and ask them, ‘
W
hy have you left the
E
ternal
R
ealm?  Why have you defiled yourself by lying with earthly beings?  Why do you take wives like the children of earth and produce abominations as your offspring?
1
8
  Though you were holy and eternal, you have now defiled yourself with human blood and begotten children of flesh
.  You lusted after animals and have begotten
creatures
who were not meant to be.  You desired these things
as those who die.  I have
made the flesh of the
earth
as male and female
so they may have children to continue their generations.  But this is not my desire for you
.  I did not make
companions
for you because you were immortal for all generations.  And now, abominations of spirit and flesh move throughout the
realms. 
Because they were born of the flesh,
the abominations of the
Nephi
y
l
i
m
will be
a curse to the
T
emporal
R
ealm. 
And because they were also born of the spirit, the
ir eternal bodies
will be
a curse to the
E
ternal
R
ealm.
 
I see what is to come and the sin of the
Nephi
y
lim
is always before me.  They will
afflict, oppress, destroy
, make
war, and wor
k
destruction upon
my creation.  They will rise up against the children of men and women, because they have proceeded from them.
The
Nephi
y
lim
will destroy each other before you
r eyes
and by your hand
s
.  You will witness the death of your
own
children.  And in the days of the slaughter and death of the
Nephi
y
lim
, their spirits will be freed from their fleshly bodies and will continue to persecute mankind until the Day of Judgment in which this age will be consummated.’”
1
9

“Now, go and say to the My
n
darym
, ‘
Y
ou were born in the
E
ternal
R
ealm, yet all mysteries were not revealed to you.  You know only the
insignificant
ones, and these, in the hardness of your hearts, you have made known to the children of men.  Through these, they wo
rk great evil upon the earth.’”

“
Though they claim to have revealed all things to you, I see their hearts and the things they keep hidden, even from each other. 
I see the things they have done and the things which they have yet to do. 
They have asked for peace, but
will make
war and
teach
the children of men to do likewise.  Tell them, ‘
Y
ou will have no peace.’”

Through this dire message, Enoch could feel the brokenness and utter sadness of the Holy One as if they were his own
emotions
.  Tears streamed down his face, uncontrollably.

“Now Enoch, son of righteousness;
I have another message that you will not speak to the Myndarym.  You will teach it to your children and they will teach it to their children.  Thus, it will remain with your household for generations to come.  At the appointed time, it will be revealed to my Wandering Stars and
they will hear and understand.”

“
Say to them, ‘
You will see your destruction from af
ar and will know it is coming.  Because of your unfaithfulness, this judgment must come to pass. 
Therefore, I will raise up one from among those you despise.  And I will awaken his eyes to the mysteries which I have hidden from men since the foundations of the world.  His feet will I make to tread upon the paths of destruction and his hands to make war.  He will uproot the seeds of corruption which you have sown
throughout the earth.  And then you will know that I am the Lord and my justice is everlasting.
’
”
21

The words pierced Enoch’s heart and he knew instantly that they would remain with him forever.

“Now Enoch, one who listens;
there are many more things which you must see and hear, and write upon your heart
and your mind
.   Things which are yet to come.”

One of the
Keruvym
lifted Enoch from before the throne and began to pull him backwards.  Slowly, the throne and multitude of angels withdrew into the distance.  But the Holy One never receded.  His vast form remained the same
size
even as the
Keruv
sped Enoch away.

Sariel approached the lake carefully, coming from the east and moving around the north end. 
Jomjael
,
Batarel
, and
Tamael
followed close behind.  All was eerily
quiet
in the valley, with only a light breeze stirring the tall grass.  Swinging wide around the reeds, Sariel
s
hifted
his consciousness and saw a pale and sickly creature, its limbs grotesquely long, moving in the grass.

“
Shift
slightly toward the
E
ternal,” he whispered over his shoulder.  “You’ll see it there in the grass.”

A sharp intake of breath could be heard
from the other
Myndarym.

“You see
.  I
t’s just as I told you.  That’s the one that was dragged away from the lake when I threw its
statue
.”

“Indeed,” whispered Tamael.

“Do you want to go closer?” Jomjael asked.

Sariel looked back at them.  “…if you wish.”

“Yes,” Tamael said softly.  “I’d like to see them up close.”

Sariel nodded, then began to make his way forward.  Keeping one eye on the lake and one eye on the demon in the field
, he stepped carefully through the
dense
grass.

“
AHH
!”
A
scream cut through the silence of the valley.

Sariel
stopped
.

“I see you,
C
hild of
L
ight.  I see you.  Do you think you can hide yourself?”  The demon
in the field
frantically jumped and bobbed its head over the grass to get a better view.

Sariel turned
his gaze
toward the lake, then
frowned
.  His eyes scanned the water
and
the reeds, but
the
something was missing.  “Where are your friends?” he yelled to the demon
across
the field.

A small cough was the only reply.  Then another.  And another.  It was laughing.