Rising Darkness (12 page)

“We just passed you on the road,” he said. “What sort of sorcery is this?”

“The kind that needs a good whipping to discourage it,” said one of the other soldiers, climbing out of the chariot. The rest of the caravan had by now caught up and was wondering what the disturbance was all about.

“Move, little man,” said the Philistine, who stood in front of Samson. “We are on official business.”

Samson looked at the fat collectors in their canopied seats.

“I’ll move after you pay the tax,” Samson said.

“What?” said the soldier, who was scarred above his right eye. He looked with amazement at the others in his group.

“What tax is that, Danite?” asked one of the tax collectors.

“Why, the taxes that I am charging for you to use this road,” Samson said casually. “Now because you did not know about the tax, I will take only half of what you have taken from my people.”

The Philistines began laughing. Dheer took his place next to Samson. He could sense the Spirit of God at work and wondered what Samson might do. He then looked up and saw Shawa for the first time, standing next to the soldier in the lead chariot.

“Well, well,” said Shawa. “Heaven must be depleted these days. We must be doing better in this war than I thought!”

Dheer remained silent, fixing his gaze upon Shawa and readying himself for combat should it come to it. Shawa suddenly appeared next to the soldier who was now standing toe to toe with Samson. He began to speak into this soldier’s mind, enflaming him with a hot anger.

“I said, ‘Move,’ ” the soldier demanded, almost growling.

“Now you’ve done it,” said Samson. “Now I shall have to take all the money you collected.”

“Collect this, Danite!” said the soldier, raising his whip.

Samson grabbed the man’s arm and broke it like a twig. The man yelped in pain and doubled over on the road. Shawa cursed and began enflaming the other men, who climbed out of their chariots with swords drawn.

“We’ll teach you to attack a Philistine!” snarled one of the soldiers.

He lunged at Samson with his sword. Samson jumped out of the way, grabbed the man’s sword hand, and squeezed hard. A loud snap told the story as the man’s hand crumbled. Samson then picked up the whip that had been dropped by the first Philistine.

When the remaining two soldiers charged at him, he lashed them both across the face with the whip. They dropped to the ground in pain. The tax collectors began tossing out bags of coins, begging Samson to take the money and pleading that he not hurt them. Samson picked up the bags and tossed them into one of the chariots.

“Thank you for being so cooperative,” he said, jumping into the chariot.

He then whipped the horse and sped off down the road, leaving the Philistines bruised and bewildered.

“Who was that?” asked one of the soldiers, bleeding from his face where the whip had cut into his cheek.

“That was Samson, the Danite,” said one of the tax collectors, wiping the sweat from his face. “I have seen him in Timnah from time to time. He fancies a Philistine girl there.”

“He is a devil,” said the soldier with the broken hand, which he was now binding up with a piece of cloth. “And he shall die for this!”

“Yes, my friend,” said another. “Not now, though. Next time…in Timnah!”

Shawa looked hatefully at Dheer, who had remained behind to make sure that Shawa maintained his distance. Shawa smirked at his one-time friend. The battle would have to be left unfinished. But that was just as well.

For now Shawa had the information that Kara had been waiting for all of Samson’s life—proof that this long-haired Nazarite was in fact the deliverer and that the time for real war had come! Kara should be pleased. Shawa called out to Dheer in a rage as he vanished, “Just as the humans said, angel! Next time…in Timnah!”

“Samson’s father refuses to let him see this woman in Timnah,” said Shawa. “They had quite an argument over it.” He snickered. “I think he wants to marry the girl!”

Lucifer nodded in quiet contemplation. The Council of Seven had come together at Lucifer’s order to sort out the coming conflict with Samson and his people. Though Lucifer had organized these critical leaders globally, and each was prince over large portions of the world, Israel represented a common threat that bound all of them together.

New at Council were Berenius, who had been Kara’s willing assistant in the matter of Cain, and Tinius, whose recent profane acts in Canaan had earned him greater respect among Lucifer’s inner circle. The prince of demons had requested their presence in accord with an important announcement he wanted to make.

“Before we discuss how to deal with Samson any further, I wish to announce my intentions to create a new governing body,” Lucifer said.

A few angels squirmed uncomfortably at what that might mean for them personally. Berenius and Tinius stood at attention, waiting for Lucifer’s declaration. He called them up and they stood next to him, on his left.

“I have created a new council that will be completely absorbed with our dealing in Canaan,” he began. “Principalities and power work only insofar as they are efficiently administered. Brothers, since the days of Eden we have devastated the Lord’s plan for humans. We have perverted their faith; we have polluted their minds; we have stolen their hearts. Everywhere on this planet where men live, we hold authority by fear and by fakery. From jungle tribes to the great cities in the East, we have created an earth dominated by men who believe in gods that we have made, laws that we have written, and passions that we have inflamed.

“Our legions have maintained a hold on the greatest civilizations that humans have engineered, from the Nile to the land between the two rivers, to the great Indus valley and on to the Yangtze of the Orient. Everywhere, men bow to images and creatures and ideas that are foreign to their Creator! Everywhere, we have great success!”

He picked up an image of a Canaanite deity and smashed it on the ground. “Except here…in Canaan. Only in Canaan do we have any real opposition—and any real threat. Only here is there any real resistance.”

“Israel is too dangerous to leave alone,” Lucifer continued. “As certain as Samson is the delivering judge, the Seed will one day spring from these people. That is why I have decided to form a Supreme Council—the Council of Liberation—to be attended by Kara, Pellecus, and Rugio. These three shall be my greatest resource in this war against the pretenders to Heaven.”

Kara, who of course knew that this announcement should be made, looked around to see the responses in the room. If he was looking for great displays of enthusiasm, he was disappointed. Capable as he was in many things, Kara was deemed unreliable in critical situations, and his vanity was insufferable. But his ability to gather intelligence and interpret and disseminate it was uncanny, and therefore very useful to Lucifer. Pellecus and Rugio nodded to one or two of their closest aides, who acknowledged their promotion with a nod in return.

“And so it shall be that Berenius will become prince over Egypt and Arabia in place of Kara, while Tinius shall take from Pellecus the matter of the eastern coastal lands of the Great Sea, the Greek and Macedonian worlds. Rugio will remain prince over Persia and the lands around until a capable replacement is appointed.”

The group spent a few moments congratulating each other, stifling the undercurrent of rivalry and infighting that had plagued Lucifer’s Council since they had vacated Heaven. After a moment of sizing up this new arrangement, they came back to order. Lucifer encouraged their efforts in their particular domains, then promptly dismissed the Council of Seven. After they had left he turned to the newly formed Council of Liberation comprised of himself, Kara, Pellecus, and Rugio.

“And now as to Samson…” Lucifer began.

“And now as to Samson,” said Dheer.

Just outside the Academy of the Host in a garden built around a pristine pool, Michael, Serus, and Crispin had gathered to talk about Dheer’s progress with Samson. Around them in groups of threes and fours, other angels were discussing their own earthly assignments.

Some spoke of encounters with mischievous devils; others told of saving this or that human from dangerous situations; and from time to time, an angel would proudly speak of having encountered Kara or some other higher-ranked enemy angel. That, it seemed, was many a warrior’s dream: to give a good, sound thrashing to Kara or Rugio, whose reputations for obnoxious behavior and proud boasting had become legend in Heaven.

“Listen to them,” Michael said, grinning. “I only wonder what they would do if they encountered one of those angels!”

“I’m sure they would find that Rugio is a bit more of a handful than they counted on,” observed Crispin. “Still the Host is at war and organized marvelously, Michael.”

“Thank you, teacher,” said Michael. As commander of the Lord’s Host, Michael had engineered the defensive coordination on behalf of the Kingdom. Though the people of God were generally under Heaven’s watchful eye, the hope that the Coming One should emerge soon kept them vigilant. Only the Most High knew when, where, and through whom the Seed of Eve would finally be born. Both the Host of Heaven and Lucifer’s angels knew that victory or defeat hung in the balance, and nobody could ever be certain when the prophecy would be fulfilled.

It was evident from Dheer’s report that Samson had begun to walk in his authority as judge of Israel. Michael was amused at the encounter with the tax collectors that had been his first show of authority. And yet there were rumblings about Samson’s rather reckless passion for Philistine women and his smug pride in his newly discovered strength.

“All men are susceptible to pride,” warned Crispin, as the group of angels continued their discussion. “Pride is the root of all sin—and it is born in the hearts of men. Even those called of the Lord, like Samson.”

“It is worse than that, dear Crispin,” said Dheer. “His parents are entirely opposed to this marriage with a Philistine. Yet he persists!”

“These people will never change!” said Serus in disgust. “The Most High has repeatedly delivered them from their prideful folly—yet they continue to offend Him.”

“And so they shall continue to do so, I fear,” said Crispin. “Since Eden man’s heart has been forever corrupted. He has lost his innocence and taken on the yoke of pride. He will never be able to shake it—at least not on his own.”

Michael looked at Dheer and commended him for his service to the Most High in watching over Samson. He placed his hand on the angel’s shoulder.

“Go back to Samson,” Michael said. “Continue watching. You are learning what it means for us angels to not interfere with the will of men—no matter how much we would like to.”

“Remember Eden?” asked Crispin. “Michael could barely contain himself from stepping between Eve and the serpent. And yet he could not violate Eve’s decision.”

“Not even the Lord will violate a human’s choice to reject Him,” said Michael.

“Then I’ll return to Samson,” said Dheer. “He is even now headed to Timnah to marry the Philistine woman, but perhaps along the road something will happen to change his mind.”

“Yes,” reasoned Crispin. “Perhaps something will happen on the road to Timnah.”