THE FALL (Rapha Chronicles #1) (The Rapha Chronicles) (17 page)

Still he heard their words, felt their accusations, their guilt and despair ripping at the perfection their Maker had intended.

Through it all Lucifer’s maniacal laughter continued, exulting in Adonai’s pain.

It was early evening when Rapha felt the summons.
“Where are you?”
his Maker called.

“Lost,” was Rapha’s reply.

“You are never lost if I know where you are. Come.”

So Rapha limped back, wanting to shut his eyes to the devastation that had been wrought in the world in a single day, but feeling it was his penance to view what might have been prevented if he had somehow been wiser, had acted more quickly, had not run away….

The Garden was destroyed. Streams flowed red with blood. Birds, other than scavengers enjoying a carrion feast, had flown. The joyful chatter of life was replaced with sounds of mourning—whimpers, roars and fearful silence.

In the midst of this horror, Adonai stood, his holiness revealing evil in stark relief. Enemy forces had fled at his approach, loathsome creatures of darkness had slunk back to their hidden caves but left behind the carnage of their partially consumed victims. Adonai’s celestial forces were assembled, but so different from the glorious celebrations of past days. Today they were bedraggled and reeked of the evil that had vomited forth from Earth’s abyss. Today, they mourned with one voice the loss of this one bastion of purity. Today, they watered the tainted soil with their tears.

But someone was missing.

“Adam, where are you?”
Adonai’s call echoed throughout the Garden. Every creature within the walls came. Even if maimed, blind, or with the blood of a victim yet dripping from their mouths, the Garden’s inhabitants walked, flew, hopped, crawled, or at least willed their broken body in the direction of The Maker’s voice—but not the man and woman. Over and over Adonai called, wooing them with a His gentle voice, but they did not come.

Rapha could feel their shame. He knew where they cowered.

“Bring them,”
his Maker requested.

Adonai’s will moved Rapha to the mouth of a shallow cave. “Come, my friends,” he called. The only answer he received was a despairing wail of anguish. Further into the gloom he ventured, the glow from his body causing shadows to recede. “Adam?” He spoke softly, sensing their fragile grip on sanity.

“Please, we cannot go to Him like this. Beg Him to forget us.” The broken rasp of a whisper echoed from the damp walls. “You do not have the luxury of cowering in disgrace, Adam.

You are His son.”

“I am not fit to die here. I feel this body withering. We go to seek a place where our tainted blood will not infect the ground, where our flesh will be devoured by the birds of the air and our bones will lie, exposed in shame for all time.”

Rapha allowed a sad smile as Adam’s prose brought to mind the eloquent speech the boy had delivered on the day of Glory’s creation. Even in his despair poetry poured from his lips.

But when his warm light fell on them, the smile was replaced by a heartbroken moan. The girl’s eyes were glazed with shock as her grimy fingers plucked at her scant, torn leaf covering as if somewhere in her diseased mind she remembered a thing called dignity. Adam cowered close beside her, his face turned toward the cave wall, his nude body coated with wounds, new scratches and bruises mixed with several layers of filth. Adam, hope of the world, and the woman created as his mate, had torn at each other like vicious dogs.

Perhaps Adam was right. Perhaps they were beyond hope, so far fallen from Adonai’s intended glory there was nothing left but to crawl away and rot. There was silence in Rapha’s heart. He knelt in the dirt as hot tears coursed down his cheeks. He reached a hand toward Adam but the boy cringed as if expecting a blow. For long moments Rapha sat, inhaling their hopelessness as the steady drip, drip of water somewhere in the dark recesses combined with the occasional plink of tears onto the cave’s rocky floor.

Then his heart spoke with Adonai’s gentle voice and, in his exhaustion and despair, he did not even think. He simply opened his mouth and let their Maker address them.

“My children. I AM with you. I could never forsake you. Wherever you go I AM there. Whatever you do, I have seen. My love is more constant than the stars, more reliable than the rising sun. My plan will come to pass. I have spoken; it is accomplished. I make a way where there is no way. When it is impossible, I break through. You have failed. But My love cannot fail. My word cannot be broken. Come.”

A faint breeze of hope stirred in their hearts. It was just enough to lift their heads. Without a word they consented to follow Rapha from the cave. At a shallow pool by the cave’s entrance they bathed, their eyes averted from each other, as Rapha added fresh leaves to their abused garments. But, although washed and clothed, nothing could cleanse the haunted, hunted expression from their eyes that still proclaimed their disgrace.

They refused Rapha’s offer to expedite the journey to their Maker. “No.” Adam stood firm. “I will have no part of angelic ways. I am a creature of Earth. I will walk.”

Every step was torture. Everywhere they looked another heartbreaking scene awaited. They choked and coughed in the poisonous fumes that continued to rise from Earth’s open wounds. They tried not to cower when they beheld the decapitated and maimed, but soon they became numb, walking through this hell with pale young faces that grew older by the minute.

Only once did Rapha intervene. By a stream, a young lion had cornered a man-like creature with broken membranous wings. The creature still lived though its breath came in gurgling gasps. Rapha ran forward, chasing the lion into the shadows.

When it beheld Rapha, the winged creature hurled a string of curses at him and then made a sound they presumed to be a laugh. “We have won, foul servant of Adonai. You can keep us captive in your pits no longer while you coddle the man creatures.” It coughed, spewing a stream of dark blood onto the ground, and its eyes rolled back, barely retaining consciousness.

Rapha knelt beside the creature, “You are dying. What is your final request?”

The fangs were bared with a hideous smile and it replied, “I want to die ripping your flesh.”

When Rapha reached toward its fangs, the yellow eyes widened in surprise but, as if afraid the offer wouldn’t last, it bit and shook Rapha’s forearm, giving in to blood lust. Rapha winced but placed his other hand on the creature’s brow to stroke the bloodied hair from its eyes.

The creature released its hold and stared at Rapha. “Why?” It rasped.

“You deserve to see a touch of Adonai’s love before you die.”

Suddenly the confusion was replaced by another spasm of pain and the yellow eyes grew still. The creature was dead. Rapha gently closed the eyelids and stepped away. With a wave of his hand, a ball of fire consumed the body. Soon even the bones were gone. Only a scorched patch of ground remained.

They continued walking.

“Why?” Adam finally spoke, gazing at Rapha with new respect.

“I chased the lion away out of pity, for both creatures. The lion’s flesh would have rejected the tainted blood and would have begun to devour itself, but not before it had passed the corruption to many others. As for the unnatural creature, it never asked to be manipulated for evil purposes.”

“But your arm,” the girl reached toward his mangled limb.

“Do not touch it. The fangs were poisonous.”

“What will it do to you?” Adam inquired.

Rapha was touched by their concern. Their world was destroyed yet still they had the capacity to care. Indeed, his injury seemed to be the healthiest medicine for them, the antidote to self-absorption. “I will take it to Adonai.”

“If the poison becomes a part of you, what can be done?” The girl’s welfare was tied to this question as well. Rapha sensed the weakness she felt spreading through her body.

“I do not know exactly what Adonai will do, but I trust His love.”

“But what does He employ to remove corruption? Surely you have seen the process many times.”

Rapha hesitated. How would they continue to hope if he told them the truth? However, they deserved a straight answer. “Fire and water. But, as you have seen, the seeds of corruption remain. Many of the heavenly host believe Adonai erred by not making the destruction complete, but He hates to destroy.”

Glory was silent a moment, coming to her own painful conclusions. “So, the corrupted flesh on Earth was burned like you burned that creature?”

“Yes, but that does not completely destroy evil. The smoke carries it on the wind. Water is needed to wash it away. Even then it remains, seeping down into the soil, infecting the land.”

“Corruption remains—even after fire and floods? Then where is the hope?” She was filled with despair.

“The hope is in Adonai. His very existence is impossible, therefore the impossible does not stop Him.” Rapha’s encouraging words were lost on them. The humans trudged on, certain they marched to their own doom.

Chapter Fifteen

Justice and Mercy

As they drew near the appointed place, the air became solemn and still. On all sides now they beheld the garden’s bedraggled, wounded occupants drawn, just like them, toward Adonai’s presence.

Then they felt His gaze and their sorrow was complete as His purity flayed their souls which had never known anything but acceptance and love in His presence. Now the scent and sight of His holiness repelled them.

The man and woman were so ashamed they did not even try to look at Adonai. If they had, they might have found courage. His every gesture and expression poured forth only heartbroken compassion and grief. His eyes were molten love—with righteous anger, yet determined to save and restore. Although His creation lay in tatters at His feet, not a trace of hopelessness or despair bowed His shoulders.

“Why did you not come when I called?”

Adonai’s voice was gentle but to their guilty ears His words were vindictive and full of judgment. Adam was trembling as every instinct screamed for him to run away. His voice cracked with adolescent nervousness, “We were ashamed b… because we were naked.”

“I created you. Is anything hidden from Me? Who taught you to be ashamed of your nakedness, to hide in fear from Me?”

Neither could answer. Each felt the eyes of countless wounded creatures and heavenly hosts bearing down, driving them to the ground with guilt.

“My child, I gave one directive, one command you were to obey, to avoid the fruit of the evil one. Did you disobey that command?”

His words sliced across the young man’s heart. In that moment, Adam finally understood the horror of possible separation from his Maker. He had never realized how Adonai was more important than the air he breathed until he found himself suffocating in panic. “Please, Oh Most High, I would not ever have dreamed of disobeying you, but the… the woman you gave me, she convinced me to listen to the evil one.”

As he blamed Glory, Adam glanced into his Creator’s eyes… then looked away, more ashamed than ever.

“Woman, the man has accused you of leading him into evil. What do you say?”

Glory was finally feeling something besides shame as anger flooded her being. Here, before Adonai and the assembled host, Adam had laid the blame for evil’s triumph at her feet. Tears stung her eyes as she realized she stood alone to defend herself. “Lord, I wanted to run away, but a monstrous serpent charmed and ensnared me. It lied to me and convinced me to heed the evil one.”

“Where is the serpent?”

“
I
never saw a serpent…” Adam began but stopped when
it
came into view.

Tall and mesmerizing, it was escorted forward by two angels. The gorgeous creature held its head high, forcing all assembled to acknowledge its queenly bearing. A dull roar of murmurs and exclamations accompanied her progress toward Adonai’s throne.

“Handmaiden of evil, long have we heard rumors of your service to the fallen one. Do you deny these accusations?”

When she opened her mouth to speak, the soothing, honeyed tones of her words caused a hush to fall over the assembly. None could resist a longing to do her bidding. The master of seduction had honed her talents for innumerable years; every inflection was music to the ears, every movement a graceful dance.

“Creator of All, I deny nothing.”

A shocked silence followed as the creature continued.

“The fault for this evil lies with me, so should their curse of death be mine. Long have I served one whose promises wrapped me in cords of slavery. Long have I believed he loved me. I obeyed his every command, eager to bring ruin to Your kingdom. But I have been deceived. Today I finally understand his treachery. He can love only himself. I come before you, Maker of all that is good, throwing myself on Your mercy.”

And then, accompanied by gasps, she bent her astounding frame until she was prostrate, her beautiful face and proud eyes pressed to the ground at Adonai’s feet.

Adonai knelt until His head was beside hers,
“Dear one, this day you have displayed the greatest faith. You have known nothing but deception and hatred but you have come, without any claim of your own goodness, to seek mercy. You believe the truth as soon as it is before you. Your requests are heard and fulfilled.”

When she lifted her head, a tremendous transformation had occurred. Gone was the pride and studied seduction. In its place were eyes that shone with love for the One who knelt with her.

“I know I can never repair the wrong I have caused, but I am Yours, completely and forever.”

“Are you ready to trust Me, even though the road ahead will be harsh?”

“Anything,” she stated simply, and then awaited her sentence with eyes that held His with a boldness born of adoration.

“Are you willing to relinquish the very thing that lifted you beyond your intended station?”

“I fear its release, but it galls me. Long has this body warred within, torturing me even in my slumber.”

“Are you willing, you who have ruled, to lay aside your glory and exist for an age as one accursed, one who hides in fear from the realm of humans?”

“Yes, only please allow me and my descendants to be found blameless at the end of that age.”

“Because you offer yourself willingly, your descendants will not be cut off. Your flesh will no longer be in turmoil. I will this day heal you of your corruption. However, you will no longer walk, but will move in the dust of the ground. Mankind will despise you, believing you to be cursed even though you accept the brunt of their shame. A natural enmity will exist between your seed and the seed of the woman but you will not be left defenseless because man’s fear will be your shield. You will be the very symbol of those accursed and rejected but you will also represent the healing of all mankind.

“Know this dear one, I will be with you in your shame. I too choose to lay aside my glory and submit to mankind’s contempt. I too am lifted up as the curse that heals their flesh—and yours. Do not despair. You will never be parted from Me and at the end of this age your sacrifice will be made known.”

“Then my sentence is far too kind, for to be cast from Your presence for all eternity would be just.”

Those were the last words she ever spoke. The transformation was so smooth and seamless, each in attendance wondered at first if their eyes were simply dazzled, but they watched as the shapely legs receded into the long sinuous body, the wings shriveled and her size diminished until she was merely a large—albeit beautiful—snake lying before her Maker Who reached a hand toward her. Hesitantly, she arched her strong body and began to wrap around His arm. And there she rested a moment, storing up His warmth. Then Adonai lifted her high and all the assembly stared, struck dumb by the boundless trust and severe mercy displayed before them.

Their parting was painful to behold. As she moved slowly down his arm, Adonai’s tears flowed, both anointing her body and preparing her path at His feet.

The humans’ shame consumed them. This creature, carefully bred and groomed by Lucifer’s hand, had proven that her faith actually outstripped theirs. The thought of being reduced to a dumb animal that would slide through dust for the rest of its days terrified them. Glory wondered, if the serpent’s faith and bravery were rewarded thus, perhaps something worse awaited them? As the snake’s length slid by, the girl recoiled as if the curse would rub off on her. The snake, in reaction to her sudden movement, drew back sharply and held her gaze, forked tongue tasting her fear, unblinking eyes reading her revulsion.

“Go your way, child,”
Adonai’s voice soothed the snake.

“Seek the hidden places. In the quiet you will find rest.”

The snake relaxed her stance and resumed her newfound mode of travel, the unexpected, graceful, side-to-side movement, already a miracle to behold.

The wide, horrified eyes of the man and woman followed her progress. They moved closer together and clasped hands.

“Woman,”
Adonai’s eyes were boring into her soul,
“because you chose to hearken to the serpent’s lies and thus took Lucifer’s fruit unto your loins, the joy of motherhood will bring deep pain. Also, your union with Adam, intended to comfort and fulfill, will bring great turmoil to your heart.”

Glory simply nodded her head, her eyes never leaving the ground at her feet.

“Adam, since you hearkened to the woman and joined her sin, your life of ease is over. Providing sustenance and protection for your family will be a grievous and time-consuming effort. Your days will be spent struggling against the thorns now planted among your offspring, and, at the end of your days, your bodies will die, once more becoming one with the earth from which they came.”

There, before Adonai’s purity, Adam and Glory wept.

Rapha, still bonded to their emotions, had reason, even in that horrible moment, to be proud of his protégés. What was torturing their hearts was not their sentence of hard work and future conflict but the grief in Adonai’s voice. They knew they had caused that pain. All that they had endured—their shame and torture at Lucifer’s hands, the animals’ mutilation, and their own desecration—paled in the light of the suffering they had caused Him.

Adonai spoke again, words that seemed increasingly painful for Him to utter.

“These things are only the natural outgrowth of your sin. Nothing will atone for it but death. However, you shall not be the One to pay that price. I have decreed that through you the whole Earth shall be restored. That restoration will include you as well. Until that day, you shall look ahead to your hope. Until that day when My Holy One shall spill His life’s blood in your stead, a grievous but necessary practice must be employed to fulfill the requirement of blood, or you will indeed be subject to the evil one.”

Once more their Maker knelt. As if on cue, a young lamb trotted forth and leapt into His arms. The girl gave a soft cry of recognition, realizing this was Grace, the lamb she had held at the beginning of this horrific day. With heartrending tenderness, Adonai held the animal close, burying His face in the lush, white wool. Tears rolled down His cheeks and dripped to disappear into that snowy softness.
“A volunteer among the animals offers its life to ensure the humans will fulfill their calling.”
The words caught in His throat and the lamb gave one bleat before He continued, a bittersweet smile illuminating His features as He gazed into its eyes.
“There is no greater love than that displayed by this innocent one giving his life for the life of a friend. He will forever be aligned with My own life’s blood, pledged to cleanse all creation.”

A shudder ran through the entire assembly as a haughty voice broke the holy moment and Lucifer appeared, his perfect visage marred by angry blue welts that traced an intricate pattern over every inch of his golden skin.
“How touching! Adonai and His pets have gathered to congratulate me!”

“Samael,”
Adonai addressed Lucifer by his ancient name.
“Where have you come from and what have you been doing?”

“Oh Most Exalted One,”
his voice dripped razor-edged sarcasm
, “while I always enjoy our conversations, today I
am
in a bit of a hurry, so I’d appreciate just getting down to it. Ruling the world is so time-consuming. I am here to claim my prize… es.”
He surveyed the young man and woman with eager malice.

“Then today is your day indeed, because your prize is the goal for which you have aimed for many ages past. In place of the humans, I give you—Myself. In Adam’s line shall come one who is born of my Holy Spirit. I shall live in him, fully God and fully man. He will offer his life for the lives of mankind. He will willingly lay aside his authority and die at your hands.”

Lucifer paused, contemplating this unbelievable offer as a gasp resounded from those assembled.
“If You were anyone else, I would accuse You of lying but… You can’t do that… can You?

“Let me get this straight,”
he reiterated.
“You will place in this man’s progeny one who will be—You—in the flesh, and You will allow me to destroy this ‘Son of Man,’ thus claiming my right to Your blood?”

“Yes.”

“And in the meantime, I have the right to move things along on Earth the way I see fit?”

“Yes.”

“Well! This sounds like fun—for me.”

“But, the man and woman and all their descendants who bring themselves under the protection of my promised blood
YOU WILL NOT TOUCH.
”

Lucifer flinched ever so slightly before those blazing, holy eyes
. “Agreed, especially since a lion’s share of those descendants will be mine,”
he smiled possessively at the young woman.
“And, as is Your habit, they will have free choice of their allegiance.”