The Ophir (17 page)

“Father in heaven, is this the only way?”

“T
his was your choice. I say unto you, do
not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the
right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

Nazim stepped in and landed a blow to
Joseph’s cheek, slicing the alabaster skin open. Joseph, knowing
that there would be no wound, paid it no mind as he threw his cape
over Nazim’s head and buried his stiletto in Nazim’s ribs. Joseph
pulled his blade from Nazim’s side, and neither did he shed
blood.

When Nazim smashed Joseph into a tree, it
stunned Joseph; he couldn’t get his bearings. He reached out
blindly and took the prophet in a headlock.

When Joseph was able to focus, he grabbed
Nazim by the belt and threw him into the branches of the ancient
olive tree, blocking his path should he wish to retreat, and
stepped away from its trunk.

“Nazim, last prophet of God, I spit on you.
You have become an old woman. Come down from that tree, and fight
me like the God you think you are!”

“Take care, bastard, or I will make
you
into an old woman. I have God on my side.”

“Ah! I forget myself. Perhaps your God should
send you another 17-year-old woman with child then? Is that not how
he rewards his faithful?”

“Cur! How dare you speak of God with such a
common tongue. Death is too good for you!”

“And life is too good for you! If God is
indeed on your side, then you should give him leave to come to my
side. He would be safer,” Joseph taunted him.

* * * *

From below the Equator, Antonio saw the waves
begin to grow. He saw the Island rise and marveled at its size. It
dwarfed the Island of Hawaii and carried it on its side like a dog
does a flea. It was more brilliant than the setting sun. Ash and
soot from erupting volcanoes darkened the sky. Had it not been for
the brilliance of Lemuria there would have been no light at all. It
was a wonder that it remained hidden so well.

Many volcanoes came to life at the same time;
the sun changed color as the fine ash and aerosol circled the
equator. Temperatures would drop as the cover filtered out the
sun’s warm rays. Shooting stars streaked across the heavens
announcing an end to a way of life as many knew it.

Scalar waves softened the Earth’s crust
opening new mud pots, increasing destructive vibrations. Bulges in
the ground’s surface deformed the Earth and foretold of the
impending eruptions that were forming a web around the globe.

On the west coast of the North American
Continent, a fault would grow in length. The grinding of land on
land would change its geography. But, the warnings would go
unheard.

Volcanoes such as Laki and Tambora, would
precede the super volcanic explosion that was now inevitable. On
Krakatau, people would stay unaware of the impending doom they were
about to face. They would get no warning; thousands would die.

In Africa, the course of the River Nile
changed. A ship, tossed by the growing waves was deposited at the
entrance to the port, and created a divergent path, which moved
westward. Two new islands formed from silt, Elephant Island and
Gezira Island.

Many of these changes would be the subject of
conversation for many years to come. And still, the appearance and
disappearance of Lemuria would be once again relegated to myth. The
real facts of that day were too much for the human mind to grasp.
Only the subterfuge employed by the Creator would be remembered as
fact.

Chapter
Eighteen

The silent shaking of the Earth increased but
remained unfelt by man. Lemuria began its descent.

As the turbulence reversed itself, giant
waves continued to wash ashore, cutting a wide path of destruction.
The waves travelled at a velocity of 600 miles per hour, with
crests at a distance of 20 miles.

In total, there would be 27 waves that would
swamp and bury surrounding land. The waves would push inland for
more than 300 miles. Entire communities would disappear. Majestic
forests would be uprooted and smashed into slivers, leaving the
ground devoid of all man-made trace.

The waves would leave no land untouched as
far as the Continent of Europe. In the country of Italy, the
foundation of the city of Venice would be breached, and waters
would begin to cover the ancient history of a magnificent past.

The vast populations of the world would
someday witness another sinking of “Atlantis”. The deserts would
vibrate and present antiquities and information beyond belief.
Volcanic eruptions would take place far beneath the surface of the
ocean. The Earth’s plates would continue to move either away from
or toward other plates. New faults would be created while old ones
were plugged, forcing pressure to build beneath the crust. Magma
would rise to the Earth’s surface and erupt, forming chains of
volcanoes even more violent than those already known.

As long as Nazim and Joseph remained in
battle, many things lost to man would resurface and move man in a
different direction.

* * * *

“Lord, this battle will never end. How can
there be retribution if it does not end?”

“It is so, and so it shall be. I brought it
about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.”

“But Lord, you said that I was to set things
a-right. Would not the death of this cur end his hold on the
populations?”

“And what of your death? Would it not also
end this abomination? I gave you leave to come to Earth again and
clean that which you soiled with your self-righteousness. I gave
you leave to transcend the man that you were. I say unto you, seek
retribution and it will be found. But it is mine and not yours that
will manifest.
”

“I do not understand.”

“You will not understand. You forfeited your
existence here and in my heaven when you forgot the reason for
descending. You began to gather your flock and did yourself honor.
They called you Lord and you allowed it. You rejoiced in the death
of another.

I, and I alone am your God and the creator
of all before you. I. I alone decide what will happen to man. I
forgive you for your transgressions, but you will not be loosed on
the world again. I have more respect and greater love of the lamia
than I do you!

He did not choose his fate, you did. His
madness was his undoing. His madness will give him the strength to
hold you in this embrace until the end of times.”

And with that, God removed the curse from
Joseph that he not be touched by the killing sea, and so might
continue to hold the devil at bay.

Joseph understood that his transgressions
were not to be forgiven and acknowledged his sentence with a quick
nod. He had no great love of God, nor did he care that his fate was
now sealed. He would be glad to end his existence knowing that
Nazim would never escape his.

“Why do you free him and not me?”

“Why do you continue to rebel? I sent your
enemy against you that he might put a yoke of iron on your
neck
.”

“Father save me!”

“There is no peace for the wicked
,
nor
those that do not repent
.”

Nazim screamed in rage and hurled curses that
echoed into the atmosphere. But his curses had no power. God in His
wrath caused Nazim’s words to be drowned out by the gargantuan
explosion of Krakatau.

Krakatau volcano was located on the island of
Rakata near the Java Trench. The eruption was so violent, that ash
and debris floated through the atmosphere, which carried it and
Nazim’s curses, as far west as Madagascar. It was heard in
Australia and felt in France and England.

The tidal waves created by the explosion,
combined with the Tsunami already in progress, wiped out villages
for miles around and killed greater than 30,000 inhabitants
residing in those areas. It was this explosion that would be
remembered all over the world, which sank Lemuria far beneath the
reaches of the world.

Chapter
Nineteen

As Lemuria descended, the displaced volumes
of ocean and magma were forced out of the cavity, where Lemuria
would once again anchor itself to the heart of the world. As the
island settled into its place, the waters were drawn in from the
shores, leaving little evidence of the once teaming life that
occupied the oceanic valleys. Megaladon sharks, giant squid and
many other species were left floundering in the mud. Many unknown
species, creatures thought to exist in prehistoric times alone,
would be lost forever as they drowned in the oxygen of the surface
world.

As the island continued into the depths, the
seas rose higher and began to cover the edges of Lemuria and then
the highest points, until nothing was left but roiling water and
confused seas.

The rising magma cooled in the waters of the
seas, causing them to boil. The surface of the ocean, once teaming
with life, was now decorated with the dead bodies of sea creatures
undiscovered by man.

They would be taken on the tides and currents
to be washed ashore at beaches thousands of miles away. Scientists,
and the curious, would run to the shores to see the inhabitants of
the depths unexplored by man, giving proof that the giants of
biblical times still existed. The Mariana’s Trench and other
spiritual vortex’ remained intact.

The ocean currents would be reversed and
waters that were once warm would cool, and cooler waters would
experience a warming that would destroy smaller fish such as
anchovies, throwing the food chain into chaos. No part of the world
would be left untouched.

Many countries would herald this as the
beginning of the end. The ash clouds circulating the globe would
instill fear and create depression. Cults would plan and commit
suicides in what they believed to be Armageddon.

People flocked to churches to pray for their
souls and salvation. Husbands would murder their wives and children
to save them the pain of fire and the final destruction of the
world, adding their names to the growing list of men, women, and
children already taken by the natural disasters that had the world
in its grip.

And the word went out. The word of the Lord
was spoken in both large and small groups of the faithful.

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every
person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the
anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

Chapter
Twenty

The Earth shook as the Titans continued their
battle, unaware of the changes surrounding them. The very air
changed. It became warmer as thermal anomalies developed. Slow,
silent vibrations were building up in the Earth, softening the
crust’s mantel, weakening its resistance to the enormous pressure
building beneath the surface.

The sun, when it peaked through the haze,
shown a brilliant red and seemed swollen in its place. But neither
Nazim nor Joseph was cognizant of the import of these changes.

* * * *

Nazim was on the ground with Joseph poised
above him, a huge stone in his hands. He raised the stone and swung
it down to smash Nazim’s head into splinters. Nazim brought his
legs up, kicking the stone to the side. It landed beside him,
missing his ribs by inches. Muscles ached and breath became short,
but they would not stop. They could not stop. Their revenge would
never be realized. Their Maker had made the solution clear when His
son first came to Earth.

“If you love me, you will keep my
commandments.”

“Love thy neighbor.”

“Vengeance is mine.”

“You shall not put the Lord thy God to the
test.” So many other edicts were given that were as true then as
they are now, but neither man heard. Not then, not now. They were
bent on revenge, and that belonged only to God.

They were blind to the ways of salvation. And
because they were blind, neither would win. They would remain
locked in combat even as the island slipped with a roar back into
the sea. Their thrashing and heat would forever be felt by the
world as it manifested itself in continued vibratile. The fury of
the battle affected the island even to its center.

* * * *

Opposite the battle, and at least 1,500 feet
below the upper reaches of the island, another change was taking
place. As the battle raged on the surface of the island, gates
opened onto its side.

Captain Antonio and his crew watched as the
curtained rock wall slid open on silent hinges. The confused sea
boiled around them, but no sound was made. And then, a soft voice
could be heard speaking to the Captain.

“Juanito, my son, you have done well. You
will live among the real, and continue to walk in the path of my
light, as you carry the great Arc forth to its final resting place.
The world will go on for a millennium before we return to gather
the faithful.

You and your men have been granted final
resolution and will live in my name, here, in peace and abundance
until that time. Go forth, and know that you are forgiven.”

Although his knowledge had appreciated,
Antonio was incredulous. His fortune was beyond comprehension.
After all he and his men had done, how could this be? Yet, in his
heart, he knew that he and his men were forgiven all
transgressions.

He knew also that the relics aboard his ship
would now be transferred into the hands of the citizens of Lemuria,
and remain so. He kept his promise to the Knights, and would from
that time on, go forward, knowing all that they knew and more.

* * * *

With God’s breath at their backs, the Ophir’s
sails billowed open and the ship almost flew toward the giant maw.
Fear and awe gripped the crew as they realized that no one was at
the helm of the gilded ship. It moved as if an invisible hand was
guiding it straight toward the unnatural opening in the side of the
island.