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What decent person would allow such extravagance to be poured on His feet? With all the need here? Not to speak of the regions roundabout. Is this what we should expect of a King who serves the people? What loss to thyself, for such an item would have fetched a month's wages after deposit into the purse, and none would have been the wiser. The agitated Judas excused himself in a flurry and stomped off, his mind fuming over an opportunity lost and increasingly open to suggestions from the Enemy.

  You do know that He hast never allowed you to be a part of His inner circle," the sympathetic voice whispered to his mind. A whisper that sounded so much like his own voice.

  I am Judean, Judas thought, and have these simple Galileans been given charge over our temporal affairs? No! Do these unlearned fishermen understand or have letters of learning on matters of finance? No! Yet they sit at the Rabbi's inner circle while I sit on its fringe. How can a man who controls the purse not be a part of a leader's inner circle?

  The Voice breathed into his hearing.

  Yeshua is a great teacher, but surely He will get us all killed by the Romans.

  Judas nodded to himself as he walked to the market.

  Exactly! If He has no interest in overthrowing Rome, then what good is He? What good doth healing, teaching, and even casting out of devils do if we are crushed underfoot by Roman occupation? He will bring such attention to us as to compel Rome to strike us down with the sword. What have I gotten myself into? For three years I have sojourned with this group. For three years I have toiled, receiving the hospitality of others. To rejoice in the gain available in this age, and for what? A poor, wandering gypsy of a madman, who adds no value to my position? I cannot let this happen.

  Lucifer edged his thoughts more toward his own designs.

  Perhaps He could be compelled to bring the Kingdom of God in by force?

  Judas's eyes lit up at the thought.

  What a clever idea! What if He were confronted by the powers of this world? Then He would be compelled to show the might of God, and usher in the Kingdom now and Rome would fall!

  "That's good! That's very good," Judas murmured softly to himself.

  The voice continued to feed his mind.

  If Yeshua were killed, the people would rise up in wrath at His martyrdom, and end the stench of Rome from off of us. Hmmm, there could indeed be profit in this. Judas mused. If He lives and ushers in the Kingdom, then I will be at His side and my position will be assured in this new government, but if the people rise up against Rome because Rome has killed one of its own.

  "Hey, watch yourself!" a man said.

  Judas frowned as he bumped into a person. "Watch yourself!" he said.

  Is the thing possible? Yes. We could shake the dust of Rome off our feet!

  Judas arrived at a fish vendor, pulled the purse of the group from under his shawl, gathered his selections and paid the merchant. He scowled as he looked at the Roman inscription on the drachma and the merchant noted his visible disdain.

  "One day brother...we shall be free of Roman rule. One day, one of us will have the power to see it come to an end."

  Judas smiled, and replied back, "One day soon my brother," Judas said. "One day soon." Iscariot then turned to rejoin the disciples.

  Lucifer smiled as he watched the human return to the Son of God, knowing that very soon...he would be ripe for possession.

  * * *

  "Arrrgghhhhh!!!!!" screamed Talus.

  His cries of anguish echoed across the gulf into Paradise, but his howls simply melded into the moans of the damned. Lucifer, the source of his torment, castigated his captive as he hung from an acidic cross of fire. Charon, the Angel of Death, watched in silent witness to Satan's cruelty as he swaggered back and forth.

  "Is this how God treats those He loves? 'Blessed be the death of His saints,'...pssfftt. Foolishness. We have both seen our share of death. We have seen the embodiment of men's fear smite both angel and man down."

  Lucifer chuckled. "But I do not fear. I do not fear death because I command it! Know that my plans for the Godking cannot be stopped nor thwarted by those who even now seek to rescue thee, for in seven days' time will my hands grasp the prize of Paradise!"

  The Prince of Darkness exulted as behind Talus, the black, self-constructing cadmine bridge, built itself across the gulf. An unstoppable, plodding and arced marched scaffolding that stretched, clawed, and with every day, inched closer toward Paradise and join the realms of the righteous and unrighteous dead.

  Lucifer waved his hands in giddy elation. "I will make Yeshua bask in the very pain He hath made for us for He sits in judgment over all, and makes even His own image...His own image, to taste separation from Himself. To experience the void when one is distanced from God. Oh, yes, the Godking willingly evokes punishment as to serrate another from the Author of Life, but is too cowardly to undergo what He Himself would make His own creation endure. But this...this...will...end. For I will cause El to know this intimacy...to know separation. And when I am done, He will know sin in a way that is beyond the mind of both men and angels.

  "For El, in His audacity, hath come down. And come down to do what? To usurp me? To destroy me? These petty incursions by His Son to deny my people habitation within the Clayborn will NOT stand, and His ill-gotten attempts to undue the plague of sin that I have unleashed upon the Adam will be for naught.

  "For soon, I will inhabit one close to Him, one He cares for, and with the same, betray Him into the hands of His own sin-stained image. The very creation that El loves, this chattel of soft flesh He so dotes over, will I move to destroy Him, and on that fateful day I will stare into Yeshua's eyes as the man He loves brings Him to dissolution. And I will stare into His face, that He might know what He has caused me to know...the gnawing pain of abandonment."

  Lucifer's lips turned down and his brow hard as he thought on the perceived injustice of his condition, and then shook his head and laughed at the irony of it all.

  "Indeed," he quipped, "I will wound El in a manner unknown since His bleeding at my hand for I will destroy His physical shell, and then He will experience separation from Himself. HE WILL ACTUALLY BECOME SIN! Oh, yes! I will make the Almighty experience in the flesh what He Himself would allow others to know...what...it...is...like...to...die. For I, my brother... I WILL HAVE VENGEANCE!"

  Lucifer smiled at Talus while his captive's head hung limp and blood streaked down the Arelim's face. The Evil One then floated, hovering and drew close to whisper into Talus's ear.

  "Thou shalt see, for His spirit will descend into Hell, and while dis-empowered in Paradise, I will cross over the gulf and finish what He and I began when El sat on the throne and my sword missed its mark. I will take the spirit of His Son, His beloved Son, and use Him to engine my rise again to Heaven and will forever end the tyrannical rule of the Father."

  Lucifer grinned in smugness, proud of the ingenuity of his plans, and confident in his control. He cocked his head and observed that perhaps Talus was not listening,

  "Nothing to say? No witty remark? No retort? Perhaps you think you can just ignore me?" Lucifer turned his head up, stroked his chin and muttered, "Hmmpff." He then lowered himself back to the ground.

  "I see this subject poses no interest to thee, and that perhaps I have digressed from our initial topic of conversation. Let us return then, shall we? For there is indeed a matter of most importance that we must settle, you and I."

  Lucifer then waved his hands and five brilliantly illuminated orbs shown into Talus' face.

  "I shall ask you again. How many lights do you see?"

  Talus was silent and with glaring eyes, he scrunched his face and contemptuously spat on the ground at Lucifer's feet.

  Charon, having observed the tirade, chuckled at Talus's obstinance.

  "Do I amuse you slave? Very well...smite him until the Arelim bleeds." he said to Charon.

  Charon paused and turned to face Lucifer, folding his arms in defiance.

  Lucifer smiled and spoke in sarcastic pentame
ter. "Doth Death hath compassion on this angel?" He harrumphed. "It matters not. You will not challenge me in this thing."

  Charon roared and spread his bony wings. His tentacled arms spanned wide and he fell to the ground and snorted. Hell lurched when he did so and the creature heaved in displeasure. As a bull ready to stampede, Charon snorted, then roared.

  Lucifer took a step backward and grabbed the locket of keys around his neck. Hell instantly obeyed the command of the Prince of Darkness and flaming tendrils descended moved to restrain Charon. He heaved the coils off him and pulled from his ashen robes a scythe, slicing the creature's coils. Hell roared in pain, and she lurched so that even those in Paradise felt the tremors and collapsed to the ground as the rumbling ground began to fissure. And when Talus saw that Charon fought back against his captor and that his rage might sunder the righteous dead, he screamed at the Warden to cease.

  Lucifer then commanded Hell to stop her attack, and she paused, and he spoke to Charon. "Thou art my slave, but if the desire to serve me is distasteful to the Vengeance of God, then, by all means, listen to the shrill voice of the living dead."

  "Charon..." Talus said, "it may be that thou canst fight Hell throughout eternity, and it may be that thou canst perhaps resist this cretin and one day be free of his leash. One day...perhaps, but if thou continue, destruction to the realm of Paradise will most assuredly come. Cease, I beg thee...and do what must be done."

  The skeletal mare snorted in retort. He looked with socketless eyes at the ceiling of Hell. Her flaming and acidic strands hung ready to continue their assault at Lucifer's command. He looked past Talus to the denizens across the gulf...humans who did not deserve his vengeance and they too looked back, watching the spectacle from afar. He then eyed Talus who stared at him with eyes that understood forced servitude.

  "Please, great one," Talus said, "do what thou hath been bidden."

  Charon then eyed Lucifer and roared again. Smoke and fire and ash erupted from his person as the echo of his rage flooded the hallways of Hell, and in the roar that all in Hades heard, rang the message that he would recompense in time. That there would one day be vengeance. Lucifer, self-assured, and smiling, stood his ground eying the Warden, gloating in the control he exercised over the lives before him. He stared in silence at the angel of death to see if re-education was needed, as to whom the angel served, and patiently waited.

  "You will obey my command and strike the Lumazi until he bleeds," Lucifer said.

  Charon grunted, paused for a moment, and then his scythe disappeared. He pulled a glowing flagellum of fire from beneath his smoke cloaked wings. The weapon of angelic torture hung limply from his bony hands as Charon stared at Talus and spoke.

  "Butttt yoooo doo notttt dessserveeee veeengeeeanccee..."

  A tear streamed from Talus's eye and he screamed at Charon. "DO IT!"

  And Charon, powerless to exact righteous justice, roared in anger and did so.

  His bony hand gripped tight around the Kiln forged handle, and he heaved it over his shoulders. Its three barbed and fiery thongs stretched out in fury through the stench of brimstone, and the angelic weapon of torture bit into Talus's chest. The crack of its sting against flesh cascaded through the cavern for all within the realm of the dead to hear, and when Charon pulled the whip away, plumes of blood and strips of angelic flesh soared through the air. Hell savored Talus and released her maggots to feed upon the open wounds.

  And Talus – the mighty prince of all Arelim – screamed

  And Lucifer, Lucifer stood watching in smug satisfaction---smirking in nodding approval.

  Chapter Nine

  Trials

  Enoch and his companions crossed meadows of fire, and the sweltering incalescence of Aesir made the air twist in gaseous eddies. Flames floated as musical notes across the land. Hues of orange, yellows and golds dotted the landscape. The party marched over a hill and sitting at the base of a valley, great towers of flames jetted into the sky, and Enoch knew from his study of Grigoric scrolls that he viewed the great Seraphim city of Ashe. The Aerie and the mountain of God were surely sights to behold, but before him was a city of living flames. Towering spires and houses of fire erupted before him and men of great stature lived within. The city was named aptly, for all that the eye could see burned; and smoke emanated into the air, carrying aloft the constant aroma of burning wood, but the sight and scents were nothing compared to the sounds that assaulted one's ears, for, behind the crackling of flames, there was music.

  Exquisite tonal notes swept the land as though the crackling of flames were choirs ablaze in harmonies of tenors, baritones, and bass.

  Great horse-like steeds of fire galloped across the skies. The Malakim Griffins and Aithons flew overhead. Some had wings as eagles and others did not, but all flew and left trails of fire in their wakes. The three visitors could scarcely pull their eyes away.

  The chief captain of the guard escorted them through the city gates, and across the public squares, the populace was filled with Seraphim. The Burning Ones were aptly named, but unlike the Elohim who were as varied as the snowflakes of the Earth, the Seraphim were the same physical appearance, for Enoch could not tell one from another.

  "Beautiful..." Enoch muttered aloud, and his mouth gaped as he stared at the views round about him.

  The captain of the guard smiled. "All of Aseir is beautiful, Adamson."

  Enoch realized he was gawking and replied, "My name is Enoch, and might I be privy to your name?"

  The captain motioned them to a shining temple, and replied, "I am called Sherkanim, and am captain of the King's legions."

  "It is an honor," replied Enoch.

  Gabriel and Metatron also replied, "We, too, stand honored. We hope audience with your king will allow us to break bread in fellowship."

  Sherkanim smiled delighting in the thought, but when he caught himself doing so, he made his face expressionless. "That is for the King to decide," he said.

  The citizens of Ashe stared at the foreigners, pointing at each as they ogled with curiosity. Some reached out to touch them. Gabriel and Metatron smiled and allowed the people to handle them as they looked at them in wonderment.

  "Why do they stare at us?" said Enoch.

  Sherkanim continued to lead them up the final walkway to the temple. "It has been many days since the Schism. Some have forgotten what angels look like. Others were not created until afterward. To many, the Elohim are a thing of wonder and awe, and for some...fear. Some had even believed that Elohim no longer exists since none has passed underneath, through, or over the mountain in many ages."

  "And you Sherkanim...what of you?" Enoch said.

  "Our histories say El banished them beyond the mountain. Banished them because one of their number by the name of Lucifer, genesised evil. Nothing comes over the mountain now but Ophanim, and nothing comes under but the Zoa and the Mists, the dread fog that we must constantly keep at bay. Thou, human, art only the second of thy kind to walk these lands."

  Enoch wanted to query further but Sherkanim had stopped at the temple, an imposing structure. The building's walls were an enormous bluish flame. Diamonds and crystals lined its floors, and everything solid, from the doors to the windows, seemed held by invisible flames that somehow floated in place.

  "We are here," Sherkanim said. He then faced the people who had assembled in the courtyard, took his spear and raised it high for all to see, and made annunciation.

  "Hail King Nephanos! Keeper of the Living Fire, Appointed by our Lord and Sovereign, El Almighty! All hail King Nephanos!"

  Everyone knelt on one knee. Enoch looked at Gabriel and Metatron, who motioned him to kneel and he did so. The temple doors opened and great plumes of smoke entered the courtyard, creeping out as dark clouds toward the people, and a tall figure similar to the Seraphim exited the Temple. The creature had six wings and stood twenty cubits tall, muscular like all the other Seraphim, but upon his head was a crown of fire, similar to Michael's crown, but within the
flaming circle was a jewel that shone as a star.

  Enoch noted that all the Seraphim floated when in the presence of their king and covered their eyes with two of their six wings. And Enoch, being curious, as to the king, looked upon Nephanos and caught his gaze.

  "A human...and two Elohim," the king said.

  He waved his hand and a small whirlwind of fire formed around the trio. The embers were cool to the touch, and Metatron watched as butterflies of living flame floated over his hands. Amused, he opened and closed his hands as though to catch them, but the whirlwind twisted upwards and the embers nestled within the Seraphim king's waiting palm and disappeared. He sniffed his palm, then recoiled. His eyes bulged, and he took a step back as his muscles became rigid. Immediately, the guards raised their spears towards the three foreigners as if to protect their king.

  "The Elohim have the plague and are infectious...the human is like the other and cannot harm us. Take the angels to be burned. The human, however, may remain."

  Gabriel and Metatron tightened the grip on their weapons and started to rise in self-defense, but Enoch read their body language and motioned for them to pause.

  He then rose to his feet. "I am Enoch..."

  The guards shoved him down and King Nephanos spoke.

  "We know who thou art, Enoch. We know thou art the Candlestick of the Lord. Fear not. Thy companions will not be harmed. But too much exposure to the Withering will sunder my people. These are infected, and they must be purged before it spreads. The Burning will not harm them."

  Gabriel and Metatron lessened in their anxiety, and Enoch attempted to shove the guard's hands off him. Nephanos nodded his head and the guards released them all.

  "I am the anointed of El, and rule this land at His will," he said. "None shall be harmed...yet."

  Gabriel eyed Nephanos, and Metatron noted that Nephanos eyed Gabriel as well. "I would hear what the Lumazi Gabriel would say. It has been a long time, Malakim Prince."

  Metatron whispered to his brother. "He knows you?"

  Gabriel responded. "Aye, and I him." Gabriel then spoke aloud to Nephanos. "It has indeed, King Nephanos. It has indeed. Know that we bring thee no harm."