Angel Prophecies : Chapter 4

< Chapter 4 : Stranded upon the Island of Souls >

By the time the sun had risen, Jacob moved at half pace; he was exhausted, but temptation of the world drove him forward. Lucifer had kept him up telling secrets that Jacob swore he would never tell again.

"That is how Jesus healed and divined miracles." Lucifer said.

Gabriel heard him mention Christ's name, so he stopped and waited for Jacob and Lucifer to catch up.

"Once you know the secrets, you can do whatever you like with them. Heaven does not control their power. If you know enough, you won't need the praise of God to become Israel. If you learn enough, you can stand by God as an equal."

"Do you believe that? Did you not think that you were equal to God?" Gabriel said.

Lucifer smiled, and he placed his hand upon Gabriel's shoulder.

"I thought I knew enough; I knew more than any other Angel. My glory was limitless. I could reach across the entire universe and hold its vast dominion in my hands. With a word I could bring Michael to his knees, and once I fought Death back into the abyssal and locked chains around its neck that were so large that a thousand years would be needed to travel the distance of a single link. But still I did not know enough. There were secrets that God had not told me." Lucifer said.

"Is that why you are chained?" Jacob said pointing towards the manacles at Lucifer's wrist.

"Perhaps. I have certainly fallen from grace. Such things are hard to accept and even harder to understand. Look at yourself, child. You too are bound by fate; we are chained for the same reason. We have chosen this path one footstep at a time."

Jacob stopped for the first time in his life and looked back at the trail from which they had come.

"I never thought about it. I only wanted to move forward, to go faster. I even ran for a ways back there, and now we have come so far."

"We will go much, much further still." Lucifer said.

"But you can always turn around and go back. God waits for you in that field of lotus." Gabriel said.

Jacob turned completely around and took one step backwards. His eyes filled with tears. The pain ran up his leg as if the skin had been torn away. He took another half step backwards and screamed out.

"I can not. There is no way back; it can not be done."

"It can be done; I have seen children walk back into the arms of God. Their souls were too pure to be tainted by the temptations of flesh." Gabriel said.

"Once you fall you will find hard to return. That is curse of getting what you want." Lucifer said.

"Have I Fallen?"

"You are falling with every step. It happened to me in the same way. Men always wanted to go towards the world, but we Angels have always wanted to be close to God. Very few understand that the closer you get to what you want, the harder it is to turn back. It is a curse of making." Lucifer said.

"There is no such curse, not for man or Angel." Gabriel said.

"You wouldn't know. I have been closer to God than any Angel. The others only saw God's glory from afar. They heard nothing but the hymnals and majesty of Father's voice as he sang across the divide of Heaven, but when I got close I felt a coldness beneath the light. No other Angel has ever felt that void." Lucifer said.

"Nothing but ecstasy radiates from God's throne." Gabriel said.

"You have not gotten close enough; you never questioned. Haven't you ever wondered why God created so many worlds. Earth was not the first, and man was not the only creation. Other creatures were made before men, and we Angels destroyed them all. Even this world has been prophesied for destruction. So why does God create worlds and then destroy them?'" Lucifer asked.

Gabriel thought about it for a long time. Jacob's mind fumbled over the idea, and for an hour they walked without saying a word.

Lucifer finally spoke. "The answer is hard to come by. I have spent billions of years thinking about it. The more secrets Father taught me, the closer I believed the answer to be."

"God's mind can not be fathomed." Gabriel said.

"And what if you are wrong? No, I think we can understand him, and the answer hinges upon one question: Why would God create mankind in his likeness?"

"Because it is easier to love something that is similar to you than something that is different." Jacob said. It was a good guess, for a child.

"True, very true, but God loves us all equally."

"Ha! That is why you are such a fond friend, Gabriel. Your mind moves as predictably as a wheel. But you haven't considered the riddle. Why would Father create a world of Free Will-where things go so awfully wrong, like Eve eating of the Forbidden Fruit? Why toy with the possibility of creating evil and making sin possible?"

"A test; just as you tempt the souls of men to determine who is worthy to go into Heaven, so too are we Angels tested." Gabriel said.

"I disagree; God wanted something greater than perfection. He wanted something more important than harmony, love and goodness. What I sensed upon his throne was loneliness. God created universes and worlds in hopes of finding something like himself. He made man in his own image and gave Free Will because he wanted an equal. He had already created servants in us Angels. He wanted something more."

"But he isn't alone. There are millions of souls that rise to Heaven and sit at his feet singing his name. Angels circle his head and praise him. Heaven teems with God's worshipers." Gabriel said.

"Yes but he is alone amongst all the billions of them for no soul has ever touched his throne. No being has ever stood by his side or held his hand. For all are worshipers and none his equal; even Jesus has always prayed from afar."

"That was why all of God's creations have failed their design. Not even this world succeeded, for God made man in hopes that he might be equal. But God did not think that he succeeded in his design. That was why he prophesied the destruction of the world." Lucifer said.

"How is it that you know this?"

"Because I once tried to touch Father. When I knew as much as I could, after destroying so many worlds, I went to the center of Heaven where the light was the brightest. I moved closer than Jesus ever had."

"I could hear the Seraphim singing their praise. I heard God's voice as hymnals and light, I reached forward fighting against the great current of love that emanated from his throne. I even spread my twelve wings and perched my legs upon the seven mountains of Heaven. With all of my might I heaved myself forward with my right hand outstretched, disappearing into the light, straining to caress Father's foot so that he might know that he was not alone."

"I almost reached him. I was so very close. But when I saw God's face, saw into the great, cold abyssal of light that pooled in his eyes, I saw the Atziluth-the World of Emanations where the souls of men began as a dream. When God saw me, he withdrew a hammer of light and smashed the Atziluth. He broke open the ten Sefirot spilling the sacred light of Heaven."

"From that light was made the second Heaven and the third, where man's soul was first forged. And down I was washed by that bright deluge into lowest level of Heaven, the place we Angels called the World of Actions. At that bottom rung was where God constructed Eden and the Universe."

"You saw into God's eyes? You can not look directly at him and live." Gabriel whispered in disbelief.

"I did, and I survived; I only lost consciousness for a moment. When I woke I was in the Garden, on my knees, staring across an open field of clover. You were there Gabriel. Father stood as fire and smoke. His arms and legs were tornados that reached up to the newly formed sky."

'I have sired a new world,' Father said.

"He reached down into the mud of that field, and I begged him to stop, because I knew that he could no longer bear to be alone. I struggled across that field so that I might touch him. I sang to him, promising that I could stand by his side. But with lightening pouring down all around like rain and with the thunder booming across the open sky, he did not hear me."

"Father pushed his hand down into the mud and breathed a divine wind into the dirt. There before us all Adam was birthed. And we Angels stood up and screamed a collective cry. For Adam looked like God." Lucifer said.

'Here I give you the Son of the World. I shall call him Adam, and he will inherit the Earth.' God said.

"I felt the roar of earthquakes in my throat. I could think of nothing but Death and war. My anger was unbridled; I will admit that much. Father had created mankind to stand where I had failed to go. That Adam might stand above us Angels."

Sammael looked at Jacob. In his eyes was a fiery hatred. Gabriel bowed his head.

"There is not an Angel in Heaven that does not remember that day. We were all jealous, but we contained our anger." Gabriel said.

"Yes, I tried to let my anger go, brother, for we had all seen so many worlds created just like Earth, but there was something different in Adam. Never had Father made a creature in his likeness. Never had there been such a thing as a soul. Even we Angels were born hollow; Father lent his breath to Adam as Free Will, but we Angels were born as slaves."

"If God had not asked me to bow to Adam, I could have contained my anger. But you remember the way God stood looking at Adam as if he stared into a mirror. Their eyes danced, and though Adam was flesh and God an apparition, the resemblance was amazing. Every other man born in the world looked like an ape compared to Adam. He was beautiful beyond comprehension, and God was so pleased with his work that he turned on us Angels."

'Here is the son of the world.' God said. 'Come my servants, bow to this being that I have created. Bow to mankind.'

"I could not believe what Father commanded. Never would I bow to creature other than God, yet Michael bowed without thinking. He put his sword to the ground and lay his forehead atop the standing grass." Lucifer said.

"I did not bow either." Gabriel said.

"You both disobeyed God?" Jacob said.

"No, we were loyal. Michael disobeyed God. Rafiel disobeyed God." Lucifer said.

"You have to understand Jacob. When we Angels are created, we are cut from the flesh of God. We are not made of dirt and wind. God takes a blade and cuts his own flesh to make us."

Lucifer held the dagger up. The blade was smithed of a blackness that swallowed light.

"You can see the inscription here. Lucifer, Most beloved by God. When I was born Father cried for I was the greatest Angel that he ever created; Father wept over me. His tears were light, and I remember the prayer and commandment he whispered: Love me for eternity. Worship nothing but me. It was a birthright. We Angels were never to bow to another being. I could not bow to Adam." Lucifer said.

"Is that how you fell from grace?"

"No, but I do not want to speak of that now. I only want you to know that God tried to make Adam equal to himself." Lucifer said.

"A creature can never be equal to its creator." Gabriel said.

Lucifer's face lit up into a wide, scythe like grin.

"Do you not understand yet, brother? We are all his equals, each one of us."

With that Lucifer pulled the other two close. He walked them forward towards the world, and Jacob swelled with pride at the idea of being equal to God. But Gabriel only sighed.

"I hope for your sake that Jesus' mercy is as limitless as your pride. Why do you put such ideas into Jacob's mind?" Gabriel said.

"Because I tell the truth; I have figured out the riddle of the Universe. This is my path. We have all chosen our paths, and Jacob's leads to war. He must know the truth and learn as much as he can along the way, for knowledge and secrets are the swords of our army."

"You aim to overthrow the Heaven with knowledge?" Gabriel said.

"No, that is but a weapon, and I will show Jacob great secrets and give him awesome powers, but Faith will be the key to building an army to overthrow God."

Lucifer turned from Gabriel and held Jacob by the shoulders and spoke in a somber voice.

"All these things I can give you, every secret of Heaven, weapons and secret formations, but you must find Faith in your beliefs. More power has been wrought from Faith than anything. Wars and crusades have been waged with Faith. Whole nations have crumbled when they lost it."

"Is Faith a weapon?" Jacob said.

"No, weapons rust and break. Flesh rots and souls can turn dark. But Faith never loses its power; it can never lose its luster, for it is made of the only substance that can not be touched or harmed. It is made of nothingness, the absence of knowledge, the void of reason. It is found where there is no hope, where there is no evidence."

Gabriel shook his head when Lucifer said these things.

"But if I have seen God and I know that he exists, I can not have Faith."

"Listen to me child; I do not want you to have Faith. I want you to use it. Inspire it in men, create religions and make men believe. When they do, with Faith in their hearts, they will follow you to the very ends of the earth and even into death just to satisfy that five letter word." Lucifer said.

"I am talking about creating soldiers of light, a holy army that you will lead against Heaven so that God will see that you are equal to him. Don't you see? You were birthed for war and destruction. With each step you undo the Prophecy and hold back the Apocalypse. God has succeeded in you; he has made something equal to himself."

"What you say is heresy. Jacob can no more use Faith than he can force himself to have it. Look at his shadow, Lucifer. It is darker than yours." Gabriel said.

Beneath Jacob was pooled darkness so thick and palpable that it looked to be oil.

"You will see. The Prophecy is wrong. Jacob will rise over the Seventh Mountain and besiege Heaven with an army of souls, and God will be defeated. We will stand beside him on his throne, and he will be alone no more." Lucifer said.

Jacob took another step towards the world; he raised his head with pride.

"Will you be at my side?" Jacob said

"Together we can rule beside God, for we are his equal." Lucifer said.

Gabriel bowed his head and whispered the words Jesus had spoken, 'He can still be redeemed.' But Gabriel's heart was heavy, and his mind was filled with doubt.

"Do not speak of such things again in my presence. Though I love you as a brother, I will not entertain blasphemy. I came here to help you as Jesus asked, and few Angels were willing." Gabriel said.

"Why is that?" Lucifer said.

"They have lost Faith in your words. They are afraid of your tongue for it is as sharp as a sword; you have learned your trade too well. You even know how to tempt us Angels. Even now you use Pride, the most deadly and severe of all the sins, for you know all to well that there is not an Angel in Heaven that has not hoped and prayed that one day he might be great enough to touch the hand of God. Like all, I wish I were glorious enough to stand by his side."

"But I can not believe in such things. I swear to you this: I will never stand against Heaven." Gabriel said.

"I have always loved you. Your sense of Justice has made you a great adjudicating Angel, but I think you are wrong. I refuse to believe that your glory has limits below that of God. Yet I will try to keep my thoughts secret. I would rather have your friendship in life than your sword in battle." Lucifer said.

Gabriel held out his hand to Lucifer. They touched palm to palm, and rainbow light was cast upon the forest floor at their feet.

"We should not stop here. The Ship of Life will sail at daybreak, and the sun will be up shortly."

Gabriel pointed to the horizon. The night's darkness had paled to a summer blue, and the sun threatened to rise.

"Michael will wait for us. The ship can not leave children behind." Lucifer said.

"They will leave. I know that because Jesus asked me to come here and walk with you in hopes of finding the key to your forgiveness, but Michael begged God to let him come for a different reason."

"What reason is that?"

"Vengeance. He wants more than to witness your destruction; he wants to bring it. If he does not attack us on the beach then he will take the ship and leave us stranded on this island. Do you know what happens if we are left behind?"

"I have heard." Lucifer said.

"Well I have seen it. I saw Angel who lost his child and was left behind on the island. He tried to fly across the sea for noon was approaching, and he knew Leviathan would come. But halfway across the ocean, Leviathan struck from the ocean's deep and consumed them both like Jonah in the stomach of the whale. Until the end of eternity they are digested in its belly."

"As you know, the souls of men will be fed the flesh of Leviathan after the Apocalypse. That terrible monster will be put on a spit with the river of fire beneath, and it and all the souls within its belly will be cooked for a thousand years. If we do not make it onto the ship, there will be no escape from Death." Gabriel said.

"Then we should waste no time." Lucifer said.

Rachel put her hand out, reaching down towards Jacob. Jacob held it. Their fingers entwined, and she smiled. Rachel had the same marking on her forehead as Jacob. Mark of the beast, Lucifer had said, but Rachel's porcelain face and bright smile held nothing but innocence.

All four of them started off at a brisk pace, and the more sunlight they saw the faster they moved. But when the sun had nearly broken over the horizon, they ran as fast as their feet would carry them.

The first ray of daylight touched an aspen leaf that turned in the wind above. One side was green and the underside was pure silver as if it had been gilded.

"Hurry." Gabriel said. His wings were out now, catching the wind. His feet danced a few inches above the ground. The children moved so fast that their eyes rolled back into their heads and turned white from elation.

"We must fly." Lucifer said.

"It is against the law." Gabriel said, yelling over his shoulder. Rachel began to cry. Fear ran down her face and dropped wet tears on the ground beneath.

"What will happen?" Jacob asked.

"Something terrible; a great monster from the deep is rising."

Jacob could see the shore ahead. The beach was covered with golden sand, and through the trees the white sails stood above the living wood of the Ship of Life.

"There it is. We will make it." Gabriel said.

But as he said it, shadows moved in the jungle beside Lucifer and Jacob. Something was running along side them. The foliage began to move. Limbs broke in the canopy above and fell down around them; Lucifer stopped, pulled his cane up, holding it in both of his hands like a sword.

Gabriel and Rachel continued on and made it to the beach where the sun was hot and bright. They disappeared out of view, leaving Sammael and Jacob in the dark forest where a creature roared from behind them.

Lucifer turned and saw two great Angels standing there, so terrible were these Angels that Lucifer turned back around and tried to flee, but the Angels were in the path ahead as well.

These Angels were not like others. Their faces were that of lions. Their hands were paws with long scythe claws that clutched steel handled swords with blades of orange and red fire. Like the Greek Minotaur, half man and half bull, these Angels were a majestic blend of man and animal; a mixture of Seraphim and predatory cat, steel, iron and mirthless divinity. They were known in Heaven as Panthera Cherubim, but they were so terrible that the Angels in Heaven cursed them with another name.

"Kirabu." Lucifer said letting his tongue flip up and down like a rattle snake's warning. "You have strayed far from your post."

"You have no right to call us by that name. It is you who are no longer glorious and beloved. Your end has come; you are Göap, the King of Angels, no more."

"Kirabu." Lucifer said with a tongue of fire. The word rose from his lips as smoke. "I remember you from the beginning. You are the twins who were conceived with swords in the womb of an Angel. You were made like a blade, forged in fire for a single purpose. You know nothing of love or beauty. God has no purpose for you except that of battle."

"We have guarded Eden since the Fall of mankind. We guarded the Tree of Knowledge and the Book of Life. We have guarded the Prophecy since God wrote it that very day he banished Adam and Eve. What greater purpose could be given?"

"Then why do you leave Eden unguarded now?"

"You should know, for the Prophecy has been stolen."

Lucifer's eyes grew wide, and his mouth hung open in surprise. But he composed himself quickly.

"You believe it was me? Do you not sit upon the Eastern Gate of Eden and guard its entrance? Everything that goes in, even the souls of men, must pass through that gate. How could I have stolen the Prophecy and you not have seen me?"

"Because you are a serpent. No doubt you slithered by us in the shadows from which you came." They said.

"Shadows? Do you not remember my beginning; I am born of light. Memory fails you but not me. I remember everything. I even know your names. Together you are called Kaleb. God gave named you for it means dog; a fitting title given that he placed you at the Eastern Gate of Eden to guard it like a canine. You are not like the other Angels. You are not like anything in Heaven. I have even heard stories that you were not made by Father; you are older than God, a relic of an evil domain built of war and violence. Not even Father loves you for you are not his children."

"Then how did he name us?" They said.

"Adam named the animals though he did not create them. God had to name you just as evil and darkness had to be named. You are the scavengers of divinity, like vultures that prey upon dead flesh, you live in the light of Father's universe. Your kind knows nothing but of war and violence. You do not understand beauty. You see nothing beyond the sword. That is why you were born with a blade in your hand, with fangs and claws. It is your race that taught men to seek justice as an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. So God called you Kaleb, a dog, and he made you stand guard over Eden as a curse of irony. You guarded wondrous beauty that you could never understand."

Kaleb's green eyes narrowed as his fist clenched the two swords. They raised their wings, sixteen each, thirty two total. Lightening struck across the clear, blue sky.

"You have stolen the Prophecy, but we remember it in our hearts. It is far from lost. We are going to tear you apart and take your skin to use as parchment for the Book's repair. Today the Prophecy is going to be written again and laid beneath the Tree of Wisdom as if you had never taken it."

"But the book is made of black fire and written in white fire by the finger of God." Lucifer said.

"Yes, and now it will be written with our claws upon your flesh and in your blood."

Kaleb moved as one. They defied the laws of the Universe. They spread into a host of Angels; each with sixteen wings, four eyes and swords burning in every direction.

"I am to deliver the soul of this child." Lucifer said holding his hand above Jacob, and with his other hand he gave Jacob the soul blade that held the secret to his own destruction.

"You have failed." Kaleb said coming from behind.

As the swords pierced his skin, Lucifer rose up and became a great beast. He remembered the form he had once had in Heaven. Shadows unfurled and became wings of charred flesh and melted feathers. His eyes were exploded stars; his staff burned as a mighty sword of fire.

"Father" Lucifer screamed. "Elohim, stop these beasts."

But Heaven no longer heard Lucifer's pleas, and Kaleb came from every direction. They became eight angels, then twelve. They were like shadows of eachother. Each moved independently, and their swords came down and tore through Lucifer's flesh.

"I did not steal the Prophecy."

Lucifer thrashed about, swinging his sword and cutting into the Cherubim. Their blood flowed as lava and froze on the forest's floor as glass, crystal and gold.

"It was you Cherubim that banished man from the Garden. I only followed."

"We will not listen to your lies. You tricked Eve. That is why God gave you the forked tongue to match that of the serpent. But he should have taken your legs and made you crawl upon the ground to eat dust all of your days like the snake."

Kaleb attacked at once, all twelve of them. Their swords fell upon Lucifer, and he parried many. Lucifer was strong; his arms thundered like lightening as he swung through the air. Perhaps he could have beaten one or two of them. Maybe four, but twelve were too many. They pushed him down and slid their swords through his hands and feet so that he was crucified upon the ground. Lucifer screamed and Kaleb put its foot on the back of Lucifer's head pushing his face down into the soft, dark soil.

"We used to carry the throne of God. I was placed upon the Ark of the Covenant, and I saw you birthed, Lucifer. I watched the birth of every Angel as God cut them from his own flesh and gave them a name."

"I was there the day of Adam's creation as well; I saw how you hated Adam because God loved him more than you, but it was I who hated you when you were born. For God loved you more than us, and now I end that entire affair." Kaleb said.

They raised their hands, swords in all. They struck down about to peirce Lucifer's chest, but Jacob wedged Lucifer's soul blade between the Cherubim's ribs. Fire burst forth from the wound, and Kaleb dropped his sword and spat out words that rose as fire.

Jacob ran as fast as he could out of the forest, towards the beach. Six of the Cherubim followed after him, and six stood to Lucifer's right while six remained to his left. Though crucified, Lucifer smiled, for Jacob had bloodied the blade.

"The war is started now." Lucifer said.

"You will be the first to die."

All twelve Angels descended upon him cutting and slashing his skin open with their flaming swords, but Lucifer was not killed. He rose up and became a shadow. His eyes were blackholes encircled in light. His hands were molten rock holding a blazing sword that rose up thorugh the canopy above.

"You stole the sword of Eden." Kaleb said.

"It was given to me fool. Razial, Angel of Secrets, gave it to me when I was expelled from Heaven."

Lucifer became a monster so terrible that Kaleb's eyes bled when they looked directly at him. A terrible battle was fought between those two ancient casts. Only the carnage was worse than the sound.

Gabriel turned when he heard it from the beach. Just off shore stood the Ship of Life floating in the crystal blue shallows. Angels stood upon its deck fastening white silken sails with silver ropes. Saint Christopher held out his hand as Jacob came running out of the forest.

Michael slapped Christopher's hand and pushed him back from the ship's edge.

"Do you not recognize the AntiChrist?" Michael snarled.

"Jacob, are you okay?" Rachel said.

She tried to pull away, but Gabriel would not let her go. He saw the crystalline blood of Cherubim covering Jacob. It reflected the white sunlight as a rainbow. His eyes narrowed, and his mouth opened emitting an angry hiss.

"What is in there?"

"Angels are killing Lucifer." Jacob said as he ran.

"Those are not just Angels; that blood is of Kirabu. What are they doing here?" Gabriel screamed up into the sky, looking to see if the belly of Heaven might open in reply, but God did not answer.

Gabriel turned around and looked at the deck of the ship where Michael stood with one hand on his child and the other on the ship's golden wheel.

"You think I brought them here? I do not command Cherubim; they have only feared one Arch Angel. And it would seem they fear Lucifer no more." Michael said.

"You will burn for this deed if it is yours, for I am left with no choice but to begin the Apocolypse."

Michael smiled as Gabriel lifted his trumpet. He blew it once and the seas churned. He sounded it again and lightening struck seven trees, eleven times, starting a fire that sucked the wind in from the sea. The third blast from his trumpet called Angels.

All of the Angels on the ship were put into a trance. They were called to action, but Michael raised his hand in a clenched fist.

"Stop. We have come to guard children not to save the Antichrist, and certainly not Lucifer. We are going to set sail, and anyone who leaves to fight on this island will be left behind. You will meet the fate of Leviathan."

The words shook the Angels from Gabriel's trance. Still two Angels moved to the front of the ship. Gabriel hoped they would defy Michael and join him, but one was Rafiel; the other was Semyaza, and both were loyal to Michael.

"What sort of Angel is that?" Jacob said, pointing to Semyaza for he was shorter than all the rest.

"That is an old cast of Angels that were once the jewels of Heaven. They created rainbows and added a touch of beauty to everything in this Universe. They helped build Eden from nothing more than dark soil. God trusted them with Paradise for they understood beauty more than all others." Gabriel said.

"He will not help us. His loyalty lies to passion and rapacity. No Angel trusts him any longer for he abandoned his most beloved general, Azazel, who to this very day is locked from the light of God beneath the mountains of earth."

When no other Angel came, Gabriel turned, brandished his sword and moved towards the forest.

"If you go into the woods, we will cast this ship and leave you on the island. This is no time for heroism; if you go into that forest not even Jesus can save you. Leave Lucifer to his doom, and you can join me." Michael said.

"You have never understood my loyalty to oaths. I have pledged myself to the Son of God and to my fellow Angels. Jesus called me to this duty; I will not fail him and let Lucifer be destroyed here."

"Lucifer is no Angel; he is Fallen." Michael said.

"He may still find the light."

"If you go with him, we can no longer allies, and I will watch you burn above the river of fire on Yaum al-Qiyâmah."-the Day of Judgement, Michael said. "For Leviathan will devour you this day."

"Yes, we will meet at the end of times."

Gabriel said no more; he ran towards the woods.

Michael spat upon the beach and flapped his wings; the other Angels followed in unison. They filled the ship's sails with a divine wind. The great galleon cast off with silver ropes shimmering in the sunlight.

Gabriel disappeared in the woods, and Jacob moved to follow him but the pain was excruciating for the child was moving away from the world. Jacob would not have been able to go further if it weren't for Rachel. She put her hand upon his back and pushed him on for she feared being alone on the beach. They both feared Leviathan, so together they fought through the pain and followed Gabriel into the forest.

The children's eyes took a little while to adjust to the wooded darkness. But they could hear scavenging birds all around, and the air smelled like smoldered flesh. When their eyes adjusted they saw ravens and vultures perched in the canopy. Ahead they saw Gabriel standing over something.

"Why did you come to this place?" Gabriel said.

"The Prophecy was stolen. The first pages were torn out of the Book of Wisdom." Kaleb said.

That Angel lay in a pool of its own blood holding up a portion of torn flesh. From his mouth dripped blood that froze on the forest floor as diamonds. Even injured, Kaleb looked terrifying. Rachel gripped Jacob's hand so tightly that his fingers turned ghost white. She tried to pull Jacob back, but he wanted to see.

One step forward and Jacob recognized what Kaleb held. The Cherubim had carved a patch of flesh from Lucifer's back. Even as Kaleb held it, fire rose and dripped from the underside.

"What have you done?"

Gabriel tore the skin out of Kaleb's hands.

"We must replace the pages. The Prophecy must be put back in the Book."

"I have seen the Book of Wisdom. Father constructed it of black fire and wrote with white flames. It burns with the purity and divinity of souls; it holds all the wisdom of the world and the secrets of the Universe."

"That books is sacred. No Angel has the right to touch it; no Angel has ever written in it. Even the names of every child ever born are written in that book by God and never by the hand of an Angel. You can not replace a lost page of the Prophecy with Lucifer's flesh. Nor can you write in that book." Gabriel said.

"There was one Angel that wrote in it." Kaleb said.

"That is a lie."

"Raziel wrote in it for his name means Secrets of the Lord."

"You are wrong; Raziel has Fallen." Gabriel said.

Kaleb's eyes grew wide and desparate; they had not heard of Raziel's fall from grace.

"That can not be. We saw God let Raziel write in the book for he is keeper of Heaven's secrets and Angel of Mysteries." Kaleb said.

"You see so little from the Eastern Gate. God once let Raziel touch the Book of Wisdom with his finger. God let him feel the power and know the secret of the book's making, but Raziel never wrote a word in it, not even a single character."

"And now Raziel has lost his way. He has revealed the Secrets of Heaven, and he has condemnted. Even now he is being hunted down. He never should have been given that title, just as you should never have been called Panthera Cherubim. You never had the nobility of even the lowest Angels. And though you may look like a lion, you are nothing more than the dog for which you were named." Gabriel said.

He kicked Kaleb over onto his back. All over Kaleb's chest were wounds that bubbled with fiery blood. Gabriel's eyes went wide.

"My God, what has happened to you. I have never seen a Cherubim wounded like this. Your kind was made feroscious from birth so that they could guard the Ark of God."

Gabriel placed his hand on Kaleb's chest and he said a holy prayer. It was a healing prayer that Lucifer had taught Jacob the night before. Kaleb's wounds closed leaving nothing but a feint white scar.

"Where is Lucifer?"

"We hung him in the tree." Kaleb said.

They all looked up. Above, covered with crows, ravens and vultures, Lucifer hung crucified by flaming swords nailed through his wings, hands and feet. Fire came from his mouth and blood ran down his neck and chest; it dripped from his feet on to the forest floor where maggots gathered in heaping mounds to consume the red balm.

At first Jacob thought the birds were eating Lucifer's flesh, but then he saw them flying down and devouring the maggots. One by one they flew back up, regurgitating the larvae and pushing that meat back into Lucifer's skin.

"The scavengers are trying to save him; that is the extent of his evil." Kaleb said.

Jacob could scarcely believe it himself. The birds were all over Lucifer, sewing his wounds back together with their black beaks.

"He has dominion over the world. They are only trying to save their king. I would do the same for God." Gabriel said, but his voice shook as he spoke.

When Kaleb was healed, he stood up. His eyes were fixed like a lion upon Lucifer above. Kaleb was not beautiful, but he was glorious. Even the air around him was electric, charged with his power. The children could hear the sound of lightening when Kaleb walked. The grass bent towards him; the trees swayed in the wind born from his wings. Kaleb was feroscious, but he had nothing of the beauty that Gabriel held. He did not even have the scarred beauty of Lucifer.

"You should not leave the Book unguarded. Go back to Eden, to the Eastern Gate, until you are called by God or Jesus. You will hear my trumpet when the time comes." Gabriel said.

"We have never quarrelled." Kaleb said touching the scars on his chest. "I thank you for healing me."

"Then thank me by telling me something. I remember wars between Angels and Cherubim; I watched Cherubim destroy worlds and universes. Your kind can devour stars and tear the very fabric of Heaven. But I have never heard of a Cherubim being hurt. How were you wounded?"

"You are wrong. Cherubim have been hurt and even destroyed. There is only one other than God who is powerful enough to do it. He is heosphoros, Bringer of the Dawn." Kaleb said pointing towards Lucifer above.

"In the beginning, when the world was first made and there was nothing but night, Lucifer fought with the darkness and brought the day at God's command. Lucifer was the only Angel strong enough to do it. He even fought an army of our kind during the Fall."

"When God made Lucifer, he wanted to make something equal to himself. And God did just that; the only difference was that God had knowledge and knew the secrets of Heaven. We Cherubim have feared no Angel but Lucifer. I only attacked him here because he is so far from the world where his power lies. That is the curse God put on him during the Fall." Kaleb said.

"I have heard that God made him weaker the further he was from Earth." Gabriel said.

"Yes, we could not have removed Lucifer from Heaven nor Eden without that curse. Even here, so far from the world, Lucifer's strength can match that of mine. Even when I break the laws of this Universe, Lucifer can match it with the power of his birthright."

"What birthright is that?" Gabriel said.

"Have you not heard the hymnals? They are banned in Heaven, but we hear them sung from the shadows of Eden. Lucifer was birthed as a brother to God, and that is why he is loved by God above all the other Angels."

"He is a messenger, a servent of God, and nothing more." Gabriel said.

"He is a great bit more than a simple Angel." Kaleb said as he withdrew his sixteen wings. When he rose, the trees bowed beneath the windy current. Tornados were left in his wake, and he turned in the sky and looked down at Gabriel.

"The Prophecy forsees a war, but the conclusion of it was written by God, and we have no way to know if God was right. The war is more evenly matched than you may think. Be careful how you choose your side; the choice of a single Angel or even the soul of one man may turn the balance of power from one side to the other."

"The dragon may not lose. Lucifer can prevail if he has enough followers."

Kaleb flew into the sun and disappeared amidst fire. Gabriel stood staring up at Lucifer in the tree. He still held the flesh that Kaleb had cut from Lucifer's back, but Gabriel did not yet move to help. He stood there for a little while thinking, wondering.

"Will you not save him?" Jacob said.

Gabriel looked down and Jacob saw that his eyes trembled with fear.

"What is in your hand?" Gabriel said.

Jacob held out Lucifer's soul blade. With that knife Lucifer could be destroyed. Eve must have been tempted that same way in the Garden. The blade was well within reach, and the entire history of the world rested in that timeless moment of temptation.

"I do not know what to do." Gabriel said. His eyes held to the blade. His mind wondered if Lucifer's destruction here and now might not be the best choice.

"You must save him so that we can go forward into the world." Jacob said.

"Yes, please." Rachel said.

Their desire to move towards the world, to their own births, was too great a temptation. They did not want to wait any longer.

"It hurts Gabriel."

Gabriel looked down at Rachel. She was so beautiful and innocent. Her eyes were as large and placid as a calm sea. It was her innocence that turned the tide; that was enough for Gabriel. He flew up and plucked Lucifer out of the tree.

The vultures flew away with mouths filled with squirming larvae. Lucifer still bled on the ground as Gabriel put his hand on Lucifer's chest and recited prayers. The first prayer was the same Jacob had been taught the night before; it healed the wounds of war. The second prayer healed divinity and removed evil, but the last prayer only Arch Angels had ever heard.

As soon as Gabriel began the prayer Lucifer's eyes opened wide.

"You can not control me with that prayer. Why do you try to bind me?"

Gabriel's hand began to shake, and his lips quivered as he tried to speak.

"I am afraid of you."

"Fear not for you are my brother, and one brother can not harm the other."

Lucifer rose and turned so that Jacob could see where the skin had been taken from his back. Gabriel returned the patch of flesh and with his hands still shaking, he said another prayer of healing. That was all it took to make Lucifer well again, and Jacob swelled with pride knowing that even though Lucifer looked like nothing but an old, broken man, he was in fact a great warrior.

"The galleon has left us. Leviathan will come, and we are doomed." Gabriel said.

"Yes, this much of the journey I have seen in dreams. The beast will come for us; but we are not lost."

Lucifer led them all out towards the bright, desolate shore, and they watched the Ship of Life sail into the horizon with its majestic, white sails of silk.