Read In Exile (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book III) Online
Authors: John J Higgins
“They did not have fire the last time I was down here,” Cerebriel responded, surprised as well.
“Either Luciferael and his group gave fire to the Humans or your friend Jarahmael did. Whoever did this is the one who has access to the Books.” Michael turned, looking off into the distance. “Now we need to see if we can find Jarahmael as well while we are down here.”
“Yes, my lord,” Cerebriel responded. Could it be possible that Jarahmael would have access to the Books? Could he have taken them from the Seventh Heaven? Cerebriel did not know enough about Jarahmael's movements during the rebellion. He did know that Jarahmael was behind the rebel Angel lines for a good portion of the rebellion. But why would Jarahmael conceal that he had the Books from him, or Michael, or the Almighty? No, it had to be Luciferael or someone from his camp who had access to the Books.
Michael continued, “Let’s search the neighboring area for caves and entrances that could lead to Luciferael's new realm. The Almighty referred to the region as Hades and Hell. From my understanding, Hades will be where Adam and Eve's souls go after their bodies die. The Almighty expects that's what will happen to the souls of their descendants as well. Hell is to be Luciferael’s private world. The Almighty has told me there is much more to that, but He will tell me when the time is right.”
Cerebriel and his squad began flying from one potential location to another that could be an entrance to the Underworld. They also kept their eye out in case Luciferael or some of the other rebel Angels were on the surface of the Earth, and where they could capture them.
They spent that whole day looking. But they were unable to locate the entranceway to Hell, nor did they find Luciferael, nor Jarahmael, nor the Book of Creation, nor the Book of Life. Exhausted from the search, they returned back into the Heavens, Cerebriel saddened that his friend was missing and banned from the Heavens.
AN AGREEMENT
Lillith was sitting in one of the rooms of Luciferael’s palace in the Seventh Pit of Hell, eating a piece of fruit from a branch of the Tree of Life that she had planted in the corner of the room. As good as the fruit tasted, it reminded her of her home and made her sad. Luciferael’s palace was not a place she liked, magnificent in its own way with the colored walls and beautifully encrusted with those shiny rocks called diamonds. Even though the temperature in the Underworld became more elevated the deeper one went, Luciferael’s palace remained cool and vibrant, not humid and stuffy hot as the outside of the Seventh Pit of Hell. That was one of the reasons Lillith remained in the palace.
There was some ruffling of Archangels’ wings, a distinct sound because their wings were larger and more full-length than the wings of the other species of Angels. As Lillith looked up to see who it was that had arrived, Luciferael strode into the room, his wings tucking along the sides of his back as he entered, with Beelzebael a few steps behind.
“Good morning Lillith,” Luciferael said as he walked up to the raised platform that held one of his thrones and sat upon it. Beelzebael nodded to her in greeting as he walked past to one of the lower chairs that sat on the right side of Luciferael.
“Good morning Luciferael and Beelzebael,” she said as she got up and curtsied before them. She was not able to move as easily as before, as her pregnancy was advancing along and she could feel her slighty expanded belly.
“How have you been feeling?” Luciferael asked her, staring intently at her as though he was reading her mind.
“Not so well, my lord Luciferael.”
“Is it because of your physical condition?” Luciferael asked, all the while not caring much about the new life within her. He was having enough trouble getting rid of the Humans and Simians that were already on the planet, much less new ones, and immortal because of their parentage at that!
“Yes, in part, my lord. But I also need sunshine and air, water, and other creatures to keep me company!” Lillith exclaimed.
“Not to fret, Lillith. I have a proposition for you,” Luciferael said, watching her reaction closely.
“What is your proposal, lord Luciferael?” she asked.
“I will have my Angels build you a palace that stretches from the ceiling of the Underworld to the surface of the Earth where you can go enjoy those things. I will have them build it so it is not easily detected by the Almighty and the loyal Angels, but you have to remember to be careful to stay hidden as they will destroy you if they find you!”
“That would be wonderful, my lord,” she answered, smiling with joy at the prospect of having access to the world outside of the Underworld.
“There are some other conditions though.”
“What would they be, my lord?” Lillith asked, now looking worried about what she would have to give up so she could have her baby and give it a safe life.
“Not much really, Lillith. I will let you have full access to the Earth for the next seven years so you can bear and begin to raise your child.”
“What happens after the first seven years, my lord?” she asked.
“After the first seven years, you must return here to the Underworld to live,” Luciferael said.
“Forever?” she asked.
“Yes, but only until we reconquer the Heavens,” Luciferael answered. “Then you would have total freedom throughout the Universe.”
Luciferael turned to Beelzebael who was seated below him. “Why don’t you explain the other term, Beelzebael?”
Beelzebael explained, “Oh and one other term, just a slight inconvenience for you. It does seem that you do well overall being pregnant, you know, with child. We would require that you give all of the members of the Auxilium offspring, just as you are doing for Jarahmael.”
Lillith stayed silent in thought. Then she asked, “And what if I refuse?”
“Well, in the most simple form, you shall not be allowed back up on the surface of the Earth ever again. And the child you bear will be destroyed.”
“But my child is immortal, my lord Beelzebael. You cannot change that!”
“Actually we can, Lillith. We have given this a great deal of thought. You may not know this, but we were taught how to create stars and planets in the beginning of the Creation. That required that we travel to the far reaches of the universe. Those little twinkling lights you see at night from the skies on the Earth? Well, we can travel there, Lillith. The stars are at very great distances from the Underworld and the Earth. Even from the Heavens.” Beelzebael then stood up from his chair and by circling his arms created a model of the solar system and universe that allowed Lillith to see with her own eyes the distances and things he was talking about. Beelzebael then looked over his shoulder at Luciferael to make sure his speech and demonstration were meeting with his approval. Luciferael nodded and Beelzebael continued.
“And when you get close to each of those twinkling lights they are much, much larger than the sun that rises over the Earth and provides it with both light and warmth. We would take your child to the stars that are the furthest out from the Earth and fling the child into the churning mass of heat that makes up these stars and gives off all that light and heat. So even if your child’s flesh was not totally destroyed, the child would be tormented forever in the cauldron of burning gases, with no means of escape. So yes, for all practical purposes your child would be destroyed.”
Lillith stood there looking at the smaller scale stars that were floating around the model Beelzebael created out of thin air and hung her head down as the threat sunk in. Tears began to fall off her face onto the floor below.
Luciferael and Beelzebael smiled, due in part to the genius of Luciferael’s plan and in other part due to their feeling of revenge aimed at the Humans and the effect it would have one day on Jarahmael the traitor.
Eventually Lillith raised her head the stream of tears still flowing off her face. “I see I have no other choice, so for the sake of my unborn child I will agree.”
“Wonderful!” Luciferael said, hopping off his raised chair, embracing Lillith and holding her in the air for a moment.
“Now to seal the agreement. Beelzebael, will you do the honors?”
“Certainly, my lord,” Beelzebael answered as he pulled out a scroll made of a piece of sheep’s skin that was tanned on one side with writing, the other side still padded with the sheep’s wool. Drawing out his swords, he then made a slash across Lillith’s hand and had her place her blood on one part of the scroll, while Luciferael slashed a part of his own hand and had some of his inner light energy drip onto the scroll. Some of Lillith’s tears dropped down and stained the scroll as well.
“It is done, my lord,” Beelzebael said as he rolled up the scroll and placed it back into his tunic.
“So that is it, my lord Luciferael?” Lillith asked as she closed her hand over her wound.
“Almost, come here let see your hand,” Luciferael said as he reached out for her hand. He clasped her hand within his two hands and her wound healed instantaneously, leaving a scar nonetheless.
He then pulled her closer and ignoring her tears placed his hand behind her head, looking into her eyes, hypnotizing her, as he blocked this whole discussion from her conscious mind. He buried it for the present time, knowing it would rise again to the surface at his command.
KEEPING WATCH
Jarahmael knew that his absence from the Heavens would be a cause for concern. He was not sure whether Michael and the rest of the loyal Archangels would be more concerned because he violated the Almighty’s command by having direct contact with the Humans, or because he was the thief who had stolen the Almighty’s Books revealed by his actions in teaching the Humans secrets that were only contained in the Book of Creation, such as the instructions for making fire.
In either event, he could not return to his home in the Heavens and would have to make do here on the Earth for now. Having no clue as to where the entrance to Hades or Hell were, Jarahmael thought it best to keep his eyes out for where Michael went to look for him. Perhaps Michael knew where the entranceway was to Hell and would go there himself or perhaps post a loyal Angel guard to watch for Jarahmael’s arrival.
Jarahmael thought Michael would start searching near Adam and Eve’s cave so he turned himself invisible and nestled himself into a tree on the side of the mountain nearby, and watched for the appearance of Michael or the others.
They will have to come see how Adam and Eve are faring,
he thought.
Or have to investigate, if the smoke from the fires used by the Humans are rising up into the Heavens.
At some point, Jarahmael knew that the loyal Angels and the Almighty would discover that the Book of Creation and the Book of Life were missing. It would not take much for them to realize that it must have been Jarahmael who had taken the Books, as he had used some of that knowledge to teach the Humans how to create fire and how to hunt, farm and gather food.
Later that morning, Jarahmael saw Cerebriel and Michael rest upon a cloud that floated by the cave of Adam and Eve. They were still keeping their distance and not interacting with the Humans. If any set of circumstances would have been just cause to break the Almighty’s rule of non-interference with the Humans, it should have been the loyal Angels looking for him. They could easily ask them where they learned to create fire. Or more justly, interact with the Humans and tell them the truth, correcting the lies that Luciferael had told them. But as Jarahmael suspected, the Almighty’s rule of non-interference remained in place, confirming that he had made the right choice by not returning to the Heavens.
It was good to see his friend Cerebriel safe on the cloud with the head of the loyal Archangels, Michael. That meant that Cerebriel was not held accountable for Jarahmael’s actions in violating the rule of non-interference. Jarahmael was happy his friend would be all right, but saddened just the same that they would not be able to talk again. The Universe certainly had become a mess in such a short period of time.