Unholy Empire: Chronicles of the Host, Vol 2: Chronicles of the Host, Book 2

by D. Brian Shafer

  Job’s wife turned to greet her husband. She looked at him, at first thinking the sun was playing with her eyes. She rubbed them and looked again at Job.

  “Woman, what is the matter with you?” asked Job.

  His wife suddenly began to scream hysterically, while the devils rolled with laughter. Job looked at his arms and noticed boils beginning to fester up right in front of his eyes. He felt them coming up everywhere from his face down to his ankles. His wife wouldn’t even look at him.

  By now Lucifer had arrived with Kara and a few other higher-ranking demons. They watched the progress with great interest—and with great hope. Lucifer had staked a good measure of his pride on the collapse of Job’s integrity. He ordered the noisy devils away from the house and concentrated on the final assault on Job.

  “I think now, Kara,” said Lucifer.

  Kara nodded, walked over to Job, and began to speak into his mind that God had truly abandoned him. Whispering directly into Job’s ears, Kara told Job what a fool he had been for trusting in a God who had thrown him over, destroyed his family, ruined his commerce, and now attacked his body. Kara was better at the art of accusation than any other angel—apart from Lucifer, naturally.

  Job moved to an old fire pit, which only a week earlier he had used as a place of sacrifice to the Lord in the presence of his now dead children. Lucifer watched at first with curiosity, and then with growing trepidation as Job gathered some ashes and began throwing them all over his body. He covered himself from head to toe with the sooty remains, and then sat down and began to scrape the boils with pieces of broken pottery. Kara and some of the others began to laugh at the sight of dirty Job scraping his wounds.

  By now Michael had arrived with several angels, all of whom watched the scene in shame. Lucifer looked at Michael with a smirk.

  “Well, archangel, I always did say that humans were a dirty lot.”

  Several of Lucifer’s angels started laughing.

  Before Michael could answer, Job’s wife came out in a sobbing rage, one of Kara’s devils neatly grasping her head in a tight, wrench-like grip. She was through with it. She had given up. The devil, a spirit of discouragement, had done his job well, and she had succumbed. She was amazed and further enraged at the spectacle of Job sitting in ashes and scraping the boils with shards of pottery.

  “Are you still holding on to your integrity?” she said angrily. “Sitting here in ashes and mourning? Your God has abandoned you! Can’t you see that?”

  The devil grasping her head whispered into her mind the words, “Curse God!”

  She immediately blurted out hysterically, “Why don’t you curse God and die?”

  Job looked up at her for a moment as all of the angels awaited his reply. Lucifer’s gamble depended on the next few words. Job lifted his eyes and said, “You are talking like a foolish woman! Shall we accept only the good things from God and not the bad? Blessed be the name of the Lord!”

  Chronicles of the Host

  Failed Gambit

  Much to Lucifer’s surprise, as well as his rage, Job proved on that day that humans are indeed quite capable of maintaining a faithful choice even in the most pressing of circumstances. Job maintained his integrity, even though a great debate with his friends, who, though well-intentioned, misunderstood completely the nature of Job’s condition.

  Our enemy, though discouraged in his failed attempt at disgracing the Lord through Job, continued as before, wreaking havoc upon mankind in general, and on Abram’s family in particular. But the Lord reaffirmed His covenant with Abram, and because of Abram’s belief, the Most High accredited him with righteousness, something that we angels thought impossible for any man. Our enemies attempted to spoil the sacrifices at this solemn occasion, but the Spirit of the Lord made a covenant with Himself and affirmed Abram’s destiny as a father of multitudes. And with the covenant came a dreadful prophecy:

  “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions”

  What this meant for the humans seemed painfully clear… what it meant for our wicked enemy was something altogether unfathomable…

  CHAPTER 10

  “This is dangerous faith, my brethren

  “Abram grows older,” said Pellecus. “Look at him.”

  “Pitiful wretch,” agreed Kara. “How can he possibly hope to have a child at his age? The promise of the Most High grows as old as he!”

  Several of the angels in the group laughed at Kara’s remark. They watched as Abram opened a flap on his tent. He stood gazing on the horizon where his men tended the flocks, which were being moved to water. Even though Abram was an old man now, he still loved the nomadic life of a herdsman. He would never admit that to Sarai, however; she preferred a more settled lifestyle. From within the tent he could hear her snapping at one of the servants.

  “What a delight marriage must be,” said Kara. “Especially when one is married to so vocal a woman as Sarai.”

  The others laughed.

  Several holy angels encamped about the area stood silent sentry. Jeering devils tried to provoke them but to no avail.

  “Come now, that was humorous,” said Kara to one of the angels who stood beside Sarai’s tent. He looked back at Kara but made no voice. “War certainly brings the worst out of the Host, doesn’t it? I recall in Heaven you had a marvelous sense of humor, Jakkar.”

  The angel remained silent and resolute.

  “I should think that he would move if one of us attempted to enter the tent,” said Rugio, who was inspecting his ever-present legion that dogged Abram night and day. Jakkar eyed Rugio and made a slight movement toward the sword in his belt.

  “There, you see,” Rugio laughed loudly. “It does move!”

  Another harsh word from within the tent pierced the air—this time directed at Abram, who had gone in to speak to his wife. The devils were howling with laughter at Abram’s predicament.

  “We may not have to defeat Abram,” said Pellecus. “Perhaps his woman shall destroy him for us!”

  “Perhaps she will,” said Lucifer, who had appeared suddenly in the camp.

  Upon his appearance the holy angels heightened their alert. Within seconds several more angels swept in from Heaven and surrounded the tent of Abram and Sarai. Lucifer watched the commotion caused by his arrival.

  “You know, the more I am around the angels of the Most High the more important I feel!” he said.

  His angels laughed loudly.

  “Too bad Michael isn’t here to witness such tactical efficiency. I’m sure he would be proud!”

  The sound of a piece of pottery crashing inside the tent was followed by Abram’s frustrated exit. Sarai stuck her head out of the tent and screamed after him.

  “I tell you I cannot live like this anymore,” she said. “I am too old to have a child.” She dropped her head and began sobbing. “The Lord has kept me from having children! But without a child we will have nothing. Nothing!” She disappeared back into the tent, weeping.

  Sarai was an attractive woman, even though she was approaching 80 years of age. True, she had lost the youthful beauty of earlier years, but she was still quite desirable. Several times in their married life other men had looked at her with eager eyes, and Abram was aware of their attention toward her. She disappeared back into the tent and wept.

  Lucifer turned to greet his demons and thanked them for assembling as he had requested. When they had vacated the area for a more secluded place of meeting, he called them to order and began speaking.

  “It is, I am discovering, the nature of warfare to try different tactics, different strategies, until a proper and successful ploy can be realized,” he said. “The reason I had you assemble in Abram’s camp was to make observation. When faced with a formidable enemy, it is wise to make note of him.” He turned to various members of
the War Council and asked them,” What did you observe this day?”

  The Council looked around at each other for a moment. Some offered hopeful comments about the fact that no heir had been born to Abram. Others mentioned that the pair of humans were becoming older and would soon be altogether too old to have children. One remarked on Abram’s unsettled nature.

  “I see a different picture than my colleagues,” said Pellecus, who stood to speak. “I see Abram, recently visited by the Lord in dramatic covenant. I see a man, who though discouraged at times, is propelled by an inner hope that remains steadfast—Abram is a man of faith!”

  “Precisely,” said Lucifer. “Abram is a man of faith. I suspect there isn’t much that we can do to shake that hope. It has become a part of him. The Lord has even declared him righteous because of his belief!”

  Lucifer looked forlornly at the group.

  “This is dangerous faith, my brethren. Faith such as this cannot be discouraged…but it can be distracted!”

  “Distracted?” asked Kara. “In what way?”

  “Kara, you should know as well as any about distracting humans,” said Lucifer. “You have done a remarkable job in Egypt setting up a complete cosmology of gods and goddesses for those deluded people to waste their faith upon.”

  Kara beamed with pride.

  “So it is with Abram,” continued Lucifer. “If we learned anything in Eden it was that women have a definite need for security…for family. Eve wanted wisdom for A’dam and herself and went to the greatest lengths to obtain it. Her simple-minded husband went right along with it in order to appease her.”

  He laughed aloud, remembering the looks on A’dam’s and Eve’s faces after they realized what had happened.

  “Do you remember how A’dam walked into that meadow where the trees stood and, rather than rebuke his wife for breaking the law, broke it with her?”

  “Yes, lord,” said Pellecus. “That was a great day!”

  “I suspect,” said Lucifer, “that in Sarai’s distress is great potential as well.

  “Yes,” admitted Pellecus. “Unfortunately we have no serpent here.”

  “Haven’t we?” asked Lucifer slyly.

  Sarai stirred the pot that bubbled with the savory mutton Abram loved so well. As she hummed to herself, she thought about how far she had come in her life. Ur seemed like another world now. Her husband was a good man, but was lost in his devotion to a God who seemed at times distant to Sarai—especially in this matter of a son.

  There it was again. She couldn’t make it more than a few minutes in any day without thinking of the promised son. How cruel was a God who made a promise so long ago and never made good on it. She watched her body getting older—sometimes she thought she was seeing herself age before her very eyes! It wasn’t that she blamed Abram—but what god or devil had enticed him to believe that he would have a child in his old age? She even would have settled for Eliezer, their chief servant, to become their heir. But Abram said the Lord had promised that they would indeed have a son of their own. And so they waited.

  The voices of some of the women servants in the camp came to Sarai’s ears from the brook where they were washing. If only she were young again—like one of them. Like Hagar, her favorite. Yes, if she were young again, like Hagar, she would surely bear a son to Abram. She stared longingly in the direction of the women.

  “If only you had a second chance,” came a voice into her mind. “Look at all of those wonderful young women. Perhaps Abram no longer finds you desirable…”

  Sarai shook off the thought and tried to get back to her preparation of Abram’s dinner. She stirred the meat, then cast a glance once more in the direction of the chattering younger women.

  Kara stood next to her, demonstrating to a group of demons the technique for suggesting to humans in order to elicit some sort of choice. Lucifer watched from a distance as well.

  “Notice that the holy angels cannot interfere when a human is open to suggestion. Rules of the game,” he smirked.

  Kara indicated several holy angels who stood by witnessing the spectacle, unable to intervene unless Sarai’s life was threatened. They would move in an instant should Sarai call upon the Lord in any way.

  “As you said to Abram, the Lord has abandoned your womb. If a son is not born to Abram there will be no heir…no heritage.”

  Sarai wiped away a tear from her eye. She stood up as the women came by on their way around the camp. One by one they filed by. Only Hagar came to her and bowed to her mistress.

  Sarai looked at Hagar, who noticed her stares.

  “Is something the matter, lady?” asked Hagar. “No,” said Sarai, “It is nothing. I was only noticing how beautiful you are. Egyptian women certainly are lovely.” “Thank you, lady,” said Hagar, a bit perplexed. She then continued on her way and entered Sarai’s tent to make it ready for the evening.

  Of course! Hagar! Kara shot a glance at Lucifer, who nodded in agreement.

  Sarai watched as Hagar disappeared in the tent.

  “Hagar would make a lovely mother,” Kara began, speaking into Sarai’s mind. “If only you were young again like she is. But you will never be young again. And the Lord has abandoned your dreams for a son of your own.”

  Sarai began to weep again as Kara continued. “Why should your dreams be shattered by a God who plays games with your life? He may not give you a child, but does that mean one cannot be born to Abram? If you cannot have a child, why not let your favorite servant bear a child for you?”

  What was she thinking? Sarai shook herself and tried to imagine her husband and Hagar having a child together. Of course it would be of Abram’s house and therefore could become his legitimate heir. But Abram would never go for such an idea. He still was holding on to the promise of his God. She shook herself.

  “I must give up such foolishness,” she said aloud, and tried to get back to the business of preparing food. But Kara was unrelenting.

  “And give up what might be your last hope to have a son?” he purred.

  She stared ahead in fixed thought, with a blank look on her face. Kara weighed in on her, steadily pouring forth words of desperation. She suddenly dropped the utensil in her hand and called out, “Abram! Abram!”

  Crispin had just completed a lecture at the Academy. How he loved his role as a teacher to the Host. He watched as the final student left the large hall where he held sway as one of the greatest instructors in Heaven. As he made his way back through the room he noticed a group of angels just outside, chattering animatedly about something.

  “What’s this?” asked Crispin. “What is all the jabbering about?”

  “The woman is with child,” said one of the angels. “Sarai has finally conceived!”

  “No, no, you have it wrong,” said another. “It is not Sarai who carries the child of Abram. It is her handmaid, Hagar.”

  “Hagar?” repeated an astonished Crispin. “Incredible!”

  “Even more than incredible, Crispin,” said Gabriel, whose entrance into the conversation broke up the little impromptu meeting in the hallway. The angels quickly dispersed. Gabriel watched as they headed off in different directions and then continued.

  “To produce the child of promise,” said Gabriel, with an exasperated look. “When will these humans ever learn to trust in the Lord?”

  “When will we ever learn not to underestimate the cleverness of our opponent?” said Crispin. “A very subtle ploy on the part of Lucifer. I must admit it makes sense—at least from his vantage.”

  “How so, teacher?” asked Gabriel.

  Crispin motioned Gabriel to follow him. They continued down the hallway toward Crispin’s office, speaking as they walked through the many passages that made up the bowels of the Academy. Arriving in Crispin’s quarters, they sat down together.

  “What is it that Lucifer fears more than anything else?” Crispin began.

  “Michael perhaps,” Gabriel smiled. “His own angels turning on him…”

 
“You miss the point, archangel,” Crispin responded. “More than Michael, more than his own wretched devils, Lucifer fears the fulfillment of the prophecy pronounced at Eden. He fears the one who will avenge the Most High for A’dam’s transgression.” He leaned back in his large chair. “And he will do anything to prevent it from happening.”

  “So how does Abram’s having a child by Hagar prevent this?” Gabriel asked. “Is it not an issue of Abram and therefore a legitimate contender for the prophecy?”

  “An issue of Abram, yes,” agreed Crispin. “A legitimate heir, no. Like I said, it is a masterful stroke on Lucifer’s part.”

  “So what is his game?” asked Gabriel.

  “I’m not altogether sure,” said Crispin. “But something tells me he is playing it quite well.”

  Hagar had never been happier. Not only was she the favorite female servant in the great house of Abram, but she was carrying the future heir of Abram’s possessions. She felt her importance for the first time in her life. Many of the other servants related differently to her, addressing her now in terms more appropriate for a mistress of a household rather than a handmaiden. Not that it bothered Hagar. She had never been respected as a person of any worth. Now she was second only to Sarai—and in some ways she felt even more significant.

  Several devils who had been assigned to Hagar watched as she walked through the camp near Hebron. Amused at her newfound pride, they enjoyed watching the sniping and gossip that was beginning to tear apart the community underneath the surface. She had even begun ordering some of the other servants about as if she were a great lady herself.

  “What a pitiful display of human pride,” said one of the devils, a spirit of discord, whose specialty was inciting bitter feelings among humans. “She actually thinks that she has a reason to be haughty among her peers.”

  “It amazes me how quickly humans, given the proper motivation, will turn on each other” agreed the other, who was a gossipy spirit. They had been working to divide the camp and cause a rift in fellowship between Sarai and Hagar. Their poison had in fact been working, and Sarai had begun recently to develop hard feelings toward Hagar. As they spoke Kara and Tinius came into the camp, gliding in from the east.