by Andrew Gille
Gabriel’s eyebrows raised and he squinted as he looked ahead at the sun coming through the columns, “I am no warrior, Michael, I had surprise and luck on my side with Machariel, he would defeat me in a one-on-one duel, you’ve done much better against him. Raphael would not have been any more successful than you have been and he is needed here in Paradisio. Metatron is powerful yes, but not a military strategist. No, you, you are the sole one of us fit for this mission,” Gabriel replied.
“If that is the case, we are in a dire state Gabriel. Both Lucifer and Machariel are not more than a few battles from having the ability to stage an invasion of Paradisio. I have prayed for the answer on how to stop them, and my prayers go unanswered, and prayer is the only method by which he allows me to talk to him and he offers no response. He offers nothing, I am alone in this battle, and I have received no help from him it is as if he has set me up for failure and wishes Lucifer to be victorious,” Michael said frustratedly.
“I can assure that is not the case Michael, Os would not have pitted you against the Arch-Seraph had he wanted him to be victorious. He does not set you up for failure,” Gabriel stated calmly.
“Then why does he put me in this situation and ignore my pleas to be relieved of these duties, why does he give me no answers when I beg for answers as to how to defeat him, why upon the battlefield are we either obliterated or out strategized by him and Machariel?”
“He does not answer you because you do not seek what is required for victory Michael,” Gabriel again spoke in a calm voice.
“What exactly do you feel is required for victory Gabriel, everything I’ve asked for, and it has fallen on deaf ears. I asked to be relieved, for a more qualified angel to replace me, his answer was, ’No.’ I asked for answers as to how we could defeat Lucifer, his answer was ’no.’ I asked for victory, and again he answered emphatically, ’no.’ Right now morale amongst my troops is low, and so many of them have defected to Lucifer’s side that we cannot be sure who is loyal and who is an agent of Lucifer as we go into battle. The soldiers themselves call for my removal. If Lucifer marches on The City of God, I fear that you and I may be the only ones standing against them.”
“That’s not true, I can think of at least two dozen angels that would not join him,” Gabriel said, again smirking.
“Once again, I fail to see how you can jest at a time like this,” Michael snarled.
Gabriel stopped smiling, and the two walked in silence for a brief period as Gabriel gathered his thoughts.
“Everything you’ve said is true, your troops are calling for your ouster, morale is low, and your inability to lead our armies to victory have sent countless angels to Lucifer’s side because of anger and fear about staying loyal to Os. You, yourself, seem resigned to defeat, you may just want to think about joining Lucifer as well with the mindset you’re bringing. It is no wonder loyal angels join Lucifer when this is the leader they have to look to,” Gabriel stated.
“How else should I view the situation, Gabriel? What do I have in which to take solace? My prayers go unanswered, the entire situation seems lost, and everything I’ve done has failed, why should I have anything other than the thoughts I have?” Michael said now yelling at Gabriel.
Gabriel became uncharacteristically animated as he answered the shouts of his fellow angel, “You should take solace in the fact that Os has chosen you. Os asks you to be a warrior, this is the purpose for which he has prepared you. Something within you makes you the best for this task. Otherwise, he would not have chosen you. You have asked him to remove you from the position he has put you in. What you should ask him for is the strength to do what is necessary, the strength to continue on in the face of defeat and the strength to lead when all others feel that you will fail. You have asked him to give you strategies for defeating Lucifer, but you did not ask for the insight and wisdom to plan these strategies yourself. You have asked for victory, but you did not ask for what was necessary to ensure victory. Yes, morale and confidence are low, your soldiers feel you will fail, but it is you that must have confidence in yourself when all others doubt you, you that must run into the battle when all others are running away. Os doesn’t answer you because you are doing everything you can to circumvent his plan, ask him to give you strength, to give you wisdom, to give you courage and then do everything you can yourself to succeed. Os is not going to do this for you. This battle may end in the streets of The City of God, you must prepare yourself for that, however until Lucifer has defeated Os, Shalos, and Entera and sits upon the throne of Elysian Palace, it is not lost.”
Only the steps of their sandals made any noise as they continued down the hall. Michael had no answers to Gabriel’s words. Gabriel was right, this was in his hands, it was his responsibility to stop Lucifer and Machariel. Through his indignance and self-pity, he’d allowed Lucifer to gain the upper hand. His troops had seen his self-defeating attitude, and Michael had caused the defection of many to Lucifer’s side through his own selfish behavior. He would need to change, he would need to ask Os for the strength and wisdom Gabriel spoke of, and he would need to ask forgiveness for allowing the rebellion to flourish because of his own fear and doubt.
The final columns of the hall opened onto a giant veranda, Gabriel and Michael stood overlooking the vast beauty of Arcadia as the setting sun cast its golden rays on the alabaster buildings of the city.
“I understand Gabriel, yes, you’re correct, I must leave now,” Michael stated stoically.
“Yes, you must. Go then,” Gabriel said nodding to Michael.
Michael spread his wings and leaped off the balcony, Gabriel watched him as enveloped himself in a shield orb and took off Northwest toward The City of God. Gabriel leaned on the railing of the gallery and once again the smile came back to his face.
At Elysian Palace, the seraphim once again directed Michael to the meditation room, his usual place of prayer. He knelt before the altar in the room as he always did and bowed his head and spoke the words of a prayer.
“Forgive me my failings father, forgive me my doubts and my fears. Many times I had knelt before you at this altar and spoke of defeat and self-pity. For this, I beg thy absolution. Now, I come to you, and I ask you to prepareth my body for war and give me the strength to stand before thy enemies and bring them to their knees before you. Praise be you, my rock who trains me for war and gives me knowledge for battle, guide my hands O Lord, make my sword strike true, crush their armor and pierce their shields. Lead your true followers to victory through me and give me courage and strength to deliver them from the threat of thy enemies. Make my flesh impervious to pain, make my bones like Ozielian Steel, make my blood run cold in battle. Lead us to victory and let us dwell in the glory of your heaven forever and ever. Amen”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Victories at Azura and Oziel City
Their victories had been total and complete, they’d come swiftly, and now they were on the verge of controlling half of Heaven. With their acquisition of the two most important industrial sites in all of Heaven, they now solidified their position considerably.
Machenrauch looked to the coming battle in Virgos, he worked through the problems of the assault in his mind. The city sat in a lush forest almost like Machenrauch’s garden and was walled to keep the numerous wild animals present in the area, from wandering the city streets. This was more for the animals’ protection, and Machenrauch certainly approved of such a wall, however, Michael’s forces had learned how to negate the advantage of the speed and precise landing of their conveyance spells here in Oziel City with their caltrops and other implements that filled the open spaces they needed to land their armies. They would no doubt employ the same tactics in Virgos. Oziel City sat on a rocky plane, and the diamond mines were bored into the rocky hills. Breaching the wall was their only hope. He would need to rely on faith in the tools of ancient legend to win the battle.
The mine in Azura would ensure that they had an endless supply of their most effective secr
et weapon and that they controlled the flow of these items. Even if Os’ angels figured out how they were neutralizing their allies from the battlefield, the rebels could cut off the supply of Azurian Crystals and ensure that only they controlled these precious resources. Now the rebel angels had unlimited access to the crystals that were their greatest weapon and had sufficient supplies to trap almost the entirety of Heaven within these crystalline prisons.
The Oziel Diamond Mines gave them the wealth they needed to both fund their war machine and the ability to buy the knowledge they needed to turn Oziel Diamonds into Ozielian Steel. They would put effort into producing large amounts of the steel. The method was complicated, but Lucifer felt it could be increased by putting more time and effort into the process, prior to this it had been a novelty and was unnecessary in Heaven. Lucifer would obtain the ability to create Ozielian Steel in large quantities. He would do this by bribing or forcing the craftsmen with the arcane knowledge necessary, or interrogating them until they gave up this knowledge, and build the tools needed to mass produce it. It was a mere formality how they did it, it was an inevitability that they would have it. Lucifer already had found the design of their new armor, the shimmering black of Ozielian Steel with golden highlights that he had seen painted on the wall of the cathedral of Arcadia on Paradisio. It depicted Os wearing Ozielian Steel Armor defeating the Colossals. This would be their new uniform.
But even as Lucifer reveled in the magnificence of their victories, a rift was beginning in his own rebellion. Machenrauch overlooked the lowly angels mining diamonds as he seethed about the incompetence of the rebellion’s leader. Moloch, an angel of the rebel council, who had thus far remained quiet about most of his opinions, approached Machenrauch.
“General, I seek your audience.”
“Yes, Moloch, approach,” Machenrauch said, taken a bit aback by the archangel’s formality, Machenrauch remained a lowly angel and was used to being treated with begrudging respect rather than with proper protocol fitting an angel of his power.
“I was on the battlefield today, and I saw that had you not arrived we’d have been overwhelmed by Sadiel’s forces. They had corralled many of our troops and had the power and numbers to hold us hostage after capturing us. Had Lucifer been alone we’d have lost this battle. I hope you take it as a compliment rather than a treasonous statement that your power surpasses Lucifer’s and I feel you are the more capable leader. You should lead our armies and would I have my way I would see you overthrow the arrogant and ineffectual leader with which our noble cause is cursed.”
“Your words are appreciated Moloch and will not be repeated. I realize the shortcomings of our leader, and I believe what you have said may be true, but the Anatalian Letters and the beliefs of our troops and many on the council collude to force me to subjugate myself to him. As an archangel, you can probably appreciate that many above you use these beliefs to keep themselves in power.”
“Yes, this is the truth. I can’t help but think that with you as our leader, our victory would be all the more swift. I also feel that your beliefs about the humans, who this war is really about, are more congruent with my own. Lucifer would have these abominations up here with us, he would integrate them with our own kind, he merely seeks to make them subservient to him. He adores them as much as Os himself and only seeks their worship. I find them to be vile creatures, their offensive ability to reproduce makes them all the more reprehensible. Our heaven is grand and works well enough, we do not need their ideas and their presence here.”
“I agree Moloch, I wish to cleanse the realms of their kind and make it as though they never existed. Their creation was a vile mistake, something I wish to rectify, yet you are correct, Lucifer wants only their worship. He does seem quite smitten with them. Os has at least laid down conditions for their behavior, Lucifer wants them free to do what they will as long as they worship him. I want them destroyed. They are selfish, greedy and their behavior toward other creatures is appalling. They destroy the balance of our worlds, and the asymmetry they bring to the universes must be corrected.”
“I know many on the council that share your beliefs Machenrauch, our kind are unfortunately drowned out by the intense infighting of Lucifer and the others like him, but many sit in silence thinking the exact things you have just expressed. Belial is one, Raamiel is another. I believe a few others could be easily persuaded to join our cause and we would have an alliance of half the council. Lucifer does not have this kind of allegiance within the council, his supporters are mostly opportunists looking for the quickest way to power, he has very few genuine allies. Beelzebub is one, but he’s all but disappeared since this war began. Attaining the support of half the council could sway many of the rebellion’s troops and supporters away from Lucifer. “
“While this is an intriguing idea Moloch, it is not the time to split our ranks, we must stay solidified until our defeat of Os, Shalos, and Entera. Perhaps we could enact this coup after Lucifer takes the throne of Heaven. So many support our cause because of the Anatalian Letters and a belief in the hierarchy of angels or both. These supporters would form their own faction and fight against us or worse join with Michael against us. To divide our ranks now would only serve an advantage to Michael.”
“To wait until Lucifer assumes the throne only gives him more credit and solidifies his support. Wait until he is Emperor of Heaven and you will have many more enemies. Now is the time to seize the opportunity, Lucifer appears weak, many, even some of the most staunch believers in the legitimacy of the rankings of angels see him as weak and vulnerable right now. His leadership is questioned and should you fail to do this, you will only contribute to either his ascension to a place of power or the ability of another to overthrow him and use your abilities to secure themselves a place on the throne. With your permission I would like to lay out a plan to overthrow Lucifer as our leader, I believe that I can gather the support we need by the time we secure the entirety of Kalos.”
Moloch’s words roused anger within Machenrauch, he was correct, Lucifer would assume the throne taking credit for everything Machenrauch had done. What place would he have in a kingdom built around a belief in the Anatalian Letters and Angelic Hierarchy? Once the war was over and there were no more angels with whom to do battle, Lucifer could quickly turn the spears of the rebel soldiers upon Machenrauch and store him in an Azurian Crystal for eternity. Perhaps now was the right time to make a change in leadership. Maybe he put too much credence in the idea that the Anatalian Letters worked against him. He had assumed the title of “Enrauch,” what believer could dispute this. Perhaps he could intimidate Mulciber further into declaring this to be the truth. Machenrauch wasn’t unsure that Mulciber hadn’t written the letters himself, maybe he could force him to write a new chapter which fit the narrative that The Enrauch was the true heir to the throne and that Lucifer was, in fact, a false leader.
“Moloch,” Machenrauch said after a long silence, “I want you to investigate the allegiances of the members of the council and find out which could be persuaded to our cause. Report your findings to me. What are your feelings on the Anatalian Letters?”
“They are apocryphal propaganda, nothing more, they are but one more thing that subjugates more capable angels from succeeding,”
“I suspected you felt this way, find out who it was that wrote these letters, I expect you will uncover Mulciber as the author of the letters. We will force him to write a new chapter which will be uncovered after a military victory in which I once again save Lucifer from certain defeat. This chapter will show Lucifer to be a false heir to the throne and give me the legitimacy I need to ascend to the throne. You will benefit greatly should I take it.”
“Understood Machenrauch and I am in complete agreement with this strategy. You are the rightful leader of Heaven, your power and your willingness to destroy the humans will bring order and balance back to the realms.”
“Our next military strategies will put Lucifer in situations in which he i
s unfit to lead and unable to succeed. He allows me to draft our plans and allocate our legions for him. This is because he is incapable of doing this himself and lacks the understanding of what needs to be done in war. His military victories thus far have come from luck or on the backs of others including myself. This time he will find himself defeated and all will see his weakness and ineptitude.”
“Excellent my Lord, I shall begin subtly probing our council as to their beliefs and allegiances, I need only time to uncover the essential information we seek.”
“Time is something you have, though I intend on taking Kalos quickly, I shall do it in a way that shatters confidence in Lucifer. Then I shall delay our victories and involve us in a series of small encounters on Aequiss and the appearance of a morass of monumental proportions shall be solved easily when I enact my plan and easily conquer the water planet.”
“I shall go now my lord and begin enacting our plan.”
“One more thing Moloch,” Machenrauch commented.
“Yes, my lord.”
“Produce for me a length of the longest Ozielian Steel chain you can find in this place. It must be thick and perhaps twice your height.”
“Yes, my lord, with the capture of the Ozielian Steel crafter’s forges such a thing should be easily found.”
###
Azura had one small library, and this is where Moloch found Mulciber pouring through a few rare and ancient texts.
“Mulciber, if I may interrupt your most important research for a moment,” Moloch asked.
An annoyed Mulicber answered Moloch with a grunt to the affirmative that indicated his patience would be short unless the archangel had something interesting to say.
“Mulicber, my most humble appreciation for your important time, I wish to speak to you about how the Anatalian Letters transformed my beliefs and brought me to our rebellion, but first I’d like an opinion on your interpretation of the letters.”