by David Walker
“Everyone is familiar with the physical body. It is the seat of human impulse. It is also the container that the other human components reside in by default,” Isaac said as he gripped the earth sphere.
“The heart is the core of a person; their innermost being. It is the seat of human intention and emotion. We're inside of your heart realm now. It is more or less your inner world. Your heart realm is accessed through its gate, which resides in the soul,” Isaac said as he swirled around the water sphere.
“The soul is the spark of life; the very energy that powers a person's life. It is the seat of human passion and desire. The mind's potential energy: its conscious, subconscious, and unconscious forms dwell in the soul. The soul itself resides in the spirit,” Isaac said as the fire sphere hovered above his palms.
“The spirit is the breath of life; the driving force behind a person's actions. It is the seat of human willpower. It is where thoughts, the kinetic energy of the mind, are formed. However, like the wind, thoughts are fleeting. Not every thought that someone has necessarily originated from their soul. A demonic entity could suggest a thought to a person, and if that person accepts the thought as if it were their own, that demonic entity could effectively possess that person's spirit,” Isaac continued, as Shade listened intently.
“This is what happened to you. Your shadow is the part of your spirit that agrees with the armies of hell. A demonic force possessed and empowered your shadow. At that point, your shadow laid siege to your heart and imprisoned your soul. When you submitted to the King of Heaven, your spirit became illuminated, removing the dominion that your shadow had over your heart. Your shadow was shed off of your illuminated spirit like an old snakeskin. However, even in a weakened state, your shadow is still connected to you, and you will have to contend against it for the rest of your life.”
“This is where your spirit spectrum comes in,” Nathanael added. “Can you see the aura that surrounds me and its halo?”
“Yes. I actually had a dream about these,” Shade answered.
“Good. This halo is my spirit spectrum. It represents my moral state, or what we refer to as the soul state. Vibrant colors are positive and dark colors are negative. If your spirit spectrum goes dark, your shadow will be empowered again,” Nathanael said as he waved his hand, generating a rainbow-colored, holographic bullet list.
“Dark red includes: the soul states hate, strife, wrath, and rage. Dark orange includes: the soul states of lust, perversion, apathy, and addiction. Dark yellow includes: the soul states of misery, despair, cruelty, and condemnation. Dark green includes: the soul states of greed, selfishness, corruption, and envy. Dark blue includes: the soul states of deceit, fear, foolishness, and witchcraft. Dark violet includes: the soul states of pride, rebellion, intolerance, and disrespect,” Nathanael continued down the bullet list.
“Vibrant red includes: the soul states of love, unity, peace, and serenity. Vibrant orange includes: the soul states of temperance, purity, diligence, and freedom. Vibrant yellow includes: the soul states of joy, hope, kindness, and mercy. Vibrant green includes: the soul states of generosity, selflessness, integrity, and gratitude. Vibrant blue includes: the soul states of truth, courage, wisdom, and understanding. Vibrant violet includes: the soul states of humility, obedience, patience, and respect.”
Shade took time to study the bullet list. He was concerned about what he saw. How am I supposed to stay in these positive soul states?
“This seems beyond me,” Shade admitted.
“Indeed, these are beyond all of us. As servants of heaven, we have to be in tune with the spirit of the King of Heaven. That is what brightens our spirit spectrums. It is also what increases our combat effectiveness since our power is derived from him. More specifically, our power comes from the omega realm. It is the source of the purified, holy energy that is governed by the King of Heaven himself,” Nathanael said as flaming energy engulfed his palms.
“How do I attune to the spirit of the King of Heaven?” Shade asked.
“All it takes is the desire to do so, my friend,” Isaac said with a smile. “That will enable you to fuse your spirit body with the omega realm, granting you access to pure, elemental energy.”
Shade closed his eyes and stretched his senses out towards the King of Heaven. He sensed a gentle vibration that contrasted heavily against the chaotic vibration that he had previously sensed in the Maelstrom's Edge. Shade felt his body surge with power as he fused with the omega realm. He was able to manifest elemental energy with his thoughts. He felt incredibly empowered and humbled at the same time.
“Wonderful. It looks like channeling elemental energy comes naturally to you. Every force and form of energy is derived from one of the four elements. Light comes from fire. Gravity comes from water. Polarity comes from the earth. Electricity comes from wind,” Isaac explained as he demonstrated the power of the elements through a series of dazzling arm movements.
“You may be a natural, but you still need to learn the basic precepts of heaven. Do you have a copy of the Annals of Heaven?” Nathanael asked.
“Yes,” Shade answered, as he thought of the dusty copy of the Annals of Heaven that his mother Miranna had given him long ago.
“Good. You will need to read it. After you've gone through it, we can continue your training,” Nathanael said, as he and Isaac departed.
Shade was slightly disappointed but had no room to complain. How could he serve a king whom he hardly knew? Everything that he had known about the King of Heaven was secondhand information he had gleaned from others. He needed to read the story of the king as chronicled in the Annals of Heaven. Shade spent the following weeks deeply immersed in the sacred canon.
* * *
Rachel read through the Annals of Heaven, scanning for information related to her Triple Vine Theory research. She had recently discovered an artifact that connected her homeland of Dhahab to ancient Orion, the world's first empire. Her discovery granted credibility to the Annals of Heaven's claim that modern humanity descended from three progenitors. According to the Triple Vine Theory, ancient Dhahab was once known as the kingdom of Nubi. Rachel's artifact referenced Nubi, confirming the existence of the legendary kingdom.
As she read through the Annals of Heaven, she learned that Nubi housed a number of storage caches that the ancient nobility used to store their treasures. Many of the caches were inside of easily concealable, seaside caves. In a moment of nostalgia, Rachel recalled an old seaside cave that she used to explore when she was a child.
The following day, Rachel drove to the Dhahabian dig site that she had been working on. Several weeks had passed since Professor Lancaster had taken her artifact to the lab. The results of the lab analysis should have already been completed, yet Rachel had not received an update from her professor. She entered his tent determined to get answers.
“Morning, professor. Has the lab completed the analysis of my artifact yet?” Rachel asked.
“Rachel, about your artifact, it has been taken to the Royal Museum of Nikao. The Intercontinental Archaeological Society made the call. I'm sorry,” Professor Lancaster apologized.
“What?! When were you planning to tell me?” Rachel demanded.
“I wanted to see if I could get the lab results before I approached you about it.”
“Wonderful,” Rachel said bitingly, as she stormed out of the tent.
Rachel left the dig site. She knew that her attitude was jeopardizing the internship that she had worked hard to obtain. Even so, she did not care. She teared up at the realization that she may have picked the wrong profession. Discovering an artifact that makes it into the renowned Royal Museum of Nikao was a rare honor. However, she valued truth above the accolades of men.
Rachel drove to the beach where the seaside cave of her childhood was located. She removed several layers of seaweed to uncover the cave's entrance. Flashlight in hand, she made her way deep into the dark, slimy cavern. She noticed that a section of the wall had a different pat
tern of slick growth from the rest of the wall. She jabbed furiously with her trowel, angry thoughts of her conversation with her professor swirling around in her head. She was still wrangling with her thoughts when an entirely new section of the cave opened before her.
Rachel spotted a dusty, rosewood staff embedded into the ground. The top of the staff was set with a large sapphire gem placed on top of angel wings carved out of ivory. Rachel slowly, reverently, approached the staff, eyeballing the unknown glyphs etched into its shaft. She clutched the staff with both hands, attempting to pull it out of the ground.
Ribbons of light spiraled around the staff and Rachel felt herself shoot upward. She ascended inside of a tunnel of light until she found herself standing on a cluster of luminous, solid clouds. She saw that her skin was glowing underneath an immaculate, white robe. The staff, now radiating with intense power, was firmly in her hands.
Four intimidating figures surrounded her. She would normally have been terrified; however, a peace that she had never experienced flooded her soul. One of the figures had a seasoned disposition and long, white hair. Another one of the figures donned a white hood and a stoic countenance. The most muscular figure had curly, black hair and a bright smile. The smallest figure had golden hair and wore a curious look on his face. He towered over her at nearly twice her height.
“So, the Staff of Life has finally awakened. Greetings, my name is Jacob,” the white-haired figure said.
“...Hello, my name is Rachel.” Rachel said sheepishly. The blond-haired figure bent down to examine Rachel as if she were a rare zoo animal.
“Wow. A daughter of man!” he said excitedly.
“Caleb, give Rachel some room. I'm sure this is already a bewildering experience for her,” Jacob commanded. Caleb immediately moved away from Rachel.
“That's quite alright,” Rachel said, endeared by Caleb's child-like curiosity. “Where am I?”
“This is one of the realms of mastery in the fourth level of heaven,” Jacob answered.
“Heaven? Wow,” Rachel said, a bit taken back. She had submitted to the King of Heaven at a young age but had never suspected that she would see heaven before she died. “Are you guys angels?”
“Yes. We are the Angelic Special Forces, the King of Heaven's elite combat squad. Soldiers, introduce yourselves,” Jacob commanded.
“My name is Gideon,” said the white-hooded figure said with a short bow.
“The name's Samson. It's a pleasure to meet you Rachel, daughter of man,” the figure with the mane of curly, black hair said, with a deep bow of respect.
“Caleb, at your service. Sorry if I overstepped my bounds. I'm new to the team and I've never seen a child of man in person before,” Caleb said.
“No problem. It's a pleasure to meet you all,” Rachel said with a deep smile. She noticed that the glyphs on the staff were now glowing a vivid, electric-blue. “You referred to this as the Staff of Life?”
“Yes. That staff is an ancient relic, forged by the King of Heaven himself. It has been used by some of his most important servants throughout history; servants that we've personally worked with. It hasn't awakened in two ages. Rachel, you must have a very significant destiny if the Staff of Life has awakened in your hands.”
“Indeed. Especially since we're nearing the end of the twelfth and final age,” Gideon added. Rachel stood silent for a moment, humbled by the overwhelming implications of the experience.
“What are we supposed to do?” Rachel asked.
“We will need to consult with our General: Ophanim Raphael, the Duke of Saturn,” Jacob answered as he swirled his arm in the air, generating what looked to be a portal.
They entered the portal, appearing in a golden city resplendent with dazzling brightness. There were profusions of large, visible objects encrusted with precious stones: diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. There were cut and polished stones of garnet, amethyst, aquamarine, and topaz that comprised some of the unidentified buildings. Everything in the city hummed with resonant harmony. Even the grassy areas were filled with jubilant, singing flowers. Rachel stood in awe.
“Welcome to Saturn!” Samson said cheerfully.
“Wait, the planet Saturn?” Rachel asked with a baffled look on her face.
“Yes. The luminaries, or what you know as 'planets', are not properly understood by the children of man. The luminaries have more in common with light than they do with the earth. They are sources of immense power that is accessible to both the armies of heaven and the armies of hell. This is the vibrant side of Saturn; it is ruled by Ophanim Raphael. The shadow side of Saturn is ruled by Beelzebul, one of the Overlords of hell,” Jacob explained.
“Crazy,” Rachel said in amazement. She was starting to wonder if anything she had ever learned was true. The nature of reality was much stranger than anything she could have ever imagined.
They passed by Raphael's barracks on the way to his castle in the middle of the city. The barracks had hundreds of massive angels training in combat. Each of them looked powerful enough to destroy one of earth's cities by themselves. Smaller winged angels zoomed in and out of the castle, receiving and delivering messages.
They entered Raphael's enormous royal hall and saw him counseling a group of guardian angels. The walls were covered with living tapestries depicting some of the pitched battles described in the Annals of Heaven. Raphael had long white hair laced with strands of gold. A scar was above one of his fierce, glowing eyes, which were of an indeterminate color. He was clad in golden armor that was rimmed with onyx and embedded with emeralds. Jacob waited for Raphael to conclude his business before he approached him.
“Greetings, General. This is our guest, Rachel,” Jacob said.
“It's always an honor to have an audience with a daughter of man,” Raphael replied with a bow of respect.
“Thank you. It is an honor to meet you, Duke,” Rachel said, trying not to fumble over her words. It was hard for her to fathom a being as powerful and majestic as Raphael paying her respect.
“Rachel has awakened the Staff of Life. We are here to receive our orders,” Jacob said.
“Right on time,” Raphael said as a golden ledger materialized in his hands. He took a moment to look at the contents of the ledger. “Rachel is called to be the scribe of the final age. She will need access to both the observation and celestial realms.”
“Finally. We can take down the Celestial Curses,” Samson said, grinding his fist into his palm.
“Affirmative. Rachel, you have a crucial role in the final battle between heaven and hell. Are you willing to fight with us in the name of the King of Heaven?” Raphael asked.
“Of course!” Rachel answered without hesitation.
“Excellent. Jacob, see to her training.” Rachel left the golden city with a heart brimming full of joy. She had a new profession in mind. She was to become one of heaven's warriors.
* * *
The Angelic Special Forces taught Rachel the basic concepts of the spirit world. Once she had a firm grasp on the basics, they began her spirit combat training. Rachel learned that the angels had ten combat specialties known as classes. They had Rachel train under Archangel Zadkiel, combat master and creator of the Priest class. Priests specialized in restorative, defensive, and supportive abilities. Rachel learned Priest techniques, enabling her to channel holy energy through the Staff of Life.
Rachel also learned class-specific techniques from her Angelic Special Forces companions. Jacob was one of the Arms Knights, who was proficient in ranged weaponry. Gideon was one of the Judges, who was able to absorb and redirect hostile energy. Samson was one of the Clad Knights, who used combat momentum to empower their heavy attacks. Caleb was one of the Crusaders, who was front-line defenders.
Rachel's abilities complemented their already established combat unit. They could deal with damage and draw enemy attacks, while she could restore their spirit vitality when necessary. The Angelic Special Forces went through a number of combat drills with
Rachel until they felt that she was ready to battle with them against the armies of hell. She accompanied them into a couple of skirmishes with formidable demons in the underworlds. The angels were impressed with her combat acumen.
The Angelic Special Forces brought Rachel into their war counsel inside of Raphael's barracks in the golden city. Their war room held many massive, blood-wood chairs with figures of lions and lambs ornately carved into the armrests; a filigreed, semblance of gold crowns sat atop the backs of the chairs. They located a gilded footstool topped with a plush, red-velvet cushion to accommodate Rachel’s smaller stature. These chairs were circularly arranged around a large, holographic star map display.
They prepared for their assault on the celestial realms. Rachel learned that the celestial realms were located in the fifth level of hell. Every celestial realm contained secrets about one of the twelve ages of history.
“Rachel will need access to the force celestial realm first, so Aries will be our first target,” Jacob said.
“Force celestial realm?” Rachel asked.
“The children of man are commonly taught that life began with a burst of energy followed by the forces of nature, but that isn't correct. The first age began with force, the first pillar of life. The force of life is what led to the energy of life, in the second age. Aries is the Curse of the force of life,” Gideon explained.
“Isn't Aries an astrological sign?” Rachel asked.
“Yes. The Celestial Curses are the beings that inspired the astrological signs,” Gideon answered.
“Aries is our target, but there is currently an alignment linking force, energy, and harmony together. This means that Aries will be protected by Taurus, the Curse of energy and Gemini, the Curse of harmony,” Jacob said. The angels tensed up. Curses were former angelic Dominions, powerful guardians of the astral gates. Facing a single one of them might prove to be a challenge, let alone three of them at once.