The Lost Book of Chaos: How to Divide the World (The Secret Wars of Angels 1)

by Thomas, J. D.

  “Who goes there?” One of the villagers challenged.

  “I’m just a lawyer and I'm unarmed!” Judas said. He had hidden the sacred blade under his clothes. “There are dangerous people who killed the guardsmen inside.” The villagers looked to each other, as if hesitating if they should come in. “They are well armed and dangerous, not something that ordinary villagers can handle.”

  That should buy his friends a few more moments to recover. While the villagers argued what they should do, Judas headed into the crowd to escape from the scene.

  Then there was a loud whistle from inside the prison. Judas turned to see Captain Shaul. His face was dark with rage. Whatever Gnaeus had done to Shaul, it had infuriated the enemy Captain.

  At the sound of the first whistle, more whistles came from all directions, from the trees, from behind the buildings, and from everywhere.

  Soldiers of the Inquisition came en mass, surrounding Arcana, Varak, and Gnaeus. There was no where to run. Judas was left outside the ring of villagers. If only there was a way...

  There is a way. The inhuman voice in his head said. Shemyaza gave you a way.

  What?

  Do you want me to show you? The voice said, tempting him.

  Judas gritted his teeth.

  There was no other choice.

  Whether he was going crazy or not, he was about to find out.

  “Then show me!” Judas said.

  Chapter 9 – The Great Serpent

  Pain erupted from his right hand. It was the same hand that Arcana had healed. The same hand that the Shemyaza's golden serpent had bitten.

  His right hand started bleeding. What was happening?

  Judas watched in panic as the wound that had healed opened again. But rather than just red blood, something else other than blood came out.

  Judas screamed.

  Golden scales came out from his wound. As if the scales were hiding inside his body! The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. They weren't just scales, the scales had tiny feet. It was like looking into a beehive, or a dense colony of ants, or a mass of insects—only the bugs were golden.

  The golden scales marched on his arm, like an army of tiny golden beetles. Each golden scale used its tiny legs, creeping forward until they covered his entire arm. He watched in horror, helpless, but it didn't end there. When the army of golden bugs found their place, their bodies hardened, and their tiny golden feed burrowed into his flesh.

  Judas screamed anew at the pain of thousands of needles piercing his skin and bones.

  He must have passed out for a brief moment, because when he opened his eyes again, there was a sword on his hand, and his entire arm was covered with golden scales.

  It's not yet perfect, the inhuman voice said, but it will have to do. Something's strange about your body Judas. Your blood, is different from an ordinary human. I wonder why that is so?

  Judas let go of the pain, and focused his thoughts on saving his friends.

  How much time had he wasted?

  But as he looked, the soldiers had not yet attacked the three.

  Time slowed down for you, the inhuman voice explained, or rather, your awareness of time increased a hundred fold. So you experienced every detail, while only a few seconds have passed in the world.

  Who are you? Judas thought back.

  I am Nacash, the inhuman voice said, the Great Serpent. I have been watching you, Betrayer.

  At last, Nacash said in a serpentine voice, you have given me a better means to interact with you. Though this form is incomplete. Shemyaza's gift, we will use it together.

  Now what do I do? Judas thought to the snake. We need to help my friends.

  Your awareness of time is still enhanced, Nacash responded, but not for long. I'm afraid your body is not yet ready to tolerate this state for a long time. I will explain to you how this works. The enhanced time awareness won't last forever, so you will have to move fast.

  There are so many enemies, Nacash continued, so we will need a strategy.

  What do you suggest? Judas said.

  Focus on their leader, Nacash said. I believe the Vice-Captain was already taken care of by Arcana earlier. Once they are leaderless, they will be plunged into confusion.

  Good idea, Judas said, but will I be able to beat him?

  Nacash didn't answer his question.

  A few more seconds and it will wear off, Nacash said, go, now!

  Judas ran towards his friends.

  The villagers around him didn't even notice him. That was because he was moving too fast. He went past the ring of soldiers, ignoring them as well.

  By the time he reached his friends, his perception of time had begun to return to normal, meaning he was moving slower now.

  His friends were cornered, facing the ring of soldiers surrounding them and Shaul towering behind them by the prison entrance.

  Arcana, Varak, and Gnaeus were surprised at his sudden appearance.

  “Judas, how did you—” Arcana began, but Judas did not have time to talk.

  Judas immediately rushed towards Shaul, intent on taking him down while he still had the strange power.

  Chapter 10 – The Inquisition

  The enemy who had suddenly appeared gave a downward blow, which Shaul parried with his sword.

  However, when their two blades met, the sound was not of sword clashing against sword.

  It was the sound of thunder.

  Shaul was pushed several meters backward by the blow. Shaul felt dizzy and wobbled from that one blow, but he somehow regained his balance.

  These people, these heathens!

  Anger welled up inside of him. He was the one who was righteous. He fought against evil. He fought against the lawlessness of pagans. He was the one who fought against people who worshipped a false prophet as god! Idolaters!

  His right arm was broken from the man-demon's blow, but his conviction strengthened him.

  “Demon!” Shaul's voice boomed. Then, he raised his voice even louder. “Inquisitors! Attack them all at once!”

  Shaul's soldiers, who had fallen silent at the sudden exchange between Judas and Shaul, screamed to the top of their lungs and cried out their warcries. Whatever hesitation they had after witnessing the interchange of swords, was not gone. They were back and ready to fight.

  The Inquisitors probably numbered several hundreds, as Captain Shaul came prepared. The sound of their voices shook the area.

  “Take the woman and the other two alive,” Shaul continued, voice booming even over the warcries, “but kill this one! This demon must not be allowed to live!”

  Shaul's right hand was rendered useless, despite having parried the demon's blow, so the Inquisitor shifted the sword to his left.

  Shaul charged.

  The demon blocked his attack. This time, the sound of the clash was the normal sound of a sword against sword, as if the demon had lost its strength.

  Shaul smiled. There was a hint of uncertainty in the face of the man-demon.

  “Evil will not win against righteousness,” Shaul said.

  Shaul continued his attacks, pushing the demon backward.

  He was winning.

  A few of his men had fallen while fighting the other three, but Shaul saw that their sheer numbers had overcome the witch's magic.

  The other three were now caught and Shaul's soldiers were drawing the captives away.

  The only one left was this demon.

  His men formed a circle around the two, so as not to give the demon any means of escape. Yes, as befitting the Captain of the Inquisitors, Shaul would destroy this demon himself. His men had no need to interfere in the fight, and they knew it.

  The demon looked around, like a cornered wild animal. Now that it could no longer find its companions, whatever strength it displayed before had vanished. It fought back awkwardly, as if it wasn't used to using the sword.

  It was Shaul's victory.

  I can't defeat him, Judas said.

  I wil
l give you strength once more, Nacash said, but it will only last for a second. You must use it well.

  Only a second... What could he do with that?

  Still, it was better than nothing.

  Then do it, Judas said.

  Strength gushed forth in him, and Judas dashed forward with a wide arcing slash, aiming for Shaul's head.

  The Inquisitor faced it head on with a downward slash.

  Judas's blow sounded like thunder, breaking Shaul's sword in half and going through to Shaul's head. The blade ripped apart Shaul's eyes.

  Chapter 11 – The Legendary Sword: “Spirit Of Truth”

  Impossible... Shaul thought as he fell down.

  How could he, a servant of the Righteous Creator, lose to a demon?

  Everything was so dark.

  The demon had taken his eyes. The wound must have been deeper than that, because he lost all the strength in his body. Both his arms were now useless and there was no way for him to fight. His legs buckled.

  Shaul tried to stand, but to no avail. His body would no longer respond.

  Even in his defeat, Shaul thought about his soldiers. Without a leader and a second in command, his men would disperse in the face of the demon who defeated him. How could a demon defeat him? And how could a witch defeat his second in command?

  The least that his soldiers could do was take the other three and bring them to judgement.

  But it no longer mattered now.

  Shaul suddenly felt peaceful.

  In the darkness, Shaul saw something. He tried to reach for it. And it grew brighter and brighter. Then, he found himself in a different place.

  He was a different person.

  “Judas,” the man beside Shaul called.

  No, he wasn't Shaul. He was someone else. Or rather, he still had the consciousness of Shaul, but he was in the body of another person named Judas.

  They were walking by a wide river.

  Shaul turned to the man, who looked back at him. The man's eyes were calm, collected, and filled with compassion. The man wore simple white robes, though the whiteness was marred by the dust and dirt of travel.

  “Yes Master?” Shaul answered back, not in his own voice, but in the voice of the man called Judas. But there was something familiar about the man's voice. Then, he remembered. It was the voice of the man he had met earlier, in the prison. The one who claimed he was a lawyer. The same man who suddenly turned and became a demon.

  The man who blinded him.

  Judas Iscariot.

  Yes, that was his name.

  He remembered now. He was the one that had a bounty on his head. The Betrayer.

  Shaul realized what was happening. He was receiving a glimpse of the memories of Judas. But how?

  The other man, on the other hand... The man looked familiar, though he could not quite remember where he saw this man before.

  “The world is consuming itself,” the Master said.

  “What do you mean master?” Iscariot answered back.

  “Look at this fly,” the Master said. “It will be eaten by a lizard. The lizard will then be eaten by a bird. The bird will then be eaten by a hawk. And the hawk will be eaten by the eagle. The eagle thinks it eats everything. The eagle is proud because it has dominion over all, but when it dies, it too will be eaten by worms.”

  “The same with man,” the Master continued. “Men are consuming each other. And men are eating their cousins.”

  “Where are we consuming each other Master?” Iscariot asked. “We are not killing each other and consuming each other. Why, that would be cannibalism! Where is this happening?”

  The Master shook his head.

  “Teach me then Master,” Iscariot replied.

  “See the people enslaving one another,” the Master explained, “when you enslave, you consume the man's life, his hard work, his sweat, his tears, his blood so that your own will flourish. Is this not so?”

  “It is as you say Master,” Iscariot responded, thoughtful.

  “See the people burying others in debt,” the Master continued, “The poor become poorer and the debt is not forgiven. Instead the debt is passed on even to the next generation. Freedom is stolen from the future generations because of debt.”

  Iscariot nodded.

  “When we wage war against others,” the Master said, “we are consuming them. We kill the enemy, and take their cities, take their wealth, take their land from them. We take their future, and their next generations away so our own generations can prosper.”

  “This is why we fight,” the Master said, “True Freedom can only be achieved if we put an end to this pattern of consuming one another. But we must never raise arms. No, violence will only lead to more violence.”

  Iscariot turned to the Master once more, and the Master looked Iscariot straight in the eyes. Shaul too, who saw through Iscariot's eyes, saw the eyes of the Master.

  These were the eyes of a man who walked the straight path, neither turning from the left nor to the right, but a man who walked in the middle. This man, this man was made of light. More memories about the man flooded him, through the memories of Judas. In fact, all of Judas's memories were now opened to Shaul.

  Shaul suddenly realized where he had seen this man, and why he did not recognize the man in the first place. Shaul's own memories flooded him.

  Grief filled Shaul's heart as recognition dawned on him. Tears filled his eyes. Terror shattered his bones.

  The scene changed and he was taken on top of the hill where it all happened. Yet he was there not just as a viewer, he was there, in the body of Iscariot, nailed to the cross.

  There were three of them.

  On the left was Judas Iscariot, on the right, The Master, and on the other side of the Master was a thief that Judas knew as Ichab.

  The Master's face was unrecognizable. He no longer had his compassionate eyes.

  Why?

  Because the Roman Inquisition had plucked those compassionate eyes out. The Master's entire face was puffed out from all the blows the Inquisition gave him.

  Shaul's men, at Shaul's orders, had plucked the Master's eyes out. Those compassionate eyes. At his command. Shaul's vision became blurry. Then he realized they were not his tears, but Iscariot's. The Master's body stood helpless, impaled on the cross. His feet and his hands were impaled against the wood, raised up for all to see.

  The skies above were growing darker and darker, and lighting flashed in all directions. But lighting also flashed not from the sky, but from the Master's body. Blue-white energy arced outward in all directions from the Master's form.

  The Master was wailing in pain.

  “Why...” the Master sobbed. “Why has this happened...”

  The Master's body began to glow brighter, and streaks of power flashed, threatening to strike at the people watching beneath.

  Underneath the Master's head, something pushed forth, breaking through the crown of thorns.

  Two horns.

  The horns began to protrude, gradually at first but faster and faster by the moment.

  “I am the First to arrive and the Last to leave,” the Master's voice boomed, and the very Earth shook. “When all the angels left you, I stayed to take care of your ancestors. I watched over you, and this is how you repay me...”

  As more lightning flashed, Shaul noticed his own face in the crowd.

  At that time, Shaul the Persecutor was there among the crowd. At that time, Shaul wore a face of victory. But there was also fear in his face, for what he was seeing was not human.

  “Master, master,” Iscariot called out.

  “Who is it?” the Master answered, his voice filled with anguish. “Do not interrupt me, because I will destroy these evil people. The Creator in heaven has forsaken me, so I will destroy these evil people who have destroyed me.”

  “Master,” Iscariot pleaded, “it is I, Judas, your friend, your brother. I am here with you. You are not alone. I too am crucified with you.”

  “What t
rick of the demon is this?” the Master said, “everyone has betrayed me. Everyone has denied me. And now you give me false hope?”

  “It is truly I, Master,” Iscariot answered, “I did not forsake you.”

  The man on the other side also spoke, the one who was branded as a thief. “And it is also me Master,” the man that Shaul knew as Ichab spoke. The only reason Shaul knew the man's name was because Shaul had access to the memories of Judas.

  “Ichab?” the Master called. “Ichab? Is that you?”

  “Master,” Ichab the thief called, crying in pain, “you should save yourself Master. Leave me and Judas here. You have the power to save yourself at least, Master.”

  “Ichab!” Iscariot said, “Do not say such a thing! This has to happen and you know it! We have to endure!”

  “But Judas,” Ichab said, his eyes filled with tears, “I cannot stand watching our Master suffering like this.”

  “Master,” Ichab called, “please remember us when we die?”

  The Master was now calm. The two horns on the Master's head had stopped growing, though at this point, they had grown into two huge horns, like the horns of a ram.

  No, like the horns of an ox.

  The Master started laughing.

  “Thank you Judas,” the Master said. “Thank you Ichab. I almost lost it there and succumbed to the temptation of destroying these people. But you have reminded me of what we are fighting for—True Freedom. It cannot be achieved through violence. However, it has to be paid in blood. My blood.”

  “Do not fret,” the Master said, “neither of you will die, until all the prophecies are made true. You will be with me. And when I sit at the right hand of my father, you two will also sit beside me.”

  “My body will die,” the Master said, “but my spirit will live on. And in my place, I will give you the Spirit of Truth. You, who have drunk from the cup of my blood, The Cup Of Life, now have my blood running in your veins.”

  “Look for me in Sky Jerusalem,” the Master said. “Ask and it shall be revealed. Seek, and the road will be clear. Knock, and heaven's door will open.”