Premortal

by Damien Passmore

  ‘In those times when the mothers of earth lose their kindness, charity, gentleness, virtue or modesty, the whole earth shall groan because of the deeds of her children.

  ‘This responsibility is such a crucial one. We need you to be at your very best. As such we would spare you from battle and preserve you for something that is even more important. I love you my children, and at this time I ask that you would show, by a raised hand, whether you are willing to support the motion for the Sons of the Morning to undertake the responsibility of fighting Lucifer and his rebel forces.’

  The vote was unanimous. The ten thousand Sons would defend the Kingdom. They would lead Lucifer’s army away from the Kingdom and then they would fight. At that moment Caleb felt ashamed because he suspected why it was that he had never been selected as a Son of the Morning. He felt that it was because he would not have been able to endure this hour, on account of the choices that he had made. He determined in that moment to do better, always.

  After the vote had been taken, Rachel clung to Michael, Sarah to Samuel, Cindy to Kieran, Kerry to Johan, and so forth across all of the Sons of the Morning. It is a truth that it is harder to endure a loved one going to battle than it is to go to battle oneself. These were touching moments to observe. Save Mother, Father and Jehovah only, there were no relationships more pure within the Kingdom than those between each of the Sons of the Morning and their respective true loves. Despite their combined faith, many tears were shed and moments of hopelessness and fear crept in.

  There would not be much time for goodbyes however, as Lucifer’s forces were approaching rapidly.

  97 volunteered

  Although the vote was indeed unanimous, there was one soul who raised his hand very reluctantly. The soul in question was Dujas. When Father had first asked who was willing to fight, Dujas had fumbled the same item that he had dropped when called upon to vote between the competing plans. Such was his inability to locate the troublesome trinket that he had been entirely unable to volunteer. Consequently, he was thoroughly distressed to find himself volunteered for the role by virtue of his position as a Son of the Morning.

  Despite his distress, once he saw all of his brothers' hands in the air, he had felt obliged to raise his own hand. Certainly, he did not want to draw any additional attention to himself by being the only dissenting vote. While he did boldly raise his arm to the square, it was not as though he had suddenly found some courage and intended to fight; rather he resolved that he would secrete himself somewhere private until after the battle was over. He assumed that no one would notice that he had not taken part.

  The tactic was not without precedent for Dujas. Indeed, on the occasion of the battle against first division, he had drawn one of the lots that afforded him the privilege of fighting. When the time came however, he simply didn’t take off with the other Sons in the direction of the battle, pretending that he had not drawn the lucky lot, and managing to look somewhat forlorn at his ill fortune.

  No one had even noticed that there were but two thousand nine hundred and ninety nine combatants in the battle with first division. Fortunately for Dujas, there had been two thousand nine hundred and ninety nine first division members assigned to Michael’s class, such that there was no imbalance.

  No sooner had Dujas voted on this occasion than he started to back his way through the crowd, trying his best to avoid detection. Unfortunately, luck was not with him on this occasion and he backed right into a group of spirits from his favourite common area, the same one in which he had recounted so many of his heroic stories. One of his admirers spotted him and was very excited to see his hero.

  ‘Dujas how are you? Are you excited?’ he yelled.

  Dujas spoke softly, hoping to quieten the spirit that had recognised him, but no such luck.

  ‘Dujas!’ a chorus of his other fans shouted in surprised delight.

  ‘Hello friends,’ Dujas said, knowing that he was caught.

  ‘Where are you going?’ asked the first to have spotted him, suddenly realising that his hero had been heading in the wrong direction.

  ‘Oh, I was err going to find err Michael. Yes, I was a little concerned that he might try and hide,’ said the pot calling the kettle black.

  ‘No I believe Michael is up the front. Yes Dujas, can’t you see him there standing next to Samuel,’ said the same meddling spirit pointing excitedly towards the stage.

  ‘Ah yes, so he is, that is very unlike him,’ Dujas responded.

  ‘Look Dujas!’ said one of his admirers in alarm. ‘It looks as though the Sons are preparing to leave for battle. There is no time to lose, you need to get up the front!’ he cried.

  The front was quite a distance away and a crowd blocked Dujas, both on the ground and in the air. His followers thought quickly however, determined that their hero was not going to miss any of the action. They made a circle around Dujas and ushered him speedily towards the front stage, all the while yelling, ‘Make way, make way, Son of the Morning coming through.’

  They arrived just in time and, hearing the commotion, the Sons waited for Dujas to arrive before launching into the air, taking their reluctant comrade with them.

  98 facing off

  As they approached, Lucifer saw the small force and laughed.

  ‘I hope that this isn’t their whole army. I was hoping we might at least encounter some reasonable opposition,’ Lucifer said to his followers brashly.

  As the Sons drew closer however, notwithstanding their meagre numbers, Lucifer was still disappointed to see just who his opposition would be. Despite his bravado, stiff opposition did not suit his level of courage. As a supremely selfish soul Lucifer found it very hard to be courageous, lest he get hurt.

  At a distance of one hundred metres, Michael’s army stopped and spread out in one line from east to west, in much the same manner as they had done on the occasion of Caleb’s rescue, but this time with a distance of just a metre between each man. At that distance of a hundred metres, Lucifer’s immense army formed a line of the same length, a line that was far less orderly, but that was many hundreds of thousands deep.

  Suddenly, to Lucifer’s right, one particular spirit began grunting, snarling and cursing. Lucifer quickly deduced the reason for such animation as he spotted Kieran hovering at Michael’s left hand. The leader smiled before leaning over to address the spirit on his immediate right in a whisper, ‘Masias, if you wait just a little longer you will have him entirely to yourself.’

  Masias quietened, waiting hungrily for Lucifer’s command.

  As Kieran scanned their opposition from west to east his eyes ultimately locked with the opponent immediately opposite him. The hateful look of aggression that he received from that particular opponent surprised him. While the other members of Lucifer’s army looked fierce, and their numbers were certainly daunting, none of them had struck fear into his heart. There was something though, about the intensity of that particular spirit which was a little unnerving.

  Having locked eyes with his enemy, Masias moved from madness to complete lunacy; muttering, snorting and swearing under his breath. Although Kieran had broken his gaze, and was eyeing the remainder of the enemy, Masias had not and was still staring at him intently. At no stage did he intend to break that stare until the battle commenced, at which time he planned to make a B line directly for him. Michael and Samuel, those who had come to Cindy’s rescue on one occasion, did not even enter his consciousness. He had eyes only for Kieran.

  Although the lionhearted Lucifer was presently in the front line, he planned to secure a position at the very rear the moment the battle commenced.

  As they had travelled from the attack on Bryce to their current position, the leader had gone to great pains to explain to his forces just how much more effective he would be attending to battle strategy from the rear.

  Prior to the two opposing sides coming together, Michael addressed the opposing commander.

  ‘Lucifer, I would like to make a deal with you.’
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br />   Lucifer was surprised by this communication but responded quickly.

  ‘Why should I agree to anything that you propose?’

  ‘Because, if you fight well, there is the possibility that it may work in your favour,’ said Michael calmly.

  ‘Alright then what is it?’ was the coarse reply.

  ‘Lucifer, you can see that your army is far greater than ours. I propose that whichever army loses this battle should never be permitted to return to the Kingdom,’ put forward Michael.

  General Anas, who was situated to Lucifer's left, leaned over and said, ‘This might be some sort of trick. Perhaps they have other armies that will ambush us.’

  Lucifer conveyed this concern to Michael.

  ‘You have my word, Lucifer, that our only army are the Sons of the Morning that you see before you,’ answered Michael.

  Upon hearing this, Lucifer salivated. The thought of a Kingdom without any other Sons of the Morning was just too delicious. Then, quite legitimately, he would rank immediately below Father, Mother and Jehovah, as the only remaining Son of the Morning. Strangely he thought that he would retain his office, notwithstanding the fact that he had led a third of the children of God in open rebellion against their parents.

  ‘Alright then, you have my word that if we lose this battle then we will never return to the Kingdom. Of course we expect the same from you,’ said Lucifer slyly.

  ‘Settled then,’ said Michael before putting forth his second proposal.

  ‘I also propose that we wage the battle well away from the Kingdom. This will make it easier for the defeated army to keep their covenant,’ said Michael, seeking to better protect the innocent brothers and sisters who had remained within the Kingdom.

  Lucifer agreed to this request also and, at the command of their respective leaders, both armies flew twenty thousand metres further away from the Kingdom into the darkness of space. While the area was still well lit by the brightness of the Kingdom, it was darker than the first area in which they had gathered to battle. This suited the rebel forces best, which is why Lucifer was willing to concede on the second point also.

  The minute that they were at that altitude, and had reformed, both commanders gave the word and the two armies came together fiercely.

  99 digging in

  As the battle began, the Sons repelled line after line of rebel spirits, who attempted to pile into them en masse. Gradually though, the sheer weight of numbers did begin to take its toll. Naturally, it was the seven thousand who had not had any direct combat experience who were in the most danger. Such were forced to endure both the hatred of their attackers and also putrid images of gore and pornography that were pumped into their mind and soul, with devastating effect. Each of these inexperienced Sons, tried to stay positive, having faith in the future, but under the weight of so much hatred, filth, gore and pain some began to fear, and their countenance began to weaken.

  Lucifer, commanding from the rear, noticed this and directed more of his forces at any Son who appeared to be struggling.

  Michael, breaking free of his attackers for just an instant, saw that the countenance of some Sons was fading and that they were being targeted.

  Urgently he yelled: ‘Men who are experienced in battle, help those who aren’t!’

  The three thousand reacted quickly to this command and it did them the world of good. Each went rapidly from brother to brother repelling all of the demon spirits.

  Those attacking the experienced three thousand found that their opponents became infinitely stronger as they did so, a natural by-product of selfless sacrifice.

  As was the case in their battle with first division, these experienced Sons repelled their attackers with their pure knowledge of the Christ’s ability to overcome all things.

  This faith was infectious and before long the faith of their beleaguered brothers had been bolstered. As their faith grew, all doubt and fear, the anti-thesis of faith, disappeared from their souls. The vile imagery cleared from their minds and the devils that inhabited them found the accommodation no longer to their liking and fled.

  Unfortunately, in the heat of battle, none of the Sons had noticed that one of their number had been drawn away.

  It was Kieran.

  Masias, determined to have some uninterrupted time with his enemy, devised a strategy to achieve this.

  At the request of Masias, Lucifer had instructed his men, prior to the battle, that they were not to target Kieran in any way.

  As part of the battle strategy it had been agreed that Masias would fly directly at Kieran, upon commencement of the fighting, so that the members of Lucifer’s army would know who they must not interfere with.

  When the battle commenced, Masias did exactly that, but instead of attempting to enter Kieran he stopped directly before him, and called Cindy the vilest concoction of names ever uttered.

  Kieran didn’t understand most of the words, but he still got the message, and was infuriated.

  Having cursed Cindy in this manner, Masias shot off, heading even further away from the Kingdom, trailed closely by Kieran as he had hoped.

  In his enraged state Kieran forgot about the fact that anger, hatred and revenge were the very last emotions that he should have allowed himself to be feeling.

  After drawing his prey a further five thousand metres from the Kingdom, to a place where Masias felt confident that no one would hear Kieran's screams, he turned suddenly and launched himself at him, taking Kieran by surprise.

  In his anger Kieran was no match for his opponent, whose rage had burned to the point of insanity for many months. He found himself being ripped at from the inside and tortured in every way imaginable. He was pumped full of the most intense hatred imaginable and there appeared to be a thousand voices pulling his mind in every direction.

  Just when he thought that he could take no more, and that nothing could be worse, Masias infused into his mind images of torture being performed firstly upon him, and then upon Cindy.

  For a selfish character like Sturd the greatest punishment was to endure images of his own suffering. For a selfless soul like Kieran, far greater was the punishment of watching Cindy suffer, whom he cared for far more than himself.

  Masias commenced torturing Kieran with images of his own suffering, but upon experimenting with Cindy’s images he was surprised to find that this heightened the suffering of his victim even further.

  Masias didn’t understand why this was the case. Well before he lost his sanity, he had lost his soul, and his selfishness was almost second to none. Nevertheless, having discovered that this strategy was the most effective way of torturing Kieran, he was happy to pursue it.

  Kieran fought to keep his sanity, and to overcome, but he could not. Eventually, he lost all strength and was powerless to do anything except endure all that Masias saw fit to inflict upon him.

  Like Michael, he ultimately fell into a daze, not unlike unconsciousness, and the last thing that he saw before he did so was the singular sight of Dujas’s face peering out of a nearby piece of space matter.

  100 a friend in need

  While Kieran may have thought that he was hallucinating, he wasn’t.

  Dujas was absolutely terrified as he moved with Michael’s army towards the innumerable force that constituted their opposition.

  When he cast his vote at the grand council, Dujas had glanced in Lucifer’s direction, hoping he wouldn't notice that he’d been betrayed.

  Unfortunately, Lucifer was looking right at him with a furious look upon his face. One of the disadvantages of casting your vote last was that everyone who had already voted was in a position to observe your vote.

  So, as Dujas travelled to battle, without the faith of his brothers, and knowing that Lucifer may target him specifically, he was petrified.

  With self-preservation on his mind, when Michael’s force spread out, he moved himself as wide as he possibly could. He reasoned that, at least initially, Lucifer would face off against Michael at the ce
ntre of the defensive line.

  He was correct, and thankfully he was not recognised as he lined up against a fierce looking member of third division at the outer edge of the battle line, daunted not only by his immediate opponent, but also by the many other opponents lined up almost eternally before him.

  In his mind, he cursed Samuel for this plight. ‘This is absolutely ludicrous,’ he murmured to himself, wondering how they could even imagine securing victory against such odds.

  Unlike the other Sons, there was no one in the Kingdom that Dujas treasured more than himself, so he lacked any motivation to participate in the battle. Following the initial debate between the two leaders as to the location of the battle, Dujas moved with the other Sons to clear the Kingdom by a further twenty thousand metres, all the while looking for an exit. His saviour came in a most unlikely form. It was a small piece of space matter drifting slowly in the same direction as the two armies. The matter was almost a cube with dimensions of approximately eight feet in height, width and depth. Just perfect for hiding a six foot, two inch spirit with a two foot, six inch portion of courage.

  Space matter was not permitted to come within ten thousand metres of the Kingdom, so it was not uncommon for such matter to strike this exclusion zone and then return in the same direction that it had come from. This was the case in this instance, so the piece of matter was moving in the same direction as the spirits travelling to battle.