“Sorry, brothers.” Abaddon smiled apologetically. “It is not so easy to forget what I am in this form. You see now why I cannot be with our Father even if he wishes to forgive me. My soul rings with the memory of crushing Lucifer’s horde. The eternity of time melts away in my mind and the battle seems but a moment past.”
“If not for you we would be dead.” Gabriel grasped Abaddon’s shoulder. “Thank you, my brother. I have longed to speak my thanks to you and your name, Abaddon.”
“And I more so than Gabe,” Michael added, gripping Abaddon’s other shoulder. “I would have died at Lucifer’s hand if not for you. Thank you for my life, Abaddon.”
Abaddon chuckled, the sound like metal rasps rubbing together. “At least you would have died bravely, Michael, instead of crying out like a woman in childbirth as the coward Lucifer did.”
“You know of such things?” Gabriel asked. “I mean women, children and…”
“Raph has shown me much over time. I know many things about the Earth and something of Heaven’s fabric too. Brothers, it has been an enjoyable visit. I must not stay in my true form much longer. Raphael usually senses when I have lost control. He appears instantly to help me get it back, laughing at me the whole time. He keeps repeating over and over, ‘all this power, dark brother, and no imagination’. Sometimes Raph fills my place with human manifestations. He watches with much amusement at my interaction with them.”
Abaddon grinned happily.
“I think he visits me often because the darkness inside tends to shield anyone around me from the Lord’s consciousness. Raph likes to pretend he is getting away with something. Have either of you seen Raphael lately?”
“The Lord sent him to Earth,” Michael answered.
“Lucifer has him,” Gabriel finished.
Rage flashed across Abaddon’s face in a single lightning like blast. His hands clasped into fists at his side. The war for control Abaddon waged for an eternity surfaced once again. An awful smile appeared as Abaddon’s eyes lost their far away look of hatred.
“I will visit the mighty dark angel now,” Abaddon declared. “Sad for him, my brothers, he has no one to say his prayers to. If he has harmed Raphael, I…”
“Lucifer has bound him hostage against the Lord,” Michael interrupted. “Please go with us, Abaddon, to meet with our Father.”
“It may be the only way to get Raphael back,” Gabriel added.
Abaddon nodded. “I would speak with my Father now.”
Chapter 2
The Mission
“My son,” the Lord cried out in anguish. “You are in pain.”
Abaddon knelt in the meadow his hands clasped in raised supplication, all rage and anger erased in an instant. The Lord grasped Abaddon’s hands in his. Michael and Gabriel watched the reunion with unbridled joy.
“I am well, Father.” Abaddon locked eyes with his Lord. “I ask your blessing to get Raphael.”
The Lord regarded his Avatar with pain filled eyes. The scars of Abaddon’s triumph, his black wings and armored body forced the memory of what the Lord had pushed aside to the forefront. With his own hands, the Creator remembered grafting this powerful weapon kneeling before him, bitterness and loss the fuel with which he had worked. The Lord placed a hand on Abaddon’s head. Michael and Gabriel saw the shudder pass through their brother’s form. The Lord guided the massive warrior to his feet.
“Do you understand now, my son?”
“For the first time,” Abaddon answered with a smile, “I understand your purpose in letting Lucifer live. May I kill him now?”
The Lord laughed - a sound of pure pleasure which reverberated to the tops of the surrounding mountains. Long did the Lord laugh with Michael and Gabriel joining in with him. Abaddon let the waves of joy engulf him, uncertain of why the Lord was so amused, but still willing to absorb the moment without objection. Abaddon remembered making Raphael laugh many times without knowing why. The Lord put an arm around Abaddon, hugging him tightly.
“Thank you, my son. It is not often I am so amused. Please, do not kill him.”
“As you wish, Father, but I must have Raphael back.”
“You will, my son, you will,” the Lord assured him. “I want you to stay on Earth for a time, Abaddon. I sent Raphael to deliver a woman from bondage in the holy land. Lucifer intercepted him. Her name is Sister Mary Catherine. Her captors have tortured her steadily for nearly a year of Earth’s time. Nearly driven mad with pain, she cries out to me still in prayer. She cries not for me to save her but for me to save all around her. I have watched her progress from a harsh childhood where she prayed daily for her uncaring parents, through her young adulthood as she became orphaned and dedicated her life in my service.”
“I wish for you to heal this woman, and stay at her side, Abaddon. Her purity can regain the balance between light and darkness. Many of my human children have been corrupted, and even inhabited by Lucifer’s minions. Catherine will spend her life after rescue exorcizing these demons. No demon can remain in a host body when touched by Catherine. You will protect her, my son. Do what you were created for when the demon exits the host. Wrest Raphael from Lucifer’s grasp and take him with you. He will be weakened but his guidance in Earthly matters will be of service to you in the years ahead.”
“Are you certain you wish it to continue in this way, Father?” Abaddon asked hesitantly. “I could…”
“You could plague the Earth in my name until only the good remained,” the Lord interrupted Abaddon with the touch of his hand. “Just as I cannot have you kill Lucifer, I must ask you to work my will in this way I have outlined for you.”
“Raphael showed me much blasphemy and perversion exists on Earth, Father. At least allow me to heal some of the blackness.”
“You are an Archangel of the Lord - the dread Angel of the Abyss. Your touch will spread a holy fire the likes of which no mortal has ever felt, but only as you command.”
The Lord held each of the Archangels in his arms, jubilant at what had finally transpired. He turned to his flock and the meadow they grazed in, a staff appearing in his right hand as he walked. Michael and Gabriel embraced Abaddon, congratulating him on his mission and promising to be there for him through all eternity. The Lord turned back from the meadow toward his Avatar almost as if an afterthought had come to him.
“Abaddon,” the Lord’s voice boomed out with vigor.
“Yes, Father?”
“These creatures who have tortured Catherine in the Holy Land,” the Lord said, anger filling his words with an intensity the Archangels had never heard before. “You will take care of those human demons properly, my son.”
Abaddon, Archangel of the Abyss, smiled grimly. “I can do that.”
* * *
Raphael burned, bound in chains at the pit of a fiery hell, the likes of which could only be vaguely explained by artists’ renderings of Dante’s Inferno. Lucifer watched the Archangel writhe in silent agony, joyfully siphoning Raphael’s power with lust born of darkness.
“Scream, brother, it will make you feel better.” Lucifer laughed, his handsome face enhanced by black robes and ebony wings. Only his cloven feet reflected his true inner spirit. “It looks like our Father doesn’t intend to bargain for his messenger boy. I had hoped he would send that pathetic Michael down to get you. I would bleed him for a hundred years.”
Raphael looked around him, his jaw clenched shut in fury. He felt his power nearly drained. He clamped his eyes closed against the vista surrounding him: thousands of souls dancing in Lucifer’s hellish creation, savaged in unspeakable torment. Lucifer had beaten him almost as if he were without power. Raphael prayed the Lord would not send Michael to the same fate. Raphael suddenly felt soothing coolness. The hellish chains binding him fell away. He opened his eyes to a staggering sight.
“Hello, Raph, I missed you.” Abaddon helped Raphael to his feet.
“Abaddon, look out!”
Lucifer struck from behind at the Lord’s Avatar
with a scream of fury.
Abaddon moved faster than thought. His counterstroke shattered Lucifer’s hell-sword as if a sledgehammer smashed into a crystal goblet. The space-time continuum rippled at the unimaginable power brought to bear in Abaddon’s sword stroke. Lucifer plunged to his knees, vibrating from the force of Abaddon’s blow. Abaddon moved in for the kill, his face a rage of emotion at having the dark angel again on his knees in front of him. Abaddon held his blow with an iron will.
“Scream, brother, it will make you feel better.” Abaddon swung his sword in an arc which severed Lucifer’s sword hand off at the wrist.
And Lucifer screamed.
Abaddon put an arm around Raphael. “Let’s get out of here Raph. We have some work to do.”
“But… brother… what of Lucifer?”
“Our Father asked me not to kill him.” Abaddon watched the writhing figure of Lucifer. “He didn’t ask me not to hurt him.”
Raphael hugged Abaddon, feeling the power both light and dark coursing through the once exiled Archangel. “I am very glad to see you, my brother.”
“If I had not found you whole, Raph, I would have been in danger of disobeying our Lord,” Abaddon admitted, holding Raphael at arm’s length, relief at seeing Raphael again evident on his face.
“Lucy heals quickly, does he not?” Raphael gestured at the fallen angel. Lucifer’s missing hand was nearly regenerated completely.
“Lucy?”
“It’s a shortening of his name he hates, brother.” Raphael approached Lucifer. He kicked him in the head with relish.
Lucifer cried out in pain, scrambling away from Raphael with hatred spilling out of him as if it were a tangible force. Hearing Abaddon had been ordered not to kill him, Lucifer’s cunning resurfaced quickly as he looked at the Archangels with malevolent disdain. He stood up gesturing around him at the hell he had created for its inhabitants.
“What of them, Angel of the Abyss? Do you plan to free all of these creatures too?”
Abaddon glanced unwillingly around him, the sight of so many souls in unutterable torment touching him deeply. He returned his look to Lucifer’s preternatural beauty before turning his attention to Lucifer’s cloven hooves.
“Nice feet, Lucy.”
Raphael laughed at Abaddon’s remark with so much natural vigor, Lucifer’s hands clenched into fists - his rage so palpable a shimmering red haze engulfed the hellish dimension. Abaddon walked calmly up to Lucifer. The fallen angel’s cowardice quickly surfaced at the approach of the Lord’s Avatar. Abaddon snatched the writhing demon up by his neck, the touch of the Lord still within his grasp. Lucifer howled in the pain of the damned. Abaddon leaned his face near Lucifer’s contorted features.
“Know this, dark brother,” Abaddon whispered, “I have been delivered out of exile. I know your realm is your realm, but all else is in play. From this moment forward if you see my brothers flee from their sight as if your pathetic existence depended on it because it will.”
“He will not let you kill me,” Lucifer gasped.
“Ever wonder why you cannot stand for a moment before me in battle? My wings are black, my little Lucy. Never assume to know me or my Creator. Remember what I have said.”
Abaddon cast Lucifer aside as he would an unwanted sack of garbage. Raphael, who had been watching the exchange with unbridled glee, extended his hand to Abaddon’s beckoning one.
“Time to go, Raph.” Abaddon gripped his brother’s hand. “We…”
“Wait, wait,” Raphael interrupted, lowering his voice. He took on a cold cruel visage. “We’re goin’ up thar to set things right.”
Abaddon laughed, more out of delight in Raphael’s assumed persona, rather than the actual human reference he knew his brother studied and aped constantly. Instantly, the Archangels flashed into existence near a bleak stone structure with barbed wire fences and patrolling guards. The guards upon seeing the materialization and appearance of the Seraphim stood in shocked immobility, unable to do anything other than stare. Raphael walked up to the nearest man. He smiled at him in a placating manner.
“Salaam,” Raphael greeted the man.
“Who…who are you?” The man managed to ask. His hands shook so badly he lost the grip on his AK47, causing it to clatter to the ground.
“What would you like to do, brother?”
“I must rely on your judgment, Raph,” Abaddon admitted. “I am not as discerning as you are. I would find the woman and do as our Lord wishes in holding the humans accountable. I feel he wanted me to find you first because I am not yet able to recognize the innocent after so long in exile.”
The guard watched the Archangels in silence, unable to decide the appropriate course of action. The three men with him waited in fear of what the Archangels’ appearance meant. Raphael gestured for the other guards to come closer, which they did.
“I see you have no guilt in what was done to the young Sister Mary Catherine.” Raphael’s words were translated instantly. “Gather your families if they live anywhere near this abomination and leave the area.”
“But…but what have you come to do?” The initial soldier asked hesitantly. “We are soldiers of Allah. We…”
Abaddon joined his brother. Before his true form the soldiers fell to the ground with their heads bowed, paralyzed with fear.
Abaddon reached down and touched the soldier who had spoken. The man gasped. He looked up in amazement at the Angel of the Abyss.
The man turned to lay hands on his fellow guards. The moment their friend touched them they stood up, shaking as if awakening from a dream. The guards left together with only a backwards glance at the Archangels. Raphael turned his eyes to Abaddon with surprise.
“Just a touch?”
“I am to regain the balance. Our Father pressed upon me the power to do whatever I feel necessary. I transferred what power I could to you too, my brother. The ones responsible for the woman’s torment have walked the path of evil too long and must be punished. I reply upon your guidance, Raph. While I do not care to harm the innocent, it may happen without your insight.”
“I am with you, brother. Do you think it would be acceptable to our Lord if we were to enjoy this world fully while working his will?”
“Within reason, Raph,” Abaddon put an arm around Raphael, “within reason. Only you would ask such a thing before all else. I am sure our Father knew you would take some comfort in your stay here. Let us go find Sister Mary Catherine.”
Chapter 3
Chosen of the Lord
Inside the abysmal cell where Catherine lay chained she whispered her prayers in an almost silent chant. No longer capable of clasping her hands together in prayer the almost skeletal Catherine huddled in the filth of her cell. The untreated breaks and fractures on her arms and legs were swollen grotesquely, preventing movement without crippling pain. What was left of Catherine’s once blonde hair which had survived her malnutrition hung in thin transparent strands around her face.
She heard the screams first. Catherine croaked in despair thinking her captors were torturing the prisoners housed in the adjoining cells. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly. The whispered prayers for the poor souls Catherine envisioned being brutalized flowed from her cracked lips in hushed pleas for their deliverance. Screams and wails of agony went on until Catherine began doubting her sanity, wondering if the horrible sounds were originating in her own head. A blinding white light, so bright it registered on Catherine’s closed eyes, filled the dungeon-like cell with illumination to its darkest corners. Catherine heard the door to her cell explode outward. She smiled, believing her captors had turned their attention to her once again. Catherine opened her eyes to welcome her torturers as she did each time they had visited.
Catherine squinted in shock at the two nearly seven foot tall Archangels. The front of her cell lay in ruins beyond the entranceway. The aura of the two Seraphim made Catherine’s heart swell with joy. She recoiled slightly as the black winged armored Angel of the Abyss approache
d her, his hand extended.
“Do not fear, Sister Mary Catherine,” Abaddon urged. “My brother Raphael and I have come to free you from this hell.”
Catherine looked up into Abaddon’s scarred visage with doubt. The empathy she felt pouring from the Archangel soothed her fear. At the touch of Abaddon, Catherine felt the will of the Lord surge through her shattered body. Catherine floated up in Abaddon’s firm grasp, her body healed instantly, the pain she had endured in year long agony finally ended. Raphael grasped his brother’s shoulder.
“You feel it too, Raph?” Abaddon smiled at his brother as he cradled the young woman in his huge arms as if she were a child.
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