by James Somers
But it is not that way now. Even that change had a beginning. How did it happen? What was it that caused so many to turn away from such a life? A matter so simple, one might never believe it could change all of Creation as we knew it.
If there was anything valuable one could possess, it was a good name and a position of prestige. These were more precious than gold and greatly to be desired. After all, an immortal being has no need of sustenance, for the body is never going to die. We had no need of houses to shelter us with beds for rest because we would never grow weary. And riches mean nothing when there is no need of buying and selling. No, our great joy was to know one another as brothers and to serve our Creator.
The greatest among our kind were the archangels. Michael was one and is still. One of the other few was an angel whose name can no longer be uttered in mortal tongues. He would come to be known only as Black.
Despite the fact that Black was created an archangel, he desired the position of Covering Cherub. This blessed angel was one who had the privilege of spreading his vast wings to cover the throne of God in Heaven. He alone occupied an office that, by its nature, placed him above the Most High. The angel’s name was Lucifer.
“You should not look at him that way,” I said.
Black turned to me. His face seemed pained. The expression troubled me greatly because the emotions involved were not pure. They did not express joy, but sorrow. And sorrow had been foreign to Heaven until now.
“Why should Lucifer enjoy such a place with the Almighty?” he asked.
I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to such a query. The very nature of the question was alien to who we had been created to be before our God. Still, I made my best attempt, hoping to somehow console him. I wanted my brother to be joyous again.
“Because the Almighty has ordained it to be so,” I answered. “Just as he has given you and Michael and the others to be archangels. I have not been given such a high place. Still, I am happy to be who the Almighty has created me to be.”
“Am I not as beautiful as him?” Black asked.
“Yes, you are very beautiful.”
“Am I not as wise as Lucifer?” he asked.
“I know of none wiser than you, my brother,” I replied kindly. “Please, don’t be troubled by matters that are not under our control. We answer to God. It is He who must decide such matters. His is the divine authority over all Creation.”
“There is more to control than authority,” Black remarked, still watching Lucifer as he led in the worship of the Almighty, great luminescent wings spread in joyous praise and adoration of the power to whom all others owed their existence.
Words can be powerful things. One should never underestimate the extent of damage they can do.
What I had not realized—could not have even understood yet—was that a burning had begun within my brother. There was an unholy desire present. A fire left unchecked soon devours everything around it.
Time did not pass for us. Time seems to have little importance when forever lies ahead of you. Only mortals find it so precious, because it is limited to them. I have since learned the pain of counting time, of waiting for mine to run out and then to face the judgment. Life would become a race to accomplish something with my existence before it was too late.
As God’s host, we were privy to all things. He did not hide his work from us. When the mortal world, Earth, was made, we sons of God sang with joy in our hearts, praising the Creator for the further wonders he had made.
Awe inspiring it was—this world full of creatures with seemingly endless variety. Seas full of beauty and wondrous beasts. The land equally so. Varying Weather patterns controlled with immeasurable precision by sunlight, gravity, wind and tide.
The Almighty had created a kingdom there in of itself. But he had given it to a new creation—one made in his image. A moral, mortal being of flesh and blood and bone. A being of diminished strength—lower on the order of power than angels. To this weak creature, the Almighty afforded dominion over all the wonders he had created in this new world.
For many, including myself, this bordered on outrageous. How could it be? We stood upon the precipice of envy, teetering. All that was needed was a push to send so many over the edge into rebellion. For my brother, whose name would be wiped from memory, he saw an opportunity.
A group of six angels stood in attendance as the Heavenly Father took his first walk with man in the cool of the day. We stood among the flowers of a beautiful garden in Eden, made for this one called Adam. We were curious about man. That was enough.
Lucifer was among us that day. Also there was Black and myself. Southresh and Hageddon and Anubis watched nearby. Black was the first to actually speak about this spectacle.
“My compliments on leading worship today,” Black said to Lucifer.
Lucifer nodded. “Thank you, brother, it was my pleasure as always.” He seemed distracted by what was transpiring in the garden, as we all were.
“This is truly a paradise the Lord has made,” Black said. “It seems odd that such a place should be given to one so frail and helpless as this Adam. Had I guessed, I might have thought the Lord would grant such power and dominion to his most loyal and beautiful and wise. A reward for incomparable daily service. If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I would have thought the Lord would choose you, Lucifer.”
Lucifer looked at Black strangely, but he did not comment. He turned his gaze back to the Father as he strode with Adam through the garden. A myriad of colorful birds danced in the air above them. Lions and oxen, and elephants and dragons regarded them from beneath shade trees.
I could see it in Lucifer’s eyes. He had been thinking something very similar—at least wondering why this should all be given to Adam and his kind. Why not to us? Why not to the Covering Cherub?
Black said nothing more that day. But he did not let the issue die, either. On a regular basis, he reminded Lucifer of Adam and his dominion over the Earth. Always it was done subtly. Questions with obvious answers left hanging in silence. The merest hint of preferential treatment toward man. The slightest suggestion that Lucifer had been denied his due from the Heavenly Father.
The fire burning in Black’s heart had kindled a flame in our brother. Lucifer was not one to withhold himself. When an idea struck him, he quickly planned his way to accomplishing the task. This was one of the reasons why he was so good in his God given position as Covering Cherub. He put his all into his duty.
That same passion, ignited by this perceived slight against him, caused his rational mind to topple. No sooner did the idea of just desserts take hold in Lucifer’s heart than he ushered many others over the edge to his cause. It was no longer just Lucifer who had been slighted. We angels together had been overlooked by the Father in favor of a weaker vessel. Man had been preferred.
This idea spread like wildfire. We looked for a champion, someone who could bring our cause before the Almighty to plead our case. Lucifer elected himself. We all agreed he was wise and beautiful. His nearness to the throne of God made him the perfect choice to lead the many who held this new opinion.
Many of our brothers, bothered by our perception of injustice, distanced themselves from Lucifer. But the Covering Cherub branded them as fools who couldn’t think for themselves. After all, we had minds and individual will. Why not question the decisions of our Lord? Our case seemed just. He would listen.
Black withdrew from the inferno he had kindled. His job done, he was content to watch what would happen. I have often thought, since the tragedy that would come from our actions, that Black was perhaps the craftiest individual I had ever known. He had desired to unseat Lucifer from his position and he had known exactly how to accomplish it without ever lifting a finger.
By flattery alone Black had moved against our brother. True that Lucifer then ran with the idea of his deserving a kingdom of his own—to rule the world of men and be worshipped like the Most High. But Black had kindled the matter, and the Father was not i
gnorant of how it had come to pass.
When our case was brought before the throne of God, we were condemned as rebels. Lucifer had led a third of our number in this uprising, and we all bore the punishment for our crime. While many regretted taking part in this rebellion, the damage had already been done. Others, chiefly Lucifer himself, never could get beyond the idea that the Father had wronged us all by giving man dominion over the Earth.
However, before we were cast out, the Almighty brought forth Black. His guilty heart was revealed before all. The Lord showed his jealousy toward Lucifer, a matter he would never forgive or forget. A terrible rivalry had begun.
Judgment was handed down upon Black from the throne of God. “Your name will be forgotten, never to be uttered by the world of men. Even your brothers will fail to speak it, and you, yourself, will not remember it. As wicked as your deeds have been, only the blackness of your heart will be known of you until that day when you enter the eternal fire I have prepared for all who rebel against me.”
From that day, we were cast out of our first estate. Though the spiritual realm was still accessible—even the Heavenly realm—we had lost our place as the Sons of God. All that was left for us now, was to dwell in the earthly realm, awaiting final judgment.
Lucifer would not be content. He still hated man, desiring to turn this new creature against God through subtlety. In part, he has been successful. Man, as a free thinking creature, has rebelled, though further insult was added to us when the Father provided a means of redemption. Still, many do not take advantage of this free gift.
Through our efforts, we lead them to squander even this last opportunity to know the Father. All the while, they remain ignorant to our machinations. In many cases, we have kept them from even realizing our existence.
Yet, none of this fulfilled our desires. Always, we were left wanting for that relationship that had been lost through our rebellion. We could not be satisfied.
Perhaps, it was this desire to be loved again that led to many taking wives of the mortals. I can only speak for myself. I did come to love a human woman, though I know many others only took advantage of another opportunity to harm mankind for our own ends.
In time, children were born, beginning the races of Descendants in the mortal world. Partly human and partly angelic in nature and form, they would become despised by both. Powerful yet unloved, just as the ones who had begotten them.
Samiel’s memory began to slip then. Something was happening. My connection with my grandfather was fading.
I opened my eyes again. Donatus had grown still. He was no longer breathing. I gripped his hand tighter, but there was no life left in him. Donatus had gone to that place I had just experienced through the memory of Samiel.
What his angelic father had lost through his rebellion with Lucifer, Donatus had gained through faith in the savior. I lay my head on his chest. The warmth was even now beginning to fade from his body as I began to weep.
Infirm
The others had returned to find me with Donatus a few moments later. It was confirmed that the elf king of Xandrea had indeed passed away. Laish sat with me, as did Sadie. She rubbed my back, attempting to console me. I was sad, of course, but somehow not discouraged. Donatus was safe now, just like my parents.
It was the rest of us who had been left to deal with the problems of life. And we still had a couple of very vengeful angels to deal with. However, the knowledge that these two—Black and Lucifer—were fighting against one another interested me. Could that be useful to our cause? I wasn’t sure how it fit into the puzzle just yet, but surely the Lord had not had Donatus to leave me with Samiel’s memory for no reason.
The king had only just left the room when a commotion stirred in the corridor outside the medical bay. People were shouting, a boy’s voice was heard crying, and the king began to yell at some of his men. An emergency had occurred.
“My boy! What’s happened to him?” the king shouted.
We went to the mouth of the medical bay as physicians and healers hurried to the king. Some of the king’s guards were carrying someone in on a canvas stretcher. I couldn’t believe it was actually Liam Shade.
His face was busted up. He looked like he’d been dropped from a rooftop, or severely beaten. My first thought was that Black had done this. After all, he had just invaded Brian Shade’s throne room and had fatally wounded my grandfather. I actually felt sorry for the boy, despite his recent attitude toward me.
One of the guards, a captain from his insignia, was attempting to answer the king’s questions. However, Brian Shade was clearly too panicked to hear what he was saying. He called for the healers to do something for him. They obeyed, following the stretcher as the prince was brought into the infirmary.
Liam was brought to one of the open medical bays and placed, stretcher and all, upon the bed. The physicians began to assess his wounds, while the healers gathered round. They linked hands, as they had done for Donatus, and began their chanting anew.
The guard captain stood apart with the king while the boy moaned from the pain of his wounds. “My lord, the prince challenged a boy on the quads,” he explained.
“Boy?” the king asked. “What boy? What is his name?”
“Adolf, my lord, but he must be new to the city.”
The king gave him a stern look. “Someone who came with them?” he asked, indicating our group of Descendants.
The guard captain glanced our way. “I don’t believe so, Your Majesty. He’s been here for some time. I’ve seen him practicing at times in the quads, but never with anyone in particular. Probably just one of our usual visitors, but he was peculiar.”
“What do you mean, peculiar?” the king asked.
“He didn’t have the build of a sprite, Your Majesty, but he did possess the ability to fly,” the captain said. “When I attempted to arrest him, he shot straight up into the cavern, alighting on the opposite side of the city.”
“Didn’t you follow him?”
“Of course, my lord, but he was nowhere to be found,” the captain explained. “Somehow, he just disappeared. No one in the vicinity could recall seeing him land there.”
The king looked grimly at the captain and then toward his son. “Why did he challenge this boy? He was supposed to be at the palace for our peace summit.”
“I tried to get him to come with me, Your Majesty, but the prince refused to leave the quads.”
Brian Shade exhaled heavily. He looked back to his guard captain. “Of course you did, Jon,” he said. “I wasn’t questioning your loyalty to duty. It’s just been an awful day with everything else that’s happened. I should have known Liam’s pride would get the better of him some day.”
“Forgive my asking, my king, but what else has happened?”
The Shade King looked back to us and Donatus’s body lying in the medical bay. “The elf king was killed when one of the Fallen invaded my throne room. He threatened me, and brave Donatus attempted to fight him off. Alas, to no avail.”
“I’m sorry to hear it, my lord,” the captain said, glancing our way, expressing his condolences with a bowed head.
The king stood in thought for a moment, watching the physicians and healers as they worked on Liam. “Regardless of my son’s pride, I want this boy, Adolf, found. He may have justly defeated him, but this kind of brutality is criminal, pure and simple. I want him found and brought before me to be banished from Rockunder. Our open door will not be used by such persons to abuse our citizens, let alone our prince.”
The captain snapped to attention and then bowed at the waist. “I’ll get our best men on it immediately, sire. We’ll find him.”
I watched Liam writhing, holding his side. His face was a mass of bruises and dried blood smears. So, it had been his own foolish pride that had caused this mess. Liam had challenged this boy called Adolf to a fight and he had bitten off much more than he could chew in doing so.
The chanting of the healers drew me in with its metronome pulse. I
gave Sadie a devious glance, drawing her attention. Then I closed my eyes and fell into the rhythm of the healer’s song again.
When the room coalesced around me, revealing the strange auras around every person in the room, I noticed Sadie staring at me. Only, her physical form was in one spot, eyes closed, while this luminescent version of my friend reached out to me.
Oddly, I was able to reach out to her as well. My hand, outlined in pure light as she was, stretched forward to take her hand. She pulled me from my chair beside Donatus’s bed. When I looked back, I saw myself sitting there, eyes closed next to the physical form of Sadie. Donatus lay behind us in the bed, but the light of his life had gone.
I turned back to Sadie as she led me near to the healers. She was now chanting with them in the same language. I could not understand the words, but they repeated at every tenth interval.
The boy prince had calmed by now. The physicians stood back. They paid no attention to us in our illuminated forms. All they would have seen was two children sitting in chairs next to Laish in the medical bay where my grandfather lay.
We came into harmony with the healers through Sadie’s chanting. I was able to understand even more than I had before. The injuries were painful, but not overly serious. Liam had been soundly thrashed by Adolf, whoever he was. I found myself thinking that I should like to congratulate the boy and, perhaps, shake his hand for what he had done. Still, I knew this was entirely the wrong sort of attitude if I was ever going to make things good between myself and the prince.
Liam had two broken ribs and several facial fractures apart from the obvious bruises, scrapes and cuts. The healers were busy forming a matrix to repair the fractures first. This matrix of Liam’s correct anatomical structure formed the framework by which they brought the displaced bone back into proper alignment.
The physicians had given him a sedative that was, even now, working its way through his blood stream. This kept him unconscious while the healers worked. The pain was easy to perceive in his body, though I didn’t actually experience it. However, his brain was not registering these pain responses due to the sedative.