THE FALL (Rapha Chronicles #1) (The Rapha Chronicles)

by Chana Keefer

  Rapha chuckled as he recalled Abel’s antics at a recent evening meal as he re-enacted Kal’s anger toward a butting ram. “Stupid beast!” The boy had imitated Kal’s gravely growl to perfection as he aimed a kick at the imaginary ram’s rump. When Abel had raced around the room, exaggerating Kal’s bow-legged pursuit of the unfortunate ram, even Kal had laughed until he cried.

  Before the laughter had died, Cain had stalked from the room.

  But the next morning it had appeared Cain’s foul mood had passed when he whooped with joy as his spear outdistanced Abel’s.

  Thus, though each had their own strengths and areas of expertise, they tended to be evenly matched.

  But their greatest rivalry was for their mother’s favor.

  Eve reigned supreme in their eyes. One touch from her graceful hand or one smile of approval was their greatest reward; therefore, they pursued these tokens with even more determination than they ran their races. And if one ever felt the other had bested him for her regard, civil war was inevitable. Rapha tried to stay abreast of the twins’ moods so he could be on hand when tempers flared and fists began to fly, but they had become adept at cloaking their emotions and thoughts from him—a talent Rapha had only encountered in Lucifer—until they could sneak away and beat the fire out of each other without interruption.

  Suddenly Rapha felt panic flow over him in a wave. “Cain! Abel!” Adam’s voice broke the morning’s peace. Rapha leapt to his feet, his mouth set into grim lines, as the familiar feeling of frustration and fear from the thoughts of Adam, Eve, and Kal crashed upon his mind. Those two rascals had run away—again.

  As Rapha ran to join the search, he thought back to the first time Cain and Abel had snuck away in the night. For two harrowing days Adam and Rapha had sought Cain and Abel only to come upon them in the foothills of the mountains, hungry and wounded but glowing with pride because they had fought off a mountain cat. They were unrepentant about causing worry until Adam spoke of their mother. When they heard of Eve’s tears they had apologized profusely and submitted without a peep to Adam’s lashing of their backsides with a thin reed.

  On the long journey home with the boys traipsing ahead rubbing their sore hindquarters, Adam had confided to Rapha his pride in Cain and Abel for their bravery but his concern for their curiosity. “I want to tell them the truth of their heritage but what will that do to them? Will they hate me? Will they become fascinated with Lucifer? How can we know the time is right?”

  All good questions—for which Rapha had no easy answer.

  He should have seen this coming, Rapha chided himself as he went through the motions of checking the boys’ favorite haunts—though his heart knew they were headed once more toward “the others” who dwelt beyond the mountains. Just the night before the boys had begged Kal to speak of the cities beyond the mountains where he used to dwell. He had indulged them, spiking the stories with plenty of battle strategy and intrigue to quench their boyish lust for adventure. Usually, after Kal’s reminiscence, the boys would press their father to take them on the long journey to Kal’s former home, to which their father always replied, “When you are a bit older.”

  But not so last night. The two had thanked Kal for the stories without bringing up their usual request and had retired early.

  Now, from all appearances, Cain and Abel, gone once again, had taken only skins of water, a bit of food, and their spears.

  To add to their alarm, Eve had been tormented with dreams of winged beasts swooping from the heavens to snatch Cain and Abel. Adam said she had awoken screaming, convinced Lucifer had finally come for the boys and she would never see them again.

  So Adam and Rapha packed a few essentials and set out quickly leaving behind a panicked Eve and the ever-faithful Kal. On they trudged, following the boys’ fresh trail out of the valley and up into the mountains, stopping for only a few hours each night for rest and a scant meal.

  Even with such a pace, they did not catch up to Cain and Abel until the third day. They came around a bend to find the two boys perched upon a large rock, their eyes red-rimmed with fatigue but their minds clearly set on continuing the journey.

  “We are not children anymore!” Cain insisted and, indeed, because they were tall enough to look their father in the eye, Adam could hardly argue the fact.

  “We can take care of ourselves!” Abel chimed in. “Besides, how can we prepare to defend our lands if we have no idea of the enemy’s strength?”

  “That’s right,” Cain added, building to his most convincing argument. “Is there something you think we’re not ready to see? Something you’re trying to hide? You have always said we should be honest with each other.”

  Adam glared at his headstrong boys, then raised questioning eyes to Rapha who watched the proceedings with a wry smile. Adam did not even have to ask. His old friend was amused by how much the boys were acting like him in younger days. With a sigh Adam voiced one last protest.

  “But your mother is sick with concern for you. She needs to know….”

  “Right. So you go back to let her know we’re okay….”

  “And we can continue on with Rapha.” Cain finished Abel’s thought.

  Adam tried in vain to mask a smile at their well-rehearsed arguments. “So you want to be rid of me?”

  “No, but Rapha has been here before and you haven’t.” Abel referred to Rapha’s tales of wandering these lands long before Adam was even born.

  After a private conference, Adam and Rapha agreed to the boys’ plan, deciding a guided exploration was preferable to another boyish escape.

  With one last admonishment from their father, the three watched Adam begin the solitary journey home. The boys’ excitement overflowed. They let out whoops of victory as they once more turned to delve further into the unknown. Rapha was struck with misgivings but their sense of adventure was contagious. He began to enjoy the holiday, revisiting the role of instructional guide to enthusiastic minds.

  For their part, Cain and Abel were glad to have a guide who never failed to locate water and food. Exploring was much more fun when their stomachs were full. The boys were excellent marksmen with their spears. They rejoiced to have the challenge of hunting for survival or fending off a ferocious animal, although the latter did not happen often enough for their satisfaction; just a hungry she-wolf who tried to steal their felled duck in a barren mountain pass. (Rapha did not allow them to kill her, explaining she had a hungry litter of pups nearby.) The next day they intentionally left another duck at that spot. Also, when night began to fall in the mountain passes and a cold wind blew, they were immensely grateful for Rapha’s finesse in building a snug shelter.

  Indeed, those quiet nights tucked into a lean-to of stripped bark or, when it was warm enough, a tent of their animal skin cloaks with a fire and fresh game roasting on long sticks, were the height of adventure for the boys who felt someone was finally treating them like men.

  But, ten days into their journey, disaster struck.

  They had been descending the mountain passes the day before and spied evidence of humans—the leavings of a campfire, footprints in soft ground. Therefore the boys, overflowing with excitement for their first glimpse of “others,” had been eager to press on as soon as the sky was gray. Before long, they were peering down into a wide valley.

  For a long moment Cain and Abel were silent as their eyes darted, trying to absorb everything at once. Then Cain gasped and pointed. “There it is, the fortress where Kal told us their warriors stay.” At the same moment Abel discovered the huge, pillared arch carved into solid rock that marked the entrance to the place of sacrifice as well as the giant statues representing the gods they worshipped. Although the sun had still not risen, here and there people moved along wide pathways of shaped stone.

  Rapha explained that, in an age long past, the large mound in the middle of the plain had been the center of worship and commerce. “The place where the people traded what they had for what they needed,” he explained.


  “But that is only a flat mountain with grass on top,” Abel observed.

  “Thus it has been for many lifetimes of men, but there was a day mighty pillars rose into the sky and a carved, ascending pathway flanked by fruit trees and enormous statues led from the floor of the valley.” Rapha pointed. “See the large stones at the base on the right? Note the rounded part sticking out. That is a portion of pillar. Unfortunately the path and stairs have long been covered by rock and soil but, ah!” Rapha drew their attention farther down the slope. “There, see the rectangular shape? That stone was part of the foundation.”

  Cain made a snorting noise, “You would have us believe these men moved that stone, the one as large as our family’s dwelling, to the top of that mountain?”

  “The people possessed skill in artistry and construction but they also had among them men of great stature to whom these feats were simple.”

  The boys exchanged dubious glances.

  “I will tell you something I told your father many years ago, ‘Just because you cannot imagine something does not make it untrue.’”

  Again Cain snorted.

  “You find this difficult to believe?”

  “Our father,” Cain mumbled.

  “How large?” Abel cut in quickly, “The men… how large were they?”

  Rapha answered Abel’s question even as he studied Cain’s sneer out of the corner of his eye. “Various sizes. Some were three and even four times your height but such stature put incredible demands upon their bodies, therefore the length of their lives was greatly diminished. In truth, they were worshipped for what was a weakness. If their breeding had continued without interruption, if their wars and cruelty had not been checked, all men in that ancient time would have ceased to exist.”

  “But the fire from heaven came,” Abel murmured.

  “Yes. And much that was good and much that was evil perished.” Rapha paused, his eyes once more seeing the carnage and chaos of that day, his ears recalling the shrieks of man and beast as the stench of their scorched flesh rose to the heavens.

  A hand was on Rapha’s shoulder… a hand that stretched into his soul, entering the painful memory with him. He looked up at Abel whose eyes were shut, a grimace of pain on his young face. Abel’s eyes flew open and he jerked his hand away. For a long moment they regarded each other.

  Obviously, Abel’s ability to read another’s emotions went much deeper than Rapha had realized. But this was not the time to discuss that talent because what Abel had absorbed had left him gasping and pale with horror.

  “What did you see?” Cain asked.

  But Abel ignored his brother, his eyes fixed on the high mound in the middle of the valley. “Why?” he whispered. “Why did Adonai destroy them?”

  “The lore of their people teaches that Adonai sent the cataclysm—but this is not true. The fire that fell from the sky was of Lucifer’s making.”

  “How do you know this?” Cain’s expression was suspicious.

  “Because I was there,” Rapha said as he stared toward a tower of stone across the valley.

  Someone in that tower was focusing a fixed, intent look their way. “We have been seen,” he said as the sound of a ram’s horn echoed from the rocks around them.

  “Come,” Rapha pulled both boys down beside him and moved to propel them uphill but Cain and Abel’s bodies were stiff, their mouths gaping, their eyes fixed on movement in the valley.

  Rapha followed their gaze.

  What he beheld filled his heart with dread.

  Men armed for battle were emerging from the rock fortress, their feet stepping in tandem as they filed out, ten abreast, line after line. But for Cain, Abel, and Rapha, it was the one who led this procession who demanded their attention.

  The young man was beautiful. Clad only in a short leather garment that covered his loins, and leather wrappings for his feet that extended up to his knees, the perfection of his form could not be denied. His bearing was proud—chin lifted, back and shoulders straight—as he strode before the other soldiers.

  Just then the sun’s first rays shot through a cleft in the surrounding mountain range and lit a golden circlet on his brow. For a moment the young man stood still, basking in the glow, tossing back long waves of hair that matched his crown.

  Then he turned his head toward them and, despite the light shining into his face, he locked eyes with Rapha.

  Immediately Rapha’s mind was under siege. The infiltration was backed by absolute confidence, the brash assurance of one who has never been denied, one who has never met his equal, one who never expects to apprehend anyone or anything as magnificent as himself. As if the young man grasped his throat in a vice grip, it took all Rapha’s strength to simply expand his lungs and breathe.

  “I know you,” the young man’s mind spoke, “you are the fool who rejected my father’s friendship.”

  Rapha’s mind raced. My father?

  The reality crashed in. Lucifer had secured Adam’s seed. With it the fallen angel had crafted this superior being.

  “Yes. You know it is true.”

  “Who is he?” Cain asked.

  “I will explain later. Come,” Rapha said as the young man on the plain shouted the order for his men to advance. But the voice was wrong, too high-pitched, too… young.

  Of course, this one could be no older than Cain and Abel yet his proportions were manly and body hair covered his limbs and chest.

  With an unexpected wave of pity Rapha probed the leader’s mind.

  A heavy weight bore down on his chest. It was all up to him. He was the chosen one. He must be perfect. He must endure the cruel training and the foul-smelling drinks and the isolation from other children. He was not like them. Their inferiority would taint him. He was called “Ish-el.”

  He was the only one of his kind. He was lonely.

  He was… scared.

  A shriek of outrage erupted from the golden-haired leader. Rapha was shoved with such force out of the young man’s thoughts he was thrown to the ground. Cain and Abel blinked down at him in surprise.

  “I should not have done that. I have angered him,” Rapha said as he once more started up the mountain path.

  Rapha had taken no more than two steps when another howl of anger, this accompanied by shouted curses and insults, echoed up from the leader. One look at Cain’s face gave the reason for the second outburst.

  “I did it!” Cain exclaimed. “I’ve never tried it from a distance…” he looked from Rapha to Abel, elation lighting his features, “ha! It worked!”

  But the golden-haired leader was running across the plain in their direction, all semblance of decorum abandoned, while the men behind him followed, trying to maintain their lines.

  “You inserted thoughts? From here? I could not throw a rock that far.” Abel observed, his expression eager, his hand reaching to give Cain’s back a congratulatory slap. “What did you tell him?”

  But Cain pulled away. “Oh no. Your secrets first.”

  “What?” Abel asked.

  “Tell me Rapha’s memories you saw earlier or I won’t….”

  “Can you argue as we run please?” Rapha said, grabbing the boys by the forearms and propelling them ahead of him.

  “Do we have to run? Do we have to be their enemies?” Abel looked back with longing toward the plain where the leader had reached the rocks at the bottom of the mountain.

  “If you had visited his mind,” Rapha scrambled up a steep ravine, “you would know he plans to carve us into pieces.”

  “That is a shame,” Cain said. “He would be so fun to tease.”

  “Please tell what you said to him,” Abel begged.

  “Well, alright.” Cain shot a smug smile toward his brother as he grasped a vine and heaved himself up through thick undergrowth. “I just told him I had not known the women here were so beautiful,” he paused to snicker, “with their long, gold hair and bare chests.”

  As both boys burst into laughter another shriek of
rage rang out from behind.

  “You are not helping,” Rapha began as two long blasts from a horn again split the early-morning chill. Rapha paused to draw in the thoughts of their pursuant once more. “That was a call to outlying guards,” he ducked down and pointed toward a hill topped by trees. “Right there. We must hurry before we are surrounded.”

  “What did you find out from his thoughts?” Cain whispered as he followed Rapha into a cluster of straight trunks and prickly undergrowth that buffered the noise of their passage. “Who is he?”

  Rapha took a deep breath and searched their young faces. “He is your brother.”

  Both boys appeared to stop breathing. They stared at Rapha with matching stunned expressions. Immediately though, Cain’s face flushed with anger while Abel turned to look back the way they had come.

  A fierce baying broke out behind them followed by answering barks in the direction of the hill Rapha had pointed out. “Come. Quickly.”

  For several minutes there was nothing but scrambling for hand- and footholds. On one short but sheer cliff they were again able to climb by utilizing strong vines, which Rapha then ripped from the ground and tossed over the edge. “That will at least be difficult for the dogs,” he commented before plunging up through a tight gorge of loose rock that gave way as they climbed.

  Finally they came to another cliff but this time no convenient vines were in sight. “I will go first,” Rapha instructed as he began the inch-by-inch effort. “Follow my hands and feet exactly,” he said through gritted teeth as every muscle strained. There were a few complaints as rock and dirt dislodged to fall on those behind but soon Rapha was reaching a hand to assist Abel over the edge. When he reached for Cain, however, the boy ignored his outstretched hand, insisting on gaining the last few feet unassisted even though his muscles quivered as he clung, cheek pressed against the rock, veins standing out on his forehead with the effort. At last, Rapha reached under Cain’s shoulders and hauled him out of danger, though the boy shook free as soon as he was on solid ground.

  As they rested, puffing and blowing to regain their breath, Rapha took note of Cain’s tight jaw and clenched hands. He also noticed when the boys’ eyes met. Cain’s narrowed and Abel’s widened in response to the unspoken communication.