Sacred Moon: Book 2

by Alejandro Marrero

  “The only way to protect yourselves noble sovereigns and representatives of your realms from their shackles is to be given the precious and rare gift of godhood. We would not offer these gifts to you if we didn’t see the virtue in your hearts. That includes you, Sagitario, for you’ve been working diligently to develop your meditation and contemplative practices found in the Dhammapada.

  “In my visions, godhood is the only way to save you all assembled from being leashed. It does not mean that you’re undefeatable or that your people will not be in grave danger. It will, however, protect you from their evil plans. You will also, unfortunately, have to tether your people to yourselves. You have no reason to fear becoming corrupted by power, as Lilith has. Your people will not become your slaves. It merely works in our favor that those shackled cannot be shackled to another. As gods, you will have this power. Though as benevolent new gods, you will not influence your people. We god-ascendants know how to sever the ropes of faith from your subjects to your just causes too. We will do so once the great war against Lilith and the Archdemons is over. However, I truthfully cannot see its end or that far ahead. I can only see as far as how to prevent the enslavement of you and your peoples.

  “Now, I already sense doubt in your minds. All your mind-streams are open to me like a lotus blossom and easy to read. Therefore, I shall share the visions I have seen. I warn you that they are not pleasant, and you will experience it all in seconds. Afterward, though, you will be confident in my plans and witness its merit. Then Leilah and Donovan will elevate you to godhood using god-seeds she’ll place in your heart centers. Now, please prepare and steady yourself for this vision nearly brought me to my knees,” I informed them all. Then I chanted the mantra of wisdom, and all the sovereigns and Sagitario crumbled in a gasping heap to the floor. Tears were flowing like rivers from their eyes. Only us god-ascendants stayed upright. Though my friends were equally dismayed and horrified by what they witnessed, we had faith in each other. With effort, everyone who fell to their knees rose and accepted godhood one by one.

  The hours ahead would be wracked with danger. I only hoped that the new vision I received while they received their god-seed granting god-hoods would not come to pass.

  Chapter 34

  Leilah

  “What the effing hell do you three know about these Archdemons? Demons have existed and been used by your pantheons of old for a while now. I thought they were simply a synonymous term for the evil beings or servants of the demigods to cause discord. All of us, before your liberations from the old gods, knew that demons existed in the Shadowrealm. Some were even collared by Abbadon and utilized in his now-disbanded army. So what makes these Archmedemon’s or older ones so special?” I asked the only three former angels present in front of everyone. Why? Because apparently, they reacted to the news of Archdemon’s and their hordes of demons as if they were worse than Lilith.

  My brain could not handle any more surprises at the moment. They at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Which was not really my intention, but it's just been one thing after the other. I’m ready for a blissful honeymoon with Azrael and tired of all this drama. Of course, sensing Azrael’s distress made me feel like an ass-hat. I put my free hand in his and squeezed reassuringly, sending him some of my love through the bond. I was not mad. I was simply at my wit's end. I may be a bit blunt and lack grace or finesse when it comes to sudden changes in plans, but he was still my star-coursed one. Well, I guess husband now too.

  Okay, I admit it. I am struggling with patience lately. It was not currently one of my strengths. It hasn’t been for a good while lately come to think of it. I feel like I was definitely more patient before Donovan’s awakening. Tending my garden, making herbal soaps, teas, and candles for consignment at Sacred Sun. Life was so much simpler back then. Yes, it still had its ups and downs. Life will always be a rollercoaster ride. However, I definitely used to have a lot more downtime.

  “All of those in my army dwelling at the mountain in Cuba, Pico Turquino were few and lesser demons. They were collared because they were weak. They also looked nothing like the demons of old. Yet, I didn’t trust them as I imagine any of the angels of old wouldn’t either. They were eerily similar to the old demons in form but nowhere close in terms of power to the archaic demons. The Archdemons and their hordes were a variety of colors too. The demons we’ve interacted with are all pale or dark in complexion. It’s a notable and stark difference. The Archdemons and their return is a genuine threat,” Abaddon explained. Well, that cleared up some differences, but it still felt like it wasn’t enough.

  “Whatever happened to that army of yours anyway?” Donovan asked his beloved. Abaddon looked at him and shrugged his shoulders. The all too common gesture for ‘I don’t know.’ We should have taken care of that, but I guess we got sidetracked by, well, everything.

  “Their purpose at the time was to help me weaken the veils and sever the last remaining god tether to my heart center. You freed me quickly at Silver Leaf City’s fountain from that remaining tether. I had no further use to interact with them. It was always my intention to destroy or disband them before the veils came down. I wanted peace for the eventual convergence of realms. They were not part of my ultimate plan. Then, of course, our star-coursed bond became evident. I abandoned thinking of any of my previous plans as you later liberated all my Angelic brethren without even dissolving the veil or getting to the Key of Fates. You also don’t like ending life unless necessary. Honestly, since I joined your tribe, so much has occurred, I haven’t even thought of them. By now, I’m sure my former army has figured out I’m not returning. They are probably doing their own thing or disbanded,” Abbadon confessed. His words rang true. This also made my point. There has been a lot going down lately. Too much, really. I think if it wasn’t for the fact Lilith was going on the offensive, we’d probably have some moments of peace. Our intentions were to initially get the Key of Fates to strengthen or dissolve the veil. Then we had to deal with the gods and liberate the Angels. That, of course, was after my own tethers had to be snipped. Seriously, a lot has happened. Can you blame me for wanting to take a siesta?

  “They didn’t disband. When your former army noticed your alignment with all of us, they traveled to the Shadowrealm. They’ve all been tethered to Lillith and increased the size of her army,” Kendra chimed in. Which immediately brought a frown to Abaddon’s face. He drooped his shoulders and let out a long audible sigh.

  Abbadon visibly carried pangs of guilt from his past still, and I definitely could relate. We are not saints and have all done things we wish we could take back or had never done. Logically though, the only way to really heal from the unpleasant circumstances or the guilt-ridden wrongs of our past mistakes is to commit ourselves to learn from them. Then feverishly engaging in positivity and goodness. Accumulating merit by being devoted to cultivating our good qualities to their furthest potential. We do this through our actions of thought, word, and mind. To rewire our minds out of states of suffering, we need to abandon those things we do to ourselves or others that cause it. Then endeavor to practice altruistic things that increase the goodness, wellbeing, and happiness of ourselves and others we will eventually heal. This way, the good memories eventually outweighed the bad ones. This brings a balance and furthers our healing from our pasts with enough time. I knew this. I could relate to this. Yet, I feel like we’re getting off track. However, insightful this conversation is becoming, we don’t have all day.

  My friends and I were definitely the kinds of people that over thought everything. Actually, it’s kind of hilarious we’re all basically having a conversation surrounded by the nobility of most of the realms of Terra, and they’re just watching the spectacle. Gosh, my moods are changing every flipping second. I went from being impatient to profound. Then I thought of the virtuous and now finished it up with hysteria. What is happening to me, I wondered.

  “Well, that’s not good news, Kendra, but we’ve already beat her army once. Tha
t was an even larger force than those Abbadon had assembled. Yet, we were victorious and saved the Emeraldiens. We were even merciful with her unwillingly leashed spy Enestia freeing her from Lilith’s dark enchantment. We did the same for the prisoners we captured from the battle. We mercifully liberated twice as many of Lillith’s tethered beings than were in Abaddon’s forces. Gathering good intelligence and increasing our forces in return. We can be victorious again. We god-ascendants know how to free Lilith’s forces from her control or influence. Plus, now we have your super awesome and definitely more accurate than magick-eight ball skills with your ascendant seer talents,” Donovan replied to Kendra while coming expertly to his star-coursed one’s defense.

  Then Donovan wrapped his arms around Abaddon. “You, my sweet beloved, are a different person now. You’ve evolved into being the best version of yourself. Who you are in the present moment matters more than who you were back then. We’ve all grown together. We’ve all made mistakes, and I imagine we will continue to make them. We’re not perfect like the Illuminated Ones or even the Buddhas. We’re just going to have to use what tools we have at our disposal and trust the stars to be on our side. They’ve certainly blessed us all assembled here immensely,” Donovan said, assuringly like the leader he graciously is.

  “All of that is true indeed, Donovan. Also, Leilah, I have some pretty epic news for you that I’ll share in a moment as I sense Bezaliel is itching to answer your questions,” Kendra added mysteriously. What epic news? I can use some epic news now why wait? I don’t understand what’s with all the waiting until Bezaliel’s voice interrupted my mental wanderings.

  “This mind-reading thing is going to get old quick, Kendra. Anyways, you’re correcto-mondo! Leilah, we don’t know about them as much as the ArchAngels would, but I’ll share what we original Angels of this world system do know. A long, long time ago. In a galaxy far, far, away… just kidding. Well, kind of. Alright, here is the gist of it. Our pantheons of old, when they arrived on this planet, discovered it was inhabited already by evil beings. Like legit evil. The Prada and Versace of evil. The planet, though, was in the perfect location, according to our makers, and they decided this was the one they wanted regardless. It is all about location, location some humans say.

  “The only problem is they did not want to get their hands dirty and decided the inhabitants needed to go rather forcefully. Out with the old and in with the new kind of stuff. Therefore, the pantheons of old created Uriel, Gabriel, Michael, Rafael as the Archangels. They were the most powerful of all the Angels and bestowed the closest amount of powers that rivaled the gods. Only, of course, they were tethered to the gods as they were created by them. Then the rest of the Angels were created. Some were higher Angels like Abaddon and Azrael were. Others were lesser Angels like I was. All of us were tethered to our gods, and since they were our makers, we were appreciative of being born and doing as they asked. As if we had a choice anyway.

  Seriously, Leilah, this planet looked like a hot volcanic mess. Rivers of lava everywhere, land charred in most places, water was present, but mostly it was underground. Then, of course, was the fact it was covered in yes, bigger, and eviler demons. They were colorful like a palette of last year's eyeshadow color type higher-demons. There were six powerful tribes or hordes of higher-demons, and they were all led by six Archdemons. They were incredibly powerful with arcane powers and the literal antithesis of the ArchAngels. Our gods, at the time, created all of us to invade the planet and purge it of all these Archdemons and their armies,” Bezaliel explained.

  “I’m not great at telling stories to be honest, so I’m seriously watering this fracking ordeal down. However, basically, we were able to successfully defeat four of the six Archdemons and their hordes of demons. Which wasn’t a leisurely walk through Central Park on a refreshingly beautiful late spring day either. This war went on forever. Like legit, it lasted about one thousand years. The Archdemons’ magick was that strong. For every lesser Angel that died, the gods unremorsefully created more of us. Angels used to be in the billions. Trust me, plenty of Angels were defeated by those higher demons. The demons were not gods, so they had limited numbers even if there were several billion of them. Luckily the ArchAngels at the time were a good match for the Archdemons, so it kind of worked out in the end. However, when four of the more antagonistic Archdemons and their kingdoms were laid to waste, the remaining two retreated and disappeared. They just poof vanished. Nowhere to be found.

  “Then the ArchAngels basically terraformed the planet into one big continent surrounded by a vast ocean on every side. I think the humans of today called it Pangea. The gods wanted to build their palaces and come down from their abodes to a beautiful blue and green planet, so they made that happen. Even seeding the planet with all kinds of beings and speeding their evolution so that the earliest humans on the land worked in servitude to those gods. Eventually, the gods fought with each other because of politics, that’s why. Literally, politics is found in every hierarchy. They wanted space and divided Pangea into more continents. Even with more continents, massive islands, and their sordid dalliances with the locals, which of course, made different kinds of beings, they still were not satisfied. So, the gods moved their palaces that the humans had slaved away, making up to their celestial abodes. You pretty much showed up after that out of left-field and offered your guidance to the beings in this world system. Now, of course, that was hundreds of millions of years ago, so surf the web if you want the human interpretation of the earth’s topography at the time.

  “Apparently, those two Archdemons that evaded us are back. The ArchAngels are doing their own thing. The old gods are probably eating popcorn and enjoying the show since apparently, we’re doomed, and that’s about it. If you want more details, do that sharing mind-meld trick you all love to do with your husband, Az. Trust me, I watered that down to cliff notes. As if it needed to be said, we are totally effing screwed. The ones who probably know of the best way to defeat them are the ArchAngels, and they probably have martinis somewhere enjoying their freedom and not giving a flying snit,” Bezaliel explained in his colorful modern tongue. Who knew the former Angel known as The Watcher and Shadow of the Gods was a pop-culture junky? I barely understood half of that. However, I did appreciate the summary, and his personality was kind of refreshing.

  “Well, you’re certainly a ray of sunshine. I have decided I like you. Quicksilver, he is a keeper,” I said to Bezaliel and Quicksilver both. Which brought beaming smiles from both of them, and Bezaliel received a possessive hug from Quicksie. They are so adorable. Bezaliel with his petite stature and his ginormous muscled mate. What a pair. Opposites do indeed attract, it seems.

  “Alright, my darling husband, bare your wisdom about these Archdemons and any other information of relevance with the rest of the group. Leave nothing out. Let us see what we’re fighting against,” I asked Azrael. He complied because he’s terrific. Then in a matter of seconds, I and all of us relieved the insanity of the wars between the Gods, Archangels, Angels, Archdemons, and all. I was up to speed now on more than the last three-hundred and fifty-million years. Wow, I’m glad I was still growing up in Prakuta and visiting other world systems before then. We’re so effing screwed if we don’t figure out a way to take care of this pronto.

  “Your majesties and all of us here. You must return immediately to your respective realms. I’ve implanted in your minds the ability to create a sphere of privacy, some wards, and teleportation. Leave now. Begin communicating with your people and preparing them to be tethered to your noble endeavors. Return with the same angels that brought you here as they will be able to point out on your maps the locations of the surrounding Demonic monoliths that serve as gateways. These gateways are erected surrounding your lands and territories and must be destroyed. Call for us if you need any help,” Kendra explained to the assembled sovereigns. The visiting ones expressed their devotion to our cause of saving now, not only the realms but the planet from Lilith’s machinations. T
hey bid us all farewell and flashed away with pairs of Angels in their wake. When they all left, I looked at Kendra and arched a brow.

  “So is this the new you? You’ve certainly gotten bossier. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see you taking charge. I’m just surprised at the one-eighty you pulled overnight,” I asked Kendra. To which she just smiled.

  “I’ve always been extroverted. It just took time to find my place in everything and struggled with anxiety. Now that I have seer abilities, I’m more confident. Everyone here genuinely cares for each other, and that truly does help,” Kendra replied with kind eyes. I guess it made sense.

  “Your helpful foresight has indeed been valuable, Kendra. We appreciate you immensely,” added Queen Rhea. To which Kendra beamed.

  “Thank you very much for your perfect love and perfect trust, Rhea, and Oro. Now we have things we need to do here in Draconious to prepare as well. For one thing, we must eat soon, or Donovan is going to lose his mind in a moment, and we’re all quite famished regardless. Secondly, though the other realms will indeed have around fourteen days till Lillith’s retinue arrives through the surrounding gateways, if they’re not destroyed, that is not the case here in Draconious. Your realm’s convergence area is too close to the Americas. The gateways surrounding your realm will be fully activated tomorrow. Lilith has decided to send the Archdemons here to try and bind the Dragonkin one last time before she starts her full assault on the whole planet,” Kendra admitted forebodingly. Which elicited gasps from all of us. Seriously? What the flying fudge was up with that!

  “I am hungry,” Donovan admitted nonchalantly. My charge and our fearless leader and his priorities. Like that was news to anyone. Did he not hear that we’d have only twenty-four hours till we’d be fighting Archdemons?