Chapter 49
A THREAT
The two rebel Cherubim, Gomory and Raum, who had been assigned to watch over the Humans raced back to the Underworld after being threatened by Cerebriel and his loyal Cherubim. How dare the loyal Cherubim threaten them, especially over these Human sub-creatures? Luciferael and his Auxilium would be furious to hear this news. And to think the head of the Cherubim, Cerebriel, would even think of invading the Underworld. They would destroy any loyal Angel who broached their kingdom.
Gomory and Raum found Luciferael inspecting some of the newly constructed cells in the Second Pit of Hell. Suriel accompanied Luciferael, as he would be in charge of this level of Hell. Both Luciferael and Suriel were surprised to see the two Cherubim, as they knew they were assigned to watch the Humans.
“My lords,” Gomory called out as they descended. “We have returned to you to report. We were both threatened by Cerebriel about the Half-Human child Enoch. Cerebriel and a large group of his guards attacked us as we were observing the cave where the child was with the Humans. He told us that if we attempted to interfere with Enoch that he would assemble his legions and attack all of us here in the Underworld.”
“Oh, did he now?” Suriel responded, his body inflating with anger.
“Yes, my lords. What would you like us to do?”
“We need to go attack the Humans in their cave then!” Suriel stated. “We will not be intimidated by a Cherubim. No offense to you two.”
“They are very protective about that child,” Luciferael stated, although he remained cool and calm.
“I can sound the alarm and start gathering rebel Angels, my lords,” Raum said as he ran his hand over the hilt of his sword.
“No,” Luciferael stated. “What does capturing this hybrid child gain us?”
“It would show the loyal Angels that we will not be intimidated, my lord,” Suriel said. “And it will be more of an incentive for Jarahmael to try to find Lillith and the boy so we can capture him.”
“True,” Luciferael stated. Then he thought for a moment. “But I think our capture of Lillith at the moment will be more than enough incentive to have Jarahmael try to free her. Did Cerebriel mention anything about Lillith in his threat?”
“No, my lord Luciferael, he did not mention anything about her at all.”
“What about Jarahmael? Did he mention anything about trying to protect Jarahmael?” Luciferael inquired further.
“No, my lord, there was no mention about that traitor either,” Gomory responded.
“What about the Humans? Any mention about the loyal Angels protecting Adam and Eve or their offspring?” Luciferael asked, his interest growing.
“No again, my lord. Cerebriel did not mention them either in his threats.”
“Good,” Luciferael stated. “I do not want to trigger another war at this stage. We are outnumbered at this point and the loyal Angels are fully armed. I really want to attack only when we have the upper hand. As much as I want us to take over the Universe, I also do not want to make a foolhardy attack. We have other ways we can chip at the power of the loyal Angels and the Almighty. More importantly, I am hoping to get the Almighty’s Books before we declare war again.”
Luciferael then looked around at the Second Pit of Hell and the building being done by the rebel Principalities and Dominions. “We can afford to be patient down here, wait until we have overwhelming force and then we will conquer the Heavens once again.”
Suriel was still angry and began to speak. “But my lord Luciferael, we should do something in retribution for this threat by Cerebriel!”
“It is fine, Suriel. He will be expecting that we do something in retaliation. We are still seeking Jarahmael, are we not? We still have Lillith as a prisoner, do we not?”
Suriel and the two Cherubim nodded their heads.
“What would the hybrid child give us anyway? I am sure he does not have any knowledge that we don’t already possess. He would have been of value in finding where Jarahmael and Lillith were staying, but we found that on our own. And I am sure Jarahmael is sufficiently motivated to find Lillith.”
Luciferael paused, then continued explaining more of his thoughts. “I still have plans for creating offspring through Lillith. Creatures that will be comparable to the hybrid Enoch. And I can think of other ways of creating harm and havoc among the Humans. No, for now we shall not react. Lull them all into a false sense of security.”
“As you wish, my lord,” Gomory said. “What would you like us to do, though, about observing the Humans?”
“Were you invisible when Cerebriel approached you?”
“Yes, we were, my lord,” Raum answered.
“Something gave your presence away then. For now continue to observe, just keep a greater distance from them all. I am sure Cerebriel will maintain his guards over them.”
“What do we do if we are attacked again by the loyals, my lord?” Gomory asked, shifting his sword.
“At this point, I want you to just retreat. I mean it when I say I want the loyal Angels to go back to being at ease and bored. We found Lillith when we attacked the other day so our mission was accomplished. We will seek and obtain retribution soon enough, just wait and see.”
Chapter 50
THE UNDERWORLD
The gaping entrance into the cave was cool and damp as Jarahmael flew in following Nataly. They had dropped off the items Nataly wanted back in her cave, and now it was her turn to pay Jarahmael back. Except for some wafts of sulfur that were faintly detectable in the air, this cave was similar to most other large caves Jarahmael had searched when he was trying to find Lillith after the rebellion. But in this one, he soon found himself in an underground area that opened up into an entire world the deeper he went into it. He could see at a distance the outline of a river flowing through the underground world and the closer he flew towards it, the more he could sense something sinister lurking across the banks, the air heavy with dread. Beyond the river, he could see the glow of red light flickering faintly along the walls far deeper in the cavern.
My poor Lillith, he thought to himself. Is this where they have taken you? He firmed his resolve to destroy the rebel Angels responsible for her capture. He was almost on top of the first dark river when Nataly landed near some boulders, seated herself, and indicated to Jarahmael that he join her. He landed and stepped forward, propping himself on a boulder near Nataly and a pile of rocks.
“Thank you, Nataly, for showing me the entranceway into Hades as you promised,” Jarahmael said as he stood there with no intention of sitting and relaxing. “Why did we stop?”
“This is as far as I go, Archangel. I do not enter Luciferael's realm,” she answered.
“How am I supposed to find Lillith then?” he asked, growing impatient.
Jarahmael's annoyance only made Nataly smile. This amuses her, Jarahmael thought.
“Without me!” Nataly said as she began laughing.
This infuriated Jarahmael and he moved forward to grab the laughing winged snake.
As he did so he stumbled over one of the rocks, causing an inhuman screech.
“What was that?” Jarahmael said, alarmed that he had given his position away to any rebel Angel who would be listening.
“That was your tour guide, Archangel. That is, if it is still interested in showing you the way to Lillith,” Nataly said, laughing at the shock on Jarahmael's face. She then pointed down at what had been a rock at Jarahmael's feet.
He saw what appeared to be an armored ball unroll, with deep green eyes glowing back to him. The creature’s body was well armored, covered in overlapping scales.
“This is an armored sprite, they inhabit all of the ranges of Hades and Hell. Their armor protects them from other creatures.”
“This is the first one I have seen,” Jarahmael said, looking the creature over.
“That is most likely not true, as the armored sprites hide themselves well, especially in caves, where they are almost impossible to d
istinguish from other rocks.”
Nataly nodded at the creature and it rolled itself up to demonstrate how it could resemble a rock, then unfurled itself one more.
“I think introductions are in order,” Nataly continued. “Archangel, this is Menia of the Hellsprites.”
“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Menia,” Jarahmael said, bowing before the creature with the sweep of his arm going across his chest at the same time. He thought it best to make friends with this simple creature especially if it was now the key to finding Lillith.
“Pleasure to make yours, too!” Menia responded.
Nataly continued, “Menia will take you to where Lillith lives.”
The three of them were sitting on the cool side of the river, when suddenly Nataly motioned for all of them to be quiet. She pulled Jarahmael down behind one of the larger boulders to hide his presence and whispered, “We need to watch out for Khairon, the Ferryman over the river here.”
“Ferryman?” Jarahmael whispered. “What is he transporting?”
“Nothing at the moment. From what I hear, it’s kind of silly actually, he is waiting for these things called souls to come to him. Some deal made between the Almighty and Luciferael. Only the Humans have souls and none of them have died. But I understand that Khairon remains optimistic!” Nataly answered with that silly grin on her face again.
“All right, I'll bite, how would the souls get here to begin with?” Jarahmael whispered again, expecting an even stranger answer to his question.
“I understand that another rebel Angel, Thantos, has been assigned by Luciferael to collect the soul when a Human dies. He remains invisible as he was greatly scarred during the rebellion and does not like to show himself because of it,” Nataly whispered back.
“I didn't realize the injuries from the rebellion would be permanent,” Jarahmael whispered as he thought about all the harm he witnessed when Luciferael used that amplified horn of his.
“It has only been permanent on the rebel Angels. Raphael was given healing powers by the Almighty, but has refused to treat any of the rebel Angels, so they languish with their injuries. It’s often not a pretty sight. The wounded remain damaged and scarred, cursed creatures as they are,” Nataly responded.
“I am having trouble recalling these two, Khairon and Thantos. Are they creations of Luciferael like you and Menia are?” Jarahmael asked.
“Oh no, they are much more powerful. Both are rebel Dominion Angels.”
“That would explain the red tunic that Khairon has on, although it looks very dark from here.” Jarahmael said as he saw the ferryman from a distance. “What about Thantos? Where is he, do we have to worry about him seeing us?”
“No, not at all, he takes his task very seriously. He has set up camp around Adam, Eve, and their children. They are his first assignments! At least from what I have heard.”
Jarahmael thought for a moment, then whispered, “What about the Simians? They are older and closer to dying.”
“They weren't given souls. Really, for an Archangel you don't know much! Souls only began with the creation of the Humans. And only souls are transported by Thantos.”
Jarahmael had a number of other questions come to his mind. But then realized he was talking to some strange winged snake creature made by Luciferael, who could be lying about all sorts of things. Best to get back to the task at hand.
“Thanks for the information, Nataly, and showing me the way into Hades. I do appreciate it.”
“Time for me to go!” Nataly replied. “Looks like Khairon is headed back to the other side of the river. You should be able to fly over without him seeing you, if you are careful. Good luck with Lillith.”
Despite his misgivings about this creature, he felt that she genuinely wished him luck.
Nataly stayed close to the ground for a distance before taking off and Jarahmael appreciated that she did not give his position away, just in case Khairon was looking back for some reason.
Jarahmael turned his attention back to Menia. “I understand you are going to lead me to Lillith?”
“Yes. For a price,” it responded.
Jarahmael thought to himself, I should have known. Anything from Luciferael comes with a price, why should any of his creatures be any different? “What can I pay you? I did not bring much with me.”
“What I need is within you, Archangel. Just a little bit of your light energy. See, us sprites are made up of light energy underneath this armor. Luciferael does not let us have a lot of it. Something about us getting too powerful!”
Jarahmael looked again at Menia. Who knows what would happen with these creatures if they were powerful. Where did Luciferael come up with these creatures?
“All right Menia. But not too much. I don't know you, but I do need to find Lillith. You do know where she is, right?”
“Of course. I followed her after she was recaptured yesterday.”
“Recaptured?”
“Yes, Lillith had been captured on the Earth after a long search by the Auxilium. She came back a few days ago and was placed in Luciferael's palace in Hell. Then yesterday she tried to escape once again. Caused quite a scene. The alarm went out and everyone was searching for her. She can fly, you know, so they had to search everywhere for her. She was trying to fly out over there to the west and it brought all the rebel Angels’ in that direction. I was able to steal a passage on Khairon's ferry and he did not realize that he was bringing me back across with him on his earlier trip last night. That's how I got over to this side of the river.”
“They recaptured Lillith then?”
“Yes, I overheard some of the rebel Angels talking to Khairon before he shoved off from the shore, that she had been found and taken back to Luciferael's palace. They all seemed relieved. From what they were saying, Luciferael was traveling on the Earth and if he came back and she was gone, there would have been terrible consequences for those responsible,” Menia responded. “They have all been hoping that she would be one Human that they could finally play with, they only had to find a better way to keep her prisoner.”
It was more information than Jarahmael expected. He felt reassured though that she was at least trying to escape, but deeply concerned that they may destroy her. She was supposed to be immortal, but Luciferael was continuing to experiment; perhaps he could find a way to destroy her or something worse. It's a good thing that I came here to save her!
“You will need to fly me over the river back into Hades and Hell, and promise to return me back to this side of the river when you're done.” Menia said, pointing at his shoulders for him to lean forward and let her climb onto his back.
Jarahmael was not in the habit of letting anyone other than Lillith, Enoch, and the two Human children travel on his back. This sprite creature gave him a feeling of uneasiness, and he didn't like the idea of allowing it to be on his back and out of his sight. These were new creatures to him. And then, this whole notion of Hades and Hell to be used to deal with the souls of the Humans? The Almighty's concept of death was foreign to him. The flesh died on these Humans but there was an energy that survived? And now it seemed that this energy was called a soul and could be transported back to here? All too strange! If it wasn't for him wanting to save Lillith, he would never let any of these creatures near him.
“All right then, Menia. Climb on my back here between my wings,” he said as he bent forward and pointed to the area on his back between his shoulders where his wings grew out of him. “Watch you don't get caught in the strap that holds my swords and spear.”
Menia climbed on Jarahmael's back and settled in between his wings. The creature kept its body in position so it could still see over his shoulders.
Very different, Jarahmael thought to himself. It does not have any weight as it sits on my back, but there is an energy to the creature that feels like it might as well be weight. The sprite’s energy was pulling from his strength as he took off and flew over the river. He flew upwards on the cool side of the river i
n order to gain altitude so he could glide over the river and the neighboring stretch of land. The darkness and dampness grew thicker as he flew himself upwards. He then glided and passed over the river and into the land of Hades.
Despite his not needing to use his wings to flap upwards, he was feeling heavy and so were his wings. He felt his strength being drained by both the surroundings and the creature on his back. That feeling of dread that had been slight as he approached the river grew in intensity as he crossed over it. Perhaps dread wasn't quite the word for it, there was stillness, and a grey bleakness. It was as though any feeling of joy or happiness was immediately taken away here on the Hades side of the river.
He wanted to get this creature off his back but was still not sure where he was headed. Over his wing he asked, “Where do I head now?” Fortunately as he approached the deeper entrance to the place called Hell he was able to rise again from the thermal heat that was beginning to radiate from that place.
“Over to the right,” it said and moved over in that direction. The creature’s voice sounded different to him, screechy. Must be all this effort I am using, he thought as he banked his wings and altered his course a few degrees over the right.
It was a long flight, longer than he’d thought. This place called Hades is quite large, he thought. Finally, he saw another river further off to the right, reflecting a flickering red glow along the ceiling of the cavern as he approached. The heat from that area was giving him some more strength, although it seemed to just channel itself through him, and go right up into the creature on his back.
Menia pointed down at the river and said, “That is the river Phlegomon, separates Luciferael's realms of Hades from Hell!”
In Exile (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book III) Page 19