by Mark Romang
Panic tugged at him as he became wedged between the walls. Frozen cords of terror knotted around his shuddering heart. In this position he was helpless against the demons, who likely entertained vengeful thoughts after losing two of their own last night. But then he popped free and the canyon widened into another small room.
The waterfall grew louder in his ears. It was so deathly quiet this far down in the Earth that the noise from the gushing water seemed amplified over a concert PA system. Maddix moved toward the sound, taking comfort that the noisy waterfall masked his sloshing movements through the tributary. He quickened his pace.
The canyon walls veered sharply right, forming an almost ninety-degree angle. Maddix peered around the natural bend. With his night-vision goggles he appeared like a giant insect poking its head around the wall of a building. Maddix could see the waterfall now. It was much narrower than he anticipated, a thin wet ribbon falling a thousand feet into a rock pile. He guessed its width at five to six feet.
Maddix got out his GPS device and checked his location. He wanted to make sure the waterfall in front of him was the correct one. His nerves clattered together like wind chimes jostling under a stiff breeze. He couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer. The coordinates checked out perfectly. And according to Sara, a demon stood inside a silken cocoon, resting peacefully just behind the watery curtain.
Maddix crept toward the waterfall, brandishing the Eden sword. He only needed to wiggle it a bit to make it catch fire. But he would wait to do so. The bright conflagration would reveal his position and warn his foes.
Maddix looked up above him, wary of sentinels standing watch over the sleeping demon. Paranoia gnawed at his guts. He scanned the jagged boulders and overhanging walls, hoping and praying the manna was still working. As long as he possessed the Eden sword he felt he could hold his own against one or two demons. But against a demon militia he stood little chance.
He allowed his eyes to linger on potential hiding places above for several seconds. Luckily he appeared to be alone. Only a large colony of bats hanging from the canyon wall kept him company.
Maddix slowed his pace even more. Thirty feet separated him from the waterfall. Trepidation whipped fiercely through his body. A verse from Deuteronomy rattled around in his head. “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified by them.
He didn’t find much encouragement in the verse, though. His foes were vastly superior, immortals with supernatural powers. I’m only a man, Lord. I’m puny in comparison. I don’t match up against fallen angels. But I will fight. And I won’t stop fighting until you take me home.
After he slinked another dozen feet toward the waterfall he caught a whiff of sulfur. Judging by his recent experiences with the smell, he could expect a demon to be lurking somewhere close. Like behind the waterfall.
Maddix resisted the urge to light his sword and continued his stealthy approach. Spray from the waterfall misted his face. He sidled up alongside the waterfall and pressed his back against the moist sandstone. He peered behind the waterfall. A foot and a half gap separated the cascading water from the canyon wall.
He could discern little from his position. He had no choice but to go in.
Maddix shifted slowly over behind the spilling water. The icy water flowed over his backpack. He inhaled deeply, but not from the gushing water. He saw a large cavity measuring roughly nine feet high by four feet wide. The cavity had a depth of about three feet. Strands from a slimy substance hung from the top of the cavity and draped from the corners.
But the cavity was empty.
Maddix turned off his night-vision and turned on his headlamp. The sulfur smell emanated from the cavity and stung his nose. He shined his headlamp into the cavity. He started at the top and worked his way down, resisting an urge to touch the stringy slime. At the bottom of the cavity he spotted something.
Maddix squatted down. Before he could think better of it he picked up the object. He shined his light onto it. The object had the size and thickness of a piece of paper and was nearly weightless. His breath caught when he realized what it was. Scales covered the object.
It was a large piece of…snakeskin.
Shaken by his discovery, Maddix backed out from behind the waterfall. Almost immediately his legs became rubbery, and he felt jittery like he could faint. His stomach knotted and a band of pain clamped his forehead in a vise.
He could feel the flashback coming, but could do nothing to stop it. Shame splattered over him as he realized he couldn’t keep his promise to Webb. Maddix clutched at the sandstone. His fingers found tiny handholds to cling to. And then he passed out, falling into a dream.
****
As soon as his fingers slipped into the angel’s hand Maddix felt a warm sensation travel through his spirit. Like an electrical current flowing through a cable, the glowing force spread from his hand up to his arm and then proliferated throughout his vaporous form. It was a pleasurable sensation unlike anything he’d ever felt.
He was in the Afghanistan cave once more. Then again, maybe he never actually left. He could still hear his SEAL teammates working frantically on his lifeless body. They were grunting and cursing and pleading with him. He so wanted to tell them to stop and just let him pass into eternity. So far in his young trip into the afterlife he’d felt only euphoria. And he wasn’t even to Heaven yet.
Maddix and the angel traveled down a long corridor. They were still in the cave, or manmade tunnel complex excavated by the Taliban. The angel’s clothing, face, and flowing hair emitted a golden radiance that chased away the darkness and lit their way.
Shadows fled. His fear vanished. He felt whole, even though his dying body lay a hundred yards or more back. He felt vindicated, justified, sanctified and forgiven.
Yet something bothered him. He had never confessed his sins to God and asked for forgiveness. According to the Bible thumpers he had to do just that if he wanted to reside in Heaven.
Then where is the angel taking me? He wanted to know. He had to know the truth. “Where are we going? Is this the way to Heaven?”
The angel turned his regal head. His cerulean eyes shined through him like twin spotlights. “This is not the way to Heaven.”
“Then where are we going?” Maddix wished he hadn’t asked the question. He had an idea the answer couldn’t be good.
“I cannot tell you. But you will know soon enough, Andrew.”
The euphoria he experienced only moments ago deflated as if it were a pinpricked balloon. Foreboding replaced the rapture. Maybe he chose poorly. Maybe he should try to go back into his physical body. He could learn to get along with only one leg. Prosthetics are much better now.
“I need to give you some instructions,” the angel said. “In a little while you will begin to see things, unnatural things you are unaccustomed with. Do not stare at them too deeply. Try to look ahead and not to the side. And do not let go of my hand.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Maddix said his voice barely above a whisper. He noticed the long corridor had begun to constrict, its reddish-brown walls squeezing them tighter and tighter. Not only that, he noted the cave floor slanted precariously. They were descending, and he had his suspicions where. Far ahead he could make out noises, but couldn’t discern them.
Maddix squeezed the angel’s hand tighter, reveling in the supernatural power infusing into him through his host. They were both lit up like 150 watt light bulbs. A numinous current surged through them as if they were wires daisy-chained together.
“We’re almost there, Andrew.”
“Where is there?”
“Its official name is Hades. I like to call it Lucifer’s home.”
Foreboding morphed into full blown panic. “I want to go back into my earthly body. Please take me back,” Maddix cried.
“Don’t worry Andrew, I will take you back. But you must see something first. The Father has given me orders to bring you here.”
In a way Maddix felt as if he was Ebenezer Scrooge being escorted by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Only instead of traveling through snow-choked boroughs in London, he was entering the fiery furnaces of hell. “Why do I have to see something so terrible?”
The angel looked at him with a pitiful expression. “I do not know. I am only a messenger. I do what the Father tells me to do.”
The noise Maddix heard earlier grew louder in his ears. Screams and groans rang out with clarity. Horrible and haunting moans and frantic pleas for help and forgiveness echoed in the cave. The residents of hell begged for mercy.
If he were back inside his wounded body, tucked safely in his flesh, his skin would be crawling away. Something flashed by his periphery and around his feet. Maddix directed his gaze straight ahead, fearful of what he might see. But in the end he found it impossible not to look all around.
And then he heard the growling. Deep guttural snarls greeted them on all sides. Growls from a pack of starving, rabid wolves would sound tame in comparison. Maddix soon spotted black flashes, followed up with occasional flickers of white. He figured out quickly the flickers of white were fangs snapping open and shut. “Dogs?” he asked.
The flaxen-haired angel nodded. “Hellhounds,” he replied. “They guard against spirits trying to escape. We’re very close now to the entrance.”
“I trust you’re familiar with the exit as well?” The angel didn’t answer, just squeezed his hand tighter with an almost crushing grip. Maddix spotted one of the hellhounds. He nearly fainted at the size of it. The beast looked as tall as a Shetland pony.
The mutant dog lunged for Maddix. Silver orbs scrunched up over its frothing snout. Fangs over an inch long snapped at him. Just before the slashing teeth would have sunk into his vaporous form, the angel swatted the dog with his sword. The devil dog fell back with a whimper and joined a pack of other dogs running alongside them.
Maddix suddenly realized how fast he and the angel were traveling. The hellhounds were bounding after them at a full gallop, nipping at their heels. Over the snarls, Maddix could hear an even more disturbing sound. It was a chorus of distraught voices numbering in the millions all saying the same heart-rending words over and over. “Jesus, help us. Jesus, save us.”
The angel read his thoughts. “It’s too late for them. They were all offered salvation during their earthly lives but refused. But it’s not too late for you, Andrew.”
“Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it. Anything you say,” Maddix pleaded.
“Confess your sins to God. Admit your need for His forgiveness. Believe that Jesus died as a sacrifice for your sins and rose again. This is all you need to do to reside in Heaven.”
“That’s it? It sounds so simple.” Maddix was an uncomplicated man. He liked simple things. This was right up his alley.
“It is simple, Andrew. Everything has been done for you. Confess and believe.”
Maddix pondered the promise of the angel’s words, but a terrible odor penetrated his nostrils and interrupted his thoughts. “The smell…it’s horrible,” he gasped.
“Hell’s aroma. You smell brimstone and burning flesh,” the angel said matter-of-factly. “The smell will only get worse the closer we get to the pit.”
“Let’s get this over with. I don’t think I can take much more.” Even as the words left his quivering lips, Maddix realized the blazing glow ahead signified their frightening journey neared its climax. Closer and closer they sped toward the flickering brightness. With sudden horror, Maddix realized the cave floor ended abruptly at a cliff not far ahead.
The angel pulled back just before they would have hurtled over the side. The hellhounds chasing them couldn’t stop in time and plummeted over the edge, their paws flailing wildly. Maddix watched the monstrous canines plunge into a fiery abyss. At the bottom of the cliff an ocean of fire stretched for as far as he could see.
The demented dogs popped to the flaming surface moments later and doggy paddled to a rocky bank. They shook the fire off their hairless bodies and glowered up at them, snarling hungrily. A few of them leaped high into the air, trying their best to get at them. But they quickly gave up and flopped down on the rocks just out of reach of the flames. Long black tongues lolled out their panting snouts. With their silvery eyes glaring furiously at him, Maddix knew he would never look at dogs quite the same way again.
Maddix diverted his eyes from the hellhounds and, with great sadness and apprehension, viewed what all living humans secretly fear more than anything: the Prince of Darkness’s lair.
Maddix couldn’t describe the horror before him if he wanted to. Upon closer examination, he could see the condemned prisoners thrashing in the fiery lake like fish in a hatchery, untold millions of them, banished souls languishing in eternal torment. Terror stretched their grimacing faces. Somehow, beyond scientific reasoning, the scorching hot flames didn’t cremate them. And with monastic repetitiveness, they wailed in unison over and over: “Jesus, help us. Jesus, save us.”
The prisoners looked up at him and his angelic escort longingly. Jealousy simmered in their bulging eyes as they continued their infinite chant. Maddix screwed his eyes shut. He couldn’t look at them anymore. Nothing could have prepared him for this horrific spectacle. He didn’t know whether he should let loose a bloodcurdling scream or sink to his knees and weep.
“There are no words in the human language that can adequately describe the horrors of hell,” the angel said, his voice tinged with melancholy.
“Tell me what Heaven is like then,” Maddix cried, his eyes still clamped shut.
“There are no words in your language that can adequately describe the wonders of Heaven either.”
“Please. Just try,” Maddix begged.
“Very well, I will try. In Heaven the saints live with God in an eternal state of euphoria and celebration. They never stop smiling. Their infinite joy makes their faces sparkle like gemstones. Their level of contentment cannot be measured. They never grow weary or sick. And they never stop singing praises to God. Heaven is a place of unending miracles, a place where there is no sin, only love in its purest form.”
“That sounds wonderful. Take me there.”
“I was only instructed to bring you here.”
Maddix opened his eyes. Through tears he spotted a demon guarding the fiery shoreline. The demon stood resolutely on blackened rocks that resembled tombstones. Even from a distance Maddix could tell the demon was enormous, even taller than the angel next to him. Symmetrically perfect muscles bulged from underneath imposing armor. But what captivated Maddix’s attention the most were the demon’s wings. They were magnificent. He guessed they would stretch to a twenty foot wingspan, maybe more.
The demon turned its head and looked directly at Maddix. His unwavering gaze issued an unmistakable challenge. Blood-red eyes bore into Maddix. He wanted to turn and flee; run kicking and screaming back to his SEAL team and crawl back into his broken body. “Why? Tell me why I have to see this.”
“God wants you to know what you’re up against. You’ve been chosen to lead a resistance against Lucifer.”
Maddix snorted. “That doesn’t make sense. Why me? I’m just a man, a man with only one leg now.”
“I don’t have all the answers you seek, Andrew. I can only say that God performs his most powerful work through the weakest humans.”
“Let me get this straight, I’m supposed to battle fallen angels?”
The angel nodded his head. Golden curls flopped against his forehead. “Before He created the world, God chose you, Andrew, to battle Satan’s army.”
“Why would He choose me? You’re far more qualified,” Maddix argued.
“I’m only a messenger angel. Throughout history the Father has used me to give special instructions to humans.”
Maddix sighed. He pointed at the imposing demon staring up at them. “I could never defeat him, let alone Lucifer.”
The angel grabbed his shoulders and spun him around. M
addix shuddered. The angel’s strength and power boggled his mind.
“You’re right. The name of the demon looking at us is Adramelech. He was once an archangel. You cannot defeat him in your own power. But if God fights Adramelech through you, you have nothing to worry about.”
“Has Adramelech ever been defeated?”
The angel nodded. “Michael has vanquished him more than once. He has discovered Adramelech’s weakness, a tendency that makes him beatable on the battlefield.”
“What is this…weakness?”
“At some point during their battles, Michael says Adramelech will always feint an attack to his opponent’s right torso, and then perform a leaping attack off his front foot called a flunge. At the apex of his leap, Adramelech spins and slashes at Michael’s head with his sword. Adramelech leaves himself exposed when he spins.”
Maddix could only think of his lousy fencing skills, how another SEAL with only average fencing skills always drubbed him soundly during their infrequent matches back at Bagram. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he mumbled.
“Come, you’ve witnessed enough, Andrew. You’ve seen your enemy. You’ve seen what is at stake. It’s time you reenter your body. Your battle is just beginning,” the angel said.
Chapter 28
The icy cold waterfall flowing over his back awakened Maddix from the gruesome flashback. His eyes fluttered open. His lungs shuddered. He gasped for breath.
He had no way of knowing how long he’d been out, perhaps a few moments or maybe few minutes. Shuffling tentatively, Maddix exited the cavity behind the waterfall, leaving the same way he came in. His nose wrinkled. The sulfur smell grew in toxicity.
Maddix swiveled his head. Dread rested heavily on his shoulders. The opening bell was about to ring. He looked for his opponent, knowing he was around somewhere even though he couldn’t see him. The smell gave him away.
Grasping the Eden sword’s handle with both hands, the pommel burrowing into his left palm, Maddix crept forward. Déjà vu washed over him. He wondered if what he was about to do had already happened somehow, and if the outcome was favorable for him.