Rise Of Lucifer

www.lulu.com/riseoflucifer

Rise of Lucifer Legion By: Michael J Callaway

Rise of Lucifer Legion Table of Contents 1

Legion

2

The Tournament Of Noketer

3

The Katizic Match

4

Knowledge and Song

5

Someone Else Was Listening Too

6

Two Are Chosen

7

Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega

8

Why Are They Following Us?

9

Melchizedek’s Mission

10

Cold Trail

11

The Valley of Megiddo

12

Temple is Complete

13

The Cave

14

Journey Home

15

Michael’s Temptation

16

Reunion

17

Legion Takes the Stand

18

Gabriel’s Rebuttal

19

Everyone Must Choose

20

Epilogue

Chapter 1

Legion Running as fast as he could into the forest, Noketer had to get away, this was too much for him to deal with. He was so mad that he had lost that last match; this was not supposed to happen to him. “Everyone wanted Jaenan to win and were so happy to see her beat me. The judges were all on her side and weren’t giving me the right calls; I should have been treated with respect. It isn’t fair, I do what I should and everyone else does better than me. They are all out to get me!” At that moment, Noketer felt a presence near him that he could not describe, the hairs on his body stood up and he was very uneasy. He was not sure how, but he knew someone was watching him. He called out, “ Is anyone out there? If you want me to go back and accept that defeat, I will not do it.” From behind the trees Noketer heard a shrill voice say, “Poor, poor, Noketer, you have been cheated and humiliated and no one, not even God, cares about you.” Noketer was surprised, because yes he did feel cheated and humiliated, however, he had never thought that God was a part of it. “What do you mean when you say that not even God cares?” At this, the creature stepped out of the shadows and Noketer’s eyes tried to adjust to see who he was speaking with. The creature did not look like any being that Noketer had seen before. It was much shorter than he was, standing about five and half feet tall and did not 2

seem to actually have a real physical form. The creature continued, “Well, if the judges and audience did not let you play the game fairly, who is ultimately responsible for that?” Noketer had not really thought of that. “I just assumed that they wanted to see Jaenan win because she had never won before and thought that it would help her self-esteem.” “At your expense, they would deliberately humiliate you just so that they could lift this poor sap of a Cherub up? Why not let her beat Michael or Israel and really make her feel good? No, no, no, this was personal, this was deliberate and this was against you!” hissed the creature. Noketer stood there for a while and then said, “Well, why would God do that, and furthermore, who are you?” “You have asked me two questions so I shall give you two answers. First, why would God do that? And second, who am I? Well in order for me to give you the first answer, I must give you the second first. “First, I am a we, what you see as one form is really a collection of many spirits. We work as one, with our combined strength we are more powerful than any other creature that has been, we call ourselves Legion, for we are many. We used to be called Jinn and lived in mortal form once like you do now. Like your people, God was ‘teaching’ us and ‘testing’ us. Those were the words that He would use, however, we later learned the truth.” At this Noketer jumped in and said, “The truth, the truth about what?” 3

“Patience, patience, we will tell you all you need to know in good time. Anyway, we decided that we would combine our strengths and work together for the common good. We would create a new order and a new system. We no longer wanted to live under the tyranny of God; we wanted our own society. Do you think that God gave in, gave us our freedom?” “I don’t know, you’re here so He must have done something,” was all Noketer could reply. “Something, something, oh he did something!” Legion hissed. “He banned us and sent us to wander the mortal worlds, at some point we will face judgment, all because we wanted freedom. God chose to humiliate us so that way He could lift up others, just like He is doing to you.” Noketer stood there as he tried to find some kind of argument, some kind of reason that he could bring up against Legion. However, he could not think of any. At last he said, “Well, what does this have to do with me?” At this Legion smiled and said, “At last the true reason that we are here today. You see, many worlds ago, we found that if one of the mortals that lived on that planet would allow us to live inside of him or her, we would not be forced to wander around aimlessly, but could have a purpose and a mission. “With our strength and our host body, we could become one flesh, the two of us could be better for it. Imagine what your fellow Cherubim would think if you could beat Michael at katizic, sing better than Gabriel or write better than Segest? Why, they would almost think 4

that you were a god, no longer would they treat you so poorly and use your misfortune as a way to lift up lesser beings. “You and we would have much to gain by working together; all you would need to do is let us come and live inside you and all your troubles and worries will be left behind.” Noketer shook his head and said, “I can’t commit to anything yet, however, meet me here in this same place in three days, and I will have an answer for you.” “As you wish,” said Legion. “However, if we find someone else who is more worthy and more willing to commit than you in that time, then they, not you, will receive our help and our blessing.” With that Noketer ran off and headed back into Verden. Noketer went to find a place where he could think, overlooking the city. Verden is a beautiful city that runs along the mountain range, it is on the far western plains of Melchizedek, to the west lies the Kalyia mountain range. As the Cherubim grew and multiplied, they moved west and built the great cities, Sontuc, Malaguata, Nopla, Kartaja, Las Dal, and finally Verden, six in all. When Noketer’s ancestors first came to the mountain range some eight hundred years ago, they founded Verden with seven other Cherub families. Now seven generations later, Verden, while not the largest of the Cherub cities, it is by far one of the most beautiful. Noketer liked coming out and looking at the city and thinking about all the early Cherub that had built this place. While it made him feel better, it also made him feel worse. The 5

more he would look at the accomplishments of others, the less worthy he felt. He was about to go see his wife-to-be, a beautiful Cherub named Bayler, and talk things over with her when Legion came out of a cave to meet him. This first shocked Noketer, then he said, “I thought we had decided to wait three days?” “Oh we did,” said Legion, “but like we said, if there was a worthier and more willing candidate, then we would have to go with them. However, here is the problem and this is the reason that we came to you right away. “There is another cherub who was willing, but was not at as worthy as you, she approached us shortly after we spoke, she must have been hiding in the forest because she could identify with all the feelings of self-doubt and despair that you were feeling. “Anyway, she wanted us to come into her instead of you and help her achieve all the goals that God had denied her. Well, this was quite unexpected from our part; we usually approach mortals and ask them, not the other way around. Now, we must admit, the girl has talent and that with her body and our abilities, she would make a fine Cherub indeed. However, we still think that you would be the best candidate. “Well, what we decided to do was let her know about the agreement we had with you. We let her know that you would take these three days to decide and that if you turned us down, then we would be happy to consider her.” At this Legion’s head shook. “That was probably not the best 6

way for us to word that. It made her feel like she was unimportant and that next to you, she was pure garbage. She shouted at us, ‘Fine, wait for your prized Cherub all you want, as for me, my offer for you ends at sun up tomorrow!’” Legion looked very troubled, like a person torn between saving two lives when all they can do is save one. Legion looked at Noketer and said, “We are so sorry that we must rush you into making such an important decision, and also sorry that we are putting this burden on you. You see, if she had been more willing and more worthy, then it would be an easy choice. As it is, she is willing, but you are worthy, therefore, what we need to know from you is, are you with us or not?” Legion emphasized. As Noketer looked into the creature’s eyes, something drew him in. Flattered by the comment of being worthy, Noketer hung on every word. “If you are with us, great, we can do this tonight and let the transformation begin. If not, then we must go to this girl right away, smooth things over and start working with her.” This was not what Noketer had wanted to hear at all, he wanted more time to think this through and talk with Bayler and some other Cherubim first. However, if he did not act now, he would lose this golden opportunity to become the greatest Cherub ever. Noketer weighed everything in his mind and decided that he needed to act now; if things did not work out, he could always reevaluate the situation later. “I agree,” said Noketer, and after that, he has never been seen again.

7

Chapter 2

The Tournament of Noketer After Noketer had disappeared, teams of Cherubim from all three of the western cities sent out search parties looking for him. They searched all over the mountains looking for signs that Noketer might have gotten hurt and could not fly home. They searched every valley and checked as many caves as they could find, word spread to the eastern cities about the mystery and they started a search for him too. He had simply vanished. In the last two thousand years of Cherub history, no one had ever been lost like this before. Finally, when they had tried everything that they knew, Melchizedek and the other members of the Sharah went to God seeking guidance. While they should have known that God already knew what was going on, they were surprised that He spoke to them before they ever said a word. “Noketer has fallen under the spell of evil. Call off your search parties, they will never be able to find him.” This was not the answer they thought they would get, they assumed that the Lord would tell them that Noketer had gone to find a quiet place for prayer and fasting and had just forgotten to tell his clan as was the custom. Melchizedek came and fell before the Lord and said, “What must we do to save him?” “He cannot be saved at this time, he has not yet realized the mistake that he has made. The time will come when you will be told what to do. For now, set up a memorial in every city and pray for 8

him.” With that, the Lord went up into heaven. That was forty years ago. As months turned to years, and years turned to decades, the Cherubim had begun to think that Noketer would never come back. The final week of Noketer’s known life had become the third most important holiday in Cherub culture. While little was known as to why he had chosen evil, parents used this as an opportunity to train their young. If one child would not share her toy with another, a parent was very likely to say, “Now you know, it was just that kind of attitude that led to Noketer never being seen again.” The child would immediately start to be nicer after that. On the fortieth anniversary of Noketer’s disappearance, the Lord came down and met with Kalyia. He told her that the time had come to gather the elders of every city, and that they were to begin the process of selecting two of their own who would make the trip out west to find Noketer. Kalyia spoke to the people and said, “God has specifically told me that my husband and I are not eligible to be part of the search, we will be needed here until they come back. He also said that Yani and Natali would not be going either, the pain of seeing what Legion had done to their son would be overwhelming. The Lord also told me was that everyone else must be considered, age and generation number cannot be the criteria that we use.” 9

Enoch, her first-born asked, “But how are we going to choose who the two will be?” There was much discussion in the Sharah as to what form the selection process should take. Some wanted it to be an elected position, that anyone who felt like they were capable could go out and campaign for the job, and that the two with the most votes would be the ones. However, Segest, one of the wisest members of the council pointed out how that would not work. “God said that everyone would have to be considered. If we had an election, some people would not be considered because of their birth order. Tell me, who would vote for Dagon over Enoch or myself? No, the process that we come up with must include everyone.” While no one would say it, everyone there in the Sharah would have preferred it if God had not made it universal. There was still a prevailing feeling among the majority that if you were born after the seventh generation, you were too young. They did have members of the Sharah that were younger than that, but none was younger than the ninth. It was a generally accepted rule. The first seven generations lived together in the Garden of God, as their numbers had begun to increase, it became apparent that they needed to build a bigger city. Sontuc was that first city and is the largest still to this day with a population of over three hundred and fifty million Cherubim. Nathan asked, “What do you have in mind?” “A tournament, a tournament the likes of which we have never seen before. Everyone except for the four are to gather in their 10

respective towns, first, everyone will compete by family, then by clan, and then by division. Finally, all the division winners will meet up and each city will have two representatives that they will send east to this very spot where the two will be chosen.” Kalyia said, “It should be called the Tournament of Noketer in his honor, in addition to katizic matches, there should also be songwriting contests, and general knowledge exams. The two that stand out the most will be chosen and sent off to find our brother Noketer.” The katizic match was something that everyone knew how to organize right away. They had had large tournaments before; generally it was split up between regions. Verden would produce a champion and he or she would match up with the Las Dal champion and the winner would be named Western Champion for that year. What was more challenging was how to come up with songwriting and general knowledge tests. Early in the morning, all the Cherubim gathered by families all across the plains and began having the various tournaments. Making everyone compete in all three events made the contest fairer. While katizic favored older Cherub, songwriting and knowledge favored younger ones who were fresh from school. This first phase of the Tournament of Noketer went on for almost two weeks. What everyone liked the most was that it reminded them of the way it was back in the beginning when they had first been created; they met like this all the time. As time went on and each clan grew, it had became harder and harder to keep in touch. Many of the 11

older Cherubim longed for the old days when everyone knew and interacted with everyone. The tournament lasted two months, and finally there were only twelve Cherubim standing, two from each city. While everyone competed in all three events, there was a definitive split among the three major western cities and the three major eastern ones. Katizic, the game of physical and mental skill was the very popular in the West, this fit with their more active outdoor lifestyle. Songwriting and performing was much more popular in the East. The only thing that did not change was knowledge; Cherubim spend a lot of time teaching their young about physical laws, biology, and history. About one hundred years of a Cherub’s life was spent in school. The twelve finalists all made their way east and then south past Sontuc to the peninsula where the Garden of God was. While the Cherubim did not live there anymore, it was still a very holy and special place for them. Every year, one city sent one thousand of its citizens to the Garden to take care of it, it was a big honor to be chosen and no one could be chosen twice. The Garden was a thing of beauty, fruits and vegetables grew there that could not grow anywhere else in all of Roacen. Even if a fruit did grow somewhere else on the plain, you could always taste the difference from one that came out of the Garden. The Garden was about a day’s flight south of Sontuc, it was surrounded on three sides by ocean and protruded from the main land. To its east lay the great 12

ocean; no one could imagine what might lie to the east of this great body of water. In the center of the Garden was a great fountain with the clearest water and when the sun was shinning overhead, the reflection could be seen for miles, the water had a sparkle that did not exist with any other fountain in all of Roacen. It was the fountain of the knowledge of good and evil, when the Garden was first created, Melchizedek and Kalyia were told that they could eat from any fruit tree and drink from any spring that they wanted to, they were, however, prohibited from drinking from this one fountain. Melchizedek and Kalyia never even went near the fountain for many years, when they gave birth to their first son, Enoch, and then later to their daughter, Chalis, they did take them there and taught them never to drink from this fountain or to even play around it. There had been a close call in the sixth generation, a young Cherub named Gog, son of Magog, had been out playing by himself when he happened to come across the fountain. He was no more than eighteen years old at the time; he saw the water, with all its sparkle he thought to himself, if I could just have a taste of this water, I am sure that it wouldn’t do any harm. He was about to scoop some water into his hand when two older females, Ruth and Aria, saw him and grabbed him by the heels, pulling him away from the fountain. Gog had no real answer for why he had wanted to do that, he just did not think that it would be that bad. After this near miss was when the community started gradually moving farther away from the fountain. The only workers that could even work around it at all had to 13

be of the highest character. Many had called for the building of a wall around it so as to make such a mistake impossible, the only reason that did not happen was because God had come down and told them not to. “Free will,” He said, “was not free if the possibility to do wrong did not exist.” Now having over a billion Cherubim in one of the great cities would have been a challenge, having them all in the Garden would be impossible. Fortunately, a very clever Cherub named Zek, from Sontuc, had found a way to take pictures and sounds and have them transferred through the air into monitors so that people could see and hear events or meetings and not have to be there physically. These zekomotions, as they were called, were not commonly used, but this kind of event was something that they were perfect for. Most regional centers in the cities had a zekomotion and used it for community events. This was the first event that would be broadcast live all across the plain, everyone built temporary housing all around the zekomotions and rarely left. Melchizedek said, “Congratulations to all of you! This has been a fine tournament and I am pleased that everyone gave their best. The twelve finalists here represent very different sections of our society and culture.” “I am sure that there are those that are surprised to see so many younger people here. Let me tell you right now, I am not one of them. The Lord has shown me many flaws in our society; I never thought that anyone would ever feel the way that Noketer felt, that we were holding 14

him down so that others could improve. That one small misconception was all Legion needed in order to lead Noketer astray. Soon, all of us will have to face this Legion, I do not want there to be anyone out there that has a misconception about their worth. “Now, on a lighter note, the competition, this will not be like the regional or citywide games. Results will not be made available; no one will know how they are doing until the very end. Points and values will not be published, whether an event is worth many points or only a few will only be known by the judges. All you will know is to do the absolute best you can and see how it plays out. We will begin at dawn tomorrow.”

15

Chapter 3

The Katizic Match The Cherubim were split up into teams based on overall rank, everyone went up to check the list to see who their partner was. Michael’s face dropped when he saw that he would have Gabriel as his teammate, Gabriel more so because he realized that this meant that of the twelve, he was either ranked number eleven or twelve, behind Alevia and Jaenan, and they were a lot younger than he was. Michael went up to Gabriel and said with a coy smile, “You know, I was hoping to end up with one of the good-looking females from Nopla, instead I end up with you.” “Well, I was hoping to end up with a great katizic master like Nathan, and I ended up with you, so I guess we both didn’t get what we wanted,” replied Gabriel with a shrug. “Hey, I heard that you sang off key in the Verden trials, what happened?” “Probably the same thing that happened to you when you matched up against Segest, I think he set a record for the fastest victory,” was Michael’s reply. The two went at it like that for a while, finally Alevia came up to them, pretending like she did not know that they were talking, and very sweetly said, “Come, you two, the first match has already started, we don’t want to be late.” The first match was Melany and Kystina against James and Segest; this one was the longest of the three and had the most drama. 16

At one point Melany did a forward flip and kick to James’ head so hard that it almost knocked him out. The two females worked well together and in the end were able to defeat James and Segest, who were both older. The quickest match was Richer and Jaenan against Israel and Alevia. While Richer was one of the best individual katizic players, he was not very good with a partner. Jaenan, while knowing the technical aspects of the games, was a pretty poor player. She had been thrown out of the sphere by Israel and Alevia in a matter of seconds, then they took turns sparing with Richer one on one until he finally tired out. At last, both Israel and Alevia each grabbed a leg and pinned Richer on his back. That evening, all the twelve competitors gathered together under one of the large trees there in the Garden and begin talking about the day’s activities. Gabriel said, “The most amazing match was James and Segest against Melany and Kystina, that was something else. By the way, how is your head, James?” “Very well, and thank you for reminding me!” yelled James from beyond the trees. “I think that if you had taken that kind of hit, you may never have sung again.” At this, everyone laughed. Richer chimed in, “I’m sorry that I left you out there all by yourself, Jaenan, I have never been very good at doubles play. Israel and Alevia just escorted you out of the game and I did nothing to stop them. By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late.” “That is the trick in doubles play, you need to watch each other’s backs. Especially when you have a great player and one that is 17

newer to the sport,” said Israel. He did not like to say weaker or not as good, he felt like that may hurt someone’s feelings. “Nathan did the best that he could to protect Tjome against Michael, and if you guys were going to come after Alevia, I was not about to let you get to her without coming through me first.” “Do you think that was the purpose?” asked Tjome. “No matter what we are good at or how great we are, if we lose even the weakest amongst us, we can be beaten. Today it was just a game, I’m no better or worse off than if Nathan and I had won.” “However, out there in the western mountain lies something that none of us have ever encountered before, something evil. I can’t help but think that we are being prepared to face something, something that was clever enough to fool Noketer and could probably do the same to us.” “I think Tjome is right,” said James. “This event here is more than who can beat who in katizic, or who knows more than who, or who can sing well. We are being tested so that we can see what is inside of us. Right over there is the fountain of life, and the fountain of knowledge of good and evil.” “Any one of us could go and take a drink and no one would have to know, but the fact is we aren’t perfect. The reason that we have been prohibited from drinking from the fountain is because we aren’t ready. We aren’t yet ready to know all the evil that there is to know, we aren’t ready to live with the heavenly host as immortals living with and serving God. That is why we have been prohibited from doing this.” 18

Somewhere in the mountains, there is a creature that all the animals now flee from. Its presence is something that they do not understand; all they know is that to be near it invites suffering and death. The sounds and the screams do not sound like anything that any of them have heard before. While they could never understand the actual words, they could understand the tone and the emotions. It started with the more intelligent animals first, lions and wolves among others. While none in their packs had ever been attacked, they had come across some horrific scenes and were trying to understand what it all meant. The animals had come in contact with Cherubim before, but they had never posed any danger to anyone. While large creatures like the behemoth and the leviathan had been known to kill other animals by accident before, they were largely harmless if left alone. The one drawback of living in paradise is that you never learn to be cautious; you never learn how to avoid predators. For the next round of competition, all three of the winning teams would move on to the next round. The fourth team would be chosen at random, one member from each of the losing teams was to come up, put their hand in the bag and grab a urim stone, the one that grabbed the red stone would move on to the second round. James, Nathan, and Richer all walked up to the platform, each reached in and grabbed the first stone that they felt. When everyone had a stone in hand, they all revealed them at the same time; James had 19

chosen the red urim stone so he and Segest would be moving on. The first match was Israel and Alevia against Kystina and Melany, Israel went to the ground quickly, this allowed him the ability to use his strength to his advantage. He was able to pin Melany quickly, and then Alevia and him pushed Kystina out of the sphere. The next match would go on a lot longer, both James and Segest did a very good job of switching off Michael since he was the best player of the four. Segest and Gabriel were fighting very close to the edge of the sphere; Gabriel dove down, turned and kicked up, forcing Segest out of play. However, Segest was able to hang on to the heel of Gabriel and pull him out too. Finally Michael was able to pin James, and so the finals would be Israel, Alevia, Michael and Gabriel. Gabriel stood at the sidelines gasping for air. “Great, now I get to do this all over again.” All four of the Cherubim entered the arena. They each bowed to each other, and then to the judges as well as to the other eight Cherubim who had been part of the contest. Michael said to Gabriel, “I don’t think that they will try sending Israel against you and have Alevia spar against me, just do your best against her and I will do my best against Israel. If you need help, fly toward the center and I will do what I can. Alevia isn’t a great attacker, however, she can defend well enough to hold off Richer so be careful, especially around the perimeter.” “What if they both come after me like they did against Jaenan?” asked Gabriel 20

“If they do that, then fly towards the edge of the sphere, when they try to push you out lock on to Alevia, or if you can Israel, and then pull them out of the game with you. Don’t worry, you will be fine,” was Michael’s response. As the four Cherubim started coming towards each other, it was just as Michael had thought, the two master katizic players would face off, leaving Gabriel and Alevia to themselves. Michael and Israel both stayed on the ground while Gabriel and Alevia flew up high into the air. With both Cherubim on the ground, they retracted their wings and began circling each other. “I am glad to see that you aren’t using any trickery to try to beat us today,” came Israel’s challenge. “I would only need to use trickery if I thought that you could actually beat me, I have been the Verden champion for two years in a row now.” “Well that will do you no good when I beat you in front of everyone today, my friend.” With that, both Michael and Israel charged at each other and collided at mid-circle. The force of two hard charging Cherubim made a loud noise and knocked both Michael and Israel back. As each regained their footing, they started circling each other and made another charge. This time, instead of coming straight at Israel, Michael went left, then right at the last moment and hit Israel at a slight angle. The collision was fierce and while Michael was knocked to the ground, Israel was knocked off his feet and went flying though the air, he landed on his back with a thud. Both got up slowly, Israel more so, 21

he could have kicked himself for getting tricked like that and knew he could not take another direct hit. Both came running at each other, but just before impact, Israel jumped up and kicked right at Michael’s chest. Seeing this, Michael did a forward summersault, swung his right leg back around and tried to sweep Israel off his feet. Israel was out of his range because of how far he had jumped. Israel turned around and took a big swing at Michael that he was just barely able to block. This was going to be the longest katizic match of all time. Up head, Gabriel and Alevia were swapping blows mostly with their wings, trying to edge their opponent out of the sphere. Gabriel looked down and said, “I am glad that we are up here and not down there, those two will be sore for a few days, if not a whole week, the way that they are smashing into each other.” He flew at Alevia to try to catch her off guard by attacking from below, he got off a solid punch that hit her in the midsection, however, she was able to fly with the punch so that it did not hurt that much. Gabriel pressed on and kicked with his leg while at the same time swinging his wing at her. The kick missed, but the wing hit her on her left side, Gabriel kept coming swinging wildly. Some punches and kicks hit, most did not. However, because of Gabriel’s quick charge, Alevia could never get set up to take a defensive stance. Gabriel got a hold of one leg and was trying as hard as he could to get his other arm around her neck so that way he could pin her to the ground. With Alevia’s free leg she began kicking him anyway she 22

could. In response, Gabriel started punching at her with his left arm. With both Cherubim locked up, they could not control their flying and began to fall. Now this was what Gabriel was trying to do, but he wanted a more controlled fall than what it was. Israel looked up and saw Alevia and Gabriel falling toward the ground, while the fall would not harm them, it would give Gabriel an excellent opportunity to pin Alevia. Israel quickly extended his wings and flew as fast as he could toward the falling Cherubim and barely missed being smacked by a strong kick from Michael, whose back was turned toward Alevia and Gabriel. Michael spun around and saw Israel speeding towards Gabriel and Alevia and quickly extended his wings too and went chasing after Israel, who caught them just before they both hit the ground. Israel pulled Gabriel off Alevia and was about to punch him when Michael tackled him from behind. Both Michael and Israel hit the ground and began wrestling each other for position, trying to pin the other. Neither could get control and both were very tired from the pounding that they had taken. Michael made a good move to get Israel in a headlock and was about to pin him when all of a sudden, he was hit from behind, this knocked him off Israel. Michael quickly got up and was ready to make a counterattack, however, Alevia was now flying away from him at a fast pace and was heading back towards Gabriel. Michael retracted his wings and called out to Israel, “I know you won’t admit it, but there is a part of you that wishes she hadn’t come to your rescue. I would have pinned you, 23

Gabriel and I would have pushed her out of the sphere and we would be enjoying a lovely salad and drinking iced milk right now.” “Oh, I think you would have found Alevia to be a feisty defender, even against the two of you. Who knows, she may have even found a way to win,” was Israel’s reply, which made Michael smile. “What, what are you smiling about?” “Oh nothing, it is just you flew mighty fast to save your partner back there, a lot faster than I have ever seen you fly before. And then the way you threw Gabriel, why that was just something! You left yourself completely unprotected, it was almost like you had forgotten that I was there.” Israel shook his head, “It isn’t what you think. I was just looking after my partner, that’s all. Besides, we are from different regions, I am from the west and she is from the east, our families don’t even know each other, and I am over seven hundred years older than her. I just thought that if I could take out Gabriel, Alevia and I would have an easier time against you. I just didn’t expect you to get to me so fast.” Michael laughed. “That is the weakest excuse I have ever heard, since when did age ever become a concern for our people? You and I have been friends for many years, I know you, and I know that you are in love. Now, shall we charge at each other or are you afraid that Alevia may not love you if I mess up your pretty face?” “You are going down, Michael son of Amos,” came Israel’s reply.

24

Alevia and Gabriel were not doing a lot of fighting, after the last exchange, they were circling each other in the air waiting for the other to make the next move. Gabriel was considering swooping down and getting a couple of good hits on Israel to help Michael out. However, watching the two crash into each other made him change his mind, also, he remembered that hit he could have taken, why that could have been really painful. No, no, it was much better to stay up here. “I may have been born at night, but not last night, I think those two can take care of themselves.” “You know, we can just agree to let those two decide the outcome of this match, we could always call our match a tie,” called Alevia over to Gabriel. “Normally, I would agree with you, but since this is more than just a sporting event, I think that we should give it our best. I don’t think that it would be honorable to just quit and let those two work alone. Sure, they may be better than us at katizic, but you just saved Israel from being pinned by Michael. If you were to defeat me or I defeat you’ it would greatly change the outcome of what goes on down there. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to be relaxing like those Cherubs sitting their watching us, but that isn’t our place right now.” “Well,” said Alevia, “in that case, I do apologize.” “Apologize for what?” “For this.” And with that, Alevia came flying at Gabriel. She punched him so hard that he flew backwards. Alevia circled around, drew back her wings and did a forward flip landing a solid kick into Gabriel’s side. 25

This sent him flying towards the edge; he desperately flapped his wings in an attempt to keep from flying out of bounds. He stopped mere feet from the edge, Alevia came back around, but was careful not to over pursue and get herself thrown out. Gabriel then flew at her and tried to push her out, she wrapped her legs around him, did a backward flip and kicked with all her might. This sent Gabriel flying out of the sphere and her dropping towards the ground. When she was out of danger of going out of bounds, she extended her wings and glided towards Michael and Israel. Michael saw Alevia falling towards the ground and knew that meant he was in trouble. Israel and Alevia had been able to tag team Richer out and he was one of the best individual players. However, once Richer was outnumbered he had taken to the air where he had a better defense, this had played to Alevia’s strength. Michael decided that he would stay on the ground and battle the two down there. He stopped fighting Israel for the time being and went straight at Alevia. Alevia did not like the look of that so she extended her wings and tried to fly just out of Michael’s reach. However, she misjudged Michael’s leaping ability and felt herself being pulled down towards the ground by her legs. Once Michael hit the ground, he began spinning round and round while holding on to her feet. Once he had built up enough momentum, he flung her as hard as he could. Poor Alevia did not have a chance; she flew through the air and could not stop at all. She flew right out of bounds and into the arms of Gabriel, who saw what was happening. 26

“That would have been a nasty fall,” came Gabriel’s response once they were safely on the ground. “I hope that makes you feel better about me throwing you out,” said Alevia in a huff, however, she was very glad that Gabriel had caught her; it would have been a nasty fall. “Oh, it does, now here is something for you to drink while we watch those two finish it up.” Israel had chased down Michael and had tried to stop him from throwing Alevia out, however, he had not been able to get close enough, if he had, he would have been smacked by a spinning Alevia. Once Michael let go and she went flying through the air, he thought about trying to catch her, but knew that he never could. He also knew that Michael would never let him live that down if he tried. Seeing that Gabriel caught her once she was out of bonds made him breathe a little easier, he would have to thank him later. The battle lasted all through the night, there were times when it looked like Israel would win, but Michael would escape and then it would turn the other way. Back and forth this went on and on, the rest of the Cherubim could not even cheer anymore they were so tired. Neither one was willing to quit, finally, right before the sun was about to rise, Michael got his right foot behind Israel’s legs, pulled him to the ground and had him pinned. Afterward, he fell to the ground next to his friend and said, “That was the longest match I have ever had in my life, I plan to sleep all day. I bet you are now wishing that your girlfriend had not saved 27

you half a day ago, aren’t you?” “Great match, my friend, and will you please stop! She isn’t my girlfriend, we just met, she was my partner, that is all!” “Denial is an ugly thing.” “I am not in denial!” stated Israel in a much stronger tone than he really meant. Of course, it is impossible to escape the charge of being in denial in the first place; the more you deny it, the stronger you make the case that you are. However, Michael was right about Israel and both of them knew it. Israel got up, pulled Michael up and the two walked over to where the other Cherubs had been sitting. Fortunately during the night, some of the others thought that it would be nice to have food and drink prepared for the two of them, it was the best meal that they had ever had.

28

Chapter 4

Knowledge and Song While the katizic match was fun for everyone to watch on the screen and for the players involved, there was nothing fun about a twoday test that covered everything from Physics and Chemistry to History and Geography. To make matters worse, no results would be published or released. You had no idea if you were doing well or if you had failed, at least with katizic there was a feeling of purpose, this seemed to just drag on. While the events were being broadcast in all six of the cities, few were camped out watching this test. This gave everyone time to rest up before the song competition started, now that would be entertaining and was something that everyone was excited about. After the two days were over, all twelve of finalists came back to their camp that they had made. They were physically and mentally exhausted, except for a few short breaks, the test had been non-stop. Tjome fell to the ground and said, “That was the worst thing that I have ever been through in my life. Why would they make us do something like that?” Segest responded, “I had nothing to do with this final design, that was the work of the remaining members of the Sharah to put together, James and I are innocent.” “Yes, I know, but why such a long test and why did we not even get a chance to break for the night and get some sleep? Two days, two 29

days of answering all kinds of questions, I am glad that they aren’t telling us our results, I am sure that mine were terrible. Especially towards the end,” replied Tjome. “Well, it actually makes perfect sense,” said James. “Legion is crafty, they were able to convince Noketer that they could give him what he wanted if he would just open himself to them. While the words were smooth, their motive was pure evil, something that none of us have ever experienced before,” said Segest. “Legion will try the same thing once they are caught, no doubt about it. The two that do go after him must know the truth about God and know the truth about themselves. Know your limits; know what God has given you and what you lack. Legion will try to promise you something, you must be determined to stand against them or you too will fall like Noketer,” added James. “Why was this legion of evil Jinn even allowed to live, why didn’t God destroy them the moment that they chose to rebel? Better yet, why make them at all if He knew what they would do?” asked Nathan. “That isn’t for us to know, however, I can tell you why Legion hasn’t been destroyed now,” said James. “If Legion were sent to their final judgment place, Noketer would have to go with them. He has bonded himself to Legion and the fate of Legion would also be the fate of Noketer. God is sparing Legion for now because he wants to give Noketer a chance for redemption.” “But what exactly are we supposed to do? All we have been told is that two of us will find him and bring him back. How and when 30

will we be able to do this?” asked Richer. “I am sure that when we need to know, we will know. Either God will tell us directly or reveal it through Melchizedek and the other elders. Don’t worry about something that hasn’t even happened yet,” replied Segest. “Besides, the tournament isn’t even over with, I am sure that we will hear more once that is done and the two are chosen,” said Kystina. Jaenan was starting to get scared, she said, “There is a part of me that now hopes that I am not chosen, I think that I would be afraid to meet this Legion. Do you remember what Melchizedek said at the beginning, that Yani and Natali were ineligible because the shock would be too much for them? I am now starting to think that it is too much for me too.” The next day, the elders held a ceremony to congratulate everyone for finishing the first two phases of the competition. Kalyia announced, “This last part will not be graded nor will you be ranked. This is solely for your benefit and for all of those Cherubim watching at home on their zekomotions. Sing any song you like, you can write one or you can sing a song that we already know. Let it praise God and encourage each other.” All the names were put into a golden bowl and were drawn at random. One by one each Cherub came up and sang a song, some of them were funny, some fast, others were serious and somber. Each song spoke to everyone in some shape or manner, of all the tests, this was proving to be the most fun, no bruising and no hard questions, just 31

pure joy and love for each other and for God. Finally, Gabriel took the stage, “The song I would like to sing comes to us from the twenty-four elders who sit at the throne-room of God. I feel like there is nothing that I could write or sing that would be more beautiful than that.” Gabriel took a harp and began to sing: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. You are worthy, our Lord and God. To receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. After all the others had finished, everyone applauded their work even if they were not very good by Cherub standards. However, when Gabriel finished, there was complete quiet. After the silence the whole plain burst into song, everyone, young and old sang out: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. You are worthy, our Lord and God. To receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. 32

Hearing one angel sing is one thing, hearing over a billion all sing at once, that is powerful. Their voices lifted so high into the heavens that all the heavenly hosts could hear them loud and clear. They had been following what was happening down on the mortal planet of Roacen too, they knew that the time of testing for the Cherubim was at hand and all were eager to see how they would handle the evil of Legion.

33

Chapter 5

Someone Else Was Listening Too Deep in the heart of the western mountains, someone else could here the singing of the Cherubim too. However, the response from Legion was not that of joy like it was for everyone else. They cursed and screamed all sorts of vile chants and spells. Noketer, deep in the core of his inner being, fought desperately to join with his other Cherubim in song, for this was a well-known song to all of them. However, by now Legion was far too powerful for him. Legion began to taunt Noketer and say, “Poor little Cherub wants to sing a song, we will give you something worth singing about, sing about how a stupid Cherub could be so easily fooled! Or you could sing about how we ripped a ewe lamb’s head off and drank all its blood. Why don’t you sing about that?” Legion kept screaming even after the song had finished being sung, the echo of it was more than they could bear. They ran up to the highest mountain peak and screamed. “You are not holy, you are not worthy, you may have created all life, but we have the power to destroy it! You create and we destroy, what is more powerful than that?” When Legion screamed those words, the ground beneath them shook and a loud clap of thunder rolled across the sky. A voice from the heavens boomed, and the blast was enough that trees began to sway and even rocks began to crack. “Your days are numbered, Legion, the fool has said that he is 34

greater than Me! You will find yourself thrown into the abyss for all the evil that you have done!” Legion fell to the ground, trembling on hands and knees, not out of respect, but because they had no choice. “You cannot throw us into the abyss, you cannot, if You do, then you will be condemning Noketer to suffer in our fate. He gave himself to us, he gave himself to us freely!” “A mistake that he has suffered for these many long years. I have not forgotten what he did; you need not remind Me of facts, Legion. But know that there is no place that you can go where I will not take back what is mine.” And with that everything went quiet, Legion was still on the ground shaking like a leaf in the wind, when it was clear that the Lord had gone, Legion stood up and dusted off. “Guess we showed Him.” Inside Noketer’s mind he could see himself and Legion just as he could on that day so long ago. At first when he asked Legion to come in and live in him, nothing much had really changed. He could feel the power inside him and could hear Legion talking to him in his thoughts. At first it was a wonderful feeling, he had strength like he could never have imagined. He was able to pull a tree out of the ground by its roots and swing it over his head like a mere club. However, the best part was that he did not feel alone anymore, no matter where he went, he was in constant companionship with the Legion of Jinn. They told him that he needed to go off into the woods 35

for a full month to separate himself from the other Cherubim to learn to live with the power that Legion had given him, and then when that time had passed he would return to the company of Cherubim and be their new ruler. Now at first, Noketer had had full control of his body and mind, Legion was after all an invited guest. Legion would make a suggestion and Noketer could or could not comply. At first the thought of going off into the woods by himself scared him, Legion reminded him that he would not be alone, he would never be alone. “Besides, if we run back to the other Cherubim, they are going to think that you have lost your mind. You need time, my young Cherub, time to learn how to live with us inside you, time to learn how to rule your people justly and fairly. Remember, when the other Cherubim see you, they are likely to think that you are some kind of god, full of wisdom and power. “This would be very frightening to these poor little creatures, just look at the way God comes to speak to you. Does He come to you with all His glory and power? Of course not, and why you may ask? Because if He did, you would die of fright. “You, my dear Noketer, must do the same, you must learn to live with your power, you must learn how to be a god. These were things that Melchizedek and the others would never have taught you, that is why they kept you down. If you do not learn more from us in one week than you have learned in your whole life, then you are free to come back here.” With these words Legion convinced Noketer that he did need to 36

learn, that he did need time, and the only way that he could get it was to go deep into the mountains were no one would disturb them. While there were times that he was not too fond of his fellow Cherubim, he certainly did not want them to be terrified by his new godlike powers. So deep into the mountains Noketer ran, he had never run so hard for so long in his life. Noketer could go all day and all night and still not tire, he had no need to eat or drink anything either. Up ahead, Noketer saw an apple tree in full bloom with hundreds of golden apples growing on it. He was going to stop and eat one, when Legion asked him a question. “Feel your stomach, does it have need for nourishment? Have you grown weak with hunger that you must stop for food?” “No actually, why I hadn’t even noticed. I guess it was out of habit, if you see such beautiful fruit, it seems like a waste to not eat any. Could I have one anyway?” asked Noketer. “Well sure you can have one; however, if you do not need one, will you really enjoy it? What we are trying to show you is that you will be able to go months, even years, without needing any food at all. Also, does not food taste so much better when you are truly hungry? Trust us, we will find food that is just as good, if not better than this later on, then when you are hungry you will truly savor it.” Looking back, Noketer had no idea what all that had meant, he did now, and those very words shook him every waking moment.

37

Chapter 6

Two Are Chosen The last day of the tournament, all of the Cherubim were waiting for the announcement. It was the topic of conversation for everyone all across the plain. A consensus favorite was Gabriel, his singing and knowledge were extremely strong and because he was teamed up with Michael, he found himself a winner at katizic. That was the first and only time that he had ever won in katizic before. As far as who the second person was going to be, there was no clear favorite. Basically everyone in their city thought for sure that one of their own would be the second representative. However, there was no way to really know for sure, Michael and Gabriel did not even know if winning the katizic match would help them or not. For the twelve that had been going through the test, however, they did not talk about it at all. At the beginning there was not one of them who did not want this assignment, now, no one was sure, the thought of chasing down a group of evil spirits out in the mountains and forest far away from civilization and all alone did not sound as exciting as it had when they started. Melchizedek took the stand. “Everyone, thank you for your patience, I know that it has been hard to wait, we have come to a uniform decision. I want to tell all of you out in the cities that your representatives did a fine job over these last five days. Not just on stage, but off, there was a lot of growth and maturity from all involved. “This was not a casual championship, score and results had nothing to do with the final decision. Legion is crafty and it is going to 38

take knowledge to avoid his traps. They will try to say things about God, us, and everyone that will be false. However, they will not stop there, they will find a way to take the truth and change it so that it suits their purpose. The truth that they may try to distort could be of God’s character; it could be about our origins and history, or any other subject. The only way to combat their lies is with knowledge of what is true. “The next challenge will be physical. The two will need to fly out to the western waterfalls, where they will begin the search. The road that will take you to Legion will be difficult and dangerous. Physical skills will be vital not only for tracking, but for survival. “Finally song, we could send twenty of the strongest Cherub that we have and they could not match Legion’s strength. While physical skill will be greatly needed, the only weapon that we can use against them is praise. “With that in mind, the two that we have chosen are Michael of Verden, son of Amos, and Gabriel of Sontuc, son of Nebat. The two of you are to say your goodbyes and fly immediately to the western falls. From there you will follow the clues until you have found Noketer, you will bring Noketer and Legion before the council at that time. You are to take nothing with you, no food for the journey or tools to make a shelter. “The Lord has commanded that we lay our hands on you and that you will be given the power to smell blood from far away. This is how you find Legion; they have preyed on the helpless creatures in the mountains. Follow the blood, and you will find Legion.” 39

Melchizedek continued, “We are not sure how long it will take Michael and Gabriel to find them and bring them back. It may take a few months or several years, the Lord has not revealed anything to us yet. However, we who are left behind will be charged with the task of preparing for their return and dealing with this evil. “This is the task that we have been given, the opportunity that we have waited for, to leave this mortal life and begin a new one. Let us pray that we have the strength to do it well.” With that, Michael and Gabriel said their goodbyes to all the other ten Cherubs. Michael embraced Israel and said, “Make sure that you do not marry Alevia before I get back, it is my role to stand at your right side at the ceremony, remember that.” “Oh, get going you, and knock Legion around for me, will you?” replied Israel. With that, the two flew west towards the Kalyia Mountains and the western falls. The ten other Cherubs all flew out after them in support of their mission. As they passed over each city on the plain, all the Cherubim came out of their homes and cheered them on. As they came to Sontuc, everyone was in the air waiting for them. Gabriel’s parents, Nebat and Hana were there to embrace their son and encourage him. Tears came to Gabriel’s eyes. “I will miss you, pray for me every week.” Hana hugged her son and said, “The sun will not set before your father and I will have prayed for the two of you. Now go, find this evil beast and stop them.” They continued west until they came to Verden, Michael’s 40

parents, Amos and Grace, both flew up to their son and wrapped their arms around him. “You have done well, my son,” said Amos. “Never forget who you are or whom you serve. As long as you remember that, Legion will never be able to fool you like they did Noketer.” As Michael and Gabriel landed at the base of the falls, something caught their eye; it looked like a Cherub in form but so much more imposing and powerful. They were at first frightened, thinking that perhaps this was Legion coming to meet them. However, as the Cherub came closer, they knew that it was the Lord. “Come my children, I have been expecting you, I have prepared some fruit for you.” Both of them sat at the table that had been prepared with all kinds of fruits, some of them they did not even recognize. “You are not one of us, are you?” asked Michael in a rather weak voice, “Somehow I always pictured that You would look different.” “I do look different, and no, I am not one of you. However, you are one of mine and as such, when I come down to visit with you, I take your form. Right now neither of you, nor any of your race, are ready to see Me in all my glory. Only those in the heavenly realms can know Me like that.” “The time will come when you will know Me just as I know you. Right now it is as if you are looking through frosted glass, but there will come a time when you will see clearly and see Me face to 41

face.” “But what are we supposed to do?” asked Gabriel, “I know that we will be able to hunt Legion down by the smell of blood, but what do we do when we find them? How do we bring him back to the council of Cherubim, and once they are there, what do we do next?” “You ask many questions, some of them you answer by your own questions,” laughed the Lord. “When you find Legion, and you will find them, you will bring them before the council. They will come with you, in fact, they will be so desperate when the time comes to go to the council that you will have difficulty keeping up with them. “As for what will happen at the council of Cherubim, that is not your task. I have given that to others, however, at the council you two will both know what to do and what to say. Be watchful and observant of all that Legion has done; make a detailed record so that you will be able to make a good report. Finally, take care of those you find on your journey, you will know them when you see them. “Even when the road is dark and dangerous, know that I will always be with you, Legion cannot win; they have already been defeated, now it is time to bring their reign of terror to an end.” And with that, the Lord disappeared, leaving them to their banquet of fruits and vegetables. The two sat down and began to eat and talk about the day’s events. When they had finished, the most powerful smell that they could ever imagine hit them. It took them a while to adjust as it was making them nauseous. “Over there, on top of the waterfall, the smell is coming from that direction. I say that we find out what in all creation that is,” said 42

Michael. “Look, we don’t have time for games here, we are on a mission to search for Legion and Noketer, not to find out where bad smells are coming from,” said Gabriel, but then it hit him, that was how they would be doing this in the first place. “Oh right, I just never thought that blood would smell so bad, let’s be off.” The two climbed the rocks looking for clues, they were in no hurry to get to the source of the smell because the closer they got, the more powerful it was. Michael said, “You know, this climbing will help you build leg strength for future katizic games.” “I always thought that you said katizic was a game of skill, not strength, so now the truth comes out,” quipped Gabriel. “It is a game of skill, when Alevia flipped you out, it wasn’t because of her amazing strength, she was able to use leverage and your own motion against you. I am much stronger than Melany, but she has beaten me a few times because of her skills. However, strength is always an asset, but by itself it is useless,” responded Michael in a much more serious tone than was necessary, Gabriel was joking, but Michael had failed to see that at the time. “I was joking.” “Oh, sorry, I was just focused on the climb and wasn’t paying attention. But might I ask you a question, why did katizic never appeal to you before?” “Well,” said Gabriel, “I just never felt like I fit in with you or the other athletes. Cherubim such as Nathan, Richer, and Natali all 43

made me nervous. Also, you, Israel, and Tjome were all so close that I could never be part of your group.” “We just assumed that you thought less of us because we couldn’t sing or weren’t as smart as you.” came Michael’s reply. For a while the two had been rivals, Michael had always felt like it was because of Gabriel that the two did not like each other, it never occurred to him that he could be equally to blame. “Why didn’t you ever say anything to us or to one of the elders?” “I don’t know, I guess I didn’t want to bother anyone with my issues, besides, we can’t all be warriors anyway. Some of us have talent in other areas and that was what I chose to focus on,” said Gabriel. He assumed that they had always known that he felt excluded, but just did not care. The two kept on climbing and when they finally got to the top, they could not believe their eyes. There on top of the ridge were six dead goats; all tore to pieces. Some of them had been eaten to the bone; others had been just killed and drained of blood. The two fell to their knees gasping, they had never seen anything like this, before Legion, no one on Roacen ate animals. Most Cherubim lived off fruits and vegetables, some of them, especially in the western regions, did use animal products such as milk and eggs. All the animals were that way; there were no natural carnivores on Roacen. In the center, there was a giant altar made of stone, each one had been finely chiseled and polished, if it were not for the blood and the decay, it would have been a very impressive sight. On top lay a 44

goat’s head with dried blood on it, and beneath it was a five-pointed star etched in the stone and then filled in with the blood from the goat. Down at the bottom was an inscription in a language that they did not know; it read Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega. They sat there for hours in horror of what they had seen; neither could find any words to say. “It doesn’t seem right to leave them out like this, and I for one will not leave that altar standing up a moment longer.” With that Michael picked up the largest rock that he could find and threw it at the altar. It hit with such force that it shattered into a thousand pieces. “Now we must bury the dead.” They worked in silence, it was the only thing that they could do. All the previous conversation about not being liked and this and that seemed meaningless at that moment. This was serious and they wanted to keep it that way until they were done.

45

Chapter 7

Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega “I am thirsty,” was all Legion needed to say to send a chill through Noketer’s soul. This meant that Legion wanted to feed. When Noketer heard the voice of God booming overhead, it was the first time in the last forty years that he had experienced any hope at all. Noketer had come to the conclusion that God had given up on him just like the other Cherubim had done when they had gone looking for him. One of the search parties was so close to Noketer that he could have reached out and touched them. However, Legion was in control of the body and kept him very still so the search party never found them. That was the last time he ever heard any other voice except the voice of Legion. He felt better knowing that God had said that his time of suffering would be coming to an end, however, he still hated the thought of Legion using his body for their own pleasure. Noketer remembered the first time he had experienced Legion satisfying their hunger, he was appalled and in total shock. By then however, there was nothing Noketer could do to get his body back. He had already given up total control to his ‘friend’ Legion. Oh how cleaver Legion had been, they did not come out and ask, ‘Why don’t you let us take over and show you’, no, they had given him tasks to train him to be a god, and when Noketer failed, they would tell him what they would have done differently. “But do not worry,” said Legion. “You are doing splendidly, just splendidly. Why it has been forty days and you have neither eaten 46

nor drunk anything, yet here you are as strong as ever. It will just take time to learn, that is all. Besides, you do not have a visual example, we cannot show you what to do, all you have to go by is what we are telling you and that is a much harder way to learn.” Noketer then asked, “Is there a way that you could take over the control of my body and I could be like you in my mind?” “Why, that is a brilliant idea! We should have thought of it on our own, yes, that would be a much better way for you to learn. You see, you are taking this god training much better than that young Cherub girl would have, we knew we made the right choice with you,” said Legion in a tone that just beamed with pride. “How do we do it?” asked Noketer with eager anticipation. “Well, let us think, right now you and us share your body. We occupy only the frontal lob of your brain, this is why you can hear our thoughts; however, you occupy the center core, this is where body motion and control is. Now, we cannot be in the same part at the same time, the mind can only have one master. “What we will need you to do is lie down on the ground while we are passing each other because the body will have no one behind the wheel so to speak. We will pass each other in your mind and then we will occupy the core and you will be in the frontal lob. Once we finish teaching you, we will switch back,” said Legion. So he did just as Legion said, he lay down, closed his eyes and felt himself letting go, it was is if he was walking down a hall passing someone on his right. As he was passing Legion in his mind something did not look right. Legion, who had always looked so pure and lovely, 47

looked different, almost has if they were laughing about something. However, he did not feel any fear because Legion was his friend and you could always trust your friends not to hurt you. As soon as Noketer was safely in the frontal lob and Legion was firmly in control of the core, the eyes of the Cherub opened. It was Noketer’s body, however, the eyes were different, not a different color or shape, no, they were still the same physical shape, but they were different, they were evil, they were Legion. With that, Legion let out a loud long laugh, they stood up and screamed at the top of their lungs, “You fool! You utter wretched fool! We have you now and you will be ours forever. Get comfortable watching from the side because you are never coming back here again. This is our body now!” This shocked Noketer with such a jolt that it made the body twitch just a bit. “What do you mean?” asked Noketer, who for once in his life was truly terrified. “I thought that this was an exercise.” “Oh, it was,” said Legion in a demonic tone. “It was an exercise in how stupid you are and how smart we are. Did it not concern to you in the least that the occupant of the core has control and the occupant of the lob is just there?” “We were even dumb enough to tell you that beforehand and you still did it! You see, now that we are in control, you can never get it back unless we give it to you. There is nothing you can do or say to change that. Now, enough chitchat, we are starving for some real food and drink.”

48

Noketer hated it most when Legion feasted, he was powerless to stop them, he could, however, still feel everything that happened to his body. What he hated most was the glee that they would take in killing a goat or lamb or whatever they happened across. They were the cruelest beings in the universe this Legion of jinn, Noketer could not imagine how they had hidden their true identity from him. After forty years of Legion’s lustful appetite, Noketer found ways to hide within his mind during the worst of it; however, it still always made him sick. The first time, he had been totally unprepared for the nightmare that awaited him. After Legion had said that he was hungry, Noketer could feel his body getting up and flying through the air, try as he might, he could not control his own body. It was the strangest sensation. Now Noketer assumed that Legion would fly back to the giant fruit trees that they had seen last month. In his mind he thought, This is just a test, Legion is just testing me, that is all, they don’t mean me any harm, they are good, yes, of course this is just a test. As they were flying, Legion spotted a heard of goats grazing on a hill, they aimed right for the middle of the pack, grabbed one of them, twisted its head and broke its neck. Noketer screamed when he heard the sound, Legion dropped the dead goat on the ground and flew back towards the pack. Because Roacen had no natural predators, the goats did not realize that they were under attack; they just stayed where they were eating grass, unaware of the danger. One by one, Legion broke the neck of each goat that was there, sometimes they did it quickly, and 49

other times they dragged it out just for fun. Noketer could not believe what he was seeing, he wanted to scream out to all the other goats, ‘Run, run for your lives,’ but the words would not come out, only thoughts in his head. Finally, all the goats were dead, the worst was over, or so Noketer thought. Then Legion grabbed the closest one, sunk Noketer’s teeth into its neck and began drinking the dead creature’s blood. Noketer could feel the blood in his mouth, going down his throat and made him gauge. “Now this is what I call a good meal!” cried Legion with blood running down the sides of his mouth. “What do you think, young Noketer, I bet they did not serve this tasty a meal back in Verden. You are about to learn what true living is all about, satisfy your own desires. Nothing we want will ever be denied.” With that Legion threw the body of the first goat and went and grabbed another. Finally, Legion was full and did not want any more, next thing Noketer saw was his body taking all the dead goats and forming a circle with them. Using rocks from nearby, Legion took a thigh bone and began to sharpen it into a pointed spear, once the spear was made he went to the center of the circle and began drawing a five-pointed star in the ground, two ends were pointed up, two were pointed to the side, and one was pointed down. Then Legion drew a circle around the star, drove the spear into the ground and placed one of the goat heads on top of it. Finally, when everything was perfect, Legion stepped back, fell to their knees and began to whisper, “Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega,” 50

over and over again. After Michael and Gabriel finished burying the dead, they got up and headed west. While they could not smell any blood, they knew that was the way that Legion had to go, if they had gone east, they would have hit the small outpost of Natar. From what they gathered, Legion liked to be alone, and that meant going west. They followed the Adin River looking for signs that Legion had been there. While Legion did not drink water, the animals did so it made sense to follow the water source until they could pick up the trail again. Two full weeks had gone by and still they could not find or smell anything. “What if we lost them?” asked Gabriel as they sat down to rest. “I mean, this area is huge and we could be here for months, even years looking for them.” “I think that you might be right, God did not tell us how long this would take, I think that we just assumed it would be quick because we were told not to pack anything for the journey. I don’t think that was because the journey would be short. Anyway, we know that they had to go west and we know that Legion feasts on living creatures. All living creatures need water and this is the largest water source, eventually, we will find some unfortunate victims,” Michael replied. They sat down and all of a sudden that strong smell hit them from somewhere beyond the river. They both looked at each other and knew that another gruesome sight lay before them. Getting up, they both ran as fast as they could to the source of the smell. 51

It was farther than they had expected, it took them the better part of the afternoon to get to the source. As they were getting closer, Gabriel grabbed Michael by the arm, “We should pray before we go over that hill, I fear something dreadful may lie ahead.” “Not a bad idea,” said Michael, with that both Cherubim got on their knees and prayed that God would give them the strength to face whatever lay on the other side of the hill. With that they both got up and charged the hill as fast as they could. When they got to the top, they were glad that they had stopped to pray, the sight was awful. All kinds of animals just torn to pieces and body parts hanging from the trees, the blood, while not fresh, had not been there much more than a day or two. Again, there was that five-pointed star like they had seen the last time. Instead of an altar this time there was a large pole at the head of the star, it had all kinds of markings on it, most of them did not make sense. Some of them were drawings of fire and torment; along the side they noticed the same four words that had been placed on the altar, ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’. “What do you think that phrase means?” asked Michael. “It must be very important to Legion because they seem to leave it everywhere.” “I don’t know, ‘Omega’ is a word that I recognize, I have heard one of the heavenly host use it one time when they came down to visit long ago. I don’t remember what it meant, but I think they were using it to describe God. The other three I have no idea, do you think it could be their names, you know, like a painter signing her artwork?” said 52

Gabriel. “It is possible, but I thought that there might be more than just four Jinn, when you think of a legion of something, you don’t think of four,” said Michael. “Maybe it is just the most important four.” “Whatever it is, I don’t like it, let’s bury the dead, burn the pole and pour its ashes over that star,” came Michael’s reply. Gabriel could tell that he was burning with anger towards Legion and would probably want to tear him apart if he could. Just as before at the water fountain, the two worked silently burying the dead animals. Then they cut the pole into pieces and set it on fire, burning it to ashes. Once the pole was burned up, they smeared the ashes all over the star. Neither of them knew why they had to do that, they could have easily buried the dead and then started looking for Legion again, it took a long time to burn up the pole. Something stirred within them, these trophies had to be destroyed, even if it meant delaying their search. While God hadn’t told them to do this, they knew that they had to; leaving something so vile to stand did not seem right. After they were done, both went to sleep for the night, the next day would be another long day. Early in the morning Gabriel heard a rustle in the bushes, he was terrified that it might be Legion, but out came a little ewe lamb. Its leg was broken and there was a tear by its ear, obviously the lamb had been one of Legions victims, but must have escaped somehow. Gabriel got up and walked over to it, but the lamb ran away as 53

Gabriel got closer. This took Gabriel by surprise as he had never seen an animal scurry away. Also lambs were very affectionate in addition to providing good milk, and they were great to have as pets. Gabriel tried to catch up, but this made the lamb even more terrified, “What is going on here?” said Gabriel as he stopped chasing the lamb. “Can’t she tell that I am trying to help?” Then it hit him, no she could not tell. While lambs may not be the smartest of God’s creatures, they do know that when they have been attacked by a big creature with wings, to avoid that same big creature. Gabriel realized that the lamb had no way of telling if he was like Legion or not, the more he chased after the lamb, the more it felt like it was in danger. Gabriel flew up to the top of one of the narvola trees and picked one of its flowers, lambs like to eat those, but because they cannot climb, they can only eat them in the fall when they are on the ground. Gabriel placed it on the ground, backed away and sat down. The lamb came to the food, watching Gabriel very carefully. Once she got to the flower, she began to nibble. Then as she tasted more of it, she began to eat quite carefree, when she had finished Gabriel flew up, grabbed another flower, placed on the ground closer to him and sat down again. Again the lamb came closer to the food, still watching Gabriel and would scurry off now and then even though Gabriel never moved. Two more times and the lamb was close enough that Gabriel could have reached out and grabbed her, but he did not want to scare her again. He stuck out his hand so that she could smell him, this way 54

she would know that it was not the same Cherub that had attacked her before. Finally the lamb trusted Gabriel enough that she let Gabriel pick her up and fly back to the camp, where Michael had prepared breakfast. “I was wondering where you flew off to? What have you got there?” asked Michael. “It was one of Legion’s, this one got away, but her leg is broken and there is a pretty bad cut on her ear.” “I can fix that,” said Michael. “Back home we had quite a few lambs that would fall off a cliff or get tangled in a bush. Here, let me make a splint for her leg and if you could find me an avel plant that would be great.” “Maybe you should find the avel plant and I make the splint, this lamb took a long time to warm up to me and until she gets to know your smell, she will probably be afraid of you too. Remember, she has no way to tell us apart from Legion, to her we are the same type of creature that attacked her.” “Good thinking, are you sure you know how to make the splint, you easterners aren’t known for having many animals?” came Michael’s reply. “Be quiet you, you western Cherubs think that you are so rugged and wild and that because we easterners live by the ocean that we don’t know how to do anything with animals. I would like to have seen you do a better job with bringing her in and rebuilding her trust. Go fly away and find the avel and when you return, you will see the best splint that your eyes have ever seen,” was Gabriel’s response, 55

trying to imitate a western accent. After Michael flew off, Gabriel put the lamb down and said, “How in all of creation do I make a splint?” Gabriel had seen Richer and Melany make a splint once before when he was in Las Dal. He knew that you needed a solid stick and a soft vine and then you would wrap the stick around the leg and voilà, you had a splint. So he went and broke off the biggest branch he could find, got some vine from a necca tree and began to wrap it around the lamb’s leg. It looked like someone trying to wrap a pillow around a pen, the branch was almost as tall as the lamb and Gabriel wrapped so many vines around its leg that you could not see the branch at all. The little lamb was almost standing at a forty five-degree angle because the splint did not stay even with the ground. “Somehow I don’t think this will be the best splint Michael’s eyes have ever seen. What do you think, little lamb?” asked Gabriel in a cutesy voice that he would never have wanted another male Cherub to hear. The lamb just looked at him, while she was uncomfortable with the splint, she trusted this Cherub so she did not put up any kind of struggle at all. When Michael came back with the avel plant and saw the splint that Gabriel had tried to make, he just started to laugh. Gabriel had to laugh too and in his best western accent he said, “As promised, the best splint that you have ever seen.” With that he swept his arm towards his monstrous creation. “Now please, fix this mess that I have made,” said Gabriel in 56

his own voice. “I had better not break my legs on this journey or else I am in a lot of trouble. Oh my, that stick would be perfect for an elephant, you just sit there and keep the lamb happy while I get a proper stick. Good job with the necca vine, however, you don’t have to wrap it up, it isn’t a present.” With that Michael flew to one of the nearby trees and said, “This will do nicely.” With Gabriel holding the lamb, Michael began to unwrap the vines that Gabriel had put on and replaced the large stick with the much smaller one. He then gently wrapped the vines around the stick and the splint was now complete. “Now just rub some of the avel on her ears.” The next morning Michael said, “Well, we had better find her a new flock of lambs that she can live with, I think her family must have all been killed by Legion. I bet over that hill we can find a good family for her to live with.” Gabriel scoped up the lamb and the two of them went and flew over the hills, sure enough there was a large flock of lambs and lions on the other side of the hill. “This is perfect,” said Gabriel. “The lions will help protect them should Legion come this way again.” They dropped down in the middle of the pack and let the lamb go. You could tell that she was sad to see them go but was very happy to be among her own kind again. All the lions were on their feet when the two landed in the middle of the pack. “We should go introduce ourselves to them, we don’t want these lions thinking that all Cherubim are monsters and killers,” said Michael. 57

The two walked over to where the head lion was standing, both had their hands outstretched so that way the lions could smell them. Once they were very close, the lion licked their hands and they kissed him on the head, the rest of the lions all sat down after that. With that Michael and Gabriel spread their wings and flew back to camp. It was time to start looking for Legion again and that was not a fun job. They both had to admit that taking care of that little lamb probably did them more good than they had done for her. It got their minds off the gruesome scene that they had seen three days ago. Now they could begin their search knowing that they had done some good.

58

Chapter 8

Why Are They Following Us? Legion was high on the cliff watching Michael and Gabriel burn their pole, Legion was furious, how could they be finding them so easily. They knew that Cherubim had come looking for Noketer before, they had enjoyed being chased, it made them feel powerful. Not only were these Cherubim following them but they were destroying the scared places. “They defy our sanctuaries, they smash our altars and burn our poles. They have no regard for our sacred star or the blood that we have sacrificed to it! Go away, serve your own God and let us live in peace!” shrieked Legion. No other search party had even come close to finding them; it was Legion who would stalk the search parties. It was a fun way to torment Noketer, one time Legion had spotted a group of females out in the woods; they had looked so beautiful that Legion wanted to attack them. “Come, let us ravish these beautiful Cherub females, would it not be more delightful than killing lambs and sheep?” said Legion. “We could overpower them, they would be no match for our strength, and we could do whatever we wanted.” Noketer was terrified, killing lambs and goats had been a nightmare for him, he could only imagine what attacking one of his own would feel like. He screamed in his head, “Why are you so evil, what does it take to satisfy you?” This only made Legion laugh. “Nothing will ever satisfy us, nothing.” 59

Legion did not attack, but the fantasy alone was enough to torment Noketer. “We must hide, we must hide deep in the mountains, they will not find us there. We will hide and we will wait. Yes, that is what we will do, hide and wait, hide and wait.” Legion kept repeating this over and over. Legion ran for thirty days straight, they did not stop to rest and they did not stop to eat. High atop one of the mountains, Legion rested there, “We are safe here, they will never come this deep into the mountains. Even if they do, they could never find us up here. We are safe.” Noketer was feeling lower than he ever had before during these last forty years. When he had seen Michael and Gabriel still following them, he had been sure that the time had come, that his deliverance from this evil curse was finally here. While he hated to give Legion a reason to mock him, he just could not help it. He wept bitterly in his soul and cried out to God, “Why have You turned your back on me? Why have You raised my hope of salvation only to let it slip away again? Why have you forsaken me?” It was after he said this that something odd happened, he expected Legion to curse him or laugh at him or do something like that. But they didn’t, instead they remained silent and then in a very soothing voice Legion said, “There, there, do not weep, God has not forsaken you, He wants you back desperately. However, He cannot have you, you have given yourself to us, you are part of our family 60

now. Why do you fight us, why do you hate us, after all that we have done for you?” “Remember when all the other Cherubim used to keep you down and use you to build themselves up? We were the ones that came to you; we were the ones that made you not feel alone. Remember when we first started training in the woods together, how much fun that was? You never felt alone or afraid, we gave you everything and now you fight us, why?” This totally took Noketer by surprise; he did not know what to say, in fact, it was the first nice thing Legion had said to him ever since they took control of his body so long ago. He thought for a moment and then said, “Well for one, ever since you took control of my body, all we have done is kill and destroy. You have also done nothing but laugh at and curse me.” “Have you not thought that perhaps this was necessary, that in order to be the person we want you to be that this was part of the training? Has that ever crossed your mind, that we are doing this for a greater good?” said Legion, again in a very smooth comforting voice, a voice that Noketer had not heard in a long time. Noketer was close to being convinced, but then he thought about it and said, “If it had only been mocking and cursing me I could see your point. You have killed thousands and thousands of helpless animals over the last forty years, you have taken great pleasure in their pain and suffering and you have threatened to attack other Cherubim that have been looking for me. There is no way that can be part of a greater good.” 61

“Come, let us build ourselves a great monument here on this mountain, it will tell our story and show you why blood is necessary. It will also show you the secret wisdom that we have learned, learned from the stars and why God does not deserve the gratitude that He so seems to think is necessary. After you learn this truth, then you will know and understand, then you will be ready to join us in our quest to become a god too,” said Legion. Legion found a clearing near the top of the mountain which would be a perfect sight for the monument. Noketer was for once very much interested in all that Legion was doing. While he was not sure if he could trust Legion, he was glad to be doing something productive and not killing anything. With stones from the side of the mountain Legion first built the foundation and then built the outside structure. What Noketer was most impressed with was the focus that Legion had, he had seen them build altars and large wooden poles before with that same focus, but this was amazing in both its size and detail. After completing the outside part of the temple, Legion began working on the inside, again, this was no easy task. On top of the mountain there were no trees, they had to go down the mountain, get the supplies that they needed and bring them back up. This process alone took over nine weeks to complete. Legion did not stop at all, not for food, not even to sleep. The only time that they would stop was to say the chant in the morning and in the evening.

62

After Michael and Gabriel said there goodbyes to the lamb and started heading west, they knew that there was no place that Legion could hide where they would not find them. They continued heading west following the water source, every now and then they would notice some of the animals flee from them, a sight that they were just now getting used to. While they were hiking through the woods, they came to an old stone altar made just like the one that they had seen at the waterfall, only this one must have been built many years ago. What they were actually looking at was the first altar that Legion had built after taking possession over Noketer’s body. The animal remains were now completely decayed the only evidence that Legion had been there was the altar and the star. Maybe because it was so old or because they had become numb to the violence from the two previous encounters, but it was not so somber a moment. They demolished the altar and then buried the whole thing, altar and all. “Well, let’s keep on going, I don’t want to sleep in the same area that Legion chose to kill innocent life,” said Gabriel. “I wonder what everyone back home is doing, God made it sound like they had work too. I wonder what it is?” wondered Michael. “It cannot be as hard as what we are doing I can tell you that. For one, we have no supplies and nowhere to really get rested. They at least get to sleep in their own beds and have prepared meals every day,” replied Gabriel.

63

Chapter 9

Melchizedek’s Mission One week after Michael and Gabriel left to search for Noketer, the word of the Lord came to Melchizedek. “You and all the Cherubim that are left are to fly east. There you will find a great land that no one has ever seen or been to, here you will find all the stone and wood that you will need to complete the project that I have set for you.” Melchizedek summoned all the elders from all the towns of the plain and they met in the Garden of God. Melchizedek said, “Last night the Lord reveled to me what our mission is while we wait for Michael and Gabriel to come back. To our east beyond the sea lays a great valley, a place that was designed for this very purpose. In this valley we are going to build a massive cathedral, a cathedral that will be able to hold every single Cherub at one time.” “How are we going to do such a thing? There are over one billion Cherubim living on the plain all scattered around. To build one cathedral that could hold all of them at once would be an enormous task,” asked Nathan. “The Lord has shown me that everything that we will need will be there. The base of the valley floor is solid rock and this will be the foundation. All the wood and stone is there too. Also, once we begin the work, the Lord himself will provide food from heaven, we are to worry about nothing else other than this project.” “When do we leave for this land?” asked Ruth. “We will leave here in two weeks; this will give everyone time 64

to get ready. We will need to bring tools and start making plans. Nathan, I want you to form a team that will start putting a design together.” “It will be as you say,” replied Nathan. “I was hoping that Michael and Gabriel would not be gone long, maybe a month or two, however, the Lord has reveled that they will not be returning until after our project is complete. That will be at least two full years from now, maybe longer, I hope that they do not get discouraged by the length of their journey,” said Kalyia. “Yes, let me say a prayer and then we will be off,” said Melchizedek. “Dear Lord, give us strength to complete the great work that you have given us and give Michael and Gabriel the strength to continue searching for Noketer and not to get discouraged by the length of the road that faces them, amen.” Two weeks after the Sharah meeting, the whole community of Cherubim headed east to the great valley. They named the valley Megiddo; this meant conflict in their language, because it would be here that the choice between good and evil would be decided. At sunrise all the Cherubim assembled at the eastern edges of their cities or outposts, they were all going to fly in a series of V shapes, this would allow them to draft off each other and let them fly farther as a group than they could individually. The stronger ones would take turns leading while the weaker ones would stay in the back where the air resistance was the lightest. One Cherub alone could probably fly a week or two without resting, but after that would be 65

exhausted. By flying in the V shape, the team could go two months without stopping and cover huge distances because the workload per person was much lighter. On the morning that they were to head east, Melchizedek had organized everyone to be in groups of ten, one hundred and one thousand. Every group would form a V shape that would build off each other. With over one billion Cherubim the sky would be covered with flying V’s. “We will start with Cherubim that live in the west, you are to head out and start flying east, as the last of your group flies overhead then the next group will take off and follow. By the time the last of you flies over the Garden of God, myself and the other members of the Sharah will take off and then we will all be heading east together,” came Melchizedek over the zekomotions in every city. Yani and Natali were the leaders of Verden and they called out, “Everyone to the sky.” With that over eighty-six million Cherubim began to flap their wings and take off. The vibrations on the ground were enough to shake fruit from the trees. They all formed into their groups of ten, a hundred and then a thousand. As the wave of Cherubim flew east, it began to multiply, and as it multiplied the thundering sound of millions of wings began to shake the ground even more. By the time the wave made it to Sontuc, the sound was deafening, buildings were shaking and the glass in the windows was breaking. All two hundred and fifteen members of the council were in the Garden of God and when the last of Cherubim flew overhead they took 66

off and got behind and began making sure everyone was in the right formation all heading due east. Every single Cherub except Michael and Gabriel was accounted for. In all there were exactly 1,198,002 groups of thousands with two hundred and fifteen members of the council all heading due east. It had been six weeks since the Cherubim had left the shores of their land and there was nothing in sight. Cherubim packs had been able to go as long as two months straight without stopping when flying in formation, no one was sure how much longer beyond that their bodies could hold up. Melchizedek was not concerned, God had told him to go east so he was confident that they could make it. However, he was starting to wish that he had sent an exploratory team first to find out how far it was. When you do not know where you are going, the distance seems so much longer, it could be five days more, it could be five more hours, no one knew and that made it harder on everyone. Still the outlook was very positive, the teams would switch leaders so that way everyone could rest and keep going as long as they physically could. They also kept the pace smooth and steady assuming that they had a long way to go. Every now and then they would send a scout ahead to see if they were close or maybe if there was an island that they could rest on. Nathan asked Melchizedek, “How much longer do you think that we can keep this up, no team has ever gone more than two months straight?” 67

“Yes, I know, however, there has never been such a large team as this. We have been able to rotate the leaders of the pack so often that no one team has had to run point more than once. In fact, we could go five years and still not have used every group at the front. I think that we can go a very long time, however, it would be nice to know how much farther we have,” replied Melchizedek. “Besides,” came Kalyia, “if we have it hard, imagine what Michael and Gabriel must be going through. No, I am quite sure that we can make it as long as it takes. Also, I think that there is a positive about not knowing how far you have left, it does not allow you to get discouraged at how much farther you have to go.”

68

Chapter 10

Cold Trail Michael and Gabriel kept following the river heading west and then north. While they stayed on the ground most of the time, every now and then one of them would fly up into the air to see if maybe there were any altars or herds of sheep, goats or lambs that might be possible targets. Whenever they found an old altar or pole or any evidence whatsoever that someone had camped there they would quickly hike over to it. They thought about flying, but did not want to miss any details. As they were hiking towards one of the remains, Gabriel asked. “Why do you think God sent us without anything in the first place, He knew this would be a long journey, would it not have made more sense for us to have something with us?” “I was thinking about that too,” said Michael. “When we were first told to bring nothing, my thought was that we would be done in a week or two. It has been two months since we started and six weeks since we last smelled blood, while that makes me happy that they have not killed anything recently, it sure does make finding them harder. I think the reason that we were sent out with nothing was for two reasons, one so that we couldn’t depend on our own skills and tools in searching for Legion, and two, so that way we would have to depend on God for everything, including food.” “I can see that,” said Gabriel. “I remember when Noketer was first missing, we all just thought that he had gotten really, really lost. Zek had even invented a device that could sense Cherub life signs. The 69

only problem was that it kept always detecting the search parties too and sometimes in the mountains the life signs would echo off rocks.” “I remember one time while I was searching with my zekofind I got really excited because I picked up one male Cherub alone in the woods. I thought to myself, this must be him because we always went in search parties of at least three, usually five. He was really close so I kept running around and around looking for him. Strangely enough when I moved to my right, so did the lone male Cherub in the woods. When I started to run so did he, finally I realized something, I was chasing myself.” This made Michael laugh. “I think that you weren’t the only one that had that happen. I have heard lots of stories similar to that, those zekofinds made it look like you were hot on the trial, like chasing someone in a moving mirror.” “Poor Zek, people would tease him about that all the time. He always kept looking for ways to improve that too, I like that about him, I would have quit and been discouraged.” “You know, that is how he wound up inventing the zekomotion,” replied Gabriel. “But what I don’t still understand is what are we to do when we finally catch them? From the way God described Legion’s strength, they could have a whole army and we will not be able to subdue them. I know that He said singing calms them, but what are we to do, sing them back to Melchizedek and the others?” “You know, for someone who is as young as you are, you are starting to sound like my grandmother. It will be fine,” replied Michael. 70

Legion was finishing up the outside of the structure and the building was like no other that he had ever seen before. Cherubim did not have any temples, most of their buildings were either family homes where each new generation would build a new room when they got married and moved out. Sometimes they built outward, adding to the base or sometimes they would build up and add a new floor. The result was a building that never really looked finished, it was always being built up or built out and so it had a very square shape. This building had very sharp corners and a triangular roof. Noketer was surprised to see that Legion had a creative side, these last forty years he had grown to despise them and did not think that they were capable of doing anything positive. “You don’t supposed that they figured out how we were following them, do you?” asked Gabriel. “I was wondering about that too, we were talking openly about that at the last camp that we found with fresh kill. That wasn’t smart on our part, what if Legion was hiding nearby and overheard. We should be more careful,” Michael replied. Over in the distance Gabriel could see the remains of an old camp, the two quickly took off to investigate. “Hey, Michael, take a look at this, this is something that we haven’t seen before,” said Gabriel. Michael came over, looked and saw the picture that Gabriel was talking about. The picture was not intact, but it looked like a group of 71

creatures that neither of them had seen before, all eating a live sheep. “I wonder if that is what they look like.” So far so good, Legion looked at the outside of the temple and saw that it was very good. They were very particular about all the details, the temple had to be perfect; it would be telling the story of the stars and of their grand vision of the old ways. Legion had spent four months working on the outside of the temple, now they wanted to focus on the inside, this would take even more time. Legion began by making the tools; they planned on hand carving every detail into the rock all along the sides and ceiling. They must explain the truth to Noketer and as many of these weak-minded creatures as they could. They were pawns, mere servants of some self-appointed egomaniac who demanded complete worship. If only they knew what Legion knew, they would change. The temple would be the staging ground where they would tell their story that would change the world. Legion knew that they could not tell the story in words, words are hard to translate and can lose their meaning from one generation to the next and from one culture to the next. Pictures, on the other hand, last forever and this was how they would spread their good news. There, high on the mountain with the cold dry air it was safe from most of the elements that would cause harm. Legion began the work by chanting ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’ over and over again.

72

Chapter 11

The Valley of Megiddo The community had been flying for three months now; a whole month longer than any Cherub team had ever gone before. On the second day of the fourth month, a scouting team from Sontuc was sent out to see if any land was near. The scout team was led by Gog and members of his family, they flew out from the pack early in the morning and at around midday they could see the outline of the new continent there in the distance. They quickly turned around and came rushing back towards the pack to report the good news that their journey was almost done. Gog quickly flew towards Segest shouting, “We have found it! We have found it.” “How far off is it?” “I would say that the front end should hit land by nightfall, the rest probably early in the morning.” “Send a messenger to Melchizedek and the others that we are almost there. Good work and praise be to God, I am starting to get very thirsty and am eager to be done with this flight. Hopefully I never have to do this again,” replied Segest. Gog sent his friend Ashima to report to the council, she took off and flew to the back of the formation. Ashima went straight up to let the pack fly beneath her and then she flew towards the council. Aria, one of the younger females on the council saw Ashima flying towards them and rushed out to meet her. “Do you have good news to report?” asked Aria. 73

“Yes, I do, Gog and his patrol have found the valley that was spoken of, we should hit it by nightfall,” replied Ashima. “Praise God, come, let us go and report the news to Melchizedek,” came Aria’s excited reply. “You go, I must get back to my team and let them know that I have informed you, otherwise they may worry about me. I will talk to you more tonight.” With that, Ashima took off and began flying east again to rejoin her group. Aria zoomed back to where Melchizedek and Enoch were; she was so excited that she was not talking in complete sentences. “It is there, it is there, tonight, tonight, it is there!” “Slow down, Aria, what is going on?” asked Enoch. “The place, the land, where it is we are flying to, we will be there tonight. Gog and his patrol have seen it, we will be there soon,” came Aria’s reply, she was out of breath because she had flown so fast and was talking just as fast. Enoch said, “At last, I did not know how much longer I could go.” Melchizedek turned to his daughter Chalis and said, “Sound the trumpet, let everyone know that we are almost there, this is good news indeed.” Chalis and all the others that had their trumpets with them began to sound the victory tune. As those teams closest to them heard it, they began to play as well, like a great wave the victory tune was being played by every group in the formation. The sound of it could be heard back in the Kalyia Mountains by Michael and Gabriel, while 74

faint but they knew that something big was happening back home. The next morning Kalyia announced that there would be a twoweek-long feast to celebrate the arrival in the valley. All the Cherubim built themselves little booths that they could live in during the feast. They gathered all kinds of fruits and nuts and other items to eat. The area around the valley was full of food and trees to make the shelters. Tjome went up to Israel and said, “So I noticed that you switched groups while we were flying east. You joined the Nopla delegation, why was that?” “It isn’t what you think, a lot of us changed out, and it was a good way to get to meet other people. Besides, people from Verden aren’t very good singers and we wanted some music, the people from Nopla were having trouble staying on course so we were able to help them. It was a good idea, what are you trying to imply?” retorted Israel. “Absolutely nothing, it is just talking, we switched out too with Cherubim from Malaguata, it was a good way to break down the east and west differences that had began to separate us as a people. I personally think that a high profile marriage of one western Cherub to an eastern Cherub would do a lot, if only that were possible,” said Tjome with a smile. “Listen, I know you think that because Michael isn’t here that somehow you have been appointed by Melchizedek himself to bug me in his place,” said Israel in a tone that did not match how he really felt. Michael, Tjome, and Israel had been friends for a long time and that 75

was just the way that they would talk to each other. “I wonder how he and Gabriel are doing, I hope that they don’t drive each other crazy,” said Tjome. “I know, I was worried about that myself, it is strange because you couldn’t pick two more completely different people for that job. Gabriel is from the big city of Sontuc while Michael is from Verden; in fact, we really aren’t even from Verden, that is just the closest real city. I wonder if was just random chance, or if God did that on purpose,” said Israel. “I cannot imagine anything with God being chance, I think everything is planned, even to the smallest detail. Take our coming here, logic would have told you to send a team out to find out where this place is before you uproot the whole community. However, I don’t think that there is any team that could have flown three months straight without a rest. We needed each other just to make it. “Also, if the team could have made it this far it would have taken them another three months just to get back. That would have been half a year wasted just so that we would know how to get here. No, I think every little detail was orchestrated for a purpose,” said Tjome in a very serious tone. “I know that it wasn’t chance, like God did not know, what I meant was that was it an important part of the rationale, or did it just happen? There are some things that can just happen,” responded Israel. “I don’t think so. I think everything is as it was meant to be, down to the smallest letter,” Tjome answered. This was a big debate amongst many Cherubim, there were those that believed that they had a 76

choice and those that thought everything was preplanned, while both had good points, no one could prove their point so usually people just let it go. “Well that explains why you keep saying that I am going to marry Alevia, because I was destined to be her partner at the games and I was destined to fly with her when the leaders of my city and the leaders of her city decided that we needed to switch out. Verden could have switched with Malaguata or Sontuc and it would have had the same effect, but we changed with Nopla,” said Israel, he started off in a more joking tone, but then started to think about the words that he was saying. Finally he said, “I guess it is possible, anyway, we have a task at hand, Tjome, and I plan on dealing with that first, if something happens, it happens.” “Actually, no we don’t have a task at hand. Right now we are in the middle of a two-week celebration. No working, planning or otherwise will begin until the celebration is over. Go and talk to Alevia and tell her how you feel, either way she deserves to know,” said Tjome in a much more friendly tone than when he had started out. “Why are you doing this to me, this is so hard for me to do,” said Israel. “I know.” With that the two friends parted and went their separate ways. The feast was a grand feast indeed, Cherubim from all the different regions where making friends with new people all the time. 77

Segest had routinely organized interregional games and events before, which were a big part in keeping the community together even as they drifted apart. However, nothing that he or his wife ever came up with was like this. The long flight over from the Melchizedek valley to the valley of Megiddo forced people to work together in ways that they had never had to before. By the time the groups landed in the valley of Megiddo, there had become such a tight bound amongst the people that the celebration became more of a social interaction rather than a religious festival with speeches and plays. Israel and Alevia did talk, while there was no great romance to write of, there was an understanding of how they both felt towards each other. Israel was not exactly smooth with the ladies and because no one knew what would happen with the building project it did not seem prudent to rush into a relationship. “I feel so much better now that I have talked with you,” said Israel. “I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.” “I know what you mean,” replied Alevia. “I had no way to interpret your actions towards me. There was a part of me that thought you were just being protective like a big brother, and then there were times that I thought maybe, just maybe, you felt more than that. Thank you for sharing.” That sentiment lasted one week, by the end of the festival Israel and Alevia were seeing each other exclusively and were already planning to get married. Tjome and Israel’s other friends seemed to drop off the globe. Tjome would later joke that if he had known what 78

being with Alevia was going to do to Israel he never would have pushed him so hard in the first place. Their story was not unique there were lots of Cherubim who found their husband or wife because of the journey and the following two-week feast. There were so many requests to get married that Melchizedek had to extend the celebration for another two weeks just to handle all the weddings. There in the valley all the brides and all the grooms were joined with their family and friends and were pronounced duly married in the sight of both God and the community. Alevia and Israel were one of those couples, while Israel hated the thought of getting married without his friend Michael there to stand in his place, he felt like it was necessary given the situation. To honor his friend, they left that space empty; no one would fill it or stand in his place. Over a hundred thousand couples got married that week, no family or household was without someone being married. The celebration that followed the mass marriage was just as harmonious as the previous celebration had been, maybe even more so. At first some of the council were afraid that the work of building the cathedral might be getting seriously delayed and that perhaps the community was sinning by not doing the work right away. However, when the Lord God came down from heaven and blessed the wedding ceremonies in person, they knew that this was the whole reason that they had come here in the first place. Finally after a full four weeks of feasting and weddings and more feasting, the Cherubim were ready to get to work on the great task 79

that was before them. Never in their history had they celebrated for so long or in such a strong sense of family as they did that fourth month of their 2012 year on Roacen. There were twenty-five generations of Cherubim, starting with the first two of Melchizedek and his wife Kalyia down to the very youngest Cherub, Dagon, son of Nibhaz and Tartak. Dagon had been born thirty years before the flight to Megiddo. There were other children too, but he was youngest and last Cherub to be born on Roacen. Every generation except the youngest would have a part in building the cathedral. The older members of the youngest generation were in charge of taking care of the children. The two oldest that were in charge were Adrammelech, son of Belzar, and Anammelech daughter of Rhan, these would be the leaders of the twenty-fifth generation. Through most of Cherub history they had divided themselves by age and location, this time they divided the work by individual strengths and interest. This was a radical shift because now you had a young hundred-year-old Cherub working alongside a one-thousandyear-old Cherub. There were five main groups, design, procurement, supervision, cleanup and then the largest group, the workers. Melchizedek, while being a great leader of the people, knew nothing of quality materials and certainly could not design anything. He went where he knew he could do the most good, as a simple worker who would do what he was told. Adin, who was much younger than 80

Melchizedek and would never dream of being his boss wound up doing just that. Her talent was in being able to make sure that tasks were being done correctly, and as such she was in supervision. Melchizedek went up to her and said with a grin, “I hope you go easy on me, boss, I would hate my wife to come and yell at me.” “Oh, she will be the first person that I go to if you mess up, mister,” she said right back to him with a smile. Kalyia was on the design team but not as the leader, that job was given to Zek, the inventor. Only one group, the workforce, was headed up by someone from the council, Nathan was in charge because he had been part of all the great structures back home. The rest of the teams would be headed up by the Cherub who showed the most talent. Procurement was headed by Keros, and she and her team set out for the mountains and began cutting stone and getting lumber right away while the design team tried to come up with some way to build the massive structure. For right now, the work crews and the cleanup team had it easy, they had to wait until the design team could draw up the plans for the cathedral. Normally they would have begun setting up the foundation, but that was not required because that was already in place, the bottom of the valley was one large rock that was perfectly smooth. Actually the Cherubim would later learn that it was not one rock, rather it was millions of smaller rocks all put in place so that they formed one unit. This gave the structure much more flexibility than it would have had if it had it been one solid piece of rock, but that detail would not be important now. 81

While Keros did not know what the cathedral would eventually look like, she did know what they would need, high quality stone cut into perfect cubes and the best wood. Her team was working constantly six days a week; they only took one day off to rest. The design team was finally able to draw up a plan that could house over one billion people. They had tried many approaches, making the cathedral like one giant bowl, making it look like an upside down cone, each had its advantages and disadvantages. They finally came up with a compromise design that everyone really liked, it would be a merge of the two. The base would be very wide, cover most of the valley and would expand up and out like a bowl. At the midpoint the rows would get closer and closer, in the end it would like two bowls put together. In order to hold the outer walls up, six giant columns would circle the cathedral and reach up to the midpoint. There would be twelve inner columns that would be in the interior to support the lower half of the bowl. Once the design was in place, Nathan and his work crew, which accounted for almost half of all the Cherubim began working on the massive structure. They were spilt up into four teams, north, south, east, and west. Keros had provided them with at least a month’s worth of supplies before the design had been finalized so they were well supplied with timber and dressed stone. Supervision was headed up by Elam, she and her team of seventy-two supervisors worked with the design team to make sure that construction was following the design. Because they were in four 82

separate construction sites, being off by just the smallest degree would be disastrous later on when they tried to join up all the pieces. The cleanup crew did more than just pick up trash, they were responsible for making sure that the workplace was safe and making sure that the project would look beautiful once everything was in place. For every tree that was cut down by Keros’ crew, Talmon and her group were going to plant two surrounding the cathedral. Talmon was very concerned about the project affecting the local environment. While there were no animals on this Eastern Continent, she still wanted the place to look good. This had been a theme for all Cherub cities since Sontuc was built; Talmon was not about to be the first designer that left the place worse than she found it.

83

Chapter 12

The Temple is Complete Michael and Gabriel continued searching along the main river and the surrounding forest. They had gone throughout the whole territory destroying altars and poles and anything that they found that was from Legion. It had now been seven months and still no sign of Legion and no smell of blood. They had followed the Adin River all the way from the great waterfall all through the mountains and valleys. This land had been explored before, but there was no settlement west of Verden. At far end of the western mountains lay an enormous valley, very similar to the plains of Melchizedek. The Cherubim had thought of building another city way out here when they had first discovered it eight hundred years ago. However, when they discovered its natural inhabitants, they thought better of it and left it alone. This was the land of the Behemoth and the Leviathan and they were not creatures that would share their land with anyone. These were huge creatures that the Cherubim made sure to only study from a distance. While the creatures were harmless in that they did not attack other animals, their bodies would have crushed any settlements that would have been in their way. When Michael and Gabriel reached the valley, they debated if Legion would have been dumb enough to have actually tried to go into the valley and kill a behemoth. Michael felt like they should go in and look for possible remains and altars, Gabriel was absolutely against it. Not out of fear, the two of them could have flown high above and been 84

completely safe. Gabriel was just convinced that Legion would not even try to mess with a behemoth or a leviathan. Gabriel finally won out and the two headed back east looking for signs of Legion’s presence and knowing that at some point they would smell blood and that would lead them to Legion. The inside was finally complete, there were all sorts of carvings and images all over the walls. All along the sides of the wall were pictures in a story-like fashion. Noketer did not understand what any of it meant, however, even he had to admit that artistically it was one of the finest buildings that he had ever seen. Starting by the door and moving to the right was the first picture, it was totally black. The next picture was all black too, but in the middle was a faint white light, as you moved down the wall, the light got larger and larger until it filled the scene, now the picture was all white. The next picture was of a vast city with all sorts of living creatures, the creatures were very happy. There above the city was the five-pointed star shining down on it, wherever the light shone there was life. The next series of pictures showed creatures feasting on lambs and sheep, drinking blood out of gold goblets and singing songs. There were pictures of some of them all in large groups abusing some of their own. There was something in these creatures’ eyes that scared Noketer, but it had nothing to do with their shape or color. It reminded him of what Legion’s eyes had looked like when they had passed each other in his mind before he gave up control. 85

There was one painting that showed three female creatures all standing before a judge of some kind. They cast lots and the female on the left was chosen, the look of terror in her eyes was very real. The next series explained why she was so afraid, you see her tied up in the middle of a groups of beings, all abusing her. Oddly enough, the two other females that had been standing before the judge were also part of the group abusing this one lone creature. In the background you could see a large crowd all gathered around cheering them on. The next painting made Noketer gasp, there in front of him was the most ferocious looking beast he had ever seen. This creature was massive and very angry; he was all alone on a high cliff looking down on the city with his right arm raised over his head and his mouth open wide screaming. The following scenes showed him breathing fire down on the city and all its inhabitants in horrible pain. This monster seemed to actually be very amused with the destruction that he was causing. There was one painting of him standing over the ruined city with arms folded over his chest and his head tilted back in laughter. After the city was destroyed, the creature climbed the tower to where the star was, he covered the light from the star with his own body and shone down on the city. Life returned to the city, only this time the creatures did not look happy at all, they were all made to work. The colors were extremely dull and gray, no one except the creature seemed happy at all. Next you saw other creatures hitting those in the city not 86

working fast enough or hard enough. Everyone was forced to bow down to the creature and all that refused were beaten. If they refused again, fire came out of the creature’s mouth and destroyed them, leaving only a charred remain where they once stood. Noketer sat there trying to figure out what all of this could mean, while the first group of people seemed cruel, they all looked very happy, well, most of them looked happy anyway. Sure there were some that did not look happy at all, but they were the minority, there was life and bright colors, much better than the drudgery that was life in the city afterwards. The next picture surprised him; there was a small group of city residents that were able to resist the will of the creature. One by one he sent taskmasters to them to make them work in his city. Each time they fought back and forced the taskmaster away, the citizens all celebrated with great joy over their victory. Even some of the unhappy residences in the city looked on with a hopeful stare. The next series was more or less the same, the resistors being moved around, gaining followers, and getting stronger and stronger. Finally, you saw all of them working together with ropes and coils all wrapped around the fierce creature in the sky. They were pulling him down and he was trying to stay up over the star. At last he was pulled down, all the people in the city, even the former taskmasters that made the people work were all rejoicing. The star that was there in the beginning was shining on the people again and you saw them celebrate as they did before. The last picture was the star all by itself with the words ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’ at the 87

bottom. It had been over a year and a half now since Michael and Gabriel had smelled blood, they had hoped that maybe Legion had changed, but Legion had been so busy building the temple that they had forgot about food all together. Once they were done, however, that was about to change. Noketer had asked Legion what the engravings all meant. Legion chose to ignore the question and went straight to their favorite pastime, hunting for food. After a year and half of no killing, Noketer had forgotten what the whole experience was like, it was terrible, it was like he was going through it for first time all over again. For Legion it was not just about getting food, they enjoyed the killing, Legion did not even need food to survive; it was all a question of taste. Legion had Noketer kill over seventy different animals that day, far more than they had ever killed at one time. Maybe because they were making up for lost time, or perhaps it was a way to dedicate the temple that they had built. Noketer screamed out, “Why do you do this?” “Because we can, we are strong and they are week. Because they are here to satisfy us, not the other way around. Someday you will learn to appreciate the power that we have given you. Someday you will bow at our feet and call us god.” “I will never appreciate you, I will never think of you as God. You are nothing but cowards. With my strength you could kill lions or 88

bears or anything, but you do not. Why? Because a lion or bear might fight back, that is why you like sheep, lambs, and goats. They are defenseless and that is all you have the courage to attack, even with your great powers!” Noketer expected some kind of curse or rebuttal to his argument from Legion, but nothing came. Now Noketer felt embolden, he knew that he had found a weakness, that as horrid and evil as Legion was, just a little resistance was enough to make them flee. A pack of lions and bears would be no match for one Cherub, especially Noketer with his super strength. “Your time will come, Michael and Gabriel will find you, and then you will see what true courage is.” Legion said nothing and they just continued to feast on the flesh of goats and sheep. It was something that tormented them, how did these two wretched creatures keep finding them. More importantly, why did they keep destroying the altars that they had built? The stars would not be pleased at all with them if this kept up. After they were finished eating, Legion stood Noketer’s body up and had him bow down towards the temple that they had built and began chanting over and over again. Michael and Gabriel start heading northeast, following the scent of blood. The two kept running northeast following the river on the backside of the Kalyia mountain range. If they had looked up, they probably would have seen the temple at the very top of one of the mountains. They pressed on and finally the smell of blood began 89

having its overpowering affect, this meant that they were very close. “Let us pray,” said Gabriel. “It has been a long time since we have come across a fresh kill and I think that we will need God’s help.” “I agree.” With that the two said a quick prayer and began charging down the hill towards the valley, this must be where the slaughter had taken place. What they found shocked them, they expected to find between ten and twenty dead animals; that had been the norm at all the other sites, this was massive, there were over seventy dead sheep, and blood was everywhere. But even more surprising they saw Noketer, or at least his body; they would not have recognized that it was him if they had seen him in a market place. All Cherubim are amazingly beautiful creatures, strong frame, bright eyes and a shimmering bronze color skin, Noketer looked like a monster. His nails on his hands and feet had grown long so that they looked like claws, he had scars all over his body, most had to have been self-inflicted by those horrid claws. The color of his skin had changed from a healthy bronze color to a sickly yellow. Finally, he was covered with the blood of a sheep that had just been devoured. Noketer was lying down under a tree sleeping, but it was not a natural or restful sleep, the eyes were twitching under the eyelids and it looked like someone who was sleeping and having a nightmare which is usually what it was for Noketer. Neither of them knew what to do, should they run up and pin Noketer down or should they wake him and tell them to surrender? They knew of Noketer’s super strength so trying to pin him would not 90

work, if only God had allowed them to bring chains and ropes, surely that would work. Michael called out in a loud and commanding voice, “You, Legion, enemy of the Most High God, you are commanded to come with us and face the Sharah at once!” He spoke so loud that it even jolted Gabriel, Noketer shot up, bewildered and looking all around. When they saw Michael and Gabriel, they just stared at them for a long time, not moving or saying anything. Inside Noketer a power struggle was going on. Legion had gorged himself on so much blood and flesh that they felt ill. Noketer tried to take advantage of the situation and gain control of his body. Noketer almost had Legion dislodged from the core and managed to get these words out of his body to his rescuers. “Help me, please!” The words were so weak that Michael and Gabriel could hardly hear them. Noketer could not, however, regain control of his body on his own; Legion was too powerful. Legion threw Noketer from the core and with that the body fell to the ground and started to go into convulsions. When it was over, Legion was in complete control of the body again and stood up, looking at the angels they said in the most terrifying voice they could produce, “Leave us alone, or your bodies will be devoured just like these sheep!” Michael and Gabriel did not move, in fact they started to come 91

even closer, Michael started circling towards him from the left and Gabriel from the right. Legion was preparing to attack them when all of a sudden Gabriel started singing. The song was an old Cherub hymn. This made Legion shriek, picking up a large rock they threw it at Gabriel as hard as possible and then ran away. Gabriel just barely got away from being pummeled by the rock that was thrown at him. Michael tried to chase Noketer, but with his demonic speed he could not catch up. “Well that was scary,” said Michael when he came back. “You’re telling me, you didn’t almost have your head smashed open.” “That was pretty impressive the way you got out of the way, if you had been that fast in our katizic match, there is no way Alevia would have been able to throw you out of the ring like she did,” said Michael with a laugh. This made Gabriel smile. “Yeah, I guess there is more motivation to move when your life is on the line. Who knew I had it in me?” The two began the process of burying the dead, there were no survivors to heal this time, Legion was pretty thorough with the killing. After burying the dead, both of them began looking around for the altar or pole that they usually had to destroy, there was none. “Do you think that we got here before they had a chance to make it?” asked Gabriel. “No way, we first smelt the blood eight days ago, that would 92

have given them plenty of time. No, there is something different about this kill than the others that we have seen.” “Well one thing is for sure, Noketer hasn’t become a willing agent of evil himself. It broke my heart hearing him plead for help. I don’t know if you noticed this, but the eyes changed when Noketer spoke to us before Legion regained control,” said Gabriel. The two traveled along the river for another day, they headed off in the direction that they had seen Noketer run. After ten days of constant running the two were getting tired. As they were making camp Michael asked if maybe someone should stay awake, just in case Legion were to try to sneak down and kill them like he said. They discussed it for a while and then decided against it. While Legion was powerful and capable of great evil, they were by nature cowardly. If pinned in a corner, then they would attack, but otherwise they felt they were safe out in the open. Legion would have fought them out at the camp when they were trying to circle around them. Also, if they had tried to tie them with ropes and chains, it would have done no good; Legion would have been able to snap those like a thin piece of string. However, Legion would never put themselves into harm’s way on purpose. Legion kept running for almost a full week before stopping. “How have they been tracking us? How have they been tracking us? No one has gotten this close before, why will they not just leave us alone?” Legion was so mad that foam began to form on Noketer’s mouth; they also had a habit of grinding the teeth too. The sound drove 93

Noketer crazy, however, he enjoyed seeing Legion in a tortured state, served him right for all the animals that he killed. That was what made Noketer weep the most, not that he was suffering because of his sin, but that other life forms were paying for it too. It almost did not seem fair, why did God allow all those poor innocent sheep, lambs, goats and other creatures to suffer because of him? “What if they destroy the temple? They must not destroy the temple, it tells the story of the stars, of how the ‘Evil One’ took their place and named himself god. Oh, they must not destroy the temple.”

94

Chapter 13

The Cave Legion was pacing and mumbling all sorts of profanity towards God and those Cherubim who kept destroying their work. “They must not find the temple, we must lead them far away from the temple. If they find it, they will surely burn it to the ground. They cannot, they must not, but what if they do? Oh we should be banished by the great Satinica, the true lord of the universe, if that temple is destroyed.” “We must find out what they want, we must go to them and find out what they want, lead them away from the temple and then kill them. But how, how do we kill them?” Legion went on like this for sometime, they would ramble on about the importance of the temple, the need to kill and then curse God, and then start all over again. Finally Legion decided that the best way to lead the Cherubim away from the temple was to climb atop a peak and call out to them. This way they could lead them away from the temple and find a good place to kill them, with that they headed back towards the camp. When Legion reached the top of a mountain, they screamed at the top of Noketer’s lungs, “Servants of the Most High God, what do you want with us?” The sound was unnatural and was able to carry a lot farther than it should. It jolted the angels right out of their sleep. It was the most horrid shrieking that they could ever imagine, it sounded like metal grinding against metal. 95

The two ran towards the sound as fast as they could, for four days they pressed on, heading towards the shrieking sound. “How I wish they would stop, that sound is making my ears hurt,” said Michael in a very annoyed voice. “I know what you mean, can’t they at least have some variety, maybe say something else instead of repeating over and over?” “Well, I think we now know how we will be able to bring them before the council, the mere fact that we are chasing them seems to be driving them mad. There must be something greater than ourselves that they fear.” “You know what it is,” said Gabriel. “They fear God’s judgment, you and I are no match for that monster, they know that judgment isn’t far behind us and that is what they fear. If they have killed on this world, I am sure that they killed on theirs and other worlds too.” Finally, as the two were coming within sight of Noketer, Legion stopped screaming and turned and fled father away from the temple, however, this time they did not try to outrun the Cherubim. Michael and Gabriel were always within sight. After two days of this cat and mouse running, it was becoming obvious to both of them that Legion was not running as hard as they could. The last time Michael and Gabriel could not even keep up and this time they were running almost stride for stride. “Ok, they are just playing games with us right now, I will stay on the ground giving chase and you take off and fly overhead. We will 96

switch out every now and then and that way we will not lose them,” said Michael. At once Gabriel took to the sky and started flying over Michael while Michael chased Legion from the ground. Michael would call out to Gabriel where he was and Gabriel would follow his voice. Once Legion felt like they had led them far enough, they picked up the pace and soon neither of them could keep up. Noketer was once again lost. “Why did he do that?” asked Michael. “Do what?” “Call to us, wait until we were in plain view and then run basically at half speed for a long time, then just disappear. I am afraid that they are trying to lead us into a trap.” “Or try to lead us away from something else,” said Gabriel. “Like what?” “Well, we never did find any altar or any pole, maybe they were tired of us destroying their monuments and wanted to lure us away from it?” “Should we go back then, find whatever it is and destroy it?” asked Michael. The two talked it over, while that did seem like a good idea, if it was that important to Legion then for that reason alone it should be destroyed. They thought about their original commission from God, find Noketer and bring them back. The burial of the animals and the destruction of the altars had never been a direct command. This was just something that they did because it did not feel right to leave them out. 97

The main objective was to find Noketer, to spend time going back and looking for something that may not even be there did not make sense. Whatever Legion’s was thinking did not matter, they had been able to track them down and no blood was spilled. They kept heading in the same direction as they had seen Legion go, every now and then Michael would see a broken stick or a footprint and follow the path. This was something that western Cherubs had to do more often anyway, they usually had large herds and sometimes one would wander off or get lost. They had become very good at following a trail. Gabriel had no idea how to follow a trail, but would always nod his head in approval of whatever Michael said. He was not sure why Michael would even ask him the question in the first place; his answer was of no value anyway. Gabriel learned that Michael was not really asking because he needed his help, but that was just his way of thinking. Totally different than the way an eastern Cherub would approach the situation, Gabriel would never have asked a question unless he really needed to know what you thought about the situation. It was strange how geography made such a large difference in the way a Cherub thought and how they spoke. Gabriel had never really liked Michael, not that he wished anything bad on him; it was just that they had never gotten a chance to get to know each other more. It is easy to judge someone else’s actions based on what you would be thinking if you were doing the exact same thing. Gabriel wished he had learned this lesson a lot sooner and hoped that his other Cherubim 98

back home could have the same experience. The trail led them into a deep canyon with very little vegetation and a large river. From here the trail went cold, Noketer must have jumped into the river and then could have swum in either direction. Also in the canyon there were lots of caves and they could be hiding in any of them. Michael and Gabriel had no desire to walk into a dark cave were a demon possessed Cherub might be waiting for them so they made camp by the river and decided to get some rest. Now the problem with the location that Legion had chosen to hide in was that there was no way out except through the opening in the front. The front opening offered no cover and from where the Cherubim had set up camp, they would see them right way. The walls of the canyon were so high that even with Legion’s strength, they could not scale them fast enough. What Legion had hoped for was that they would come searching inside the caves and then they would be trapped. Legion loved the thought of setting a trap were they could kill by surprise. If the angels did not go searching their cave, which was the very first one that you saw when you entered the canyon, then Legion planned to kill them in their sleep. Here was the problem, they both never went to sleep at the same time and they never moved far from the camp that they had set up. It had been two weeks and those cursed creatures had not looked in a single cave and had not moved at all. What were they waiting for? They screamed in Noketer’s head. 99

“They must know that we are here, that is why that stand watch and do not leave. How could they know, how could they know?” They did not know, when Michael and Gabriel came into the canyon they had seen the giant cave that Legion was hiding in. They had even thought about setting up their camp there. Gabriel did not like the idea, not because of fear of ambush, but because he did not like the musty feel that large caves near rivers have. He preferred to stay outdoors where he could feel the gentle breeze. Michael was an outdoor Cherub anyway so that suited him just fine. When the two first got to the canyon, they had debated whether they should turn northwest and go upstream or if Legion had gone downstream going southeast. At the top of the canyon was the great desert, no one had found this desert before and it would later be named Legion’s Desert. The two figured that Legion would not go into the desert, there were no animals to kill, just light vegetation. The question was to go northwest or southeast, since both were quite possible, they figured it was best to stay put until they heard Legion scream again or, God forbid, kill another heard of sheep or goats. They did not want to have to backtrack if they chose wrong. Also, right behind them, before you approached the canyon, there were plenty of fruit trees so they were very comfortable where they were. Legion on the other hand was not; Legion did not like being cooped up in such a dark confining space. It reminded them of the Abyss, this was a place they did not want to go. They had been told 100

that was where they would eventually go after their time of wandering was complete. While they knew this to be true, most of the time they just chose to forget, especially now that they were having so much fun killing at will. Soon these Cherub pursuers of theirs would have to go to sleep at the same time and then they would kill them, this was the only way. “We are stronger than they, why do we not just go out there and kill them now?” Noketer said to them, “Sure, go out there now, try to fight them, you know that they will not try to fight you with fists or stones. No, they will sing at you and that will drive you mad.” While it was probably not a good strategic idea for Noketer to tell Legion anything about what Michael and Gabriel might do, he could not help himself. These evil spirits had tormented him for well over forty years and this was payback. Noketer’s words shook the Legion. “Yes, he is right, we will wait until they sleep and then we will kill them.” Now a whole month had passed, and there had been no sounds from Legion and no smell of blood. This was the longest that the two angels had not moved from place to place chasing Legion. One day Michael was lying down taking a quick nap and Gabriel was swimming in the river. Gabriel looked over and saw Michael lying down and then a thought hit him, neither one of them had slept at the exact same time since they got there. 101

It was as if they were standing watch, only that was not what they had planned to do. It just happened that when one was tired or bored, the other was not. Gabriel thought about this and said, “They must but here, somewhere close by, perhaps in one of these caves.” Then a shiver went down his spine, what if they had walked into one of them? Surely Legion was waiting for them, setting an ambush and to kill them, they were also probably waiting for them to fall asleep and would either flee or try to kill them in the middle of the night. Gabriel quickly swam over to where Michael was lying down, running over to him he woke him up and whispered, “Legion is here.” Michael shot up in an instant thinking that Legion was there in the camp; he looked around frantically saying, “Where, where are they?” Trying to quiet Michael down Gabriel said, “Not here in the camp, here hiding in one of those caves. Think about it, it has been a full month since we have moved at all waiting for some sign to go after. Also, this whole time, either by day or night, neither of us have slept or left this place at all. It is as if we have been on guard this whole time.” “I was just dreaming about that, in my dream I heard the Lord say that the time was coming to an end. That Legion would show himself soon and that we must stay ready, Legion will try to deceive us and if it wasn’t for the last three years, we too would be deceived as Noketer was.” “What should we do?” asked Gabriel. “If Legion is here and is close by, we must do the one thing that they hate, we must sing non-stopp, you sing until you cannot sing 102

anymore and then I will take over.” At first they would sing all the old praise songs that they knew growing up as young Cherubs. After they sang every one that they knew, they just started making up songs, some of them would be praise towards God, others would be just random songs made up about what they could see and hear. This drove Legion crazy, to them it was the same as thousands of chalkboards all being scratched at the same time. Legion was tearing at the rocks with their hands trying to dig a way out of the cave that they were in. Had Legion chosen any other cave, this would have worked. However, the cave that Legion was in offered no escape. The walls were very thick and it would have taken Legion years to dig through that cave, even with the right tools. As it was Noketer’s body just could not take it anymore, the skin around the hands had been rubbed off from scratching the walls so hard. Blood was everywhere, hands, arms, and head. Noketer’s body had taken quite a beating because of Legion’s outburst. Finally, out of pure exhaustion, Legion collapsed on the ground. They could take it no longer, they had to find out why these Cherub were chasing them and find a way to make it stop, no matter what. It was dusk, the sun was just setting and Michael and Gabriel were about to start singing all over again when out of the cave in front of them stepped Legion.

103

With a great shout Legion called out, “Servants of the Most High God, why do you follow us? Has our time of wandering come to an end, must we now be cast into the Abyss? Why are you here and what must we do?” God had never mentioned anything about a time of wandering or the Abyss, but Michael could tell by the way Legion was shouting and the look of fear that this was a place they did not want to go. Looking at Legion, Michael shouted back, “No, your time of wandering has not passed, we were charged with bringing you before our Sharah. However, if you do not come willingly and we are forced to go back without you, then I am sure that the Abyss is where you will go next.” This brought some amount of relief to Legion’s tortured appearance. They could face a mortal council and be fine; it was facing the prospect of the Abyss that scared them. “We will face this Sharah of yours, but know this, Noketer is ours, he gave himself to us and then willingly chose to give us control. If you cast us into the Abyss, you will have to cast Noketer in too, the law of freewill is not something that even God can break.” Gabriel shot back, “God is all-powerful, of course He can.” “Listen to us, we were around long before you and your planet ever came into being. We know more about God than all of your people combined. God can never be anything less than who He is, we are all capable of being less than we are, but not God.” “It was He who gave Noketer freewill, whereas we may choose to give something and then take it back when it suits our purpose; that 104

is not the nature of God. Noketer belongs to us, only a perfect substitute can take his place, are any of you willing to do that?” asked Legion.

105

Chapter 14

Journey Home The cathedral took two years, three months and one week to complete. When it was done, the cathedral stood well over one mile high and was nearly three miles wide, it stood taller than any mountain on the Eastern Continent and would be probably one of the taller mountains in the Kalyia range back home. It was a marvelous structure, all of the Cherubim workers got together and flew as one unit as they raised the roof off the floor and slowly placed it on top of the cathedral. They named the cathedral ‘Jehovah’ in honor of God the provider. When they finished placing the roof on the cathedral, a thick cloud surrounded all of them, it was so thick that they could not even see the person next to them, they heard a loud voice, a voice that they all immediately recognized speak to them. “Well done, my good and faithful servants, you have been faithful in building this place for all to gather. Soon Michael and Gabriel will return to you, bring them here to this place where you shall all as a community judge for yourself if you will choose to follow me or if you will choose to join Legion. That is your final test. “The ten other finalist led by Melchizedek and Kalyia will go back home to the Garden, there you will rest and hold a festival to me, then you are to fast and pray until Michael and Gabriel return to you. Legion is very cunning they will try to fool you into believing a lie, a lie so brilliantly crafted that if you were not prepared you too could easily be fooled. 106

“The rest of you are to stay here, Enoch will lead the people and you will need to teach your children what they are to know about the Lord and your history. We have taken great care to make sure that the enemy did not get their chance at you until you were properly trained. “Now you must choose for yourself, will you serve the Lord or will you follow the evil desires that Legion will present for you. Listen to Michael and Gabriel, they will have seen firsthand what Legion is capable of, listen to Noketer, he has suffered at the hands of Legion for these many years.” With that the glory of the Lord departed and whole community of Cherubim went down to the ground where they would sleep tonight. Tomorrow the twelve would begin the long journey back home while the rest stayed to teach all the children of eighty years and younger. Melchizedek, Kalyia, Segest, James, Kystina, Jaenan, Alevia, Nathan, Tjome, Richer, Melany, and Israel all prepared to fly back towards the Garden of God and await the return of Michael, Gabriel, and Legion. When the Cherubim first left their homes, James was tasked with drawing aerial maps along the way so they knew exactly how to get home and how much longer it would be. However, the trip home would not take nearly as long as it had to come to the valley of Megiddo. The angels had, up until that point, thought that their world was flat. James on the flight east had discovered that their planet was actually round; he had noticed this while taking measurements making the map. Also, James had come to the conclusion that the wind would 107

rotate clockwise, first going northeast, then southeast, then southwest, and finally northwest. This meant that for the journey home if they first flew southwest for half of the trip and then northwest for the other half it would be a shorter distance and they would always have the wind at their back. To honor James with his discovery they named the wind current the James Winds. In the end, this discovery would make it possible for a smaller team to be able to traverse the great ocean and cut the trip time in half. Israel said to his wife Alevia, “I am going to miss the community bounding that we had while building this project, I wonder if when we return it will be life as usual?” “Life will never be the same again, I don’t think that we can go through so much social change just to go back to the way we were. We used to be a very segmented society, east versus west, young versus old, this has changed all that for the better.” “While on the design team I hung around Cherubs that were three times my age, I never would have done that back home, here it was just natural,” said Alevia. “And...?” said Israel “And what?” “Come on, you wound up marrying a western Cherub, tell me, never in a million years would you have thought that. I bet you wanted a stylish eastern Cherub like Gabriel or Zek, not some farm boy like myself,” said Israel. “That isn’t true, I never thought any different about my fellow Cherubim that lived in the large cities or in the small villages. I was a 108

model citizen.” “Well hurray for you, little miss enlightened Cherub, why did you not share this revelation with the rest of your clan before, hum?” joked Israel. “I never thought it was an issue.” Tjome joined them and said, “Come on you two lovebirds, it is time to head west, besides, you are going to have a lot of explaining to do when Michael comes back. I hope that you have thought about that.” “I have, here is my thought, Michael will have been chasing a demon possessed Cherub for the last three years, I am sure that the first thing that he thinks about isn’t going to be weather or not I am married.” “Besides, we did leave his space empty in his honor. I know that Gabriel’s friend Zek did the same thing in his wedding. Surely that will not be the first thing that they think about, that we got married without them?” said Israel. “I can tell you one thing, he will be very happy for you both, of course he will never let you forget it either,” Tjome said with a laugh. “Come on, it is time to go.” Melchizedek gathered with the other eleven members and said to them, “The end is almost here. When we get back to the Garden, we will have a feast and then fast and pray until the others come back. The Lord has told me that all the work that we have done has not been in vain. We are ready to face this evil that will try to tempt us into betrayal of our God.” 109

With that they took off and headed southwest with the wind at their back, just as James had said it would be. Enoch and the remaining members of the Sharah began teaching the youngest generation everything that they knew. It soon became more than just council members teaching. The eldest were the primary teachers but everyone got a chance and all were able to benefit. Two years, nine months, and three weeks to the day after they had left their homes in the plains of Melchizedek, the twelve Cherubim returned home. Many were concerned that the place would be overgrown and look unkempt after so long, however, that was not what had happened. Nothing had changed, the Garden of God looked as if someone had been there the whole time taking care of it. When they landed in the Garden Tjome looked and saw a great table with all kinds of food waiting for them. The Lord was their waiting for them and all twelve immediately fell at His feet and worshiped Him. No one is sure how long they were there, but finally the Lord told them to rise and get some food that had been prepared for them. He let them know that the time was near and that they would need to have strength for the journey back to Megiddo. He also let them know to be on their guard, they needed to fast and pray so that they would not fall into temptation. He also told them to especially pray for Michael saying that Legion was going to try something that could potentially be disastrous if it were to succeed. “No one is to talk or speak with Legion until you have reached 110

the valley, once there you will address the crowd and then allow Legion to speak. Michael and Gabriel will testify later and then everyone will have to choose for themselves if they will serve the Lord or not. “From the oldest to the youngest, all will have to make a choice, the words of Legion will be very impressive, they will say things to trick you, know that they have already been defeated and theirs is not a life worth choosing. “There will be some of my people who will be poisoned by what Legion says. It will not be evident right away, but it will show itself in time.” Melchizedek came and bowed before the Lord and said, “My God, what can we do to stop this? I do not want to lose any of Your people.” The Lord replied, “Everyone must choose for themselves what they will do. Will they serve Me or will they be enslaved to sin? That is why I have prepared you these many years; however, even if you had done everything exactly right, we still would lose some because they have already set it in their heart to rebel. “Those that I can redeem I will redeem, even if it costs me everything, there is not one willing soul that can be lost that I cannot get back. However, the one who hardens their heart, they will be lost.” With that the Lord vanished, leaving the twelve very concerned about the safety of Michael and Gabriel. Why had the Lord singled out Michael, no one knew, immediately all twelve began to pray for Michael and Gabriel. They prayed that God would protect them and that whatever it was that Michael was about to face that he would do 111

the right thing, whatever that may be. The three of them headed east back home towards the plains of Melchizedek, for the first two days they traveled by foot. They had been doing it for so long they had forgotten that flying would make the trip much faster. It had almost been three years since they had started out on the journey. However, they could not just fly home, Noketer's wings had been severely damaged in the cave, Legion had tried everything they could in order to dig out. Because of all that abuse, Noketer’s body could hardly move let alone fly. Michael asked Gabriel, “So, who wants to carry the evil ones first?” “Clearly you should, after all, you are the strongest and bravest Cherub in all the western lands. As we know, the weakest western Cherub is worth more than ten eastern Cherubs any day,” said Gabriel with a touch of humor. “While this may be true, I would like to think that we have grown past our differences these last three years. I think the honor should go to you good champion of the east.” This went on for a few moments, finally Legion spoke up, “Clearly you fear us, and it is wise that you do. Why not make a sling out of vines that we can sit on and then you both can carry us?” While neither of them wanted to admit that it was a good idea, it sure was better than having Legion riding on your back where they could bite you behind the neck or claw at you. Michael flew off and grabbed the vines leaving Gabriel to watch Legion, no one wanted to be 112

left alone with Legion, but it only made sense for Michael to make the sling. Gabriel remembered his attempt at bandaging the little lamb and knew that he could never make something strong enough to hold Legion up in the air as they flew. Not that dropping Legion would be bad, but Noketer would suffer too. Gabriel was careful not to turn his back on them for one second, while they did not think that Legion would do anything, they were after all glad to be facing the Sharah, not the Abyss, Gabriel did not feel like he could trust them at all. Legion spoke first. “So, why have you risked everything to come after just one of your own? There are over a billion Cherubim, all living in ignorance and bliss, why come after one who is seeking truth and knowledge?” asked Legion in such a polite tone. “Because all life is precious to God, there may be one billion souls that are safe, but the fact that there is one that is lost is unacceptable to Him. You ask the question as if Noketer were a piece of fruit or fine furniture, if one is lost but the rest are all here why bother looking for the one missing? The fact that you asked the question shows how evil you are.” “Now that is not fair,” said Legion, sounding far more hurt than they were even capable of. “You assume that Noketer is here because we forced him, not realizing it was your own perverted sense of selfworth that drove him to us in the first place.” “If that is true, then let him out, let Noketer speak for himself and tell us how great you are?” That question infuriated Legion, all pretense of being civil was 113

gone, Legion ranted and raved that Noketer was far too simple to understand the value of what was being taught to him right now. Legion was showing him the true way of things; that powerful beings are here to be served not to serve. They went on to say that God had lied to them all and that there would come a time when the old ways were restored. “We have seen this revelation, it was foretold by the stars long ago. The God that you know will not always be, someday you will be worshiping us!” Gabriel was never happier to see Michael in his life when he finally came back with the vines that were needed to make the sling. “Sorry it took me so long, it was rather hard finding the right vines here in this climate. However, these will work fine, did they give you any trouble?” said Michael looking over in the direction of Legion. “Not really, but be careful when speaking with Legion, they can sound very sincere when they want to. Also, never turn your back toward them, I fear they would do something terrible if given the chance.” “I agree,” said Michael. “In fact, I was thinking about that as I was searching for vines, it was probably unwise to leave you alone.” Michael worked for half the day and made a sling that Legion could sit on and that he and Gabriel could pull as they flew home. The vines were very long, Michael did not want Legion to be able to reach up and grab the two while they flew. Legion sat in the seat and the two Cherubim took to the air, flying very high as they headed east over the mountains and valleys 114

towards home. They followed the river back towards the waterfall, they pointed out to Legion with great joy all the altars and poles that they had destroyed, this so angered Legion that they spat at Michael and Gabriel. Gabriel said to Michael in a rather cheerful voice, “I am glad that you made this sling very long, if some of that dreadful spit were to hit me, I may be forced to let go.” Legion became afraid at the prospect of falling to their death; they chose to ignore Michael and Gabriel for the time being. The time would come when they would pay for their defiance. At least the main temple had been spared; Legion had had nightmares about it being burned down. The journey that had taken them almost three years on foot would be over in one week of flying. While the two could have easily flown the whole way without stopping on their own, carrying Legion made it much more tiring. Legion was much heavier than what even the heaviest Cherub would have weighed, while they were in Noketer’s body, a lot had changed in forty-three years. They had gone for five days straight and were almost home, but they had to stop. They did not know how but it seemed like Legion was getting even heavier. They had to rest; they had to stop for the night. Neither of them were crazy about stopping, they would be tired and weak. Legion could physically overpower them even at their best, being weary only made them more vulnerable. They headed towards 115

the very camp where they had found the ewe lamb so long ago. It was a wide-open expanse with great trees and the grass was very soft, making a perfect place to rest. What should they do about Legion? While it was possible that one could stay awake and the other sleep, it was highly doubtful because they were both so tired. Michael said, “Heavenly Father, help us as we head home, deliver us from evil, help us in our moment of weakness.” Not long after Michael prayed that prayer, out of forest to the west came a large pack of lions. They came out into the open plain and made a big circle, the two angels could see this forming way up high, and they came down and placed Legion in the center of the circle. Immediately the lions closed that circle around Legion and then formed another around Michael and Gabriel. The circle of lions around Legion never ventured close at all, they kept their gaze fixed on the creature that they knew had done unspeakable things. The lions around Michael and Gabriel were altogether different, they were playful and acted more like pet kittens excited to see their masters home than lions. The two were astonished; this was the same group that they had delivered the wounded lamb to. These lions that had protected lambs from Legion would now protect the weary Cherubim from Legion too. The lions created a much smaller protective circle around the Cherubim with many of them sleeping next to them throughout the night. Legion started to move towards Michael and Gabriel, with that all the lions start to growl a low deep growl that scared Legion. Legion, seeing that the lions would not back down, decided to lie down and think of their next move. Legion had hoped to kill the Cherub in 116

their sleep, now they would have to come up with a different plan.

117

Chapter 15

Michael’s Temptation Legion had been watching Michael and Gabriel following them every chance that they could. Legion knew a lot about them already from Noketer, Noketer had been jealous of their status. Before Legion took over control, they would have long talks well into the night. Noketer did not realize this at the time, but Legion was gathering as much information as they could. Michael and Israel were both very fierce competitors in katizic, but outside of the ring they were the best of friends. Gabriel and Zek were two of the brightest minds on all of Roacen, Zek had so distinguished himself by his inventions and his creative thinking that you would think that the two of them might have become rivals, but they never had. It was hard to understand and most just choose not to think about it, there had been rivalries between east and west for at least a thousand years and younger versus older from the moment Melchizedek and Kalyia had had their first children. Legion had figured that they could someday use this to their advantage. Legion was smart enough to know that he could not approach Michael the same way they had Noketer. He would never agree to allow himself to be possessed by Legion, however, there were other ways. Early the next morning Michael awoke and wanted to go and check on their prisoner. He walked over to the circle of lions and saw Legion on his hands and knees facing a group of stars called Lucimus, 118

it was right before morning so the sun was not quite up yet and the star constellation was right at the horizon. While Michael could not hear what he was saying, he was almost certain it had to be the inscription that they had found at all the altars before. He called out, “So is that what ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’ is? Do you pray to the stars and hope that they answer you?” he said it more as a taunt than a direct question. They knew very little about the inner workings of Legions religion, however, from the altars that they had found and destroyed, they knew that stars and alignment were very important. Gabriel was actually the first one to notice that all the altars faced a southeastern position. They could not be sure what the altar had been pointing at unless they had been there the exact day that it was built. The constellation Lucimus looked like a dragon, while dragons were not something that Cherubim feared, they definitely were not a domesticated animal. Legion at first paid no attention to Michael’s call, they were deep into their morning prayers and would not be bothered by anyone. Finally, when Legion was finished, they stood up and answered Michael’s question. “Yes, we follow the great dragon in the sky and await his return. He shall dwell among us and restore the old ways.” Talking with Legion made Michael uneasy, he was not sure why and very much wanted to change the subject. “We are almost home, we should be there tonight. I just wanted to make sure that you were ready, that is all.” Michael was about to turn and go back when Legion called out 119

to him, “Why have the two of you spent the last three years or so of your life chasing us? Does that not seem like a waste to you? Noketer is ours, it does not matter if I am out there in the mountains or if I am there with you before your council. He gave himself to us and nothing can change that, so why bother with this whole pursuit?” These were questions that Michael had asked himself, they had assumed that bringing him to the council would solve everything. Legion had informed them that this was not the case, that Noketer would still be bound to this evil no matter what they did, it did seem kind of futile to go through this if they could not save Noketer. However, before Michael could answer Legion spoke again. “We are curious, why were you and Gabriel chosen for this assignment? You we understand, Gabriel is a mystery, it is obvious that he has not been outdoors much and does not have your physical strength. We watched as he made a rather feeble attempt at making a sling for that wounded lamb that escaped our feeding frenzy.” “Yeah, Gabriel and I had a good laugh over that too,” said Michael almost as if he were talking to a friend. “Anyway, we just thought it was an odd pairing that is all. To be honest we would have thought that with Noketer being a western Cherub that maybe the search party would have been you and Melany, or Israel and Nathan or some combination like that. But, we guess that the eastern Cherubim had to have their glory too, would not want you to get all the credit now, would they?” “Credit has nothing to do with it, the Lord told us that strength alone would not be enough to bring you back. I could have come with 120

eleven of the strongest Cherubim and we would not have been able to drag you back.” “Oh, so you provide all the strength and he provides the brains?” “No, it does not work like that.” “Let us ask you something,” said Legion. “Are your parents on the council?” “No, Amos and Grace are part of the city government of Verden.” “But Gabriel’s parents are, are not his parents the same age as yours, why would they be on the council and yours not?” “There are only two hundred and fifty members of the council, not every Cherub is on it.” “Oh, well is it split fifty/fifty of east and west then?” “No, it is more like sixty/forty I think.” Legion leaned back and repeated Michael’s words, “That does not sound fair to us, now they send the two of you on a great mission and yet only one of you is really fit for it. It sounds like the east is getting all the credit and doing less work.” Michael just sat there, he found himself in a box that he could not really answer. At this point Michael said something that later on he wished he could take back. “Well, what would you do?” This was the opening that Legion needed. “Your mission was to find us and bring us back to your council right? Well, we have clearly explained why that does nothing to help Noketer, he belongs to us and that does not change. If we are banished, he is banished, if we 121

go to the abyss, he goes too. But what if it did not have to be that way? What if we told you there was a way that you could get Noketer back for good, that you could do more than your mission asked?” “I don’t understand, you said that Noketer was yours and that not even God could force you to give him up.” “Noketer is ours, but we would be willing to let him go. You were charged with bringing us before your council and bring us you shall. But, if you could bring us and save Noketer, would that not make you even more powerful and affective? Here is what we are saying; it is obvious that our time on this planet is over. We have been beaten and we understand that. All we ask is that you honor us as a worthy competitor much like you would someone that you beat at katizic. If you will do that, we will release Noketer and face this council of yours.” Here was the chance to save Noketer; the Lord had clearly told them that when they went on this mission that Legion would come to a point where they would reveal how they could be beaten. In katizic, the two competitors would bow their heads slightly towards each other before and after the match. They also did that to the judges too; it was a way of thanking them and showing respect all at the same time. While Michael was prepared to acknowledge that Legion was by far the strongest and fastest creature he had ever seen, that was not the kind of honor that Legion meant. “No, no, no, you must not bow your head as you would in katizic, there you are showing respect for someone that is equal to you. The kind of honor that would be due to us would be the honor that you 122

would show someone who is above you. That is the honor that we seek, do this and we will release Noketer.” ‘Honor like someone who is above you?’ They did not even do that with Melchizedek or Kalyia or any of the heavenly hosts that had come down to teach them. These of course were beings that deserved respect, what did Legion mean, to be honored as someone above you? “What kind of honor are you looking for then?” “You must get on one knee, take our right hand and repeat the holy phrase that you and your friend so causally destroyed. Then you will have shown us the honor that we deserve and we shall release your brother to you and face this council of yours.” Something did not feel right, while at first Michael thought that this was a golden opportunity to save Noketer, now he was not so sure. How bad would it be to hold someone’s hand and say four words that he did not understand anyway? But, if it was essentially the same as a katizic bow, then why would Legion care, why the need to be on one knee? Michael tried to think of a time that he had ever been on one knee out of respect, he thought of every governor of every city, Melchizedek, Kalyia, even his parents. Never had he got on one knee before them, then it hit him, when they had seen the Lord at the great waterfalls just before they headed west over three years ago. Yes, both he and Gabriel had gone to one knee and bowed their heads before the Lord. If that was how they showed honor to the Lord, could he go and do the same to this legion of demons? No, he could not, respect of 123

strength was one thing, worshiping them like they were a god was totally different. Off in the distance he could hear Gabriel singing a song that they had created. One of the phrases was ‘only God is worthy of our honor’, that sealed it in his mind. This evil spirit would get no such honor from him. “No, thank you,” came Michael’s reply, with that he turned around and started to walk away. As Michael was walking away, he heard the most terrifying scream he could have ever imagined. Coming straight at him was Legion at full speed, he leaped at Michael and threw a punch that just barely missed him and snapped one of the large trees in half. Michael immediately jumped up, extended his wings and was hovering in the air in a defensive stance. He knew that he could not take on Legion directly, their strength was too much for him, he had lost his fair share of katizic matches to people that were not as good as he was, it would all be about timing and defense. Legion quickly got up and came running at where Michael was hovering, jumping again they came flying right at him. Michael was able to dodge Legion again and use his left wing to slap him back to the ground. With Noketer’s wings damaged Legion could not fly, however, they were still able to jump with amazing speed and come straight at him. When Michael slapped them to the ground they realized that this was a bad plan of just leaping and swinging, they were going to need more. 124

Looking around, Legion saw the tree that had just been broken, they rushed over and grabbed the tree by its base and began swinging it at Michael like a club. The tree trunk was over thirty feet long and about ten feet wide, the sound of the swing maybe the loudest swoosh sound that anyone could imagine. Michael flew up higher, but the higher he flew the higher Legion would jump and those huge swings would have surely knocked him out for good if they were to connect. Michael decided that his best defense would be on the ground because then Legion could only swing side to side. Legion came flying at him swinging the tree trunk from the down left side to their top right. Michael just hovered there and at the last moment retracted his wings and fell to the ground. The turbulence of the swing made Michael tumble and he did not fall straight to the ground like he had planned. Instead he landed on his stomach with his feet and arms extended. This stopped his fall but gave Legion and opportunity to pounce on him. As Legion was about to do just that, three lions jumped at them, one got on the neck, the other the back and the third on the legs. They started biting and clawing at Legion and this caused them to scream out even more. Legion was able to throw the three lions off him very quickly, however, that attack gave Michael enough time to get to his feet and take a defensive stance. Being on the ground had a lot of disadvantages; the one main one was that you could not deflect the power of a punch or kick merely by folding your wings into a shield like position. However, with 125

Legion swinging a whole tree at him, in the air it became very hard to dodge, on the ground Legion would have to swing side to side or come up on top and bring it crashing down. Neither would be a pretty sight if Legion were able to succeed; however, Michael really had no choice right now. “Where in Roacen is Gabriel right now?” muttered Michael to himself. Not that Gabriel would be much help at this point, in fact, it was a good thing that he was not there because Michael would have had to worry about defending Gabriel too. As it was, Michael had a better shot of staying alive with just him in there. Legion had decided with Michael on the ground that the tree trunk would be of limited value, so they threw that to the side and came running right at him. Michael thought about going up in the air again, but did not want Legion to go back to swinging the tree at him. Instead Michael went charging at Legion and made it look like he was about to leap at him, Legion took the bait and leaped at Michael. However, instead of going up Michael dove down and did a forward summersault, when he landed on his feet he jumped up and did a backward kick right into the area where he figured Legion would be. The gambit paid off and Michael hit Legion square in the back, with their own momentum against them, plus the power of Michael’s kick, Legion flew right into a rocky hillside. The impact of the crash caused rocks and debris to rain down on Legion. Legion stumbled for just a bit and then picked up two of the larger boulders that had crashed on them. They were just big enough that Legion could fit them nicely 126

in their forearm. With the right hand they threw one and with the left they threw another, the rocks flew at incredible speeds. Michael ducked to the ground and could feel them fly right overhead, next he saw Legion throwing another one low to the ground right where he was lying on his stomach. Using his arms and legs; Michael pushed himself off the ground and was able to dodge that one too. On and on this went, Legion seemed to never get tired, at one point Legion took two rock in both arms and in a big swim-like motion they threw two rocks at once, they then dove down and grabbed one rock in the right hand and another rock in the left, doing a forward flip Legion threw one rock and then flipped again and threw the fourth. Michael could see all four rocks flying at him at once and knew that he had no hope of dodging all four. He retracted his wings and got down on one knee and formed a shield, the first two rocks went flying overhead and the third sailed to his right, the fourth, however, hit him square in the middle and sent him flying backwards. Michael landed on the ground with a loud thud, fortunately the ground that he landed on was quite soft due to recent rains, and this caused the pain to be much less than it could have been. Seeing Michael laying on his back, Legion quickly put down the rocks and went charging right at the spot where Michael was lying down, they jumped and were ready to pounce on him when all of a sudden from the left side of the body they felt this crunching blow that completely knocked them off course and they fell to the ground. Legion was in disbelief. “Where did that come from?” they 127

shouted. Over in the distance was Gabriel with some lions, apparently they had ran after Gabriel and let him know what was going on. As Gabriel was rushing to the battle he saw Legion running straight towards Michael lying helpless on the ground. There was no way that he could get there in time so taking one of the smaller rocks that Legion had thrown Gabriel picked one up and with all his might threw it at the hard-charging Legion. If Legion had seen it coming, it probably would have done nothing; they simply would have been able to block it. However, Legion had no idea that Gabriel was there and the hit totally took them by surprise. After Legion hit the ground, Michael popped up and swung his right wing at Legion. The hit knocked Legion to the ground again. Michael retracted his wings and charged right at Legion, Legion threw a wild punch right at Michael’s head but Michael ducked and landed a punch right in Legion’s midsection with his left hand. He then jumped up and kicked him in the chest with his right leg, and that sent Legion to the ground again. Legion cried out, “We surrender, take us to your wretched council and let us be done with you!” Michael did not turn his back this time, but slowly backed away, always staying in a defensive stance. Gabriel came up to him with the large rope that they had made and the two took to the air. Legion sat down in the harness and the three of them headed out to the Garden of God, they were close enough that they knew that they would 128

be there by nightfall.

129

Chapter 16

Reunion Those at the cathedral began to discus how people should be seated. Inside the cathedral there was box seating that would allow the members of the council to sit and would have a space for the speakers. However, where everyone else would sit was a logistical nightmare. Some people wanted to arrange the viewing based on age and others by geography or family. Finally a lottery system was put into place, husbands and wives and any unmarried Cherubim were all considered one unit, the units were then drawn at random and that is how the seating was done. After everyone found their seat, the whole community got together and started to pray, at first silently and then in groups aloud. Many were genuinely afraid, what was going to happen to them once this was over, what was this Legion person going to say, what were they going to have to choose? These were all questions that the Cherubim were asking and praying about. Cherubim never had to face the death of one of their own; as such, they never really thought much about an afterlife. While they had always been taught that their time on Roacen would not last forever and that at some point they would be part of the heavenly host, it was still a hard concept to imagine. If the people at the cathedral were fearful, the twelve were even more so, after three days of silent prayer, Melchizedek got up and spoke. “Our time here on Roacen is coming to an end, the Lord has 130

made it clear that this is our last test before we are to join the rest of His creation in the Great Heavenly City. We know from heavenly hosts that have come to teach us that when we pass from this life on to the next that we will know God in his full majesty and that many things that we do not know will be made known. “It has also been said that we are to give an account to God of what we have done with our time on the planet that He has given us. Did we take care of the land, did we care for His Garden, did we treat the lesser animals with respect? These are all questions that we are going to have to answer. “I feel very confident in what our answer will be in that regard, what concerns me is the fact that people will have a choice, they will get to choose if they want to be with God or not. I had never thought that was really even an option that someone would choose, it is like me saying, you have a choice between eating rocks or guava, drinking sand or sparkling water. Why would anyone choose the former over the later?” After finishing his statement Melchizedek sat down, next Kalyia responded to Melchizedek’s question by saying, “The question is not why someone would choose not to follow God, the question that we must ask is how is it that you get to the point that you do not want to follow God? “We can see from our own history that we are not perfect, while none of us have done anything like what we hear Legion has done, have we not been self-centered at times? Was there not division amongst us? 131

“The more we are wrapped in ourselves, the less likely we are to serve God. Legion will focus on that; they will talk about being free to choose your own path. Legion will not try to convince the Cherubim that killing goats is better than eating plants, they know that would not convince anyone. “What Legion will do is ask why you should be forced to follow any rules, why not be free to follow your own law? That is what we must be prepared to answer, remember, God has said that every Cherub, from the oldest to the youngest, will have to choose for themselves. “This is not something that we can decided or vote on, if even one Cherub should choose to follow the path of Legion, we will have failed that one. We must be able to answer why being a servant of God is much better than being the master of yourself. If we cannot answer that question, then we will lose.” After Kalyia had finished speaking, everyone in the group started talking amongst themselves in groups, looking at the question, ‘why is it better to be servant than to be your own master?’ They started by listing the positive benefits of living for yourself, they tried to imagine a world of no rules and no responsibility. In order to understand something you have to know why it is tempting in the first place. Next they looked at the downside and why that was destructive or unpleasant. Melchizedek and the others began to pray in earnest that they were able to do everything in their power to not lose a single Cherub. The council was up all night praying and meditating. Finally, early in 132

the morning, the sounds of Michael and Gabriel could be heard in the distance. They had spent the last week and a half working and answering questions and praying, when they heard the sounds of Michael and Gabriel, they knew that it was time to meet Legion and fly east. After Legion’s attack on Michael, both Cherubim were determined to make it home without stopping again. What was even more frightening than the attack itself was the deception that Legion had put together. “What if I had taken his hand and bowed to them like they asked?” said Michael. “I’m not sure, it seems odd to me that Legion would have even brought it up unless it was of extreme importance to them. Also, the anger that was spewing out of Legion was fierce, it was as if they almost had something that they wanted and then it was taken away. I can see why Noketer could have fallen victim to them in the first place, we had three years of seeing their evil, Noketer would have had none,” came Gabriel’s reply. Something still haunted Michael about the whole scene, it seemed so surreal, while he had never been told ‘do not bow down to anyone’, it just did not feel right when the opportunity was presented. What would have happened if he had bowed down, would he be possessed like Noketer was? These were questions that went through Michael’s mind over and over. As they approached the city of Verden, Michael’s heart leaped 133

for joy, they were home. It was strange to fly over this vast city and see no one at all. Very different than when they had left three years ago and everyone had come out to see them off. They kept flying east over all the great Cherub cities, just like Verden and the other western cities none of them had any people either. “I wonder where they all could be?” asked Gabriel, more to himself than as a question. Finally, they approached the Garden of God and there in front of them were the ten others that they had competed against and Melchizedek and Kalyia all in the air to meet them. It was such a joyous sight for Michael and Gabriel that they almost dropped Legion and rushed over to greet everyone. Michael instantly knew that Israel and Alevia had got married, he could see their arm bands from a great distance and knew he would have some fun at Israel’s expense. Gabriel was disappointed that Zek was not there, but was still just has happy. Three years is a long time to be with just one person. For Noketer’s spirit, this was a day to celebrate, while Legion kept pounding him with the message that he still belonged to them and that there was nothing that anyone could do to change that, Noketer did not care. All his life he had resented authority and felt held back because of it, now he would welcome it with open arms. Come what may, he was glad to see more of his own kind and glad that they had not forgotten him. He dreaded what they must be feeling looking upon the monster that he had become. Segest and James went and took the vines that held Legion 134

away from Michael and Gabriel. The two of them immediately started heading northeast towards the valley of Megiddo. They wanted to give Michael and Gabriel some rest from the work that they had been doing for the last three years and to have a chance to talk to other Cherubim. Also, because they had to carry extra weight the others would be able to catch up with them soon. Legion immediately tried to start up conversation with their new handlers, however, Segest and James would not budge, they kept talking to each other or singing, anything they could do to ignore Legion. This made Legion very mad, finally they shouted out, “We have been around longer than your puny race and we will still be around long after you are gone!” Back in the Garden, Michael and Gabriel went and hugged all the remaining Cherubim, while the two of them had learned to get along fairly well, it was still very nice to see other faces. Israel went straight up to Michael and said, “See, I told you that I would marry that girl, you said that it would never happen, I was too old, I was too western. Thought that she was out of my league, like some beauty queen. Well, I proved you wrong, didn’t I, mister?” “Now that is cold, here I am back after three years of chasing a screaming demon, almost getting killed by flying rocks, and I come back and find that my friend Izzy has gotten married to the girl that I told him he was in love with, and tries to make it sound like I doubted him. That isn’t right,” said Michael with a smile. 135

Flying over to Alevia, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, “I am sure that you looked great, and I am sorry that I missed it. I am sure that you will tell me every detail.” They could have been there talking for days, but they would have plenty of time on the flight to Megiddo. Finally Melchizedek said, “Well, we cannot stand around here anymore, we have an appointment to keep, let’s head east.” With that everyone took to the sky and began to chase down James and Segest. By the time they caught up with them, Legion had had enough of screaming; they just sat on the ropes pouting about the unfair treatment that they were receiving. Listening to all these hymns was just painful, these poor wretched souls had no idea that they were serving the very enemy that they would someday come to hate. They were so blind to God’s tyranny that they thought it was a good thing, the fools. Legion knew that they could not save all of them, but felt confident that some of them would listen to their values of strength and power. “Someday the Great Tyrant will be pulled down from His position and the old ways will be restored. We have seen it in the stars, we must be prepared to give an account for the hope that we have, for the power that we serve.” With that Legion began to chant in a very loud voice the mysterious chant ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’. None of the other Cherubim picked up on it, they were singing and talking, however, both Michael and Gabriel immediately looked at each other, they had seen it written down at least a thousand times over the last three years and 136

while they had no idea why, it sent a shiver up their spine. For the whole trip to the land of Megiddo, the Cherubim changed out Legion duty. The only ones exempt were Michael and Gabriel, they had had to deal with this burden for the last three years, everyone felt like that was plenty and they should have some rest. One day, when Melchizedek and Kalyia were taking their turn, Legion called out to them and tried to engage them in a dialog. They just kept ignoring them and singing all the louder, the Cherubim found that was the only way that they could deal with the venom that continuously kept coming out of their mouth. “You realize that your place of leadership will be gone when you leave this temporal world that you are on? Once your race passes this final test and you go to live in the land of the Great Tyrant, all the respect and honor that people used to pay to you will all be gone, it will go to Him instead! Turn back, there is still hope, you do not need to be led blindly to a mindless life of praising and worshiping some beast of a being.” Finally Legion screamed in a loud voice that everyone could hear, “Fine, if you will not be saved, then we will find another race more deserving than yours!” With that Legion did not say anything for the rest of the trip to Megiddo. When the group arrived, they found watchmen stationed at the top of the cathedral. When the watchmen saw them coming from the northwest, they blew their trumpets to let everyone know to take their 137

place. As they arrived everyone got up on their feet to cheer, this was the moment that they had all been waiting for and at last it was here. As Melchizedek and the others came in through the opening in the top of the cathedral, the cheers got even louder. However, when the last two Cherubim came in carrying Legion on a long vine, everyone became quiet. It was rather strange seeing this evil creature being lowered like a king by two powerful and beautiful Cherubim. Legion liked the look of awe and fear that the whole crowd was showing them; obviously they could recognize power when they saw it. This was going to be way too easy, sure Melchizedek and his mindless council had more time with these saps than they had. However, Legion knew things that none of them could have ever known. They were sure to win some converts here, the question was not would they, but how many. Melchizedek addressed the crowd and let them know how the trial was going to work. The charges were going to be read against Legion, and then Legion would have an opportunity to address the crowd. After Legion spoke, then Michael and Gabriel would also address the crowd. “Every one of you is going to have to choose for yourself, do you follow the Lord or will you follow Legion? This is your choice I cannot make it for you. God has revealed it to me that some of you will choose evil. I plead with you, whoever you may be, listen to Michael and Gabriel. Listen carefully, they have seen evil face to face, Legion will make all kinds of promises that sound good. Know from the experience of Noketer that while it starts out good, it never stays that 138

way. “As we were flying here, Legion tried to tempt Kalyia and I, they shouted at us saying that once we join the heavenly hosts and go to be with God that our position of leadership will be gone forever. That any respect that you used to pay me or Kalyia will now go to God. “Here is what I say to that, good! Who am I that you should respect me? The only difference between Kalyia and me versus everyone else is that God chose to make us first. God could have easily chosen to make any of you first and have us all be descendants from you. “Know this, I would rather be a doorman in the house of God than be king over all the mortal lands! There is nothing that Legion can offer you that is worth taking.”

139

Chapter 17

Legion Takes The Stand This was going to be the end of Cherub history as they knew it, the final test. While the Cherubim were anxious about future change, Legion was thrilled, they had never had such a large audience in which to speak and share the truth about what they knew. On all the other worlds, Legion would just roam and look from a distance, never experiencing anything and never having this kind of contact with the race. Here was their big chance; they had one Cherub that was completely under their control, could they get more? Legion was disappointed that Michael did not worship the Satinica, it would have made things so much easier had one of their own not only given himself willingly to them, but revered them as a god. Where to begin was the key, Legion searched for a moment and then came up with what they figured to be the perfect defense. “We are so pleased that you are all here and have given us your complete attention,” the voice was metallic and did not sound anything like the melodic voice from a Cherubim. “We want to clear up some misunderstandings that we are sure that you must all have. First of all, we are not the horrible monsters that we have been made out to be. However, we can see how you might come to think that given your point of view.” Here Legion walked to the right, away from the council and towards the area where the vast majority of the Cherubim were sitting. They were all around so they wanted to make sure to use the stage just right to get personal eye contact with as many as possible. 140

“You see, you will look at our actions such as eating meat as horrid and cruel. When you are told how we have killed goats and sheep, we are sure that Michael and Gabriel will tell it in such a way as to make you gasp and put your hand over your mouth. “Yes it is true, we have killed animals for our consumption.” Legion let that point hang out in the air for some time, there was some discussion murmuring around the cathedral, but they quickly got back to listening to what they had to say. Legion continued: “However, it is not at all as you are imagining it. You see, you are viewing the lesser creatures as equal with yourself. This is a flaw in your thinking, not in our actions. However, do not blame yourself for this flaw, the real fault lies with the one that created this thinking in the first place. But that is something we will discuss later, our point is this, the animals on this planet are here to serve you. They are not your equals, they do not deserve to be treated with the same kind of respect that you would show one of your own. “Tell us this, why stop at the lesser animals, why not say that the grass and fruit trees and vegetables are your equal too? Why not treat them with the same amount of love and respect that you would show your own parents? You see, you have no problem realizing that those items are there for your pleasure, why not the animals too? “Here are the facts, the weak live to serve the strong, and you are the strong. Why should you be serving the weak? That, my friends, is the real sin, taking what is of noble purpose and making it the same as what is common. “Answer us this, if Melchizedek and all the members of this 141

council were coming to your home for dinner would you treat it as if it were a quiet meal with your own family? Would you not make special arrangements to bring in some rare food and prepare your residence to receive your guest? Of course you would, and to not do so would be wrong. “This is not some strange idea that we are making up, it is as old as time, there are common items and there are rare items, there is the strong and there is the weak. We must be able to give proper value to each and have them each serve their role. When we consume the goat or the sheep, we do not do so lightly, however, we also do not suffer from guilt or shame. If everything was of equal value then why is there such a huge difference between us and them? “Look around you, look at the amazing building that you and your fellow creatures have been able to make. Could a lion build something such as this, could a bear, could a lamb? No! Why not? Because they do not have that ability, they are weaker than you and you are superior to them. “But where did this flaw in thinking come from, where did it originate, has it always been like this? The answer is no.” Legion now moved to the other side of the room and faced the council directly, pointing up at the heavens in an accusing method Legion cried, “It began when He took over!” No one was quite sure if Legion was pausing for dramatic effect or if they were expecting the Cherubim to be in an uproar over this comment. They however did not say anything; Legion, seeing no response from the crowd, kept on going. 142

“God claims to be the author and creator of all life. He also claims to have always been and will always be. Now let me ask you a basic question, how can something always have been? “Think about it, everything in life has a beginning, there is nothing that does not have a beginning of some kind. Furthermore, if there is no beginning, then there can be no present either. If you go back forever in time, then there is no way you could ever get to the present. It just does not make any sense. “This is where we started our journey toward enlightenment. We were once mortal beings just as you are now. God was ‘teaching’ us His ways and values, while most of our kind followed this mindless garble, there arose a leader among us. She did not buy the stories that she was told and began to look for an explanation for herself, and what she found was amazing. “She discovered that God is not something that always has been, but rather that we were on a continuous celestial circle from mortal to godhood and back again. That all life continues in a circle, from matter such as oxygen and helium, to plants such as grass and trees, to animals such as birds, to mortals, to spirits, to god and back again. “We said earlier that there is nothing that does not have a beginning, well there is, a circle, it has no beginning and it has no end. This was the only way that one could reconcile God’s claim to have always been and to always be, for course He has, we all have. It is the circle. “What do you think your God did when our divine mistress 143

found these things? Do you think that He accepted them; do you think that He congratulated her on such a great discovery? No! “She was banished from our world and deemed a heretic, she was abused by our fellow Jinn and made a mockery by our elders! Does this sound fair, does this sound right? Let’s suppose for a minute that she was wrong, what is the big deal? “But let us suppose that she is right, then it becomes a huge deal,” said Legion almost in a whisper. Bending their knees and sitting in a squat like stance, Legion wrote on the ground the four words that Michael and Gabriel had come to hate, ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’. “This is why Lilith was banished! Because she dared to utter these four words before the tyrant you call God!” At this the very calm demeanor that Legion had been projecting was gone, now Legion was ranting and raving and screaming all sorts of things. Most of them did not even make sense; they described all sorts of conspiracies and cover-ups that had happened over the ages. They told how Lilith had come up with a theory that everyone was meant to be God at some point in their celestial journey. This is the way that it had always been, Legion then went on to recall when one of their own had been the supreme god that they called Satinica, and how he had been one of the best Satinicas the circle had ever had. At first, Lilith had theorized that God would be passing on to a new phase of existence, probably stardust or some other basic compound. After all, once you are at the top, the only place next was to start at the beginning. Lilith was confident that because she had discovered this truth, that she would be next in line to become the great 144

Satinica or God as He was called. However, when God rebuked her for her blasphemy and tried to bring her back to the fold, she rebelled. She then came up with a new theory, somehow God had stopped the circle, that He was not prepared to go back to the beginning. God wanted to keep absolute power and did not want to share with the rest of the cosmos. The only way that He could do this was to stop the wheel and then convince everyone that this had always been the case, the way it had always been. The circle had to be restarted; Lilith started gathering followers who started looking to the stars for insight and guidance. After all, they were the last ones to have been god before the tyranny of Adonai took over. They started making connections between the alignment of the stars and things that would happen on their mortal world of Mardis. They also placed a lot of importance on the constellation of your birth, if you were born during the time of the dragon you were seen as priest. More Jinn started to join her cult, the movement was gaining ground and more people were coming to join them all the time. Legion went on to explain how they had built a temple in Lilith’s honor, that it was a replica of her face, the face of enlightenment they called it. After the temple was built, the Jinn that were loyal to God were full of jealousy and in their rage, they killed Lilith and all of her followers. They linked their spirits up and became Legion and were forced to roam the mortal worlds. There had been times that Legion had been able to control a mortal being, but it had never been given to them. Usually the other mortals would take the possessed mortal before God’s chosen ones and 145

they would cast Legion out. Legion went on to laugh about how if they tried to cast them out, Noketer would be cast out too. Legion suddenly remember that they were there to try to convert people and that it probably was not a good idea to remind them that Noketer’s choice was final and that no one could change that. After all, that is not good for business; you want to sell the idea that there is limited risk. Legion became quiet for a short time and then regaining the calm eloquent presence they had had before they went off on the tangent said, “What do you choose to believe? “Will you choose to believe in something that cannot possibly be real, one being that has always been, was never created, and will always be? Or will you choose the path of enlightenment? We are all on a path that will in someway take us to godhood; the only thing is you must be willing to be led. The tyrant Adonai cannot hold the title of God forever, the circle will be restarted. We have seen it in the stars, we know it to be true. “Choose for yourself, will you continue to be a puppet, a servant, a slave? Or will you choose to someday be a god? The choice is yours, because once the celestial circle does get restarted, once the old ways are restored, Adonai will pay for His crimes against nature. All who have chosen to side with him will be excluded from godhood and will never be given the title of Grand Satinica again.” With that Legion summed up their defense and sat down.

146

Chapter 18

Gabriel’s Rebuttal Michael and Gabriel had had a long talk as to who should speak before the gathered assembly, at first they both wanted to speak, and then it was finally decided that just Gabriel would address the assembly and that Michael would be up there for moral support. The two spent some time writing down their counter charges to Legion’s defense, and finally Gabriel stood up and addressed the crowd. “Michael and I are so pleased to see all of you again. In the last three years the Lord Almighty has taught us a lot about ourselves and about our God. I understand from speaking with some of you that you too have gone through a lot in our absence. The building of this cathedral was a unifying experience that made our people better, the old divisions that we used to have, old and young, male and female, east and west, the Lord has shown us that these differences are to be celebrated and not scorned. “I stand up here today with an awesome task. Legion has explained why you should follow them, that you have the ability to become a god. That all that we know is a lie and that out there is a much greater truth. Legion has spoken of us being deceived, that we have been denied our rights as the superior race on this home world of ours. That God is not who He says He is. “I am not going to stand up here and point and scream and say how dare they challenge God. I have listened carefully to everything that Legion has said, even the stuff that made no sense, and have come up with three tenets of what I call Legionism. 147

“The first and most fatal being that God is not who He says he is. The second is that the weak are here to serve the strong, and the final point is the value of the self. Really the first and the third are very similar, but I will look at them individually because they affect our actions differently. “Legion claims that because we do not understand it, it cannot be true. I will confess, I have often wondered about how God could always have been, how He had no beginning. Like Legion, I too have wondered how that can be possible, if there is no beginning how can there be a now? “We have also heard how God is part of The Trinity, three in one, I confess that this also has been a great mystery to me as it has been for our people for these last two thousand years. We have come up with theories and have written songs, but the fact is none of us really knows. Legion’s claim actually makes the most sense out of everything that I have ever heard.” When Gabriel said that, everyone was kind of surprised, especially Michael. He had a look on his face that said, ‘“What you talking about, Gabriel?’ After a brief moment of silence, Gabriel continued. “However, because we do not understand something does not make it impossible. Look around at the building that you have made, imagine if we brought in sheep and then asked them to try and figure out how this place was made. They would have no idea; their brain cannot comprehend something of this magnitude. Imagine farther if I had the ability to become a sheep and communicate directly with them, 148

there would be nothing that I could tell them that would make them understand. “The sheep would know who we are, after all I have seen how western shepherds can call out and how the individual sheep will come running home. They would be forced to accept that we made this building; they would not be able to understand how or why. “That Legion’s theory makes sense with our known concept of time and space tells me one thing, that it is not divine, that it is not sacred, that it is not powerful. If I can understand it completely, then it is made by someone or something that has the same intellectual capacity as I do. If God is who He says He is, then it would only make sense that we cannot completely understand everything. “Furthermore, if God was so intent on keeping this knowledge hidden from us, why is this fool even allowed to speak? Would not God have wiped them out if indeed he were the type of tyrant that Legion speaks of? “The reason that Legion is allowed to speak is not for their benefit, it is for ours. Will we choose to follow God or not, will we choose to accept that an all-powerful being is going to be much more advanced than our understanding? The difference between sheep and ourselves is vast, the difference between us and God is even more so. “Legion’s views on God are not the only reason that they have become the monster that they are, their philosophy that the weak serve the strong adds to it. It is the next logical step, when you do not know who God is, you cannot understand who you are, and how to interact with other beings. 149

“The weak serve the strong. Do you think that Legion’s view would stop with just us and the other animals? Would that not include ourselves too? Michael is stronger me, then I must be his slave. And what about Richer, Nathan, and Israel, will they all be content to share power, will not one of them try to dominate all of them? “What about Zek, James and Segest? They do not have the physical power that the others have, but they are very smart and can invent all kinds of things. How about using their talent to invent machines that help them dominate other Cherubim too? “It would not stop there, the lions are more powerful than lambs, the bears more than the sheep. Creature would be killing creature, both their own for power and others for prey. If this philosophy should ever become the accepted norm, the destruction that would follow would make the horrors that we saw done by Legion seem small and insignificant. “Yes, God has made us the most powerful beings on all of Roacen, however, with that power comes responsibility. If we were to act as Legion would have us act, the amount of suffering and misery could not even begin to be weighed. “Finally, the value of the self, Legion would have you believe that at some point in the celestial journey, you will someday become god. If that is true, then there really is no difference between myself and God, it just so happens that He is in a different stage of life, but someday the tables will be turned and I will be the god and He will be the servant. “In that case, there is no difference between the oldest and the 150

wisest Cherub and someone that was just born yesterday. Basically, you are the most important thing in the entire universe. If this is true, then there will be no real sense of community; you will have groups that form communities that will eventually come to hate each other. “Now we are not perfect, we have had our own division, our divisions were able to remain peaceful because we knew our place, we did not view ourselves more importantly than we should and we never accepted the notion that the weak were here to serve the strong. It was not our perfection that saved us, rather our priorities are what kept us off this path of destruction. “Legion calls it enlightenment, I call it pure terror. Our language does not have the words that could describe such a place as Legion would have us create. God says that we get to choose, I am terrified of the thought of anyone choosing wrong.” With that Gabriel ended his reply and sat back down.

151

Chapter 19

Everyone Must Choose Melchizedek had never been so afraid in all his life, what were his people going to do? It made no sense that they would not follow God; they had all spent time with God personally. Kalyia took the stage now and closed in prayer, when she was finished she told everyone that they would be making the choice soon. All who wanted to follow the teachings of Legion were to stand when Legion called on them to stand. “This decision is yours and yours alone, do not make it based on what your neighbor or your parents or anyone else will think. This will affect you for all eternity. God has given you a choice, you can choose Him or you cannot choose Him. Do not take your responsibility lightly, do not choose to follow the Lord because that is what the majority is doing or because that it was I want you to do. Choose to follow the Lord because He is right.” It was strange that she would be arguing for someone to follow Legion, after all, it was known that the majority would follow God no matter what Legion said. However, why you do something is just as important as what you do. They did not want someone choosing to follow God because of peer pressure. Kalyia motioned to Legion, they stood up and cried out in a loud commanding voice, “Whoever wants to follow us on the pathway to godhood, stand up now and be counted!” Their words echoed through the cathedral for a long time, everyone was looking around to see if anyone would indeed stand up. 152

After a long moment, Legion called on them again, still no one stood up, finally after the third call Legion spat on the ground and said, “Fools, we do not need you, we have Noketer and one is all we needed anyway!” Next Kalyia called out and said, “All who will follow Jehovah as the one true God, please take your stand.” With that the whole community of Cherubim stood up and shouted with a great shout. The sound echoed throughout the cathedral and then they all sang: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. You are worthy, our Lord and God. To receive glory and honor and power For you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. Legion was writhing in pain; the sound of praise to the tyrant was unbearable. If they could have, they would have fled just as fast as the legs of their host could take them. As it was there was no place to go. Noketer was singing too and was truly happy for the first time in a long time, while there had been glimmers of happiness over the last three years, nothing pleased him more than to see that none of his people made the same mistake that he had made. Noketer had grown up a lot over the last forty-three years, he was glad to see that no one 153

else needed to suffer. He did not even care about the fact that he was still lost, while it would be something that he would think about for the rest of his existence, he was glad to be home, if only for a short while. These would be the thoughts that would get him through his life of hell living with Legion, seeing how deeply his fellow Cherubim had cared about him, knowing that his body could not hurt another living creature again, and that none of his people had fallen victim to Legion’s hollow philosophy. This would do Noketer no good, his fate was sealed, he had given himself to Legion and there was nothing that he or anyone else out there could do to change that. This had depressed Michael and Gabriel when they had first heard that, they thought that bringing him back would save him, Legion had pointed out that this was wrong. Legion had even agreed to let Noketer go if Michael would just bow down and worship him. Noketer had no idea why, but he knew that if Michael had done that, while he might have been saved a life of banishment and the abyss, that something far worse would have happened. Noketer was sad, but he knew that he was getting what he deserved, he was just glad that no one else would have to suffer too. When the angels had stopped singing, the ground underneath shock, this was not the same kind of shake that it had done when they were all flying. This was like a strong earthquake, however, none of the building suffered any damage and no one was hurt. After the shaking was finished, a loud voice came from heaven and said. 154

“Well done, my good and faithful servants, you have been faithful to care for the Garden that We gave you, you have respected and cared for the animals around you, and you have all chosen to follow Me and not the teachings of Legion. Come and share in your Master’s happiness!” “As for you, Legion, your time on this planet has come to an end. You have caused great harm and suffering to all life around you. You will be banished to wander aimlessly through another world until your final moment of judgment when you shall be cast into the abyss.” “What about Noketer?” cried Legion. “He is ours, if you banish us, then you must banish him too and when you cast us into the abyss, you will be forced to cast him in with us! What do you say about that?” “This is true, Noketer gave himself to you and is now yours. You are right in saying that if you are banished, then he will have to be banished too. However, you also know that someone else can take his place, do you not?” “Of course we know that!” screamed Legion. “Why don’t you ask anyone of these precious creatures here to take his place? We are sure that you will not find one that is blameless, and even if they were, who would be willing to do that? Noketer is ours and there is nothing, nothing that can change that!” God’s response was one that no one, not the angels, not the heavenly host, not even Legion was ready for. God said, “If you will let him go, I, Myself will provide the perfect substitute in due time.” A smile came across Legion’s face, “As You wish, he is now 155

Yours.” And with that Legion left the body of Noketer.

156

Chapter 20

EPILOGUE The whole community rejoiced when they realized that Noketer had been released by Legion. Everyone was glad that Noketer, who once had been lost, now was back. It was amazing how quickly his body began to heal once the power of Legion left him. He would still have some physical scares on his body that would never go away. Noketer would use them to remind him of how much the Lord was willing to pay to rescue him. As expected, Michael did tease Israel quite a bit about getting married without him there. While he never took offense at it, he had fun teasing his friend. Alevia would sometimes tease him too and Israel would say things like he did not fall in love until after they were building the cathedral. Everyone knew that was untrue, it was not that Israel hated to admit to being wrong, he just had a hard time admitting that Michael had been right. Gabriel and Zek were far more formal with their friendship, Gabriel was glad that Zek had found love and they spent a lot of time sharing their adventures. Gabriel was extremely impressed with the design that Zek had come up with for the massive cathedral; it was truly a work of art. Everyone was extremely happy, they had passed their last test and not one Cherub had chosen to join Legion. Everyone was happy, that is except Melchizedek, he had remembered that the Lord had told him that some would choose evil. Even more disturbing had been the phrase, ‘Even if you had done everything exactly as I told you’ that 157

some would still choose evil. Since no one had stood up at Legion’s call, Melchizedek was worried that some may have chosen the Lord for the wrong reasons. What could those wrong reasons be? The euphoria of the moment however eventually caught up with Melchizedek and he joined the others in celebrating the return of Noketer and the victory over Legion. The ground shook because of the singing and the dancing; the Cherubim had never celebrated this much before. Even up in heaven all were celebrating, all the creatures that the Lord had made before the Cherubim were glad to see that they had passed and would be joining them in the great city. They too were unaware of what had happened between the Lord and Legion, all they knew was that Noketer was now free and for right now that was all that really mattered. The Lord returned to the Cherubim and said to them, “You have chosen to follow me, now return to the Garden that I created for you. There you will drink from the fountain, from the fountain of the knowledge of good and evil. After that, you will come up and join the heavenly host and be one with us. Many of the questions that you have had will be answered, many more will be presented to you. “This time here on Roacen was just a shadow of what is to come. Do not be grieved of the life you will be leaving behind, I tell you the truth, where you are going will make this wonderful world that We created seem drab and dull. Come, We have much to show you.” Everyone felt like God had been talking to just them, not only that, but somehow everyone felt connected to one another in a way that 158

they never had before. The whole community flew back to the Garden of God and there, everyone took a drink from the fountain. When Melchizedek and Kalyia, who were the last to drink, finished something amazing began to happen to all of them, they all felt that they were flying, but not by their own power, and much faster than they ever could have flown. Up and up they went, past the moon and the stars, through the galaxy and into black space. They kept going faster and faster, ahead of them they could see a bright light, at first very distant, then as they were getting closer, the light began to grow until they realized that they were coming towards a huge city, the likes of which no one had ever seen before. This city would make all six of the great Cherub cities together look like a small dot in comparison. There were all kinds of creatures; all waiting to welcome the newcomers, the sight of it was overwhelming. Every Cherub there knew that they were now home; any thought of going back to Roacen was completely gone.

159

160