Broken Wings: Genesis (32 page)

“He is alive and breathing.”

The voice echoed softly in the
dimly lit underground chamber. I whipped around, my hand automatically coming
up in offensive mode. It was the Angel from the Garden of Eden, the one I had
spoken with before this whole mess had opened up. My hand came down slowly, but
I was leery. The entrance to the tunnel was still blocked, which made me leap
again to the thought that maybe Angels could just appear and disappear at will.
Why didn’t they do it more often, then?

He tipped his head toward Ke and
the webbing. “Nice piece of work, that.”

“Uh, thanks.”

I was at a loss for what to say.
Was he one of the Angels that had been dead seat against me, or was he okay
with what had happened? Maybe he was the Angel of Death coming to finish me
off? Somehow I couldn’t picture the kind, somewhat amused face as belonging to
the dark Angel.

“No, really, nice work. Have you
really looked at it?” He walked over and examined it up close. “I don’t think I
could have orchestrated it better if I had tried.”

The Angel was confusing. What was
his game? I couldn’t figure it out. Stepping in closer to look at the web, I
had to agree. It was a beautiful piece of intricately woven colors. The pattern
was delicate, but woven in such as way as to defy bulging or warping. Then I
noticed the little rainbow threads that extended past the surface of the web
and faded into nothingness. They were taut, as though connected to something,
but I couldn’t see what they were hooked into.

I frowned. “I thought I had tied
those all off.”

The Angel smiled. “That’s the
beautiful part of the work.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Remember the discussion we had in
the Garden about how the Angels kept themselves apart from humanity, never
feeling that part of existence and yet passing judgments that have an effect on
the whole?”

“Yes?”

“The energies you brought together
here bound humanity’s strength into the lock that protected our friend here.”

“Okay.” I had known that I was
drawing on the strength of those above me, so it made sense, but I was missing
something.

“Child, you have no idea what you
have done here this day, do you?”

I looked at him suspiciously. He
was looking way too happy for the Angelic Host. They were always grim-looking
and dour––especially where the subject of releasing Abaddon from the pit was concerned.

“And I’m not talking about
releasing Abaddon. That’s only part of what needed to happen here today. The
other part you handled quite nicely––and you have no clue what I’m talking
about, do you?”

I shook my head in response to his
bemusement.

“Let me try to help you
understand. Since your incarnation on the earth plane, you have been something
that has never existed before.” He frowned. “No, that’s not quite right. There
have been others at a lesser level––”

He shook his head. “That’s neither
here nor there. You are human, but you are bound in Angelic essence. It was
only on your near disastrous trip down here that you unleashed the last of that
essence.”

“The wings.” I was embarrassed.
Great. So, what? Had everyone been watching my spastic first flight? They must
have gotten a bit of amusement from
that
.

“The wings are only a part of what
was released.” He reached out and picked the medallion up from my chest,
flipping it over in his fingers. “It does appear as though you had some help.
That wasn’t something I had anticipated, but it all worked out for the best.”

“I don’t––”

He let the medallion drop gently
back to my chest again and turned to look at the energy cocoon. “Now Ke, here,
is something a little more common, although you made that happen at a different
level than had ever been done before.”

“We are the yin and yang to each
other.” I puzzled out what he was trying to say. “I am a human wrapped in
Angelic essence and he is an Angel bound by human form.”

“Exactly.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“Patience, child, we are working
our way toward your understanding.”

I frowned. He reminded me of
Father David when I was trying to leap toward answers in my studies instead of
trying to understand the intricate layers leading to the final result. It would
probably amuse the good Father to know that he had similarities to the Angels,
or at least to this one. But I felt now as I did then, irritated. I was looking
for the quick fix.

“See these tiny little rainbow
threads?” The Angel brushed his fingers along the suspended edges that seemed
to go nowhere. They gave a little under his touch, but held their tautness to
whatever it was they were connected.

I nodded.

“These are the essence of the true
strength of humanity.”

I shrugged. “Okay.”

“You tied humanity directly into
the web.”

I frowned, thinking of how
humankind was specifically disconnected from the web. “But doesn’t that
mean––?”

He shook his head, as though
knowing where my thoughts were taking me. “No. It is not the same as giving
them full access. You only tied their spirit into the web, the best that
humanity has to offer. What you have done is to give humanity more control over
what happens in finalizing the weave to the pattern that was never allowed to
complete itself before now.”

Huh. I thought about it, but
knowing the tendencies of humankind toward the darkness, I wasn’t certain
whether that was a good or a bad thing. It was still tough to determine whose
side this guy was on.

“There is another thing that you
did.”

What––like the rest wasn’t enough and
totally beyond my comprehension?

“You bound Ke directly into the
web, as well.”

I looked where he was pointing, to
the little blue energy lines that held the signature I knew to belong to Ke.
“He’s an Angel. Isn’t he supposed to be connected to the web?”

The man shook his head, the amused
smile back on his face. “Not while in human form.”

“Shit.”

The man nodded sagely. “Yes. What
you have just done is to set into place the last piece. It is something that
should have been done a long time ago.”

“But doesn’t that mean things will
start unraveling now?”

He looked surprise. “No. I thought
you understood––no matter. By wrapping everything together the way you did, you
not only gave humanity more control over the weaving of the pattern, but by
tying Ke into the web along with it in his human form, you have connected his
essence to that of the rest of the Angelic Host. You have given something to
the Host they have never had before.”

“I’m not following––” The thought
was cut off as it dawned on me what he was getting at. My eyes widened. “You
mean––”

“Yes. The Angelic Host has free
will now.” He chuckled. “I would imagine things are going to be a little
stressful in the Crystal
City for a while. It will
take them a bit to get a handle on this.”

“Oh crap.” The thought was
distressing, but I couldn’t help but catch a little of the amusement the Angel
was passing along. “My guess is they won’t be as high and mighty and
hands-offish
,
now that they have to actually share in some of the blame if things go wrong.”

“It will definitely be a wake up
call for them as to the true struggles humanity has to face on a regular basis.
But they will need some guidance through all of this.”

His look to me was pointed, and it
took a second for it to register. When it did I looked at him with abject
horror, shaking my head vehemently. “Oh, no. We’ve had to puzzle it out over
the thousands of years of our existence. It’s their turn to have to work at it
for a while.”

He shrugged. “That’s your choice,
of course.”

“But I couldn’t––they wouldn’t––no.”
My lips pursed into a scowl. “I didn’t sign up for any of this.”

“In a sense you did. But that is a
discussion for another time. I do want to make something a little clearer,
because you are not aware of the entirety of the situation. Angels have had
free will to an extent, throughout all these years of existence. But most have
chosen to dedicate themselves to the natural evolution of the pattern. They
gave
over their free will to the continuance of that natural evolution. They have
forgotten that through the years and accept it as part of their existence.”

“So let me get this straight. They
chose to give up their free will and just go on their merry little way. They
could have stepped in at any time to change things, make humanity suffer less, maybe
make the world a better place, but they have chosen to pretend they’ve had no
choice and then blame it on the humans when everything goes wrong.”

He winced. “It’s not
quite
like that, but yes, that could be one interpretation of it.”

“What a bunch of hypocrites.”

“Yes, for the most part. But don’t
you see? Their free will was given up so humanity could choose to evolve their
world in the way they will. Giving up their free will, in essence, is what
gives humanity theirs.”

“And none of the Angels have a
problem with this?”

“One did.” He frowned. “Well,
there was actually more than one.”

“Lucifer.”

“Yes. But Lucifer wouldn’t have
done what he did if humankind hadn’t been created.”

“Right. Because Lucifer believed
humans should not have more rights than the Angels.”

He shrugged, looking a little
uncomfortable. “Lucifer did no more than exert his free will, and actually––”

“Yes––?”

The Angel seemed to be struggling
with something he couldn’t quite find the words to speak out loud. “There is
the balance––”

I frowned. “I get that. Light,
dark, good, evil––what does that have to do with––shit. You can’t be serious.”

He wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“So you must be among the Fallen
Ones.”

“What––?” The look of confusion
that he turned on me was real.

“The balance. Life and death.
Creation and destruction. Isn’t that what you’re getting at? Aren’t you trying
to tell me that old Lou’s not such a bad guy because all he was trying to do
was tip the balance back against God himself?”

“Well, yes, that is what he was
trying to do––”

“So, what? Now he should be
applauded because he was doing the right thing and that humanity was a big
wrong
on God’s part?”

“
No
.” The guy actually
looked a little pissed. “What Lucifer did was to help restore the balance.
How
he did it, and is
still
trying to do it, is the wrong.”

“Okay. So you’re not one of the
bad guys. I get that. But what happens now?” I rubbed my eyes tiredly. My head
was beginning to hurt. It was too much for my very human brain to assimilate at
this point.

“That could very well be up to
you.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve
done my part.”

“It’s only the beginning, Yeshua
Star. There is a lot more to do in the days to come.”

I pulled my hand back from my
eyes, to see his fingers coming up to my forehead. I jerked, but didn’t step
away from his touch. It was cool and soothing, relaxing my mind and body,
drawing away the pain I felt at the peripheral edges of my awareness. His blue
eyes held a look of sadness that went deep to his core. It would be easy to
lose myself in that sadness, it touched so deeply into my own. I could see a
curtain of darkness coming down across my eyes. The room faded around me––his
smile, the Gate, and Ke in his cocoon all disappearing into the nothingness
that enveloped my mind.

*
  
*
  
*

I floated in the darkness for a
while, letting it wrap around me, healing me, relaxing me. It was a good
feeling, one of comfort. I needed a little comfort about now. It would be a
struggle to wake up, but I knew the time would eventually come.

A hand reached out through the
darkness and caressed my cheek. It felt good, and I turned into it instead of
pulling away.

“It is time for you to get up
Yeshua.”

The voice belonged to Ke. I opened
my eyes to see him smiling down at me. His form was bathed in the glow of
rainbow light, but there was no doubt that it was him.

“You’re not real.”

“I’m very real.” He laughed. “I’m
just not able to reach into the physical.”

I looked around at the darkness
and frowned. “Are we in the dreamscape?”

“Something like it, but not quite.
We are in the web.”

“How––?”

“He brought you here to heal
before you had to face the rest of what is to come.”

“He who?”

“
Him
. He brought you here.”

Him? Who did Ke mean? Oh the
Angel. Then his emphasis hit me. “
Him
? As in a capital
H
? The
hookah Angel is
God
?”

Ke frowned. “Hookah Angel? I
don’t––”

“Never mind. It doesn’t matter. It
might explain a lot, but it doesn’t matter.” I wondered idly if Morpheus knew
who had been a visitor at his establishment. “So did He let you go?”

“No. Until you find a way to
unbind me, I will remain in the web.”

“But I don’t know how I did it.”

Ke sighed. “I know, but one thing
at a time. There is a lot of work to be done to finish the pattern of the web.
I am the least of your worries right now.”

“But you are a big part of my
worries––”

He laughed, but it held a note of
bitterness. “I wish I could believe it was because of me, and not what I
represent.”

“Maybe it’s a little of both.” I
shrugged. “There is still a lot I have to work through.”

“I know.” He nodded. “And it will
all take time.” His voice was fading into a whisper, and I could see his form
starting to dissolve into the darkness of the web. “You can come here whenever
you need me. But I can only stay for short periods. It takes too much out of me
to hold this form for long––”