THE FALL (Rapha Chronicles #1) (The Rapha Chronicles) (24 page)

They had been descending the mountain passes the day before and spied evidence of humans—the leavings of a campfire, footprints in soft ground. Therefore the boys, overflowing with excitement for their first glimpse of “others,” had been eager to press on as soon as the sky was gray. Before long, they were peering down into a wide valley.

For a long moment Cain and Abel were silent as their eyes darted, trying to absorb everything at once. Then Cain gasped and pointed. “There it is, the fortress where Kal told us their warriors stay.” At the same moment Abel discovered the huge, pillared arch carved into solid rock that marked the entrance to the place of sacrifice as well as the giant statues representing the gods they worshipped. Although the sun had still not risen, here and there people moved along wide pathways of shaped stone.

Rapha explained that, in an age long past, the large mound in the middle of the plain had been the center of worship and commerce. “The place where the people traded what they had for what they needed,” he explained.

“But that is only a flat mountain with grass on top,” Abel observed.

“Thus it has been for many lifetimes of men, but there was a day mighty pillars rose into the sky and a carved, ascending pathway flanked by fruit trees and enormous statues led from the floor of the valley.” Rapha pointed. “See the large stones at the base on the right? Note the rounded part sticking out. That is a portion of pillar. Unfortunately the path and stairs have long been covered by rock and soil but, ah!” Rapha drew their attention farther down the slope. “There, see the rectangular shape? That stone was part of the foundation.”

Cain made a snorting noise, “You would have us believe these men moved that stone, the one as large as our family’s dwelling, to the top of that mountain?”

“The people possessed skill in artistry and construction but they also had among them men of great stature to whom these feats were simple.”

The boys exchanged dubious glances.

“I will tell you something I told your father many years ago, ‘Just because you cannot imagine something does not make it untrue.’”

Again Cain snorted.

“You find this difficult to believe?”

“Our
father
,” Cain mumbled.

“How large?” Abel cut in quickly, “The men… how large were they?”

Rapha answered Abel’s question even as he studied Cain’s sneer out of the corner of his eye. “Various sizes. Some were three and even four times your height but such stature put incredible demands upon their bodies, therefore the length of their lives was greatly diminished. In truth, they were worshipped for what was a weakness. If their breeding had continued without interruption, if their wars and cruelty had not been checked, all men in that ancient time would have ceased to exist.”

“But the fire from heaven came,” Abel murmured.

“Yes. And much that was good and much that was evil perished.” Rapha paused, his eyes once more seeing the carnage and chaos of that day, his ears recalling the shrieks of man and beast as the stench of their scorched flesh rose to the heavens.

A hand was on Rapha’s shoulder… a hand that stretched into his soul, entering the painful memory with him. He looked up at Abel whose eyes were shut, a grimace of pain on his young face. Abel’s eyes flew open and he jerked his hand away. For a long moment they regarded each other.

Obviously, Abel’s ability to read another’s emotions went much deeper than Rapha had realized. But this was not the time to discuss that talent because what Abel had absorbed had left him gasping and pale with horror.

“What did you see?” Cain asked.

But Abel ignored his brother, his eyes fixed on the high mound in the middle of the valley. “Why?” he whispered. “Why did Adonai destroy them?”

“The lore of their people teaches that Adonai sent the cataclysm—but this is not true. The fire that fell from the sky was of Lucifer’s making.”

“How do you know this?” Cain’s expression was suspicious.

“Because I was there,” Rapha said as he stared toward a tower of stone across the valley.

Someone in that tower was focusing a fixed, intent look their way. “We have been seen,” he said as the sound of a ram’s horn echoed from the rocks around them.

“Come,” Rapha pulled both boys down beside him and moved to propel them uphill but Cain and Abel’s bodies were stiff, their mouths gaping, their eyes fixed on movement in the valley.

Rapha followed their gaze.

What he beheld filled his heart with dread.

Men armed for battle were emerging from the rock fortress, their feet stepping in tandem as they filed out, ten abreast, line after line. But for Cain, Abel, and Rapha, it was the one who led this procession who demanded their attention.

The young man was beautiful. Clad only in a short leather garment that covered his loins, and leather wrappings for his feet that extended up to his knees, the perfection of his form could not be denied. His bearing was proud—chin lifted, back and shoulders straight—as he strode before the other soldiers.

Just then the sun’s first rays shot through a cleft in the surrounding mountain range and lit a golden circlet on his brow. For a moment the young man stood still, basking in the glow, tossing back long waves of hair that matched his crown.

Then he turned his head toward them and, despite the light shining into his face, he locked eyes with Rapha.

Immediately Rapha’s mind was under siege. The infiltration was backed by absolute confidence, the brash assurance of one who has never been denied, one who has never met his equal, one who never expects to apprehend anyone or anything as magnificent as himself. As if the young man grasped his throat in a vice grip, it took all Rapha’s strength to simply expand his lungs and breathe.

“I know you,”
the young man’s mind spoke
, “you are the fool who rejected my father’s friendship.”

Rapha’s mind raced. My
father?

The reality crashed in. Lucifer had secured Adam’s seed. With it the fallen angel had crafted this superior being.

“Yes. You know it is true.”

“Who is he?” Cain asked.

“I will explain later. Come,” Rapha said as the young man on the plain shouted the order for his men to advance. But the voice was wrong, too high-pitched, too… young.

Of course, this one could be no older than Cain and Abel yet his proportions were manly and body hair covered his limbs and chest.

With an unexpected wave of pity Rapha probed the leader’s mind.

A heavy weight bore down on his chest. It was all up to him. He was the chosen one. He must be perfect. He must endure the cruel training and the foul-smelling drinks and the isolation from other children. He was not like them. Their inferiority would taint him. He was called “Ish-el.”

He was the only one of his kind. He was lonely.

He was… scared.

A shriek of outrage erupted from the golden-haired leader. Rapha was shoved with such force out of the young man’s thoughts he was thrown to the ground. Cain and Abel blinked down at him in surprise.

“I should not have done that. I have angered him,” Rapha said as he once more started up the mountain path.

Rapha had taken no more than two steps when another howl of anger, this accompanied by shouted curses and insults, echoed up from the leader. One look at Cain’s face gave the reason for the second outburst.

“I did it!” Cain exclaimed. “I’ve never tried it from a distance…” he looked from Rapha to Abel, elation lighting his features, “ha! It worked!”

But the golden-haired leader was running across the plain in their direction, all semblance of decorum abandoned, while the men behind him followed, trying to maintain their lines.

“You inserted thoughts? From here? I could not throw a rock that far.” Abel observed, his expression eager, his hand reaching to give Cain’s back a congratulatory slap. “What did you tell him?”

But Cain pulled away. “Oh no. Your secrets first.”

“What?” Abel asked.

“Tell me Rapha’s memories you saw earlier or I won’t….”

“Can you argue as we run please?” Rapha said, grabbing the boys by the forearms and propelling them ahead of him.

“Do we have to run? Do we have to be their enemies?” Abel looked back with longing toward the plain where the leader had reached the rocks at the bottom of the mountain.

“If you had visited his mind,” Rapha scrambled up a steep ravine, “you would know he plans to carve us into pieces.”

“That is a shame,” Cain said. “He would be so fun to tease.”

“Please tell what you said to him,” Abel begged.

“Well, alright.” Cain shot a smug smile toward his brother as he grasped a vine and heaved himself up through thick undergrowth. “I just told him I had not known the women here were so beautiful,” he paused to snicker, “with their long, gold hair and bare chests.”

As both boys burst into laughter another shriek of rage rang out from behind.

“You are not helping,” Rapha began as two long blasts from a horn again split the early-morning chill. Rapha paused to draw in the thoughts of their pursuant once more. “That was a call to outlying guards,” he ducked down and pointed toward a hill topped by trees. “Right there. We must hurry before we are surrounded.”

“What did you find out from his thoughts?” Cain whispered as he followed Rapha into a cluster of straight trunks and prickly undergrowth that buffered the noise of their passage. “Who is he?”

Rapha took a deep breath and searched their young faces. “He is your brother.”

Both boys appeared to stop breathing. They stared at Rapha with matching stunned expressions. Immediately though, Cain’s face flushed with anger while Abel turned to look back the way they had come.

A fierce baying broke out behind them followed by answering barks in the direction of the hill Rapha had pointed out. “Come. Quickly.”

For several minutes there was nothing but scrambling for hand- and footholds. On one short but sheer cliff they were again able to climb by utilizing strong vines, which Rapha then ripped from the ground and tossed over the edge. “That will at least be difficult for the dogs,” he commented before plunging up through a tight gorge of loose rock that gave way as they climbed.

Finally they came to another cliff but this time no convenient vines were in sight. “I will go first,” Rapha instructed as he began the inch-by-inch effort. “Follow my hands and feet exactly,” he said through gritted teeth as every muscle strained. There were a few complaints as rock and dirt dislodged to fall on those behind but soon Rapha was reaching a hand to assist Abel over the edge. When he reached for Cain, however, the boy ignored his outstretched hand, insisting on gaining the last few feet unassisted even though his muscles quivered as he clung, cheek pressed against the rock, veins standing out on his forehead with the effort. At last, Rapha reached under Cain’s shoulders and hauled him out of danger, though the boy shook free as soon as he was on solid ground.

As they rested, puffing and blowing to regain their breath, Rapha took note of Cain’s tight jaw and clenched hands. He also noticed when the boys’ eyes met. Cain’s narrowed and Abel’s widened in response to the unspoken communication.

Rapha broke the silence. “We have a moment to talk if you do not mind including me in your discussion.”

Cain glared at Rapha. “Why should we? You will just tell us more lies.”

“When have I lied to you?”

Cain opened his mouth to speak but Abel placed a hand on his shoulder. Another look was shared between them, then Cain turned away.

“Tell us about the prince,” Abel interjected. “Why did you say he is our brother?”

“When Lucifer deceived your father and mother in the garden, he secured Adam’s seed. From that seed he has bred this ‘Ish-el.’”

“Who is his mother?” Abel asked.

“That I cannot say but Lucifer and his followers have knowledge of how to manipulate the elements of life. Instead of Adonai’s simple plan of one man and one woman creating life out of mutual love, Lucifer toys with the seed and the egg, creating new species and undermining the stability of Adonai’s plan. It appears, with Ish-el, Lucifer joined Adam’s seed with angelic flesh. Though it may be hard to understand, my guess is that Lucifer, in his lust to create a ruler in his image, injected his own essence into Adam’s seed. In this way,
he
is Ish-el’s mother—even if the babe was implanted in a woman until birth. This boy is able to read others’ thoughts, he has grown to full maturity in half the time of other men, and his strength, height, beauty, and intelligence surpass all in his acquaintance.”

“So he is the best of angels and men? That doesn’t sound so bad.” Cain observed.

“But he is lost between those worlds. He will never fully belong to either—so, even though he conquers all, he is alone.”

“As we are.” Cain stated, “Neither of us has known our true father.”

“It matters not from whose loins you came. You have a father who loves you for more than your height and strength, a mother who taught you kindness and compassion, and a brother who understands you—a true family. All are gifts Ish-el has never been given, things he will never understand.”

Abel shut his eyes, his head cocked to one side as if listening. “You are right. He has never known a mother.”

“Perhaps that is for the best,” Cain spat the words, “love is weakness. To trust someone is to allow them to hurt you.”

Rapha stiffened as if Cain’s words were blows. “Who taught you those words? Is there something you need to tell me?”

Both boys were silent. Abel kept his gaze on the ground while Cain stared back at Rapha, eyes cold, chin lifted in defiance.

Rapha hit the issue head-on. “When did you meet Lucifer?”

“Wha… I don’t—” Cain sputtered.

“Do not lie to me. That is not what your father and mother have taught you.”

“Our father?” Cain’s face flushed with anger. “Our life has been a lie! We have been kept from our true father, the one who would make us stronger… like Ish-el.”

“Cain, lower your voice.”

“What? Are you afraid we’ll draw his attention—our
brother
?” The boy’s angry voice continued to rise in volume.