THE FALL (Rapha Chronicles #1) (The Rapha Chronicles) (3 page)

“You mock me. I can feel it. You sit on your golden throne and laugh at the morning star that grovels in the dirt like… like a creature of dust!” A moan shook Luc’s frame. “Why? Why do You delight to dishonor me? What was my superior intelligence for if not to discover Your plan? Surely You knew I could not be fooled?” A gasp of pain escaped his lips. “Surely this was Your plan all along, to lift me high in order to crush me.”

Rapha could remain silent no longer. “Never. Adonai grieves. All heaven grieves the loss of bright Lucifer.”

Luc spun, crouching low as if ready to spring, “What? Now you are Adonai’s spy; relishing my pain to perform it as a jest before His throne?”

“I came of my own accord, Lucifer,” Rapha knelt to Luc’s level. “This has gone too far. Adonai will yet forgive….”

“Forgive?” Lucifer spat in disgust, “He should ask
my
forgiveness! He spins His webs of deception while those too simple… too
cowardly—
” his accusing gaze swept Rapha, “blindly sing His praises.”

“To trust Adonai’s love is the only true wisdom…”

“Don’t quote me your brainwashed rhetoric!
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,’”
Luc’s eyes opened wide as his hands mouthed the air like puppets, “Blah, bull-ah, bull-ah! The Great Adonai’s wisdom has
failed
! He has set a course for
our
disgrace and destruction! I strive to protect you and the rest of my brothers yet
I am banished
! And you,
my friend
, stood silent.”

“I am still your friend, Luc. You are the one set on destruction. If I did not care I would not be here. Do you really think I desire burial beneath another mountain?”

Rapha caught a fleeting glimpse of humor in the poison-filled eyes as Luc shrugged with grudging admiration, “Yes. I thought we’d at least crush the fight out of you but it only buried you that much deeper in Adonai’s debt with your touching tale of rebirth.” He sneered, “Thanks to you and your
passionate
testimony of Adonai’s
love,
Phineas betrayed me. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised when Adonai has managed to turn even you against me.”

“I am not against you, but I stand with the Most High.”

“Even now you can join me, old friend,” Luc’s eyes widened. “We will prove Adonai’s error together. Perhaps with you on our side Gabriel could be influenced. We are strong, Rapha. We will break Adonai’s grip over us….”

The words continued as Rapha studied the earnest, perfect face before him. So, one-third of heaven’s hosts were not enough? How had he been so blind to Luc’s ambition? But even defeated and banished, Lucifer’s words wielded truth, appealing to their angelic fraternity, begging him not to end their ancient friendship. Rapha had been buried beneath a mountain by Lucifer’s fury yet still he felt the pull, the yearning to join the noble venture to wrest their fate once and for all from the controlling hands of Adonai.

A smile crept over Rapha’s features even as Lucifer spoke of war.

The compelling voice ceased as Lucifer realized the tension between them was gone. His eyes narrowed, “Even now Adonai whispers His lies to you. I’d recognize that vacant expression anywhere. Rapha!
You must think for yourself
!”

“I choose to be single-minded. If it does not please Adonai, I do not think it.”

“But Rapha! Brother!” Luc reached toward him with graceful hands. “Don’t you see? Perhaps this
is
Adonai’s plan. We are ready to rule but we must shake off our fear of Him. No one rules Him. To be
like
Adonai, no one can rule us!”

“
You
do not wish to rule us?”

In the split-second’s pause, Lucifer shut his eyes and a spasm of pain played across his features. The sadness in his eyes when he opened them was truly heartbreaking.

“I would…
lead
my brothers to greater glory.”

Rapha fought the sudden urge to let out an explosive “Ha!” like Michael. Instead he took a steadying breath to say, “And how would you deal with those who oppose you—uproot another mountain?”

“I
tried
to persuade you….” Lucifer began.

“Your own actions prove you are not ready to rule.” Rage flamed in Lucifer’s eyes and Rapha fought to keep his own voice steady. “Please, humble yourself. Adonai’s ways, His timing, His methods are perfect. The more you struggle against Him the more you destroy yourself!”

“Humble myself? He does not need my help to do that. I who was at Adonai’s right hand am left to grovel with filth!” A deadly resolve filled Lucifer’s face, “But I promise, though it take an eternity, one day Adonai will bow to
me
.”

The rumble started deep beneath their feet and grew closer until the cavern over their heads began to collapse.

“What, Adonai?” Lucifer shouted. “Would You, my creator, destroy your beloved? Go ahead and prove you are a selfish, vengeful God who maintains your throne by force rather than love!” His voice, Lucifer’s voice which had been able to coax the entire celestial court to glorious, perfection of song, which had been his greatest gift bestowed by his Creator, now screamed to match the deafening noise,
“Go ahead and crush me! I will never stop! You have rejected me? I. Defy. You!”

Eyes bulging, Lucifer continued to rage, taunting and ridiculing the great Creator, commanding Adonai to prove His superiority.

Soon the rumbling ceased and Lucifer laughed in triumph, “Oh, that’s right. You’re so holy and
long-suffering
. Your
righteousness
stays your hand.” He cackled with glee and strutted to place a talon grip on Rapha’s shoulders.

Lucifer’s face was hardly recognizable. The peace and confidence was replaced by hatred, and his beauty was lost beneath rage that flickered across his features like tongues of fire. Rapha stood his ground as Lucifer pulled him close to whisper. “Be assured, old friend,
I
am hampered by no such weakness.” He kissed Rapha’s cheek, then, with a burst of fire that exploded the rock around them, he vanished.

All heaven waited. Surely Lucifer’s rebellion would not go unanswered.

But the surface of the land in that ancient age resumed its cycles—life and death, bloom and fade—as heavenly order was restored, more cherished by its inhabitants than ever, even though a threat was growing in the hidden shadows. Soon, what began as inconceivable rumor became undeniable.

Lucifer and his followers were corrupting the fabric of Adonai’s creation.

Rapha stumbled upon proof of this depravity in a forest glade from which rumors had risen. Woodland creatures did not add their chatter here. He felt the void of sweet breeze carrying the scent of fertile soil and woodland blooms; this ground was wounded, tainted, diseased. Dis-ease—the word fit. The air pulsed with a reek that choked the flow of life. Never before had a locale so repulsed Rapha, yet the inner, compelling force of Adonai willed him forward through an increasing stench that rose through fissures in the earth’s scarred skin.

To Rapha, accustomed to heaven’s breath, these sensations clawed at his sanity as he probed his surroundings with senses that far outstripped the wariest prey. Never before had those senses been such a curse. Faint but piercing cries assaulted his ears, cries of such despair and agony they drove him with a gasp to his knees toward the buried pestilence that wrapped round his being like poison tentacles. Eyes shut to shield against the horror, he clung to the lifeline of Adonai, feeling a gentle, sweet infusion of strength to face what horrors lay in store.

And he had only to open his eyes to find them.

A tiny humanoid foot, no longer than his thumbnail, lay half-hidden and quivering upon a bed of decaying leaves. With a trembling hand, Rapha parted the debris and a moan escaped his ancient lips.

Though the foot was that of an embryonic manchild, the rest appeared comprised of the spare parts of other species—feline ears, primate torso, reptilian skin on its upper body while some type of fur covered the lower half that ended with one human leg and foot. But Rapha’s horror was not due to its unnatural design but rather to what had been done
to
it. One leg and arm had been removed. The rest of its body was mutilated with diabolical, exploratory precision. The miniature talons on its remaining hand were clenched so tight that blood pooled beneath the self-inflicted piercings on its palm.

Worst of all, the creature was still alive.

Rapha scooped the remains into his hands, careful to dig beneath its bed of leaves to keep the beast cushioned, and cupped it to his breast. When a large tear fell from Rapha’s cheek to steam upward from exposed organs, the creature shuddered, and its nocturnally round eyes fluttered open to hold Rapha’s gaze, twisting a barbed knife deep into the angel’s soul. He did not want to see into the creature’s mind but those large eyes held his, a gateway to horrors visited upon helplessness.

Rapha gasped in pain with the memories of ripping, of piercing, of twisted, powerful faces with no remorse for the torture they inflicted. Rage engulfed him. He knew those faces… trusted, beloved brothers whose eyes now mirrored the ruthless ambition of Lucifer.

Down, down he was pulled into the madness of the creature’s mind, choking on memories of chambers thick with death, fear, endless pain, and the poison of despair.

He wrenched his mind free and held the creature to his breast. When he felt a feeble claw clutch his chest he cried out in the language of the heavens,
“Adonai! Ah! El Dai-ine!”

How could Adonai know and yet… do nothing?

Rapha looked down through a haze of his own confusion and met that same emotion in the creature’s eyes. Their lives had been worlds apart and yet they shared this moment, the same thought… why… how?

Mercy demanded he should kill the creature, end its torture.

He could not do it. Instead, Rapha sat in the leaves, oblivious to all but the spasms of his tiny ward whose heart continued to beat even as its blood poured into his palm. His vigil continued until the creature, its large eyes probing and questioning to the very end, shuddered a last wracking breath and grew still.

Rapha remained, lost in darkness despite a persistent sun piercing the forest’s canopy.

As if from a great distance, he became aware of a roar, a sound that carried such rage and grief that all nature trembled. Slowly, Rapha realized the sound came from his own mouth opened wide in agony as he too longed to know the release of death. It was the first time a mortal end seemed welcome. It would not be the last.

“Ah. I see you found my gift.”

Rapha had been so consumed by confusion, grief, and despair, Lucifer’s arrival had gone unnoticed. His old friend was watching with an obscene, rapturous expression.

As Lucifer’s voice ripped through him, stirring old wounds and raking across new devastation, Rapha succumbed to emotion and summoned his angelic forces, who began to appear, their pure light surrounding the fallen angel who crouched on a fire-scarred hillock, staring down on Rapha’s torment with shining eyes. Except for the voice, Rapha would hardly have known him. Angelic beings do not age but Lucifer had always been a “youthful” presence, eager and teasing. Now, rather than light, his face bore deep shadows and the eager expression had been transformed to unquenchable greed. And Rapha’s pain was his feast.

The desire to erase Lucifer’s mocking smile shoved Rapha’s grief aside. How he lusted to channel his rage toward Lucifer and his followers. Visions of blasting through soil and rock to destroy every trace of death, stench and corruption were a dizzying wine. Rapha could taste revenge on his tongue… and he savored it.

But even in this moment, Adonai’s will flowed clearly into Rapha’s mind.

“This is not the hour of retribution.”

Now came the real test as Rapha faced his greatest temptation. What Lucifer deserved was clear, but what Adonai asked…. How could holiness allow this abomination to go unanswered?

Lucifer’s mocking laughter cut through Rapha’s turmoil. “Adonai demands mercy, right? But you, mighty warrior, desire justice. How long will you serve such
weakness
?” The question ended in a hiss.

Righteous fury was almost Rapha’s undoing. Never had he been more vulnerable than at that moment, longing to rip Lucifer in exactly the way the tiny creature had suffered. Then he looked down at its mangled body still cradled in his hands. The compassion that overwhelmed him, straight from Adonai’s heart, cooled the heat of revenge. The words Adonai implanted in Rapha’s consciousness made no sense, but they carried reassurance.

“This very seed will one day hasten his defeat.”

No, Rapha would not strike with physical force this day. But he could not resist goading his enemy just once. Looking up, he fixed the peace of Adonai on Lucifer like a laser, held that malicious gaze for one eternal second—and smiled. A flicker of uncertainty stirred in Lucifer’s eyes.

Rapha opened a single thought to Lucifer as he disappeared with the creature still cradled to his breast:

“You always
did
hate secrets.”