Unholy Empire: Chronicles of the Host, Vol 2: Chronicles of the Host, Book 2 (2 page)

“Since we lost our home in Heaven we have become an island of truth in exile. Hear me! Our movement represents the only hope of truth’s progress. The Most High will never change and why should He? So long as He monopolizes and dictates truth on His own terms, there will never be hope for more sophisticated thought in the universe. I tried to introduce this to the Host, but they are so rotten with the old teachings that they are blind to anything refreshing. We tried to create within the Kingdom a wonderful opportunity for change, from which all angels would have benefited. I freely admit I underestimated the loyalty of the Host, but having taken a full third of the Host with us, I believe we made quite a good showing of it.”

Pellecus stood to speak. “We struck a terrific blow in Eden by tying A’dam in with us very neatly. I’m sure it stung the Lord’s pride to see His precious man betray Him openly.”

“A’dam
did
have a little help,” said Rugio, looking at Lucifer and grinning. Everyone laughed.

Lucifer held his hands up to stop the noise. “Nevertheless, A’dam made the choice of his own accord. I was astonished at how easily he gave in. Eve thought she was doing well by her husband. But A’dam—he disobeyed without cause.”

“Yes, and the humans’ disobedience was the key to everything—and still is,” said Pellecus, who had debated this very point in Heaven with much vigor. “Now the Lord faces the unpleasant task of making the humans liable for the same basic crimes of which we are accused. Will He be just in punishing the one and not the other? Quite a gratifying dilemma!”

“But he
did
decree punishment upon the humans,” chimed in Tinius, the former Keeper of the Holy Annals, whose position once gave him access to most of the recorded history in the Kingdom. “They were exiled from Eden just as we are exiled from the Kingdom. The ground is cursed because of them. And children, as we have seen recently, come only with great pain.”

“And don’t forget,” chimed in Lenaes, an Angel of Light, “that the sentence of death rests upon them as well!”

“All of these things I am quite aware of,” chided Lucifer, whose response silenced the council. He looked over the angels with disdain. “You are all quite eager in your counsel now that the judgment is pronounced. I was
there
, remember? I also received a judgment—a curse which all of you bear as well.”

“The Seed of the woman,” several of the group muttered quietly.

“Yes, the Seed. The Seed,” repeated Lucifer, whose rage was apparent. “The accursed Seed of the woman prophesies our destruction.” He was much louder now, almost screaming. “I have no care for A’dam and Eve leaving Eden! Nor do I care that A’dam must work the ground in sweaty frustration. Nor do I care that Eve has already born two sons in bloody pain. All that concerns me is the Seed and how to destroy it!”

Lucifer regained control of himself and spoke much more quietly. “And the Seed is why we are met today. Though a child of Eve portents our destruction, it is in the child’s destruction that we may yet find our deliverance.”

Lucifer continued the briefing. “I have worked alongside Rugio to divide our angels into principalities and powers, legions and troops. There can be no mistake as to our intentions, nor to our standing in this cursed world.”

He gestured to their gloomy surroundings, a huge subterranean cavity deep below where Eden once commanded the attention of the universe. “It certainly lacks cheeriness, hmm? Nevertheless, though many of you hate it here, I prefer the seclusion of this cavern. The reason I called you here is to motivate you in your tasks. For unless we overcome the Most Holy One, ours is a dark, bleak future indeed! Much like this dreadful place.”

As he finished these words a large drop of water fell to a dark pool, the sound echoing through the chamber. Lucifer snickered at the well-placed timing of the droplet. “This place reminds us that time is against us—drop by drop we inexorably await our doom.”

“Pellecus will now summarize our situation both here and in Heaven. Following his report I will give instruction as to specifics in the strategy of this war. We will conclude with the adoption of this most holy covenant. You will treat Pellecus and Rugio as if they speak with my voice,” said Lucifer, motioning to Pellecus to begin. “For indeed they do.”

“Thank you, my lord,” said Pellecus, taking his place in the center of the circle. “And might I add that if we do not speak with one voice in this undertaking, we shall not speak with any substance. We must remain united in this effort.”

The demons nodded in agreement, looking to Pellecus, their supreme leader in matters of wisdom and philosophy. Pellecus had come to be Lucifer’s chief spokesperson, passing down pertinent information through the levels of leadership that had recently been created. He also was considered the expert in all issues of doctrine and teaching, the caretaker of the True Teachings that had been compromised by those angels still occupying the Kingdom in the name of the Most High God.

Pellecus masterfully outlined the current position that the once holy angels now found themselves in. He fostered no lofty illusions, as their predicament was a precarious one that required utmost care and resolve. Step by step, he recounted how Lucifer had legitimately attempted to be named the steward of the now cursed planet; how the Council of Elders had put forth his name in nomination; how their efforts were subverted by a particular group of pandering angels; how the Host had been won to the other side; how they were subsequently betrayed, as were all angels, when the stewardship was handed over to A’dam; how they were unlawfully forced out of Heaven; how A’dam had proved unworthy and handed the authority of the planet over to them; and finally, how their greatest challenge lay not in battling angels for control of Heaven, but in compromising the woman’s Seed and denying the fulfillment of the prophecy.

“Excellent summation,” said Lucifer, as Pellecus took his seat once more in the council. “I am astonished that with such incredible talent on our side we are the ones who find ourselves convening in a dreary cave!”

The room exploded in laughter.

“Pellecus is quite right, however,” continued Lucifer. “The Seed must never be allowed the chance to prosper. That point cannot be argued.”

“So how do we stop it?” asked Tinius. “How do you stop something that the Lord Himself has prophesied? Why can’t Rugio simply kill Eve and her brood and be done with it?”

A few of the angels affirmed the suggestion. Lucifer shot a knowing glance at Rugio, who stood to speak.

“As you are aware,” began the warrior who had once commanded one of the most prominent legions in Heaven, “the thought of destroying the humans has already occurred to us. I sent my greatest angels—so that you might not soil your hands, Tinius.” The assembly laughed at Tinius’s expense. “But we cannot overcome them. We can only harass them—agitate them. Approach but not really touch them.”

“Then what good are our warriors?” asked Tinius. “What good are principalities and powers that cannot exert force? Is there no way to defeat these creatures?” Tinius was beginning to make Rugio angry, but he maintained control. “Before Eden they were protected by God’s presence. What protects them now that His presence has deserted them?” Rugio looked to Lucifer, who smiled and took over the conversation.

“We can overcome them, Tinius, provided they allow us entrance into or control of their minds,” Lucifer said.

“That they allow entrance? You think they will ever trust us again?” asked an exasperated Tinius. He threw up his hands and shook his head in disbelief.

Lucifer looked directly at Tinius. “Trust is something you must win, Tinius—it is rarely offered. Will they ever trust a serpent again? I doubt it. They are acutely sensitive to their predicament right now. They still live in the shadow and sting of their disobedience. They have a very healthy fear of the Most High because they know they are guilty. That is why I said the battle is in the minds of men.” He now addressed the group. “So long as the humans remain vigilant and closed to our purposes they are reasonably safe. We can only suggest, tempt, and compel. Even harass and frighten. But we cannot actually touch them without their consent—whether that consent is through ignorance or invitation.”

“Then how can we possibly win?” Tinius blustered. “They are on their guard. If they know that we can be kept at a distance, then how can they be destroyed?”

“You just gave the answer, Tinius,” said Lucifer. “
If
they know. They
don’t
know. That is the key. Again I say that the only reason A’dam and Eve are resistant to our ability to completely destroy them is that they are still living in the wake of the catastrophe in Eden. They are guilt-ridden and ashamed. Guilt and shame are wonderful weapons. But while the wounds they inflict are fresh they can cause a human to remain alert, even remorseful. A’dam and Eve’s wounds are fresh and so is their wariness of disregarding the Lord.”

Lucifer rubbed his hands along the moist cavern wall. “You see the water dripping constantly along this wall? It will continue to be moist long after A’dam and Eve are dust.” He smiled at the group. “Never fear. Time is on our side. And just as A’dam has already forgotten the covenant he made with the Lord and with his wife, so will the humans ultimately grow lax in their fear of God. And we’ll settle the score with their children.”

“What our prince is trying to tell you,” continued Pellecus from the opposite side of the circle, “is that ignorance of the Most High is our greatest resource. As humans lose their interest in the living God, or seek to worship Him in misdirected ways, they can be managed and destroyed.”

“So then our task is to keep their eyes off the Most High?” offered Tinius.

“No, my dear Tinius,” responded Lucifer. “Our task is to keep their eyes on something else. The Most High will always be a presence in their hearts. He willed it so when He created them in His image. But that image has been tainted since Eden. Our task is to compromise the intuitive hunger for relationship with the Father through earthly, carnal, sensual means.”

He walked around the circle, his eyes boring into each face. “A’dam and Eve are lost to us. The death sentence is already upon them—so be it. Let them return to the foul dust from which they were created. They pose no real threat to us themselves. It is the children who pose the threat. And their children afterwards. And on and on, until one day the Seed becomes a reality.” A chill went through the room at the thought of the prophecy coming alive. “Pellecus?”

“And so brothers,” continued Pellecus, “our task is to taint the Seed, just as everything else in this fallen world has been tainted. We will confuse the promise with carnal teachings and imaginations and fear. One thing about humans is very apparent. They have an insatiable need to make things right. To feel that all is not lost. They live on hope.

“Witness poor Eve in her guilt, which we are fanning most successfully with relentless accusation. But her grief teaches us a very important human attitude: the need for community—to be a part of something that makes sense, something greater than oneself; to be made whole again, as it were. And so we shall provide the means for humans to connect with something greater than themselves.” He grinned and made a sweeping gesture to all present. “We shall provide them something god-like.” He glanced at Lucifer, who spoke up.

“Think of it,” Lucifer said, purring his vision to the room. “All of you will become like gods to the humans! They will one day bow to you, sing praises to you, build temples to you. You will manipulate simple elements like fire and create the illusion of power, making these beasts believe that the power resides from within. Vel, you always saw yourself as a warrior god! Tinius, imagine great images built in your honor! You will all speak through these human cattle as oracles and guide the destiny of nations through the prophets of the earthly gods that you shall become!”

The room filled with a charge of excitement as the disgraced angels saw themselves exalted to the rank of an earthly deity. Lucifer continued. “Why should generations of humans hence worship an invisible God in the stars when the gods of earth are readily accessible and responsive to their needs? When they ask, ‘Where is God?’ we shall provide the answer.”

Lucifer took the scroll from one of the angels. “Mark me,” he said, pointing the scroll at the angels. “The humans will need a God who has not turned His back on them. We will exploit that human need for the Most High. We shall supply to the humans ample gods who will fill that void.” He looked up toward the cavernous ceiling, almost whispering now, “And we shall so thoroughly corrupt the children of A’dam and Eve that nothing holy will ever come of it.”

He unrolled the scroll. “And the Seed of the woman will die in the unholy and unnatural ground in which it will find itself.” Snickering at the delicious thought of it all, he said, “Can you imagine something holy being born in a world so profane?”

A rumbling from deep within the earth echoed again through the room, adding to the drama of the occasion. Lucifer lay the scroll in the center of the circle. A bright light emanated from his person, casting an incredible light in the room as he read:

Our place and position in the Kingdom has been subverted by those who would perpetuate an ancient and rotting system;

And we, who hold to the True Way, have been evacuated from the Kingdom unless or until the day of our restoration;

And we recognize that our Enemy is subtle and determined in His resolve to deny us our place in the universe;

And our Enemy is determined to destroy us by the Seed of His creation through prophetic appointment;

And we are likewise determined not to succumb to anything that smacks of humans and their Seed.

Be it resolved henceforth and forevermore

That we, the true loyalists and upholders of the Way, covenant together that we shall never cease from our labors in warring with the flesh, the Seed, and the spirit; the Flesh being all that is derived from A’dam and his kind; and the spirit being all that holds to Him to whom we once held allegiance.