War of Wings (5 page)

BOOK: War of Wings
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He tore up more trees, his anger unabated, and he began to realize that he could feel the life drain from the trees as the roots separated from the ground. It was incredible. By severing the base of the tree from its life source, it actually died and did not grow back. The realization struck him with equal parts wonder and horror.

He could control life in his new world.

G
abriel knew the best place to cool down and get his mind off the accident. In fact it was a part of his daily routine to visit the Canyon Reef. Here, a towering, U-shaped mountainside held estates carved out for hierarch angels; they directly overlooked the shore of a private sea. The bright-neon coral reef below was easily visible through the crystal-clear water. The solid rock of the mountainside almost melted directly into the sandy beach, like they were one and the same. It was beautiful and a popular spot among angels, though today he hoped to be alone.

Gabriel peeked around a stone corner at the bottom of a wall bordering the estates. He looked around the carved columns, across the sandy beach, and out over the water. No one was in sight. He stepped out and ran his feet into the white sand. A cool breeze came in off the water as he approached the gentle surf. As he leaned over to wet his face, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Gabriel.”

He accidentally threw water up his nose. He coughed it all up, but it took way too long. Arrayah laughed quietly. She must have come around from the back side of the mountain.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to find you. I asked around and heard you like to come here.”

“Raphael was wrong back there.”

“Gabriel, listen.” Her gaze, previously so direct, was averted, and she clutched her necklace—her thumb rubbing a slow circle over the word
Humilitas.
“I know you weren’t trying to hurt me.”

There was something about her that made it difficult to breathe, and it wasn’t just the water in his throat. “Yes. I mean, no.” He let out something like a laugh and nodded. “Right. You’re right. That’s what I’ve been saying.”

Her hands dropped to her sides, and for a moment she looked lost, with her wings gently fluttering and her eyes skipping everywhere before finally landing on him. The water around them gave off a misty cloud that smelled like sweet soap.

“No, I mean, I’ve never thought it. I just have this feeling that you would never do anything to hurt me.” She took two steps, and the space between them disappeared. When he said nothing and only stared at her, she pressed on, her words tumbling out. “Not because I’m so wonderful. Just because of you, who I sense you are.”

His hand raised between them, one finger brushing her necklace. “You’re always so humble, but you have so little reason to be.” From there, it seemed natural for his hand to drift up and rest against her face—a simple, automatic gesture, but when her eyes closed and a smile claimed her face, he felt like something in his world had shifted.

“Gabriel!”

Arrayah seemed as startled as he was, and she stumbled back from him as his hand fell away. A moment after Michael’s voice tore through the air, they were buffeted by the downdraft of his massive wings as he descended beside them. Michael pushed Gabriel back with one hand. “It’s bad enough you’re turning your back on the job God has set aside for you in the future. Now you’re leaving your post, destroying buildings, endangering other angels—what were you thinking?”

Anger surged up in Gabriel, and he shoved Michael away from him, hard. “Back off and calm down, Michael.”

“Oh, I’m calm. And although I know God doesn’t make mistakes, He must see something that I don’t. I thought you’d come around, but obviously I was wrong.”

Arrayah raised a hand, her voice quiet. “Excuse me, I know you mean well, but you don’t know the whole story.”

Michael turned to see Arrayah’s face, and an awkward pause followed. Gabriel eventually felt it had to be broken. “Michael.”

He was still frozen, just looking at her.

“Michael, have you met Arrayah before?”

Michael’s gaze jerked back to Gabriel. “Arrayah? This is the virtue angel you nearly crushed?”

Gabriel, counting inwardly to ten, had forced his fists to unclench from his sides. He pushed down the things he wanted to shout at Michael, instead preparing to describe, evenly and precisely, what had happened at the community building’s unveiling.

“Yes, but that was an accident.”

Arrayah looked over to Michael in confirmation. “It really was. He would never hurt me.”

Michael paused awkwardly again. He looked at the two of them like he didn’t know how to speak. Finally he said to Arrayah, “What is a virtue doing hanging around an archangel anyway? Are you going to wait around the mountainside until he drops a boulder on you?”

Gabriel drew his sword.

Michael’s weapon cleared its sheath a second later, and Gabriel swung a downward blow, the blades locking with a clash of steel that echoed across the beach. There was no real power behind the attack—despite the lack of warning, Gabriel was holding back. For a moment, they simply looked at each other between the crossed swords. Gabriel took a step away. Arrayah moved all the way off the beach to the grass behind it. Michael was wearing a loose robe over his tunic, and Gabriel waited as he drew it off and tossed it aside. Michael raised his sword, and they began to circle.

“You really are a terrible brother, Michael.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Gabriel said. “Maybe fighting is all I’m good at.” Arrayah stood on the periphery, looking from one to the other. She fidgeted uncomfortably and seemed to be looking for an escape.

“I never said that. In fact, I never said you were all that good at fighting.” Michael swung his sword in a lazy arc. He executed a high slice, easily parried.

“You don’t have to say it, I can tell by the defeat on your face every time we spar.” He noticed Arrayah slowly creeping away. “Wait.” Gabriel tried to pause for Arrayah, but Michael lunged aggressively. He couldn’t ignore him.

“I’ve waited long enough for you to come around, Gabriel. You’re hopeless these days.”

Gabriel shifted toward Michael with a swift counterattack and sent him backward two steps. Michael blocked, attacked, countered again. Their swords moved in technical precision, but casually, like a dance in which both knew the steps by heart.

“You’re losing confidence in this vision of yours then?” Gabriel said.

“No. Only losing confidence in you.”

Gabriel threw his sword into the sand. It stuck in the ground inches from Michael’s toes. He looked over to the grass, but Arrayah was gone.

“Nice job, Michael! She left! Is this why you came here? What do you want from me?” Gabriel started to walk up the shore, looking around for her.

“It’s time for you to wake up. It’s been time. I can’t do everything for you anymore, and things are about to change drastically in Heaven.”

“Here we go again. Leave me alone; I’m going to find Arrayah.”

“You shouldn’t be spending time with that virtue!”

Gabriel turned and stepped directly up to Michael. “And why is that, O war leader?”

Michael shook his head. He was holding something back Gabriel knew. What was it?

“Do whatever you want, Gabriel. I know what God showed me. It’s coming whether you are ready or not. I can’t help you if you don’t want to help yourself. Just trust me, and stay away from that virtue.” Michael turned the opposite direction and walked four heavy steps before he spread his wings to take off.

Gabriel felt lightheaded. The massive draft of wind from the angry downstroke of Michael’s wings almost knocked him over. What did Michael know?

L
ucifer spent the next two days taking his years of pent-up jealousy and anger toward God and letting it out on this new environment. He had decided to name this world Terra, after her. It was his to name, after all. The dense area of trees was now a barren wasteland. Every animal within a hundred miles was gone. It was good they ran. If trees could be separated from their life source, perhaps animals could too. Lucifer was almost ready to find out.

He felt as if he were discovering a newly found gift that God was keeping from everyone. When Lucifer destroyed the trees and other plants, he could feel the subtle energy they gave off before the life inside them was gone. Some clung on more tightly than others, and he could feel the fight inside them. They could struggle all they wanted, but they weren’t in control. He was. He respected the ones that fought harder. If the roles were reversed, he would fight the hardest. He knew that.

Lucifer felt powerful and he felt a great deal of rage, but he also felt thoughtful, as if a part of him was watching everything that happened with cold detachment. He took careful notes of his thought processes on the rock and in the sand beneath the plush green. He named his new power wrath, and the third of the seven deadly sins was formed.

The second sin he had discovered, envy, was formed toward God not too long before this rampage, and Lucifer quickly realized it was all throughout Heaven. He took pleasure in this feeling because it gave him a sense of power. It gave him the fuel he needed. It fed his drive to get even. He knew envy was something many angels felt toward him, but it had never been defined. He knew they envied his position in the ranks, and he would use that to his advantage.

The most powerful of all the sins was discovered first. Pride. Without pride, he would have succumbed to God. He loved that he hadn’t. Lucifer kept track of these sins as he discovered them. They were like precious jewels. He realized quickly, without shame, that there was power in each of them. He was the only one who truly had a hold of who he was. He knew himself and he knew other angels. He knew their deepest desires that had never been spoken of. They were subtly expressed, but in almost every being in Heaven, Lucifer had glimpsed those traits, and he meant to bring them all out.

The heavenly virtues that God held dear helped guide Lucifer to their polar opposites. God was well-known for his virtues—chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility—and Lucifer was intent on discovering the antivirtues that were the exact opposites of these. Why was there more power in wrath than patience? Why was envy a stronger motivator than kindness? The opposite of humility gave him pride. The opposite of charity gave him greed. He felt proud of them and wasn’t done searching for more.

He wanted to find the coldest place on this new formation and rid himself of God’s warm, bright influence so he could think. He went into the mountains as far north as there was land and dug his way as deep as he could go. He spent much time traveling across the solid land mass and discovered countless places that attracted him with their wild, hostile forms. Lucifer found glacier caves that suited his needs perfectly—deep in the ice on the northern side.

As he discovered the answers he was seeking within his antivirtues, he realized not only who he was but also the truth of everything in the cosmos. Now he alone had discovered the physical realities that made up the universe. With everything he learned, it pushed him further away from his faith in God. He saw imperfections on Terra. The fact he could control life made him realize God wasn’t the only powerful one. His reason and his faith contradicted each other. He began to despise warmth and light and instead yearned for cold and dark. He found comfort in it.

It was time for a change. He devised a plan to make the change a reality amongst the vast corridors of Heaven.

Time came and went. Lucifer had stopped keeping track of it. One day, he saw Saraquel hiding. He was crouched behind a hill of snow, but Lucifer recognized his stringy black hair sticking out.

“Saraquel.”

The black hair disappeared behind the hill.

“Saraquel, I saw you.”

“Forgive me, Lucifer!”

“Why are you hiding?”

“I am amazed at your power. I couldn’t turn away. You told me to find you.”

Lucifer reached out his hand as he approached, and Saraquel began to bow.

“No longer bow your head to me. You will become my brother this day if you will accept what I have to say.” Saraquel’s eyes grew wide, and his mouth dropped slightly. It was a moment or two before he could speak.

“Of course, Lucifer. Please tell me what you would like from me.”

“I want nothing from you except for you to make your own decisions based on the knowledge I am about to give you.”

“Yes, sir. I can do that.” They began to walk across the snow, and Saraquel fell into step beside him.

“Let me ask you some questions, and I want you to answer as honestly as possible. The throne that you had built for me, by what means did you construct it?” Lucifer asked.

“Well, I had my angels work on it for me—in your honor, of course.”

“And they followed your commands because you are an archangel and their leader, correct?”

“Yes. They were eager to serve you as well.” Saraquel twisted his hands together.

“You had them build this for me. Why?”

“Because you asked me to.”

“Why would you listen to me?”

Saraquel paused. He began shaking slightly in confusion. Finally he answered, “Because you are the highest cherubim and it brings me great joy to serve you. Was I not supposed to, your highness?”

“Yes, of course, you were, because of the order of things between the angels and the tiers of power. I am above you.”

“Your virtues surpass ours, and there is no shame in praising you.”

“Thank you, but who truly says that is how it has to be?”

“God does. I am as God made me, and that is how it should be. We all have our roles to play. I live to worship Him as my unique self and in my unique way.”

“What if I told you that you could be a throne, a seraph, or even take my place as the highest cherubim right now? Would you take it?”

Saraquel visibly hesitated, like it was a trick. “God made me who I am. I am content.”

“I am your friend, Saraquel.” Lucifer felt nauseous at his own words, but if his plan was to work, he would need support. It might as well begin with this pitiful angel. “You are in a safe place. I see the desires in your heart, and they are more than you say. Does it not sound intriguing to be more than God has made you?”

Saraquel looked away. “I am an archangel, that is all I will ever be.”

“That is all you will ever be according to God.” Lucifer waited until his gaze came back and forced a smile. “I say you can be more than that.”

“But God made the classes of all angels. He wouldn’t let you change that.”

“What if I told you the rules were arbitrary, that His rules are based on His deceit?”

“I wouldn’t believe you. God loves us. Why would He lie?”

“He doesn’t love us,” answered Lucifer calmly. “He uses us and lies to us. Look at who is on top. Who sits on a throne while you take orders in Heaven?”

“But He created us.”

“That is what He would have us believe. Let me ask you this. How does a tree or a plant grow and bear fruit? Where does it originate?”

Saraquel answered quickly. “It starts as a seed. Then it grows until it can bear fruit.”

“What if I told you that I have a tree that never started as a seed? What if I told you it just always existed?”

Saraquel squinted his eyes and took his time with his answer. “That would not make sense.”

“Yet that is how God explains Himself. He claims to be the only One that never had a beginning: a tree but never a seed.”

Saraquel stood silent. Lucifer could sense his heart beating fast and his mind racing wildly. He almost had him. “I know how you feel. I too was disappointed when I first accepted this truth. But the disappointment will soon pass. These are hard questions, and I do not know all the answers either. But I do wonder why God has one set of rules for Him and another for us, yet we were supposedly made in His image. If you figure it out, will you let me know? I believe the glory of God can only be magnified by our understanding of His great design.”

“He tells us to have faith in Him, so that is what I do.”

Lucifer’s eyes lit up with energy. “Think of what you just said. How do you fool the masses into believing something? You make them believe in you. Then you tell them what to do and they do it. What if God has done that to us?”

“That is impossible.”

“Is it?” Lucifer saw on Saraquel’s face that he was teetering on the brink. “God speaks of the importance of wisdom. Why then does reality contradict His very teachings?”

“I don’t know.”

“I know you don’t because no one can answer that. And the only one who claims He has an answer says He had no beginning. But I asked Him personally. He simply says, ‘Have faith.’ Well, no thanks. Not anymore. I encourage you to think for yourself. Don’t let Him do it for you. It’s time for a change in thinking. And that time is now.”

BOOK: War of Wings
12.88Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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