Enmity

by Paul J Fowler

  “You cannot keep us out for long,” Adam said to the creature. “The Holy Host has been here. You have no victory today. The Nephilim children of your Prince have been slain outside your city walls.”

  “Minor setbacks,” The Fallen spoke, his tone both haunting and majestic. “The Watchers will prevail over you. Our plans are deep, Our resources strong. You cannot hope to prevail over the ancient ones. Our Master is resolute!”

  Seth was slowly circling the ring of columns. The columns themselves were not entirely uniform, each one about twice Seth’s height, a mix of rough stone accentuated by sections of inlaid metal, finely polished. Probing every opening with the end of his javelin, as suspected, the invisible wall the Fallen summoned was impenetrable. Seth nodded to his father, indicating he could find no opening. The workmanship of the circle was excellent. Seth could now see arcane shapes and symbols carved on the smooth circular floor of the shrine. A beautifully constructed tile walkway connected the arcane circle to the palace steps across the yard.

  Both men held no desire to stay within the stronghold any longer than necessary. The skies over the fortress continued to shift between dark and light, their struggle against each other continuing. There were no more Fallen or Nephilim to be seen, but no holy angels were observed either.

  Adam’s eyes returned to the creatures chained to the northern wall. When the gray gave way to sunlight, even at a distance, their forms became clearer. An immense winged reptile, an eagle head and wings atop the body of a lion, a giant with a goat’s head and cloven hooves. The bodies of dead humans were scattered throughout the grounds and upper levels of the Stronghold.

  “What sins have you committed here?” Adam mused aloud. The Fallen remained silent.

  Adam tapped the stone column with his war hammer. Adam then observed the Fallen glance nervously across the courtyard. The creature’s gaze would move several places and then return to the doorway, but he never looked at Adam’s face. Adam nodded to Seth and pointed to the door frame in the rock face, across the courtyard. Seth walked across the yard and positioned himself fifteen paces before the doorway. His club was in his left hand. He inserted the end of his javelin in the earth and drew a sword with his right hand.

  “I surmise you are not so clever, certainly not as clever as you believe yourself to be. Pride comes before a fall,” Adam said with a smile as he began tapping his hammer against a stone column that had taken his interest. “But you already know that, don’t you?”

  Adam believed they could have broken the invisible barrier with prayer alone. But the evil that saturated the stronghold would have made the process time-consuming. Instead, Adam decided to damage the high place itself. Visually appraising the column, Adam now listened intently to the acoustic reports each tap made. Adam’s active mind used his remarkable auditory and visual senses to determine the place where he could damage the integrity of the column with the least effort. Adam ran his hand along the stone column several times, then settled on a spot near the base of the upright stone where the polished metal overlay ended, and an unfinished stone section began.

  “Look at me, Fallen!” Adam commanded. “Look at my face!”

  The Fallen groaned, rose from his knees, and with great effort, looked at Adam.

  “Whose face do you see?” Adam asked, his voice full of strength.

  The Fallen cursed aloud and looked away.

  “Whose image do you see?” Adam said, laughing aloud. “Look hard! Have you forgotten the face of Him who cast you out?”

  The Fallen screamed as if in pain, now losing control, his expression showing rage and agitation.

  “He commanded us to serve you – the audacity of Him, you pitiful ants, should worship us!” The Fallen screamed in rage, condescension oozing from his face. “How dare He cast us to earth...We will eat the flesh off your bones. Your whores will birth our children...”

  “Lord rebuke you! Silence!” Adam commanded. He wanted to enrage the once-divine being, and he was given evidence he was succeeding.

  The Fallen’s entire stiffened suddenly, his head twitched and spasmed several times. The movement stopped, and he now stood in the center of the shrine. He looked away from Adam, his body still, only his wings moving slightly.

  Adam looked at his hammer, he regretted using such an excellent piece of workmanship on such an industrial task. His eyes saw a pile of stone close to the wall a few paces away.

  “Ah, much better,” Adam said aloud to no one in particular.

  Adam found a large cut stone in the pile of rubble. It was just less than the weight of a grown man. Adam hefted it with ease, and with a smile of satisfaction, returned to the circle.

  The Fallen was now levitating again, a man’s height off the ground, speaking under his breath in a tongue unknown to men. He was growing in both size and mass. The wound in his abdomen had closed. Anger was radiating from the fallen angel like waves of heat from a bonfire. Even his hair was now floating as if it had a life of its own. The angel drew a long, wicked-looking knife from his belt. The Fallen’s head was moving in nervous ticks, his handsome face contorted with malice. His eyes shifted between Adam, Seth, and the doorway in rapid succession. His frenetic expressions evidenced his growing, rage-induced, madness.

  “I’m going breach this unholy circle,” Adam calmly informed the Fallen. “And when I do, my son is going to kill you,”

  Adam launched the boulder at the base of the column. The rock struck the very spot Adam intended. The pillar did not move. But after a moment, Adam heard the column crack within. A distinct, low-pitched rumble was heard.

  “The Lord is my Rock, whom shall I fear?” Adam said as he hefted the rock again.

  Crash!

  Cracks were now appearing in the column.

  The Fallen was unhinged. Floating within the circle, the dark angel was now throbbing with demonic energy. Small wisps of flame were flickering around his wings.

  Adam hefted the cut stone again with ease. Adam looked at Seth and nodded.

  Seth had been watching from his position, stretching his limbs and praying as was his habit. Club in the left hand, sword in the right, he was limber and ready.

  Adam launched the cut stone at the weakened column. He heard the impact and saw the cracks multiply in the length of the tall pillar. Adam was contemplating picking up the boulder a fourth time when the world exploded before him...

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Thrones of the Watchers

  Seth saw Adam lift the stone a third time and hurl it into the column. After a moment, he heard a strange popping sound and instinctively shielded his eyes with his forearm. Suddenly Seth felt a shock wave pass over him. When he dropped his forearm, he looked for Adam but could not see him. Three of the six stone columns were knocked down, two were awry, only one remained perfectly upright.

  And then Seth saw the flaming, winged figure hurtling towards him. The force released when the magic circle was broken was more significant than either Adam or Seth expected. Timing was critical, and Seth had just lost a few seconds as he recovered himself. The Fallen had summoned every available vestige of his demonic energy to overwhelm him and gain access to the doorway in the cliff face. Now the Earthbound was larger, faster, and stronger than when Seth faced him in the Lower Fields below Salem.

  But Seth had centuries of battle experience to draw upon. The Fallen was almost upon him, and Seth felt his instincts taking over. Seth faked a movement towards his left, then pivoted to his right. The flaming angelic figure moved to his left as expected. As Seth turned to his right, his enemy’s body was too far away to strike with his sword.

  But not his wings.

  Seth sheared off the angel’s top left-wing at the middle joint. Part of the middle section of his wing was cut off as well.

  Seth pivoted to watch the angel, his aerial integrity impaired, spin in a corkscrew fashion over and
over before crashing into the dirt. The Fallen’s body, a blur of wings and flames, plowed a channel through the earth before his momentum stopped.

  In a moment, Seth was upon him. Before the angel could fully take his feet, Seth’s war club struck the angel across the face. The Fallen cursed and spit globs of black blood from his mouth. Seth leaped back to avoid being grabbed, then jumped forward again to attack low. Twice, Seth’s club struck the Fallen’s right knee joint.

  Screaming in pain and anger, the Earthbound took his full height. He now towered over Seth. His black eyes were utterly divorced from sanity and overflowing with rage. Seth had seen Earthbound Fallen engorge themselves with demonic energy before, usually at the expense of reason. Their condescension and arrogance towards humanity was the fuel for their anger.

  Seth smiled.

  Adam says conceit comes before a stumble...

  Seth took a step back, hopeful of inviting an attack. He was not disappointed.

  Struck by Seth’s war club at least three times, the Fallen was fixated on cutting the weapon from Seth’s grasp. He switched his long knife to his left hand. The angel rushed forward, attempting to get within Seth’s guard and slash Seth’s forearm.

  Seth gave ground again. Though empowered with demonic energy, the Fallen had crippling injuries to its wings and knee. Seth was simply faster and smarter than his enraged opponent and was meticulously drawing him into a position to deliver the final blow. Adam’s son caught the angel’s blade with his club when the angel’s arm was fully extended, pushing it to his left. Stepping forward, Seth brought his sword down swiftly and cut off the Fallen’s left hand at the wrist.

  The wound did not bleed.

  The Fallen looked at his stump in disbelief.

  Seth’s sword was already low from the previous strike. Seth moved inward towards his opponent and cut across the monster’s abdomen with another vicious sweep of his razor-sharp blade.

  The winged angel slumped to his knees, whimpering in an inhuman tongue. Seth kicked downward with all his strength, driving his right heel into the Fallen’s jaw. Beaten, the shattered creature crumpled face-down in the earth. Seth slung his club over his shoulder and prepared to take the Fallen’s head.

  Adam appeared at his side.

  “Wait,” Adam stated urgently.

  Adam saw the cracks in the stone column multiply. His third strike against the column was flawlessly accurate. He briefly thought of picking up the cut stone again when he felt himself flying backward. He saw a white blur and then found himself staring at the sky.

  Adam was in pain but quickly sensed nothing was broken. He tried to rise but could not. He expected a shock-wave when he breached the circle, but he did not expect there to be that much power released.

  The Fallen draws upon the energy of this unclean place...

  Adam was angry at himself for not anticipating the force of the invisible barrier as it was broken. His thoughts raced to Seth as he forced himself to rise. The henge was in ruins. He quickly located the Fallen and Seth fighting across the courtyard. As expected, the Fallen was not fleeing, as it easily could have. Adam believed the doorway was the Fallen’s last hope. The stronghold had been visited by the Host of God. But the scope of their efforts remained unclear.

  Adam raced to join Seth. Though the dark angel had increased himself in size and power, Adam watched with pride as his Son methodically took the Fallen to the earth.

  My brave Seth...

  “Wait!” Adam stated.

  Seth stepped back, relieved to see his father whole. Adam prodded the Fallen with his war hammer, pushing him over with his foot so he could see his face.

  “What is his name?” Adam demanded. “Your Prince – speak his name! Who sits on the Twelfth Throne?”

  The Fallen coughed up blood and spittle and spoke incoherently. He had returned to his original size.

  “Lord rebuke you, Fallen!” Adam thundered. “Speak his name!”

  At that moment, there was rumbling within the stronghold. Part of the palace collapsed upon itself with a crash. The ground itself shook for a moment.

  The Fallen began laughing hysterically and suddenly burst into flames. Adam and Seth, both startled, stepped back amazed. The creature then shot towards the cliff face at terrific and unnatural speed. It neither flew nor walked but ambled like an animal on its stump, wings, hand, and knees, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.

  Seth located his javelin a few paces away, still upright in the ground. As Seth retrieved his weapon, the Fallen had reached the doorframe and became upright. Seth was only twenty-five paces away and could see, even through the flames, the wicked glee on the creature’s face as it pressed its right hand against a section of the door.

  Seth drew back his arm.

  You will not escape us!

  The door turned from gray to black, though Seth saw no movement of anything resembling a sliding door or gate mechanism.

  Then the Fallen disappeared within the blackness of the door frame.

  Seth aimed at where the Fallen last stood and hurled the javelin with all his strength. His weapon sailed across the courtyard and disappeared within the inky blackness of the door frame. Seth ran towards the doorway and thought he heard a cry of pain from within the darkness.

  “Seth, wait!” Adam called out.

  Seth was usually cautious, but the zeal to finish his enemy overwhelmed him. Seth pushed against the blackness within the frame of the door and was surprised to see his arm completely disappear into the darkness.

  An image swiftly came to Seth’s mind. Little Enoch standing before his elders in Adam’s council and speaking to them as equals. He remembered Ahavva’s hand in his, and their brave twins sitting behind them. Thoughts of his home gave him clarity, Ahavva’s face gave him peace. Seth looked back to Adam, a few paces behind him.

  “Enoch said pursue!” Seth shouted back to Adam, grabbed a torch from the holder, and then instantly disappeared into the darkness

  In the utter blackness, Seth felt as though he was sliding down a hill. He felt the wind in his face and knew the temperature had just dropped significantly. Seth felt himself rushing towards a flat, circle of light suspended within the darkness. As he drew closer, Seth saw another doorframe placed at the edge of the ring, a winged figure standing near it. Seth was propelled through the doorframe and suddenly felt his feet beneath him, he was now standing at the edge of the circle itself. The round platform was quite large and seemed to generate its own light.

  Seth looked over his shoulder and saw what seemed to be the reverse side of the same doorframe that was in the cliff wall. Sunlight flickered through the doorframe interspersed with misty darkness. Seth had been in the nests of fallen angels before and knew things were not always what they seemed; his eyes were not to be wholly trusted.

  The doorframe was slightly elevated on the disc, framed with a series of stone columns. Stone steps descended to the base of the disc itself. The landing served as an odd foyer to this mysterious chamber, its utilitarian human design in contrast to the mysterious nature of the room. Seth could not define any material walls, beyond the circumference of the disc was only darkness.

  Seth saw the Fallen before him. His javelin had found its mark. The weapon had entered its back and emerged through his chest. The dark angel was barely able to move and seemed oblivious to Seth, his black eyes looking past him. It was reaching towards the doorway with great effort, stretching out as far as it could. Seth realized his eyes were fixed on a section of ornate symbols carved within the stone frame about chest height.

  Seth dropped the torch and moved forward to intercept his enemy.

  “No!” Seth cried out. He viciously kicked the Fallen in the abdomen with his right foot, driving the angel away from the doorframe.

  Seth deduced that the symbol must be the mechanism to open and close the door. Seth rightly fear
ed being caught within their nest. A single touch and Seth may have been trapped there forever. Seth silently thanked God for the skill of the workman who crafted his javelins. Had Seth hesitated or missed his target, the Earthbound would have closed this doorway. Enoch’s words had served him well, their enemy would not escape them.

  Time to end this...

  “Trespasser - I told you I would find you!” Seth growled angrily as he kicked the Fallen again, driving him further from the door.

  Seth pulled his war club from his shoulder and struck the Fallen on the temple with all his might. The impact of the blow echoed in the mysterious chamber. The Fallen reeled backward but stubbornly refused to die. Seth struck him twice more, each blow alone sufficient to kill a mortal man. Seth dropped his club and drew a sword from his back.

  Seth saw Adam appear in the doorframe behind him as he closed upon the Fallen. Seth grabbed the shaft of the javelin that protruded from the creature’s back and drove the Earthbound to his knees.

  Seth raised his arm to strike. In a flash, the graves of his daughter and brothers at the springs suddenly came to his thoughts. He was gripped by grief at the memory, and hot tears of rage and loss filled his eyes. Seth saw his Father in the corner of his vision, Adam’s eyes were full of understanding as he nodded to his son. Adam’s third son let out a defiant war cry, Seth felt peace wash over his soul as he brought his weapon down, severing the Fallen’s head.

  As his enemy’s head rolled across the white floor, Seth had one unassuming thought.

  I want to go home...

  Seth turned and walked towards Adam, stopping to pick up his club. As Seth bent down to retrieve his weapon, he looked up and saw an expression of grave concern on Adam’s face. Adam was standing tall and defiant, looking across the white circle, his powerful arms shifting his mighty war hammer apprehensively.

  Only Eve knew Adam’s body language better than Seth. Seth slowly turned to see what had taken his father’s attention. As he did, he felt the stare of many eyes fixed upon him. The circle, some sixty paces across, was only a small part of a larger chamber. The massive cavern was now lit with other-worldly light. But no torches or lanterns were illuminating the chamber. The roof of the dwelling was a gigantic circular dome, and images were moving in the ceiling itself; shapely women, geometric shapes, demonic forms, and strange symbols eerily displayed themselves across the roof as though they had a life of their own.