I chuckled. “Indeed, who can debate such logic? I am most glad to see you. And I’m glad you’re part of this war council – even as an observer. So, let us begin.”
* * *
I sat late into the afternoon as I listened to the status of the growing forces, the issues, the challenges facing us, our potential weaknesses, and our proposed strategies. I said little, asking questions as necessary, and assimilated the information as it was delivered.
I had an opportunity to study each council member in turn and I was pleased overall. As a whole, they made a competent team. Dirael, as passionate as ever, was effective as a tactical strategist and his exuberance was tempered by Furmiel and his blunt, plain observations. Iobel excelled in the logistical aspect and relegated his role to support in favor of Shoel’s war strategy. Shoel was the premier strategist, of that I had no doubt, but his visionary brilliance often overlooked realistic goals and details needed to support his ambitions. That was where Haniel excelled. The Seraph’s quiet words of wisdom and keen intuitive insight rounded out the team into a cohesive whole.
Which made me wonder why I sat at this table at all. I was out of my depth. I felt completely useless. My head ached from all the facts and figures. It would have been far easier, and with a lot less tedium, to face Lucifer alone.
“I’m afraid we’re overwhelming our illustrious leader,” said Haniel. I was fairly certain he read the poorly masked emotions on my face and didn’t need intuition at all to come to his conclusion.
“That is to be expected,” said Iobel. “We’ve been going at this for months. This is Sariel’s first meeting with us.”
“My lord, what areas would you like to revisit?” asked Shoel.
None of them. All of them. I understood so little. “If I understand correctly,” I began slowly, “we have over a hundred thousand angels that have come to fight Lucifer, and their numbers are growing daily, yet you only want to use perhaps half? Explain to me why.”
“It’s a matter of risk, my lord. Roughly half the volunteers are of the higher Orders of Angels. They’ve had training and know how to work together. We don’t know anything about the rest. We don’t know what training they’ve had, if any. They’ll most likely get in each other’s way in a large scale battle. It would be disastrous. We’ll use them where we can, of course, if we have the time. But we’ll have to evaluate them, group them into units, and train them how to work with the higher orders. Ideally, we would need months to organize so many into a competent force, let alone an effective one.”
“Unacceptable,” I said. “Any who are willing and able will be allowed to fight. Let’s figure out a way.”
“My lord, the risk is too great.”
“Let me make this clear, Shoel. We face annihilation! Lucifer is coming here with millions and he is coming soon. If those souls out there want to fight, they fight. Now tell me how to make this happen.”
“There is no way,” said Shoel. “Without training, they won’t be able to understand our signals, our commands. They won’t do as they’re told.”
“So you’re telling me we can’t communicate with them?”
“In short.”
I turned to Haniel. “If you split them into three primary groups between you and your brothers, the Seraphim can speak with one another then communicate any commands or directives down to your respective forces. Is that not so?”
“It is.”
“Problem solved, Shoel. Any Seraphim or Archangel can transmit thoughts to thousands at will. We can now communicate with our forces. What next?”
“It’s more complicated than that,” stammered Shoel. “There are other concerns. We don’t have proper armor or weapons for everyone.”
“We can aid there,” said Haniel. “We’ll ferry in armor or weapons from some of the higher spheres or materialize them if necessary. It will take time and it will be exhausting, but it’s possible, I think.”
“But what about training?” asked Shoel. “We can’t give a sword to someone who doesn’t know how to use one. They’re more likely to hurt themselves and those around them than the enemy.”
“Let them organize themselves.” I rose from my chair and paced, thinking out loud. “Let angels choose their own weapons that best serve their skill. Let there be a range of weapons from spear, bow, and sword. If they’ve had no training, let them fall under Iobel’s support arm. We’ll start grouping them based on their choice then proceed from there.”
And so it went, but I no longer felt out of place. I had asserted myself as leader and gave voice to my purpose. It was a turning point for me.
Late into the night we discussed options on how to overcome the immediate, foreseen, and potentially unforeseen challenges we would face. As the dawn’s first light crept into the chambers, a growing realization troubled me that would put us all in jeopardy if left unattended. I voiced my concern.
“If I am leader then let it be in name only. I am no strategist or even a competent tactician, as evidenced by our discussions here this night. You are far more qualified than I and you are the true generals our armies so desperately need. I am content to be a figurehead and I will support any decision you make during the coming battle. Which is just as well, I intend to be otherwise occupied and I’ll need my full attention.”
“My lord, if I may be so bold, what will you be doing?” asked Shoel.
“Damage. On a scale the fallen have never seen.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Three days later, Lucifer arrived.
I stood on the ramparts of the forward walls and gazed across the plains to the distant mountains in the east. It was early morning but the sun would not rise this day. It was blocked by the largest portal I had ever seen.
A massive tear, as wide as the eye could see, split the sky like a second horizon. The ends were tapered, the center gaped open like a raw wound. Great maelstroms roiled within it. Streaks of lightning illuminated the swirling mass in flashes of purples, greens, and reds. Black ichor oozed from the wound like gossamer threads of blood. And even from this distance I could tell that the oozing black were countless fallen pouring into this sphere.
All motion in the city ceased, all noise fell silent. Only a strong wind could be heard, whipping around the towers and beating against the banners. All stared intently at the rent sky.
Haniel, Shoel, and Dirael stood beside me. Numerous more gathered nearby on the massive ramparts and hovered above and to the sides of me as if I were a buttress against the dark storm gathering. The fear emanating from them was palpable and pressed down on me as surely as if I held the weight of the astral plane on my shoulders. Perhaps I did.
“My God,” said Shoel quietly, breaking the silence. “That is a most disturbing image.”
“Steady, Shoel.” I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Lucifer enjoys a grand spectacle. Let him have his little light show.” I spoke brave words but meant none of it.
He straightened visibly. “How long until they arrive in full strength, do you think?”
“This is but the beginning,” I answered. “I doubt Lucifer will attack until we see the full breadth of his armies. His ego would demand nothing less. He won’t attack until at least tomorrow morning, I think.”
“It is quite mesmerizing, isn’t it?” said Haniel. “I could stare at it all day but I’m of the opinion that we should use the time we have left to ready ourselves.”
“Agreed.” I silently thanked Haniel for his practicality. Anything to remove the focus from this blight in the sky.
“Will it do any good?” asked Shoel. “At this rate, they’ll dwarf our numbers in no time if they haven’t already.”
So it begins, I thought morosely. The dawning realization of the futility of our actions. “This battle was never about numbers, Shoel.”
“Then what is it about? How can we defeat so many?”
“With God on our side, how can we not?” I answered. A true statement and I believed it with all my heart. What I f
ailed to mention was that I didn’t believe God was on our side. Or if He was, I certainly didn’t know it.
“Of course,” he mumbled, almost apologetically. “How could God not be with us against such an abomination? We will prevail. I know it now. Thank you.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. My mood darkened because of my veiled deceit. I had inspired one soul to stand firm. A hundred thousand more deceptions to go.
I turned and faced the crowd. Their growing despair hit me like a putrid wind. I could not let it go any further. Not yet. I owed them that, at the very least, for dragging them into this wretched madness.
“Behold the works of Lucifer!” I shouted, ensuring my voice carried to all. “Gaze at the spectacle. Engrave it in your minds! The monstrosity you see before you is only a taste of what Lucifer would bring to this sphere and a reminder of the destruction he’s already wrought in the lower spheres. You will be recounting this image many a time in the coming years to those who could not stand with us this day.
“I tell you now, the armies of the fallen will spew forth from that vile hole in the sky like blackened smoke erupts from an angry volcano and their numbers will be as endless as the night is dark. And when you recount this day and you are asked how you knew so few could stand against so many and prevail, speak unto them the one word which Lucifer and those poor, tragic souls that follow him have forgotten. Speak unto them the single word that defies numbers, defies reason, and defies fear. Tell them simply and with your entire heart, you had ‘Faith’.
“Faith carried us through! Faith was our sword and our shield. Faith in God was our Deliverance!”
A cheer rumbled through the angelic masses. The fear that was so prevalent lifted from my shoulders, but the burden felt all the more heavier.
“Well done,” said Haniel in my ear. “Let us take it from here. We will ensure their hands and their minds stay occupied until the battle.” I nodded and stumbled away.
* * *
I returned to my chambers within Iobel’s tower, opened the door, and stopped abruptly. Requel was not alone. I did not sense the other person until I spotted the back of her head sitting on a couch. That disturbed me even more.
“Sariel, I believe you’ve met our guest,” said Requel, rising. I cautiously moved towards the stranger.
My concern vanished. She was as I remembered her on the tenth near Riswan as one of the wizened angels. Her serene face was framed with black hair speckled with gray. She was dressed simply in an orange robe trimmed with red. She cradled my son in her lap.
“Hello Avenel,” I said warmly. “You’ve picked an odd day for a visit. You do realize there’s an army amassing at our doorstep, don’t you?”
She smiled in return. “Glad to see you too, Sariel.”
“So what brings you here at this particular time?” I asked.
“You do. You are the reason I left Riswan and travelled here.”
“Oh? And how did I compel you to do that?”
“You inspire me.”
My warmth turned to anger. “I will not be mocked, Avenel.”
“My words are sincere. I have given great thought to what you said on Riswan and you were correct. I tried to be of aid discreetly to Requel and Iobel and his people because I was ashamed that the wise would think less of me for my convictions. Well I have chosen to openly commit to my beliefs now, despite what the wise may think. That is why I’m here. I want to help.”
Thoughts raced through my mind. Was everyone insane? Avenel was of the wise, free of this war. Why would she give up divinity and risk turning fallen? It was ludicrous. Besides, how could one more soul possibly be of aid? I will send her away so she can live while the rest of us perish. It’s the least I could do for this divine soul who so lovingly cared for and protected my son when I could not.
“Your aid is welcome here,” I mumbled instead, disgusted with myself. Was I so selfish that I would sacrifice anyone for my cause?
I needed to leave, to escape in that instant. I turned to go and saw Iobel standing in the doorway, his hand raised as if he were about to knock. His mouth dropped open as he saw Avenel and he fell to his knees. “My lady,” he choked. “You’re real. You’re here. I never thought…”
Avenel rose, her eyes warm. “Iobel, you dear, dear, heart. I am so very honored to meet you in person at last.”
I fled from the room, thankful for the distraction.
* * *
I sat alone in the council chambers at the head of the table, nursing a cup of water flavored with mint. It was early evening and the others of the council were preparing for the coming battle.
There was so much to do and so little time.
I knew I should be out there helping where I could. Even Avenel was an inspiration and raised morale. Word spread quickly of the visions she had sent Iobel, of her protecting his flock when they were on the second sphere. Iobel, his face alight like I had never seen, was reborn in faith. They took Avenel’s appearance as a sign.
If only I could be fooled so easily.
I growled and drained my cup. Come the morning, we would all die.
My mood was dark and I did not know how to rise above it. Guilt overpowered me. I sat helpless, pinned down from the weight of it. At the final count, Dirael reported a hundred and forty-four thousand souls gathered together for my cause.
What good was it against millions? We would be massacred.
If I had any sense at all, I would send everyone away. But it was too late for that. The portals to the other spheres stopped working. Lucifer somehow managed to block them, just as Mephistopheles’ had done so in his domain. We were trapped in this sphere.
I refilled my goblet from a sweating pitcher and drained it again. I recognized where my guilt came from but knowing the source did not lessen it. If anything, it paralyzed me even more. It came from my cowardice. My deceit. I filled all those souls with false hope and that hope would be shattered like glass once they faced the impossible might of Lucifer’s legions.
The thought undid me. I rose from my chair and began to pace.
I looked back at the choices I had made since my departure from the Causal. Would I have changed anything? Yes, I would have made less of a mess of things to be sure. But I couldn’t change my heart. It led me down a path which I could not apologize for. It led me to my Requel and to my son.
But it was not my heart that led me to gather the angelic masses here. Then what was it? My vanity? The fear for my family’s life? The fear for mine?
The answer eluded me and I didn’t know why I needed to discover it so fervently, but I did. No, that wasn’t quite true. I did know why, down deep. I had to give a reason for the deaths that I would cause.
I had to give their deaths meaning.
Not the inspired speeches I gave such as saving the spheres or opposing evil. Those were good reasons, but not good enough. I needed something tangible, something I could say was worth the sacrifice when it was all over and I stood before God’s Holy judgment.
Did such a worthwhile meaning exist?
I didn’t know. Perhaps I was delusional and I searched for meaning where there was none. I first thought to build an army as a wall to protect my son and wife. But I knew even then that the mightiest army I cobbled together could not stop Lucifer. Then why had I even bothered?
Was it a flaw within myself? An underlying fear perhaps, that drove me to acts of desperation despite my knowing the inevitable outcome? Or was it simply that I did not wish to die alone? Was I no better than Lucifer or Mephistopheles who casually disregarded life to satisfy their own selfish whims?
I slumped back into my chair. I was Archangel, the mightiest of the angelic orders, and I could, with but a focused thought, materialize almost anything I willed. But the one thing I desired most at the moment was deceptively out of my reach.
The question remained: What could be considered worthwhile enough to sacrifice a hundred and forty-four thousand lives?
The hours crept by
and still no answer came.
A knock at the door pulled me out of my reverie and Dirael burst in. “My lord, you are urgently requested on the walls.”
“Of course,” I said, rousing myself from my melancholy. “What is it? Have they attacked?”
“Not yet. A messenger from Lucifer is here. He says that Lucifer waits to meet you out on the plains.”
My heart fell and a chill ran through me. The beginning of the end, I thought. My steps faltered against my will and I nearly stumbled.
“My lord?” Dirael stared at me in concern.
I felt his mood shift from determination to doubt. Was morale so fragile that my every step was scrutinized, my every action seen as a measure of weakness or strength that can sway a soul’s resolve? I nearly laughed. Of course it was.
Well then. I can play my part in this charade. I may not feel like a worthy leader but I could certainly look like one.
“No need for concern, Dirael. Just need a moment.”
I held forth my hand as I had done so long ago. My flaming sword appeared within it, the blade flaring as if channeling the sun, the brilliance of it banishing all shadows from the room. In my other hand emerged my shield, tall and imposing, the white star in the center brilliant against the field of blue. I closed my eyes and my golden and muscled armor, complete with gilded shoulder guards, cingulum belt, and shin guards, adorned my body. A red cloak attached to my shoulders and unfurled behind me. My open-faced helmet materialized on my head complete with red crest and golden cheek guards. I sheathed my sword and strapped my cheek guards together beneath my chin.
Dirael’s eyes blazed at my appearance. I had never seen such zeal as I had in that moment. He would have attacked Lucifer single-handedly had I but asked. A deep sadness engulfed me. Such was the illusion I had cast on them all.
“Now I’m ready. Let us see what my brother has to say.”
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