Born of Fire

by Scarlette D'Noire

  “What?” Astonishment provoked my fury once again, and I uncoiled from his neck and hissed. His ego surely clouded His judgment. In His refusal to admit his own pride, He’d created one that was corrupted and useless.

  He’d shown His weakness.

  That He wasn’t perfect.

  On the seventh day, with our work taming the Darkness complete, the Creator rested under a coconut tree. I lay just outside the shade, soaking the sun into my cold body. Adam sat swatting flies and other small flying creatures from his face.

  “He hasn’t shown much understanding,” I said to the Creator, “but Lilith has made progress.” I pointed to the stream as she washed the last remnants of ash and soot from her body, each of her movements resonating deep within me, then proceed to wash vegetables and fruits for their meal.

  “She will be a good mate to him,” The Creator affirmed.

  “Then, I’ve done well, my Lord?” I asked, already knowing I had.

  “Yes, my child. In you, I am well pleased.”

  Several days passed with us observing our creations. As hard as it was to wait, I kept my mouth shut waiting for the perfect moment. I left the comfort of the sun and approached His feet where he lounged under His favorite tree.

  “If I may be so forward as to ask a favor of you, my Father.” I hesitated. “Since all turned out so well with your creations...” I hesitated again, suddenly uncharacteristically nervous. “And you said you are well pleased with me, I beg of you please, my All, restore me to my former glory and allow me the gift of flight once again so we may return home together.”

  “These creations,” He said, pointing at Adam and Lilith, “Are not in my image.” He paused. “They are in your image, Lucifer.”

  His unexpected statement flooded heat through my snake form, and it was quickly followed by the unpleasant tingle of nervousness.

  My image! Lilith, I could accept, but not this other, inferior, being.

  “For, if they were in my image, they would have wings to take flight to the Heavens, and they do not.” He sounded so matter of fact, without an ounce of feeling or compassion as to how his words would wound me in my present state.

  But he had to know. And he said them anyway. The Creator had told me in as many words, earlier, when he said Adam was created in my image. I’d barely noticed it at the time...after all, a mere slip of His tongue didn’t trouble me.

  Except, perhaps not. The Creator didn’t make mistakes or errors. He created, using Mercy’s balance and Samael’s order, and he meted out justice to those whom deserved it. So, here we were, with our creations. In my image. My new image. My punishment for choosing to exercise my will in the face of his anger. The Creator’s unique brand of justice.

  “Please my All,” I whispered. “Don’t leave me in this state,” I begged, but He ignored me. “Please forgive me.”

  “I shall send Mercy to aid you until you find your way in your new home. You won’t be alone. But you remain...” He looked at me, his eyes narrowing as if he was considering something. “You remain fallen, Lucifer. You have fallen from my Heavens and from my regard.”

  “Fallen? Find my way?” I cried out. “Why do you insist on torturing me? Did I not please you with Lilith?” A cold wind picked up behind me, and I turned to inspect the nature of the breeze. I feared He’d instructed the winds to pick me up and thrash me about again for asking forgiveness and to be restored to my rightful form. Longing grew inside me, a deep sadness and empty feeling engulfed my body.

  “Why do you forsake me!” I cried out.

  Slowly, I turned my head to the spot where He sat, only to find it empty. He was gone, but not before he’d driven home the point that he recreated me to be in Adam’s image...weakened and feeble. And unable to follow my Father or return home.

  I lay on the ground in despair for several minutes. “Mercy!” I screamed in a gut wrenching plea, louder than I ever had before. My voice reverberated through the Heavens, and the outpouring of my emotion shifted me to my true form. I’d lost control. I ran to a small cave and hid myself from Lilith, not wanting her to see me in a weakened emotional state or cause her any distress because of my true form. Surely Mercy could hear me and would come to my aid? And if she didn’t, I’d find a way to end this cursed existence one way or another.

  Lilith

  The knowledge the Creator gave to me overwhelmed my senses. The Dark returned three times, and each time the Light banished it. I’d run through the garden, touching and naming all the things, even though Lucifer let me know I’d named them all correctly earlier. In my gratitude for the abundance provided for me, I couldn’t help but touch and smell all the things. Everything appeared so beautiful and good.

  Earlier, I bathed myself in the clear waters of the stream, and the sun warmed my skin as I lay drying myself on the grass. A small pile of food sat beside me for Adam and I to enjoy. I wanted to please him and bring nourishment to my protector.

  He sat under a coconut tree. The mud from which he was born still caked on his skin in small spots, and I called to him to join me in the stream, but he ignored me. I gathered the fruit and vegetables into my arms then made my way toward him.

  I stopped at his feet. “For you to enjoy,” I said, smiling at him, hoping to encourage him to spend some time with me.

  As I spoke, a coconut fell from the tree, but it didn’t break open. It attracted Adam’s attention, though.

  “I want this,” he said, pointing to the coconut and ignoring my offering.

  My shoulders slumped a little as disappointment claimed me, but I gathered up the hard green fruit and set it beside him. He tried to open it with his hands but threw it down in frustration. As I thought for a moment and considered our predicament from all angles, I glanced around the area we sat in and noticed a small rock. I snatched it up and pounded at the shell, removing the outer layer and revealing an even harder brown shell inside. Adam watched but didn't offer to help with my task.

  After pounding the rock on the surface of the fruit several times, I still couldn’t break it open. Adam huffed and turned his back to me. I pondered what to do until my gaze wandered to the jagged edge on a lower cliff. After a few attempts of slamming the coconut against the sharp surface, it broke open and spilled some of the clear liquid inside. I squealed in joy for my success, and Adam snatched the coconut from my hand then devoured its liquid before he thrust it back into my hand almost empty.

  I swirled it around, and the last remaining drops of liquid pooled at the center of the fruit as I brought it to my lips. Utter joy permeated through me at the taste of the sweet, thin liquid. Using a small rock, I scraped the inside of the jelly-like substance and spooned it into my mouth. As Adam noticed we could eat its contents, he lumbered back to me. I quickly shoveled in a few more bites before submitting the fruit to him.

  After he finished the offering, we took a nap in the shade. When we awoke the sun streaked the sky in colors of orange and purple. “Isn’t it glorious,” I said to Adam. He studied the sky but remained silent.

  “Do I please you?” I cast my eyes down as sudden loneliness filled my heart. Even though I sat with Adam, I felt alone. And something gnawing inside me wouldn’t go away. Something was missing for me in the garden, but I didn’t know what it was or how to find it.

  “Are you happy Adam?”

  “I am,” he said, touching my arm. “This is beautiful,” he pointed around us, “but you are too.”

  Many times, Adam’s treatment of me ranged from abrupt to indifferent for remembering names of the things in the garden when he didn’t. His acceptance of our gifts and apparent lack of curiosity rubbed my nerves raw, and I wanted to scream at him not to be so stupid or punish me for his forgetfulness. But now his simple ways were kind and I warmed to him. I leaned against him and rested my head on top of his shoulder. We watched the sun together in silence for a few moments, before he turned to face me.

  He looked at me in a strange way, the pupils in his eyes growing
wider, and his tongue brushed over his lips. He didn’t seem either happy or angry, but his breathing changed, his chest lifting more rapidly. He narrowed his eyes and grabbed at my body turning me around so my back was forced up against his chest as he wrapped an arm tightly over my right shoulder and around the left side of my rib cage.

  “Mercy!”

  From somewhere in the garden, I heard Lucifer as he cried out so loudly that Adam released me. I lunged away from him and scrambled to my knees. My thoughts raced. I didn't like the way he treated me and handled me as though I were simply an object some of the time, so I tried my best to put some distance between us when he acted this way.

  The need to find Lucifer and make sure he wasn’t harmed or injured weighed heavily on my mind. I wanted to search for him, but as I stood and brushed the loose grass from my legs, Adam recovered quickly and moved in my direction.

  Apprehension coiled inside me and I backed up into the stream. “Come wash yourself,” I offered, aiming for distraction if I wasn’t free to put some space between us.

  He moved slowly, as if he didn’t want to obey me, but that same look in his eyes said he wanted to hold my body close to his again, so he relented. His eyes softened, and he entered the water with me and sat in the shallow end.

  I slowly approached him. “Let me help you,” I said softly, trying to soothe him and cool the sudden heat in his expression.

  I ran my hands over his back as I scooped the water and washed him anew. His muscles shifted and flexed under my touch, and I slowed my movements, pressing against him until he let out a low groan and leaned into my hands, seeking more.

  “It’s good, yes?” I asked.

  “It is good,” he reached behind his back and clasped my hand. “Thank you.”

  His answer surprised me, and the kind gesture of his gentle touch, even more. His gratitude caused a stir in my heart and hope we could get along and live in harmony nudged at my mind.

  Later, as he settled under a peach tree where I’d prepared a bed of ferns and tree moss, Adam studied me, his gaze sweeping up and down my body. Heat fizzed through me, prickling my cheeks, chest and breasts, before it settled in a pleasant warmth at my core. Not understanding these feelings, I tried to ignore them, even as I raised my hand to fan some of the cooler evening air across myself. Adam’s eyes flared in response to my languid movements, but suddenly awkward, I turned away. Longing for something I didn’t understand claimed me, and I glanced back at Adam, in time to see him run his palm across his chest, then down his belly to the length between his legs. As he touched it, seemingly rearranging the position or checking it still existed, it twitched in his hand as if it had a will of its own. He closed his eyes as his head rested back against the moss. Abruptly, he released a quiet snore and his fingers unclenched as his hand dropped away from his body, leaving his manhood draped across his thigh.

  Without me meaning for them to, my thoughts wandered back to Lucifer. “I shall go and collect more ferns for a shield from the cold night air,” I offered, mostly to myself. “And make sure Lucifer is well.” I sucked in a deep breath and held it.

  “No. You belong here with me.” Adam said, and I jumped at his voice. As I looked at him, his jaw jutted out, and he pulled his lips into a thin, tight line.

  “You could accompany me?” I suggested. “You’re my protector. What if there is trouble or danger?”

  “Come here,” Adam ordered, his gaze firmly set on my breasts.

  Reluctantly, I obeyed. Lucifer had sounded so...desperate, and I yearned to ensure his safety. With every step my heartbeat pounded faster in my chest, as I scrambled to decide whether to submit to the tingling feelings Adam’s body evoked in me, or the desire to seek out a friend in need of aid.

  “I don’t want any harm to come to us if something has injured Lucifer,” I scrambled, throwing out the first reason I thought of that might encourage Adam to consider Lucifer’s plight.

  Two birds in the sky squabbled, causing a terrible ruckus. “Let’s not be like the birds or lower creatures and fight,” I suggested, taking his hand in mine. “The Creator wants us to live in peace and harmony.” My grip tightened into an affectionate squeeze on his hand. “To be happy,” I said, smiling at him. “It would make me happy to know we’re all safe here.”

  “You are here to please me, though. To make me happy,” he stated without malice.

  My head shifted into a tilt as I furrowed my brows and stared at him. “And what about me?” I asked. “Who’s responsible for my happiness, if not you?” I kept my voice even and low, as the new realization of my sense of self surged through me.

  I am separate from Adam.

  He twisted my body away and thrust me in the dirt at the edge of our vegetable patch. Before I could scramble away from him, he flung his body on top of me.

  “You are to please me,” he repeated. “The Creator said to be fruitful and multiply, not worry about a snake in our garden. Now, will you satisfy me?” Hurt shone in his eyes briefly as he asked his question.

  In the dirt...he wants to take me in the dirt!

  “I will not have you lay on top of me in the dirt!” I thrashed my body under him as sudden panic threatened to rob me of my voice. Despite his weight, I moved my way downward and escaped under his left armpit. Once I partially freed my body from his grip, I pressed my fingertips into the muscles of his back. “Not like this, Adam. You’re crushing me.”

  He shifted to look down at me, one eyebrow raised as if I’d confused him. “But the animals…” He raised his head and looked out into the wider garden.

  “It can be beautiful. I know it can. I...I just feel it. Let me on top of you,” I offered when he didn’t relent or release me right away. “I can give you all the pleasure you want, if you allow me on top of you.”

  The jab of his erection against my leg made my mind race, caught somewhere between fear and anticipation. Visions of Adam entering me crushing my body in the dirt drew equal desire and distaste through my mind making me dizzy. “You seek pleasure from me,” I whispered as I pressed my mouth to his chest then pressed my flat tongue over his nipple. “Roll over, and I shall let you fill me up,” I said nudging his erection with my thigh. “Just not like this...don’t press me into the dirt.”

  He moaned and rolled onto his back, his erection standing proud between us. I peered at his nakedness, my body warming again, and my hand reached out as if of its own free will, to wrap my fingers around him. Adam moaned again, his closed eyelids fluttering. Despite wondering about Lucifer, I knew my duty, and I submitted to the Creator’s will. Grasping Adam’s hands I intertwined our fingers and raised his arms above his head. I straddled him, kissing his neck, running the tip of my tongue across his skin and nibbling at him with my teeth. As I kissed him, I moved my hips, rocking against him and teasing him by not quite letting him enter me.

  He bucked in frustration and tried to flip me back into the dirt. “Ah, ah, ah...” I chided as I struggled to stay on top.

  His penis jabbed at my groin hitting my pelvis and thigh. As much as he tried he couldn’t enter my body. I moved my hand from his, so I could guide him inside of me, but, as soon as I wrapped my fingers around his soft skin, he flipped me back over. Small clouds of dust plumed in the air as my back hit the ground. Before I could protest, he arched his back and let out a low groan as he coated my stomach in his warm, sticky seed.

  “No,” he whispered, and lumbered away flopping on our bed. He closed his eyes. “I got it wrong.”

  “Next time, you wait for me to be ready.” I kept the tone of my voice even as I followed him, but bewilderment set in my bones. In an effort to comfort him in his embarrassment, and find some warmth and comfort of my own, I slid next to him, curving against his large frame. My body still ached with the need to be fulfilled, but he shifted suddenly and rolled away.

  “Leave me,” he mumbled. “I’ve failed you.”

  Cold, I wrapped my arms across my tummy and steeled myself against a shiver.
My nipples still stood stiff, and emptiness ached inside me.

  “Lilith.”

  The whisper of my name on the breeze drew my attention to the bushes surrounding the small clearing.

  “Lilith.”

  The second time I heard the soft whisper, I lifted my head and raised myself onto my elbows, Adam all but forgotten. Who else was here, in our garden? Who else knew my name?

  I rolled to my hands and knees before crawling toward the undergrowth. Movement further under the trees startled me, and I sank back into a defensive crouch before taking another look.

  The most glorious man stood before me, one so unlike Adam that my mouth parted in awe. Too stunned to be afraid any longer, I stared at him in disbelief.

  Has the Creator made me a new mate?

  His attention focused on Adam, still asleep in the bed I’d made for us on the ground. “Rise, unworthy one,” he said, but his voice remained low, as if mocking my sleeping mate.

  His black hair reflected hues of blue in the direct sunlight, like the wings of the ravens that ate from our garden.

  He continued his low tone as he rumbled a warning in Adam’s direction. “Don't try to please yourself at her expense again, or you will suffer my wrath.” He shifted to watch me, meeting my eyes as he continued. “She is a beautiful woman and deserves to reach fulfilment at the hands of a man with knowledge of what he’s doing.”

  Adam shifted in his sleep, a snort emanating from him, and his eyebrows drew together as though something pained him.

  The stranger smiled a little, as though satisfied, and fear struck a chord in my heart. Somehow, this stranger had touched Adam while he slept.

  Adam whimpered, shifting again.

  “Please don’t harm him,” I begged. Although, Adam seemed to have a lot to learn, the Creator had bound us together, and I still fought for his safety even though I hadn’t grown to love him.

  The beautiful one turned toward me, and his blue eyes and intense stare caused me to cast my eyes downward.