The Belial Sacrifice (The Belial Series Book 14)

by R. D. Brady

Max sat back, shaking his head. He looked around, confused, and then down at the ground. “No!”

  Laney cleared her throat, struggling to keep her tone even. “It’s all right, Max. Why don’t you just go get yourself a new one?”

  He sighed, climbing off the bench. “Okay.”

  Laney watched him go, but she barely saw him. The Giza Prophesy. She knew exactly what he was talking about: the timeline through the Great Pyramid that had identified all the major points in humanity’s history were accounted for on the way to the apex. But that timeline didn’t end last year. It continued until the year 2038. At which time, humanity would either evolve into who they were meant to be or devolve into destruction.

  Laney sat back, staring at the people she loved, all of them oblivious to the danger years in the future, and wishing she could be one of them again. But she would make sure they had their peace. No one would be given this burden. She would bear it alone until she needed to bring the others in.

  And then she would prepare them to fight again.

  THE END

  Fact or Fiction?

  As with all books in the Belial series, facts play a large role in creating the story line. For this book in particular, I also wanted to go back to some of the basic facts that started the whole series. For me, my interest in alternate history began with the Giza plateau and the three pyramids. I knew that was where we needed to end up. And the fact that we had not discussed the Great Pyramid seemed a tragedy. So I knew I needed a mystery surrounding the Great Pyramid and the missing capstone is perhaps one of the greatest mysteries involving the Pyramid.

  For many of the facts, I have put links that if you are reading this as an eBook you will be able to follow for more information. If you are not, just Google the fact information and you will be directed to sites that will offer you more information.

  So now on to the facts!

  Gnostic Prayer. In the prologue I included a prayer that Father Clementis was translating much to the anger of Constantine. That is an actual Gnostic Prayer. It is called The Thunder, Perfect Mind. It is part of the Nag Hammadi Library. If you are reading this in an eBook, you can find a complete copy of it here.

  Constantine. The scenes involving Constantine are of course fictitious. However, he did have a huge influence on the structure and content of the Catholic faith. As explained in The Belial Sacrifice, Constantine had a vision of a cross in the sky during the Battle of Milvian Bridge, outside Rome. After consulting religious scholars, he interpreted it as a sign from God and converted to Catholicism. He was responsible for calling the Council of Nicaea which in turn determined which books would be included in the Bible. Although not mentioned in this novel, in previous books I have mentioned that the Book of Enoch, which had been incredibly popular, was one of the books that was discounted. In fact, all Gnostic books that were discounted.

  The Pyramids. All the information on the dimensions of the pyramids and the history of the Giza Plateaus are accurate to the best of my ability. Much has been written about the Giza plateau. For those interested in more information, I encourage you to check out Graham Hancock’s Fingerprints of the Gods.

  A Void in the Great Pyramid. I thought that due to the age of the Pyramid and the interest it has generated for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, that every inch of it had been investigated. That is not true. They are constantly finding new aspects to the Great Pyramid. As mentioned in The Belial Sacrifice, a void large enough to hide the Statue of Liberty was found back in 2017. Prior to that time, they had no idea it was there. You can read about it here.

  Capstone for the Great Pyramid. There is no record of the Great Pyramid having a capstone. Each historical record that describes the Pyramid describes it without a capstone. Having said that, it does seem odd that this marvel and testament to precision is missing a capstone. In my search for any information about a capstone, I came across the Ra conversations from the Law of One Society. Similar to Edgar Cayce’s trances, Ra was allegedly channeled through a trance and would answer questions about human nature. In one of these sessions, Ra said there had been two capstones, one gold and one granite. The gold was largely decorative but the granite was said to have energy conducing abilities. For more information, click here.

  Capstone for the New Century. There was actually a plan to create a capstone for the top of the Great Pyramid. Toward the end of the twentieth century and to celebrate the new century, the Egyptian government began to develop plans for a capstone to be created and placed on top of the Great Pyramid for the New Year’s celebration. Then, in December 1999, just a few weeks shy of the New Year, the plans were scrapped. According to the Egyptian government the plans were scrapped due to concerns about a terrorist threat.

  Gate of the Sun. The Gate of the Sun is real. It can be found in Tiwanaku, Bolivia. Tiwanaku is located near Lake Titicaca, where the legendary Viracocha is said to have lived. Some maintain that the gate is a calendar, representing 290 days. Others, however, argue that the gate is a doorway to the land of the gods and that certain blessed individuals were allowed access in the past.

  War Debt. The numbers provided in The Belial Sacrifice for the cost of war are sadly true. $2.4 trillions dollars have been spent in Iraq and Afghanistan according to Reuters.

  Michael. Before I began writing the Belial series, I thought I had a good basic understanding of the archangel Michael. Twelve years of Catholic schooling will give you that sense of knowledge. But as I began to research Michael, I realized I did not know nearly as much as I thought. Originally, at least within Christianity, Michael was viewed as a healer, not a warrior. The Book of Revelation, however, identifies Michael as the warrior of God in the Book of Revelation that ultimately defeats Satan’s army. Constantine helped further this image with associating Michael with the slaying of a dragon. His archangel status was established in the fourth century.

  Historical Sites and War. Sadly historical sites are not immune to the violence of war. The examples provided in The Belial Sacrifice are real. For me, the destruction of the giant Buddhas in Afghanistan by the Taliban, which had stood for nearly two thousand years, is the first image that comes to mind when I think of this callous disregard for history.

  More recent attacks come in one of the oldest regions of the world: Iraq and Syria. Spearheaded by Isis, the latest attacks involve taking bulldozers and explosives to archeological sites, also thousands of years old. In 2015, ISIS destroyed multiple sites in the ancient city of Palmyra including a temple to the ancient god Baal and the 1900 year-old Temple of Baalshamin. Other attacks include the destruction with pick axes and sledgehammers the Mosul Museum, home of the artifacts from the ancient city of Nineveh, which flourish from 900 BC-600 BC.

  Child Soldiers During the Civil War. Children were not legally allowed to fight in the Civil War. However, when the war was going badly for each side, recruiters would look the other way when obviously young boys lied about their age to enlist. Johnny Clem, who’d joined the Union army as a drummer boy at the age of eleven. He saw combat and was still actively serving until 1915 when he retired as a Brigadier General

  Drake. I know a lot of people wanted Laney and Drake to end up together. I actually wrote an ending where that happened but then I decided to switch it. I will actually be sending this alternate ending to all individuals on my mailing list.

  The reason I decided to switch the ending is because I might, maybe, have one more idea for a Belial book. Having said that, that book (tentatively titled The Belial Rebirth) will be set years into the future. And it will be written years into the future as well. There are some other stories that have been rattling around in my mind for a while that I need to get out. So this will be the end of the series for now. Thank you for joining me on this journey.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you so much for reading The Belial Sacrifice. If you would like to be informed about upcoming publications, please join my mailing list (rdbradybooks.com). I will email you whenever I publish somethi
ng new, as well as some freebies along the way. One freebie I will be sending out shortly is the alternate ending I wrote for The Belial Sacrifice.

  It has been a long journey to get to the end of this series. When I started, as I had no idea the series would last fourteen novels. To be honest, I wasn’t sure it would last two. The Belial Stone was the first novel I ever wrote. I was on sabbatical as an assistant professor teaching criminology when I first began the writing process. It took four years to write, mainly because I had to learn how to write. Anyone who has ever read academic writing knows that there is very little room for personality. As I had been writing in that style for years, it took some time to hone my non-academic writing personality. There was no plan to make it a career. It was just something I wanted to try. I had no idea if I’d be any good at it. To be honest, I figured I’d sell maybe twenty books over the course of a year to my family and maybe keep writing as a side hobby.

  That is not what happened. The Belial Stone sold a hundred copies on the first day. Years later, there are about two hundred thousands copies in circulation. No one was more surprised than me.

  Now I have left the oh so glamorous life of academia behind to write full-time. The Belial Sacrifice is my eighteenth book. And I truly love what I do. The characters of the Belial Series are real to me, not just words on the paper. I cry when they hurt. I sob when they die. I laugh when they experience joy, which as I often write at a cafe, make for some concerned looks aimed in my direction. :) For now, it is time to allow the characters of the Belial series to rest. I do have plans for a future Belial book but it will not be for a few years. There’s one more story to tell. Until then, there are other stories that I have not had the chance to explore. So I’m going to take that time now.

  As I’ve mentioned, writing the Belial series requires a lot of research. As a professor, I did a lot of research. For the next few books, I’m going to take a little break from that and let myself use my imagination a little more freely. Of course, I can never stay away from facts entirely. But they will definitely be a lot more muted than in the Belial series.

  Having said, the setting for the next trilogy is actually inspired by facts. (I told you I’m not very good at staying away from facts!) I read a few years ago about NASA having plans to mine an asteroid. They planned on mining it outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. Although pulling an asteroid into the Earth’s atmosphere would be cheaper, they were cornered about the safety of the planet should something go wrong. My first thought was: “If that were a corporation they’d pull the asteroid into the atmosphere.”

  And that’s when the light bulb when off. The Unwelcome trilogy takes place thirty-five years after a corporation named Bytertech tries to mine an asteroid. They fail spectacularly, setting off an apocalyptic worldwide disaster.

  Writing this new trilogy has been fun because it has allowed me to create a whole new cast of characters to love . . . and hate. I hope you take a chance on the new series. You can find it on Amazon.

  Even if you don’t, thank you for joining me on the journey this far. I truly appreciate you and hope I have made you smile, laugh, and even cry a little bit over the course of the Belial series. And if this is the last time you read something from me, let me borrow the words of a great American author, Dr. Seuss: Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  R.D.

  P.S. Keep reading for a preview of Protect, Book One of the Unwelcome Trilogy.

  Preview

  Protect:

  Book One of the Unwelcome Trilogy

  ***

  “The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other.”

  - Mario Puzo

  “God, give me strength each day to fight for my family.”

  - Nehemiah 4:14

  The Area Formerly Known as Upstate New York

  Thirty-Five Years After the Incident

  Lyla Richards crouched down, her head tilted to the side as she strained to listen. Her dark brown ponytail swung over her shoulder with the movement. She narrowed her blue eyes. The forest around her had gone silent. But she had heard something this way.

  “What is it? What do you hear?” whispered Jamal Nguyen, one of her closest friends and fellow Phoenix as he crouched next to her. At twenty-four, Jamal was one year older than Lyla, but he deferred to her.

  Since joining the Phoenixes at age seventeen, Lyla had quickly established herself as a top-rate fighter, hunter, and tracker with almost supernatural skills. She gave him a disgruntled look. “A very loud man talking to me and drowning out any other noise.”

  Jamal cringed and shrugged. Sorry, he mouthed.

  She shook her head. She and Jamal had been on guard duty at the northern end of the camp for hours. This part of the camp opened out into dense woods. There was thick underbrush and the trees had grown closer together, making it difficult to see anything creeping up on you until it was too late, which was why you needed to listen as well as watch.

  It had been quiet. But she’d heard a shuffling noise, which she’d been trying to pinpoint just now. It wasn’t an animal. It was larger, although she supposed it could be a bear. She gestured for Jamal to stay where he was as she crept around the trees to her right, staying low to the ground, using the trees and brush for cover. Her olive-green cloak blended in with the lush woods around her.

  She passed through the trees and then paused. There. She turned to her left, crouching low behind a dwarf Alberta spruce.

  A huff sounded from ten feet to her left, and she recognized the sound—human. She pulled out her staff and moved forward silently, her senses on high alert. She thought there was only one in the immediate vicinity, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a friend or two nearby.

  Seconds later, a man stumbled into view only ten feet away. His sweat-stained clothes were shredded, and he wore only one shoe. Dirt marked his face, and hair sprung from his head like it was trying to escape. He mumbled to himself as he walked. “Monsters. They’re coming. They’ll get me.” He let out a cry and sank to his knees, tears rolling down his cheeks. “They got Shelly. I’m sorry, Shelly. I’m sorry!” he wailed.

  A branch snapped, and the man whirled around, nearly losing his balance as he lurched to his feet.

  She watched him from her hiding spot, trying to determine the best approach. Was he deranged or sick? Either way, they couldn’t risk bringing him into the camp. I’ll send Jamal for—

  “You okay there?” Jamal asked as he stepped into view.

  Damn it, Jamal.

  The man’s eyes grew big, and he let out a shriek as he flew at Jamal. “You have to run. They’ll get you, too. Their ships—the skies are theirs. They’ll kill us all.” The man grabbed Jamal’s shirt with both hands. “You have to go. They’re coming!”

  Jamal stumbled back, but the man held on. Lyla burst from her spot. “Let him go.”

  But the man didn’t seem to hear her. He pulled a knife from under his shirt. “They came from the sky. They’re monsters. They’ll kill you. You should die before they can.”

  “No!” Lyla slammed her staff into the man’s arm, and he screamed and dropped the knife. She swung the staff up and snapped it into the back of the man’s head. Jamal caught him as he dropped, lowering him to the ground.

  “What the hell was he talking about?” Jamal asked.

  Lyla didn’t look at Jamal. She scanned the area around them for anyone who might be with the man. “I don’t know.”

  “Should we bring him back to camp?”

  Lyla shook her head. “No. Get Simon and Frank. He’s not going anywhere until Simon looks him over.”

  Simon Tolliver took off his glasses and wiped them on his shirt. “It’s rabies. Advanced. He doesn’t have much longer.”

  Lyla’s stomach clenched at the pronouncement. Even if he had been in the beginning stages of the infection, rabies was a death sentence. Maybe in the Before they co
uld have done something, but now—now there was no hope.

  “Did he say anything else?” Frank Raffe, the head of the camp, stood with his arms crossed over his muscular chest. His deep, commanding voice was that of a man responsible for the lives of nearly two hundred people. White hair and lines in his face were testaments to the seriousness with which he’d taken the job for the last three decades.

  “He mumbled something about ships and monsters. I couldn’t really make it out,” Simon said.

  “Anything that can be done for him?” Frank asked.

  “No. I could give him some meds to make his last few hours comfortable, but we are running low as is.”

  “Understood.” Frank looked over at Jamal, who stood guard over the man. They had carried the man into a cave that was a few hundred yards from camp. Now they all stood at the entrance of the cave, the man on a stretcher farther in, a blanket covering him. “Jamal, escort Simon back to the camp to grab some meds. We’ll give him a little, but it might be more humane to just put him out of his misery.”

  Jamal nodded to the man. “What about him?”

  Frank’s voice rang with authority. “He’s not coming into the camp. We don’t need people worrying about what’s out here. There’s enough tension because of the move. We’ll keep him here until it’s over.”

  Lyla stayed quiet during the exchange and said nothing as Jamal and Simon headed back to camp.

  Frank glanced her way. “You’re awfully quiet. Does that mean you agree?”

  Lyla looked up at Frank. He’d been their camp leader for years, but she’d known him her whole life. He’d been her father’s best friend. And when her father passed, he’d unofficially stepped into that role. “I don’t disagree with any of it. But I hate that these are the choices we have before us.”