by Donovan Neal
El then stood.
Talus prostrated himself to the ground.
"Talus of House Arelim, I judge you worthy to uphold my word, and faithful in all thine house...for zealous art thou in the things of thy Lord..."
Talus remained bowed and silent before his king.
El continued, "…because thou seek to bring honor back to your house, and because you would through works gain favor with the Almighty. I have heard thy heart’s plea, and give unto thee an assignment that I can give to none other in all of Heaven."
Talus looked up curiously and spoke, "What is thy will my King? How might I bring honor to my Lord?"
The Lord looked quietly at Talus, as if He might change His mind, but continued. "This is an assignment of grave import. Yet know I would not command thee in this thing. Yet I would adjure thee to consider the request of thy King for it will lead you into the maw of Hell itself. However, of most import, you will be protector and guard to he who would save mankind and bring untold honor to the House of Arelim like none other. If you accept this thing; I would make you guard to Shiloh, Talus of House Arelim."
Talus looked to his Lord to see if he might stand, and the Lord motioned for him to rise.
"My life is to do thy will my king. Unto my last breath and to the breaking of my stone will I serve thee."
El smiled and replied. "There is a turmoil that rages within thee. A blight of hurt that if not cut out, will bring thee to ruin. To forgive oneself is no easy task. Yet because thou hast placed the importance of thine own forgiveness over that which I alone can impart, I will tutor thee on the cost of my forgiveness. You shall serve as Grigori to Shiloh, as living witness to the futility in seeking to earn what can never be acquired apart from me. When Shiloh is alone, and must endure separation, for three days you shall record the depth of the love of God."
Talus looked down. He knew that El had forgiven him. Knew that within his mind all that El had shown him of Lucifer's action and his own were but threads in a tapestry that was woven to bring about history. Yet, there was an ache within him. A peace that he needed that exceeded his understanding. He would consider this unique offer from El. To know the cost of the forgiveness of God.
"Lord, when I am in thy presence all is made clear, and I am whole. Yet when I walk amongst the people. When I am alone, though you saturate all, I do not feel the presence of my King, and a great blackness washes over me.” Talus's eyes began to swell and tears slowly fell from his eyes. "I would have this affliction be removed from me."
El sighed, for He knew that all that was needed was already supplied for Talus to receive the freedom from the sense of guilt and shame that weighed upon him. "Talus, my son...I offer thee the means to use thy own strength to remove the yoke that you yourself have placed about thy neck. You believe you are unworthy of forgiveness...very well. I therefore decree that ye shall know that unforgiveness of oneself comes at great cost. For ye desire to look into this thing. Therefore, lo, opportunity now avails thee. You will serve as subterfuge, a lying spirit will you be for me to Lucifer. For you will serve as his counselor, and give counsel as the oracle of God, only to see his counsel fail. You will be false to him, and you will journey to Hell and suffer great trial and wait for me, and after many days I will come for thee, and bring you and the sons of men home.”
Talus looked upon his Lord in shock and wonderment. He scratched his head to make sure he had heard him correctly. "Lord, you desire me to befriend Lucifer? To give comfort and aid under the guise of subterfuge? To feign allegiance to him, and ally myself against thee? He is the author of my pain, the sum of my humiliation. He is..."
"He is thy rebellious brother," the Lord replied. "Yet he schemed to bring you to naught. Opportunity I now avail thee to bring his own schemes down upon his head. However, if you accept this charge, know this. That you will be faced with choices that will consign you to Hell herself, and Charon and the Fallen will set you to affliction. But, if you follow the example of thy God, and endure the suffering for the sake of the glory that lies before thee. I myself will come to thee whilst in Hell, and will return you to this place, and angels of all races and stations will lift up thy name. And the peace which thou seekest through works will most assuredly be thine."
Talus raised his head. "And if I do this thing…I must abandon my house? My home? For how long must this thing be?"
El looked stoically at His son, and spoke without hesitation, "Until Shiloh comes."
Talus pondered the words of his Lord. He turned them over into his mind. "My Lord, thou hast said that you would rescue me in Hell...who then... How...?" Talus paused to finally ask the question that plagued him above all others. "Are you Shiloh?"
The Lord turned His back to Talus, and when He did the form of three men could be seen. One in the center was El, the other to His left was as a form of a dove, yet clearly was as a human, and Yeshua stood to His right.
El then turned to face him. "We are Shiloh." The three said, speaking as one. "Will you assist us in this thing?"
Talus bowed himself again to the ground. "I will do as thou hast asked. When will I know that I am to leave for Earth?"
Talus immediately stood outside the Hall of Annals, and Argoth stood next to him. The voice of the Lord echoed in their heads.
"Argoth, give Talus access to the tomes of Lilith and Lucifer, let him study; for he has assignment that will cause him leave of Heaven for many days."
"As you will, Almighty," replied Argoth. Argoth then began the sequence to open the great Hall and allow his brother entrance, and he began to speak to Talus, but Talus did not hear for the Lord still spoke within his mind.
"Thou shalt not share with Michael thy assignment, for if he knows of it, in his zeal and concern for our wellbeing he would to his own hurt bring about revolution. My Spirit shall guide thee in this thing, and direct thee. Follow my command, and we shall save two kingdoms and lay seed to bring down the Enemy."
Talus nodded and spoke aloud, "Thy will be done, my King."
Argoth looked at him. "Talus I am not the Lord! Now pay attention!" Talus smiled as they both walked deep into the great Hall of Annals to read the secret things of Lucifer.
*********************
Lucifer walked amidst the daemon Kortai. Their hammers pounded against anvils, and they hauled remnants from the flesh of their kin, scavenging to build a forge within the furnace of Hell itself.
Lucifer seethed as he looked upon the Kortai, for even in their daemonic form, they still possessed the image El had impressed upon them. Still they stood as mirages in his mind of his brother Michael— a reminder of defeat. A Kortai demon stumbled in front of him as he hauled the flesh-eating stuff that was Hell's composition.
"Watch where you are going, fool!" Lucifer scowled at the creature and waved him away and continued moving through the corridors of Hell, fixated on the beast’s beating heart. Deeper he wound himself down the living carved stairways of the creature. Sheltered deep within Hell's hollowed out caverns, Lucifer had fashioned a citadel to build weapons and beasts of war, an arsenal of such destructive power to the forces of Heaven that it stretched across the underbelly of the Earth. For it was here within the depths of fire and brimstone, here near the streams of lava and the shifting of tectonic plates, that Lucifer created a realm to do his work: to fashion another Kiln. To undo what El and Michael had done. To create a race capable of Ascension. To undo the Godhead and make Heaven pay for his ouster. And the King of Evil smiled at the thought.
"My Lord!" said Cricksus. "We did not expect your presence in the ninth circle this soon." We have been working to conform the creatures flesh per your instructions and Charon's lash for several centuries now. I..."
"I am not interested in your report, Cricksus. I am, however, interested in Lord Ares. He is below, is he not?"
"Aye my king," said Cricksus.
"Then bother me not with further discussion. For I have buried my schemes past the arm of Heaven. And what, pray tell, w
ill El do when I have builded a means to destroy him?"
Lucifer smiled with glee, and continued down a carved hallway. The cries of punished angelic rebels who had defied him echoed across the halls. As he looked down, Elohim prisoners were chained to the walls of Hell's flesh. Their eyes were sewn shut, and where there should have been eyes, a blind fold was wrapped around the head and crusted Elomic blood was dried on their face. Their hands were pinned to the walls, and their feet nailed to the flesh of Hell. Lucifer smiled at his creations. There were seven in total. Each living tortured totem representative of the race of angels, each one a reminder that Lucifer was the god of this age. A reminder that rebellion against his will would come at great cost. So as the Seraphim adorned the entrance of the great palace of Heaven, so too did these unholy creations sing a song of despair, and nothing but the weeping and gnashing of teeth could be heard, for they screamed throughout the halls from Hell's constant feeding of their flesh.
I must make more, Lucifer thought. For one day I will see El hang as these. A decoration on the walls of my new throne. Affixed by nails and stretched out humbled for all to see. And once more Lucifer smiled at the thought.
He continued to walk further down a corridor and again descended a stairwell of lava. Its heat made the air move in a sweltering haze.
You see, El, I too can take life and fashion it according to my will. For I will take the very source of thy punishment, and from it fashion a forge of such power that when I rise from the pit of this planet, my tail will raise up the stars themselves. And on that day you shall behold such an army as to displace thee from thy throne. For I will take the Kilnstones left to me and with them build, the likes of creation none hast ever seen. And when the time is ripe, I will raise me a man to be my son, and I will be his father. And we shall bring you low.
Lucifer came into the antechamber of the deepest level of Hell. Nine circles did he fashion deep past the interior ocean of the planet. For centuries, he trained Hell and coaxed Charon to conform her to his will. The lash of Charon's whip and the roar of his command caused the giant beast to burrow until she touched the core of the planet’s life. A parasite to destroy El's prized creation. To leech the life of both man and his gem of a home. For here within the deepest pits of the ninth circle was house of the prized possession of Lucifer Draco. The Hellforge and in this forge a weapon of such design as to bring to naught Michael in battle.
A cauldron of power contained the remnants of angelic Kilnstones and the souls of men. Lucifer would manufacture arms of such destructive might, Heaven herself would shudder before their onslaught. But where to hide such a creation that even El would not dare to enter?
Lucifer was proud of his wisdom; he reveled in it. To hide his tare amidst the wheat of El’s creation. He bargained that El would not rend the wheat of this planet, to remove him. Lucifer smirked, for the human’s spirits provided a never-ending source of fuel, and his Horde the labor, and Lucifer basked in the screams and gnashing of teeth as both fallen angel and the condemned souls of men created his vision. Lucifer ducked under beams and tendrils of flesh while Hell lurched; trained by her master to consume only on command. Lucifer smiled, for Hell was a giant tamed, a beast shackled, but he knew she was yet still a ravenous beast, a beast on a paper leash, ready to devour them all. Yet the creature was a brute and held no intelligence to rival the First of Angels and his kind, and so Lucifer domesticated the creature. She was his to control. Lucifer saw Ares, approached, and barked to his Lord of War.
"Report of thy stewardship!" commanded Lucifer.
Ares turned to face his master. "She will be done soon, my King, behold the weapons we fashion already as the Forge nears completion." Ares turned over to his master a flat rounded object with five protruding sharp tips. The star-like object dripped with a greenish oozing glaze.
"You there!" yelled Ares.
A daemon lugged a beam of the creature’s flesh and stopped to acknowledge him. Ares threw the five-pointed star at the creature, and when he did, it flew whizzing through the air and embedded in the angel and hit with a thunk in the creature’s head. The dagger like object sizzled and melted into the spirit. It screamed, then fell as Hell slowly began to digest the creature within herself.
"You see my Lord, the flesh of the creature has been coated with a resin from our Kilnstones. When it penetrates an angel's flesh; the resin reacts and breaks through to consume the victim."
"I am impressed," said Lucifer. "Yet trinkets I have not come to see. Is it ready?"
Ares nodded, and motioned Pangu, his assistant over. "The Lord requires his blade."
Pangu ran quickly to a vault built within the wall of the creatures flesh and from it pulled a long six-foot case of black flesh that oozed. He sat it down upon an earthen stone table and backed away.
"My Lord, once the case is opened the blade must be tamed. It will instantly seek to kill all that dare handle it. It is, after all, a spawn of Hell. Over one hundred daemons and several angels have seen dissolution in its making," warned Pangu.
Lucifer waved him off in irritation, and noted a daemon Kortai chiseling into the walls of Hell's flesh. "You worker...come here." The worker came to Lucifer bowing.
Lucifer gestured to the worker and commanded. "Open the case."
Ares and Pangu immediately backed away from their Lord.
Obediently the angel opened the box, and a snake-like blade shot from the case and slit the daemon’s throat. The creature backed away in panic, screaming as blood misted and sprayed over him. Lucifer grabbed him as shield and with his free arm grappled the blade by the hilt as it moved as a cobra to attack the struggling daemon. Lucifer then plunged the blade deep into the angel's bowels and the sword fed upon its essence.
Lucifer smiled approvingly. "Yes, my beloved—feed—feed."
While the blade siphoned off the daemon’s strength, Lucifer took the key of Hell and touched the blade, and the blade heeled, and became straight. Lucifer held it straight up and admired its deadly beauty. The blade glowed with a greenish hue and within it, Lucifer could see the Kortai worker pushing against the blade, attempting to get out. A scream sprung from the blade. Lucifer smiled, for it was beautiful to his sight. It was, a blade crafted for him alone.
He looked upon its hilt, and its onyx and Kilnstone finish was stunning, it had something akin to spider’s legs surrounding the handle. Yet it was the blade that most impressed him. Honed to the sharpest edge, and made from the fusion of Kortai Kilnstones and the latticed teeth from Hell herself. It was forged in the fires of the creature's belly. Layers of materials mined within the beast were folded repeatedly to give it a hardness that could cut through all known steels of Heaven. It feasted off the souls of both angels and men—a soul stealer. It moved as a serpent and radiated Hell's hunger. Microbes from Hell's belly unleashed upon any flesh the blade touched. It was a living thing. Ready to dismember and consume, and hissed when unsheathed. Like the deadliest of cobras, it was a weapon coiled to strike on command. Only, Lucifer's control of Hell itself kept the blade from attacking him. For no other angel could hold it. The blade coiled around Lucifer's forearm, becoming an extension of him. It was the perfect weapon to bring recompense to Michael. Lucifer beamed, as the glistening blade that wrapped around his arm was ready to spring forth on command.
"My blade of Malice shall you be. For aught have I against the God of Heaven and my dear brother."
Lucifer turned to Pangu and Ares and smiled. "You both have done well—extremely well."
Each bowed at the praise from their master.
Lucifer smiled. "I look forward to watching our enemies fall from the skies. Well done, Ares, well done. Continue your work, I want blades and armor to be fashioned for all my troops.” Sounds of roaring came from cages to Lucifer's rear, and he turned.
"And accelerate the creation of my Zoa tau, and the Wyverns." Lucifer looked upon the creatures he had made, transformed by corrupted Kilnstones. The maggots of Hell, he learned could give bi
rth to great beasts.
"For when we possess enough of the spirits of men, we shall bring Heaven low. Now, come with me. I desire to equip Marduk with some of our new weapons. I have promised El that I would see him hung from a tree, it is time I display my vision for the world to see."
*********************
Iblis moved among the Fallen and bowing when dealing with his superiors. The culture of the Fallen was so different than that of Heaven. For here among the Horde, all were in competition to see who was the greatest. Who could impress Lucifer the most? And yet all seemed under a malaise of doubt, and fear. It was constantly there, a choking heaviness among all, that Heaven was lost and could never be reclaimed. That El was no more to be found—it was a sadness and grief that floated among the Fallen like a smog, ever present, and ever-lurking in the minds of all. Some hated Lucifer, and even more hated themselves, and many took that hatred out on men who worshiped them. Giving them power, sex, and all that they lusted after, only to watch them grow dependent and then to snatch their gifts away. An entire race of beings devoted to the suffering of another, all locked in a pattern of bitterness, and self loathing. A race of beings lost to no other purpose but to destroy anything that elicited the love of God. Iblis walked amongst his brethren, noting how far they had fallen from the heights of Creation. Madness had infected them all. He could feel it gnawing at him as well. For as man lost long life and decay set itself upon him from Adam. The Fallen too knew that their sin against El changed them. A slow insanity crept amongst them all. Their faculties degenerating, and their lusts growing. Sin ate away at who they were. And though none would speak of it, for fear that to do so, would bring confirmation of what was whispered. Sin was a real corruption that knew nothing but hunger, and consumed all that was Godlike. He knew he could not go home, that El would never forgive such treachery. However, Iblis would not succumb to the loss of mind that was the Horde that he now called family. He would remember who he was, why El had made him. And even in exile he would honor the memory of the angel that he was.
