I yelled and shook my head furiously, trying to avoid being muzzled, but she was strong and managed to silence me.
“Be still, agitator!” Hashmal said, emitting flames and lightning from his mouth with each word he uttered.
His fiery breath made contact with my face, singeing my skin like he did so long ago when we were children wrestling in Guidance Park. Unable to do otherwise, I suffered the pain. Briny tears ran from my eyes and further stung my blistering skin.
Cam no longer wore his stoic and rough exterior but he restrained me while Jetrel bound my hands and feet.
Then Hashmal and Esar beckoned Jetrel so she could help them carry the chain to bind me. It was quite a burden on them, so Esar shifted to twice his size and carried the chain the remainder of the way. He threw part of the chain upon his shoulder, and the weight of it wobbled his legs. He pushed the chain off, and it got caught in his long, curly hair. I cackled through my gag. Under different circumstances, the others might have thought it funny, but not on this day. They gawped at me brows bumped together as I guffawed, while tears inundated my face.
When Esar got the chain close enough to me, he began to wind it around my body. I shivered when the icy metal touched my skin, and my knees buckled under its weight. I released a hoarse, braying laugh, which startled the others, except Cam, for he knew I had the tendency to laugh in moments of extreme stress.
Esar’s lack of control over the heavy chain as he entwined it, caused unintentional injuries to my body. He often glanced at me with apologetic eyes during this process, but I was not in less pain for it.
The chain’s connecting metal links pinched and bit my skin and pulled wads of hair from my scalp. I winced, shuddered, and screamed, but my cries went unheard, silenced by the gag forced upon me.
I caught sight of Gabriel. He watched me from a short distance. Did it pain him most of all to see me, his former lover, one who had caused so many smiles to appear on his face in the past, standing before him, bound in chains, bloody, bruised, and suffering because I loved him? Certainly, he suffered knowing this was only the beginning, for I was to be imprisoned for all eternity.
“Why did you fail to listen to us when we warned you about Lilith?” Jetrel paced from side to side. She glared at me callously. “Now you must suffer what you have earned with your treachery.”
Always impatient with imperfection, Jetrel refused to accept feebleness. She was cruel. I glowered at her with hatred.
During the time Esar shackled me, his gentle brown eyes avoided mine. When the last of the chain was secured around me, he uttered in a voice thick with sorrow, “It is done.”
“Beelzebub shall never escape these chains on his own,” Hashmal informed the others. “It is made of the strongest metal in existence and forged together by my fiery breath.”
Jetrel saw that the three other rebels were also ready to be taken away. “Where are the rebels to be imprisoned? I cocked my head and pointed an ear toward Michael for I, too, desired to know this.
Michael beckoned the holy angels in charge of this arduous task to gather together. “It is to be our burden to deliver these lost souls to their prisons.”
“Shall their prisons be here––in one of the forbidden forests, perhaps?” Jetrel chewed the inside of her cheek and rocked lightly, no doubt hoping our confinement would not be in Floraison.
Michael pointed at me and the three other bound angels and said, “Floraison is too holy a place to keep vile creatures such as these in our midst. Even the plant life in the forbidden forests would protest such a thing.”
“Floraison is a place of love, peace, and light. Dark forces do not belong here!” Gabriel cast me a fleeting, cold glance. My heart grew heavy with sorrow.
I could not understand what was so terrible about my actions. If Floraison is about love, why is my love for Gabriel so cursed? Still, I searched for his eyes––the color of a blue icy mist––and saw Heaven in them, despite the fact I was now doomed for simply loving him.
My mind tried to escape by daydreaming of a time when all was right in Floraison, a time when I could stroll to Gabriel, place my hand on his shoulder, caress his smooth face, or play with his soft, dark-brown curls. I reminisced about the many instances when I sat on the lush grasses of Triumph Gardens and listened to his beautiful, soothing voice singing praises to God, or times I lay my head on his lap as he played his trumpet and other instruments for long periods. I cherished these memories, and I was determined to hold onto them during my long imprisonment. Otherwise, I might go mad.
Michael addressed the holy angels as if we were not present. “There is a river on Earth we shall call Euphrates. It is the deepest river on the planet and derives from the Garden of Eden, the paradise God created for Mankind. The river is one of the four heads branching from the split of the main river in Eden. The four deepest points of the Euphrates River shall be prisons for the bound ones, until the end of days. This is God’s will.”
“So be it,” the surrounding holy angels shouted in unison.
Michael’s words rang cold in my ears. A sudden chill bloomed across my being, and the hairs on my body stood on end. My heart pounded. My nostrils flared as I gasped through my nose, unable to use my mouth. My upper eyelids stretched upward. Jetrel approached me again and blindfolded me, avoiding my terrified gaze.
I trembled but did not panic as a pair of strong hands grabbed me and moved me along. I knew it would not be long before I met my destiny. I wished to cry out Gabriel’s name one last time, but the gag prevented me.
I was cast out of Floraison, and as I plunged toward Earth, I pictured Gabriel, as he was the last time we were alone together. The way his lips parted and received my tongue, his languorous movements, and the way he arched his back and moaned when I kissed him or touched him. My lovely thoughts were interrupted when the chains around me became blistering hot. I wailed in agony as the scorching metal links seared into my skin. I howled in intense pain, but the shroud covering my mouth concealed my cries. The chains continued to eat away at my flesh, and the pain was intolerable.
I splashed into a cold waterway. Many of my bones shattered when I collided with the water. I was rendered unconscious. Before long, the saltwater seeped into my wounds and roused me unmercifully. I woke immersed in black waters.
As I sank deeper into the river, water rushed forcibly into my nostrils. I tried to take in air, but murky water filled my lungs instead. The heavy chains dragged me rapidly into the abyss. The pressure squeezed my lungs, my throat stung with trapped air, and I heard my heart thudding in my ears.
Instinctively, I tried to move my arms and legs, but the tightly wound chains gnawed at my flesh and made movement impossible.
I heard the roar of the river. I was disoriented, unable to determine which way was up. I struggled to survive. Although the chains hurt me, I flailed and twisted my shackled body.
Pressure built in my head as I plummeted deeper into the Euphrates. A great force pressed against my eyes from inside my head. My eyeballs burst out of their sockets and smashed against the blindfold Jetrel had placed over them.
No memory of Gabriel or his mellifluous songs could mask the severe, throbbing pain I endured. I opened my mouth to wail, allowing water to filter through the cloth and enter my respiratory organs. My lungs began to swell with the muddy water. I no longer heard the rumbling of the river, for my consciousness was slipping away.
When I awoke, I was lying at the bottom of the Euphrates, the weight of the water crushing down on me. Unable to move, I was able to hear the sounds of the river and feel the loathsome, maddening pecking of small fish.
How did I survive the fall from Floraison? I thought it had been divine intervention. Perhaps someone there still cared for me. Somehow, despite what I had endured, I still desired to live––but my desire was ephemeral.
I lay immobile and powerless on the riverbed. Many days and nights slipped by. Thoughts were my only companion. Thus, I tried to fill my moments w
ith joyful recollections I had in some of my favorite places in Floraison, Sonnoris, the Atrium, Guidance Park, Serena Lake, Triumph Gardens, and my cave in Mount Verve.
Lilith jolted upright, panting and shivering. She touched her face and hair, and looked around her. Realizing she was sitting between Satan and Samael who slept, she relaxed and exhaled.
She tilted her head back and saw pink, orange, and yellow hues mixing with the blue of the sky as the sun commenced its downward journey. She stared at her hands, still trembling. By way of her vision, she saw Beelzebub’s fall, as if through his own eyes. Perhaps this was a strength she could hone, for such knowledge could be beneficial.
She reclined between Satan and Samael once more to get additional repose before nightfall.
Chapter 21
Jealousy
The sun dropped. The temperature became much cooler. Samael awoke and saw Lilith sleeping in Satan’s arms. He frowned and poked her several times until she opened her eyes half way and glanced at him.
“What is the matter?” She yawned.
“It is night.” Samael rolled his eyes.
“Yes, you are right.” Lilith ignored Samael’s scowling displeasure and turned her back on him to wake Satan.
Samael got to his feet and stormed to the shoreline. On his way, he encountered Dagon, sleeping under a palm. He kicked him hard on his side. Dagon awoke, rubbed his side and glowered at him.
“It is time to leave this place.” Samael pressed his lips together.
“There was no need to––” An excruciating pain in his legs interrupted Dagon’s words. Wincing, he glanced at his lower body. His lower limbs were wedged together as if by an invisible vise. Their shape began to change before his eyes. Scales developed to replace his skin. Vents opened on both sides of his neck. Webbing formed between his fingers. He squeezed his eyelids together.
Samael watched him through narrowed eyes.
Dagon writhed and floundered on the ground, for the pain was intense. When he opened his eyes, he was a merman. He wheezed and gasped for air. The gills on his neck opened and closed attempting to capture oxygen from the atmosphere.
“Help me, Samael.” Dagon reached out for him.
Samael stepped out of reach. “Why?”
“I must get to the water, or I shall perish.” Dagon struggled for breath. Samael remained motionless, staring at him with a sullen expression.
Fornues heard his friend plead for help. He emerged from the depths and rose above the water.
Gadreel slept on the sand near the water fifty feet from where Dagon slept. She was awakened by Fornues’ voice in her head.
“Rise! Please awaken! Dagon needs your help!”
Gadreel sat upright and blinked owlishly out to sea. “Fornues? What has happened?”
“Apologies, I did not mean to rattle you, but my friend needs your help. Please go to Dagon!”
Without hesitation, Gadreel hurried to the area where she last saw him.
As she drew nearer, she saw him writhing on the ground in merman form, his arms extended toward Samael. He appeared to be requesting help, but Samael stood before him and offered no assistance. She ran to them.
“What is happening?”
“I need––to––water––please,” Dagon said, breathless. She scowled at Samael.
“It is quite amusing.” Samael chuckled. “You see, your lover turned into a merman when the sun hid in the horizon. He was unable to stop the transformation.” He shrugged. Gadreel stared at him in disbelief.
“Come, I shall help you move to the water. Give me your hand,” Gadreel said in a calm voice, pretending her heart was not in her throat.
Samael guffawed and slapped his thigh. “He can hardly lift his eyes, much less his limbs.”
Her eyebrows bumped together in a scowl. She grabbed both his arms and pulled him toward the ocean. Grunting with effort, she dragged him over the sand. He continued to gasp for air.
“Samael, he is suffocating! Please help me.”
“You seem to be doing fine on your own.” He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug.
“I implore you!” Her lips trembled. “He is going to die if he is not immersed in sea water soon.”
He waved his hands at her in a short motion with fingers down. “You best be on your way. Go on, lug your lover to the ocean.” Samael smirked and swaggered away.
Gadreel’s eyes opened wide as she watched him abandon them. Dagon was no longer conscious. She hauled him as fast as she could. When she got closer to the shoreline, she appealed to Fornues for help.
“Help Fornues!”
“You are still much too far for my reach,” he communicated.
“Try or your friend shall surely die.”
He extended his tentacles as far inland as possible, but his closest appendage was still several feet away. Gadreel flapped her wings and dragged Dagon toward his tentacle. When he was within reach, Fornues coiled a tentacle around his body, and carried him into the sea.
Gadreel collapsed sprawled out on the sand. She let out a harsh breath and wiped her damp eyes.
Fornues swam far and deep, where the waters were darkest. He waited by his friend’s side, hoping he would regain consciousness. After a while, Dagon awoke and began to thrash in the water. His eyes bulged as he flailed uncontrollably. His body twitched a few times, and then he stopped moving and became lifeless, sinking deeper into the ocean.
Fornues turned from a deep purplish-black to a ghastly white. “Dagon, do not die. The thought of losing you and remaining alone in the deep is intolerable.” He expelled a deafening squirt of black ink.
Then, without warning, Dagon came to life again. At first he appeared confused and flustered, but then he became himself and swam to Fornues.
“My friend! Are you well?” Fornues stared.
“Yes, I am myself again.” Dagon creased his brow. “Why have you lost your color?”
“I was frightened I had lost you. You appeared to have drowned. It was awful to witness.” Color began to bloom and disperse over Fornues.
“Since we joined the others, I have learned three important things.” Dagon hung his head. “One, I can only transform into my angel form during the light of day. At sundown, I become a sea creature once again, and I cannot survive out of the water for long. Two, I must suffer the drowning process every time I return to the ocean. And three, Samael is no friend of mine. I lay asphyxiating on the sand before him, and he did nothing to help me.”
“And he shall pay a high price for it!”
“No, Fornues! He is Satan’s right hand,” Dagon said. “For now, we must keep the peace with him.”
Meanwhile, back at the beach Samael conversed with Lilith and Satan as if nothing had occurred.
Gadreel glared at him from a distance and rubbed her chin. “Everything I desire to express I shall have to keep to myself until the moment is right,” she whispered to herself. “Samael has strong allies. With both Lilith and Satan by his side, he is untouchable. He has been cruel to me. He has rejected me and yet my foolish heart still yearns for him. I could retaliate by telling Satan everything I know: his sexual encounters with Lilith, and the secret he hides about having been to Eden and seeing the humans. Divulging this shall make both Satan and Lilith his enemies. Still, I do not desire harm to befall him.” She bit her lower lip and proceeded to them.
“Where is Dagon?” Lilith asked her.
“Samael did not tell you?” Gadreel looked at him. “Dagon turned into his fish form, and nearly suffocated on the sand. I dragged him to sea so he would not perish.”
“Why did he not wait to turn into the sea creature once he was in the water?” Satan asked, perplexed.
Gadreel turned to Samael. He rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. “He spontaneously transformed into his aquatic form upon nightfall.”
“Dagon can only walk on two legs during the day?” Satan furrowed his brow.
“Yes, it would seem so.”
“So n
ow we must worry about being near water come nightfall?” Lilith crossed her arms and frowned.
“Dagon shall have to worry about his own surroundings.” Samael looked at Gadreel, sneering.
“We shall follow the coast to the east, for that is where I sense we shall find Beelzebub,” Lucifer said. “It is best for us as well, for there is plenty of food along the shoreline, and it is much cooler. This way Fornues and Dagon can follow us. They are our allies. We may need them both at some point in our journey.”
Gadreel grinned. Samael sulked.
“Let us go to the beach and notify them of our plans so we can be on our way.” Satan pointed to the shoreline.
Lilith kissed Satan on the cheek. “We should feed first, my prince.”
“Yes, you are right. We should feed first.” He followed her.
Gadreel pursed her lips and shook her head.
At the seashore, Satan called for Fornues and Dagon.
Gadreel paced on tiptoes with her fingertips in her mouth. Did Dagon survive?
Fornues rose above the sea. Dagon’s head and shoulders emerged from the water, and he waved at Gadreel. She chortled and waved in return. He glared at Samael.
“I am glad you are well, Dagon.” Satan stood tall and clasped arms behind him.
“I was close to death,” Dagon said. “I give merits to Gadreel and Fornues. They are the reason I am still among the living and ready to follow your plans.”
Satan gazed at Gadreel and gave a nod. “We shall feed first and then begin our journey. We shall fly past the mountains, and proceed close to the coast so you and Fornues are able to follow us.”
“We shall feed as well,” Dagon said, “and be ready to follow you by sea.”
“Would you like for me to bring food to the water?” Gadreel leaned forward and kept steady eye contact with Dagon.
“No, thank you. We shall find suitable food in the sea.” Dagon disappeared under the water with Fornues.
The Fall of Lilith Page 32
