Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1)

by Robinson, C. E.

  Karolita pushed backward with all her strength. It felt like she was moving as fast as Doulmahel until a blur registered in her mind, instantly followed by pain as a knee came upward and a foot blazed forward, smashing into Karolita’s left breast.

  Karolita flew backward. She twisted hard, jerking her left arm up and around to guide her fall so she could roll back to her feet. The Destiny blade again found its target. Pain ripped across her left arm. It was a gash to the bone.

  If she had wondered before, now all doubt vanished. This was a fight to the death and Doulmahel now had the weapon of choice.

  Karolita jumped to her feet. Her eyes found Doulmahel just in time to see a fist streaking toward her. An instant later, she felt her nose crumble. She slammed into the back wall of one of the shops and fought to maintain consciousness.

  The strike to her nose flooded her eyes with tears, but there was no time to let her vision clear. Surprisingly, when she straightened herself, she found Doulmahel had taken several steps back. Karolita fully expected the Valkyrie to surround her and unleash their horrible dogs on her. That was what the Pharisees would have done. Why fight when you can watch your enemy torn apart by dogs?

  A lot of Valkyrie circled around but kept their distance. The dogs panted with excitement. Off to her right, Karolita saw Guard2, her wrists and ankles in shackles, being dragged backward out of the way. The same fate descended on Guard1.

  A horrible gagging sound made Karolita jerk to her left. A goliath, three meters tall and wearing a Valkyrie uniform, had Eros by the throat, holding her a meter off the ground, while Eros kicked her feet and flailed her arms.

  The goliath threw Eros against the wall where she crumbled to the ground in an unconscious pile. The goliath turned to Karolita. She saw the five stars and the Silver Storm insignia. She saw the nameplate, D. Pesagniya.

  This massive, purple-faced Pesagniya took two stomps toward her but stopped. Sheer terror gripped Karolita.

  She heard a soft, even gentle voice call to her. “Over here, Karol.”

  The voice sounded familiar. She had forgotten all about Colonel Doulmahel. Karolita jerked around, expecting to see a blade or a fist or a foot flying toward her.

  Instead, she saw Nurse Rowe wrapping Doulmahel’s hand in bandages.

  “We allow you the courtesy of walking undisturbed upon our shores for an entire week. We stand by as you steal. We stand by as you insult. Yet we treat you with dignity.”

  Nurse Rowe finished wrapping Doulmahel’s hand. Doulmahel then picked up the Destiny Blade and held it in a tight grip.

  “Now this? You come into my house and attempt to murder a child?” Doulmahel’s scream exploded in Karolita’s ears.

  Doulmahel’s face was blank. Her speech became quiet. Every word she uttered was filled with death. “Now I am going to take you apart, Karol. Prepare to meet whatever it is that has been awaiting your rotted Personality.”

  Doulmahel’s white skin systematically darkened to a dull black. Her violet eyes changed — the pupil, iris, and sclera all turned to that same dull black until it was difficult to determine where skin ended and eye began. Her beautiful face faded away — her features dissolved. Although Karolita was unsure of what she saw, she comprehended that any chance for words, discussions, or negotiations had been lost as Doulmahel’s mouth, nose, and ears vanished, leaving nothing but those two black eyes.

  Even her clothes turned black.

  Finally, the last vestige of color completely evaporated, the black finally overtaking Doulmahel all the way to her fingertips. The only thing that was not black was the gleaming silver Destiny blade grasped in her left hand — this time by the handle, the point aiming directly at Karolita’s heart.

  Had she not known otherwise, Karolita would have guessed she was staring at one of the Terrible Angirasas.

  The Black Beast that had once been the beautiful, cream-skinned Josephine Doulmahel marched toward Karolita. Karolita easily stepped out of the way, but the Black Beast seemed to anticipate her every move. The silver blade flashed and Karolita’s arm moved to block it. Too late. Too slow. The Destiny Blade slashed down and across her chest — cutting deep — then coming back around — finding the blocking arm — drawing blood all along its length.

  The creature stepped back. Karolita tried to move away as the Black Beast again shot forward, a black boot flew around and crashed into her ribcage. Every move the Black Beast made was perfectly soundless. There was no mouth from which to shout a battle cry. There was no sound of breath. No sound of a heartbeat. The only sound Karolita could hear was the sound of her own screams and shattering bones as they echoed across a sea that had become perfectly silent.

  Thrown off balance, Karolita quickly recovered but not fast enough. The blade sliced again, this time down her leading leg. The Black Beast stood back and waited a moment to see how her bleeding opponent would recover.

  Karolita did not disappoint. She stepped forward, raised her knee, and aimed a foot at the Black Beast’s chest. Her foot flew fast but only connected with air. Karolita saw terrible retribution coming but could not pull her leg back fast enough, unable to do anything but watch as a black arm came under her knee and a hard black fist crashed down upon it, splintering the knee into a mass of crushed bone, cartilage, and tissue.

  Karolita fell to the ground screaming in agony.

  “What’s going on?” Parvarti asked in a hushed whisper.

  Someone was holding her left hand. She thought it was Chaniel until she heard a soft, sad voice. “You are seeing a Goddess tear apart a Goddess.”

  Parvarti gazed into Fran’s kind face. “Now, sweet one,” Fran continued gently, “unless you want to witness death, unless you want to see how a Goddess kills a Goddess, now would be the time to look away.”

  Karolita’s ghastly screams filled the air as a black fist smashed her elbow flat against the hard soil, bone fragments flying out of blue skin. Then the Black Beast stopped its brutal attack, stepped back, paused, and looked back to Parvarti.

  Even if she was jealous of Josephine and had repeatedly tried to make herself dislike her, she at least knew who Josephine was. This Black Beast could not possibly be her beautiful, brilliant Josephine. There was no emotion. There was a total absence of color — an absence of light — an absence of compassion — an absence of caring — an absence of life.

  The Black Beast turned back to Karolita. The silver blade switched from its left hand to its right. Parvarti could feel the Black Beast’s focus. She could feel the intent. Karolita’s last living experience would be a silver blade thrust into her left eye, lifelessness driving the blade deep into her brain, just as Karolita had wanted to take away Parvarti’s life.

  A flash of Parvarti’s father crossed her mind. She remembered a story he had told her from ancient Eden history and jumped to her feet.

  “Don’t Josie. Don’t.”

  But the Black Beast had no ears to hear and continued calmly on its mission. Parvarti grabbed the Black Beast around the waist and hugged her tightly. “Please don’t, Josie. I don’t want you to kill.”

  For a moment, the Black Beast froze, stopping mid-stroke with the blade aimed at Karolita’s eye. Parvarti felt the Black Beast’s irritation at being interrupted, but it did not reject her.

  The Black Beast stood up. A faceless face looked down on the little girl. The Black Beast reached down and gently stroked her blond hair. Somewhere within the Black Beast, it remembered that she deeply loved this young one who was holding her so tightly.

  “Josie. She might deserve to die but that doesn’t matter.”

  The Black Beast looked back at her enemy. Karolita’s dull blue face looked old and ugly. Any vestige of courage had changed to terror. There was no rationality only reactivity. All the Black Beast could see was sin layered upon sin, and for another moment, the Black Beast considered putting the miserable thing out of her miserable existence.

  The Black Beast looked down at the young face again, reading her li
ps.

  “Come on Josie. Give me the knife.”

  The Black Beast swiftly rotated the blade through her fingers and offered Parvarti the handle. Parvarti took it and quickly tossed it away. Fran casually walked over and picked it up. The Black Beast watched Fran quickly wrap the sharp blade in a roll of bandages, and then stick it in her pocket. “Again, we behold the difference between The Prince of Peace and the scourge of the Overlords,” Fran said to no one.

  The Black Beast felt a small hand in hers, pulling her from Karolita. Ears began to form as the two turned away. The first words they heard were a young, shaking voice trying its best to sound casual. “Come on Josie. Let me buy you a beer at Bill’s.”

  As they walked away hand in hand, the Black Beast changed. Its clothes became a light blue, black skin became a creamy white, black hair became a happy bright auburn, eyes turned bright green, a faceless face turned beautiful once again. And neither one of them heard, or if they heard they did not pay any attention, to the threats of revenge Karolita screamed as they walked away.

  Chapter 59

  Eden’s New Planetary Princess

  And now hear the story of the origins of that ancient, terrible one known as Lilith.

  —Ayasia

  Elysium

  35,105 Years Ago

  Eden Year of: 9,054,587.068

  Kuko thought the pundit’s chants would never end. Lord Smigyl insisted she stay in the dressing room attached to the stage — close enough to hear — but not in public view where The Children of Luminosity would scrutinize her every move and gesture. At least she had been spared the torture of sitting on-stage the entire time.

  High Exhaulted Pundit Bramrishi Devarat arrived last month to organize the details. Strict rules had to be followed in order for the inauguration of a new Planetary Prince to be valid. Considering that Kuko was to be inaugurated as Eden’s first Planetary Princess, special care had to be taken, not least among them, ensuring every reference to gender was correct.

  A central tenet within Lord Smigyl’s philosophies was the concept of ‘sequence’. Gaining transcendental consciousness required following a precise ‘sequence’ of meditation techniques. Gaining enlightenment unfolded in a precise ‘sequence’. Even the manner in which the physical worlds manifested out of the supreme absolute was dependent on ‘sequence’.

  Lord Smigyl claimed it was he who stood at the gap between the manifest and un-manifest, not El Elyon; it was he who stood upon the supreme absolute and maintained the Creation by upholding and maintaining a precise sequential unfoldment of his natural laws. The Children of Luminosity eagerly slurped down every drop of his story. Most everyone outside his camp told him he was full of shit, Kuko Kiena included.

  Kuko knew the scholars within The Children of Luminosity would debate every nuance of her inauguration for eons to come. Was all the paraphernalia used during the puja correct? Did the pundits chant the correct hymns? Was the sequence of the hymns correct?

  If some scholar was able to provide a strong argument that Kuko’s inauguration was invalid because of a flaw in the puja, the hymns, or the sequence, then The Children of Luminosity could declare she was not, in fact, Eden’s Planetary Princess, thereby withdrawing their support. As a result, she declined to participate in planning any aspect of the inauguration.

  She also knew The Children of Luminosity would continue to debate the validity of her position long after Lord Smigyl returned from Salvington, at which time she would step down. Even if they found a problem a thousand years later, they could claim she was never the authentic Planetary Princess. This would invalidate any planetary laws and treaties her administration implemented. If she had any input into her inauguration, she knew it would be her inputs that would be singled out as the ones invalidating her inauguration.

  “It’s time,” Salecia said after one of Devarat’s servants gave the signal precisely one hour before Kuko would take the stage.

  She was glad to finally stand up. She could have blamed her discomfort on hearing the pundit’s chants, but she knew better. It was her brother, Castor Mayhew, who detested the pundit’s ceaseless chants. Even with his remarkable ability to shut down his hearing, she knew by now it must be driving him crazy. For the most part, Kuko found this form of music quite lovely.

  One day, long ago, Pundit Devarat deliberately insulted her in front of a mixed group of Children of Luminosity and Nazz. Had they been in private, or in a small group assembled for the purpose of debate, she would have enjoyed a good argument. However, to deliberately insult her in the way he had, was a mistake. In retaliation, after the pundits finished their chants, she casually stated that his precious hymns were essentially the same as the songs of Gandharva, nothing more than music, and therefore of no greater value than Nazz marching tunes.

  In front of this large mixed group, he exploded. There was nothing Kuko liked more than to pick apart an arrogant, sexist prick like Devarat.

  Kuko knew there were many Children of Luminosity sitting in the audience tonight still harboring deep resentment against her because of that incident. There was no doubt that the moment Lord Smigyl departed for Salvington, the rigid patriarch Devarat would challenge her authority.

  While Salecia quickly opened the containers for her makeup, Kuko looked at herself in the mirror. She could see the fatigue on her face. She had not been resting well ever since agreeing to this ridiculous idea. Right after the words, ‘Sure, why not’ had left her lips, she fell into a state of panic. What had ever possessed her to agree to such a no-win position? What were the chances that any group other than the Nazz would pay her any attention at all?

  Indra and Smigyl had thought it quite hilarious to see the always-in-control-of-her-emotions Kuko having panic attacks. It was simply impossible to withdraw any agreement made in front of her Lord Indra, and since then, Indra had made it quite clear that she was the perfect individual for the position.

  Indra would do everything in his power to make her successful. He had long ago tired of Eden. Indra had spent over four thousand frustrating years watching the ineptitudes of the committee that Rahu had left in charge while he nuzzled up to Smigyl on The Solaris of Brihaspati. Since Kuko had agreed to take command, even Castor Mayhew had become excited at the idea of finally leaving Eden. With Kuko in charge, they would quickly crush the Azakamani and move on to more interesting conquests.

  But Kuko was not so sure.

  For the inauguration, Kuko had planned to apply her own makeup. This was, after all, a very important event in her life. As she looked at her tired face in the mirror, she told Salecia to take care of it. Three quarters of an hour later, Kuko opened her eyes and saw her face and hands striped with the multiple colors of rainbows.

  The rainbow was the symbol that represented a Planetary Prince. Planets were incubators of life. Not just one life form, but billions of life forms. Even if it seemed incongruous, considering how The Children of Luminosity occasionally wiped out all animal life on a planet, the multiple colors of the rainbow represented those multiple forms of life. A Planetary Prince was the guardian of all forms of life, which developed upon an evolutionary planet, hence the association with the rainbow.

  Kuko had no choice but to incorporate rainbows into her inauguration as Planetary Princess. For her face to be pure green, or any other pure color, was unacceptable. It was also unacceptable for her gown to be any one color. Having impeccable taste, it was quite a challenge for Kuko to have a rainbow-colored face and still look royal and elegant.

  Regardless, with much thought and work, she and her principle Artisans had developed a few beautiful designs. For today’s inauguration, she had selected the most modest one. Like a bride, where it was bad luck for the groom to see her wedding gown, no one beyond Salecia, Daresiel, and Kuko’s Artisans had been allowed to see — not Lord Smigyl, Lord Indra, or even her beloved Castor Mayhew.

  After slipping into her gown, Kuko looked at her reflections in a half-circle of full-length mirrors. “Do I
look like a freaking clown or what?” she muttered to herself.

  “No, Kuko. Actually, you look quite lovely,” Salecia said. “Whenever Rahu or Caligastia dresses this way, they do look quite clownish. However on you, somehow this works.” But Kuko was not so sure. We’ll soon find out when we see how many start laughing.

  Only seconds after making the final adjustments to her gown, the door to the stage opened, and just as they had planned, exactly thirty seconds later, the pundits finished their chants. Kuko strolled out, gliding to the center of the stage as the pundits began a new chant — roughly translated as ‘All behold she who will be Eden’s Planetary Princess.’ She worried she might panic, but it struck her that this was just one more play in the many plays in which she had acted. She stood facing the audience with her arms spread open, palms up in a magnanimous gesture.

  Might be just another play, but it’s certainly the biggest audience I’ve ever had, she thought as she scanned across the massive three-quarter-circle-shaped amphitheater and the ten million faces seated there — ten seas of ten different primary colors ranging from the silver of the children of Ved Vyasa to the black of the children of Daligastia.

  She had never seen so many diverse faces gathered like this and certainly had never seen so many of them fixed upon her. Indra was right — her inauguration was the perfect event to commission Elysium’s new amphitheater.

  Since Eden was not one of Indra’s planets, the amphitheater was designed as a gathering place with the ten Overlords in mind, with one million seats reserved for each Overlord family. How each Overlord decided who should attend this historic event was left up to each Overlord.

  Remarkably, it happened that eight Overlords were on Eden at the time: Indra, Smigyl, Ved Vyasa, Lakshmi, Caligastia, Zohar, Isis, and Daligastia. Narayana and Satan sent representatives. Count Ved Vyasa arrived only hours earlier, immediately dropping all his plans on the Solaris of Brihaspati as soon as he heard Lord Smigyl would be installing Kuko as Eden’s Planetary Princess — this event was so unprecedented, he had to see it for himself. How he made the journey in such a short amount of time was a mystery.