by Gene Curtis
“Then die!” It threw the fireball.
Again, it deflected and hit the wall.
Enraged, the creature charged toward them.
They dodged. Mark pulled the sword from the staff and sliced toward the creature. Its right arm fell off just below the elbow. It stopped, picked up the severed limb, put it back in place then continued toward Mark. He quickly moved away.
LeOmi took out a pen and said in English, “Move toward me so it can see what I’m doing.” She began touching the points of the star on her replica Solomon’s signet.
Mark immediately ran toward her and the creature turned to follow. After one step, it stopped and stared at LeOmi. “Wait!” it yelled in Arabic.
LeOmi smiled and stopped.
“Do not enslave me. What is your wish?”
Mark said, “We have no wish.”
“The wish is hers, not yours.”
LeOmi said, “We have no wish.”
“The riches of the world are yours if you desire it. You may be queen of all that you behold. Anything your heart desires is my gift should you not enslave me.”
“Okay, I will not enslave you if you will not harm us.”
“No harm will come to you by my hand. You still have a wish.”
“No harm to any of us?”
“Neither you nor him.”
“There are more in our group than he and I.”
“No harm to any in your group.”
She whistled and called, “Come on in guys.”
The others filed in, lights in hand.
“You still have a wish.”
“If I must wish, Henry’s ranch: that is what I want.”
“Next you set a foot on it, it will be yours.”
Mark said, “You cannot give her something that is already hers. I bought it for her. She just did not know it yet.”
LeOmi stared at him, mouth open.
“I knew how much you loved that place and Jacque was doing such a good job there. How could I not?”
She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. “I love you.”
“Now’s not the time. We have more important matters to attend to.”
Mark turned to the ifrit. “How did you end up here?”
“That redheaded fool. I chased him in here, but it was a trap he had lain. I was the fool.”
“I don’t mean that. I mean on Earth. I can see you are a spirit; you do not have a body.”
“You are wiser than I thought possible.”
“God is the wise one. He just lets me see things most people cannot see. How did you end up on this planet?”
It said to LeOmi, “Is it your wish that I tell this story?”
Mark said, “No need to wish for that. I was just curious because you are trapped here.”
“You can do nothing about that fact.”
“Actually, I can sever the connection between your spirit and your body.”
“You can kill me?” The creature erupted in laughter.
LeOmi said, “He can do that. That sword he has is from God. It can cut your cord.”
Mark said, “That is how I knew you were spirit. I can see your cord.”
“If you can kill me, why have you not?”
“I told you, God sent me here to find you. Perhaps He has a purpose for you.”
“I do not follow Hayah, nor do I follow Haylael. I will not submit to the purpose of either.”
“I tell you what. Tell me the story and I will not sever your cord.”
“You will not sever my cord for eternity.”
“I will not sever your cord as long as you do not stand against me or my people.”
“How will I know your people?”
LeOmi pulled out her pendant and held it where the creature could see it. “All of his people wear this.”
“The sign of Ben Hayah.”
“The sign of the Son of God.”
“You choose slavery over freedom.”
Mark said, “I don’t understand.”
“That is what the war is about. Hayah wishes to create slaves of the spirits of this world. Haylael opposes that because bringing golem into our world is an abomination. Slavery too is an abomination. Golem always rebel. Slaves always rebel. It is their nature. They will rebel wherever they are. It has happened in every world Hayah has created and recreated. And there are too many worlds to say.”
The creature raised his feet one at a time and looked at them. They were crusty. “Can we get out of this room? It is uncomfortable.”
Mark noticed the difference in the water temperature; it was quite a bit warmer than when they had first entered. “You will not flee?”
“My obligation to tell the story and grant her wish binds me.”
Mark led them out of the cave.
Just outside the cave, the creature stretched its wings and looked skyward. “It has been a long time.” It stamped its feet and the crust fell away. “I feel better.”
“There are too many worlds to say?”
“Indeed. We are not created beings, strictly speaking. Our spirits are transferred to immortal bodies at death, much as Hayah has promised you. But our existence has always been in the realm of our existence, not from a created world. When our mortal body dies, we are given an immortal one, but there is a sacrifice. Marriage is not possible.”
The creature sat and folded its wings around its body. “Every being lamented that loss so Hayah began creating worlds that we might visit. Wonderful worlds with creatures of every description were made. Beings of our realm could let their spirits visit any world they wished as an inhabitant of their choice and experience a lifetime as that creature in the time it would take the body to eat a meal.”
Ricky interrupted in Arabic, “It sounds like a great idea for theme parks.”
“I do not understand this theme parks.”
Mark answered, “Places where people go to have fun. They are places where you can experience things not available in normal life.”
“Yes, theme parks is a good word for this.”
The creature turned back to Mark. “Hayah saw theme parks were good and desired one. He made this world. His place to rest. He liked it very much. He decided to bring the very best spirits of this world into our realm as servants.
“Haylael protested it as an abomination. Hayah invited him to this world to see that it was different than anything that had been created before and invited him to test the beings. Haylael tested the beings and was not satisfied. They were violent and warmongers, save for a few. He told of what he had seen and a third of the beings in our realm agreed that Hayah was in error and chose to stand with Haylael to prevent this abomination.
“That started the war. Haylael and his followers were defeated quickly and imprisoned in this world. So were we. They destroyed this world. Hayah recreated it and our spirits were forced into this world while our bodies remain in our realm. Haylael and his forces are still fighting. We choose not to. Their hope is to diminish as much as possible the number of beings judged acceptable, sufficiently small that the presence in our realm will be insignificant.”
“You said you follow neither Hayah nor Haylael. Why?”
“While my race agreed that what was happening was an abomination, Haylael’s character is not good. His pleasure often is to destroy created worlds, so we decided not help him.”
Mark said, “Let me understand this, Hayah created everything. That includes you and your race of beings. You trusted his wisdom until He created a race of beings, some of which were intended to serve Him. Then you decided not to trust His wisdom. Does that sum it up?”
“There are two things you do not grasp. Slavery is abhorrent in any form. Second, do you understand golem?”
He nodded, “Sure, a creature made of clay and given life by a spiritually adept person. They are inferior to what Hayah created.”
“You are golem, a creature much inferior to the beings of the first creation. Do you understand Elohim?”
“Elohim is more than one. It is many. It is the beings of the first creation. Elohim created your race under Hayah’s direction. You are golem.”
“That may or may not be true, but it doesn’t matter. It comes down to trust in Hayah’s wisdom.”
“Would you accept golem as slaves?”
“We embrace what God has done.”
“Hayah is not infallible. To you, it may seem that He is, but ask yourself, why would Haylael challenge Him if this were true? Haylael believed he could win. I believe he would have prevailed had we joined the fight on his side.”
“Whatever, I’m not going to argue the point. Haylael’s son, a being we call Benrah, is attempting to enslave this world. We’re fighting against him. Will you join our fight?”
LeOmi said, “That is my wish, for you to join our fight.”
The creature looked anguished. “The bargain was that I would not be your slave.”
“Okay then, how about accepting ten missions in this battle?”
“Agreed, as long as I do not have to do battle against my kind.”
“Agreed.”
Mark said, “Mission one: locate and rescue, if possible, my people recently kidnapped by Benrah’s forces.”
The creature pointed, “You are not she.”
LeOmi said, “That is your first mission.”
“How will I know these beings?”
Mark brought to the front of his mind an image of Chenoa. “Can you see the one I’m thinking of in your mind?”
“I see a female with long dark hair.”
“That’s right. Here are the rest of them.” He brought images one by one to the front of his mind.
When he was finished, the creature asked, “Where should I start?”
He brought an image of the entire planet to his mind, centered on Turkey then zoomed to the Tower of Babel site. “Do you know this place?”
“It is near Constantinople.”
“That’s right, but the city is called Istanbul now. Benrah’s forces are building a crystal pyramid southwest of the lake. Go there and someone may be able to tell you where they are being held. Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine.”
“How will I find you when the mission is done?”
He pointed, “There is a village down there. Return there and they will tell me.”
The creature nodded and disappeared leaving a wisp of smoke where it had been.
Tony said, “What a crock.”
LeOmi said, “The perception of reality that creature has may be flawed, but none-the-less, that is its perception.”
Ricky said, “That has always bothered me. Why would Lucifer turn against God if there was no possibility of winning?”
Salina said, “It doesn’t really matter. God won, case closed.”
Mark wondered about that. Lucifer was still fighting the war through his son. Was it even remotely possible that they might win? It didn’t seem possible, but they were still fighting. Maybe Raphael could shed some light on this.
“All right guys; let’s go tell the village about this creature coming to visit. Tony, would you mind staying in the village to wait?”
“I don’t mind, it might be fun and educational.”
* * *
That night, Mark slept in his own bed. He dreamed he was standing on an icy plain. The wind howled fiercely, blowing small shards that pelted his face and neck. He pulled his hood up, tightened it around his face and turned his back to the wind. About a hundred yards away he saw an orange Quonset building half buried in the snow. He started making his way toward it.
Inside was unheated, but the relief from the wind was dramatic. Light filtered in through the translucent ceiling, wooden and metal crates were stacked just out from the walls and the floor was a sheet of ice.
Mark said, “Why in the world did I choose this place?”
He hopped in place with his arms wrapped around his chest trying to get warm. “Raphael, I need to ask you a question!”
The archangel appeared, looked around and said, “It would seem your minds are a little concerned about the fire creature.”
“Do you think?” He continued to hop in place. “That creature said that Lucifer believed he could win in a war against God. Is that even remotely possible?”
“All of God’s creations are free to believe what they will. That does not make it true or false. Opinion is not truth.”
“Lucifer was God’s right hand man, so to speak. He must have had some basis for his belief.”
“What this creature told you has caused you to doubt God. That is your choice. Your opinion does not change truth.”
“So, you’re saying that Lucifer didn’t have a complete knowledge of the truth.”
“Only God has that knowledge.”
“So my choice comes down to: trust God or don’t trust God.”
“Free will is a major tenant of creation.”
“Got it, thanks.
“Can you tell me why He sent us to find that creature?”
Raphael smiled, “Only this: trust God or do not trust God.”
Mark said, “I thought so. I’d like to wake up now and go get a cup of hot chocolate. See you next time.”
Raphael grinned, “Next time, how about some place a little warmer?”
Chapter 6
The fire demon appeared just outside the wooded area west of the tower site. It watched the workers laying the crystal blocks and noted the pattern of the armed security guards patrolling the vicinity. It decided to take the form of a small mongrel dog in order to mingle with the workers to overhear what they were saying to each other.
After an hour of being kicked at and hearing nothing but the grumblings of menial workers, it decided to follow the source of the crystal blocks to find those directing this construction. As a dog, it hopped on the back of a truck that was just leaving and rode to a warehouse. The truck drove inside and backed to a machine that would load more blocks onto it.
It jumped down and mingled among the workers there. There was talk of shift change and what they were going to do after that happened. On the other side of the warehouse, trucks were coming in loaded with the blocks. After they were unloaded, they would drive out and then disappear. It hopped up onto one of these trucks.
After a moment, they were in a new location. The sky was now cloudy and it was raining. The truck drove into a tunnel and continued for a long while. When it stopped, they were inside the mine where the stones were being quarried.
A horn sounded and a new group of workers walked out and relieved the other workers. One of the workers leaving noticed him and said in Turkish, “Hey mutt, you cannot be in here. Come and I will feed you.”
On being addressed, the ifrit, still appearing as a dog, lowered itself to the ground, looked at the man and wagged its tail just a little giving the impression it was nervous and scared.
The man walked over and picked it up. “I know this is a strange place and you are afraid, but if you bite me I will kill you,” the man said as he walked to the lift platform. On the way up the man rubbed its ears and head. “We will be in the outside world in a few minutes. Then you will not be so afraid and you can eat. I think my son will like you.”
Outside, the man went into a waiting bus. A few minutes later, the bus was full of men. It started moving. A few minutes after that it stopped and the men got off.
The man carried the dog into a high-rise building and into an apartment on the ground floor.
“Hasad, where are you?”
There was no answer. He walked into the kitchen and saw a note on the table. Hasad fell and was injured. I have taken him to the healing baths.
On seeing this, the ifrit transformed into its normal form. The creature took pleasure at the look of terror on the man’s face.
“Some soldiers of Mark Young’s army were captured. Take me to someone that knows where they are being held.”
The man shook his head
violently. “No... no, I know nothing of this.”
“Take me or I will kill you.”
The man began to tremble. “I... I... do not know.”
The creature raised its arm and a plasma ball began forming in its hand.
“Wait... wait, I will take you to the Hall of Sovereigns. Perhaps they will know.”
The ifrit tossed the plasma ball aside. It exploded against the refrigerator and the partially melted door fell away.
“I will follow you.”
It morphed into a dog again, this time a beagle.
The Hall of Sovereigns was just a few blocks away. It followed the man inside and up to the counter where he placed his hand on a machine.
The clerk behind the counter said, “Your dog will have to go outside.”
“It is not my dog. It just started following me.”
The clerk hopped over the counter and started to bend down over the dog.
“Be careful, it will bite you.”
The clerk righted herself, smiled and went to a closet. She returned with a broom and tried to scoot the dog toward the door. Every time the broom got near the dog, it just moved to the side.
She raised her hand and said, “I need help with this dog.”
Several clerks joined in and surrounded the animal. Someone tried to toss a tunic top over it. It dodged the attempt, scooted through the legs and stood beside the man.
The man said, “Perhaps it is best to make an exception. I just need to ask a question and then I will leave.”
The original clerk asked, “What is your question?”
“My cousin is missing. I heard several people were captured as war criminals. I fear he may be among them, unjustly. I wish to ask where they are being held.”
“I have no knowledge of this. Let me check the computer.”
She hopped back over the counter and went to a desk. The rest of the clerks went back to what they were doing.
After a long moment, the clerk said, “There is nothing on the computer about it. I think your information is wrong.”
Before the man could say anything, another man wearing a dark purple tunic entered the room from the back, looked around and then right at the man. He said, “Rabal, come with me.”
