Eternity

by Nealis, James

  I reach the outer portions of the universe and surge through the veil, accompanied by those relationships I have built through great heartache and struggle. Looking back, I thank the Origin for much of the difficulty we encountered as it drew us together. Now I don’t feel so alone in my fight for what is right. Even the moments when my breed nuzzled up against me or the times I heard Terra laugh don’t compare to this. I bask in that presence for a moment. Breathing it in and letting it out.

  I then turn toward the thousands of angels who make up our army. Many of them are from the lower ranks of training. Others have never held a weapon. They are loyal Designers, Scribes, and Forgers. Their faces look flush and sweat drips off their foreheads.

  “Angels,” I say. “We were created for a purpose. Each of us, with a unique and powerful reason for being. The Origin gave me a name. And I know that He gave each of you a name. Today I ask that you join me in this battle, not for anger, not for hate, and not for vengeance. No, we fight for the Origin. We fight to bring him pleasure.”

  Tinus raps his arm around Celles who leans in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

  “Yes, there are those who have fallen,” I say. “They will not have the privilege of serving with us. And maybe some of you this day will fall as well. But I ask you, what is more important, to live serving Lucifer or to die serving the Origin, the Creator, the All-Powerful?”

  Christine rubs her eyes.

  “Without the Origin, we can’t win this war. I don’t know why he remains silent, but we will fight until the end all the same. We will stand for His Honor!”

  With that they all begin clanging their weapons against their shields and yelling.

  “Follow me!” I shout as I leap into the air and we surge toward the great throne room of the Most High. The True Origin of all creation.

  The golden streets roll past us. The various structures stream behind us as we approach the Origin’s Temple. I am astounded at how it makes the Temple of the Prince appear so dull by comparison. My thoughts are interrupted by Auro when he flies up beside me. His eye patch still serving as a memorial of the sacrifices he has already made in this effort.

  “Sir, permit me to suggest that we focus on a divide and conquer strategy. They are lined in waves and it will help us keep our stamina up.”

  Gabriel nods. “It will also maximize our element of surprise.”

  “That’s fine,” I say. “As long as I get into that Temple.”

  I am immediately confronted by an enemy Angel. I draw my sword.

  Meanwhile, Celles descends with her army like a flock of hawks swooping in on their prey. The clash resembles ocean water bursting through a rocky shore. Celles, Tinus and many of our angelic host immediately break through Baal’s ranks before he has time to react to the surprise attack.

  Celles volleys a stream of perfectly placed arrows into the enemy soldiers. I see the spots of red appear on the enemy troops like drops of rain appearing on a sheet of glass.

  Tinus overpowers many of the soldiers with his large ax.

  “They are advancing,” Auro shouts. “We have almost broken their front ranks!”

  But he speaks too soon. Baal slams his fist into the air cursing. His rage boiling over, the muscles on his arms pulsate. The sinews all over his body seems to tighten right before my eyes causing him to grow in size. The markings on his skin contort and shift.

  This must be his gifting as he now looks like a giant.

  “Look out!” I shout to Tinus, but I am too busy fighting my own enemy to help him.

  Baal doesn’t tarry. He drops his too-small weapons and slams his fist right into Tinus. The force of the blow sends the much smaller angel into the air flying for several feet until he slams into the ground.

  Celles stoops down and clutches Tinus by the arm. She begins to cry, clutching the arm of a limp parallel.

  Baal laughs.

  Celles’s skin starts to glow a faint yellow. She stands as the light grows. She unsheathes an arrow and points it directly at Baal while now she illuminates so brightly that even from such a great distance away, I have to squint to see what is happening.

  Baal swats at the sky, trying to block out the light.

  Celles doesn’t tarry. She releases the arrow; it sails right into Baal’s eye. He screams in pain. She doesn’t wait, she releases another which pierces his cheek and then yet another slits his jugular.

  “That bloody hurt,” Tinus says as he pulls himself up. Celles embraces him even in the midst of the raging battle.

  Auro, Koryn, Christine, and their regiment bolt through the now broken lines left behind by Baal’s army. Raphael’s army fights rabidly though, and the soldiers struggle with the force of his army.

  Auro slams his wings against the air and gusts of wind draft out from underneath him. “We need to learn from Celles. Fight smarter!”

  “This is for you, Uriel!” Christine shouts as her body turns a light shade of royal blue.

  Auro’s wind blows past Christine picking up the small sharp pieces of ice that lift up into the air off of her skin. The wind carries the frozen knives right into Raphael’s angels. They fall to the ground, many dead on the spot.

  I spear another enemy and shout over to Gabriel. “They are all finding their giftings.”

  Gabriel laughs, “Raphael doesn’t look quite as excited about it as you do.”

  Raphael stomps his feet and shouts foul words at the approaching Koryn. “Who let you out, dog?”

  “I fight for the Origin now,” Koryn says.

  “How dare some insolent Rogue act all high and mighty. You are filth, empty, and disgusting. I bet you felt right at home in that dungeon didn’t you?”

  Koryn punches Raphael, who goes unconscious. He sheathes his sword, extending Raphael mercy that he doesn’t deserve.

  I glance around the battlefield, but Sal is nowhere to be found. Instead my vision is obscured as a low-hanging cloud spreads farther and farther out.

  Gabriel stops in front of me. He pants from his dashes and lightning speed attacks on unsuspecting enemies.

  “Sal has to be in that smoke,” Gabriel says. “I’m going to clear him out of the way. Then, on my signal, you rush into the Temple.”

  “No! You will be flying blind.”

  Gabriel ignores me and swoops into the cloud.

  Swords clank and then moments later I hear a body thump to the ground.

  “Finally,” a voice rings out. “The bully finally gets bullied.”

  Sal’s voice.

  “Don’t make me do this.” I say.

  “Do what? Did you not just see how easily I took out your friend?”

  “You won’t beat me,” I say.

  “How are you so confident?” He laughs. “What makes you so sure of yourself all the time?”

  “Because I know I’m not alone,” I say.

  I raise my arm into the air.

  Auro lands next to me, followed by Celles, Tinus, Koryn, and Christine.

  Auro’s wind blows the smoke out of the way revealing Sal’s hunched body. Celles launches an arrow directly at his face causing him to jump to the side. Tinus, Koryn, and Christine charge at him while I descend on top of him. My burning hands sear his skin. I release and look down on my friend who now convulses on the ground, screaming.

  “I am so sorry, my friend,” I say.

  “You will be sorry,” Sal says. “When the Prince is done with you.”

  He is lost. There is no rescuing Sal.

  The others gather around Gabriel.

  “He’s alive,” Auro says. “But just barely.”

  I stoop down and lift Gabriel into my arms. “Open the Temple doors. The Origin will know what to do.”

  Christine pulls back the large stone doors. They creak open.

  Here I stand, about to walk before the very Mercy Seat of the Origin.

  Chapter Forty-One

  The Outer Chambers

  I PEER OUT INTO THE BLACK VOID, an endless expanse adorned w
ith countless white, red, and blue shining lights. Everywhere I look - up, down, forward or backward - it’s the same. It’s as if the universe is spread out, in miniature, around me.

  I take a step and the invisible yet firm ground supports me. The atmosphere slides past my skin, shimmering, as if I were submerged into some shadowy water decorated with tiny flickering lights. I keep walking and the endless expanse continues to ripple around me. I affix my eyes on one of the tiny bright orbs that is only a few strides away, standing out amidst the contrasting darkness.

  I reach out to touch the shining light. It is warm, hot, and solid but I cannot move it.

  Where am I?

  I search through my mind for memories to orient myself. The last moment I remember, I was leading the others in a battle. Many of my friends fought bravely. Then, I stood before some great big stone doors.

  “Gabriel,” I mutter allowed.

  I am in the outer chambers of the Temple, and he is no longer in my arms.

  “I must have been so disorientated by all this that I left him behind.”

  I have made a terrible mistake in my presumption. Who am I that I should venture into the great halls of the Origin? A place so great that it houses the Infinite One, a creator so vast in power, that simple walls could never contain Him.

  Yet here I stand, in His Temple, searching the void for how I got in here. There is no apparent entrance into this place and so I have no escape. I must venture onward.

  One of the stars flickers in the distance. Is that a way out? I wander forward. My steps don’t make a sound. The silence is maddening. The star grows bigger as I approach and now it begins to pulsate. Flickering brighter and then darker.

  “You dare present yourself before the All-Powerful?” the words emanate from the star.

  “I know your voice,” I say. “You aren’t the All-Powerful. You are Lucifer, betrayer of His goodness.”

  “Who are you to question me? We all know who you are Michael.”

  “I am a servant of the Origin.”

  Lucifer’s laughter fills the void. “You are a servant of yourself.”

  The stars begin to creep from before me to behind me. Their speed picks up and I realize that all around me the orbs grow in size as we approach what appears to be Earth. Next thing I know the room is filled with the sight of a bright blue expanse of water and green land. We continue our descent downward, through the walls of a structure and suddenly, all goes completely dark.

  “You’re being selfish.”

  There she is, as beautiful as I remembered her. I walk up and lift my hand toward her face.

  “Terra.”

  She doesn’t see me, instead she glares behind me, the vein in her neck flaring.

  "You’re being unreasonable," a voice says.

  I turn and see a version of myself from a different time. The remnants of healing sands still cling to my arms and legs. My eyes are blood red, bearing so much resentment toward her as I speak.

  I watch this other version of myself shake his head as he says, "I've had enough.”

  "All I'm trying to do is keep you safe," she says. "We owe it to each other to protect ourselves."

  The door slams.

  And now I hear it. A quiet whimper.

  I turn back toward Terra. She is collapsed onto the floor. Her eyes, dripping tears onto the tiles. This is the part of the argument I never saw.

  “Don’t you understand,” she says. “We aren’t promised forever.”

  I bend down and lean my head on her shoulder. Her neck pulsates as she tries to breathe. I taste wet salt fall into my own mouth.

  “Terra, I am so sorry.”

  “You were cold,” Lucifer’s voice reverberates through the hall. “You pushed away the one you loved.”

  Before I can finish my words, the sights and sounds around me whirl with great speed. Everything around me changes and contorts. I am now suspended above the Courtyard.

  “I am at the acceptance,” I say.

  Cephus and the Rogues are already overhead. In the distance, I see another familiar sight.

  “No,” I shout. “Don’t stop! Don’t turn around. You will lose her! Please don’t turn around.”

  The weakling only flies away and hides on the terrace. He saves himself.

  The Rogues unleash their weapons.

  I watch the terror play out before me again.

  “You were cowardly,” Lucifer says.

  I cover my eyes with my hands. I can’t bear to watch it again. I collapse down low onto the invisible ground. “No, more. Please, no more.”

  “Oh much more,” Lucifer says as the scenes continue to change.

  I am in the Temple watching as I wail and attack the statue of Cephus.

  “So much hatred,” Lucifer jeers.

  I am in the encampment seeing myself cast Auro into the dungeons for trying to save my life.

  “So much pride.”

  I listen to Uriel beg me to untie his bonds, while I ignore him to beat Cephus.

  “Poor steward.”

  I see the last dying breaths of my breed once again.

  “So much wrath.”

  I try to end my life in the dungeons.

  “And so little faith,” Lucifer says. “You don’t deserve to stand before the Origin.”

  I weep, bitterly on the ground. His words are all true. I cannot dispute his accusations. There were moments when I was selfish. In others, I was consumed with hate and wrath.

  “I am not worthy to stand before the Origin,” I say.

  Lucifer’s laughter fills the void. I cover my ears and start whispering a prayer under my breath, begging the Origin to help me.

  But then I hear it.

  The words are quickened to my spirit by some outside force. I remember what Gabriel told me on that first day we met.

  “There are those who all too quickly feel comfortable in golden chambers with dangling gemstones.”

  While I don’t deserve to stand before the Origin, it’s not because of my mistakes. It’s because of something far different.

  “I have made bad choices,” I say. “But setting those choices aside, I would never be worthy to stand before his presence. It’s not because of my choices or because of my faults but because of his glory.”

  My words leave my mouth with heartfelt worship.

  “None of creation,” I say. “Especially you, deserve to stand before Him.”

  Lucifer curses loudly but I ignore him.

  A bright rectangle of light etches the outline of a door in front of me. I reach out and press it open.

  The chamber brightens.

  I have reached the end of my journey.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  The Mercy Seat

  EVERY EVENT has built toward this moment since the day I was created. I was named, the one who draws close to God, and here I stand in His very chambers.

  For the first time in my existence, I feel as though I am actually carrying out the purpose for which he designed me. I no longer feel like an angel, wandering about a dark room with my hands held out before me.

  No, I am an angel of the Most High, a servant of the Origin. I feel a joy that is deeper than anything else I have known. It’s like prolonging that instant right before the smile appears on the face, a sort of anticipation, the building before the release. My chest fills with warmth and my muscles relax. I close my eyes and breathe in.

  After a few satisfying minutes, I remind myself that I am here for a purpose. I open my eyes to gaze down the long hall that stretches before me.

  Along the sides, the finished brown walls retain the flowing patterns from the oaks as if they are freshly cut. Nonconforming black stones line the floors in random patterns. The ceiling arches are low, not much different than the inside of my flat. Everything in this room feels so simple and humble.

  “This is the house of the Origin?” I mutter allowed.

  “Give it time,” a voice says from behind me.

  I turn
to see Gabriel standing beside me.

  “This room stays the same, but to us, it will appear to always be changing.”

  I turn from Gabriel toward the front of the chamber and realize that the hall has now completely changed around me. Everything appears to have been chiseled from one gigantic, white stone. The ceiling above steeples upward, so high, that I can’t even see its peak.

  “But your injury?” I say.

  “I feel the best I have ever felt,” he says. “But I suppose, how could I stay broken in the presence of the Creator?”

  “The presence,” I suddenly understand what I am experiencing. “If no structure could ever contain the Origin, then while we call this place the Temple or the throne room, this isn’t a real structure.”

  “He is housed in his very own presence,” Gabriel nods. “And with each look towards the Origin, we are so small by comparison that we interpret it as something different, seeing new facets of his incomprehensible power.”

  We both stand side by side, squared shoulders, gazing down the hall. I surmise the same thing is on both our minds.

  “Are you ready to finish this?” I say.

  Gabriel lifts up from the newly marbled floors and hovers before me. He smiles. “You’re the slow one.”

  And like that, he is gone. Off into the far distance of this hall.

  “Really?” I think. “Is it not enough that we are about to join in the ultimate confrontation between the forces of evil and the forces for good? Does he have to make everything into competition between the two of us?”

  I stand for a moment and shake my head dismissively. I speed forward and leap up into the air, allowing my wings to carry me. Flight here is easier; it’s as if there is no resistance to my efforts. Instead, I feel as even the hall itself wills me forward.

  I do feel afraid of the possibilities as I travel but at the same time, the farther I soar, the bigger the smile on my face grows. A certain excitement builds as I watch the walls of the chamber, ever changing, glide back past me.

  The hall takes a slight curve, which I follow, and for a moment my mind contemplates my journey to this point. Not long ago I was a simple Designer, secluded in the woods dealing with my breeds. Now here I am, in the presence of the Most High. I don’t know what he wills me to do, other than to take a stand for him. I will play my part.