In Rebellion (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book II)

by John J Higgins

  Chapter 3

  RAPHAEL, URIEL AND GABRIEL GO TO EARTH

  Raphael stretched his red-tipped wings as he arose from his seat in the Throne Room. Although the Almighty did not stay long at the morning ceremony because of the difficulties with Adam and Eve, He still communicated assignments to him and some of his brethren Archangels. Raphael remained amazed that the Almighty had the ability to speak directly into an Angel's mind, if He decided to, and the Almighty used that ability today because He did not want Luciferael and his Auxilium to know of everyone’s assignments.

  The Almighty assigned Raphael, Uriel, and Gabriel to check on the development of the Simians and other animals in the southern regions of the Earth. Ever since the dinosaurs had been destroyed by the Angels, the other life forms were beginning to flourish. The Almighty wanted to make sure the Simians were safe, after the events of the day before when Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit. Eve had told the Almighty that she had been tricked by one of Luciferael's reptiles, and it was wise to make sure that nothing had happened to the other earthen creatures. Raphael was well acquainted with the Simians and was one of the logical choices to make sure the Simians were safe, as he was well known to Guline, leader of the tribe who lived near Aegyptus.

  Michael and Jarahmael had already left the Throne Room to meet with the leader of the Cherubim, Cerebriel. They had been assigned to ensure that the transport ability of the pyramids on Earth were disconnected, and while they were at it, to check on Adam and Eve, as they were already familiar to them. Raziel and Ariel were also given a special assignment, and Raphael had noticed them fly out of the Throne Room behind Michael and the others, but the Almighty had not made him privy to the nature of their mission.

  Gabriel and Uriel caught up with Raphael as he walked out of the Throne Room, passing by the massive doors that reached towards the sky. Once clear of the doors, they took to flight, Raphael in the lead, turning to the left as he banked his wings to head downwards to the gateway between the Sixth and Seventh Heavens.

  Raphael had continued to develop better techniques to heal the animals and primitive Humans, since the day he healed Guline from the dinosaur attack. As a result, the Simians always sought him out whenever he flew down to the Earth and he was a hero among them.

  “It amazes me how much these creatures adore Raphael,” Uriel said to Gabriel, looking over into his light blue eyes.

  “Yes, he seems to have a manner of healing the Simian's flesh that I never would have thought possible for a Being of Light,” Gabriel responded, moving a straggling curl of his blonde hair out of his eyes.

  Raphael looked behind himself as he flew, watching his two brothers following behind him, talking to one another, not aware that they were talking about him.

  “I have been noticing,” Uriel continued, “that the Almighty has given us different strengths and talents. It makes us able to handle many aspects of the Creation on our own without the Book of Creation.”

  “Yes,” replied Gabriel. “You and I, for example, can be the swiftest flyers of all the Archangels when we let ourselves go. I imagine the Almighty has some use for that talent, just as He does for the healing qualities of Raphael.”

  “It may come in handy, as everything is changing,” noted Uriel. “With Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden, I am not sure what will happen next.”

  “Yes, the Almighty may not know either as He is going away for a week,” said Gabriel, “and those pyramids may need a new purpose now that there will not be any Humans residing in the Heavens.”

  The three Angels continued to descend out of the Heavens and after they passed through the gateway into the Earth's sky Raphael said, “Now that the Humans, Adam and Eve, have been removed from Heaven, I am not sure what is going to happen on the Earth especially when the two of them procreate.”

  “True Raphael,” said Gabriel, “and you will have your hands full learning and teaching them how to care for their own health.”

  “I can tell though that the Almighty has been pleased with your work on the Earth, Raphael,” said Gabriel.

  “Really? You think so?” asked Raphael, surprised.

  “Yes!” Gabriel responded. “One can see how He addresses you in the Throne Room whenever He is there.”

  “That is kind of you to say,” Raphael said, “I have felt a growing closeness to the Almighty whenever I help the Simians.”

  “Perhaps Luciferael would be better served in pleasing the Almighty, if he tried to follow your example Raphael,” Gabriel added.

  “Yes, have you noticed how Luciferael and his cohort of Angels have become much more arrogant and prideful? I used to ask for Luciferael's opinion on what he thought I should do, but now I try to figure it out on my own, or I go to seek Michael’s counsel,” Uriel said with concern in his voice.

  “I agree, Uriel,” Gabriel added. “Raziel mentioned to me the other day how close the other Archangels, the ones who call themselves Luciferael's Auxilium, are getting to Luciferael. Raziel thought it looked more like that those Angels were worshiping Luciferael than the Almighty.”

  “True,” said Uriel. “The time they spend together is unusual. In the beginning they would come visit us, but now we no longer interact much, seeing one another only at the morning ceremony, and not during the day. They seem to disappear to other places.”

  “Like today for example, they all took off together after the ceremony, while we split up so we can get more accomplished,” Gabriel added.

  All three grew silent as they flew past one of the Cherubim guards overseeing a pillar of fire at the Garden of Eden's gate that lead to the Earth.

  “Jarahmael told me the other day,” Raphael said as they continued flying along, “that he has a feeling that the Auxilium are joining together somehow, trying to close the rest of us out of the Order of the Archangels. I told him I agree. But also the Almighty does not seem to give them a lot of assignments ever since the Creation and the demise of the dinosaurs. Maybe the Almighty is removing them from important tasks. What that will mean in the long run? I don't know.”

  “Luciferael and the Auxilium seemed to enjoy the destruction of the dinosaurs. Odd because the dinosaurs were actually Luciferael's creation, along with those smaller reptiles,” Uriel said with a puzzled look on his face.

  “Yes, I would have thought that they would have tried to protect them somehow, but they did seem to enjoy destroying the creatures,” Gabriel said shaking his head.

  “Well, that’s all over now,” said Raphael, pushing back his brown hair and revealing his earthy brown eyes. “We must do whatever the Almighty commands. That’s what we were created for! Time to go check on the Simians and the area that’s now going to be the new home for Adam and Eve and their offspring.”

  “It is tragic that they did eat of that forbidden fruit,” Gabriel added sadly.

  “All they had to do was follow one rule. What a penalty for disobedience! But if life forms do not follow the Almighty's directions then all chaos can break out making the Universe uninhabitable for everyone. . .” Uriel said in a disapproving tone.

  “Yes, I suppose it is the correct outcome,” Gabriel said, nodding his head in agreement.

  “Yes, but it still is a shame. They had such potential,” Raphael added.

  Chapter 4

  RAZIEL AND ARIEL GET AN ASSIGNMENT

  Ariel and Raziel had waited in the Throne Room until all the other Angels had left. The Almighty had communicated with them silently during the morning ceremony, giving them instructions no one else could hear.

  “You are to go to the mountains near the pyramid in Centrus, without telling the other Archangels, except for Jarahmael,” He told them. “In the center cave that goes under the pyramid there you will find fourteen pyramid-shaped pieces of crystal. Be careful how you handle them because they can be destructive to Beings of Light. Once you have them, take them directly to Jarahmael's palace in the Seventh Heaven and give them to him. Again, I want you t
o be careful in handling these crystals.”

  Raziel being the bolder of the two asked the Almighty again in their silent communication. “Why are they dangerous to us, my Lord? I thought we are immortal?”

  The Almighty responded, “Yes, you are immortal, but that does not mean that harm may not fall upon you. And sometimes this thing called death may be preferable to life. But those are discussions for other days.

  “Remember, this mission is to be kept secret from the all the others, except Jarahmael. Please remain in the Throne Room until after everyone has left, I do not want you to be followed.”

  Both Angels nodded their heads slightly, letting the Almighty know that they understood, being careful not to draw the attention of the other assembled Angels.

  Raziel and Ariel flew back down through the Seven Heavens and headed through the First Heaven and to the restricted gate between the Garden of Eden and the Earth, rather than the gate directly into the Earth’s sky. The Cherubim on-duty let them pass, as he had been instructed to do so by the Almighty. No one would be watching that entrance and exit, so Raziel and Ariel had a better chance of avoiding being followed.

  Ariel flew alongside Raziel as they traveled halfway around the world. He saw vistas off on the horizon that were beautiful and promised Paradise. He felt sad for the Humans, now Paradise was no longer a reality for Humans but only a memory of what had been and maybe someday a promise of what could come again. With the fate of the Humans fresh in his mind, he asked Raziel: “What do you think the Almighty meant when He told us that we needed to be careful with these crystals that we are going to seek out, find and return to the Heavens?”

  “I am not sure,” responded Raziel with some concern flashing across his face. “Only yesterday I would never have considered anything dangerous to us.”

  “True, I thought we were always safe. As Beings of Light we were the first created Beings and made out of the major energy force that underlies the Universe,” said Ariel.

  “But we have seen what happens when someone disobeys a commandment of the Almighty. Those Humans have now been cast out of Eden and sentenced to die,” Raziel said

  “Like the dinosaurs?” Ariel said, even more worried.

  “I imagine so,” said Raziel and added, “also wasn't one of the Cherubim injured during the destruction of the dinosaurs?”

  “Yes, but Raphael seemed able to assist him,” Ariel said, relieved at the thought. “Do you think the Humans will die right away?"

  “Not sure how much time they have, Ariel. If you think about it, before this disobedience there was no need for the concept of time either. What a mess has been made by such a stupid act! I understand that Jarahmael, Michael and Cerebriel are off to locate the two of them. I don’t know, those three Archangels may even be the ones sent to dispatch them into death.”

  “But don't these new Humans have souls, unlike the dinosaurs?”

  “Yes. That is one of the reasons the Almighty was not so concerned about the dinosaurs,” Raziel answered. “Luciferael did not know enough to give them souls, or the Book of Creation did not allow for souls, so they acted purely out of instinct, not thoughts and feelings.”

  Raziel and Ariel had now come to the green moss coated cave where the Almighty had sent them. The sun’s light barely penetrated the dark hole that ran underneath the pyramid structure in Centrus and as they flew down into the cave the two Archangels used their luminescence to see. Near a bend in the cave that went back towards the surface, they landed and dimmed themselves. Off to the side they could see a large, seemingly bottomless chasm that was aglow in flickering orange light. The faintness of the color indicated that there were light and heat a great distance further down into the Earth from where they were standing.

  “I think this is the spot,” said Raziel. “Let's fly down there and see if we can find these crystals. The Almighty said that they were about halfway down, special crystals that can absorb and hold Light itself.”

  “Trap light within them?” asked Ariel, concerned once again about the dangerousness of these things.

  “I would assume,” said Raziel. “After all, we do have prisms that split light into various underlying colors. They had never affected us much as that form of light is relatively weak and dispersed.”

  Ariel pulled back his red hair and aimed his orange wing tips towards the glow at the bottom of the hole, followed by Raziel and his purple-tipped wings. Flying down into the depths, they saw a dozen glowing Crystal Prisms formed along the walls of the inner cavern. Turning themselves upright mid-air, their wings kept them stable as they collected the Crystal Prisms, handling them carefully with the folds of their tunics as they did not want to somehow be harmed by the crystals. They then flew up through the chasm and, once in the upper regions of the cave, changed direction to fly back out.

  “Off to Jarahmael's palace!” Raziel said and the two flew rapidly up into the Heavens.

  After flying through each of the lower Heavens, Raziel and Ariel arrived at Jarahmael's palace and entered gently through the main doorway. Lillith had seen them flying through the Seventh Heaven towards the palace and went to the entranceway to greet them. As the two Angels entered, they bent over and gave a slight bow and announced themselves.

  “I am lord Raziel, one of the Archangels of all the Heavens!” he said, his green eyes looking directly back into Lillith's.

  “And I am lord Ariel,” said the second one, his blue eyes twinkling with some amusement.

  “The one with red hair!” added Raziel.

  Lillith curtsied in front of them and said, “I am Lillith, the first Human female. Have you seen my Jarahmael? I thought you were him, coming back for me.”

  “We thought that Jarahmael would have returned by now. He had been off on an assignment different from ours,” Raziel said to Lillith. “Could you give us a moment?”

  Raziel looked over at Ariel and motioned with his eyes for the two of them to move back and away, out of Lillith’s hearing. Once they were away he whispered to Ariel, “Any suggestions of what to do with these Crystal Prisms? I don’t like flying around with all of them.”

  Ariel thought for a moment and then said, “Perhaps we try to find a place here in the palace to hide them for safekeeping, where Lillith won’t know?”

  Raziel responded immediately, “Brilliant, I must say!”

  Ariel then added, “Hasn’t Jarahmael been working on mirrors for each of us? He announced that not long after he had provided Luciferael with a couple of his new inventions.”

  “Yes, he told me that too, before all these problems on the Earth started.”

  “Fourteen crystals and fourteen of us,” Ariel said. “Maybe there is some relationship between them.”

  “You may have a point. Let’s see if the mirrors even exist first,” Raziel whispered to Ariel and then turned to address Lillith, raising his voice so she could hear. “Lillith, seems like we will have to leave and not be able to wait for Jarahmael. We would like to see Jarahmael’s mirrors though before we leave, he has spoken so highly about his inventions. Would you mind if we look in on his progress?”

  “Not at all,” she responded. “I am sure Jarahmael will be happy you came to see him, but disappointed that he missed you. He has a workshop down this hall. The palace is so much larger than anything I have ever been in,” she said as she led them down one of the hallways to one of the lower rooms in the back.

  As they stopped outside the entrance into the workshop, they could see a number of full sized mirrors arranged along the wall. Each had a different frame, engraved with various images from the Heavens.

  Stepping inside the room, they could all see their own reflections in the glass, pools of silver that contained exact copies of themselves.

  “Yes, Jarahmael is an Angel with a lot of talents,” said Ariel. “Look at these marvelous mirrors he created!”

  Lillith walked in front of one of the mirrors and admired herself, appearing so much smaller than the Angels.
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br />   Although Raziel and Ariel could see their full reflections in the mirrors, they were not as impressed with their own looks and handsomeness. In fact, they had discussions about how silly it was that Luciferael had to constantly see his own reflection and that it was bizarre that Luciferael had a mirror brought along with him so he could admire his own image whenever he wanted.

  Raziel was not sure if they should put the crystals in a place where Lillith would know where they were. After all, Adam and Eve were easily tricked and it seemed that this was something important that the Almighty had specifically given them to do.

  Raziel pulled Ariel to the side away from where Lillith was admiring herself in the mirror and whispered, “Remember, I don’t want Lillith to know we have these crystals, I think these mirrors may be a safe place to store the crystals, but we have to make sure she doesn’t know. Here is the plan.”

  Raziel and Ariel walked back into the center of the room and took a few minutes with Lillith and admired the mirrors and their own reflections.

  Raziel then announced, “Thank you, Lillith, for showing us these magnificent mirrors. But now it is time for us to leave.”

  Lillith nodded her head in agreement and the three of them started back down the hallway, headed towards the entrance.

  After they were safely out of eye-shot of the room, Raziel made an excuse that he thought he dropped something back in the room. Just as he turned to go back, he said, “Is that Jarahmael off in the distance?” And he pointed to the Seventh Heaven sky in the distance. Raziel then left the two of them hurrying towards the palace’s entranceway looking off into the distance searching for the other Archangel.

  Once Raziel walked back into the workshop area, he took each of the Crystal Prisms and approached the mirrors, intending to place them up on the top where they would not be easily seen by Lillith because of her height. As he approached with the first Crystal Prism, some writing appeared on the one side of the prism, while at the same time the surface of the mirror began to shimmer, and he pushed the crystal even closer. He found that they went into the mirrors like a stone would go into the surface of a pond, but once a crystal was inside the mirror one could not see them as they were quite clear themselves. He then said the phrase that had appeared on the prism, “Habitare Tacitus Jarahmael” and the surface of the mirror turned solid once again. He assumed by the phrase that this spell would keep the hiding place secret until Jarahmael returned and then would only reveal their secrets to Jarahmael alone. Raziel then repeated the process and placed one Crystal Prism in each of the fourteen mirrors.