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

by John J Higgins

  Now a captive, he was escorted through the back of the assembled formation of the Orders of the Angels. “Take him to Luciferael!” the first Cherubim guard said. And he was then taken and presented before Luciferael.

  Luciferael was now clad in ornate and beautiful armor, golden as the light he projected.

  “What do we have here?” Luciferael asked, reaching down and grabbing Ariel's disguised face in his hand and squeezing his cheeks firmly. “Who are you? I command you to tell me, in the name of the Prince of Heaven!”

  Ariel did not need to say anything, for his body expanded, the colors disappeared off his wing tips and he stood there clearly as himself.

  “Ariel!” said Luciferael with delight. “You have come to join us? We will exalt you, too, in the new Heavens that will be returned under my authority after today! It brightens my heart to see you here!”

  Ariel did not immediately respond as he was not sure what Luciferael's reaction would be. At first, he was happy that Luciferael greeted him with such love and respect.

  “I have wanted to speak with you and the remaining Archangels, but I know that lord Michael would not approve of my intentions. And I knew if I told any of you, that my plans would get back immediately to him and then of course to the Almighty. . . Nevertheless, you are here now. Did you hear my speech?”

  Still flustered Ariel shook his head and said, “No, not fully!”

  “I presented a case of how the Almighty has ignored us, the Beings of Light, and has placed these Earth creatures above us all. I intend to bring things back to where they had been before those abominations were created. Restore the Heavens where we remain the most exalted Beings. We can create much better than those creatures. And it does not do any of us good to be concerned that these Humans, created much later than we were, would now be placed above us. I want the Archangels to remain the utmost creations and retain our status whenever the Almighty is not present. He can keep his Seraphim and Thrones. They can go create somewhere else. Just leave us in charge here in the Heavens and on the Earth!”

  “You want to take over all of the Seven Heavens and remove the Almighty?” asked Ariel, his eyes incredulous that Luciferael even contemplated such a move. “I thought you were assembling the Angels here to destroy all the Simians and Humans on the Earth including Adam and Eve.”

  “In the scheme of things we can crush the Humans without a lot of effort, my dear brother Ariel. Taking over the Heavens is where the fight will be. I am concerned that my brother Archangels such as you would fight me in taking over the Heavens. That is the real reason we are all armed.” Looking over at the Cherubim carrying the weapons they had just removed from Ariel, Luciferael smiled. “I see that you have already armed yourself to assist us in our cause.”

  Ariel had now regained his composure and was processing what Luciferael was doing. He had a vision in his mind of how the Archangels who were loyal to Luciferael were always worshiping him and catering to any whim he may have. Luciferael was intending to be in the same position as the Almighty.

  “As attractive the offer may be, lord Luciferael, my allegiance has always been with the Almighty. I shall not turn from that loyalty. I have no choice but to oppose you and what you are doing here today.”

  Luciferael took the response in stride, smiling actually as Ariel rebuffed his offer. “I expected that answer. I will remember your answer when I have conquered the Heavens and displaced the Almighty. You will come to regret what you said to me just now.”

  Luciferael motioned to four of the Cherubim guards to take control of Ariel once again. Pointing at Ariel he called out, “Redimio Archangel Ferratus Of Lux Lucis!” As Luciferael finished speaking, dark chains that absorbed light appeared and encircled Ariel holding him so that he could no longer fly. Luciferael must have been secretly developing his skills through the use of the Book of Creation. But I am an Archangel, I can overcome any spell! Ariel thought to himself.

  Luciferael spoke again and said to Ariel, “Now you are bound!” Then Luciferael addressed the Cherubim guards. “Take him someplace where he cannot communicate with anyone and where he can cause no harm. I will deal with him at my convenience once we are finished taking over the Heavens.”

  As soon as the Cherubim guards took Ariel out of Luciferael's presence, Ariel tried to use his own powers to free himself, but found that he could not slow down or speed up his atoms to transfer back into Light. He was bound and now at Luciferael's mercy. Analyzing what he could do to escape, he knew that he had a diminished ability to resist, and was also surrounded by the four Cherubim. If he was free he may be able to take one or two of them but he would never be able to overwhelm them all in his captured state. Without any other choice, he decided then to go quietly and await another opportunity.

  The four Cherubim guards escorted him back into the Hall of the Virtues and sat him on one of the benches in the far corner. Here Ariel would be hidden from anyone's sight who flew through the Fifth Heaven, even if they knew to look for him. Nor would anyone be able to approach him without the Cherubim guards knowing and intervening. It looked like he was going to be here for a long time.

  Chapter 7

  THE CLOUDS OF WAR

  Jarahmael flew up through the Earth’s sky, and hurriedly passed through the gate into the First Heaven. He did not want to take any chances, because if Raziel was correct, Angels were being assembled to destroy Adam, Eve, and Lillith. He decided to fly, believing he could stay better hidden that way, in case there were any sentries near the pyramids, or even worse if the entrance through the portal in the Garden of Eden was already blocked. He needed to get to Lillith as soon as possible and wanted to avoid any time-wasting confrontations. Once he made sure that she was safe, he was going to head to the Throne Room and speak with the Almighty to see if see if he could convince Him to stop the destruction of all the Simians and Humans.

  As Jarahmael ascended upwards through the rest of the Heavens he noticed that a large portion of the Angels in each of the individual Heavens were now absent. Each Heaven was usually alive with numerous Angels going about their various duties during the day. He noticed that the Guardian Angels in the First Heaven were few and far between as he flew through. The Second Heaven though still had a large number of Angels floating about, as usual they seemed to be in their own world. As Jarahmael flew up through the Third and Fourth Heavens, they, too, were more vacant than he had seen them since the destruction of the dinosaurs. It looks like the Almighty has assigned a large portion of Angels to this task, he thought to himself. But Jarahmael remained unsure of what was occurring in the Heavens. Why would so many Angels be needed? There were not that many Simians on the Earth and only three Humans. Even the Simians only numbered less than a thousand across the whole planet at this point, at best. They could be obliterated by a small contingent of just the Archangels acting alone.

  When he broke through the clouds into the Fifth Heaven, he was shocked to see all of the activity going on around the Hall of the Virtues. The place was swarming with Angels surrounding the structure. He noticed large groups, collecting in formations, divided by their respective Order of Angels. This must be where they are staging themselves to do the attack on the Earth, the Simians and the Humans, he thought to himself.

  Looking off in the distance, he thought he saw Luciferael by the entrance into the Hall, speaking with members of his Auxilium. He wanted to go find out what was going on with them. But that would only delay his own mission. Besides, there could already be a contingent of Angels sent upwards to the Seventh Heaven to capture Lillith, perhaps even destroy her. I must get back to my palace first!

  Moving his trajectory further away from the cluster of Angels and hoping no one had seen him, he slipped in through the gate into the Sixth Heaven. Again, there was a shortage of Cherubim, but that was not unusual as they were also working on the pyramids at various locations across the Earth. He did notice that there was a group of them collected around the Cathedral of the Cherubim, th
eir grand hall and gathering place. He thought it best not to pay attention to that, and flew upwards to the gate into the Seventh Heaven.

  The Seventh Heaven finally! He headed straight for his palace. He would make sure Lillith was safe, maybe even take her with him to the Throne Room to speak again with the Almighty.

  It had not been that long since he had brought her up into the Seventh Heaven, having been assigned to find her by the Almighty. Fortunately, he had decided it was best to bring her right to the Almighty rather than place her back in the Garden of Eden or on the Earth and wait for the Almighty to come to her.

  At the time, they had an audience with the Almighty Himself. The Almighty told both of them that He loved them very much and that He had special assignments for them. He was not too clear about what those tasks were, other than they would be particularly difficult and He did not think the other Archangels or Humans could fulfill His orders.

  Jarahmael and Lillith discussed it among themselves and agreed to take on the assignments. Maybe they agreed because they were filled with love for one another and the Almighty, and maybe part of it was that they had no understanding of the sacrifices that they would have to make to fulfill the promises to the Almighty.

  But now this chaos in the Heavens, it’s already begun, thought Jarahmael.

  Jarahmael flew into the entrance of his palace and found Lillith standing there, ecstatic to see him once again. “Jarahmael!” she exclaimed and threw herself up onto him. He easily caught her and held her to him. They stayed locked like that for a few minutes. Jarahmael slowly peeled her back from his chest and said, “I am so happy to find you alive and well. I think the troubles that the Almighty spoke to us about when I first brought you up here are beginning.”

  “I thought that, too, when Raziel and Ariel showed up here looking for you. I didn’t want to say anything to them. But they did seem concerned,” Lillith said, still slightly out of breath from her excitement.

  Jarahmael explained what he knew about the events. “It appears that a host of Angels are assembling to destroy Humans and Simians on the Earth. You should be safe here. None of the Angels would attack an Archangel, nor do anything in the Seventh Heaven without the Almighty's or an Archangel's permission, as we are considered to be the First Born. I am confused though, as the host seems to have instructions to kill Adam and Eve. Michael and I were sent with specific instructions to make sure they were safe. It’s not like the Almighty to change His mind. Especially after the Almighty told you and I strange days were coming!” Jarahmael said, holding her close again.

  He continued, “I want you to be safe just in case some warrior Angels come here looking to harm you. I do have an idea on how to keep you out of harm’s way.” Stepping back, Jarahmael took his hands and divided one of the hallways in his palace, in effect making two mirror images of one another. He then said “Verto Invisible!” and the mirror imaged hallway and rooms disappeared.

  Lillith was delighted. “How did you do that?”

  “One of the many talents I have learned,” Jarahmael responded with a smile. “The Almighty gave me knowledge from the Book of Creation after we were talking with Him that day. He told me that when I needed something in particular, it would pop into my mind, as long as I kept my mind open to it.”

  “That’s incredible!” Lillith said, looking upon Jarahmael even more lovingly, knowing that her Archangel had a special place with the Almighty.

  Jarahmael continued, “I need to go and find out exactly what is happening, so I must leave you here. It’s the safest place I can think of. If Angels come looking for you while I am gone all you have to say is ‘Permissium Ineo!’ and you will be able to walk right into that hidden hallway and become as invisible as the rooms. You will be able to see out, but they will be unable to see you while you are within those halls. Try it!”

  Lillith stood up outside near where the doorway was and called out “Permissium Ineo!” and at once the other rooms appeared.

  “Go! Step inside!” Jarahmael instructed her.

  She walked over and as soon as she was safely inside, the entire thing disappeared, the hallway, rooms, and also Lillith who was standing within it!

  “Look around in there,” Jarahmael called out to her. “I will be back in a few minutes. Then we will try once again for good measure.”

  Jarahmael then walked down the hallway and then entered his work shop area. He saw the fourteen mirrors encircling the room, none of which seemed disturbed. The workshop comforted him, as a place very dear to his heart. He had spent a great deal of time here, working on the mirrors. He found his own image reflecting back to him from all of the mirrors at the same time. It was quite an effect, making the room appear to be infinite. Raziel had told him earlier that this is where Crystal Prisms were hidden — one of the prisms into each one of the mirrors. Quite ingenious, Jarahmael thought to himself. Hidden in plain sight.

  Walking up to the first mirror he said aloud “Speculum Solvo!” He was able to reach his hand inside the mirror, and he reached around inside until he could feel the prism. After pulling it out of the mirror, he brought it up so he could look more closely and he noticed that there was writing on it. Now was not the time to do a thorough examination; anyway, he was going off to see the Almighty, and He could explain the purpose. For now he would leave the rest of the crystals safely concealed with the remaining mirrors. Jarahmael then tucked the one crystal in his tunic and walked back out to find Lillith. Just in case, he did not want her to know about these crystals. It would be better that way, because if she was captured, there would not be anything for her to reveal.

  Now back in the hallway, it remained as before, invisible and concealing Lillith within it.

  Jarahmael called out, “Can you see me, Lillith? Come out please.”

  Lillith then stepped out of the mirror image of the hallway and was standing there fully in the flesh, whole and intact.

  “That worked well!” Jarahmael said to her. “How was it in there for you?”

  She replied, “Yes. It works wonderfully. I just want you to be with me. Can you just stay here and let the others do whatever has to be done?”

  “I have given my word to the Almighty, Lillith. As have you. I am sure you know what that means. I know I need to find out from the Almighty what is going on in the Heavens. I hope you understand.”

  “Of course I do. I just want you to stay here with me,” she said softly.

  “I will return as soon as I can,” he stated. “For now, go hide in that hallway until I get back.”

  He bent down and picked her up to kiss her and then gently set her back down. “Now go disappear!” he said, a bit amused.

  “Yes, my lord Jarahmael!” she responded. “I will wait impatiently for your return. Don't keep me waiting!” she said with her arms akimbo, acting as if she was angry with him.

  Jarahmael turned and then flew out of his palace and headed towards the Throne Room.

  Lillith looked after him as he flew off, thinking to herself that she had never felt this way about Adam. She never missed him when he would go off without her in Eden. She smiled about how much better things were now.

  Chapter 8

  MISSING WEAPONS

  Jarahmael flew into the Throne Room expecting to find the Almighty holding court on the Throne, having changed His mind about leaving the Heavens for a week. With all the Angels assembling into an army to destroy the Simians and Humans, Jarahmael was sure that the Almighty would be giving instructions to Luciferael and the other remaining Archangels. Landing inside the Throne Room he found it to be empty, with no one around. Something was definitely amiss! If the Almighty had not returned and was away from Heaven, it was impossible that the Almighty would not have informed all of the Archangels about a mission as important as destroying the Humans and the Simians. This made Luciferael’s trouble brewing in the Fifth Heaven even more disturbing.

  Taking out the Crystal Prism, he looked into it, trying to glean its purpose. A
while ago, unbeknownst to the rest of the Archangels, the Almighty had asked him to create the fourteen mirrors, soon after he discovered how to make mirrors for Luciferael. Now the Almighty had provided a Crystal Prism for each one of the mirrors. The purpose of the prisms was still not clear to Jarahmael. He also did not know that his own mirrors could be used to hide them. But why were they so important?

  Turning the Crystal Prism over in his hands, he could see some writing contained deep within it. Staring at it, he saw words appear: “Carcer Pro Cohibeo Res Lux Lucis.” A prism for confining Beings of Light. Why the Almighty would have created such things? Makes no sense to confine Beings of Light, he thought to himself while looking at the prism. Angels as Beings of Light were free to transport themselves all over the Universe to do the Almighty's bidding. What reason could there ever be to confine an Angel? It’s certainly been a strange day, he thought, then took the prism and placed it back within one of the folds of his tunic.

  He called out to the Almighty, but there was no response. In times when the Almighty would announce that He would be away for a time period, Luciferael or Michael would fill in when He was away. But under these circumstances Jarahmael had no intention of contacting Luciferael and he had just left Michael, who did not know what was occurring with Luciferael either. Jarahmael and the remaining Angels needed to know what was happening in the Heavens and on Earth. He walked up to the Throne itself and looked within. The Book of Creation was safely inside. He picked up the Book of Creation and opened it. He had always felt that the Book had an affinity for him. Looking through its pages, he found it to be intact. He set the Book of Creation down on a corner of the Throne itself. Jarahmael then took his hand and tapped on the inner surface of the Throne, where the Book of Creation was kept and pushed sideways on its surface. The surface shifted and there below was another Book, the Book of Life.