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

by John J Higgins

  Jarahmael had never looked at the Book of Life. When he and Lillith had the private audience with the Almighty, he had been told about it by the Almighty, that He had created it in anticipation of Humans populating the Earth, but not much more. When Jarahmael opened it now, he saw that it contained charts and diagrams about the stellar bodies and their positions relative to the Earth. There were many other pages with writings that made little sense to him. It would be another set of questions he would need to ask the Almighty. He thought the Book of Life had something to do with the Simians and the Humans. Again, it made little sense to him, particularly if Luciferael’s Angels in the Fifth Heaven were setting out to destroy the Simians and the Humans. The Almighty had been clear that Jarahmael was the only Angel whom He told of the Book of Life’s existence. The Almighty had explained that He kept the Book secret out of concern that Luciferael would be even more upset to think that a special book dealing with the Humans would be kept in the Throne in the Seventh Heaven. Now Jarahmael looked through the Book further, still trying to get more information on Luciferael’s intent to possibly destroy the Humans and Simians, but could not find any indication about the fate of the Humans. With those thoughts circling his consciousness he replaced the Book of Life into its hidden compartment, replaced the cover and then placed the Book of Creation back on top and lastly covered up the Throne. It was better that no one knew he had checked up on the Books.

  Looking once more around the Throne Room to make sure no one had seen him, Jarahmael left the Throne Room and flew off, heading back down to the Sixth Heaven. Perhaps Cerebriel had returned to his home in the Sixth Heaven with Michael after the two of them were successful in finding Adam and Eve. Then the three of them could discuss what was going on, and how to combat it if need be.

  A short time later Jarahmael entered the Sixth Heaven and flew to Cerebriel's mansion. Not seeing Cerebriel there, Jarahmael decided to seek out Zachiel who was next in command of the Cherubim Order of Angels. Jarahmael had a good relationship with most of the Cherubim in the Sixth Heaven, due in part to his close friendship with their leader Cerebriel. He flew to the Cherubim Cathedral where he found Zachiel, and landed near him.

  “Greetings Zachiel!” Jarahmael said to him.

  “Greetings Archangel Jarahmael!” Zachiel responded, giving him a slight bow with his eagle like face.

  “I came looking for Cerebriel,” Jarahmael said.

  “He has not yet returned from the Earth,” Zachiel responded, a look of concern passing over his face.

  The concern grew more serious on Zachiel's face as he continued, “I thought that he was with you and the Archangel Michael today.”

  “Yes, I was with him.” Thinking quickly, Jarahmael was unsure as to how much he should reveal to Zachiel about his recent discoveries and movements. “I received some news that I had to attend to back in the Seventh Heaven and was hoping that he had returned here by now.”

  “Not to my knowledge. I am sure he is going to want to know about what I discovered though,” Zachiel responded, looking relieved that there was someone he could trust and share his news with.

  “What did you discover?” Jarahmael asked.

  “Someone has raided the armory here!” said Zachiel. “A good number of the weapons are gone. Swords, spears, harps, and trumpets are gone.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Jarahmael.

  “Yes, I am sure. Come, let me show you.” Zachiel tried to hide his impatience about being asked if he was sure about what he already knew.

  They walked down and into the open dome of the Cathedral of the Cherubim and then into one of the side rooms. There were still a lot of weapons there, stacked in neat piles along the walls and in the hallway itself. But it was obvious that many of the weapons were missing, as there were totally empty racks along the wall.

  “I noticed the weapons gone when I came here earlier today. I had seen Gomory and a large contingent of the Cherubim quartermasters fly out of here and head towards the Fifth Heaven. It struck me odd that he would do that; the only formation of Cherubim that regularly flew out of here were early in the morning and headed towards the Earth to work on the pyramids.

  “When I came to the Cathedral myself, I didn't expect to see weaponry missing. That weaponry was lying dormant as we only used it for destroying the dinosaurs. No one thought to put a guard on the weapons. I am not positive that Gomory took them, but he was the one I saw flying with a large enough contingent to carry the weapons and he had no assignment to the pyramids today that any of the rest of us knew about.”

  “Were the weapons here last night?” Jarahmael asked to confirm.

  “Yes,” said Zachiel. “I had seen them when I was walking past the room. Every day I make sure everything is put away properly,” he said proudly.

  “How many do you think are missing?” asked Jarahmael.

  “About one-third to one half of the weaponry is now gone, from what I can tell. And going after the missing weaponry will be difficult. Remember during the day we are also short on Cherubim in the Sixth Heaven. The majority of the Cherubim are on the Earth working on the pyramids and other assignments, it will not be until later that they are back home here. I was hoping that Cerebriel or one of you Archangels would be able to tell us what's going on.”

  Deciding to trust Zachiel, Jarahmael said, “Cerebriel and I were warned while we were looking for Adam and Eve that a host of Angels was gathering together to destroy the Simians and Humans on the Earth.”

  “Why wasn't I told about this?” said Zachiel. “The Almighty had put me in charge of the weapons both before and after the attack on the dinosaurs.”

  “I don't know,” replied Jarahmael. “No one I know was told about this and I am trying to get to the source of what is going on.”

  Jarahmael walked down to see if there were any clues by the empty racks that housed the weapons. He continued, “I do know that when I passed through the Fifth Heaven on my way back from Earth, I saw a large gathering of Angels and it looked like Cherubim were distributing weapons to the other Orders. I could not tell from the distance much else but there was clearly a large group of them, perhaps even in the area of one-third of all the Angels in the Heavens.”

  “That would make sense with Gomory and the others flying off in the direction of the Fifth Heaven,” Zachiel added.

  “I tried to find the Almighty when I went back to my mansion in the Seventh Heaven, but He was not there. I believe He has left for the week as He had announced this morning. I think we should take precautions even if the Almighty isn't here to give us guidance. Command your Cherubim to arm themselves, immediately. No more weapons to go out to any other Angels unless they hear otherwise. How many Cherubim do you have available at the moment?” Jarahmael asked.

  Zachiel thought about it for a moment and then answered, “A little less than one-quarter of a legion are present.”

  “For starters then at least some of your warriors will be armed. If the arming of the other Angels was a legitimate assignment then your Angels will be armed and ready to assist in carrying out the Almighty's commands. I am afraid though that all the information indicates that something else is going on in the Fifth Heaven!” Jarahmael turned and said to Zachiel in a hushed voice, even though no other Cherubim was close enough to hear, “Do you have Cherubim who can transport the rest of these remaining weapons to the lower Heavens?”

  “Yes, I do,” Zachiel said as he pointed over to a group of Cherubim near the entrance to the Cathedral.

  “Excellent! I think I better head down to the Fifth Heaven and see what I can find out,” Jarahmael said.

  He then walked over to another set of racks for the weapons and carefully selected two swords and a spear. He belted the swords along his side and strapped the spear between his wings on his back. At his nine foot height, one would not be able to detect that he was armed. He lengthened his tunic to cover over the swords so they would not be obvious. As an afterthought, he reached back and grabbed on
e of the trumpets and strapped it across his chest and absentmindedly stroked it as he secured it and hid it under his tunic.

  Now armed, Jarahmael turned to face Zachiel and said, “I will try to find out what is going on with the armed Angels. In the meantime keep your armed Cherubim Angels here. Send a small detachment to transport the rest of the weapons here down to the Earth and find Michael and the other Archangels. Michael will keep the weapons safe or arm whoever is left if need be. I will keep the armed Angels busy in the Fifth Heaven and hopefully provide some distraction so the Cherubim who will transport the rest of the weapons can slip by without being stopped.”

  “Understood,” replied Zachiel.

  Zachiel then motioned another Cherubim Angel over to them. A solidly built Cherubim with a Human face and winged lion’s body came over to them. “Faumiel, this is the Archangel, lord Jarahmael. He has an important task for you and a small group of other Cherubim.”

  “Greetings Archangel!” said Faumiel. “What can I do for you today?”

  “I have a mission of the utmost importance for you. It’s transporting the weapons that remain along these racks. First though, I want enough weapons to arm the Cherubim left here so they can defend the Sixth Heaven. In case Luciferael's legions attack us here, I want to be able to hold his legions back from taking the Seventh Heaven. Other than that, I want the rest of the weapons to be taken down to the Earth.”

  Faumiel responded, “That certainly can be done. When do you need it done by?”

  “No time like the present,” Jarahmael answered. “We need to get these weapons out of here and to the Earth, just in case they are needed to defend.”

  “That could be a tight time schedule. I will assign my best Cherubim quartermasters to this assignment. It should take about an hour to get it all assembled and into your hands,” Faumiel said.

  “Splendid,” replied Jarahmael. “I will be waiting in the clouds of the Fifth Heaven to cause a distraction so you and your other Angels can pass through there with the rest of the weapons undetected. See you after. Let's hope this is all some misunderstanding,” he said as he turned and prepared to fly off once again.

  Chapter 9

  JARAHMAEL AND LUCIFERAEL

  The blue clouds in the Fifth Heaven popped into Jarahmael’s view as he entered once again. The Hall of the Virtues was still abuzz with Angels moving about, a collection of Angels from each of the seven remaining Orders of Angels, save for the Seraphim and the Thrones. Wish I had an opportunity to discuss what is going on here with the Almighty, Jarahmael thought as he flew silently high above. He was careful to move from blue cloud to blue cloud and keep himself out of sight. He could see that the bulk of the Angels had been assembled outside the Hall of the Virtues, now in formations and armed. They were beginning to collect as legions and move apart, one legion from another. It was only a matter of time before they flew off to the Earth to destroy the Humans.

  Luciferael was still there by the Hall of the Virtues, steering the troop movements around him. Jarahmael could see the other Archangels that were part of Luciferael's Auxilium mixed among the Angels. They were in charge of the various legions and formations and seemed to be controlling the various blocks of the other Orders of Angels. Sammuael had the Cherubim ranks with him. Beelzebael had the Dominions, while Mephistophael commanded the Principalities. Mammonael was with the Potentates. It was hard to keep them in a configuration because as floating orbs they just floated about, not in a streamlined movement. Looking down at their faces that filled the one side of the orbs, these Potentates were not smiling. In fact, their faces were beginning to turn angry, which was somewhat frightening with just the head-like orbs and no bodies.

  The Guardian Angels who made up a large part of the whole contingent were split into groups commanded by the other Archangels that Jarahmael saw there. Damiel had one group while Suriel had another. As Jarahmael watched from above, the legions were being set-up under the commands of the various Archangels of the Auxilium. Angels for each of the Orders were assigned to a legion and marched into position. This took time, and as Jarahmael watched he saw the legions being formed, with squadrons of Cherubim in the lead, Principalities, Guardians, Dominions and finally Potentates bringing up the rear of each legion.

  In total the army appeared to be split into two main bodies One group was set under the major command of Beelzebael, the under the command of Sammuael. Beelzebael’s army was beginning to line itself up poised to enter the lower Heavens through the Fourth Heaven while Sammuael’s legions were marching to get ready to fly upwards towards the Sixth Heaven.

  That means the upper regions could be under attack as well as the lower regions. So much for Lillith being safe, Jarahmael thought to himself.

  Jarahmael watched as one of the Guardian Angels was escorted by a number of armed Cherubim guards and brought directly to Luciferael. There was a discussion from what Jarahmael could see between them and it was not long before the captive Guardian Angel grew into a red haired Archangel. The orange tipped wings confirmed that it was Ariel. He must have been trying to blend in with Luciferael’s troops while spying on their activity. The exchange did not seem to go well for Ariel and ended with Luciferael gesturing. In a flash Ariel appeared bound in some form of chains and was then escorted within the Hall and out of Jarahmael’s sight. Ariel captured? How could Luciferael be authorized to capture and confine one of the Archangels? Something is definitely amiss!

  Jarahmael was now convinced how important it was to get the weapons down to Michael and the others from the Sixth Heaven. He felt good that he advised Zachiel to arm the remainder of the Cherubim. Zachiel and his Cherubim would be able to buy time by denying Luciferael’s legions passage through the Sixth Heaven. He was a strong Cherubim, as were those who remained under his command to protect the Sixth Heaven. Getting through Zachiel’s forces would not be an easy task for Luciferael’s army.

  Jarahmael knew that he still had to distract Luciferael’s legions here in the Fifth Heaven long enough to allow for the contingent of Faumiel's Cherubim to pass through this Heaven and get the much-needed weaponry down to Michael and Cerebriel on the Earth. Looking about from his perch in the clouds, Jarahmael knew that Faumiel and his squadron would most likely pass through the eastern part of the Fifth Heaven, so he would have to draw the rebel Angels' attention to the west.

  Jarahmael had an idea to make a grand entrance to catch the rebel legions’ attention. And he knew the timing would have to be perfect. If the weapons never got to Michael and the other Angels loyal to the Almighty waiting below, Luciferael and his legions would hold all the weapons and power in the Heavens and on the Earth. The rebellion would be won without any real opposition. Faumiel’s mission must not fail!

  Jarahmael kept his eyes watching the east waiting for Faumiel to break through. But he was also watching the Angels below as they were getting ready to depart. If Luciferael's contingent of Angels heading towards the lower Heavens left before the weapons passed through, then Faumiel and his Cherubim could be trapped behind the rebel legions on their way to get to the Earth with the weapons. Faumiel’s small group of Cherubim would not be able to fight their way through, and would most likely simply be captured by the rebel Angels, preventing any weapons from getting to Michael and the others. It was excruciating for Jarahmael to wait like that. And there was nothing else he could do but wait.

  The rebel Angels near the Hall of the Virtues were finally all formed in their legions and started to move, ready to leave for the lower Heavens. It was just then that Jarahmael caught a glimpse of Faumiel’s Cherubim break into the sky of the Fifth Heaven over by some clouds in the east. Groups of ten were carrying sleds full of weapons, pulling the stacks as they flew silently through the blue cloud. Looking down, the rebel Angels beneath Jarahmael still seemed oblivious to the movement off in the eastern sky. But to be sure they wouldn’t look over in that direction, Jarahmael began to drop out of his cloud in the western sky, and pulling the trumpet to his
lips, he began to blow through it. The trumpet was designed as a weapon, but Jarahmael only used it to make simple sounds. With all the rebel Angels turning to face Jarahmael in the western sky, Faumiel and his Cherubim with the sleds of weapons glided silently past and through the Fifth Heaven’s eastern sky and towards the gateway into the Fourth Heaven.

  As Jarahmael fell towards the floor of the Fifth Heaven, he thought it best to aim himself directly to where Luciferael was standing. As he flew past the Hall of the Virtues, he caught a glimpse of Ariel confined within the Hall, chained off in a corner by himself and surrounded by four rebel Cherubim guards.

  “My lord Luciferael,” Jarahmael said as he landed, and made a bow in front of him.

  “Greetings my lord Jarahmael!” Luciferael responded, again delighted that one of his Archangel brethren had sought him out. Although he should have been suspicious after his experience with Ariel, Luciferael was fond of Jarahmael, for it was Jarahmael that had provided Luciferael with one of his favorite possessions, the large mirror where he could look at himself. Luciferael knew that Jarahmael was not as subservient as his Auxilium Angels were to him, which made Jarahmael's love and allegiance all the more valuable to him. “Have you come to join me?” he asked.

  “Join you? Yes, of course,” Jarahmael said, walking up to Luciferael. “I am just not sure exactly what you are doing.” Jarahmael asked with a wry grin on his face, “Are we destroying the Earth creatures?”

  “Yes, that and more,” Luciferael said. “But only those on the Earth, your loyalty to me lord Jarahmael guarantees the safety of your Human, Lillith. As you know better than anyone, those Humans and Simians have created all sorts of havoc. But even more important, I am also going to take over the Heavens and restore them exclusively for the Orders of Angels. We need to get rid of this nonsense of worrying about or worshiping these Human or Simian creatures once and for all.”