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

by John J Higgins

  “I have an idea, Faumiel. It’s getting late, let me find a place to hide you and the weapons here in the Third Heaven for the night. I may be able to get some of the Angels of the Order of the Principalities to assist.”

  “Hide? For the night? We will be captured well before that at this rate!” Faumiel said looking at Dubriel in disbelief. “That will be of no help at all!”

  “It will be fine Faumiel, trust me you will be safe! Just follow my instructions.” Dubriel said reassuringly.

  “Do you know this Third Heaven well?” Faumiel asked shaking his head, but knowing he had to trust his brother Cherubim as they would be captured soon otherwise.

  “I was assigned to work on the pyramid in Occidentus where Annabael, leader of the Principalities, was supervising. If she was still here in the Heavens rather than on the Earth, she would know exactly where to go and hide. Now I will have to see who I can find up here to assist us. But I do recall her describing some beautiful mountains and valleys down in the southwest section of her Heaven. There were a number of hidden caves in the mountains that were unique in that their interior walls radiated light from within. So bright she said that it was almost daylight, similar to the light from a very bright full moon on the Earth.”

  “Are they secret enough that Glabolas and the others won't know where to find us?” Faumiel asked.

  “It took a long time before she even mentioned this area, one of her favorites in the whole Universe. It’s a secret among the Principalities, remember they are engineer types, love to study how things can be built and structures supported. In fact, she described the entrance to one of the more beautiful caves as being under a mountain that was in the basic shape of a rounded pyramid. That was one of the reasons that shape was being used on the Earth. She had a name for the place, Domesticus Divum, which stood for ‘dome of the sky.’”

  “That may work,” Faumiel said. “How best do we get there?”

  “Now speed up, you are a bit of a distance from the gateway that is the entrance into the Second Heaven. Don’t pass through but make it look like you are headed there. When you get close to the gate veer off to your right and fly low to the surface of the Third Heaven, and when you come to the mountain ranges out to the west, you should be able to see this dome structure hidden in between three separate mountain ranges that converge there. Aim for the base of the Domesticus Divum and get all of the weapons and yourselves inside to hide. I will meet you there later. Let me break off now as I have some other things that I need to do for now. Trust me. I will talk to you later,” Dubriel said as he broke out of flying in formation and headed down and towards the eastern side of the Third Heaven.

  Faumiel continued to lead his squadron down and followed Dubriel’s instructions. It took them a while before they came upon the Dome of the Sky and flew inside the main cave that burrowed under the structure. They did not stop until they were well inside and out of the view of anything flying overhead or nearby.

  It was close to dark when Dubriel returned. He was greeted by members of Faumiel’s band, now well armed.

  “I see you found it all right Faumiel.”

  “Yes, we did,” Faumiel replied, while he and the other six Cherubim Angels lowered their weapons but still vigilant in case Glabolas and his group of rebel Angels caught them here in the cave.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea, Dubriel?” Faumiel asked. “This could be a dangerous trap. There is only the one way in and out of the mountain that I can see.”

  “Not to worry, Faumiel. Glabolas and his compatriots won't be bothering us tonight. You can rest easily. Tomorrow may be another story though, once we begin moving again.”

  “How do you know they will not be bothering us tonight?” Faumiel asked.

  “Easily!” Dubriel said with a chuckle. “There was a reason I left you to find this place on your own.”

  “Why did you leave us then?” asked Faumiel, his suspicions rising because he was not getting a direct answer.

  “Well if you insist on knowing. I headed straight down to the Principalities' main gathering place, which they call the Partenon up here. There are many building supplies in the warehouses around the Partenon. I was able to recruit some of the Principalities to help who were building the defenses at the gateway. We quickly assembled some wood squares that look similar to your sleds, threw some cloud material on-top, and covered them up so Glabolas would believe that the group is yours,” Dubriel said, pointing to the sleds full of weapons taken from the Sixth Heaven.

  “Had to cover over the blue wings and put on some materials to make the Principalities look more like Cherubim Angels. It was not as hard as we thought. I had them wait around the gateway to the Second Heaven as bait for Glabolas. As soon as Glabolas and Haagenti came into view, I had the disguised Principalities enter into the Second Heaven and fly to the furthest reaches in the western sector of the Potentates' Heaven. And told them to keep circling to keep Glabolas and his brothers on their tails.”

  “I split off once again and contacted some of the Second Heaven's Potentate Angels I have worked with on the Occidental pyramid and made arrangements with them to send off waves of energy, in high doses, enough to confuse and exhaust Glabolas and his Cherubim. I am sure they will eventually find a place to rest, somewhere near where they have been tricked to believe your contingent have set up camp. At first light in the morning, I would expect that they will try to attack. But they are chasing decoys so they won't find you, nor will they find the weapons stash,” Dubriel said proudly.

  “Sometime during that confusion, we will get you out of here and back on your way to the Earth. At least for now, you may be outnumbered but are no longer out-armed. And we will wait to make plans about where to take the weapons on the Earth as we do the final descents. Any other questions?” Dubriel finished.

  “Sounds like a well thought-out plan to me,” Faumiel said and the other loyal Cherubim agreed. “Remember though, the loyal Angels on the Earth desperately need these weapons!”

  Chapter 12

  BEELZEBAEL IN THE FOURTH HEAVEN

  Beelzebael and his lead legion blasted through the last remnants of resistance from the Virtue Angels, easily overpowering their efforts to defend their Heaven. The leaders of the Virtues weren't even in the Fifth Heaven when Luciferael and his army assembled itself. They had gone to the Earth earlier that day to observe the changes that were occurring because of the fall of Adam and Eve. The dreaded day had come when “free will” had created sin and there would be consequences now throughout the Universe. It was no longer a concept, but a cancer that was spreading rapidly across the Creation.

  With the meager resistance by the red tunic clad Virtues overcome, Beelzebael and his armed legions poured out of the gateway of the Fifth Heaven and into the golden shades of the Fourth Heaven's sky. Beelzebael was enthused at their progress. The Fifth Heaven had already been conquered and now his legions were already attacking the Fourth Heaven even before the first day of the rebellion was finished.

  Beelzebael thought it brilliant that Luciferael decided to attack on the day that the majority of Angels loyal to the Almighty were out of the Heavens, down on the surface of the Earth. This made effective resistance to the rebel Angels difficult if not impossible for those few Angels who remained in each of the respective Heavens. The element of surprise was also in the rebel Angels’ favor, as no one had expected an attack, especially in the confusion that followed the cataclysmic day when Adam and Eve betrayed the Almighty.

  Landing on a golden cloud that was his first step into the Fourth Heaven, Beelzebael looked quickly behind him to make sure the rest of the legions were keeping up with his advance. The first ranks were composed of Cherubim and they quickly outmaneuvered the Dominion defenders that were flying above the golden clouds. Once these Dominions had been captured, they were passed back along the legion to the Guardian Angels for safekeeping. Beelzebael’s legions were again unencumbered and headed towards the lower region of the Fo
urth Heaven. Small detachments of Dominion Angels had set up defenses to prevent the rebel legions from moving through. Ratzuziel headed one of the detachments of loyal Dominions and he could be seen shoring up the cloud defenses. They had little to defend themselves by way of weapons, while Beelzebael was well armed with the weapons obtained from the stores in the Sixth Heaven.

  But the Dominions were able to slow down Beelzebael's progress, by keeping their defensive walls tight. The swords and axes did not do much against the walls. As the walls were also constructed of hardened light, it was tough going to get through them. Another detachment of the loyal Dominions was led by their leader Hashmallim. They stayed concealed in the Hall of the Dominions and were able to overwhelm some of the rebel Guardian Angels who entered the structure thinking that it was empty. By disarming the rebel Angels through brute force they were able to gain control of some weapons. A mad dash by this core group brought these weapons for use by defenders at the gateway to the Third Heaven against the rebel army.

  Hashmallim and his second in command, Ratzuziel, turned out to be great tacticians for the loyal Dominion Angels. They forced Beelzebael to halt and battle it out with them and their followers. The two Dominion leaders had constructed the defenses in such a way that the rebel army had to pass through a narrow channeled maze in order to get through the gateway into the Third Heaven. This forced the rebel Angels to send their warrior Angels in, one at a time, where the Dominions could fight back, regardless of how greatly they were outnumbered.

  Jarahmael was with Suriel's legion of rebel Angels when it entered into the Fourth Heaven. The fighting in the upper region was already finished by the time they arrived. At first, Suriel's legion moved quickly through the Fourth Heaven, but like the rest of Beelzebael’s legions they became stopped by the bottleneck down below created by the defenses of the Dominion Angels. Beelzebael saw Suriel and Jarahmael when their legion moved down and summoned the two of them for a council of war to find a way through the Dominions’ defenses.

  Beelzebael looked at Jarahmael and smiled. “You decided to join us in the overthrow of Heaven?” Jarahmael could see that Beelzebael's eyes were watching his reaction very closely. I am sure he doesn't trust me, Jarahmael thought to himself.

  Suriel also cast a sidelong glance at Jarahmael. Nor does Suriel, Jarahmael thought.

  Jarahmael looked right back into Beelzebael's eyes and said in an arrogant tone, “Yes, my lord Beelzebael. The Almighty has been playing favorites with the Humans and placed them above us.” Jarahmael stressed the words in his response, making it sound like it was Jarahmael who had been insulted directly by the Almighty's actions, and that Beelzebael's feelings didn't matter to him at all, as though Jarahmael was far above him. Jarahmael also turned to Suriel as he finished his sentence as if to say the same to him, that Suriel was not an Archangel on equal status with Jarahmael. All the while, Jarahmael was conscious of where his swords were in relation to his hands under his tunic.

  Both Beelzebael and Suriel moved as though Jarahmael's words and attitude pushed them backwards, taken aback by the boldness of the tone used by Jarahmael in his answer. Jarahmael was sure they did not expect that from him. He was also sure that in the new scheme of things, it would be the Angel who had the boldest and deadliest stance that would gain power under Luciferael's reign. And he was not going to be subservient to any of the members of Luciferael's Auxilium. Jarahmael thought that under different circumstances these two would have fought him on his attitude alone, but with all the commotion and uncertainty of the success of the rebellion, they would be too fearful that Jarahmael may truly be able to harm or destroy them if he decided it necessary.

  “Ah, you must have loved Luciferael's speech then, lord Jarahmael,” said Suriel, trying to regain his status.

  “Was not there for it, nor did I hear it,” said Jarahmael dismissively to the two of them.

  “Where were you then, lord Jarahmael?” asked Beelzebael in a sickly sweet and humble voice.

  This did not trick Jarahmael into lowering his guard — he knew that Beelzebael was hoping to catch him in a mistake or lie.

  “Arming myself, Beelzebael,” he responded, purposely not addressing him by the title “lord” usually used among the Archangels as a sign of respect. And then Jarahmael opened his tunic just a bit further so Beelzebael and Suriel could see the double swords he had strapped on, in addition to the spear on his back and the trumpet across his chest. “I prefer to choose my own weapons.”

  “Every weapon you could fit on yourself from what I can see,” said Suriel with a laugh.

  “What can I do for you?” asked Jarahmael, smiling for the first time now that he was sure that they knew he was not to be trifled with.

  Beelzebael feigned not being sure what to do and asked, “We are stalled at the front of the legion, the Dominions have created a bottleneck that we are not able to get through. Do either of you have any suggestions?”

  Suriel jumped in first, trying to reassert that he, too, was a force to be reckoned with and he certainly did not want Jarahmael to make him appear weak or uncertain. “Keep hammering them with the Cherubim. They are the toughest fighters and will break through in no time.”

  “Jarahmael, what do you think?” asked Beelzebael, ignoring Suriel's response.

  “Suriel's idea sounds good to me,” he responded and noticed Suriel's face get brighter that he was being acknowledged.

  “I don't want to know what Suriel thinks,” said Beelzebael. “I want to know what the lord Jarahmael thinks about these things.”

  “I saw how some of you attacked the dinosaurs on your own,” said Jarahmael. “Maybe one of you two should go in and clear out a path.” Jarahmael thought back as to how they took over the destruction of the dinosaurs, doing most of the damage to the creatures themselves. To further bait Beelzebael and Suriel he then added, “If I was at the head of the army, I would have been the first one in there clearing out a path. But not everyone leads from the front, some lead from the back.”

  Most Angels would have been insulted by such a remark, but for Beelzebael and Suriel it appeared to be a compliment, as the two of them beamed proudly. Must be that they constantly strive to outmaneuver one another with the least amount of effort, Jarahmael thought to himself. Fighting the dinosaurs had been one thing, but fighting an equal force was quite another. There was little risk of harm in attacking creatures that could not defend themselves. But here, where there was real risk involved, leading from behind the lines was a way that they could attack with the least amount of risk on their part and yet they could claim much of the glory.

  “What a great idea!” said Beelzebael. “Why don't you go and clear out the bottleneck for us, lord Jarahmael.”

  Taunting Beelzebael for his own satisfaction, Jarahmael responded, “But I am not the one in charge of either the army or the legion. The glory should be yours.”

  “No, be our guest!” said Beelzebael, raising up his hand and cutting off Suriel from volunteering.

  “Gladly!” Jarahmael responded, stepping back while he pulled out both his light swords in one quick, fluid movement, points of both swords simultaneously just below the necks of the other two Angels.

  Beelzebael and Suriel had tried to jump back but Jarahmael's reflexes were far faster than either of theirs. Jarahmael did not consider it a success to get glory for the least amount of effort – he had always worked hard on his own skills.

  Jarahmael grinned. “I think we should let Suriel's idea have a chance first. If you do not succeed today in clearing out the passageway, I will take to the front line and do it myself at first light. It's near dark now anyway. Even if we get through the bottleneck soon, we will not be able to get the entire legion through to the Third Heaven tonight.”

  Jarahmael turned and took off to find a cloud or some other place where he could rest, as it had been a long day. As an afterthought, he turned and said to the two of them standing there, “Be sure to send someone to wake me.” And a
s Jarahmael flew off, Beelzebael motioned with his eyes for Suriel to follow the Archangel. For no matter what Jarahmael said, neither Beelzebael or Suriel trusted him, and they were not going to let him out of their sight.

  Chapter 13

  MICHAEL’S UPDATES

  It was all quiet on Earth as Michael and Cerebriel flew across the planet. They saw nothing out of the ordinary. There were no attacking Angels, nor any recent destruction. Nor was there anything out of the ordinary at the pyramid at Aegyptus. The Orders of Angels were still working on the structures there. Some of the Principalities were applying the polished outer casing for the grand pyramid, making the structure shine as it reflected the light from the sun. Dominions and Cherubim were continuing to carve the two sphinxes out of two large outcroppings of rock, formed there for just this purpose.

  Michael and Cerebriel flew along further to where Adam and Eve had been cast out from the Garden of Eden. When they had flown over the nearby caves earlier that day, they had not seen the two Humans. But now, they found the two of them making themselves at home with the supplies that had been dropped off by Gabriel and Uriel only the night before.

  Michael turned to Cerebriel as they flew over silently and used his mind to communicate with Cerebriel. “We have located them as the Almighty wanted us to do. Let's stay out of sight and make them safe.”

  They landed and approached surreptitiously. Speeding up their wavelengths into light, the two Angels became invisible so they could observe the Humans more closely. They watched as Adam and Eve ate the little bit of food that they were able to gather. The Angels could tell that Adam and Eve were very upset by the streams on their faces where their tears had flowed. They had to take care of themselves, now that they were no longer in the Garden of Eden where everything they ever needed was immediately available without toil.

  Michael and Cerebriel remained invisible as they approached the Humans, waiting until after they had finished eating. Each of the Angels snuck up behind the Humans, then reached out and touched their foreheads. The Humans were immediately put to sleep by the Angels’ touch. The Angels changed back to a more solid form and became visible as they lifted each of the Humans in their arms and flew off into the air. Their destination was the pyramid in Aegyptus. Once there, Michael and Cerebriel took the Humans deep within the pyramid and laid them on the floor where they remained unconscious and asleep.