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

by John J Higgins

  “Yes, but He—”

  “Isn’t it true that the Almighty allowed you to select another Archangel to assist you?”

  “Yes.”

  “And isn’t it true that you didn’t ask lord Luciferael who he thought that Archangel should be?”

  “Yes, but lord Luciferael didn't know much about the Humans.” Michael was finally able to finish his answer.

  “But that is because the Almighty didn't confer with him, but conferred with you, isn’t that right?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “And isn’t it true that since the Almighty has given you a special relationship with these Humans, that you individually would be on the same level as the Humans when the Almighty places them above the lord Luciferael, his Auxilium and all the other Angels?”

  “No, that isn’t true.”

  “Yes, it is, Michael!” accused Sammuael. “Didn’t you have the Archangel Jarahmael assist you with these Humans? And didn't he fall in love with the first woman, Lillith?”

  “Yes, he did.”

  “And didn’t he take her from Eden and the Earth for his own?”

  “Yes, he did.”

  “Was lord Luciferael or any of our other Archangels offered a Human female for a companion?”

  “No. Let me explain.”

  Sammuael raised his hand towards Michael and cut him off. Sammuael then turned to Luciferael and said, “See my lord, there is no point trying to have Michael join us. He believes that it is actually him and his Archangel friends that should be above all of us. It was always going to come down to this, a war for supremacy, my lord. Negotiating with Michael and his kind is pointless. They believe that they are better than us, that the Almighty has a more elevated spot for each of them than for us. We are, in fact, winning the rebellion because of our own natural superiority, my lord. We only have a small way to go now before we control all of the Heavens. The rest of the Angels are trapped on the Earth.”

  Sammuael paused a moment and pointed at Michael as he continued. “And they are leaderless. We can decide who to allow back into our Seven Heavens, and who should be confined somewhere on the Earth instead. Without you as the next Almighty, we will return to a continued decline in our authority and place in the Universe. We all need a loving Archangel as our own Almighty, and that is you! Please do not give up what we have so diligently sacrificed for, my lord!”

  Luciferael looked at the two Archangels standing before him. As the words of Sammuael sunk in, Luciferael nodded in agreement with Sammuael’s words.

  “I have made a decision,” stated Luciferael. “Lord Sammuael, you are correct. We will never co-exist together anymore, Michael. We see the world very differently. And you, my trusted Archangel Sammuael, and our allies have helped me reach this new great height. We have all of the Heavens secured except for the lowest one. We shall overcome any resistance from the Guardian Angels in the First Heaven when I return there tomorrow. The last resistance is on the Earth where disorganized and misguided brethren of ours sit leaderless. We shall overcome them and offer them truth. The Earth will then be scoured and cleansed of these inferior Humans and Simians, and we shall start anew. Mark these, as they are the words of lord Luciferael, Prince of Heaven!” Luciferael exclaimed.

  Luciferael then addressed the Cherubim guards who surrounded Michael. “Cherubim, keep Michael under guard, do not allow him out of your sight or hearing range.” Then he turned back to Michael and said, “Michael, I will return after I am finished conquering the rest of the Heavens and the Earth. Perhaps by then you will see the Universe my way, or should I say, you shall see my Universe in a way you have never seen it before.”

  Michael looked right back into Luciferael's eyes and said, “This pride of yours shall be your downfall, Luciferael. You shall never gain as much stature as you have right at this moment. Things will get worse for you and your colleagues. Repent and ask the Almighty for forgiveness, or there will come a day when I swear I will conquer you!”

  “So be it!” said Luciferael as he took flight, not bothering to look behind him and paying no more attention to Michael. Luciferael had given life to this creature, but he was ungrateful. Sadness passed over him for a second, not that he was losing Michael, but because there would be one less creature to love and admire the great Luciferael. Michael was now in the past. Conquering the rest of the Heavens and Earth and ruling the Universe was in Luciferael's future.

  Jarahmael and Raziel landed on one of the high flying clouds in the Fifth Heaven. From this vantage point they could look down into the Hall of the Virtues. Three Archangels were standing there discussing something. One was faced off by the other two Archangels. Jarahmael recognized the silver-tipped one as Michael. He was surrounded by eight Cherubim guards. Across from Michael, stood the golden-tipped wings of the Archangel Luciferael and black-tipped wings of Archangel Sammuael.

  Beyond this group, Jarahmael also saw the orange-tipped wings of the Archangel Ariel who was bound by ropes or chains and surrounded by another four Cherubim guards.

  “You were correct, lord Raziel, I would not have believed it possible for Luciferael to capture lord Michael so easily,” said Jarahmael to Raziel, who was also observing the scene below. “A formidable force to engage. Twelve armed Cherubim and two Archangels against three and a half of us.”

  “Three and a half?” asked Raziel.

  “Yes, lord Ariel is bound so he can help once we get him free, but until then. . .”

  “I see your point,” said Raziel.

  “I have an idea,” said Jarahmael. “They won't worry much about lord Ariel since he is confined and bound. Those Cherubim guarding him most likely are not paying much attention to him at the moment. Their focus will be on Luciferael and his interaction with lord Michael. Take my spear with you. It will give you a greater reach than the swords of the Cherubim guards. None of them are carrying their spears so they won't have the same reach. It looks like they have left their spears outside the Hall. See over there!” Jarahmael pointed to a spot where they could see spears. He then continued with his plan.

  “They will never expect anyone to attempt to free lord Michael and lord Ariel safely confined deep in the Heavens like this. You and I will attack simultaneously. You go for the Cherubim guards around lord Ariel and I will take on Luciferael and the rest. I am not sure I can handle all of them, but I know lord Michael will start fighting as soon as he sees what I am doing. And if you get lord Ariel free, you can come help us.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” replied Raziel.

  “Lord Raziel, you fly down and come in from behind the Hall and I will go straight down from here,” Jarahmael said as the two of them made final preparations.

  But before they could start their attack, Jarahmael looked down and was surprised to see that Luciferael was already airborne, positioning himself to leave the Fifth Heaven and go into the Fourth Heaven.

  “Wait! Luciferael is leaving,” Jarahmael said as he grabbed Raziel’s arm and prevented him from moving. They both watched Luciferael disappear out of the Fifth Heaven. “Better yet. One less rebel Angel to deal with. Let’s do this now! Before another rebel Angel appears.”

  Both Archangels flew off and headed in their own direction. They timed one another’s descent so that they would land at the same time in order to attack simultaneously. Jarahmael was confident that he would succeed because he still had that Crystal Prism that had absorbed the remains of the group of rebel Cherubim at the gateway to the Seventh Heaven. He grabbed onto it tightly under his tunic as he descended.

  He landed quietly, but Sammuael felt the presence of another Angel and spun around to face him. Sammuael was shocked to see Jarahmael. Wasn't he supposed to be destroyed, incapacitated or captured by the loyal Angels? Here he was though, standing in front of him. Sammuael hesitated and tried to regain his thoughts, and tried to buy himself time, by pasting a fake smile on his face. He thought that Jarahmael may still be an ally to the rebel Angels. As Sammuael did so, Jarahma
el pulled out the Crystal Prism and carefully aimed its peak at Sammuael and called out: “Carcer Pro Cohibeo Res Lux Lucis.” Immediately Sammuael was flipped as though a powerful wind had caught his body and twisted in a corkscrew motion, and with a flash he was sucked into the prism. Jarahmael took a step back and with his other hand threw a sword over to Michael, who had been watching all this unfold before him in amazement.

  Now armed, Michael stepped back from his Cherubim captors as they began to go for their own weapons. Once Michael had stepped away from the Cherubim guards, Jarahmael aimed the peak of the pyramid directly at where the Cherubim were standing. A second later, after repeating the command, there was another wind that arose and pulled in all eight of the Cherubim that had been guarding Michael.

  Jarahmael then turned to look towards the spot where Ariel had been confined and kept prisoner. Raziel had gotten through one of the Cherubim guards but was now facing three well-armed Cherubim. Ariel was still bound as Raziel had not gotten far enough to release him. Lifting the Crystal Prism yet again, Jarahmael repeated the command “Carcer Pro Cohibeo Res Lux Lucis,” once more. And those Cherubim disappeared into Jarahmael's Crystal Prism too. It was over in matter of moments and the loyal Angels had won, a rare occurrence so far in the war for the Heavens.

  Michael, Jarahmael, Raziel and Ariel took flight with Sammuael and the Cherubim guards safely confined within Jarahmael's Crystal Prism. As they flew out of the Hall of the Virtues, they saw a mass of Angels approaching, coming up through the lower Heavens. It was a large contingent of the rebel Angels heading up to the Sixth Heaven and beyond. Jarahmael felt a pang of sorrow go through his body, as he feared his path to Lillith was now blocked by all these rebel Angels. Would he ever see her again? She must be frightened being up there all alone.

  But he knew they had to get through to the forces of loyal Angels if they were ever going to stop Luciferael and his Auxilium. Luciferael's forces had captured Michael once, and Jarahmael knew they needed to get Michael back safely, to head the loyal forces of Angels and lead the counterattack. Jarahmael would have to sneak him through the lower Heavens, which were overflowing with rebel Angels as well. With only four of them, they would all have to be extremely careful to avoid being recaptured. So off they went, moving from cloud to cloud down through the Heavens. It was slow going, but at least they were moving in the right direction.

  They slipped through into the Fourth Heaven, still ducking from cloud to cloud. Jarahmael knew that he had to be especially careful about not getting caught himself, for he still had the Book of Creation and Book of Life hidden within the tunic on his back. All his efforts in the Throne Room of the Seventh Heaven would be for naught if Luciferael's Angels captured and searched him; they would then have the key to this Universe.

  Luciferael's forces had been securing the Heavens they had conquered. They had set up patrols to seek out whatever stragglers of the loyal Angels that still remained. As Jarahmael and Michael descended secretly down through the Heavens they observed how the rebel Angels were slowly rounding up any of the remaining loyal Angels and securing them. It seemed that the respective meeting halls for each of the Orders of Angels in their own Heavens were being used as holding areas for the captured loyal Angels. Groups of them were being easily confined by rebel guards of the various Orders of rebel Angels, for they still were the only ones who had weapons.

  As Jarahmael and the others came into the Second Heaven, they noticed that the rebel Angels had left the Potentate Angels alone for the most part. They were not being transported or confined under guard, but remained safe and free in the Second Heaven. Luciferael must have a special use for these Angels, and does not want to anger them, Jarahmael thought to himself. And considering that they stored and released light energy, they could be extremely dangerous if they were provoked. How the Potentates fit into Luciferael's plan he did not know, but then again he wouldn't have predicted this rebellion in the Heavens to begin with, especially led by the Prince of Heaven itself.

  Jarahmael and the others could hear strains of fighting coming from the First Heaven where the last level of fighting was occurring. The remnants of the loyal Guardian Angels commanded by Gaardrael were trying to hold back the larger swell of Luciferael's rebel Angels. It was not an even match, as the rebel Angels were larger and more powerful than the Guardians, and the rebel Angels were properly armed while the combined forces of the loyals were not.

  Jarahmael, Michael and the two other Angels finally arrived in the First Heaven as the day was ending, remaining up in the clouds just as Luciferael and Beelzebael were planning their final attack. The loyal Angels had constructed another defensive line where the First Heaven connected with the sky of the Earth. Their only hope was that the defensive line would hold, as they were far outnumbered by Luciferael's forces. And as the next assault from Luciferael’s rebel army began, Jarahmael and the others knew that only the Earth would be left if the defenses failed.

  Chapter 22

  HASTEN

  Faumiel's group of Cherubim woke up the next morning well concealed within the Domesticum Divum in the western part of the Third Heaven, home of the Principalities. The skies had not yet brightened for the day, but Faumiel urged his Cherubim troops to prepare to depart soon, while they still had the element of surprise. Dubriel’s plan must have worked. Glabolas had been tricked the night before and had not arrived anywhere near them. Hopefully, Glabolas and his rebel Cherubim would be exhausted this morning after spending the entire night before searching for them in the wrong Heaven, one level below in the realm of the Potentate Angels of the Second Heaven.

  Dubriel flew in from the east hurriedly and announced, “You need to go now! Glabolas and his rebel Angels have circled around and are back up here in the Third Heaven, still searching for you and your weapons. If we don't move now, they will capture all of us!”

  Upon hearing this, Faumiel instructed the other Angels to bind up the sleds filled with weapons and they were soon ready to depart. As Faumiel and his Cherubim left the Dome with their sleds, they could hear the battle begin again for the day at the gateway between the Third and Fourth Heavens. Faumiel again contemplated stopping and providing weapons to the Dominions and Principalities above them, to help them fight and give them real weapons to use to hold back Beelzebael and his rebel legions. But he also knew that if he stopped to do so, those pursuing rebel Cherubim would catch up and he would have to fight them here. He would remain outnumbered and lose the battle. If Faumiel was beaten, the weapons would be lost to the loyal Angels assembling as an army on the Earth below. And that loyal army of Angels was the force that could beat Luciferael’s army and they desperately needed to be supplied with real weapons. For those reasons he needed to move out. Faumiel's Cherubim went into motion, and quickly left the Third Heaven, so they would not be seen when Glabolas and the armed Cherubim Angels came back around searching areas they missed earlier.

  Dubriel flew alongside Faumiel and the others for a short while. Then he turned and said, “I have some other tasks I need to attend to. It looks like I have done all that I can for you at the moment. I will take my leave and hope to see you in the lower Heavens or on the Earth soon. Remember, keep moving and don't slow down. Your pursuers seem inexhaustible,” Dubriel then broke off and headed in a nose dive down and through the Second Heaven, soon disappearing as a speck in the distance, while Faumiel and the rest of them continued to descend at a pace as fast as they could go that would not cost them the loss of any weapons falling off the sleds.

  Passing further down into the gateway between the Third and Second Heavens, Faumiel still hoped that he had lost his pursuers. But when he looked behind, Faumiel noticed that they were again being followed, and in the morning light he could see that the pursuing force of Cherubim was larger than he originally had thought. No choice but to keep moving and continue to drop down through the Heavens. He was definitely outnumbered, easily by five to one. If Faumiel was lucky, he would get these weapons to an o
rganized group of loyal Angels who could help him fight off these rebel Cherubim followers.

  Eventually he passed through the Second Heaven into the First Heaven and had hoped to find a loyal force of Angels large enough to take on Glabolas and the others. As he passed deeper into the First Heaven, he noticed the small group of Guardian Angels who remained in the Heavens, beginning to assemble themselves in a formation that could thwart the rebel Angel's attack. But he could see they would not even be large enough to deal with the two-hundred Cherubim chasing him for the weapons, much less the legions under Luciferael's and his Auxilium's command that would be following Glabolas.

  Faumiel thought to himself that this had been a great time for Luciferael to begin a war, as the majority of the rest of the Angels weren't in the Heavens at all but were dispersed around the Earth working on the pyramids.

  Faumiel knew he now had no choice but to head directly to the Earth, because the First Heaven and its loyal Angels would not provide a large enough force to protect them there. He hoped he could find a larger force on the Earth.

  Once Faumiel and his sleds of weapons broke through to the atmosphere over the Earth, he turned around and looked behind him. At first he thought that he had finally shaken his pursuers, or that they did not want to come so far away from their main army. But before he could relax, he saw a Cherubim heading straight for him, and there was no way to outrun him. Soon Faumiel, his Cherubim and the weapons would all be captured.

  Chapter 23

  ONLY A SMALL STEP LEFT

  The Guardian Angels had been unable to hold the upper reaches of the First Heaven and had been holding their ground as best they could. When Luciferael himself arrived in the First Heaven, his presence brought along with it a momentum that propelled the attacking rebel Angels ever forward. The rebel legions were all formed up and ready for the command to make the final attack. Beelzebael had been leading the legions but Luciferael felt that his personal presence would be enough to overwhelm the loyal Angels. The rebel army would defeat the loyal Angels much faster with him personally leading the attack. The Guardian Angels had already begun to fold their positions as the day had progressed. Now they were relying on makeshift defenses at the gateway to the Earth to stop the rebel Angels’ onslaughts. With Luciferael’s presence at the head of the legions in the First Heaven, all it took was his leading the main charge and blaring the horn himself for their makeshift defenses to crumble.