Michael and Ariel slept soundly in the Aegyptian pyramid that night and it felt good to see Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael when they awoke. They all walked together to the entrance of the pyramid to watch the sunrise. It was poignant moment for them, as they had been so used to being part of the morning ceremony for all of the Angels, when the Almighty would appear. They wondered what had happened to the Almighty. He been absent since this revolt began, and they all desperately wanted His guidance and counsel. But for now they were on their own in dealing with Luciferael.
Michael was being briefed by the other Archangels about the preparations they had made for war in his absence.
"We have twenty legions here, lord Michael, four legions of Guardian Angels, four legions of Potentates, four legions of Principalities, four of Dominions and four of Cherubim." said Gabriel.
“We are still waiting for lord Cerebriel as he finishes assembling the legions around the pyramids in Medius, Occidentus, Chinaeus, and Indigus. The other pyramids in Centrus, Granaeus, Derinkaeus, and Gympaeus were not being worked on at the same time that the revolt began so there are no Angels to assemble from there," reported Uriel.
"All told, our legions should outnumber Luciferael's. He has one third of all the Angels assembled as rebel legions under his control. We have close to the remaining two thirds of the Angels, minus the number who are trapped as prisoners or captives, which we figure to be at least a few thousand, We also believe that more of the Potentates are trapped up in the Second Heaven as fewer of them would come down to the Earth to work on the pyramids. If we can get to the captive loyal Angels in our Heavens, we can use them to increase our ranks as well," reported Raphael.
"How is the weapon situation? All of Luciferael’s rebel Angels were fully armed before he began any of his attacks,” Ariel asked as he remembered his own capture when he had tried to find out why Luciferael and his rebel Angels were arming themselves in the Fifth Heaven.
"We have about a third of the force here armed as best as we can with tools rather than actual weapons,” said Uriel. “We have been waiting for lord Cerebriel to round up the tools from the other pyramids. He was able to send the tools from the Chinaeus and Indigus pyramids as they are closer but he went personally to speed the retrieval of the tools from the pyramids in Medius and Occidentus.”
Michael asked, "Why did it take so long to get these tools?"
“There has been widespread disbelief among the Angels in the more remote locations that Luciferael started a rebellion. They believe this was part of the Almighty's plan and that only the entrance to the Heavens may have been blocked for a reason the Almighty has not told us yet. That is why lord Cerebriel has had to go personally to each of the sites and explain,” said Uriel.
"Any news of the Cherubim from the Sixth Heaven arriving with stores of weapons?" asked Michael hopefully.
“No. Not that we have heard," said Gabriel. “Why? Are there weapons on the way?"
"Yes," said Michael. “Lord Jarahmael had the Cherubim in the Sixth Heaven seize weapons and had them sent secretly through the Heavens to the Earth. We hope that they were able to get through to the Earth without Luciferael finding and seizing them."
"Lord Jarahmael is still free and on our side?" Gabriel asked with surprise. "There have been rumors that he joined the rebel legions. I heard he was with Suriel and Beelzebael during the fight in the Fourth Heaven."
“Yes, he is both free and on our side,” said Michael. "He was the one who freed both lord Ariel and I. He sent us ahead while he and lord Raziel are working to keep the pyramid in the Garden of Eden out of Luciferael's control."
Then, as if on cue, Jarahmael emerged from one of the passageways in the pyramid behind Michael, who was facing the Archangels. They all smiled when they saw Jarahmael and at first Michael thought it was something he had said that made all of them smile. Then Michael felt a nudge on his back, in the space between his wings.
"Greetings brothers!" announced Jarahmael, a smile on his face at seeing his fellow Archangels. "I see lord Michael has taken over and dominated the conversation again," Jarahmael teased him. Then he walked around and Michael and Jarahmael reached across and shook hands with one another.
“How did you get here?" asked Gabriel.
“Right through the portal in the pyramid," Jarahmael said, proud of himself as he explained. "Michael, Cerebriel and I had been assigned to find Adam and Eve before the war began and to block off the portals within the pyramids. The Almighty did not want the Humans to be able to use the pyramids to get themselves back into the Garden of Eden and the Heavens."
“Speaking of Adam and Eve, has anyone checked on the Humans?" asked Gabriel.
“I checked on them this morning," answered Raphael. "They still remain literally unconscious to the rebellion."
"Good. It's best that way. There is too much going on to be worried about them being exposed to danger from the rebel Angels,” said Gabriel. “They have proven to be poor at following directions and we certainly don't need them getting one of us captured or destroyed in the middle of this rebellion.”
“Not to mention, it would be a bad idea for them to become too familiar with us. They will not be residing again in the Heavens even if we succeed in pushing Luciferael back. The Almighty was not happy with them for eating the forbidden fruit and I can’t see Him reversing His decision. They were incapable of following just one simple rule," added Michael.
“What about the rest of the Simians on the planet?" asked Jarahmael.
“Cerebriel had Annabael send some of the Principalities to keep an eye on them. They were put into caves for safekeeping and should still be there waiting for the war to be over. The Simians that have been on the Earth are very obedient. There should be no problems with them," said Raphael.
“We need an overall plan to combat Luciferael and his legions," continued Michael as he walked out into the sand. He bent down and began to draw a map of the Earth and the First Heaven as the rest of the Archangels assembled around him. “Any suggestions, lord Jarahmael? You have seen Luciferael and how his legions operate when they have attacked before."
"I believe that he will consolidate his power in the Heavens now. There were still pockets of loyal Angels remaining within each of the Heavens. That will take a day or two," responded Jarahmael.
"Are there large numbers of loyal Angels for him to contend with?" asked Gabriel.
“It's hard to tell, since many were unarmed throughout the war and disorganized. No one expected this to happen, so there was no coordinated leadership to resist the rebel Angels. My sense is that their allegiance to Luciferael will remain true as long as he appears to be undefeatable. If we succeed in breaking that alliance apart, I think Luciferael’s rebel alliance will begin to crumble.”
Jarahmael knelt down by the map drawn in the sand and motioned for them to come closer. "But I do have a plan that I think will surprise Luciferael and his legions. Come closer, I will show you."
Chapter 30
A VISION FOR THE CONQUERED
It felt wonderful to be in his own bedroom, Luciferael thought as he woke up in his own palace once again. He could hold court in his palace or in the Throne Room this morning, but he decided he would rather save the Throne Room ceremony until after he had all the Seven Heavens settled and the Angels on the Earth finally defeated. That should be a special day, and would deserve a full and special ceremony. He looked out one of his palace windows overlooking his new Heavens and saw Beelzebael and the other Archangels on their way to his palace. He put on a tunic and walked down to his main meeting room where they were all assembling. It was nice to meet with them all in his palace once again, rather than on a cloud in the middle of a battlefield.
Looking around the room at the members of his Auxilium, he saw that they looked much better today after having had some rest. Beelzebael had been getting edgy as he tired, but in his defense, Beelzebael and his legions did bear the brunt of the fighting with the loyal Angels. Lucifera
el’s success in the Heavens was due in great part to Beelzebael’s rebel legions spearheading the attacks through the lower Heavens. Mammonael and Mephistophael were more in supportive roles, and Damiel had done a fine job helping secure the Throne Room in the Seventh Heaven and keeping it under guard while they finished off the battles for the Heavens. Suriel had been personally watching Jarahmael. Suriel had not trusted Jarahmael, but Jarahmael had proven his loyalty when he perished in a courageous attempt to the break through from defenses of the Fourth into the Third Heaven. Luciferael did wonder whether Suriel and Beelzebael had set up Jarahmael so he would be destroyed, as they could have viewed him as major competition to their own positions. In either event, Jarahmael was gone.
Then there was of course Sammuael, Luciferael’s defacto second in command. He had been such a great help in dealing with the prisoners, the Archangels Michael and Ariel. Sammuael had made it quite clear after his interrogation of Michael and Ariel that neither of them would ever embrace Luciferael as the new Almighty.
Looking around at his Auxilium, Luciferael noticed that all of his Archangels were present except for Sammuael.
“Where is Sammuael?” he asked.
The other Archangels looked around at one another while Beelzebael spoke up. “I sent a Cherubim this morning to the Fifth Heaven to try to locate him, but the Cherubim hasn't returned, lord Luciferael. I assumed they would be on their way or already here by now.”
“It’s not like Sammuael to miss a meeting or to be late. All the fighting in the Fifth Heaven is long finished, isn’t it?” Luciferael asked.
“There is no more fighting in any of the Heavens!” answered Beelzebael.
“Well, let’s continue. Hopefully Sammuael will show up as the meeting goes on and we can fill him in,” Luciferael said, taking his seat at the head of the circle of chairs. And he began the meeting.
“We have conquered all the Seven Heavens. It is only the Earth that remains a stronghold for what remains of the loyal Angels. They should not be that difficult to conquer now as they don't have any real weapons. We should assemble the lead legions again under Beelzebael, with Mephistophael and Mammonael in support. Strike right through to the encampment near Aegyptus, blast our way through and then take the assembled attack legions and go from stronghold to stronghold along the Earth. I intend to lead the legions in the attacks. We should finish in a day or two at the most.”
Standing up and beginning to pace, Luciferael continued, “But I do want your guidance on another important matter. One of my main concerns is what to do with the loyal Angels that we capture or are conquered. We can require those who surrender to swear an oath of allegiance to me. But that leaves the others. What do we do with those who won’t swear allegiance? What should happen to them? There are a great number of those who are reluctant or adamant to not swear allegiance to me.”
Mephistophael stood up and said, “We can't let them back into the Heavens, lord Luciferael. I am not sure we can even leave them on the Earth. They could do the same thing we have just done, start a revolt and try to replace you and us as the leaders in this Universe.”
Suriel chimed in. “But where could we put them where we don't have to keep watching them?”
“Cast them out to a different planet perhaps?” suggested Suriel.
“I agree that they will need to be removed,” said Luciferael. “Right now, I have the Archangel Michael and the Archangel Ariel under armed guard in the Fifth Heaven, in the Hall of the Virtues. But guarding these two takes up time of the Cherubim that could be better spent doing other things. Although the thought has crossed my mind that we turn these Cherubim guards lose on them, punish and torture them until they change their minds and join us.”
Beelzebael spoke, “Do we have any idea about how many Angels will not renounce the Almighty and pledge their allegiance to you, my lord Luciferael? It’s pretty clear that the Almighty has abandoned them. Without that hope they may not be that difficult to persuade.”
Mammonael answered, “Roughly two thirds of the Heavens have been loyal to the Almighty or silent as to their loyalties. That’s a large number. I would guess that the majority of them will not change their allegiance, so we should be considering a solution of dealing with between one half and two thirds of the entire assembly of Angels.”
Suriel spoke up. “With all due respect my lords, I think we should consider placing them deep in the caverns of the Earth and seal them up down there. They will survive by using the heat energy that comes off the core of the planet. This way they can be close to the place they wanted to protect, and the creatures who the Almighty wanted to place above us. We shall place the Humans and the Simians above them. Well, at least their graves.” Suriel smiled sarcastically. “Won’t that be ironic, my lords!”
The rest of the Auxilium chuckled and Suriel continued.
“Then a few well-placed Cherubim guards at the entrances to these underground caverns and those loyal Angels can remain confined indefinitely. It may not be a bad idea to use the loyal Angels as an example of what terrible things happen when one does not follow the new Almighty Luciferael. We could assign Angels from the various Orders of rebel Angels to punish and torture these loyals.”
“That sounds like a good possibility. I like it!” Luciferael said. “We will just need to find a specific place on the Earth. You can be in charge of that, Suriel.”
“Happily, my lord Luciferael!” Suriel answered gleefully.
The meeting was interrupted when Luciferael’s personal Cherubim guards landed and came into the palace assembly room. Luciferael looked over at them and said, “Welcome in, my Cherubim. How did you do last night going through the palaces of Michael and his other Archangels?”
“We could find none of the other Archangels, lord Luciferael. The only palace that had anything of interest was the Archangel Jarahmael's, for his collection of fourteen mirrors my lord. They have been arranged in a circle, it’s quite something to behold,” answered the first Cherubim.
“Jarahmael was skilled in making those mirrors,” Luciferael said as he pointed to one of the mirrors across the room. “He made that for me. He told me it was his first one. It is quite exquisite.”
“These are even more exquisite,” responded the Cherubim. “What would you like for us to do with them?”
“I am not sure if I want them for my palace here, or in the Throne Room. Take me to them and I will look, and then decide.” Luciferael again looked around the room. “I see that lord Sammuael has yet to return. Has there been any additional word about his whereabouts?”
Everyone shook their head no.
“No, my lord Luciferael,” answered Suriel. “We have not seen him or heard from him since he was going to the Fifth Heaven.”
“Then lord Suriel, go to the Fifth Heaven and find out where he is. Check on the prisoners while you are there. Make sure everything is under control, if it isn't, make it so. Be quick about it though, we still have the whole planet Earth to conquer.”
“Yes, my lord Luciferael,” responded Suriel. A moment later he was flying out of Luciferael's palace, taking wing towards the Fifth Heaven.
“Cherubim, you come with me,” said Luciferael. Then looking at his remaining Archangels seated around him, he addressed them. “Come join me. This should be interesting. We can all gaze upon those wonderful mirrors of Jarahmael's.” The Angels arranged themselves in a formation and followed Luciferael as he took off into the skies of the Seventh Heaven, headed towards Jarahmael's palace.
Chapter 31
MISSING IN ACTION
Suriel headed down through the Seventh Heaven on his mission to check on the two captured Archangels. The Heavens felt different to him this morning. They were now all under Luciferael's control. The Archangels who were faithful to Luciferael would now be in charge of the Heavens and would no longer have to share the glory with Michael and his Archangels. It was a glorious day for them.
Suriel enjoyed flying through the Sixth Heaven
too, seeing the home of the Cherubim. They had proven themselves to be quite the warriors. If I get my pick, I will ask to rule over the Sixth Heaven, Suriel thought. Whoever has the Cherubim under their control will have a stronger presence in the Universe. He thought further about his own position in the Auxilium. I am getting tired of taking orders from Beelzebael. I did help him get rid of that nuisance Jarahmael; I am sure if he had remained, Jarahmael would have wormed his way further into Luciferael's good graces and taken a role that one of us rebel Angels should have had. I am relieved that he is gone!
Suriel continued to be troubled about the rest of the loyal Angels. Any one of them who refused to pledge their allegiance to Luciferael as their new Almighty needed to be confined and punished. The danger of them revolting against the new arrangements in the Heavens was far too great and by numbers alone they outnumbered Luciferael and his legions. If he could be put in charge of the Sixth Heaven and the Cherubim, Suriel would make them guards over the conquered Angels and then have the guards punish them endlessly. It was a great argument to give him control over the Cherubim and he hoped his idea would outweigh any reason that Luciferael would have to give Sammuael or Beelzebael control over the contemplated prison or the Sixth Heaven. With the accomplishments earned by his use of the Cherubim, he could solidify his favor with Luciferael. Suriel resolved to suggest his plan to Luciferael once he got back.
Satisfied that he had a plan to advance himself with Luciferael upon his return, Suriel did a long sweeping glide out of the Sixth Heaven and into the Fifth Heaven. Sammuael must be delighted, because no longer would there be these long debates with the Virtues about what to do. All decisions like that would come directly from Luciferael. No need to keep weighing consequences or effects upon the Universe with Luciferael as the Almighty. Things would go so much more smoothly.
In Rebellion (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book II) Page 17
