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

by John J Higgins

  Suriel was looking forward to seeing Michael and Ariel as captives. Both were now prisoners of the rebel Angels, and wouldn't be holier than the rest of the Archangels. Clearly abandoned by the Almighty, they were now under the control of the rebel Angels. Suriel reversed his long sweeping bank and changed direction to land at the entrance of the Hall of the Virtues.

  On his final approach he saw a lot of activity around the Hall, fellow rebel Cherubim and Virtues Angels rushing around searching for something. As he landed he was greeted by Porax, the Cherubim guard Beelzebael had sent to locate Sammuael earlier that morning.

  “Greetings lord Suriel, I am glad you are here!” Porax said, looking worried.

  “What is wrong Porax?” Suriel said, still happy in his own thoughts. “Where is lord Sammuael? Where have you been? You were supposed to send him up to our meeting earlier!”

  “That is the problem, lord Suriel. We have been unable to find Sammuael and we have been searching everywhere!”

  “He must be around somewhere. Archangels just don't disappear,” Suriel responded.

  Porax looked down at the ground, afraid of Suriel's reaction to the next piece of news. “It's not just Sammuael who has disappeared, but also the Cherubim guards who were guarding Michael and Ariel.”

  Suriel was beginning to get impatient. “All right. Bring Michael and Ariel to me then. They can tell us where Sammuael and the guards went.”

  “Can't do that either, my lord Suriel. They too have disappeared,” Porax replied, nervously waiting for Suriel's reaction.

  “Disappeared too? Michael and Ariel? After we have captured them? And you have looked everywhere here?” Suriel said, getting enraged.

  “Yes, there is not a trace left except for the bindings that had held Ariel,” Porax said as he held the cut bindings in front of him.

  Frustrated, Suriel began issuing commands. “Porax, assemble your Cherubim. We leave to search the lower Heavens immediately. If they have gotten free somehow they will head towards the Earth.”

  Suriel grabbed one of the Cherubim guards standing near him. “You, Cherubim, fly to the Seventh Heaven and find lord Luciferael. He should be in his palace or in the Archangel Jarahmael's palace. Tell lord Luciferael that lord Sammuael and some of the Cherubim guards are missing. Also tell him that the Archangel prisoners Michael and Ariel have escaped. Let him know I have taken a detail of Cherubim traveling with me to see if we can prevent them from getting to the Earth and rejoining their comrades.”

  Suriel checked his sword by pulling it in and out of its sheath. He motioned for Porax and the others to follow him as he took a few steps and became airborne. After they were in flight he motioned for Porax to fly beside him.

  Once Porax was beside him, Suriel said, “Let's go directly to the entrance between the Earth's skies and the First Heaven. We can work our way back up from there looking for Michael and Ariel. Let's hope that they do not have much of a lead on us. Lord Luciferael will be furious if they were able to escape. I would keep an eye out for a larger group, as I am sure lord Sammuael would not go willingly or quietly. He really dislikes Michael. They must have disarmed the Cherubim guards and taken them prisoner. With a group that large, they should be easy to spot and we will surely find them.”

  Suriel and his group then flew directly and descended down through the Heavens, one entrance to the next.

  Suriel questioned Porax further as they flew. “I don't know how two Archangels, one who was bound and the other under guard, could have overpowered a group of armed Cherubim Angels and one of the most powerful and cunning Archangels, lord Sammuael.”

  Porax responded, “We were thinking that as well, my lord, when we were looking for them. We initially thought that perhaps lord Sammuael had moved them to another location within the Hall of the Virtues or somewhere else within the Fifth Heaven. We were searching mansions there, thinking that maybe the guards had moved the prisoners on their own for some other reason. But the Fifth Heaven has been the most secure of all the Heavens for the rebel Angels; it was where Luciferael started the war. As you know, we overcame their resistance, and none of the loyal Angels’ legions were able to counterattack. They have been retreating, losing one Heaven after another for the entire war. We had hoped that lord Sammuael had decided to move the prisoners up to the Seventh Heaven and didn't tell us.”

  “We waited for lord Sammuael to arrive this morning or for some news from you. When neither lord Sammuael nor you arrived back in the Seventh Heaven, Luciferael sent me to the Fifth Heaven to find him,” responded Suriel. “The only logical alternative is that lord Sammuael was no longer in charge of the captives and that they took over and made lord Sammuael prisoner. Did anyone see any of them leave the Hall of the Virtues?”

  “We checked with the Cherubim who were in the area. They saw a few Angels go in and leave during the day but it was never more than three or four Angels. They would have noticed a group of twelve or more.”

  “That's what I thought,” Suriel said. “It would not be an easy group of captives to control — two loyal Archangels without weapons somehow controlling one of the most powerful rebel Archangels and a dozen experienced rebel Cherubim guards who were armed. One of our rebel Cherubim would have gotten away or raised an alarm. Ariel and Michael have to travel through four lower Heavens to get free and onto the Earth. Someone should have seen them as they traveled. Even if there was a traitor amongst them, they would be far outnumbered.”

  Porax repeated, “And we all know that a group of twelve to fourteen Angels do not just simply disappear without a trace, leaving only the bindings that held Ariel as evidence.”

  The comment that only the bindings were left jogged Suriel's memory. ''But there was just such an instance,” Suriel said, deeply in thought. “We lost the Archangel Jarahmael exactly that way in the midst of trying to break through the loyal Dominion Angel’s defenses. He, too, disappeared without a trace, leaving only a spear. There is something going on here that none of us know about. Perhaps there is another force or group of Angels at work trying to thwart lord Luciferael's takeover of the Heavens. If we can't find them, we will have to tell lord Luciferael at once and begin searching all the Heavens more closely.”

  Suriel and Porax flew through each of the Heavens and did not see any indication that the captive group had passed through before them. Once they got to the gateway of the First Heaven they sent out members of the Cherubim guard to ask all of the units of rebel Angels if they had seen a suspicious group of Angels pass through. Suriel’s Cherubim took their time and looked for themselves as well.

  Porax observed a group of Guardian Angels emerge from the Garden of Eden and flew over to them. He asked if they found anything suspicious in the Garden of Eden and they responded that they had not. The Guardian Angels had just searched the Garden and only some animals remained. They had not found or seen any indication of any Humans or Angels having been there since the rebellion began. Porax looked past the Guardian Angels’ shoulders at the Garden and saw that to search it again would take a great deal of time and effort. He did not want to anger Suriel by slowing down the search process by searching the same area twice, so he accepted their conclusion and moved on.

  Suriel and Porax concluded that Michael and Ariel had not escaped to the Earth and had to be hidden somewhere in the Heavens. After searching the First Heaven and not finding any indication that they had made it there, they searched each of the upper Heavens, still looking to find the two loyal Archangels, Sammuael and the twelve Cherubim guards, all to no avail. They had vanished altogether and Suriel had a feeling that this did not bode well for the rebel Angels.

  Chapter 32

  SPOILING FOR SPOILS

  The Cherubim guard landed heavily in Jarahmael's palace and walked into the hallway as Luciferael and four of the members of his Auxilium landed behind him.

  “Nice palace,” Luciferael said as he stepped inside the entranceway and looked around.

  “Yes, it is,” sai
d Beelzebael, thinking that maybe he should take this palace over as his own, as it was nicer than his.

  Looking up at the head Cherubim guard, Luciferael asked, “Where are these mirrors you told me about?”

  “This way,” he replied and led the way up through a hallway until he came to the room on the right where the mirrors were set up. He walked in and motioned for Luciferael and the others to follow.

  Luciferael walked in and saw with delight the fourteen mirrors set up in a circle, each one reflecting back the image of the one opposite it.

  Luciferael walked up and looked at the frame work closely. “Jarahmael outdid himself on these mirrors!” he said aloud. “Look, there are scenes from the story of the Creation here, the birth of each of the Archangels with the scene of my breathing life into each of them.”

  “Is there one of me?” asked Mephistophael.

  “Yes,” responded Damiel. “This one has you right here. Your face is carved into the oval above the mirror itself.”

  “And here is yours, Damiel!” said Mammonael, pointing to a similar mirror with Damiel's likeness carved within it. They went around the room and found the mirrors for each of the Archangels and a slightly larger one featuring Luciferael himself.

  “Look at the mirror image too!” Luciferael said, admiring his own reflection. “It is so clear, it’s like a second image of each one of us.”

  Each of the Angels walked up to their own mirror and looked deeply at themselves. There was something recharging about the experience; it was as though the mirror image condensed and concentrated the light that came from each of them, amplified it and the sent it back into their own bodies, making them stronger.

  Luciferael turned to the Cherubim guard and spoke. “You were correct, Cherubim, these mirrors are more exquisite than the one I have in my own palace. It’s a shame that lord Jarahmael did not survive the battle so we could reward him for his hard work and craftsmanship.”

  Lillith had been watching the activities in Jarahmael's palace from the moment the Cherubim guards arrived. She had not dreamt of the possibility that anyone would be visiting the palace today. She had started to give up on Jarahmael. The heavy landing of the Cherubim guards woke her out of her thoughts and she was excited to watch the cadre of Angels who were now in Jarahmael's palace.

  She had seen the Cherubim guard the night before, but this time he had not come alone. There were a few more Cherubim present, but also four or five of the Archangels. She had never seen that many in one place before. She had only seen Jarahmael and Michael before, and her limbs now felt weak with a surge of electricity that went through her when she looked at them.

  She missed Jarahmael terribly. These Archangels did not have his kindness, and there was a coldness to them similar to how she viewed Cerebriel. Yet she thought that coldness wasn't it. There was something wrong with these, a darkness, a conceitedness. Where she had felt safe with Jarahmael, she felt in danger with these Archangels. When she caught a glimpse of the leader, an Archangel with golden wingtips, she knew that she had never seen any creature so beautiful. So beautiful that it hurt her to look upon him. Her heart leapt up to her throat and a whirlpool of emotions passed through her stomach. She was not sure what she felt about this creature, but she knew it was powerful. She wished that Jarahmael was there with her; she felt vulnerable and lonely in a way only Jarahmael’s presence had been able to sooth. But without him there, she was unable to stop the feelings that were pulsating deep within her.

  She watched as the Angels entered the room with the mirrors. She needed to know what they were doing in there and despite the danger she moved as close as she could and yet still remain hidden behind the wall of invisibility. Observing these Angels posing before the mirrors, she thought it was strange how each of them kept admiring themselves in the mirrors. Jarahmael was never like that, he was not one to look at himself in the mirrors at all, even though he had made them. The reflections from the mirrors, though, gave her better views of all of them. All the Archangels were at least nine feet tall, and beautiful in their own way. They could be told apart by their hair and eye colors as well as the top tips of their wings. She didn't hear their names, except for the golden tipped one who almost glowed golden himself: they all referred to him as lord Luciferael. Jarahmael was better looking than all of them except for that golden wing-tipped one. Wasn't Luciferael the one that Jarahmael was fighting? He was the one that looked at himself the most in the mirror. It was as if he was having a love affair with his own image. It made her feel queasy yet attracted at the same time.

  She heard the reference to Jarahmael's name. She felt as though something had kicked her in the stomach when she realized that Luciferael had said that he “did not survive the battle.” Was that why he had not returned to her? Had he been destroyed in the wars that had been going on in the Heavens below? How would she survive without him? They had only been together a short time, but her heart yearned to be with him. Her feelings of attraction for the Archangels before her in the palace, even for the one called Luciferael, were quickly frozen. She missed Jarahmael terribly, she realized. He was the only being that really understood her, was kind to her, and protected her. What was she going to do now? She was trapped here in this palace without her lover, maybe even without anyone even knowing she was up here. Michael and Cerebriel could have also fallen. She could be trapped in this palace forever.

  She began to cry softly, but she did not want to be heard. These Angels, as beautiful as they were, likely were the cause of the harm that had happened to Jarahmael. She sat down and let the emotions pass through her.

  Her thoughts were broken when another Cherubim arrived in a hurry and quickly got his bearings and headed to where the voices were coming from. Entering the room, he quickly bowed and interrupted the conversation among the Angels.

  “Lord Luciferael, I come with tragic news,” the guard said.

  Luciferael had seen the Cherubim enter the room behind his reflection. Without taking his eyes off himself, he said, “Speak, Cherubim. What news do you bring?”

  “Lord Suriel has dispatched me with this news, my lord. Lord Sammuael, two groups of Cherubim guards and both the Archangels Michael and Ariel have disappeared from the Hall of the Virtues without a trace. The only item we could find in a massive search of the Fifth Heaven and the Hall itself was the bindings that had held the Archangel Ariel prisoner.”

  Luciferael spun around on that news. His face showed that he was confused about what he had just heard.

  “Disappeared? Without a trace? How can that be? Archangels and Cherubim do not just vanish!”

  Beelzebael interjected, “That's exactly what happened to Jarahmael, my lord. He disappeared in the attack on the Dominion stronghold. The only thing remaining was the spear he carried into battle.”

  “Where is lord Suriel now?” asked Luciferael.

  “He has taken a group of Cherubim and has headed to the lower Heavens to see if he can find any trace of them. He wanted to be sure that Michael and Ariel could not escape to the Earth,” said the Cherubim.

  “I cannot imagine lord Sammuael having been overcome by two captive Angels, my lord Luciferael. He had at least twelve Cherubim guards there,” said Mephistophael.

  “If we don't have them or know where they are, then who could possibly be able to do such a thing?” Luciferael said aloud. He turned back and looked at himself again in the mirror. “Look at my magnificence! No one can withstand me! Michael and the other Archangels would have never been able to defeat me anyway! In a few days I will have the Earth conquered as well as the Heavens and this will all be behind us.”

  The other Archangels nodded in agreement.

  “I will miss lord Sammuael if he is, in fact, gone,” said Luciferael.

  “We shall too, my lord,” added Beelzebael.

  “But we will keep searching for him. Lord Suriel is doing that already, Cherubim?” Luciferael asked, looking at the Cherubim through his reflection in the mirror. />
  “Yes, my lord, he was leaving right after I was dispatched to see you and tell you the news.”

  “What should we do?” asked Damiel

  Luciferael stood looking at his reflection, deep in thought. He spoke after a few minutes of contemplation.

  “Nothing at the moment. We all need some rest. It’s been a successful campaign and we all fought hard. The Angels in the lower Heavens are finishing their sweeps of the remaining loyal Angels. The loyal Angels that are left on Earth have no real weapons, and they would have to attack us from below, coming up from the Earth, and hope to get a foothold back in the Heavens to begin their attacks. It’s easier to fight when one has the higher Heavens, which we fortunately now do. We begin regrouping tomorrow to begin the attack on the Earth. The loyal Angels will be in disarray without having Michael, Ariel or lord Jarahmael. And no weapons. It should not take long to force them to surrender. Even if Michael and Ariel survived and could lead the loyal Angels, we are much more experienced and have momentum on our side. They have been defeated at every turn, and it will soon be over for them.”

  The Angels were all appreciative for the prospect of time off to relax and smiled when they heard Luciferael's commands.

  The one Cherubim Guard stepped forward. “What about the mirrors, my lord? Do you want them moved?”

  “Yes, but not today. We can unveil them at the Throne Room ceremony after we have finished conquering the Earth. For now, they are fine where they are. I enjoy seeing them situated where lord Jarahmael originally placed them. It’s as if they belong in this room. Now the rest of you can go, enjoy your time for today and tomorrow. We will be quite busy again after that.”

  “Thank you, lord Luciferael,” said the leader of the Cherubim guards. “We have not been back to our Sixth Heaven in days.” The rest of the guards bowed before Luciferael and took their leave, flying off towards the Sixth Heaven.

  “What will you be doing, lord Luciferael?” asked Beelzebael.