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

by John J Higgins

  As much as he hated to not be able to check on Lillith, he turned around and headed back towards the Throne Room. As he approached, he could see two of Cerebriel's loyal Cherubim entering the Throne Room. They would have no idea that Luciferael had left some of his rebel Cherubim guards within the Throne Room to protect the Books. They would be outnumbered three to one, by seasoned and experienced rebel warriors. Jarahmael knew he had to assist quickly and went into action.

  When Jarahmael got to the Throne Room, he dropped down from the sky through the Throne Room's skylight, ironically, the place that Luciferael would use to enter the Hall for the morning ceremonies. As he came through the skylight, he could see that there were six burly rebel Cherubims already fighting two of the loyal Cherubim. He drew both his swords as he came in from behind them, causing two of them to turn around to fight him. Jarahmael kept the two of the Cherubim busy, making the odds better for Cerebriel's two loyal Cherubim as they fought the other four rebel Cherubim. Now it was two of the rebels to one for each of them. The rebels were good fighters and it took longer than Jarahmael expected to finally disarm his two opponents and assist the other two loyal Cherubim disarm theirs.

  Just then, Faumiel flew in through the skylight and announced to Jarahmael that the rebel forces under Luciferael were preparing to attack the entrance into the Seventh Heaven. They had made it through the Sixth Heaven and discovered that there was a legion of loyal Angels between them and the Seventh Heaven. Now Luciferael’s rebel legions were looking for a weakness to breach. Faumiel had been sent by Cerebriel to get Jarahmael to return quickly, to help with the fighting and the strategies as Luciferael's entire rebel force could be brought to bear on their position.

  Jarahmael told the two loyal Cherubim to confine the rebel Angels and that he would send reinforcements to them. Jarahmael flew over the Throne itself and checked on the status of the fake Books he had left inside the Throne. He saw that they had not been disturbed. Luciferael will still think that the Books are here. Good, he will keep fighting to get back here.

  Jarahmael flew back up through the skylight and headed to the entrance for the Seventh Heaven. He landed near where Cerebriel was issuing commands to his Cherubim Angels as they were lining up to withstand an attack by Luciferael's rebel army. The Dominions and Principalities were working furiously reinforcing two immense pearly white gates. The doors themselves were lying flat and being finished by skilled Principalities, who were becoming proficient in working with the streaming and hardened white light. Jarahmael walked over to the gates as they were finishing their work on them, preparing to hang them in place. He just hoped they would be up in time to seal off the Seventh Heaven from the attacks of the pursuing rebel angels.The sounds of war grew closer and the loyal Angels knew that they would have to fight hard to save themselves and to defeat Luciferael.

  Jarahmael motioned for some of the Cherubim guards to come to him. “Go to the Throne Room and provide assistance, please. I cleared the room of rebel Angels but two of the loyal Cherubim are keeping guard on six of the rebel Angels. Take the captives to Sammuael's palace. Put them with the other rebel prisoners.”

  Jarahmael watched as the last remnants of his column of Angels safely passed through the pearly gates and were now inside the Seventh Heaven. Jarahmael then made sure his legion of formerly captive loyal Angels was formed correctly and in position. He knew that it would not be long before Luciferael would be coming up through the Sixth Heaven. Now all they had to do was to wait for Luciferael himself to appear.

  Chapter 45

  THE PURSUED AND THE PURSUERS

  Luciferael and his legions had been moving up through the Heavens with Michael's army not far behind, closing in pursuit. Luciferael had tried to defeat Michael from a defensive position at the gateway between the Second and Third Heavens but had been unable to hold the loyal Angels back. He was forced to keep retreating upward into the Heavens, all the while slowed down by bringing his contingent of rebel Potentate Angels along with him. No matter what they tried they could not get the Potentates to move faster. But Luciferael’s forces needed their energy. He had hoped to gather more of the Potentates when he went through their home in the Second Heaven ahead of Michael, but the Potentate Angels there were all gone. This made the limited number of Potentates that he had along with him all the more important.

  He had handled the Potentates gently and was now angry that they deserted their Heaven just when he could have used them to help defeat Michael and his loyal Angels. Why Abrackus and the rest of them would have moved upwards in the Heavens made no sense to Luciferael. In making themselves unavailable to Luciferael when he needed them the most, they proved themselves ungrateful, because Luciferael himself had shown them how to dive for energy in the newly formed stars. There would be definite retribution for this treachery!

  Luciferael grew angrier as he ascended through the Heavens. As his army retreated from one Heaven to the next, he found his rebel Angel guards had deserted their posts and he could not find any trace of them; neither his rebel guards nor the captured loyal Angels he had left to their safekeeping. There was something amiss in the Heavens above him, but he was unable to determine its cause. This infuriated him even more because he was the new Almighty and everyone should be answerable to him!

  He had thought of taking a small group of his warrior Angels and flying up through the Heavens to see for himself why the captives were being released without his permission. But every time he thought he would have enough time to do so, he received news that Michael and his loyal Angels were getting closer and could attack. After the rout in the Earth’s skies and the First Heaven, he knew he had to stay close to his legions to prevent another catastrophe. He did not dare take another chance that his army would fall apart when attacked and he was not present to hold them together. He needed his army and could not afford to leave it, and then return to find it defeated and captured.

  Finally, after this slow ascent, his legions broke through into the Sixth Heaven. Now it was only a matter of ascending to the Seventh Heaven and getting into the Throne Room. The Book of Creation would be an immense help to him and it was not far from his grasp. If there was any mistake he had ever made, that is, if he would ever admit to making any mistake, it was that he did not seize and hold onto the Book of Creation when he was up in the Seventh Heaven a few days before. He would remedy that situation soon.

  As his legions were beginning to enter the Sixth Heaven, the battle began before he was properly prepared. Michael's Angels had moved up faster behind Luciferael than he expected and began to attack the rear guard of Luciferael's army, the legion headed by Suriel, as Suriel was stalled waiting to cross over into the Sixth Heaven. Michael now had Suriel’s rebel Cherubim in a difficult position. The rebel Cherubim were bottlenecked trying to keep the gateway open between the upper region of the Fifth Heaven and the lower region of the Sixth Heaven, as they fought off Michael’s attacks and at the same time protected the rebel Potentate Angels as they passed slowly through the gateway.

  Ariel's legion of loyal Angels had moved up to the west of Suriel and was coming straight across the skies at him, as Michael's and Uriel's legions were coming up from underneath. Suriel's Cherubim were excellent fighters and were able to hold back the loyal Angels long enough for the rebel Potentates to finally make their way through the gateway and into the Sixth Heaven. By this time, Ariel's attack from the west began to roll up and cause the retreat of the rebel Cherubim in Suriel's legion’s flank. A good portion of Suriel's legion was then forced far to the east and out of range of the gateway and protection of the other rebel Angels now in the Sixth Heaven. This group of Suriel's Angels decided to fight their way back to the gateway of the Sixth Heaven but by that time, they found Ariel’s entire legion in position, blocking them from getting to the gateway. They were trapped when Uriel's Angels moved up from below them and cut off their ability to retreat downwards as well. Soon this group of Suriel's rebel Angels had no choice but to surren
der to Uriel's loyal Angels.

  Suriel himself was more fortunate and had managed to cross through the gateway into the Sixth Heaven along with the rest of Luciferael's legions. He waited for the rest of his legion at the gateway into the Sixth Heaven but soon realized that they were lost. He assembled the remaining Cherubim he had in his command and requested additional reinforcements from Mammonael's legions. Once they arrived, he requested a Council of War with Luciferael. They all met in the middle of the Mammonael's legion to discuss the loss of the majority of Suriel's legion.

  Suriel began speaking once everyone hovered within earshot of one another, frightened of what Luciferael's reaction would be to the news of the loss of most of his legion. “Lord Luciferael, I have lost three quarters of the rebel Cherubim Angels in my legion.”

  “How did that happen?” asked Luciferael, stone faced.

  “They were protecting the ascension of the Potentate Angels into the Sixth Heaven and were cut off by Ariel's and Uriel's legions. The gateway channeled us into a smaller space. Michael and Uriel were able to keep the pressure on us from below as Ariel's legions kept up the attack from the west. It took longer than expected to get the remainder of the rebel Potentate Angels through the gateway, long enough that my Cherubim were cut off.”

  “I need those Potentate Angels to fight Michael's legions once we get safely back into the Seventh Heaven,” Luciferael reminded them. “It was a sacrifice that had to be made.”

  “We will be in the same circumstances trying to get through the Seventh Heaven with the rebel Angel army not moving quickly enough for us to get into proper position to defend,” Suriel continued. “I am afraid that by the time we get into position by the Seventh Heaven entrance, we will be leaving a large part of our rebel army exposed to attack by Michael.”

  Luciferael thought about it for a moment and then said to Mammonael, “Send your full legion and provide rear guard support to what’s left of Suriel’s legion. Hold your line as we continue to move through to the Seventh Heaven. Beelzebael and Mephistophael, you will move your Cherubim ahead and form a battle line right below the entrance into the Seventh Heaven composed of all your Cherubim. All other Order of Angels are to proceed directly into the Seventh Heaven and begin to construct defenses to stop any of the loyal Angels from getting through to the Seventh Heaven. Mammonael, Mephistophael, and Beelzebael, we will personally go up to the Seventh Heaven together. Beelzebael, send some of the Potentate Angels to me, I will keep them close to my side, and that way they will be available to me as they are needed. I have a feeling that I will need their energy to finish this war once and for all.”

  Luciferael looked again at Suriel. “Lord Suriel, you will be in charge of the defensive maneuvers until we get back. I need to get to the Throne Room in the Seventh Heaven. The Book of Creation is within the Throne and once I get my hands on it, I can use it to defeat Michael and his loyal Angels. I had made sure that the Book was there as we conquered the Heavens and I felt it was safest there. Not to worry, victory will still be ours!”

  Suriel flew back down towards the gateway of the Sixth Heaven, combining Mammonael's legion with his own. Michael's legions had not yet attacked the gateway, but Suriel knew that he would not wait long to attack. Upon landing there, Suriel quickly arranged his Cherubim. The narrowness of the gateway would allow for some sort of defense, although he knew that the most he could hope for was to slow down Michael's legions. That should be enough time for Luciferael to get back into the Throne Room in the Seventh Heaven and retrieve the Book of Creation.

  Chapter 46

  AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER

  Luciferael and his three remaining Archangels fanned out through the rebel legions. Each of the rebel Archangels located all the Cherubim remaining in their legions and brought them along. It was not long before the rebel Cherubim were all assembled into their own separate strike force and flying behind each of the Archangels, Luciferael in the lead above them all. Soon Luciferael would have his hands on the Book of Creation and everything would go back to how it had been in the beginning.

  There were a number of clouds that obscured the entrance to the Seventh Heaven and as they ascended Luciferael could not see the Seventh Heaven's entrance. But as soon as Luciferael rose above the clouds, he was shocked to see some of Cerebriel's Cherubim guards lining up, protecting the Seventh Heaven, forming defensive positions apparently against his rebels. Dominions and Principalities were working on some additional gate structures, and it looked like it would be a race against time before they would have a substantial defensive structure that Luciferael would have to penetrate.

  Pointing out the gateway and defenses out to his force of Archangels and Cherubim, Luciferael sped up and they all attacked the Cherubim head on. The loyal Cherubim fought valiantly, and held on as long as they could but they were outnumbered and were forced backwards, the fortified gates left unfinished.

  Jarahmael and Cerebriel were hovering in the sky of the Seventh Heaven as they saw the breakthrough of the rebel Angels through the gateway into the Seventh Heaven. They immediately ordered all the remaining loyal Cherubim to join them in the counterattack, drew their own weapons and dove back down towards the Seventh Heaven's gateway to stop Luciferael's advance.

  Luciferael was the first to recognize that Jarahmael was leading the counterattack and, already furious that a force of loyal Angels had been in front of him as he ascended into the Heavens, he became enraged, charging ahead of his rebel Angel force to meet Jarahmael wing to wing in mid-air. His rage so intense that it sent shock waves through the Seventh Heaven.

  “You are alive! Traitor!” Luciferael yelled as he swung a light sword at Jarahmael.

  Jarahmael fought and yelled back, “It is you who are the traitor, Luciferael! You who have betrayed the Almighty and all of us!”

  As they fought, Luciferael was getting beaten by Jarahmael's sword work. Beelzebael looked over and noticed Luciferael's predicament. Coming to Luciferael's aid, he flew up and came behind Jarahmael and attacked him, knocking Jarahmael forward and down towards the floor of the Seventh Heaven.

  Luciferael took full advantage and began driving Jarahmael further down towards the floor of the Seventh Heaven. Jarahmael felt himself falling and getting weaker, his swordsmanship now becoming overwhelmed by Luciferael's. Jarahmael fell back to the floor of the Seventh Heaven, got up and tried to regain his footing.

  Luciferael turned, looped, and aimed himself so he would bear down upon Jarahmael at full flight speed, his sword outstretched and at the ready. Jarahmael braced himself.

  As Luciferael aimed himself and began building speed to strike Jarahmael, a large group of Luciferael’s rebel Angels came flying up in a rout from the Sixth Heaven and into the Seventh Heaven. His rebel legions were no longer the attacking Angels, but had turned into retreating Angels, fleeing in a jumbled mass of wings and weapons right into Jarahmael's and Cerebriel's legions. Luciferael realized his rebel Angel legions below were falling apart again, ripe for surrender or capture. Michael's legions had finally caught up to his legions from below, Suriel was unable to hold him back any longer, and the loyal Angels’ coordinated attack caused Luciferael's army to run and begin to disintegrate. Seeing this, Luciferael had to break off his attack on Jarahmael and help rally his rebel Angels before all was lost. Luciferael used the momentum he had built up in his run aimed at Jarahmael to turn mid-sky back to the gateway and join his army. His small squad of rebel Cherubim rejoined him as he flew past them.

  Jarahmael had gotten a reprieve and was left standing, still bracing himself and waiting for the full winged attack by a furious Luciferael that did not come.

  Chapter 47

  IN HARM’S WAY

  Jarahmael was relieved for a moment, now that Luciferael had to break off his attack. He watched as Luciferael flew to the gateway, distracted by the need to hold his own rebel army together. Jarahmael’s plan was working. Luciferael and the bulk of his legions were trapped between the Sixth and Sev
enth Heavens. Michael and the other loyal Archangels' legions had survived and were attacking from below him, while he and Cerebriel were here, attacking his rebel Angels from above. Only a small group of Luciferael’s rebel force had penetrated the Seventh Heaven and with the bottleneck of the gateway between the Sixth and Seventh Heaven choking off the mobility of his rebel legions, their foothold into the Seventh Heaven was fragile. Luciferael struggled as he regrouped and tried to reorganize his legions in an effective defensive position.

  But Jarahmael knew that Luciferael and the Archangels of his Auxilium were still very dangerous. As Jarahmael regained his strength, he watched Luciferael assemble a small group of Potentate Angels around him just outside the entrance to the Seventh Heaven. Salmac, Taap and four other Potentates came up from below and moved closer to Luciferael and his horn. Soon the cruelest-looking rebel Cherubim Angels assembled themselves into a tight formation around all of them, and spearheaded their way into the Seventh Heaven. They stepped to the sides and a bit behind leaving an opening in front for Luciferael to use to lead them forward. All of them now were faced in the direction of the Throne Room. They began to move slowly towards the Throne Room, despite the loyal Angels’ attempts to block Luciferael's path. Simultaneously, other loyal Angels from Jarahmael’s legion attacked Luciferael's formation from the sides, trying to break it apart.

  None of the efforts of the loyal Angels were stopping Luciferael's movements forward and deeper into the Seventh Heaven. The rebel Angels in this formation were the best of Luciferael’s legions, battle-tested and determined to carry out his purpose to get back into the Throne Room.