by Chris Wright
Perhaps I should explain in a little more detail why we were able to enter the room without being seen. As I'm sure you've remembered, this was a vision of the past, so we weren't really there -- in a way -- if you see what I mean. When you're watching a film or reading an exciting book, I imagine there are times when you get a bit worked up and want to warn one of your favourite characters about some danger. But of course you can't change what's going to happen, because the film has already been made or the book written. That's exactly how it was with us. And yet there was one difference. We could walk down the narrow streets, open and close doors, push our way through the crowds and generally feel we were really there. It's just that we couldn't speak to anyone, or change things.
'I come to promise allegiance to you, my lord and master,' Choosing said to Diabolus, while we hovered high up in the room.
Of course we waited anxiously to hear the answer, even though it seemed unlikely that Diabolus was about to turn down the offer.
'You have chosen well,' Diabolus said to Choosing, with a smile. 'Come forward to my throne, Choosing, and I will appoint you Captain of my Castle, Governor of the Town Walls, and Keeper of the Gates of Mansoul. I will tell the people they must come to you when a decision is needed. Is that acceptable?'
Choosing said is was very acceptable, and I have to say he looked ever so pleased with himself. However, far from solving all his problems by this clever move, as well as putting Understanding in prison, Diabolus found that the Keeper of the Law, Conscience, was still making a nuisance of himself. Even as Choosing was leaving the throne room, a shadow angel hurried in to say that Conscience had found copies of the Law of the Lord God and pinned them up in the market square. Everyone was reading them. Conscience must be punished severely!
Choosing hurried there and clapped his small hands. People turned away from reading the Law to hear what he had to say. However, being a thin man he was almost invisible to the crowd.
'Great and noble people of Mansoul,' Choosing called in his feeble voice, standing on a large pile of logs and puffing out his arms and shoulders to look wider than he was, 'listen to me. I am now Captain of the Castle of your new king Diabolus, Governor of the Town Walls, and Keeper of the Gates of Mansoul. You will do well to pay attention to my words.'
Choosing's voice sounded stronger as he mentioned his new titles, and he seemed to have gained a little weight. Even so, I noticed that although the people looked up, most of them seemed unimpressed.
'We don't even know who you are,' several men called out. You could hardly blame them. I don't think Choosing had been noticed much until now.
'For those of you who do not know me,' he called back, 'my name is Choosing. I am the new Captain of the Castle, Governor of the Town Walls, and ...'
'Get on with it and tell us what you want,' a young woman interrupted.
Choosing turned red. 'News has come to our new king that copies of the Law have been discovered here in the market square. They must be destroyed immediately.'
This didn't seem to present a problem. It was obvious that the people weren't too keen on what they'd been reading, and a small group immediately tore up the pages and threw the pieces over the walls. Scraps of paper fluttered to the ground far below, where the decomposing bodies of Captain Resistance and Innocence lay. Nobody wanted to go near them to bury them, probably because they felt guilty for allowing disaster to strike.
A shout from behind made Choosing turn round quickly as a shadow angel came pushing his way through the crowd. 'Stop! I have here more pages of the Law. I have just discovered them ... outside ... the castle of Diabolus!'
The thin man who now claimed to be the Captain of the Castle, Governor of the Town Walls, and Keeper of the Gates of Mansoul snatched the pages and pushed them behind his back before anyone could get a good look. Quickly he left the market square and hurried to the castle. Once again Talora and I managed to squeeze in before the door was slammed shut.
'I thought all the Laws had been destroyed,' Choosing complained to Diabolus. 'It's difficult enough for me to choose on behalf of the people at the best of times, but if some of the Laws still remain ...'
'I have good reason to believe that Conscience has several sets,' Diabolus interrupted sharply. 'He has hidden them in all sorts of places and will not tell me where. And there is another thing,' he added.
Choosing waited. 'Yes?'
'I am worried that Understanding's house still has some light reaching it. If the King tries to win back the town, I do not want trouble from people like Understanding. Get out now, go into the streets and hire a trumpeter to walk before you. Tell the people how great I am.' Diabolus smiled one of his special smiles. 'Tell the people I love them, and have no wish that harm should come to them.' His voice and expression changed to one of cruelty. 'But if they want me to protect them, they must obey me!'
CHAPTER 9
No-Truth
For several days we wandered through the narrow streets, watching Choosing and the trumpeter parade through Mansoul. The smell of the wild flowers that grew on the castle green no longer seemed so sweet. Brambles had started to spread their way through the alleyways and up the town walls. Worst of all, we were shocked to hear the people beg Choosing to tell them more about their new king, Diabolus.
One day, Choosing stopped at the Eye Gate and looked into the distance. For a moment he seemed concerned. 'Wait. Can anyone see something suspicious on the horizon?'
No one could. Choosing hurried to the Ear Gate and listened through the trumpet, but heard nothing. I signalled to Talora and we flew high into the air. When you get up high you can see so much further. Anyone who has been in an aeroplane or looked down from a mountain will know what I mean. Just before you go into the clouds you can see all the fields and roads laid out like a map. Well, that's how high we went.
We could see nothing, but guessed Choosing was getting anxious that there might be a surprise visit from the Creator God. And well he might be anxious. The people were allowing Diabolus to destroy the Lord God's town, and they just couldn't see it. I wanted the King to arrive with his mighty army as soon as possible and put things right -- as he surely would.
Choosing's next stop was the green outside the castle in the centre of the town. Here he discovered yet more pages from the King's Law, pasted on the walls of the surrounding houses. Some of the people had already seen them and were calling to their friends to come and read.
'It says here that the Lord God still loves us,' they told each other. 'What ought we to do?'
Choosing took one look at the notices and ran to Diabolus. 'Those pages will have to go,' he protested.
'Who put them there?' Diabolus demanded. 'I blame you for this, Choosing.'
Choosing said nothing, but quickly returned to the green and ordered that the notices be torn down and destroyed. To his horror, he discovered that the name of the Lord God had appeared on flags flying above the five gates to the town. Again, these were quickly dealt with, as an eager group led by Choosing pulled them down, all the while cheering loudly.
One afternoon, news came that the shadow angels had caught Conscience, the Keeper of the Law, pasting pages of the Law outside the stronghold of Diabolus, and they had now shut him in the dark house with Understanding. Talora ran with me to the prison where planks of wood covered the windows from top to bottom.
Although Conscience was shouting, we could only hear him when we stood close to the thick walls. No one walking past took any notice. I kept wishing we could get inside, but even if we could, we wouldn't be able to set them free -- because this had all happened long, long ago.
Later that day I hurried with Talora to hear Diabolus address the people in the throne room. We perched high on an inside ledge from where we could see and hear everything. The crowd fell silent as Diabolus stood up. I noticed he no longer tried to hide his face or his dark armour. It was strange, but the more the people of Mansoul saw of ugly Diabolus, the more they seemed to like him. Even
the children running around the streets were unafraid when he walked past.
'You need a new law,' Diabolus shouted.
'We need a new law,' the people agreed.
'And I know just the person to give it to you,' Diabolus told them.
'You know just the person to give it to us,' the people chanted.
'Please be quiet!' Diabolus ordered.
I really don't know why he bothered to say please.
'His name is No-Truth,' Diabolus continued, calming down a little. 'I have been teaching him many things, and he has become a most faithful follower of mine.'
The people at the back stood on tiptoe to see this new person.
'No-Truth,' Diabolus called, 'come forward and receive the chain of office as our Keeper of Wisdom.'
No-Truth bowed his head dutifully as Diabolus slipped a heavy gold chain over his head, onto his shoulders.
Diabolus smiled. 'Now, tell the people what the new law is to be.'
No-Truth, a small man I'd not noticed until now, jumped up onto one arm of the large throne so he could be seen. Diabolus knocked him off irritably, and one of the shadow angels brought a box for No-Truth to stand on.
'O people of Mansoul,' No-Truth called piercingly, as soon as he'd brushed himself down, 'you have no need to be afraid of this new law. It will give you peace. Do you want peace?'
Everyone shouted that they wanted peace. I think the people were in such a good mood that they would have accepted anything.
'Do you want happiness?'
Everyone nodded. Yes, they specially wanted happiness.
'Do you want to be pleased with life?'
They did.
'Then I give you the new law,' No-Truth called back, proudly displaying his gold chain. 'If a thing seems good to you, it is all right to do it.'
'Is that the new law?' a young woman called in amazement from the crowd.
'Certainly,' No-Truth shouted. 'And I repeat it. If a thing seems good to you, it is all right to do it.'
'And if anyone tries to stop us?' the young woman asked, sounding really interested.
'Tell that person they are wrong,' No-Truth replied, with a glum expression. 'Remember, you are never to blame for what you do.'
Everyone declared that they most certainly never wanted to be blamed for what they did, and Talora said she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
'Can the people be taken in so easily?' she whispered.
I told her that nothing in Mansoul surprised me now, but just made me sad. I must say the people seemed remarkably content with their new Keeper of Wisdom, and immediately voted for others to join No-Truth as his assistants. These assistants then reassured anyone who hesitated that it was true -- they were free to live as they chose, without interference from any foolish people who still wanted to follow the Laws of the Creator.
Diabolus rubbed his hands in delight. I stayed with Talora, perched on the ledge as everyone left.
'I believe I am safe now,' Diabolus told his shadow angels, when the people had gone back to their homes. 'Everyone has accepted me, and as far as I can see the Law Books have been destroyed. Is that not so?'
The shadow angels said that the people did indeed accept him, and most certainly the Law Books ceased to exist. In fact, each copy had been not only destroyed, but completely forgotten.
Diabolus nodded in pleasure. 'Does anyone in Mansoul still remember the days when they served the Lord G ..., the Creator?'
I held Talora firmly as the shadow angels below us rushed forward and knelt on the ground. Even though this was just a vision, Diabolus seemed so repulsive that I wanted to get Talora out of the room. Not that Talora needed me to look after her, but the atmosphere was so evil that perhaps I wanted her protection as much as she wanted mine.
'Well,' Diabolus repeated, 'does anyone in Mansoul still remember serving the Creator?'
The shadow angels remained silent.
Diabolus stood up and raised his arms in triumph. 'I think not.'
Their silence left me wondering if the shadow angels knew something that they were afraid to mention.
CHAPTER 10
Pyramids and Sand
Just as we were getting used to being in Mansoul, the town walls disappeared, sinking quickly into the ground. Talora looked as puzzled as I felt. The blue sky became black, with bright stars shining though the night. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the scene changed to one we knew so well.
We were in Heaven, gathered around the Lord God's throne, singing praises -- with millions of other angels.
The Creator God called us to his side. 'I have told you that the vision of Mansoul is just a picture of the past for you both,' he explained. 'Do you think you have learnt enough from it?'
'Is it over?' Talora asked, frowning.
I was about to ask the same question. Surely there were lots of things we didn't know, lots of things to learn about people on Earth.
The King smiled. 'Zephan and Talora, you will be going back to Mansoul soon. But first I am going to show you something exactly as it happened on Earth, many years ago.'
Now, this is hard to explain. I don't know how it happened, but we saw huge pyramids and sand by the side a wide river of dark green water. This certainly wasn't Eltor -- not with all that water. Come to think of it, there aren't any pyramids on Eltor either, although we do have plenty of sand -- red and orange sand.
What we were seeing would have been wonderful, if it wasn't for so many families in slavery. We moved in close to watch a father select a lamb from the family flock, but it wasn't just any lamb. He kept saying it had to be perfect.
But when we heard the Lord God telling the father that the lamb must be killed, Talora looked at me and cried. The father had to paint some of the blood from the lamb above the doorway of the house, and down the sides of the doorway. This didn't go down too well with the family at first. The lamb that the father had chosen was loved by the family, and as you can imagine, no one wanted to kill it. It was too special, loved too much. But the Lord God said it was the only way to escape from slavery to freedom.
With tears in his eyes, the father sacrificed the lamb and wiped the blood around the doorframe. This may be a story you know well. However, if you could see how much it hurt the father to sacrifice the lamb to keep his family safe, you would get a very small idea of how much the Heavenly Father loved his Son -- the Lamb of God.
Talora wiped her eyes, and I had to dab at mine as the picture came to an end and we were back at the side of the Lord God's throne.
'And now,' the Lord God said, 'I want you to see what happened next, after I rescued my people from slavery in Egypt. I had given them a sign of my love. When they sacrificed the lamb, the blood of that lamb kept them safe and gave them freedom from slavery. But that was not good enough for them. They quickly forgot.'
So now we were shown another glimpse of the past, a vision of the Heavenly Father speaking to his Son about the human race.
We noticed the King's eyes glisten with sadness as he spoke. 'I love Mansoul. I made the people to be my own. Yes, they have been foolish, but I intend to rescue them.'
The Son held onto his Father the King, and they seemed to be one. 'I want the people to belong to us,' the Son said quietly.
The King raised a finger. 'But the people have turned away from me, and found other gods. False gods made of wood and stone. So now I am sending messengers. Let us see if the people will listen to them.'
Throughout the whole of Heaven, not just around the throne, we could hear voices singing and rejoicing as the angels realised the King still loved his people. Even though we were witnessing something from the past, maybe three thousand years before your time, Talora and I joined in with the singing. The Creator God was sending holy men to call the people of Mansoul back to himself.
'Zephan, I want to be back in Mansoul,' Talora whispered, taking hold of my hand. 'I want to be there when the messengers arrive.' Then she raised her voice. 'O Lord God, there is s
till much I do not know. Please let me see Mansoul again. And let Zephan go with me.'
CHAPTER 11
The Helmet of Hope
As the light of Heaven disappeared -- and the sky became black, then deep blue -- I realised Talora was getting her request granted. The walls of Mansoul rose again from the ground. Diabolus was still there. We saw him standing on the town walls above the Eye Gate.
Talora heard it first, the sound of angel voices praising the Lord God in Heaven. I thought it was the sound of Heaven still ringing in our ears, but it couldn't be, because Diabolus heard it too. He wrapped his cloak around his armour and stormed back into the town. The people of Mansoul seemed far too busy to listen to anything from outside, and they carried on as though there was nothing to hear but the sound of their own voices.
The first messenger arrived in the early morning, with something written on a large sheet of paper. He managed to slip through the Eye Gate as the sun rose, and nail it to the door of the tower where Diabolus was resting.
Let it be known to the people of Mansoul that the great King is coming to call his people back. Remember the days when you served and loved the King, and follow him again.
You can't nail a notice to someone's front door without attracting attention. The noise of the hammer hitting the four nails brought many people out to read it -- until Diabolus woke up and had the paper torn down. He ordered his shadow angels to catch and punish the messenger, but the notice had already served its purpose. The people trembled at the mention of the Lord God's name. Throughout the town we could hear voices whispering about the words from the King, as people asked each other what it all meant.
Within the hour Diabolus called everyone together. 'That notice was a mistake,' he announced in a loud voice. 'You need not worry. The messenger has been dealt with.'
This brought a gasp from the crowd.
'Be warned,' Diabolus continued, 'the King is no longer concerned for your well-being. He thinks you have disobeyed him, which is why he is coming here to punish you.'
'To punish us? Then who's going to protect us?' someone called out in panic.
'I shall watch over you,' Diabolus promised. 'You have wandered too far away from the King for him to be pleased with you now.'
