The Return of the Watchers (Armageddon Rising Book 1)

by Denny Bennett

  “Your children are a plague upon the Earth, as well are their offspring. The secrets revealed to their kind were another severe sin against Elohim, as was having them sacrifice to demon-kind. As a result of these actions, there can be no doubt that judgement awaits you. I have learned on good authority that severe punishment has been handed down, to be carried out by Rapha’el.” Shock and terror fell upon many of their faces. “What do you speak of, Gadreel?” Shimsh’el asked. “Oh, what is this look of surprise that I see amongst all of you? Come now, did you really think that abandoning your station and producing these works would earn favor with Elohim? Surely you have felt your grace leave, and seen your appearance change. Your beauty is tarnished, your light dimmed. This was a foregone conclusion. Heaven no longer responds to your prayers, does it not? Wages must be paid for your many sins.” The words of Gadreel struck a mighty blow; the weight of shame cast their heads low. “There may yet be a way to avoid the impending calamity,” he said, with a crafty look. They listened intently as Gadreel cast a spell, showing another dimension apart from the one in which they stood. “My father has found refuge here and currently rules over his followers who were cast out alongside him long ago. He has promised safety and refuge for you there, provided you all swear fealty to him. Considering the predicament you are facing, it appears to be a profitable outcome, does it not?” “Chanoch the scribe, send for him,” Tami'el said. “Yes, let Chanoch intercede on our behalf,” Sahr'el said with fear in his voice. “Consider carefully, brothers, as time is running out for you. Do not waste what precious little remains consulting with humans. This offer shall not remain open long,” Gadreel replied, somewhat sullen.

  One of the Watchers sitting in the back spoke up. “I myself have witnessed a vision concerning a coming destruction of Earth; however, I am unable to ascertain the time of its arrival,” Kokav'el said with a dour look. “My son, Mahway, has also had a vision- a most unusual one of a tablet with many names submersed in water and all names save three were remaining on the tablet. I have a foreboding feeling of what it portends,” Barak'el added. “Chanoch has found favor with Elohim; he will be granted an audience and may petition for us all,” Hermoni said anxiously. Fear, trembling, and panic began to take over their assembly and they unanimously decided the best course of action was to send for the wise man known as Chanoch, leaving Gadreel and the others to depart in frustration. Word arrived at the village where Chanoch, also known as Enoch, lived, and he was brought before the council of Watchers. Now Enoch was an upright human, seventh in the line of Adam and well known throughout the land as one who walked with Elohim. Even though he was hidden from the world at this time, the Watchers were able to discern his whereabouts and he answered their call. Several days later he arrived at the base of the mountain where the Watchers gathered to speak with him. The man stood upright before the imposing group, and at two hundred forty years he was still young in his days, for mankind had a much greater lifespan in those days. It was Asa'el who spoke for the group. “O Chanoch, you who have favor with Heaven: Go before the lord and arbitrate on our behalf that we might find forgiveness for our sins. Draw a petition and read it in the presence of Elohim,” he pleaded “Who am I that I should plead the cause of Angels before the lord?Why do the Watchers not bring their petition themselves?” Enoch asked. Dani'el, a leader of a small group of Watchers living in the South, spoke up. “Heaven no longer responds to our prayers. Our plight is dire, will you not help?” Enoch paused for some time, looking over the faces of what remained; a dim reminder of the once lofty position they had held amongst the stars. All were silent as he took a deep breath before addressing their request. “The gravity of your situation is known unto me as well. It therefore shall be as you ask. I will return when I have received word from Elohim,” he said, leaning upon his staff. They stood up with trepidation, wondering what was to be their fate. After writing out the message the Watchers wanted him to speak on their behalf, Enoch returned to his hidden dwelling and fasted until the following day, spending the entire time in solemn prayer. Afterwards, he journeyed out to the wilderness and sat down at the waters of Dan, in the land southwest of Hermon, reading the petition of their requests till he fell asleep.

  A dream came to him, and visions fell upon him until he lifted his eyelids toward the gates of the palace of heaven, where he beheld the wrath of chastisement. A voice came to him saying: “Speak to the sons of heaven, and reprimand them.” When he awoke he left to find the Watchers all assembled, gathered together, weeping with their faces covered at Abel-Mayya, which is between Lebanon and Senir. “What word do you bring, Chanoch, O righteous one? For we are heavy in heart and spirit,” Asa'el said, with a sunken, hollow look on his face. He recounted before them all the visions, which he had seen in his sleep, and began to speak the words of truth, and visions of reprimand to the heavenly Watchers. “I have shared council with Elohim and brought your petition before the assembled host of Heaven. I saw in my sleep what I will now say with a tongue of flesh and with the breath of my mouth, which the Great One has given to men to converse therewith and understand with the heart. I wrote out your petition, and in my vision it appeared to me that your pleas will not be granted unto you throughout all the days of eternity, and that judgment has been finally passed upon you and decreed against you. From henceforth you shall not ascend into heaven unto all eternity, and in bonds of the earth the judgment has gone forth to bind you for all the days of the world.

  “You will also witness the destruction of your beloved ones and all their sons and all their possessions; you shall have no heirs to them, and they shall fall before you by the sword of destruction. Because your petition on their behalf shall not be granted, nor yet on your own, even though you ask and speak all the words contained in the writing, which I have written. The vision was shown to me thus: Behold, in the vision clouds invited me and a mist summoned me, and the course of the stars were shouting to me and the lightnings and thunderings hastened me, and the winds in the vision caused me to fly and lifted me upward, and bore me to enter into heaven. And these were the words of The Great One: “Chanoch, you scribe of righteousness, go, declare to the Watchers of the heaven who have left the high heaven, the set-apart eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have done as the children of earth do, and have taken unto themselves wives: You have wrought great destruction on the earth and you shall have no peace nor forgiveness of sin. Inasmuch as they delight themselves in their children, the murder of their beloved ones shall they see, and over the destruction of their children shall they lament, and shall make supplication unto eternity, but mercy and forgiveness shall you not attain.

  “Asa'el, you shall have no peace. A severe sentence has gone forth against you to place you in bonds. You shall not have toleration nor request granted to you, because of the unrighteousness which you have taught, and because of all the works of godlessness, destruction, and sin which you have shown to men.

  “It is you who should intercede for men, and not men for you. Wherefore have you left the high, set-apart, and eternal heaven, and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done like the children of earth, and begotten giants as your sons. And though you were set-apart, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women, and have begotten children with the blood of flesh, and, as the children of men, have lusted after flesh and blood as those also do who die and perish.

  “I had given them wives that they might impregnate them, and beget children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on earth. But you were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world. Therefore, I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling.

  “And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have p
roceeded from their bodies. They are born from men and from the set-apart Watchers is their beginning and primal origin. They shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling. The spirits of the giants will afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble. They will take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offenses. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them. From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without incurring judgment -thus shall they destroy until the day of the consummation, the great judgment in which the age shall be consummated, over the Watchers and the godless, yea, shall be wholly consummated.

  “And now as to the watchers who have sent you to intercede for them, who had been before time began in heaven, say to them: You have been in heaven, but all the mysteries had not yet been revealed to you, and you knew worthless ones, and these in the hardness of your hearts you have made known to the women, and through these mysteries women and men work much evil on earth. Say to them therefore: You have no peace."” After hearing all this they all became very afraid, trembling with great weeping and wailing. Enoch left them to contemplate their fate. The five Satans stood silently until Gadreel addressed them. “Look upon yourselves!” he said with disgust. “You who call yourselves Sons of The Most High. How low you have been brought. There can be no doubt that each carries a millstone around the neck as judgment is to be carried out against you. Have you not given thought to my offer?” “Gadreel is right, brothers, are we not sons of Heaven itself? We have strength with our combined might. There is still time, we can assemble our sons and unite against their forces in battle,” Shemikhazah said, in a vain attempt at lifting their spirits . “Is this then your answer? You choose to continue down the path of folly and madness?” Gadreel asked. “We should flee as cowards towards subjugation by your master when our power may yet win the day? Well aware are we all of his sin against Elohim; our plight is not that desperate. If Elohim sees our willingness to fight for our children, perhaps He will have mercy on us,” Shemikhazah replied, lacking confidence in his proclamation. “Never would I thought the day would come that I would bear witness to the dissolution and fragmentation of your mind, Shemikhazah,” Gadreel said bitterly. “Does he speak for all of you?” he asked, looking over at all who were consoling each other. “There is no choice, we must follow this path,” they replied. “Very well, your fate rests in your hands. Farewell, my brothers, we shall not see one another again,” he replied with a slight bow. The four others- Peneume, Yekon, Asbeel, and Kasdeya- followed Gadreel out, leaving in silent indignation. The remaining leaders huddled together, trying to console one another and formulate a plan.

  “There may be little time, quickly, send word to the far off lands to assemble our brothers and their offspring that we unite for our cause. We must put aside our past differences and come together if we have any hope of survival. Gather Vorath, the dragons and other beasts at the plain of Cush near the Gihon.” They all sprang into action, swiftly spreading word of the coming calamity, and gathered their aberrations and horrors together to wage war against the host of Heaven. Within two days all manner of beasts and giants stood alongside each other in battle lines. Six hundred and sixteen giants riding flying dragons made their way to the site, unsure of what to expect. In total, about thirteen thousand giants were present. As they formed into small groups amongst the clans, they began to beat their shields and instruments of war on their chests in unison. The sound was deafening, which brought confidence to the enslaved humans in their company. In all, four hundred thousand gathered upon that plain of Cush, aptly named Dalkhu Girru, or Demon Fire. Only the Watchers had knowledge as to the strength of Rapha'el and his armies; yet the giants were proud. “What force of Heaven has any chance against our assembled might! Let them come, we will crush them to dust and make slaves of their kind!,” Taxtag shouted, his voice loud enough to be heard from miles away. The roar of Vorath, however, thundered above every beast and giant, as if announcing to all who was greatest in power. Enoch had already informed the humans in the surrounding area of the coming calamity. Word had spread throughout the land and all the villages of humans for hundreds of miles took refuge to the north.

  On the seventh day the atmosphere shifted unnaturally over the battlefield, making it known to all that a response from heaven was approaching. The clouds coalesced, turning blood red; the very air itself became a reddish hue. A volcano in the distance exploded with great force, spewing forth lava and ash as thunder and lightning accompanied the eruption. As they viewed the battleground from above on their mounted dragons, the Watchers signaled the warriors below to set up battle formations. The air had became thick and humid when suddenly a booming, thunderous horn blast was heard from all around, bringing many to their knees in terror. The dragons reluctantly took flight as the Watchers on the ground made ready their otherworldly weapons. The clouds suddenly broke with a bright light shining through and the Watchers witnessed the might of Heaven descending upon their warriors. A terrifying sight struck them. It was not just Rapha'el and his retinue who arrived. Gavri'el, Mikha'el, Uri'el, and Esme'el- the five chief Archangels, along with their assembled warriors-were coming out of the clouds with weapons drawn, their armor shining brightly as if illuminated by a star. They were seven hundred in total and they were very outnumbered, yet to the leaders of the Watchers below the odds were quite in their favor. The giants, unfamiliar with their foe, fought with great ferocity, hurling large stones and casting spells at their opponents. The dragon riders met the Angels in the air and struck wildly at them. The Angels responded in kind with speed, skill and precision. The armies of the Watchers were no match whatsoever for the well trained warriors of Heaven, and it became painfully obvious to the forces on the ground who were witnessing the slaughter of their dragon riders. Asa'el sounded his horn and flew in with Vorath, biting down hard on scores of victims. Gavri'el, having observed the beast's capabilities, made a sigil in the air and called out for aid. Within a few moments a deafening roar was heard from the west and a large dark cloud approached. As the warriors of Heaven did battle with the giants and beasts, the Archangels surveyed the landscape from above, not yet entering the fray. Then all at once all five went into different directions without saying a word, communicating telepathically. Rapha'el, who was in his Melammu spirit form, drew the Sword of Truth, a fiery blade brighter than the sun, blinding all the creatures below as it sliced with energy across a large swath of combatants. The Archangel Esme'el drew her sword, Eternity, and struck the unsuspecting mob below. It was devastating weapon that cut with waves of pressure, creating a sonic boom and knocking scores of giants down, blowing many to bits from the force. The rest of Rapha'el's special guard engaged the flying dragons that were trying to gang up on smaller pockets of the forces of Heaven. The riders were simply unable to contend with their speed. In addition to their physical weapons, the Archangels had numerous spiritual weapons that created fear, confusion and chaos among the beings of flesh. As the battle raged, some of the Watchers fought back with spells of their own, causing injuries to several of the Angels. Vorath moved in and attacked Mikha'el, dealing a laceration to his armor and spirit being which quickly healed. Gavri'el flew to his side and the two seized the beast by the tail and threw it over to the west where it crashed into the ground with a deafening boom, leaving an enormous crater. The giants witnessed the might of the Archangels and their courage began to falter; not even one hundred of them could budge Vorath and yet two Archangels threw it as if it were a block of wood. If that did not demoralize them enough, the legendary creature known as Behemoth arrived and landed atop Vorath who was still trying to right itself. The two eno
rmous beasts locked their jaws into each other's flesh, creating rivers of blood beneath them. The sounds of battle, that the Earth had not witnessed since the war of Satan'el, filled the air, and it was becoming quickly apparent to those watching on the sidelines how one-sided the battle was. Perched atop a nearby mountain, the five Satans stood silently as their allies were being routed by the host of Heaven. Gadreel opened a portal to another dimension and they all departed in bitterness. Behemoth and Vorath were locked in deadly combat. They seemed to be a stalemate until Vorath managed to shoot off a powerful blast of sulfurous fire into the face of Behemoth, causing it to roar with great pain. He recovered enough to bite down on Vorath's neck and carry him aloft, throwing him all the way into the Red Sea. The splashdown created a small tsunami, wiping out a few of the towns set up around the edge of the coast on both sides. The creature was not destroyed, however, as evidenced by the water boiling, shaking, and quaking with tumultuous ferocity, along with multiple flashes of light coming from below. Behemoth flew over to the Red sea where another legendary creature was now locked in battle with Vorath- the mighty Leviathan. The giants were faring poorly also, as they lacked leadership. There simply wasn’t enough time for them to put into place any kind of battle strategy or maneuver as the host of Heaven continuously put immense pressure on them. Uri'el cast a spell releasing devastating fire and brimstone onto the armies of the Watchers, while Gavri'el unleashed his devastating weapon, Zamani, an energy whip that crackled with a chain lightning, striking multiple opponents at once. One by one the giants were cut down until the tide of battle had turned to a foregone conclusion. Sensing defeat, the giants began to flee in all different directions, while their subhuman creations fought to the last. Many of the Watchers, having witnessed the Archangels rout their sons, became terrified and transformed themselves into ordinary men in an attempt to hide from their wrath. Having completed their main objective in the battle, the Archangels turned their attention to rooting out the Watchers scattered about the landscape who were either still in combat or hiding among the humans. In short order they had captured and bound them all, leaving the remaining work to Rapha'el and his retinue to secure them in prison until their final judgment. Asa'el, who had fallen to the battlefield from atop Vorath, was plucked by Rapha'el and bound hand and foot with celestial cord, designed to keep him from shifting form until he could be imprisoned. The Watchers, having all been captured, were weeping profusely and trembling with fear. Rapha'el's regiment sorted them into groups while he prepared each holding cell with a pentacle of binding. Thirteen different prisons for the groups were completed with an additional singular, separate cell for Asa'el himself, for a total of fourteen. To give strength to the chamber, the seal of the inter-dimensional prisons used the spirit essences of two Archangels, Rapha'el and Esme'el, along with five other Angels. By design, should any one cell be opened, the pentacle that bound the remaining ones would become stronger, making them increasingly difficult to open. Each group was placed on a floating platform and led to different cells far across the landscape. As they were cast into darkness the Watchers screamed and howled with grief, begging for mercy and forgiveness. With the task completed, only one remained. Rapha'el personally carried Asa'el until they reached the place of his torment, where he was thrown into the dark pit that was the lowest elevation on land in the world. “How long, Rapha'el? How long are we to be punished?” he asked. “For seventy generations you will await your judgment. Contemplate all the evil that you have brought into this world, all of the destruction you have wrought, and the betrayal of our Lord. All sin has been ascribed to you, Asa'el. For these crimes you shall pay the penalty in darkness,” Rapha'el replied. With that said, they sealed the final holding cell shut and covered it with sharp rocks. Rapha'el then called the waters to fill up the area surrounding it, creating the Dead Sea. The rest of the creatures and giants were hunted down until none could be found and the skies were clear. Behemoth came out of the Red Sea, battered and torn; however, the fate of Vorath was uncertain. They had to be assured of its demise, for the humans had suffered greatly at the maw of the beast. “Go and observe the fate of that creature,” Esme'el commanded her lieutenant. He quick sped off to the deep and brought back news of its defeat. “It lies motionless at the bottom. Leviathan was dragging it off to the deep, holding it fast in its jaws,” the Angel replied. “That is good news indeed. A great victory has been won this day, yet the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. It remains to be seen if their corruption will lead to destruction for them as well. Mankind will continue to prey on one another until they learn to pray for one another,” she said with a solemn look on her face, her armor covered in blood.