Mason remembered the words spoken to him in his final dream. “Those you flee with will have need of your strength. You must stay with them and never leave. Even though the love inside you might yearn to break these bonds, doing so will only bring greater harm. This will be the last day you will see your mother or your brother Gorban. But you need protect them no longer.”
He had no idea how Gorban, Keshra, Peth and Sarah could have slipped away without him noticing, for he had decided to follow them anyway. But they were gone, and he was here. And wisdom bade him to stay.
Seth felt sand beneath him and remembered that place beyond Time. There was darkness, but pain remained. Then—through the pain—came gentle melodies and rhythms. At first they were filled with an immeasurable sorrow. In the end the most mournful notes became the most joyful, the most triumphant, and he realized this Music was altogether different from the Song they heard within the Shrine.
“You were right,” he whispered to Ayla, though he was unsure whether she heard him.
As the Music grew, a figure approached and knelt beside him. His countenance was a searing white, but Seth recognized him all the same.
“Your time has not yet come,” the Man said.
Seth asked, “Is this real?”
“As real as Sin. As real as the Music. As real as your life, which is in my hands.”
“I must be dreaming,” he said.
“Look at my face.”
Seth stared. “We thought you were dead. If you weren’t, then how could all this be? How could you allow such violence?”
The Man looked closely at Seth. “Would you rather I never gave you breath? Would you rather I never brought you life?”
“I would rather avoid the pain, the evil, the Sin.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“How could I?”
“You, not I, chose Sin,” the Man said.
“What about Abel? What about Lilleth? What about the rest?”
“Everyone chooses their own curse, but their stories do not concern you. What you must understand is you, like Cain and all the others, have birthed death; but I, and only I, have birthed life.”
“You let them destroy each other.”
The Man pointed downward, and Seth looked at the Man’s heels, which were wounded. “I let them destroy me. In place of Adam. In place of Cain. In place of you. Your words are tall, but you see so little. Do you really think death is the End? I am the End, just as I am the Beginning.”
“Then what will happen?”
“I will make all things new. You need only trust me.”
Seth nodded and wrapped his fingers around the Man’s wrist, which also was scarred. Tears came to Seth’s eyes as he remembered the change he heard in the Music, from sorrow to joy. “I am sorry I doubted you. Forgive me. I …” He averted his gaze and closed his eyes, suddenly feeling how pocked with darkness he was. The Man was Light incarnate, but Seth felt himself murky and smudged with gray. “I am not worthy.”
The Man lifted his chin with a touch so gentle it made him weep. “You are not worthy, but because of your faith, I bore your unworthiness, and by doing so I call you worthy, and so does my Father, the Almighty.”
“Never leave me. Please—”
“I am sending you back.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“You must go.”
“Why?”
“The End has not yet come. The blood that bore the evil of the world will come through your line, and in that day, you will rise to be with me. Then I promise I will never leave you nor forsake you. Only remember me and trust that the Music I am weaving will be more glorious than you could ever imagine. Then you will see.”
“What? What will I see?”
The Man smiled. “Me.”
“Why not now?”
“Your eyes are not my eyes. Your ways are not my ways. Your wisdom is not my wisdom. Your love is not my love. Only trust in me. Only trust me.”
And the echo of the Man’s voice went on and on as Seth felt the wholeness of life rush into him like blinding Light. He opened his eyes to a smoke-blackened sky and his loved ones weeping around him. Their eyes were closed and their heads were bowed, and none saw him awake. He looked down. There was no wound, no blood, but Calebna’s dead body was beside him and the wound in his chest was still open and wet with blood.
Why had the Man healed him and not Calebna? Why had any of this happened? Why had so many suffered? He felt a righteous anger grow in his chest like hot coals.
But then he remembered the Man’s words, and it seemed as though he heard them anew, like a man fully answered, “Your eyes are not my eyes. Your ways are not my ways. Your wisdom is not my wisdom. Your love is not my love. Only trust in me. Only trust me.”
And after his family opened their eyes and shed their tears of disbelief, Eve looked at him. “I feel as I did when I gave birth to you. God has given me a new offspring, for Cain killed Abel. And though having you doesn’t erase the pain, the joy of this moment somehow makes all of life glow brighter. Even the parts I had thought held only darkness.”
Seth wrapped his arms around Ayla and said, “It seems redemption looks back for some as it looks forward for others.” Ayla reached up and kissed him more passionately than ever before. He said, “I feel a new wind in the air.”
And they rode it to new lands and a new era. But as every man returns to the dust of the ground and the hands of his Maker, so all eras come to an end, and most in terrible violence.
EPILOGUE
She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.
—REVELATION 12:2–4 ESV
In a cave in the wilderness, Sarah lay screaming. She dug her fingernails into Keshra’s hand, but the woman calmly brushed Sarah’s hair from her face and wiped the sweat from her forehead. The sunset threw a hue of gold that slowly darkened to a red so deep it fell toward black. Finally, guarded from the pale silver eye of the moon, Sarah gave birth to a son.
Keshra cleaned the newborn and handed it to Sarah, who received her child with rapture. She crinkled her nose and nuzzled the baby’s cheek, but though he seemed healthy and whole, two sharp points sprouted out the top of his head.
“What will you call him?” Keshra said.
“Enoch,” Sarah said, and mouthed the name to feel it on her lips again.
Keshra played with Enoch’s toes. “‘A New Beginning.’ What a beautiful name. But what is this?” She lightly pressed Enoch’s little horns.
Sarah suddenly cried out in pain. It seemed at first an isolated occurrence, but then the agony increased, and Keshra handed the newborn to Peth and slipped her hand into Sarah’s once more.
“Sarah,” Keshra whispered, though she did not reply, too distracted by pain. “Sarah.”
She said through bared teeth, “What?”
“I think another child is coming.”
Sarah’s muscles contracted and her back arced as she screamed. From the darkness of her womb to the darkness of the world, came a shriveled corpse. Keshra brought it to Sarah, who waved and said, “Take it away. Take it away.”
Tears came to Sarah’s eyes as Keshra disposed of the dead child. Keshra and Peth returned, and Gorban leaned against the mouth of the cave. Peth handed Enoch to Sarah, and though Sarah’s mind claimed it would be better to abandon the child in the wilderness and let wild animals tear him to pieces, she held her baby close.
He looks just like you, Sarah thought. Just like you …
Keshra spoke after a minute of quiet. “Where will we go? What will we do?”
Sarah said, “We will build a great city and name it after my son. But for generations it will be
known as the city Cain built, for that will be the truth.” She splayed Enoch’s fingers and squeezed his tiny fingernails, though Enoch looked up at her with silver eyes that knew more than any newborn could, until she looked away.
Peth didn’t seem to have noticed, for she was examining her own protruding belly, and smiled at Gorban. “In only a few months my first child will be born as well, and we will grow to a great people and spread across the earth.”
“Yes.” Sarah’s countenance darkened.
The widowed and childless Keshra said, “Do you think we will ever see the others again?”
Sarah stopped playing with Enoch’s hand and patted Keshra’s leg. “I am weary. Will you tend to Enoch while I rest?”
Keshra took Enoch from her again and, with one hand feeling the horns on the top of his head, she, Peth, and Gorban left Sarah alone in the dark. And there came to Sarah then a quiet Music. A Music that used its tenderness to hide a violence yet unmatched in the world.
READING GROUP GUIDE
PART 1
1. Eve says, “His intention is for us to live joyful, peaceful lives. He wants us to prosper. If he didn’t, why would we serve him?” Do you agree or disagree? What should be our motivation for serving God? Why do you think this?
2. Cain and Sarah’s relationship is deeply wounded. Why do you think Sarah has stayed with Cain all these years? And why do you think Cain still feels a desire for her?
3. In chapter 2, we see that the Almighty promised the people, “While you dwell in me, no danger will reach past the walls I have constructed. Not sickness, not demon, not nature.” But as Adam is searching for Abel, he finds a cancerous lump on a sheep. How can this be?
PART 2
1. Why did the voice say, “Give it to me and I will show you the way. He is calling us” ? What is it demanding from Cain? And who do you think is calling Cain?
2. What do you think Cain was feeling in chapter 9 as he left Sarah behind?
3. If Sarah could have stopped Cain but didn’t, does that make her as guilty as Cain? What about the Almighty? Is he culpable as well?
PART 3
1. What exactly happened when Cain made the wager with the silver boy? How could he justify doing such a thing?
2. Seth and Ayla find three items on the Almighty’s throne. What is the significance of each item? What does each one represent?
3. What do you think was going through Adam’s mind as Eve and Calebna left to see the bodies of their loved ones and the proof that the Almighty was gone? Why did Adam not respond when Eve returned?
PART 4
1. Cain thinks the Almighty banished humanity from the Garden of Eden out of fear. What else might have compelled the Almighty to do so?
2. Why does the Light Bringer urge Cain to drink blood? And why does Cain have such a strong desire for it?
3. Who is the Man and how could Cain have killed him?
PART 5
1. Why do you think the people made a tomb for the Almighty as well as for Seth and Ayla?
2. If you were present, would you side with Lukian or Calebna? Why? Do you think your natural choice would be the right choice?
3. Eve admits, I hate his not being here. I hate his silence. His love for Abel. Is she right to feel the way she does? What do you think you would feel in her position?
PART 6
1. Do you think there was more to Calebna’s sealing the Temple doors than just his desire to keep danger out?
2. After Lukian finds his children, the theme of consuming blood returns. What is the connection between the prick Lukian feels on his neck and the “shift” he senses in himself?
3. Why did Cain choose this particular time to return?
PART 7
1. What is the connection between the Shrine of the Song and the Jinn? What exactly was the machine?
2. The machine shows Seth and Ayla three distinct areas in the Shrine: the Chambers of Science, the bathhouse, and the Metronome. What motivation could push “the Master” to build these three areas?
3. The Music grows in intensity as Seth and Ayla walk further into the Shrine. When all is said and done, it is “shaking the Waters with thunderous peals.” If the Music can so powerfully impact all of Time, could the rest of Seth and Ayla’s family have sensed it? Can you give any examples from earlier sections of the story that might point to this?
PART 8
1. Calebna is perhaps the first person on earth to have struggled with suicidal thoughts. Being the High Priest, he would have known that suicide is against the Almighty’s will. But what impact do you think the lack of historical examples would have on his ability to cope with the pressures he was experiencing? Do you think the imagery of the Spirit of God being an “all-consuming fire” would have played into his desire to use fire as the “uniting force”?
2. Seth says, “In this way, then, I think we could stop it. Not one man alone, but together through the choices we make, through the evil we refuse to tend in our minds like Forbidden Gardens.” The language he uses seems to imply that, though we can refuse to tend evil, its seeds are still imbedded within us. Is it enough to refuse to tend the evil inside of us? Or, like a weed, will it sprout and grow nonetheless?
3. Lukian is struggling against the same madness that overtook Cain. Why do you think he, of all the family, has become the Abomination’s favorite target?
PART 9
1. When Cain finally confronts his father, and for the first time understands why Adam never showed him the love he longed for, his reaction is to completely disengage. Why?
2. This book deals with multiple generations and the impact of fatherhood. Do you think that if Adam had behaved differently, Cain might not have killed his brother? How do you think it might have changed Cain’s personality?
3. What do you think happened to Cain in the end? Do you think his repentance was sincere?
PART 10
1. What are some of the symbolic connections between Seth’s experience in the Shrine and his experience in the perverse substitute for the Garden of Eden?
2. When Seth awakens next to Calebna, he struggles with why God would allow some terrible consequences and not others. Why is this question (and the Man’s answer) so important? How does it square with your theology?
3. The core of this novel deals with the idea of worship. What exactly is worship? And how does this theme weave throughout the book and impact the characters and their relationships?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brennan S. McPherson has always wanted to tell stories, but it wasn’t until his junior year in college that he built up the nerve to try. Three years later, Cain, his first novel, was born. Brennan is married to his best friend, works full time at a small nonprofit, and plays the drums in his spare time.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you, Jesus, for setting me free and showing me what it means to live.
To my wife, best friend, constant companion, crutch when I’m weak, warmth when I’m cold, Anna—where to start? Nothing I write is enough. You are a queen, and I can’t wait to see what God does with you and your incredible talent.
Thanks to: My mom and dad, for giving me life and loving each other every day. My grandmother, Nonnie, for babysitting me and showing me good books. My teacher, Sandy Weber, for pouring years into me—without you, my head would be one empty vessel. My good friend, Don Boyer, for marking the daylights out of my early work with red ink (for good reason), yet still somehow encouraging me. All the guys at BroadStreet, for investing in a kid with a weird book. The superb editor of this novel, Natalie Hanemann, for tirelessly pouring through the manuscript, seeing what I couldn’t see, excising the junk and beefing up the thin spots.
Finally … dear reader, THANK YOU! What a blessing to share this adventure with you.
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