In Exile (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book III)

by John J Higgins

  Cerebriel spun Enoch around him slowly, making sure that there was no harm done to him before their escape. He saw the lump underneath Enoch’s tunic and pulled it down to reveal Enoch’s wings, folded together to make them as inconspicuous as possible. Gently unbinding them, Cerebriel let them expand into their full form. They were white and beautiful, fully developed but the wing muscles that stretched across Angels’ backs and around to their chests over their sides looked emaciated and weak.

  “Have you ever used your wings, Enoch?” Cerebriel asked, but he already knew the answer.

  “No, never,” answered Enoch. “I did not know they could be used for flying. My mother and father warned me about them, told me they were a birth defect of some form and that I had to be very gentle with them otherwise they would fall off! Don’t tell my parents, but at one point I wanted the wings to be gone and did try to use them, hoping that they would fall off so I could be like my brothers.”

  “What happened?” Cerebriel asked.

  “Not much, I was able to get myself off the ground by a couple of inches, but then crashed into a wall a few feet away as I could not control the direction. And they didn’t fall off as promised by Adam and Eve.”

  “Adam and Eve?” Cerebriel asked, slightly confused.

  “Yes, kind Angel, my parents are Adam and Eve!”

  “Oh yes, that’s right,” Cerebriel said aloud but thought to himself, we removed the memories of Enoch being the son of Lillith and Jarahmael. Now that he was in the Heavens and safe, he could be told the truth. Then he thought further. If Enoch was anything like Jarahmael, and Cerebriel suspected that he was, Enoch would take off trying to find Lillith and Jarahmael and make sure they were safe. Enoch did not even have a rudimentary knowledge of how to fly like an Archangel, must less fight in mid-air like one. It was best to keep that information from him for a while longer, let him continue to believe that Adam and Eve were his parents and Abel here was his true brother.

  “We can help you learn to fly up here, Enoch,” Cerebriel said. “I spoke with the Almighty, the One who created your parents and this whole Universe, this place included. He wants you to stay up here with the Angels, both you and your brother, Abel.”

  Raphael was the first to arrive from Cerebriel’s request. “I heard what has happened. The Humans really do have a separate life force within them, this soul. May I see?”

  “Yes, of course, lord Raphael. He needs your help,” Cerebriel said as he pointed towards the glowing shape that was Abel’s soul.

  Raphael looked over at the soul of the former Human Abel. It was in the same shape as was the body left on Earth, but made of bright light substance similar to the light waves of the Angels. Raphael reached into the energy field itself and Abel’s soul turned various colors slowly one to another, the fastest wavelengths of light first and then through to the slowest and finally back to the midrange. Abel’s shape shifted as well, and no longer did he appear constricted and frightened, nor did he keep touching his neck area. He was now relaxed and smiling, glowing and taking up more space with his energy field.

  “He will be fine now,” Raphael said. “He needed to have the memories of his pain removed. It seems that these souls may be indestructible, at least by anything I would know. The danger to their well-being is the memories or fears more than the physical harm had been done to the earthen body. Abel still felt that he was in his Human body and still had the feelings as though he had never left his body. Strange phenomenon for sure.”

  “Thank you, my lord Archangel Raphael,” Abel said. He appeared more like himself now, not only as an energy force.

  “You are welcome, Abel. You have impressed the Almighty by your kindness and generosity as a Human, and He has bestowed upon you this special gift of coming directly to the Garden of Eden because of your murder.”

  Enoch then spoke to Abel, “I am so sorry for what happened down there on Earth, I cannot believe that Cain would do that to you! I will go down and deliver retribution upon that cowardly brother.”

  Abel put up his hand even though he still looked frightened at the sound of his brother’s name, Cain, and said, “No, I do not want anything bad to happen to my other brother, Cerebriel. Let him be, live his life out without any harm from me. I forgive him for what he had done.”

  “But you had everything to live for, Abel!” Enoch insisted.

  “That is all over now, my brother. I am happy and content here now.”

  Gaardrael then arrived and descended into the small group. “Is this the Human soul known as Abel?”

  “Yes it is, Gaardrael,” Cerebriel answered then made introductions. “Gaardrael, this is Abel and Enoch, both from the Earth.”

  “Pleasure to meet both of you! I am the leader of the Angels here in the First Heaven, we are known as the Guardian Angels. And we will be working more closely with the Humans and Simians on Earth after today. Your sacrifice has brought that about, Abel.”

  Enoch and Abel both nodded that they understood.

  “I see that Enoch already has wings,” Gaardrael said as he looked at Enoch carefully.

  “Abel, the Almighty has told me that you can, if you so choose, join the ranks of the Guardian Angels. This is not a requirement. You have been placed in the Garden of Eden according to the Almighty’s instructions. You can stay here as long as you like, for eternity if you choose. You can also join my ranks and live as we do, as Guardian Angels. You will be given wings too, if you choose to join us.”

  Abel was overjoyed at hearing that and enthusiastically agreed.

  “I will return tomorrow, Abel, and we shall get you transformed into one of my Order. Then we can begin to teach both of you two how to fly, if that meets with lord Cerebriel’s approval.”

  Cerebriel nodded affirmatively and said: “Both of you have had an emotional and difficult day. Get some rest and we shall begin tomorrow as a new day!”

  The Angels bowed to take their leave for the evening. They then flew off from the Garden of Eden into the deeper Heavens, leaving the two Humans standing near Adam and Eve’s former hut in the Garden of Eden.

  Chapter 63

  A MARK

  Cain ran back to the cave of his parents, Adam and Eve, and called out in anguish, “Abel and Enoch have been captured by Angels. I tried to fight them off but I was no match for these creatures.”

  “They attacked you?” Adam asked, his eyes looking him over from head to toe for wounds as he grasped him at arm’s length by the shoulders. He was covered in mud and blood.

  “That is terrible!” said Eve as she came running over to her son and checked him from behind for the wounds that would have caused all of this blood.

  “Do you know what Angels came and attacked you, Cain? Did they come from above or below?” Adam asked.

  “They dropped down out of the sky and returned in the same direction.”

  “Where did this happen?” Adam asked when he confirmed that Cain did not have any wounds on him.

  “It happened up in the far pastures on the opposite side of the fields where I was planting additional crops. I was walking over to see how Abel and Enoch were doing and we were all attacked by these Cherubim Angels.”

  “Were Abel and Enoch able to defend themselves at all, Cain?” Adam asked as he headed back into the cave to grab his own staff. He was growing more and more concerned about what happened to his sons.

  “I did most of the fighting, neither Abel nor Enoch were effective in fighting against the Angels. But I was far outnumbered and did not stand a chance keeping my brothers safe,” Cain said, welling up with tears.

  As he was finishing his statement to his parents, the two Simian women, Gaela and Borea arrived and entered the cave to join all of them in their evening meal. They were shocked at first at all of the blood and mud on Cain, but began to wail once they heard that Abel and Enoch had been brutally captured by Angels from above. Gaela was heartbroken that Abel was missing; first it was that she believed her favorite pet had been
killed for the contest for her hand, now it was Abel himself that was missing. Borea was devastated as well, because she was very attached to Abel.

  The two females came to Cain and cried on his shoulder. Gaela and Borea both wanted him to hold them, and he held each close to him as he rocked them and consoled them. Cain kept a sorrowful face but underneath he was delighted that the females came to him. He was so lost in the moment that he at first acted angry when Adam interrupted them and asked Cain to accompany him and show him where this all happened. Once the others heard Adam’s request, they all wanted to go, and Cain reluctantly agreed. The two females sweetened the arrangements, by offering to help Cain walk and both held his hands as they walked from the cave back to the fields.

  Once they arrived at the spot, everyone other than Cain gasped at the scene. Cain had done a great job in chasing the sheep so that the field was all torn up in the area around Abel’s freshly dug grave. Only Cain knew that Abel’s body was buried underneath this spot. The others were all convinced by Cain’s story that Abel and Enoch were taken up to the Heavens at the same time by the Angels.

  Adam looked carefully at the ground and said, “Cain, you are so fortunate to have escaped from the attack that occurred here. Look at this ground, it is all torn up brutally. I have seen Angels fight in the past, but I never recall seeing it so brutal, my son. You are truly a hero!”

  “Yes, yes!” the two Simian females agreed.

  Gaela stepped closer to Cain like she used to do and whispered, “I am so sorry for pushing you away. I should have realized that you were only trying to make things better for me and my sister Borea. If for some reason Abel and Enoch do not return, I will be glad to have you as my mate instead.”

  Cain could not have been happier. He had won the female of his dreams and everyone in his family considered him to be a hero.

  Eve, though, was crying; she could not help her grief as it penetrated and overwhelmed her. And being in the spot where her two sons were captured, she was not ready to celebrate the bravery that Cain exemplified.

  “Adam?” Eve interrupted before they returned home from the scene. “We haven’t prayed to the Almighty in a very long time. Could it be that the Almighty is punishing us again? For not praying to Him after all this time? I suggest we humble ourselves and pray to ask for His forgiveness for our old sins, and pray for protection over our sons Abel and Enoch!”

  “I have no idea why this would have happened and why it would have happened without any warning. That is not the way I remember the Almighty to do things. But there have been a lot of strange things happening lately, so yes, Eve, I think it is a good idea to pray once again.”

  The two Simian females thought it would be a good idea to pray as well. They had never done so, not because of stubbornness or any other reason except for the fact that they had never known that they could or even how one would pray to the Almighty.

  Cain was going to object to everyone praying, but Luciferael was clear that the Almighty would never allow Angels to interfere with Human affairs, so there was no danger that a contrary version of the day’s events would be told. He was enjoying being the most important Human at the moment and he did not want to jeopardize his status, so he agreed.

  The small group followed Adam and Eve’s lead and all kneeled down in the churned over Earth and held hands as Adam bowed his head and called out to the Almighty.

  “I know that we have not prayed to You for a while, our Lord, but we try to please You by living good and just lives. All of us assembled here want to beseech You to return our sons, brothers, and friends, Abel and Enoch. Our dear son Cain here, tried to protect the two of them, he was brave and true and we are very proud of him. Please accept our humble prayer, our Lord!”

  Silence returned at the end of their prayer and the group rose up again from kneeling on the ground. Cain was relieved that there was no response. It could be true that the Almighty had abandoned the Humans. With no response from above, he felt stronger as he was now part of Luciferael’s kingdom and had the power of the rebel Angels, no matter what happened with the Almighty’s Universe.

  Gaela and Borea came up to Cain again and gave him their hands to hold on the way back home. They were all bathed in the last remnants of light of the setting sun as the darkness of night approached.

  But before they had finished walking out of that section of the field, the sky lit up again as though the sun was rising. They all dropped to their knees and lowered their heads, as they could not look up into the light.

  A voice from above bellowed, and Adam and Eve recognized it as the voice of the Almighty Himself.

  “Cain, son of Adam, come forward!” the Almighty commanded.

  Cain was trembling, horrified that it was the Almighty who had come to answer their prayers. Was it possible that He knew what Cain had done?

  “I hear the voice of your brother Abel calling to me from his grave! Why do you pray to know where he is?”

  Cain was speechless as his mind raced to create an answer.

  “Where is your brother Abel?”

  Cain had a choice. Either maintain his story that Abel and Enoch had been taken to the Heavens, though he was sure that the Almighty would know whether or not Abel was taken up into His realm in the sky. Or he could alter his story and act like he did not know where Abel was, and admit he lied to his parents and the Simian females. Cain made his choice; the wrath of his parents and the Simians would be nothing compared to that of the Almighty. Cain then answered, trembling, “Why would I know where my brother Abel is? Am I my brother’s keeper?”

  Adam, Eve, Gaela and Borea looked at one another, their heads still bowed before the Almighty, with quizzical looks upon their faces. Hadn’t Cain just explained to them that Angels from above took Abel and Enoch and that he had personally fought with them to protect his brothers?

  Now the ground shook along with the sound of the Almighty’s voice pitched low in anger. “Yes, Cain, you are your brother’s keeper!”

  The ground continued to shake and rumble, causing the ground over Abel’s grave to churn like water in a natural spring rising to the surface, and within a minute the body of Abel rose up out of the Earth and the dirt fell away from it.

  “And you are more than your brother’s keeper, Cain! You are your brother’s murderer!”

  Eve and the Simian females wailed out in anguish, Eve stumbled up and crawled over to the body of her son, the other females following as best they could. Once Eve reached the body the ground tremors stopped, allowing her to embrace her son’s body.

  Adam looked over at Cain with horror that his son was even capable of such a heinous act.

  “I condemn you, Cain! You shall be cursed to wander the Earth, never to find peace of mind, the memory of murdering your brother to haunt your dreams every night of your life!” the Almighty proclaimed.

  Cain, still worried about himself, called out and pleaded with the Almighty. “Please do not send me away, my Lord. The other Humans or Simians will eventually feel free to murder me just as I killed my brother.”

  A lightning bolt flew out from the brightness above, striking Cain’s face and leaving a terrible scar that made him look ferocious.

  “With that mark I protect you by cursing anyone who tries to kill you for your brother’s murder,” the voice of the Almighty boomed again. “Now go and get out of the sight of decent Humans and Simians. You have no business here any longer!”

  Cain was picked up by a funnel of wind that took him up off the ground and blew him off into the distance as a gust of wind, to a distance so far that he could no longer be seen.

  Two loyal Cherubim then descended next to Abel’s body and gently picked it up between them. They looked at Adam and Eve with a great deal of sympathy in their eyes, as the parents cried for the loss of their sons. The sounds of a Choir of Angels could be heard by Adam and Eve and the Simian females as they stood there watching. Then the Cherubim carried the body respectfully on their shoulders as t
hey ascended slowly up into the Heavens.

  The Almighty could still hear the sorrow of those who had prayed to him, and He took mercy upon them all and a gentle rain began to fall from the cloudless sky.

  “These are the tears of Heaven, Adam and Eve, Gaela and Borea. They will take the heartache away from you, Adam and Eve. Focus on your child Seth, he shall be the future of the Human race. Gaela and Borea, for all your love and kindness I bestow upon all Simians a soul and free will, so your race will now be the equivalent of the Humans.”

  The Almighty and his entourage began rising back into the Heavens as He left the two Humans and two Simians with these words: “Rest assured that Abel and Enoch are both safe with Me in the Heavens and you will see them again, one day in the future. Now go home and let not your hearts be troubled, for the Almighty loves you.”

  Chapter 64

  TIME PASSES

  Time marched on and many years passed from the day that Enoch and Abel were taken to the Garden of Eden in the First Heaven. The Almighty still allowed Luciferael and his fallen Angels access to the Humans on the Earth, and the rebel Angels became well versed in tricking Humans into believing in the benefits and rewards of worshipping Luciferael as the lord of Hell and rejecting the Almighty. True to Luciferael’s expanding ambitions and his agreement for Cain’s everlasting soul, Cain was also allowed free access to both the Earth and the Underworld. He became the first Ambassador of Hell, interacting and deceiving many of his fellow Humans as well as many former Simians.

  Hell also began to produce different types of evil creatures and more of them: daemons, hellhounds, and a whole class of various beings created by Luciferael called monsters. All were well used to trick Humans into rejecting the Almighty and empowered Luciferael and his rebels. The real betrayal for these hapless Humans and former Simians always came when they died. Thantos was no longer awkward in extracting the souls from any Human who died, but had to be merciful to the souls that had been obedient to the Almighty. Thantos though took particular delight in brutally extracting the souls from the bodies of those who had been disobedient to the Almighty and followed Luciferael. For those misguided souls it would only get worse, for once these damned souls were sentenced to Hell, there were no limits on what Luciferael and his colleagues could do to torture them.