AngelFire

by Luke Valen

“I’m okay,” I said, reassuring everyone. “I heard him.”

  “Heard who?” Jade asked.

  “My father,” I said looking up to Jade. “I heard him!” I turned to Nile.

  He was gone.

  “Nile?” I said as we all turned, looking for him. “Nile!”

  He had vanished, and none of us had noticed.

  “NILE!” I stood, yelling, anger replaced my joy. “No!” I yelled again, throwing over a flower setting from the pulpit. I wanted answers. I wanted to know more. My body became weak and my sight began to fade as my eyes grew heavy. With one last breath, I exhaled, “Father…” before falling back down to earth, eyes struggling to stay open.

  “What should we do?” I could hear Jade’s muffled voice.

  Uncle Homer’s raspy voice barely audible was the last thing I heard. “Let him sleep. He has been through a lot.”

  My eyes fluttered shut.

  I am the lost wonderer.

  CHAPTER 10

  RESURGENCE

  A blinding light was all I could see, soon fading to that of a beautiful summer day.

  I was in a garden.

  Surrounded by lush green bushes decorated with colorful fruits of all kinds and trees taller and wider than anything I could ever imagine. The soft grass was like walking on a cloud, bowing under the weight of my feet.

  Not too far off, a gentle flowing river could be heard just behind an alien-like wall of magnificent crystals. Crystals so tall they shot up through the ground like skyscrapers reaching for the sun. Like diamonds, they sparkled bright, rainbows being born of their geometric prisms left and right with the changing rays of light.

  “Hello!” I shouted. “Is anybody out there?”

  “Son, I’m over here,” a deep voice responded from the river.

  Curious, I began to make my way through the thick brush. My heart started to race as I drew nearer and nearer to the origin of the voice. Everything was so gloriously shining with white light and beams of energy. I reached for the massive crystals, tremendous in size, placing my small hand on their hard, smooth surface, I could feel their energy, their life. This garden seemed to be made of music, light, and love.

  It was as if everything were alive, breathing.

  Admiring the stones, I continued to make my way around their guardian-like structures. Rainbows of light bounced in all directions. Green vegetation and trees alike surrounded their base. I could hear the gentle flow of a river beginning to near.

  There, in the beams of light, a man knelt in the shining silver and gold armor I had seen before. The same that was in the book.

  “Come over here, son,” he said without getting up as he gathered water into a skin-like container. The light reflecting off his armor was almost too bright to handle, like staring into the sun itself. I shielded my eyes.

  “Hello,” I said sheepishly.

  “Hello,” he said, turning from the river.

  My mind processed the moment so slowly it was as if I could see every second passing like an extension in time. His bright eyes were pure white, no drop of color at all, and seemed to glow from their enclosure. He stood tall and strong like a king, with an aura of gold light surrounding his entire being.

  “My son.”

  I stared up at him in awe. His presence, glorious.

  “Father,” I said, staring, “Father!” I leapt, running into his strong embrace. “I remember.” Tears streaked my cheeks.

  “My boy, I don’t have much time,” he said urgently, grabbing me by the shoulders.

  “What’s happening? Where are we?” I asked.

  I had so many questions. Like a child with an eager mind. I am the curious cat.

  “I’ll explain all soon,” he said. “Ever since you were captured, Earth has been growing dark. They have grown stronger than we anticipated.”

  “I don’t understand. Where have you been, and why did you abandon me?”

  “I didn’t abandon you, my son. I would never. He chose you for a reason. You are stronger than I ever was and ever could be,” he said. “Your mission was to protect the humans from all the evils, to maintain the balance. And you did so for generations among generations, thousands of years.” He held me at arm’s length with a proud smile. “Though it seems the abominations had been training all those years as well, learning. You were taken and placed in the darkest corner of Hell by Santhanus, one of ‘the most unclean’s’ strongest demons. The fallen ambushed you after they found they could not defeat you on their own.”

  Visions flashed into my mind. I was surrounded, a hundred—no, a thousand—demons with gnashing teeth and clawing appendages ripping at my skin. I could see my father; he was flying down toward me from within a cloud of fire. Reaching out his hand. Santhanus. He stopped him. Pain. All I could feel was pain. His claws were under my ribs, gripping my soul.

  “Son.”

  I snapped out of it.

  “I tried to save you, but I was weak. I could not enter that realm. I begged Him to save you day after day for years on end…I thought you were lost to me. It took every ounce of my being to not defy His rule and try to go back for you. He gave you an ability that none other like us possessed.” My father’s eyes were filled with compassion.

  “Who is us?” I asked.

  “The Archangels.” He looked up. I followed his gaze. Flying like beautiful eagles above us, they soared. Their wings glorious and wide. The purest-white feathers I had ever seen lifted them through the clouds. Rays of golden light danced among them.

  “Angels…what did He give me? What ability? Who is he?” I asked, looking back to my father.

  “Son, I have to go…I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you more,” he said as he rushed to tie the water sack to his belt.

  “Wait, Father, I have so many questions! How did I escape? Why don’t I remember any of this?” I shouted.

  “I love you, my son. Remember, He is always with you. Have faith—your strength is returning, I can feel it. Humanity needs you now more than ever, my boy. Two weeks.” His voice faded as he vanished into a strobe of blinding light.

  “Father!” I yelled as I once again became weak, and my eyes grew heavy as if being pulled down by bags of cement.

  In an instant I was out. Dark.

  —§—

  “Dean…Dean.” Bryon’s voice broke the silence in my ears.

  As I opened my eyes, the candlelight brought him into sight.

  “Phew! We thought you died! Hey, Jade, he is okay! He’s alive!” Bryon yelled. Jade was sitting on a pew sifting through the pages of a large leather book. I was back in the church. The old wooden church. Warmly lit by the remaining candles Uncle Homer must have brought out.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Dude, you just passed out and hit the floor.” Bryon’s arms flailed about in what I assumed was a lame impression of me. “Your head bounced like a basketball. We thought you accidentally died. You were out for like three days!”

  “Three days!” I yelled.

  Bryon laughed. “Ha ha, nah. It was more like a few hours.”

  “You idiot,” I said, sitting up and punching him in the arm. “I spoke to him.”

  “Spoke to who?” Bryon asked.

  “My father.”

  “You spoke to the Archangel Michael!” Bryon’s eyes widened. “Man, that is so freakin’ cool! What did he say? Was he all, ‘son, come hither. I must tell you of my battle stories’…or, or what! Tell us!”

  “Jade, what are you reading?” I asked, avoiding Bryon’s mindless questions. He continued acting out what he perceived to have happened in silence.

  “The book from my library. I’m trying to make sense of this all,” she said, flipping through pages. Jade always seemed to be in her own world when she was in a book. Or she simply chose not to pay attention to us until she needed to. Good choice.

  I stood, making my way over to Jade. “Let me see that,” I said, grabbing the book from her. “My father said that humanity needs me m
ore than ever. I think your theory was partly right.”

  “What do you mean partly?” Jade asked, intrigued.

  “I am not a god by any means, but I think you were right about an army of the dead,” I said, now flipping through pages myself.

  “Oh shit.” Bryon stood wide-eyed between the pews.

  “Look here, it says, ‘The army of the Lord will be led by the chosen one, the son of the highest general.’ The general must be my father, against the army of darkness.”

  “So you are going to lead an army? An army of what?” Bryon asked.

  “Angels,” I said matter-of-factly.

  “Angels? How the heck are you going to lead an army of angels when you couldn’t even fight off that rich kid in the suit earlier? And is that what you are, an angel?” Bryon jumped off the pews and came closer to Jade and I.

  He had a good point. “Yes…no. An Archangel.”

  “Archangels are the first in command of the third choir, the protectors and messengers…I thought there were only three though,” Jade said, running her fingers through her hair with a concerned look on her face.

  “How do you know all this?” I asked.

  “There are three orders of angels according to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite…” Jade continued. We stood in a circle around the altar with J.C. at the head.

  “Who?” Bryon was utterly lost…as was I, but I’ll let him ask the questions.

  “He was a Christian theologian and philosopher in the late fifth century.” Jade grabbed the book back from me and pointed to a page with drawings on it. “Look.”

  The drawings were of these seemingly floating bodies with three pairs of wings, and another of a being with four faces and two sets of wings. The next was similar to what looked like a wheel covered in eyes. The next two looked more human-like but with pretty wings.

  “The first choir is made for those holy beings serving closest to God and the Son. They are called Seraphim.” She flipped the page and pointed to an image. “The ones who literally are on fire with their burning love for God, covering their bodies with six wings. The next is a Cherubim. This being has four faces, one of a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle. These beings guard God’s throne and the way to the Tree of Life.” These were creatures I had never seen before, massive in size like something that could take on the likes of Godzilla. And beautiful, their faces so perfect and bodies muscular and strong. “Next are the Wheels, they literally look like wheels covered in many eyes to see all and hear all, presenting man’s needs to God.” The images in the book were incredible, I began to feel a sense of remembrance. The colors were all so bright and vivid, the creatures themselves looking like kings and queens of alien races, all bowing to a mysteriously bright light in the middle of the pages. Surrounded by white marble and pure gold accents, the locations felt so real. So close.

  “The second choir is held by the Dominions. They are described as looking like beautiful humans with wings of an eagle and wielding staffs with balls of light fastened to the heads of their scepters. They are the ones keeping charge of the lower angels and are said to rarely make appearances to humans…I could go on and on. The Virtues are next, then the Powers of Authorities maintaining the cosmic balance, and finally the Archangels and angels.”

  Jade flipped the page and there he was. My father. The page itself was engrained with gold and light.

  “That’s him,” I said, pointing to the image of the man in shining armor. “That’s my father.”

  “Whoa…” Bryon gawked.

  “Wait, look here. There is a fourth image outside the ring of the three choirs. What is that?” Jade said as she saw a scribble on the page. She ran again to her bag and pulled out a magnifying glass. “Dean, that’s your symbol.”

  I grabbed the magnifying glass.

  She was right.

  “Look here, it is hidden in all three of the choirs. Look.” Jade pointed out that there it was, in each of the descriptions and images, the small symbol hiding away.

  “Whoa…” Bryon was like a broken record player. Though I was thinking the exact same things.

  “There is probably another clue in here somewhere…” Jade began flipping through the pages again, brushing her long brown hair away from her eyes. As she searched, all I could think of was my father. I had finally met him after all these years.

  He didn’t abandon me, he did love me.

  It just occurred to me, I didn’t ask him about my mother.

  “Dean. Look.” Jade stopped on a page and pointed to a small drawing. It was an image of a newborn baby still wrapped and in a basket. There on the basket was my symbol, the same one that marked my body. “Look how all the symbols of each choir are there in line with yours. Incredible.”

  “Okay, guys, slow down,” Bryon said, placing his hand on the pages covering the images. “I’m still wondering how you are supposed to lead some army to fight some other army. I mean we are barely scratching the surface of all this. A few hours ago you thought you were human with some kind of superpower, of which you can’t even control.” Bryon was adding some good insight. The wind creaked at the rickety windows.

  “You’re right. I don’t know how to control this…gift,” I said, looking Bryon and Jade in the eyes, speaking honest truth. “All I know is my father needs me to remember—humanity needs me to remember. I don’t know how any of this is possible or why I was the one ‘He’ chose to give this gift to, but I’ve got to try. This is the first time in my entire life that I have a purpose, that I am meant for more. I can’t let my dad down. I can’t let you guys down,” I said with hope in my heart and a fire in my soul. I guess hoping wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

  “Great speech, Dean. Still not too sure. And who is ‘He’?” Bryon said.

  Bryon was stepping on my hope. I knew it was for the best. I know he is trying to pull the answers out of me. I looked over to Bryon and then to Jade.

  “He…is Him…” Jade said, pointing to the large statue of my roommate, good old J.C.

  We all looked, it was something so surreal none of us knew how to truly react.

  Uncle Homer came walking in through the back room. “Bit of a rollercoaster, these last twenty-four hours, eh, boy?” His hands shook as he carried a tray of drinks to us. “Hot cocoa. Good for the soul, trust me,” he said with a wink.

  “Uncle, who are you?” I warmed my hands with the hot mug.

  “No time for that. Seems you are at a bit of a disadvantage. None of this was supposed to happen for at least another generation. I guess that’s what you can expect from Lucifer though, huh? Always impatient and power-hungry.” Uncle made his rounds, handing out the cocoa and came back to me. He placed the tray on the tabletop and grabbed my hands palm face up.

  “Lucifer?” Bryon choked. “I’m sorry, did I just hear you say Lucifer, as in the devil?”

  “That is correct. The snake himself,” Uncle said, still observing my palms. The wrinkled skin on his hands felt like leather infused with life and wisdom.

  “Well…I’m out.” Bryon turned, placing his hot cocoa on the table, and began walking to the front door.

  “Bryon, come on, man,” I said. “We can’t do this without you.” He stopped just before the door and turned back to face us. I really couldn’t do this without Bryon. Although he brought out some annoyance in me, he always had good intentions. He is my best friend.

  Wow. I never thought I would have one of those.

  “Oh, yes, yes you can. You don’t need me at all. What do I bring to the table, huh? You’re a super angel, Jade is a historical genius, and I’m what? The good-looking, handsome, wise one? What good does that do you?” Bryon stated with his hands on his hips. And there is the good, old Bryon I know and love.

  “Oh, wise one, we need your knowledge and guidance. Please don’t leave,” Jade said, jokingly monotonous.

  “Funny, I’m out.” Bryon turned again.

  “Bryon, wait, we do need you. You are the glue,” I said.

/>   “The what?” Bryon and Jade said.

  “The glue, man. You hold us together. You help keep us grounded. We need that. Please, for me?” I asked.

  “The glue, huh? You need me, huh? Fine. Fine. But I’m not happy about it,” Bryon said slumping into one of the far pews. I saw a small smirk quickly appear and disappear from his face.

  “Ah-ha. There she is,” Uncle Homer chimed in, pointing to a line on my hand.

  “What is it?” I pulled my hands closer to my face.

  “Your partner. You’re going to need her if you intend on winning against Lucifer.” Uncle Homer made his way to the altar, got on all fours, and began knocking on the wooden floor beams.

  “Uncle, what are you doing?” I asked, walking over.

  “Remember all the stories I would tell you about my time in the desert? About my time overseas?” He found what he was looking for as he hit a hollow spot.

  Lifting the wooden plank, he pulled out a tattered cloth.

  “What’s that?” Jade ran over and leaned down next to Uncle.

  “This is what is going to keep you all hidden. Can’t be traveling the world all willy-nilly then, can you?” he said, standing up and unraveling the cloth. Inside was what looked like a necklace of sorts.

  “Traveling the world?” Byron said from afar. “I’m sorry. Did I hear that correctly?”

  “When you were taken from us, Nile fought for your sword. The Sword of Light. Its power is unprecedented, and Lucifer knows that. We hid it from him and all others. Even those on our side know that with it in their hands, the tides could be shifted.”

  “Where did you hide it?” I asked. The wind from outside rose, causing the walls to shiver and the windows and doors to shake.

  “The only place we knew it would be safe: its original resting place—”

  “Eden,” Bryon said, standing up and walking over to where we were. We all quickly looked at him, eyebrows raised. “What? I read the Bible once before!” Our looks persisted. “Okay, I read the cool parts. Sue me.” Uncle grabbed the book from Jade and flipped to another page. The image was of a flaming sword at the gates of The Garden.

  “Where in the world are we going to even start looking for that?” Bryon said, pulling out a bagel from his pocket and stuffing it into his face. “No one has known the actual location of The Garden since…ever.”