In Rebellion (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book II) (30 page)
Read In Rebellion (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book II) Online
Authors: John J. Higgins
Chapter 42
Lillith had gone to the Garden of Eden early in the day after leaving Luciferael and Beelzebael to fight their battle to conquer the Earth. She flew directly to the pyramid and noticed that its entrance had been walled up in her absence. She would have to get Luciferael to assign some of his rebel Angels to re-open the pyramid. She had wanted to begin working immediately on modifying the structure into her new home using rebel Dominions and Principalities. Looking around, she could not find a single one. Luciferael's attack plans had taken all available rebel Angels and put them in his legions. Lillith knew that Luciferael was totally focused on finishing this war and that she would only anger him if she bothered him about the details of making her a new home.
She had not slept much the night before because of Luciferael's lovemaking and she was feeling tired. Taking flight again using her new Angel wings, she flew over to the stream where she had first met Jarahmael, still hoping he would appear. She still had a feeling, that despite Luciferael claiming he was gone, that he was somewhere near to her.
If only Jarahmael was with her: she missed the happiness he had freely given her. Luciferael did not make her feel the same way. What if Jarahmael was really alive and the rebel Angels were wrong? A cold shiver passed through her and then her face flushed. If Jarahmael had not perished what would he do or feel about her involvement with Luciferael? She still could not make sense out of whether Jarahmael was an enemy or friend of Luciferael from what she had overheard in the rebel Angel’s discussions about him. Had he betrayed the Almighty, and if Jarahmael did, was she still bound to her promise to the Almighty? Did the promise to do the Almighty’s bidding mean anything at all, now that He was gone?
These questions were too great for her to think about, much less resolve.
She decided that it may be a good idea to take a nap
, maybe sleep would give her some clearer answers. She would at least be able to think better.
Luciferael was gone at least for the time being.
Although he had said it would not take long to defeat the loyal Angels, she had no idea how long it would take. But he was so confident she did believe him that it would be over, once and for all, before the end of the day. She flew over the hut that she had shared with Adam. Looking inside, she realized that her former bed was the most comfortable thing in the Garden of Eden. She went inside the hut and lay down on it and fell fast asleep a short time later
.
She did not awaken until it was almost sunset
, when she rolled over her wings.
She decided to gather some food and walked out of the hut in order to do so. When she looked up at the sky she saw the last remnants of Luciferael's army retreating into the Second Heaven with the loyal Angels’ army following closely behind. The loyal army was much larger than she expected; from her perspective, it actually looked larger than Luciferael's army. It certainly did not look like it would be an easy conquest for any other army to defeat.
She returned immediately to the hut
. What have I seen?
she wondered. Once again, she did not know what to do. Once this rebellion started, it had wreaked havoc on her life as well as the Heavens and the Earth. From what she could see, the rebel Angel army that Luciferael claimed would have an easy victory was retreating back into the Heavens and abandoning her here in Eden. Now it was Luciferael and his other Archangels that left her.
But this time she had wings so she could fly herself.
She thought about trying to catch up with them as they retreated upwards into the Heavens but thought better of it. She could be trapped again up in the Heavens. And as she thought about it, she wanted to stay here in the middle of the Garden of Eden, abandoned or not. Besides, she could always visit the Earth below. This truly was where she was the most comfortable. Even Jarahmael's palace would just be a sorrowful place for her
. Something terrible had to have happened to Jarahmael, he never would have left her alone so long up in his palace if he had been able.
She would focus on the present.
With her new wings she could explore Eden and the First Heaven from above. She could also explore the Earth just like the Angels could.
She felt free and empowered.
She had gotten free of Adam and now maybe she needed to get free of Luciferael and his Archangels. With these new wings she could travel wherever she chose!
She
also did not want to be
this close to the war being fought.
But, this was the safest place for her to be as she
knew nothing about war and how to navigate her way safely through it, nor did she have any desire to learn. There was nothing good in her mind about this rebellion, as it had disrupted her life and taken Jarahmael from her.
As she moved around in the hut she thought back to when she lived here, a simpler time when her whole world was contained here in the Garden of Eden. She did not know much about the Archangels nor what would become
of
their struggles. She remembered how she had felt when she had first seen Jarahmael and how he had come down to find her after she left Adam. How he pursued her across the Earth to make sure she was safe. How much she missed seeing him, feeling him and being with him. Luciferael may have been more handsome but he did not have one tenth of the warmth that Jarahmael had. She started to cry when she thought of him being gone from her and that she would never be able to see or talk to him again. She was stuck now with the cold self-loving Luciferael and his strange companions, Archangels that she did not like.
For now, though, she was safe in Eden. Perhaps this is the best thing for me, she thought. “Stay here until the battles are over and then catch up with Luciferael later,” she said aloud, reinforcing it in her mind. “I will wait and see what tomorrow brings!” She did not want to take a chance by calling out the spell that Luciferael had used to take away her wings
. What if I can't get the wings to come back with the other spell?
she thought to herself.
I will be stranded here on my own. Adam and Eve are gone too. Best to leave the wings as they are for now.
She rearranged the straw in her bed so she could better support her back even with her wings. Despite having slept a good portion of the day away, she was still tired from having such little sleep the night before. And she knew the next day was going to be a long one. For Lillith, it was now a time for sleep and rest.
Chapter 43
GATHERING WHAT’S ABOVE
The next morning, Jarahmael and Cerebriel arose after a night resting with their legions in the Third Heaven. They were ahead of Luciferael in the Heavens and had so far avoided detection. Jarahmael was counting on Luciferael being focused on Michael’s loyal Angels chasing after him from the lower Heavens. Luciferael would not even think that there were any loyal Angels moving ahead of him to protect the Seventh Heaven.
Jarahmael met with Cerebriel and some of the other loyal Angels, preparing to lead their detachment up through the Third Heaven towards the Fourth Heaven. One of his Cherubim scouts approached them as they began their ascent. Excitedly, the scout called out, “I have news, my
l
ords!” causing Jarahmael and Cerebriel to stop and hover as the Cherubim came closer.
Cerebriel asked, “What news do you bring?”
“I return from the Second Heaven below us, where my orders were to make sure that all of the Potentates had been evacuated and that there were none left behind. After a quick flight down, confirming that all the Potentates had left, I saw that Luciferael and his legions were making their way into the Second Heaven. If he and his legions move at the same rate that I observed, I believe he could be upon us in a matter of hours, my
l
ords. Is there something you wish for me to do?”
Jarahmael looked at Cerebriel and spoke, thinking aloud. “I had seen some defenses that were put up at the gateway between the Fourth and Third Heavens. Actually it was there that the rebel Angels believed that I had fallen. I left only my spear, as I needed to use it to catapult myself out from in-between the walls. We could rebuild those defenses and assign warriors to hold the mazes as long as possible. But that will, of course, give away our position. Luciferael at this point doesn't even know that we are in the levels of the Heavens above him.”
Jarahmael turned his gaze back to the scout. “Did you see any signs that Luciferael's legions were being pursued by the Archangel Michael and his command?”
“No, I did not my
l
ord,” he replied to Jarahmael.
Jarahmael moved closer to Cerebriel. He wanted his counsel, but not for everyone to hear. “Cerebriel, what do you think? There is no way to confirm that Michael is on the other side of the rebel legions, pushing them up into the Heavens. Michael could have been defeated or have some other problem. In any event, I believe we should keep in mind that we are the only thing that stands in the way of Luciferael getting to the Seventh Heaven.”
Jarahmael hesitated for a second, debating about telling Cerebriel the truth about his taking the Book of Creation and Book of Life. They were far too powerful to fall into Luciferael's hands or any other Angel's for that matter. Besides, they were on the Earth below and inaccessible to him now. Luciferael’s army stood between him and the Books.
As far as Jarahmael knew, no one other than the Almighty was aware of the existence of the Book of Life, and he would leave that to the Almighty to explain when the proper time came. Nor was anyone in the Heavens aware that occupying the seat of the Throne itself gave one power in the Universe.
All the more reason to keep Luciferael away from the Throne and the Seventh Heaven.
Jarahmael did not want anyone else to know that, the risks were just too great. But Cerebriel and others knew about the Book of Creation and that would be reason enough for them to hurry and protect the Thone Room from Luciferael and his minions.
Jarahmael decided
to keep the secrets safe and to himself and
continued, “We also need to keep Luciferael away from the Throne Room as well as the Book of Creation
. Luciferael’s control of the Book of Creation would give him many of the powers that the Almighty possesses and would aid him in solidifying his control of our Universe.”
Cerebriel had been deep in thought about what Jarahmael had said. “As much as I would like to slow Luciferael down and fight him from a strong defensive position, I think you are right. Revealing that we are here in the Heavens above him may speed him up if he breaks through those defenses again at the gateway of the Third into the Fourth Heavens. He has broken through them once in the past already. It may make him rush up through the Heavens
more quickly and
overwhelm us with the numbers he has in his legions. And I agree, if what you say is true, that if he gets positioned
in the Seventh Heaven
or gets his hands on th
e Book of Creation,
we will not stand a chance in defending ourselves against him.”
Separating themselves from their huddle, Jarahmael stated to the Cherubim scout, “Thank you for letting us know.” Jarahmael then turned to some of Guardian Angels who were acting as messengers and said, “Go tell everyone to speed up in their ascent directly into the Fifth Heaven. We are not defending the gateway between the Third and Fourth Heavens and skipping through the Fourth Heaven altogether. In the meantime, Cerebriel, will you go on ahead, take a detachment of Cherubim with you and head directly to the Sixth Heaven? Clear out any rebel Angels and free any of the loyal Cherubim that may still be held captive. Take the rebel Angels as prisoners with you, do not leave them there.”
Jarahmael looked over at Faumiel and spoke: “Faumiel, bring your detachment with you, and come along with me. We will clear out the rebel Dominion Angels and free their captives in the Fourth Heaven and then proceed to remove the rebel Virtue Angels and free the loyal ones in the Fifth Heaven. We need to move quickly, as I want to overcome any resistance before the main body of our loyal Angels and especially the Potentates begin arriving in the Fifth Heaven. We will catch up with Cerebriel once we are done. Gaardrael, keep the rest of our column moving. By that time the main body of our force should be somewhere in between the Fifth and Sixth Heavens.”
Jarahmael and Cerebriel both broke off from the main body of the loyal Angels, each with their respective grouping of Cherubim Angels. Jarahmael and Faumiel’s small force quickly conquered the rest of the rebel guards. The
rebels
in the Fourth Heaven were no more skilled tha
n
the ones left in the Third Heaven guarding the loyal Principalities. With the freed loyal Dominions guarding and moving the captive rebels, they quickly joined the main column of Jarahmael’s growing legion as they ascended upwards.
Crossing into the Fifth Heaven, Jarahmael and his group quietly headed west, towards the Hall of the Virtues, while Cerebriel and his group continued ascending, heading towards the gateway into the Sixth Heaven.
A little while later, Jarahmael and his small squad landed on the ground near the Hall of the Virtues, a place very familiar to him as he had been here to free Michael and Ariel just a few days before. Despite Jarahmael's successful raid, Luciferael had not increased the number of guards. Nor were they on any heightened alert or any more watchful. The guards obviously thought that the real fighting was supposed to be occurring on the Earth. The rebel Cherubim guards were very surprised when Jarahmael and his small group overran them and made them captives.
Luciferael and his rebel Angels must have believed that they were going to simply surround the loyal Angels on the Earth and win the war,
Jarahmael thought.
That overconfidence and pride still gives us some advantage, as he will not be racing to cut us off get to the Seventh Heaven first.
In the Fifth Heaven there was about half a legion of loyal Virtues who were being held captive, but now freed they could join Jarahmael's legions. This increased Jarahmael's Angel strength to about three quarters of a legion, between what he had brought with him from the First Heaven, and the captive Principalities, Dominions and Virtues. With luck Cerebriel would be able to release another one fourth of a legion of loyal Cherubim still captive in the Sixth Heaven. By the time he would get to the Seventh Heaven, they should be up to a full legion's strength.
He also had a greater number of Potentates along with him but he knew he could not count on them as fighting Angels but only as energizers for the rest of his legion. Although he would still be outnumbered by Luciferael’s forces h
e would make his stand at the
entrance
to the Seventh Heaven whether or not Luciferael was being pursued by Michael. There was no time to waste.