Light (44 page)

Light tumbled and, as it fell, it split
apart.  The three humans were separate again and the black dark mass that had
once been the En Sof was just a dissipating cloud of gas.  But even that was
not the end.  Within the gas another figure was forming, also human.  Alexander
Lapski and he too was cast down from heaven.

Each of them was returning to the place
from which they came.

The En Sof returned to its limbo prison to
become as unaware and as non-sentient as it had been before the day it had been
awoken by Jacob Cordozo’s failed ritual.  The Light once more was enjoined with
Heaven and the humans tumbled helplessly towards their rightful places in the
dimensions below.

……………………………………….

Jake opened his eyes.  He was still within
the Holy of Holies.  It was over, he knew it and he had survived unscathed.  He
tried to stand up but felt the weight of the breastplate holding him back.  It
seemed so heavy.

He removed the wondrous object and noticed
that it only had eleven stones.  The twelfth, Hester’s ruby had vanished.  Jake
reached into the folds of his vestments and produced the original Odem.  Now it
could be placed in its mounting and the Breastplate of Judgement, the
Choshen
Mishpat,
for the first time since the destruction of the Second Temple was
complete.

It had served its purpose and Jake no
longer wanted it.  He would hand it to Professor Tiferet.  He would know what
to do.

So, Jake opened the door and emerged onto
the Temple’s inner courtyard.  Shmueli and the Professor were waiting.

Then he greeted his friends and, like long
lost brothers he held Shmueli to him.  Together they had shared something
wonderful.  It was something they would never forget but there was one more to
their triumvirate and she was still on Earth.

Still holding the breastplate and still
clasped to Shmueli Jake crossed the threshold and there she was, Cherry.  She
rushed into their arms and they stood there holding each other, revelling in
the togetherness that they felt and then Jake pulled apart.

‘Lapski?’ he asked of Faivish but it was
clear that the man of Tevel had not seen the En Sof’s former host.

So, after being thrust out from heaven
Lapski had not returned here.  Was he being punished for his initiation of all
this?  Maybe he like Cherry before him had been thrust down alive to Sheol, but
somehow Jake doubted it.  Lapski was too clever.  He had escaped.  He could be
anywhere.

Poor Faivish.  He still looked so forlorn,
his Daivish head sitting there dead upon his shoulders and Jake knew that there
was something still for him to do.  He replaced the breastplate over his chest
and gestured to Shmueli and Cherry.  Each of them took one of his hands in
their own and reached out for Daivish.

Warmth flowed.  It tingled through their
veins, it permeated their being and then it spread out through their
outstretched arms to the lifeless head.  It was some vestige of the wondrous
power that had made them one but now they were using the small amount for the
greatest purpose possible.

The En Sof had sought to use the Light to
give it life, well now that life would be given to Daivish.

Exhausted they released the head and
watched in satisfaction as Daivish’s eyes opened and blinked.

‘Daivish,’ cried Faivish, exalting in his
joy.

‘What’re you so happy about?’ asked his
twin, indignantly and Jake knew that things were as they had once been.

Now it was time for the final act.  He had
to face Metatron and discover his destiny.

Boldly, Jake crossed the boundary and
stood in the courtyard of the Temple.  In a few short strides he was outside
and standing in the lowest of the heavens where he and his companions had first
been brought.  He was alone.

‘Metatron,’ he called and then before his
eyes a ball of flame erupted and behind it the form of the angel.

‘Well, Jacob Tranton.  It is done.’

‘It is done,’ and Jake removed the
breastplate.

‘Why have you done that?  It is yours to
wear.  You are the High Priest.  You have earned it.’

‘No, I have earned nothing.  I am a man. 
I did nothing of my own volition.  I was just your tool to destroy the evil.’

‘No, Jacob Tranton, you did everything. 
No other mortal could do it.  It was you who took the risks.  It was you who
was prepared to sacrifice your life to save your world.  It was you who was
prepared to die to give Faivish back his brother.  It was you who dared to
appeal to the Almighty to bring Cherry Linford back from Sheol.  You are the
true High Priest and you can have your reward.’

‘My reward?’

‘Yes.  You have for a short instant of
your life become an angel.  Only one who is without sin could even have been an
angel for even a short time.  Before you lies the fire.  Once I too was mortal
but I was purged of my mortality by the cleansing flame.  You too may join me
in heaven.’

Jake knew what it was he was being
offered.  He was being given the chance to become an angel to be a creature of
the divine.  It was an honour of the highest order but it was an honour he was
unable to accept.

‘No.  I am unworthy.  My life has been
shaped by a tragic accident in my childhood.  Now I have a chance to renew that
life with a woman I love.  I must take that chance.  I am not ready to be an
angel.

And then there came a shout and a wildly
gesticulating figure appeared.  It was hardly any surprise to see that it was
Mitch.  Mitch it had been whose massive chip on his shoulder had been
responsible for so much death and destruction.  It was Mitch, so much more than
the En Sof who had been truly the enemy but Jake did not have the heart to
blame him.

‘What about me?’

‘What about you?’ asked the Angel.

‘You promised me, you did.  You said that
if I helped to separate the En Sof from Lapski I would be rewarded.’

‘Is your heart true and your soul pure?’

‘Of course, I did what you wanted, didn’t
I, didn’t I?’

‘Then, if your heart is true and your soul
is pure you shall have your reward.’

And Mitch stepped towards the flame.

‘No,’ Jake cried as he realised what would
happen, ‘You’ll be destroyed.’

Mitch turned towards him and sneered. 
‘You bloody wanker Jake.  Don’t you see?  I was God’s tool.  All the way
through it was my actions that forced your hand and enabled you to bring about
the end of the En Sof.  I’m the one.  Me, me...’

And Mitch stepped into the fire and screamed. 
His clothing was the first to go.  It burst into flame and his face started to
burn but then his skin began to ripple and bubble, to dissolve with the
intensity of the blazing inferno.

His eyes seemed to swell as they popped
from his head to burst in a hiss of steam...and still the man screamed.

His body’s fat was melting, his face
becoming a mask of liquid plastic and then, bit by bit, his flesh liquefied and
became gas and dissolved into the flame...and still the man screamed.

Mitch would always scream.  He wanted to
lose his mortality.  He had succeeded.  Now he would be eternal within the
eternal fire.

‘Can’t he be freed?’

‘No, Jacob Tranton.  This was the reward
he deserved.’

‘But no-one could deserve that fate.’

‘It has been decreed.

‘So you may return to your world.’

And Jake held out the
Choshen Mishpat
. 
It was for this he had quested across the seven Earths and now he was ready to
give it up.  The time of the Messiah was not yet.  It was not for him to usher
in the Messianic age.

Instantly the breastplate vanished and
Jake knew that when the time was right it would be found again.  He turned and
slowly trudged back towards his home.  He could not bear to look upon the ever
burning form of Mitch.  Now it was over, he just wanted to begin again.

……………………………………….

And he was back.

Cherry rushed over to him and he took her
in his arms.  This was the girl he loved.

Shmueli was standing there looking on but
he did not seem too downcast.  Faivish/Daivish were with him.

‘So,’ Jake said as he pulled apart from
Cherry, ‘You’d better go through.  Metatron is waiting for you,
Faivish/Daivish.  You will be returned to your world.’

‘I’ll go with him,’ commented Shmueli much
to Jake’s surprise.

‘But this is your world.’

‘I know, but there’s nothing for me here. 
My parents are dead.  Cherry has you.’

‘But, Shmueli,’ Cherry began.’

‘No.  Don’t try to change my mind.  Jake
is the man for you.  Faivish and Daivish have lost their family.  Like me, they
are alone.  Together we will make new friends and we will console each other.’

‘Are you certain?  You may never be able
to return here again.’

‘I know, Jake.  This is my decision.  Let
me go, please.’

So they stood back as Shmueli together
with Faivish and Daivish crossed over to the other world where Metatron
awaited.  Instantly the walls solidified and all was as it once had been.  The
doorway to other dimensions was firmly closed.

Now Jake was alone with Cherry and
Professor Tiferet.

‘Well?’

‘Well,’ replied the Professor.  ‘I think I
will return to Israel.  Leave you two lovebirds together.’

‘But you’ll stay in touch?’

‘Of course I will.  You have so much to
teach me.  You must know more of the mysteries than anyone alive.’

‘Yes, a lifetime of knowledge.’

A lifetime thanks to his time with the
Haham.  Another life wasted before he journeyed to Tevel.  Now he could live a
third time.  This time he would make it count.