Rising Darkness (24 page)

“We accept,” said Ahab. “It shall be done. Now leave this place! We shall not see you again until we meet at Mount Carmel.”

Elijah bowed slightly and left the room. Only the angels remained. Gabriel grinned at Kara and Shawa, who were in deep conference with one another.

“Well, Kara,” said Gabriel. “It looks as if there will be another contest. If it goes anything like it did for you in Egypt, your next assignment will be Sheol.”

Kara gave Gabriel an icy stare.

“The gods of Egypt were divided,” said Kara. “Each of the angels running those gods was too concerned with his own territory and prestige. Baal is under one angel, Shawa, and each of the prophets are assigned an angel as well. You will see, Archangel, that when we are united we are unstoppable.”

“In that case, may I suggest you ask Lucifer to attend this little exhibition of Baal’s power?” said Gabriel. “This is your crowning moment, Shawa. The defeat of one of the Most High’s greatest prophets.”

“Lucifer will be there,” said Shawa proudly. “As will the rest of the Council. Isn’t that so, Kara?”

“Yes, of course,” said Kara. “I have every confidence in the outcome.”

“You don’t look too sure of yourself, Kara,” Gabriel said, half smiling….

Kara looked at Gabriel haughtily. “I’m quite confident, Archangel. We are the gods of this world. We have the authority!”

“And we have the Most High God,” said Gabriel, “who
is
the authority.”

Chronicles of the Host

The atmosphere around Carmel was more reminiscent of a festival than of a religious contest. From all over Israel people came: the curious, the faithful, the seeking, hard-core Baalists, and servants of the Most High—all wanting to see which god would show himself that day.

The prophets of Baal also assembled, proud and confident, carrying the many emblems of their worship. Several erected Asherah poles in anticipation of the great celebrations that would certainly follow Elijah’s humbling. As for Elijah, he kept to himself, awaiting the proper time to address the people.

Finally, the angels—both good and bad—assembled. Not since that fateful day in Eden, when so many angels watched the contest between the serpent and Eve, were so many holy and unholy angels gathered in one place.

As Elijah requested, Ahab had summoned people from throughout the land to witness the spectacle. Only Jezebel had remained behind in Jezreel to await the outcome. Unknown to her husband, she had given orders that once the demonstration was over, Elijah was to be killed on the spot. Thus she waited for news of Elijah’s death.

“Look at all the fallen angels!” said Bakka. “I haven’t seen many of these since they lost their place in Heaven!”

“It is a rather dark reunion,” noted Crispin, who had arrived from Heaven with several of his students. He wanted them to observe the contest, for academic as well as for historical reasons. “Grim lot, these unholy creatures.”

“Teacher, why have they become so…so out of control?” asked one of the student angels who was with him. He was pointing to some of his former brothers who were chasing about like mad dogs, shrieking hysterically.

“Result of pride,” said Crispin, matter-of-factly. “Pride erases the boundaries set up by the Lord so that once they are violated, one moves farther and farther from the ability to rationalize and behave in a controlled manner. The end result is complete insanity. It happens with humans and with angels. Of course, not all of those who fell have given themselves over to complete madness…not yet anyway.”

“Still lecturing, I see.”

It was Pellecus, Crispin’s former colleague at the Academy, who had become his chief opponent in matters of doctrine. “How will these poor students ever be able to discern truth from fantasy as long as you continue to fill their heads with such nonsense?”

“All of you remember Pellecus, I am sure,” said Crispin. “He was one of the most brilliant wisdom angels ever created by the Most High. Why, even I sat under his teaching on occasion. But he allowed the pride of wanting to be right to overcome the need to be truthful—and as a result he is neither right nor truthful!”

The angels laughed.

“We shall see after today, dear Crispin, who is right and who shares in the truth,” said Pellecus. “Confidentially, I say that whoever wins this war will ultimately dictate what is truth and what is right.”

Crispin turned to the angels with him.

“As I said, dear students, pride erases boundaries of reason—so that any desired outcome justifies the method of achieving that outcome.”

“Pride will erase you one day, Crispin,” said Pellecus. “Mark me!”

He then vanished to return to his vantage point for the contest. “Pride is also a poor loser,” Crispin said, winking.

Pellecus found Lucifer near the prophets of Baal. Many demons were encouraging the Baalists by speaking into their minds or performing small manipulations of religious trickery with amulets or charms. Observing their antics, Lucifer shook his head in disgust at the foolishness of men to be so easily deceived. He saw Pellecus coming toward him.

“These humans amaze me,” Lucifer said. “A spark of fire here, a bit of smoke there; a voice in the night or an appearance of one of their stupid gods—and they are completely given in. Incredible!”

“I see that Crispin is here as well,” said Pellecus, fuming a bit from his earlier encounter. “I only hope that we are successful so that his foul mouth will be silenced.”

“Well, well,” said Kara, who had just arrived. “Another academic brawl? I certainly hope that you were more successful this time than when you debated him in Heaven…”

“I only want to see him silenced,” said Pellecus.

“This is not an academic excursion,” said Lucifer sharply. “This is war. See that you keep it in its proper perspective. At any rate, these Baal prophets are very motivated, and they have the force of Jezebel behind them. She is quite a tool—completely deceived but useful.”

“So many of the enemy here,” said Kara, looking around him. “It reminds me of when we would all come together in the Kingdom for one of the assemblies. I remember being in the Council of Elders when Michael…”

He noticed Lucifer’s annoyed look and stopped talking.

“You long for those days of imprisonment?” asked Lucifer suspiciously.

“No, my lord,” Kara responded quickly. “I was simply remarking that it had been a long time since so many angels were together. I much prefer our current predicament…er… I mean our current situation.”

“I wouldn’t reminisce too much about the old times, Kara,” said Pellecus. “You might find that what others remember about your leadership might not be exactly the way you remember it.”

Kara began to respond, but Rugio interrupted with the announcement that Elijah had arrived. Lucifer looked down in the direction of a large crowd following the prophet up the hill. With him were Gabriel, Serus, Michael, and a number of other angels.

“This shall be quite a day,” said Lucifer. “I only hope Shawa is ready to perform.”

“Of course he is,” said Kara. “The prophets of Baal are completely entranced and ready to call upon their gods. Shawa’s angels are ready to perform whatever signs and wonders are called for here.”

“Excellent,” Lucifer responded. “But nothing too wild. Just a demonstration or two to show the people that Baal is their benefactor in this land.”

“Shawa is ready, my prince,” said Kara proudly.

“Yes, my prince,” agreed Shawa. “I count it an honor to serve you in this. And I pledge not to fail.”

Lucifer looked hard at Shawa.

“Very well, I accept the pledge,” he said ominously.

Elijah stood to address the assembly. To his left stood the prophets of Baal, quiet and confident, waiting their turn to please their god and king. Next to him were the materials brought up to build an altar. Ahab had brought in extra material so that both Elijah and the prophets of Baal could call upon their gods equally. A couple of oxen brought up for the sacrifice could be heard lowing above the murmuring crowd, completely unaware of what awaited them in the next few hours. Then Elijah began:

“I am the last remaining prophet of the Lord who has not been hunted down and killed and who is not in hiding. But look around, and you will see four hundred fifty prophets of Baal. Therefore this is what we shall do. Bring the two bulls for us and we shall cut them into pieces and place them on the two altars. But do not set fire to them! You shall call upon your god and I shall call upon my God, and the god who responds with fire from Heaven will be the true and living God!”

All seemed agreeable to this, so Ahab gave the order for the oxen bulls to be killed and cut into pieces. The prophets of Baal tended their altar and with great ceremony placed the pieces of the bull upon it. Elijah also placed his pieces of the animal upon the altar that he had fashioned. He then indicated to the Baalists that they could begin at any time to call upon their god.