The Journey (21 page)

“Oh… I see.”

“It’s just… I mean… What if I drool, or snore, or talk in my sleep?”

“Yet, those are natural things that
all
humans do. Such is to be expected.”

“But won’t staying here with me all night be an
unnecessary
hardship
?”

“I should not have referred to your needs as such.”

“Uriel, you
have
to have more important stuff to do than babysit
me
.”

“If I am summonsed and must leave, then I will do what is required of me. Fear not. Now, sleep.”

“I can’t just
fall
asleep
because you told me to.”

“Then, tell me a story.”

“Umm… It’s supposed to be the other way around. The person
not
going to sleep tells the story.”

“Yet, you are too excitable concerning the stories of my kind, little one. You seem to
live
for such knowledge.”

I sort of shrugged my shoulders. “In for a penny in for a pound, right?”

“Well said, tiny Jem. Still,
my
stories… they would not bring about comforting dreams.”

“Yeah… you’re probably right about that.”

“Jem?”

He waited until I met his heavenly gaze.

“In a short time from now, your loneliness will meet its end.”

I furrowed my brows. “Talk about coming outta left field. And just what makes you think I’m lonely? I’ve never been more content in my whole life.”

“We were not speaking of contentment.”

I crawled under the covers and stared up at the ceiling. “…I’m not lonely.”

“As you say, little one.”

I rolled over and looked him in the eye. “Are
you
lonely? Is being an Angel… lonely?”

He smiled. “I have an extremely large family and many responsibilities. Rarely am I granted the luxury of being still. I do not have the time to be lonely.”

“Being super busy is not the same as not being lonely.”

“No, tiny Jem. I am not lonely.”

I turned back to the ceiling, feeling the burn of coming tears. “…Azazel is lonely,” I barely whispered.

Uriel did not speak.

“How do you
know
I won’t be lonely forever?”

“I thought you said you weren’t lonely.”

“…I’m not.”

“Tell me where you are in the prophesy, little one. What mysteries have you uncovered thus far?”

“Many people have already uncovered those mysteries… long before I came along.”

“Very well then. Tell me how many
previously
uncovered
mysteries you have recorded thus far.”

“I’m pretty close to the end… maybe.”

“I would very much like to hear what you now know. Have you yet read of the trumpets?”

I nodded.

“Tell me of the Angels with trumpets, Witness Jem.”

I glanced toward him. “Were
you
one of those Angels?”

He smiled softly. “Please… tell me their story.”

“Alright… After the first four trumpets sounded and the first third of the former Roman Empire was destroyed, it was the fifth Angel’s turn. When
he
sounded… a star fell from heaven and was given the key to the bottomless pit. So, what do you think he did?”

Uriel was watching me, smiling with only one corner of his mouth.

“He opened it, of course. And do you
know
what happened next?”

Uriel’s smile widened. He nodded his head, only once.

“When he opened the pit… smoke filled with locusts belched forth. Now,
these
locusts were told not to destroy the grass and trees and stuff, but instead to torment the unbelievers for five months.”

“The ones without the heavenly seal upon their heads.”

“Yeah. So… you know what it’s talking about then.”

“I do. Tell me, little one. What do
you
believe the prophesy is talking about?”

“So-called Christians who were
way
off the path.”

“Meaning?”

“Well… after the barbarians conquered the Roman Empire, they brought their pagan ways with them, of course. Slowly, but eventually,
their
idolatrous ways tainted Roman Christianity with things like… superstitions, puppet statues that moved, and a bunch of other ridiculous artifices.”

“Yes. Go on.”

“
I
believe these particular practitioners had wholly polluted
real
Christianity, thus they no longer carried heaven’s seal upon them.”

He smiled softly. “You are wise, little one.”

“Not really. I just like reading history—stuff other people have already recorded.”

“As you say, Witness Jem.”

“Yeah, whatever. Okay… Now, because of all the other prophesies, it is known that a day in prophesy equals a year in real life—proven over and over. Thus, this locust torment thing would last one hundred and fifty years. A month is thirty days, right? Five times thirty, and there you go. See?”

Uriel tilted his head to the side and smiled again. “Go on.”

“Okay… Now these locusts weren’t just any old
regular
locusts. They had a stinger like a scorpion, and were the shape of horses prepared for battle. They wore gold crowns on their heads and had the faces of men, but hair like a woman’s. You still following me?”

The attentive Angel tilted his head to the other side but didn’t answer, only continued to half smile.

“Okay… A locust is an insect that rises from the desert, right?”

“At that time, yes.”

“But remember that these weren’t just regular old locusts because of that scorpion stinger thingy they had going on.”

“Among other things, yes.”

“Well, if you look back in history…” I slid off the bed and grabbed one of my books. “…around the seventh century, things and events perfectly matching this description took place.”

“And they were?”

“Mohammed and his followers—Mohammedans. Not
only
did they come from the deserts of Arabia, but legend states that Mohammed began his conquests when locusts fell from the heavens and landed in his hand with the words
We are the army of the Great God
inscribed on their wings. Also… hair like women and faces like men—the Mohammedans grew their hair long like women do, but they also wore beards and mustaches… obviously
men
faces. But the style at the time—partly via Roman influence—was to have a clean-shaven face.”

“And what of wearing golden crowns and being shaped like battle horses?”

“History records that the Mohammedans wore yellow turbans that resembled golden crowns, and of course they rode horses out of the desert. Now, the one hundred and fifty years fits perfectly into their timeline as well.”

“How so?”

“It was exactly one hundred and fifty years from when Mohammed started in 612 to when Baghdad was made
Peace
City
in 762. Although
some
historians claim that the time shouldn’t begin until Mohammed’s first invasion against Christianity to the end… which was from 629 to 779—again, one hundred and fifty years. Until the Turks came along. And this all falls perfectly in line with the other times of the prophesy.”

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah, and also… the Mohammedan invasion covered what was once a third of the Roman Empire.”

“The second third of the Earth.”

“Exactly. Now, the locusts had a time limit—one hundred and fifty years—but the same is not mentioned of the smoke that belched forth with them. That smoke was said to darken the sun and the air. The sun and the air—both big, major things, right? Okay, as has been proven throughout the prophesy… these big things are used to represent great, important, relevant things upon the Earth.”

Uriel smiled again.

“That smoke was used to darken the light of knowledge and true religion. The smoke hung around after the locusts had ceased warring… and still darkens the understanding of Mohammed’s followers to this day. Oh, and the prophesy also states that they had a king over them. This king was the Angel of the bottomless pit. It says his Hebrew name was Abaddon, but that his Greek name was—”

“Apollyon.”

“Yeah… Apollyon. His name means
Destroyer
. You know him?”

“…I do.”

We both fell silent for a few moments.

“So… is that as far as you’ve come in your studies?”

“No. Did you wish to hear more?”

“I am curious as to your take on the last two trumpeting Angels.”

“Okay. Well, the prophesy says that two more woes were yet to come—the last two trumpets. When the
sixth
Angel sounded, a voice came forth from the altar and told the sixth Angel to loose the four Angels he had bound up in the river Euphrates and that
they
would slay the third part of men.”

“So… the final third part of the ancient Roman Empire.”

“Yeah… One third of the Empire fell to the western barbarians, one third fell to the Arabian Moslems, and now the last third would fall to the Turks.”

Uriel and I held each other’s gaze for a quiet moment.

“It’s hard for me to believe, but… despite all these other things that had happened, there were
still
those who refused to give up their pagan, idolatrous ways.”

“Yes.” Uriel leaned forward. “Father is the
one God
. No man, entity, or force should be worshipped, save Him.”

I swallowed hard when I saw the awesome heavenly fire now sparking brightly within Uriel’s golden eyes.

After a few moments… his clenched jaw relaxed and he smiled softly at me.

“Do go on, tiny Jem.”

I nervously cleared my throat and looked back to the large book spread atop my legs. “It says here that this new army would number two hundred thousand thousand horsemen. That’s two hundred
million
horsemen. Can you believe that?”

“I can. The invasion of which you now speak took nearly four hundred years. Over that span of time, two hundred million horsemen is an accurate picture.”

“It says the riders wore breastplates of fire, jacinth, and brimstone—red, deep purple, and yellow—and that the heads of the horses were as lions… with fire, smoke, and brimstone issuing forth from their mouths.”

“A destructive, literally
explosive
force, yes.”

“Yes, and this scene perfectly describes the Turkish Empire. The historical facts of the rise of the Turks are well known and documented. They dressed like the prophesy says, decorated their horse’s heads to look like lions, and… they used
guns
.”

He nodded. “The fire, smoke, and brimstone issuing forth from their mouths.”

“Yeah… and it says they were loosed for an hour, a day, a month, and a year. Basing this off of the already established method of a day of prophesy equaling a year of fulfillment—a year would be three hundred and sixty-five days, a month would be thirty, a day would be one, and an hour would be only part of a year. Add them all up and you get three hundred and ninety-seven years.”

Uriel smiled. “Yes, go on.”

“Okay… From the year the Turks crossed the Euphrates, to the crown of their conquests at the fall of Constantinople, is
precisely
three hundred and ninety-seven years. It’s simply… astounding.”

“Yes.” He smiled again. “Father is the
Master
of events.”

I nodded. “Truly…”

“And the last trumpet?”

“Oh… Yeah…” I flipped ahead several pages in my journal. “Sooo many things happened.”

Uriel chuckled. “I fear my request for a story has only pulled you further from sleep, little one. Apologies.”

“That’s why the story was supposed to come from
you
, not me.”

Uriel smiled softly. “Lay down, tiny Jem, and I will ease you in this burden.”

“You don’t wanna know what I found out about the last trumpet?”

“Shhh… Close your eyes now. If you still wish to speak, you may do so… but only if you remain still and keep your eyes closed.”

I yawned. “…Okay.”

He gently stroked my hair. It felt good. I think I smiled.

“Uriel… were you involved in that great war in heaven when the seventh trumpet sounded?”

He paused for a moment, then began tenderly twisting my curls around his elegant fingers.