The War in Heaven (28 page)

It was nearly midnight when she laid the book down and looked out the window into the night full of fireflies. Everything looked normal, but it wasn’t. Something was wrong, very wrong. For one thing, the crickets had gone silent, and there was something else, a darkness that went beyond the darkness of the night.

Elizabeth rose to her feet and gazed out the window. It was growing darker, even the sparkling of the fireflies seemed subdued. A chill went through her body. She heard a flapping of wings as if some great bird had flown over her house. Then there were voices, deep and guttural. There were footsteps on her wooden porch, then a knock at the door.

“Visitors at this hour?” she murmured. She made her way to the door.

Opening the door, she saw a frightening sight—a pair of bat-winged demons dressed head to toe in black stood on her porch. Their faces were those of two very old men, wrinkled and practically gray. Indeed, they looked like the faces of a pair of dead men.

“Do not be afraid,” said the one on the left, “we will not harm you; however, we require that you perform a task for us.”

Yes, Elizabeth was frightened, but she was not about to let these two know it. “You have no right to be here, leave at once.”

“Now don’t be so rude, human,” said the other. “We will trouble you but a minute and be on our way.”

“OK, what is it you want?” asked Elizabeth, wondering if being diplomatic might be a better approach.”

“We require your assistance in taking us to the City of Zion,” said the first. “It is but a small thing, a simple thing. Do it and we will trouble you no further.”

“Now wait a minute, how could it be that you are here in the first place,” asked Elizabeth. “How can you be here?”

“You will need to get used to us being here,” replied the demon. “Heaven shall be the dominion of our master, Satan. So long as you cooperate, cause us no trouble, you humans of Heaven will have little to fear from us.”

Elizabeth looked at the demon incredulously. “Cooperate with Satan and his followers? I think not … and I won’t take you to Zion.”

“Obviously, you don’t understand the situation you are in,” said the second demon, grabbing Elizabeth by the arm and pulling her onto the porch. “We are not asking for your help, we are requiring it. You are a pretty one for a human, I wouldn’t want to have to do anything that might mar that beauty. I am very accomplished in the art of doing just that, and doing it in a most painful manner. Trust me, you wouldn’t want that, and it doesn’t have to happen.” He pulled her out into her front yard. “You can form the portal right there.”

Elizabeth was terrified. Never had she imagined such a thing happening to her. Then her mind went back to the last time she had spoken with Jesus on this very spot. She was fortified by His words. Her fear turned to righteous anger. “How dare you touch me in that way! You have overstepped your authority.”

“We will do far more than that if you do not help us,” said the other.

“I’ll give you one more chance to leave,” proclaimed Elizabeth. “I won’t ask again.” Quite honestly, she had no idea as to whether she was bluffing or if she could make good on her threat.

“The only asking you will be doing is asking for mercy,” said the demon.

Elizabeth extended her hand toward her attacker and she felt a surge of power flow through her body. It was not a frightening sensation. Actually, it felt good. Her hand was glowing with a bright blue aura. A wide beam of blue light left her hand and struck the demon. He was quickly shrouded in a field of sparkling light. He let out a terrible scream as his flesh began to dissolve away from the outside in. He fell to the ground writhing in pain.
Gray flesh gave way to dark red muscle, then dissolving bones and internal organs. Within 30 seconds little remained beyond a pile of soot scattered across the ground. Then she turned to the second one.

He drew out his sword and swung it at Elizabeth. She grabbed its blade in midair with her glowing hand. It instantly liquefied and flowed to the ground like glowing quicksilver.

He tried to take flight, but was swiftly engulfed within the deadly blue aura. Half a minute later all that remained of the demons was two piles of dust.

Elizabeth looked on in amazement as her hand returned to normal. Then she dropped to her knees crying. “Oh, thank You, Jesus,” she wept.

The sounds and sights of a summer night returned. The crickets resumed their song, the fireflies their light show, and the frogs their croaking from a nearby pond.

Elizabeth rose to her feet and returned to the house in a state of mind somewhere between the elation of worship and the numbness of shock. She extinguished the oil lamp and went straight to bed. She would try to sort this whole thing out in the morning.

I
t was 45 minutes later when Johann, Nikola, and Marlith emerged from the cloud of misty stars at the hill called Ceranda. They didn’t know what to expect. Perhaps they would emerge into the midst of a great battle—but they didn’t. They found themselves surrounded by a countless number of angels, many still badly injured. They appeared exhausted and forlorn. Never had they known a defeat as they had on this day. To the north, flashes of light and the rumble of thunder told of a raging battle. It was a few minutes before the archangel Gabriel approached them. Johann appraised him of the situation.

“I have no great desire to withdraw from this battle,” lamented Gabriel, “yet to do anything else is to yield to defeat. We have just a rudimentary battle plan. We are only a few hundred thousand here against millions, and their numbers grow every minute. Many of our angels have already been captured and imprisoned…perhaps millions. Our position here is in jeopardy. This place will be overrun within an hour…two at most. Many of those around us are in jeopardy of being taken prisoner. They can neither fly nor fight. It will take many hours for most of our warriors to mend. If you have a way to get our wounded to safety, we would appreciate your help.”

“It will take more than just the two of us,” said Johann, turning to Nikola. “Return to the lab. Bring as many of our people as you can. We will have to form multiple gates to the second level.”

Nikola nodded and quickly gated out. Within two minutes, seven members of his team had arrived. They immediately formed passageways to the
Hall of Angels on the second level of Heaven, each leading a long train of wounded angels hand in hand into the ethereal corridor.

“How many can your people take at a time?” asked Gabriel.

“At least a hundred, safely,” replied Johann. “After which the person forming the corridor can return for more. If we have an hour, I feel confident that we can evacuate thirty thousand or more.”

“That’s barely a tenth of the angels we have here,” lamented Gabriel. “If they are here when Satan’s forces arrive, they will surely be captured.”

“I don’t know what else we can do,” admitted Johann, “and the longer we delay, the fewer we can evacuate.”

Gabriel looked to the north. He was convinced that the battle was drawing closer. “Do what you can.”

It took less than a minute to begin the evacuation. Each of Johann’s people led a group of angels through the portal, hand in hand, as if in some children’s game.

As the minutes ticked by, other humans gated in and joined in the effort. Some were members of Johann’s science team; others were his neighbors who had heard of the plight of the angels. Still others were from the local area, people who had heard news of the angelic crisis and wanted to help. Within half an hour, there were more than 40 people guiding the angels to safety, and more were arriving by the minute. Still, they needed more time. The battle in the sky was growing nearer. It was time to take a radical step. Every particle rifle in Johann’s arsenal was brought from his lab to the battlefield.

Johann gathered his team together. “My friends, I have a plan, but it carries with it considerable risk. Gabriel informs me that we have about half an hour before the demons are here. Well, I think it is about time that we put the particle rifles to the test. No point in building more of them until we can be sure that they are worth building. You’ve all test fired them; well, this
won’t be a test, this will be actual combat. We’ll take up positions around the evacuation area. When the demons get close enough, we will all open fire simultaneously. I doubt that we will be able to hold them off long with 21 rifles … but maybe we will be able to throw them off balance. I warn you, they will probably respond with a barrage of fireballs. There is no telling how those will affect us or the rifles. We might have to pull out in a hurry.”

“Sounds reasonable to me,” said Niels.

“And me,” said David.

There was total agreement among the ranks. For years they had supported the struggle of the people of Refuge against Satan. Many had loved ones within Satan’s grip. Now, Satan was here among them. It was time for determination and hard work to become courage.

They returned to the task of ferrying angels to safety, waiting for the moment when they would find themselves on the front line with their angelic brethren. Many were afraid, all prayed for strength, but none would waver from what they saw as their responsibility.

Another 50 minutes passes. The angels still in the fight had held out longer than any had dared to hope, but their strength and numbers were fading, and the front line was half a mile away.

By now, 80 volunteers had become pilots carrying the wounded angels to safety. Over 100,000 had been evacuated so far, but so many still remained.

The demons were closing in on three sides, in numbers too great to calculate. It was time. Within two minutes, 21 human defenders had taken up their positions in hastily excavated foxholes and behind mounds of earth prepared by the angels.

“Show time,” said David, turning to his mother who had taken up a position behind the earthen mound at his side. “Mom, I don’t like the idea
of your being out here. This is war. I can’t bear the thought of something happening to you.”

“It won’t,” replied June, charging up her rifle. “If God is with us, who can possibly stand against us?”

Individual demons were clearly visible now, like bats against the clear blue sky. The angels’ defense line was crumbling. The demons seemed to hover for a moment, pirouetting on the thermals; then they descended upon the defenders from all directions.

“Wait,” urged Johann. “Let them get closer. Now!”

Brilliant beams of highly ionized atoms swept out in all directions. Then came the explosions as they hit their targets. The massacre was legendary as the minions of Satan exploded in midair. The beams kept slicing through a dark mist of incredible carnage. In some places the sky turned red with their blood. Yet the demons continued their relentless descent. They hit the ground and drew their swords to be met by angelic swords and deadly beams of atomic particles.

Johann had not envisioned the battle occurring at such close quarters. One demon, sword drawn, approached to within a few feet of the great scientist but was cut down by a blast from Karen’s particle rifle. Johann was knocked to the ground by the explosion, splashed in boiling blood and lacerated by fragments of bone.

The pain was terrible. Johann removed a shard of bone that had penetrated over an inch into his arm, and another into his chest. He struggled to rise to his feet, but collapsed. A shadow loomed over him. He rolled over to see another demon descending upon him, sword drawn. He swung his weapon into position and pulled the trigger. The resulting explosion was deafening. It left Johann dazed.

Fifty feet away, David and his mother stood back to back, trying to hold off the onslaught of no less than a dozen angry demons. Both were spattered
in blood, bruised and lacerated by the debris falling everywhere, but their determination was unwavering.

Still farther down the defense perimeter, Hari and Niels continued their aerial barrage knocking dozens of attackers from the sky. Yet they too were being splashed and lacerated by the hot caustic remnants of their vanquished demonic targets.

The defense line wavered uncertainly under the ruthless assault. It was worse than any of them could have imagined. Yet, as quickly as it began, it ended. The confused demons were retreating as particle beam fire continued to cut them down by the scores.

The angels still aloft pursued the retreating demons. All the while, the evacuation continued. They had won the first round.

Nikola rushed to Johann’s side. Johann was badly burned and lacerated.

“What happened?” asked Johann. “How did it go?”

“The battle was a success,” replied Nikola. “We put them to flight…at least for the moment.”

“They’ll be back,” said Johann, his voice weak and faltering, “and they won’t make the same mistake twice. They will probably try to bombard us from long range with fireballs next time. We can try to hit the fireballs with the particle beams. They might disrupt them. If not, we will need to withdraw.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” said Nikola. “For now, we need to get you out of here.”