An Unholy Redemption

Chapter One

A shimmering sun began to rise on the eastern horizon over a desert far away

from civilisation, releasing its light through the tall black mountains, their

shadows like dark giants moving in perfect harmony with the movement of

the sun. Watching from the west, a figure sat in solitude on a rock admiring this

wonderful luminary of nature in the sky. Then a sarcastic smile came across his face

as a thought began to burn in his mind. Is it not ironic that God gave us the sun as a

giver of light and life, yet it is made of the most lethal destructive power known to man.

If only that power could be harnessed and used to destroy mankind.

His smile grew wider while he enjoyed this momentary thought of global destruction.

The mist hovered like a ghost over the surface of the sand and then began to lift and

fade away. He bent forward and reached out with his long white bony hand to scoop

up a handful of sand and watched the many golden grains shower through his fingers.

“This day each grain of sand represents one soul that is going to die.”

He lay back to rest his head on the rock face and looked up to the heavens, shutting

his eyes as he pondered a world with no heaven, just men living on earth doing as they

pleased with no-one to answer to. Ah, now that is my idea of paradise.

His thoughts of world domination were disturbed when he sensed the presence of

someone standing nearby.

“Speak,” he said, without moving and keeping his eyes shut.

“My lord we have found another.”

“Who is it this time?” he asked, angry at being disturbed while in a moment of

contemplation.

“Forgive me my lord, it is me Simon, I have come to tell you that Adrian has been

caught trying to leave our brotherhood to join the other side.”

“Hold him, Simon. I will be there in a while.”

“Yes my lord,” Simon said, then spread his wings and took flight back to camp.

He watched Simon flying off in the distance. As Lucifer’s anger grew at the thought

of Adrian’s betrayal, the white of his eyes flickered a shade of red like that of a fiery ruby. Jumping to his feet, he stretched his arms and began to unfold his wings. His wing span grew to at least forty feet, casting a shadow over the desert floor and scaring a scorpion which burrowed frantically in the sand to escape. Standing in his full glory, he gave a last look of contempt to the heavens and cursed. He then took flight amidst the cloud of sand created by the power of his wings.

Back at the secluded camp Adrian looked intently at the angel assigned to guard him.

“Marcus, my dear brother,” he said. “Why have you chosen this path? Don’t you know that it is wrong? This holy war that Lucifer is instigating today against God cannot be won. Millions will die and all for the sake of his pride.”

After trying for a moment to ignore his prisoner, Marcus looked at his captive with burning

eyes. “You stupid fool! It amazes me how God and his angels manage. All this talk about love, freedom and everybody living as equal, it is a disease spreading into the hearts and minds of anyone prepared to be sold a lie. Talk of a brighter future and being delivered unto the Promised Land is just a dream engineered to control the masses with futile hope.”

“Marcus, Paradise and the Promised Land do exist. If only you would open yourself to it.”

“Have you seen it?” Adrian bowed his head from Marcus’ intense, intimidating stare. “No,” he replied reluctantly, “but I do believe in it and have faith in our God the father, a faith that he will bring us to the Promised Land.”

 

 

His words were disturbed by a gust of wind which began to move the sand around their feet.

The grains did a frenzied golden dance. They both looked to the sky and saw Simon descending. Adrian watched and listened to Simon with increasing dread, in full knowledge that Simon was returning from reporting to Lucifer about his disloyalty.

“The only promised land you will be seeing today is a certain agonising death when our lord

returns,” Simon said as he landed. “Lucifer does not take too kindly to traitors.”

Simon folded his wings away when the chains and shackles that held Adrian fast to a rock

started to shake and vibrate. Looking over his shoulder and in the direction Simon was staring, Adrian began to see a small black figure flying in the sky, like a vulture circling for the right moment to descend and feed on its prey. The figure grew larger as it slowly descended. Adrian’s body began to tremble more violently as he realised what was approaching. He looked around at the surrounding angels who were kneeling to greet their master. This was who would decide his fate. Adrian closed his eyes and began to pray that God would come and save him. All at once everything became still and there was a dead silence. The wind had ceased and all Adrian could hear was the sound of his heart pounding like a drum. A gentle gust of warm air moving slowly over Adrian’s face caused him to relax. Believing he had been saved from the evil clutches of Lucifer, he smiled, ready to thank God for his deliverance. “Isn’t life cruel,” Lucifer said as Adrian opened his eyes.

Adrian’s joy sank when he saw Lucifer’s heavily scarred face and his full head of black hair in front of him. With two fiery burning eyes, Lucifer stared intently into Adrian’s. The warm air had been Lucifer’s breath emanating from his nostrils as he stood nose to nose like a tiger watching its prey. “Things never turn out how you expect them to.” Lucifer started to laugh out loud. He then pulled his face away and turned to see if his servants were still kneeling in submission and reverence. Then he turned back to Adrian.

 

 

 

 

“Look Adrian, you see how much my subjects respect me. They see their god before them, a god that is very present and alive, a god who will deliver them into their own paradise. They don’t have to pray for my help, I am already here. Tell me Adrian, where is God now, the god who you just prayed to for help? I can’t see anyone, can you?”

Lucifer silenced the other angels’ laughter with a wave of his hand. He then signalled for them to rise.

“Maybe he will listen to me.” Lucifer turned to the heavens and shouted, “Oh God, can you helpthis poor soul?”

After a brief silence, Lucifer mockingly put his hand to his ear waiting for a response.

“You see, Adrian, my theory is right. Your God has abandoned you just like he did me and just like he is doing with all humanity.”

“Why do you mock the Most High, Lucifer?” Adrian asked nervously, his hands and head

sweating profusely as he gulped to get moisture into his mouth, to speak again. “You were once in great favour.”

“Yes I was, but God in his infinite wisdom decided to cast me out of heaven like some disgusting foul creature. Why? Only because I wanted to know what God knew. All that love, knowledge and wisdom should have been for everyone, not just for God. That is simply selfish and arrogant.”

Adrian listened to Lucifer rant with some sympathy, which rapidly turned into fear again whenhe noticed Lucifer’s anger growing and his eyes begin to glow a brighter red than ever before.

 

“Bring me my sword!” Lucifer shouted angrily at two angels. They saluted and immediately

took flight.

The angels arrived at a small opening in the ground, slightly hidden among some rocks.

Guarding the entrance of the cavern stood two enormous dog-like creatures shackled in chains which gripped tightly around their necks and feet. The two angels cautiously approached amidst the frenzied barking and snarling. They saw that the beasts’ eyes were of the deepest black and their razor sharp fangs snapped as they barked and released saliva on the desert floor. They looked ready to devour anything that got too close. Stopping just out of reach of the snapping fangs, one of the angels lifted his right hand in the form of a salute and began to utter an ancient word, a word known only to a few trusted angels, the meaning of which was Lucifer’s privilege alone. The angel’s eyes immediately flashed red. At once the beasts bowed down in perfect submission, their faces deep in the sand as they breathed in unison. The other angel walked past his companion − who was still holding the salute, his eyes still ablaze in a red trance, not blinking or moving once − then threw himself into the mouth of the cave. As the angel descended at speed, the intensity of the heat greeting him became almost unbearable. When he finally reached the ground, he used his wings to fan and disperse the dense smoke blocking his sight. When the last of the smoke faded, the angel looked in awe at what rested on an altar in front of him. Glowing from the surrounding fire, Lucifer’s sword was at least six feet in length and made from the purest of gold. Transfixed by its beauty, the angel ran his finger along the smooth blade. The handle was gilded with the finest metals and embedded with rubies running along its perimeter. In gold writing around the circumference of the handle was a single word: Animositas. The angel watched the reflection of the fire bouncing off the blade while he stretched forward his shaking hand to retrieve it from its fiery depths. He gripped the handle firmly and removed the sword, pausing to feel its glory. In one swift movement he lifted the sword in the air. The sword was now vibrating and pulsating as if alive as the angel moved it side to side, cutting the air in front of his face. “Beautiful,” he said.

He then returned, holding the sword closely to guard it against damage. In a blast of smoke,

he shot from the opening of the cavern to the bright sun hanging in the sky and landing on the

ground next to his brother angel. He gently put one hand on his chest and leant forward to

whisper in the ear of his entranced companion, “I am here”. The mesmerised angel dropped his salute and regained consciousness, shaking his head as he opened his eyes. His red eyes returned to normal and the slow breathing of the two beasts became faster and more erratic until they were biting and snarling at their chains. The angels then took flight back to camp and a waiting Lucifer.

Lucifer did not have to wait long before the two angels had landed and one was kneeling in

front of him offering him the sword in submission.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Lucifer said to Adrian as he took the weapon. “This sword has been around since time began. I and only one other,” he looked at the heavens, “know its true name and power and capabilities. In the right hands, it can wipe out millions of humans, those disgusting creatures God proclaims to love so much. It can also kill a multitude of angels.” Lucifer teasingly waved the sword in front of Adrian’s face, allowing him to see his own scared eyes in the blade’s reflection.

“Take a good look at this blade and its perfection Adrian. It mirrors my perfection and is fit only for my worthy hand, don’t you think?”

Adrian began to tremble when Lucifer lowered his head to whisper in his ear.

 

 

“I want you to remember this day as the day when I was God, the day when I had the power to save or kill you. My voice is the last thing you will ever hear as I sentence you to death, a death worse than death or life itself, where you will have no knowledge of anything not even knowledge of yourself.”

Adrian began to weep as Lucifer thrust the sword into his heart as if it were a hot knife gliding through butter. Lucifer shut his eyes and made a connection with the sword by concentrating on its power. In a flash, the blade burst into flames and glowed the brightest of reds. “With this sword and the power of my will I damn you to Hell.”

Adrian let out a deafening scream, startling some vultures sitting asleep on a dead tree in the

distance. In an instant, Adrian’s body and wings began to turn into grains of sand that danced in the wind and then fell to the desert floor.

 

 

Far across the vast desert in the east, an opening in the sky began to appear, allowing a ray of light to descend on a camp settled among the dunes. An angel slowly emerged from the ray to greet his brothers saluting his arrival. “In honour of the Most High,” was the harmonious cry from the angels below.

“What news of the west, Gabriel?” the angel from the sky gently asked one of his brothers

below. “Are there any changes in Lucifer’s movements?”

“Not much my brother, Michael. But he and his brothers are growing in strength all the time

with their ongoing recruitment of souls. There is also some sad news. One of our scouts has just reported the death of Adrian.” Michael’s face sorrowed and his sapphire blue eyes began to weep at the thought of the death of a brother. He looked down towards the holy ground where the battle would take place. A terrible image of war and death encroached into Michael’s mind causing him to close his eyes to be rid of it. Opening his eyes again, he lifted his head to face the west where he knew that Lucifer and his brethren were readying themselves for war. “Tell me Gabriel, why has it come to this? So much blood will be spilt today.”

Michael again had to fight off a thought of the sand turning into a river of blood.

“It is inevitable, my brother. It has been written and spoken about since time began,” Gabriel

said. Michael turned with a glowing radiant face like the morning sun towards Gabriel as he heard his words. “Why do you look at me so intently, Gabriel?” At this, Gabriel dropped his stare. “I notice my dear brother that you look worried. You don’t doubt our victory today, do you? Or did the Most High speak of something that troubles you?”

Michael and Gabriel both bowed their heads in reverence and placed their right hands over

their hearts to show respect in mentioning the Most High.

“Gabriel,” Michael said putting his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder, “The Most High has held me

to secrecy about the events that are going to unfold on this day. All I can say is that whatever

the outcome, we all must keep the faith. You must follow my every command and trust in God’s infinite wisdom. Can you promise me that you will do this?”

“I will Michael, you know I will.”

They both turned to see another angel approaching. Michael watched as Daniel swiftly

approached with his sword.

“Your sword, brother,” Daniel said. Michael thanked Daniel after taking his blade.

Michael held his sword aloft towards the heavens, turning it from side to side. The sunlight

bounced off the edge of the blade. It was almost a replica of Lucifer’s in size, length and weight. The only difference was that instead of having rubies on the handle, it was inlaid with blue sapphires which shone in the light of the day.

“Come Gabriel, the Most High’s work is to be done. Let us ready ourselves. Go and call the

assembly of angels. It’s time we all gathered in prayer to prepare us for what lies ahead.”

 

With a bow of the head, Gabriel flew until he came to rest on a high cliff top. He bent down to pick up his golden trumpet, where it had been sitting waiting for the return of its master. He took in a deep breath, raised it to his dry lips and exhaled. Lucifer turned to face the east as Gabriel’s sound travelled through the air on a westerly wind and met his ears. A big smile made its way across Lucifer’s intense face on hearing this great sound. He thought of mass destruction and how it grew ever closer. “Gather the brethren Simon, the time has come to demonstrate to God and this planet who has ultimate power.” Lucifer slowly breathed in as if inhaling and visualising the smell of death that would soon be wafting through the air.

“It’s a great day to create a hell on earth,” he said quietly. Lucifer lifted his sword to touch his face as if making a salute. With the blade resting on his nose, he closed his eyes and connected with his innermost power, making his soul come to life. Within seconds, electric bolts surfaced from the ground, snaking around his feet and gradually climbing up to his groin, his upper torso and then around his face, until his whole body was surrounded by red light circling around him like a tornado. Lucifer’s eyes blinked open to reveal a bright crimson light in his powerful stare. Just as quickly as they opened, his eyes closed again.