For We Are Many: The First Meeting

There was a presence about him. It is hard to explain really. He has been villified throughout history, called so many dark names that you would never know that he was once known as the son of the morning. His very name means light. He was pure energy, beautiful in every way imaginable. He was charismatic beyond belief. He evoked loyalty, aroused passionate affection and demanded unquestioned obedience.

His origins were the only thing shrouded in mystery. Some have said he was a mere extension of The Source, a piece of it merely separated from the Source in the necessity of physical mobility. Sentient on its own, separate but equal in many ways limited only by his physical form which in the end was the deciding factor on that fateful day, but then I am getting ahead of myself.

He was the oldest of us, older the Metatron and Seraphiel, hell even older that Melchizedek. His very presence demanded respect and reverence, yet his personality invited friendship and comraderie, which was ironic. Older, senior and more powerful than much of the lesser angels yet more inviting and personal than those angels who thought so much of themselves, such as the Esiasch, The Council of Brothers, for example.

Known by many as the serpent, Satan, the Devil, Demon, monster, the ancient Dragon this much maligned villian was known to me simply as my friend. He was Lucifer, the Guardian of the Throne, the Son of the Morning and it was my friendship with him that ultimately proved to be, for better or worse, the life changing, eternal undoing of everything I knew and held dear.

I first met Lucifer when I was in training. My natural affinity for combat had impressed even Michael, and as I have already mentioned, Michael was not easy to impress. Apparently his reports had gone up the chain of command, impressing even Metatron, which was nothing short of miraculous. Now that may seem a bit far fetched or melodramatic, but you have to understand the enormity of the Host. There was no number to describe it no way to even estimate the size of it. And there were countless angelic warriors being added daily by The Source. Reports came and went, usually with a brief perusal by those of the Kyriotetai. In other words, the Esiasch rarely saw those reports, so one of them seeing this one meant that the nit picky, snooty bastards of the Kyriotetai were impressed enough to pass it on.

Then there was the fact that word had gotten around about the spar between Michael and me and its surprising outcome. It had won me a certain level of celebrity status, well as much as was possible for an individual in an egalitarian society such as ours, a society where all are equals and nobody really stands out. Personal achievements were not something that angels strive for since it would only serve to disturb the Harmony. Whatever the case was, and however it happened, word got around and eventually got to Lucifer, and in a rare moment of decision, he decided to come and observe. And as usual, he did not think to let anybody know, of course, when you are top dog you don't have to.

It was a busy day at the Square of Attunement, the usual sparring and training as the crackle of energy, blade on blade, filled the air. I had somehow thought that after my spar with Michael that I would have earned a little reprieve from all the sparring but quite the opposite happened. I still think that Michael was being a sore loser but he ended putting me out there more, fighting others in spars helping train others. He kept testing me over and over with increasing levels of difficulty. Pairing me with different sparring partners, learning to fight as a group and then learning to fight against a group. Spar after spar tested my skill, wit and stamina. Today was no different except for an unexpected visitor with an unexpected surprise.

As I fought a team of two, the sound of energy on energy crackled, blocking one I began a spin buffeting the second one back with a combination of my wings and a kick in the chest, a risky move but unexpected and therefore effective. Completing the spin I attacked the other opponent, blocking his blade then dropping into a low spin as I kicked his feet out from under him. Pinning him with my blade as the instructor called a kill then spinning to block his team mate only to realize it was not his partner. The opponent pressed at my blade pushing me down as though the weight of the world was weighing down on me. Looking into the most intense emerald eyes a soft voice chuckled, "I hear you are good young one, let's see how good you really are."

The intense power behind those words is difficult to explain. It was as if the person on the other side of that blade could overpower me by sheer personality alone. He was unassuming, he was vibrant and the energy seemed to flow through him. I didn't know who he was, but I did know I was in trouble. I had fought everything else Michael had thrown at me, however, and I was in no mood to back down now. Holding his blade at bay, I unfurled my wings, opening myself to the Source, drinking in its energy, more so than I had ever done, feeling as though it would fill me and then explode in a brilliant but fatal display all the while as those electric emerald eyes watched me. Reeling from the infusion of power, I pulled my wings in tight, like a shield around me. Half spinning and half somersaulting I spun away from this mysterious opponent as his infuriating chuckle pursued me, amusement lacing it along with something else, something I couldn't quite define. Setting my feet firmly, spreading them with the right distance to provide a broad base to hold the force of the blade that was pummeling at me. My opponent moved quickly towards me, attacking confidently with ease and grace.

I watched him as he approached me almost stalking me and I looked him over, taking in what I could about him. He wore an insignia on his belt I had never seen which meant he was way above my pay grade and I was in over my head. He was not imposing in stature, but what he lacked in size he more than made up for it with his personality. He was about five feet nine inches, to put it in terms you would understand, but seemed so much larger. Long blonde hair was held neatly back, his robes were white but most remarkably...I saw no wings. Later, when I discovered who it was, I learned that the absence of wings was simply a matter of him not being an angel and therefore dependent on The Source. In essence, he was The Source and did not need to draw energy from essentially himself.

And then he was all over me his blade swirling in figure eights as it danced before me, seemingly everywhere at once as I attempted to follow it and avoid it. The energy was so immense that it seemed to trail like a flame almost blinding in its radiance. The blade moved too fast to watch and it was only by instinct that I managed to fend off the attack working hard to block the whirling blade. Pressing his attack he moved in for the winning shot and I braced myself as I spun away from him, struggling to maintain my composure, but I knew I was beat and was lucky to have managed to stave off the loss this long. Knowing that my opponent was toying with me only made it worse. As my eyes watched the blade I missed the feet that swept under me knocking me off balance. As I fell unceremoniously to the ground the blade crossed in what would have been a fatal strike and the spar was over just like that.

My opponent reached out a hand to help me up and as I stood I looked him in the eye and then looked around to see that the entire square had stopped to watch with something akin to awe. Catching my breath I looked to Michael who came over and respectfully addressed my opponent, "Greetings in the name of The Source Lord Lucifer, you honor us with your presence." Lucifer nodded his acknowledgement of Michael's greeting but pinned me down with that penetrating gaze he had. "You have the skill of a seasoned warrior and the impetus of a young soldier, Michessian, I compliment you on a spar well fought."

By this point I was speechless having finally realized to whom I was speaking so I took the moment to look over this Angel who reigned over the Council of Brothers and who was the highest ranking physical being in the Celestial City. He