Angel Prophesies : Chapter 1

< Chapter 1: Birth of the Prophet and the burning of the Dark Guardian Angel>



On a starless night, a male child lay dead in a field of white lotus watching Angels fall from the sky like snowflakes. In their hands, cradled like small stars, were the souls of children. Bent over the boy was a dark Angel holding a soul.

All the boy could see of his Guardian were a few narrow lines sketching out a silhouette against the sky: the body was hollow, thinned to starvation, with wide green eyes that were set like emeralds against sand brown skin.

"This night I will teach you of pleasure and the enduring lesson of pain. In this field you are nothing more than flesh, and here I hold the key to your salvation."

He lifted his hands, and the boy's soul stared down over the Angel's fingers at the body below. As the Guardian moved his hands down, the boy's body filled with bliss. But when the soul was moved away, it felt as if demons tore the flesh from his bones.

"That is the secret to temptation; as you move towards being born into the world, you feel pleasure. That is the ecstasy of falling from grace, but to go the other way, back to Heaven, is suffering."

The Guardian raised the boy's soul towards Heaven above, and pain washed over the child like molten lead.

"So do you want to live, boy? Or should I let your soul rise back up into Heaven? They say that you are no ordinary boy. The Angels say that you are the last prophet, that you are the one who will bring the End of Times. But you must choose. If you want to live, then speak with your flesh, else I will free your soul and let the insects devour your body in this field."

The boy wanted to speak; he could not endure the pain any longer, yet he was paralyzed. Thousands of ants and beetles crawled out of the dirt and onto the boy's body. The hungry eyes of the insects looked, waiting to see if a soul would be put into the body.

That was enough. The boy made something stir from within, and the Guardian Angel leaned over and pressed his ear to the boy's lips. The boy forced a voice to come up from the dark recesses of his flesh and whisper four words.

"I want to live."

"Then you may have your soul. And I will give you life."

The Guardian snatched the soul from the air and drew it down like a hammer. Pain was replaced by ecstasy. The Guardian reached into a dark leather pouch at his waist and pulled out a white stone. He pushed his jagged thumb nail through the center and blood came from the stone as if it were flesh. He placed it on the boy's lips and blue fire erupted as he blew across it.

"God first formed the world from water."

Water filled the boy's body; his muscles bulged and tingled. The Guardian took out another stone and blew white fire across it.

"Air rose above the water as God drifted across the open seas."

The boy's lungs filled with air, and he could smell the sweet aroma of lotus blossoms. The Guardian pulled out the final stone which burned as darkly as the mud of that field.

"God made land amidst the sea. Angels raised mountains and continents across the watery divide of the world."

The boy's body became heavy, and the blades of grass bent beneath his weight.

"Now I give you the last covenant of life, the very breath of God so that you can live out your days mixed as flesh, blood and divinity."

The Guardian shut his eyes, and white light danced around his head. It became a halo of fire that rose three feet into the sky. He inhaled a prayer, saying it backwards as it went into him. And all the Angels around that field bowed down so that their white, illuminant faces touched the ground at their feet.

Above, God stood with Angels circling around his head; he was in the form of a golden ram with horns of light. God said a name, and the Guardian blew that very breath of God into the boy's body, and he became alive.

"Wake up, my child."

The Guardian's breath smelled like smoldering dirt. The boy sat up and looked around. There were Angels bent over blowing fire into the throats of the other children. God spoke the names of those children as well, and thousands of spirits fell from the sky like shooting stars. The Guardian Angels caught and married each soul into the bodies of the children.

"Your soul has been mixed with dust just as Adam's was mixed with Eden's mud. It is a gift from God. Not all children are so lucky. Some souls never touch flesh. Their bodies die in the womb. More children are lost now than ever before."

It was true. Many children never had the chance to journey from Heaven to Earth. Their bodies became corpses in that field; mothers wept or rejoiced when the babies died in their wombs. The Guardian Angels had no choice but to open their hands and release those lost souls back to Heaven.

"What will happen to them?" The boy asked.

"God will sit them at the foot of his throne and sing to them. A cast of Angels will bring them milk and honey. And those children will be closer to God than any other souls for they are pure unlike we who touch flesh and lose our innocence."

His eyes were heavy with sorrow. In them was reflected the children's souls as they rose up from the field. The dead bodies were left behind for the insects. Ants opened their skin with their tiny pincers. So many worms, spiders and maggots entered the dead children that they almost looked alive again.

"Terrible thing that is; they were not even given a name." The Guardian said.

"And what is your name?" The boy asked.

"Seraph."

The Guardian smiled. His teeth were clean and white, perfect except for being chipped at the ends.

"That is not your name. Why do you lie to me?"

"How do you know? What voice is telling you that I lie?" The Guardian looked up towards Heaven. But there were no Angels whispering to the boy.

"I know because I see it in your face."

"Then you truly have a gift." He bowed his head, and said "My name is Malakh."

The Guardian's halo of fire sputtered into a crimson blaze, and the boy saw scars all over the Angels' forehead. That was another ugly lie.

"You are still testing me. That is not your name."

"Then I will tell it to you, if you must know the secret of my title. If the names that men have called me for a thousand years will not do, then I will tell you the original name that God gave me at my own creation."

"My name is Angelos; some called me the greatest of all Angels; the supreme messenger of God."

The Guardian's eyes grew wide. His face softened, and even through the scars the boy could see that the Angel had once been very beautiful, not just handsome, but glorious.

"Yes, you are not lying; you are an Angel, but that is not your name. None of those are your names even if people have called you by them. Stop playing with me; tell me your name."

For a second the Guardian's hand tightened around the handle of his walking stick and his eyes narrowed as if he might strike, but instead he laughed and smoke rose from his throat.

"Very good, you are more gifted than any of the others. You must truly be the Prophet. Now I know God has decided to end this world. I can not speak my name here, but I will tell you a few false names. I have been called the Tempter by Mathew. Luke titled me Beelzebub. I have other names that run back before men knew how to write, but above them all, the lie that men have remembered me by the longest, is Satan."

The vultures in the sky cried out. The snakes that were coiled in the field hissed when they heard that name. The boy could feel the terror of that title; his hairs stood upon their ends.

"If that is not your name, then why would you be known as Satan?"

"I was ordered to tempt the souls of men. God gave me the title Ha-Sataan, Tempter of Souls, and I was very good at it; I did it for a very long time."

"So then you are Satan."

"No, I hate that name. Call me by my Roman name, Lucifer. It means bringer of light, and like Prometheus who was punished by Zeus, so too have I been punished by God."

Lucifer raised his hands and chains dangled from his wrists, and the boy saw that Lucifer's head was crowned in scars. The boy stepped back, holding his trembling hand over his mouth.

"Do not fear me child. I am only misunderstood, not much different than Prometheus who stole fire and gave it to mankind so they could see at night. I have nothing more terrible than that. I only showed Eve the Forbidden Fruit. Just as poor Prometheus was chained to a rock and tortured, so too has the God of Heaven chained me to the World as punishment; he, not I, should be feared." Lucifer said.

The boy wondered how he fit into this great tale.

"So who am I?"

"You are a sign of the End of Times. That is why I had to test you; I had to know if you were the one. These chains bind me to the world until its end. But you are the promise that the end will come. You are the last prophet."

"Then you will not harm me." The boy spoke to assure himself, but fear made him stutter.

Lucifer's eyes narrowed and he wondered if this boy could really be so important.

The boy saw the doubt; he felt the predatory eyes staring through him. He wanted to run, but instead he stepped forward and he spoke with an authoritative voice. "Tell me my name, Guardian. It is might right."

"Very good, that was close for you. Dangerously close." Lucifer snapped his neck to the side in one quick jerk, then slowly looked back down at the boy. "Most Guardians use the name given by a child's earthly parents. But your birth is a tragedy, and you will not be given an earthly name. So you must choose your own name."

"Either you shall be called Esau or you may be called Jacob. Esau was despised by God, but from Jacob came all the nations of blessed men. I would name you Jacob, for it means holder of the heel. It is the name of a man who once touched the very foot of God. But you must choose for yourself."

"How am I to choose?" The boy said.

"As all men choose their destinies. On one hand there is torment, anguish and salvation; on the other are pleasure, power and glory." Lucifer said.

"Which of the two is better? What road is holy?"

"Let me show you."

Lucifer picked that child up and held him towards the sky. Pain and suffering ravaged him in ways he could never have imagined.

"That is salvation."

He dropped the boy to the ground, and the fall was pleasure. He nudged the boy toward the world a step or two, and again came warmth and light.

"Pleasure or pain. Jacob or Esau. But I will tell you this. If you come with me, if you bind your fate to mine, you will never have to suffer the path back to Heaven." Lucifer said.

"Then I will never return to Heaven?"

"You will not have to suffer that journey. Together we will bring salvation without pain, and you will rule the world and all that is in it. It is your choice."

"Will God despise me?"

"A father can not hate his child. God is beneficent in everyway. You do not have to endure pain for him to love you. Join me and I will give the world."

The boy knew that it was a lie, but he didn't care. He only wanted to be freed of his burden, to be lead down a path and not left alone. God was no where to be seen, but Lucifer held out his hand. Jacob accepted it.

"Then you are Jacob. Together, with me at your side, you will touch God as no other man has done. You will fight past the Army of Heaven and conquer Michael just as Jacob did long ago in Genesis. Then you will be known as Israel, which means one who has struggled with God and survived. You, Jacob, will stop the Apocalypse."

Lucifer pressed his thumb against Jacob's forehead, pushed his jagged nail into the flesh above the child's brow. Jacob winced with pain. Blood ran down as the mark was cut into the flesh. Lucifer placed a second mark just above Jacob's wrist, on the back of the hand.

"With this bracelet you are bound to me."

Lucifer moved to place a golden bracelet on Jacob's wrist, but an Angel came rushing in holding up a flaming sword, ready to strike. Jacob turned and there standing tall in raiment of white linen and gold mesh was a great Angel with white wings spread on either side of his body. That Angel saw past Jacob's innocent face, to the future, and anger rushed through his veins.

"I will not let that child into the world bearing a holy name. Call him Judas if you want a biblical name. Or call him Cain for you have already given him the mark of damnation. And if you wish to use the name of Isaac's son, then use Esau, the eldest son, for he was despised by God and gave up his birthright for a mild temptation of the flesh."

"I have already chosen my name." Jacob said.

"Do you not fear me?" The Angel said.

Jacob looked at his Guardian Angel. Lucifer was not afraid, so Jacob shook his head, 'no.' Even though the Angel's wings were spread and each feather was held by Watchers with black eyes and white flaming swords, even with his armor and knives, as his flesh pulsed with light and nothing but hatred came from him, still Jacob was not afraid.

"Why should he be afraid of you? You have no dominion here." Lucifer said.

"Silence, serpent."

"Tell the boy who you are." Lucifer said.

The Angel looked down at the boy with blue eyes that tremored with white lightening.

"I have no fear of my name. I am the wrathful hand of God. I am destroyer of Egypt; the leader of Arch Angels; the holy fire that burns at the Gates of Heaven. My very name means who is like God. I am not afraid of the truth. I don't hide behind lies. The Greeks call me Mikhael, but the Hebrews knew me by my original name: Michael."

His name came out of his mouth as fire and light. And a stroke of lightening shot across the sky like a white serpent. He looked at Lucifer with a serene and expansive hatred in his eyes.

"I meet you at the End of Times, when dragons rise from the seas and graves of men open for Judgment Day." Michael said.

"Perhaps, Sabbathiel." Lucifer said. And Michael's eyes went wide, and his body shook with surprise.

"That name can not be spoken outside of Heaven."

"You say you do not hide behind lies? Then say your name here, Sabbathiel." Smoke rose from Lucifer's mouth. "Yes I know your secret name, and you thought no one but God did. You were wrong. And you will be wrong again at the End of Times. We can defeat God. With Jacob at my side, the Prophecy will not come true." Lucifer said.

Michael looked down at Jacob and saw the mark on his forehead.

"The end comes for both of you, and I am your executioner. My sword is meant for your neck and my hands want nothing but to tear your dark wings from your back. As sure as I am of that, so am I sure that your boy will not be called Jacob. Take back his name."

"I have already marked him." Lucifer said.

"Take it back. Or I will cut him, and I will not just take away that mark but rather his head and hands."

Lucifer felt no fear; he had no concern. He only stood there leaning on his staff with flames dancing about his head as a halo of fire. That made Michael angrier than anything Lucifer could have done.

"You will not stand there in defiance of me wearing that holy crown. Take back the name or I will destroy you both." Michael said.

"After all of these generations, after all of the souls that I have brought into the world, you still think you can destroy me? How many times are you going to tear this halo from my head and chain me at bottom of the ocean? Each time I come back; I always return. Go back to Heaven and gather your army."

Michael could contain himself any longer. His mind rushed through all the thousands of years he had waited. His patience was gone. Justice could not wait any longer.

"No more talking. You lose your crown again, Satan."

And the name Satan came out as a hiss. From Michael's ivory mouth slipped a ruby tongue that turned into a coral snake.

The sky opened up again, and chariots of fire came down amongst an army of white winged Angels. They held swords in one hand and olive branches in the other, and they attacked. For the first time, fear touched Lucifer.

He swung his wooden staff at the Angels, but they came in great numbers and overwhelmed him. They circled around laying the olive branches at his feet. Thousands and thousand of branches were stacked up like a wall around him. Then the white Angels tore the crown of fire away from Lucifer's head. Their claws and daggers dug into his face and blood flowed all over his body, down to the ground covering the branches.

Lucifer screamed and tried to swat the Angels away, but there were too many of them. They kept tearing at his crown, lashing his face and cutting open his forehead. They reopened all the scars so that his fiery crown was replaced by flowing blood. The white Angels handed the crown over to Michael.

"You never learn, serpent. I control Heaven now. You no longer have the loyalty of my army."

Michael turned to Jacob holding the crown.

"Do you want to know his real name, boy? Your Guardian once commanded Heaven and all of the Angels therein including myself. Very few people knew the name he was given when God made him. Long before he was Lucifer or Satan, God called him Samael."

The white Angels hissed as they heard that name. They covered their ears and dropped the daggers that they held in their talons. Lucifer's eyes darkened, and he condemned Michael with a whisper.

"I want you to have a little taste of the end." Michael said throwing the crown of fire amongst the olive branches. The wood caught fire. Lucifer's blood burned like oil, and in seconds Lucifer became a raging pyre. He screamed from within the flames.

"Olive branches are the emblem of peace, and only the blood of Satan could turn peace into hellfire." Michael said.

He watched Lucifer burn; he reveled in the sound of those screams. Michael had acquired a taste for malice. It was something built and cultivated through war and time. Jacob stood by watching, feeling helpless and alone.

"Rafiel." Michael called, and an Angel flew up from the field of lotus, leaving behind his unguarded child. "Give me the blade."

Rafiel landed beside Michael and reached down into a white satchel at his waist. He withdrew a dagger made of black fire. Upon its side, in the script of Angels, God had written the names of Lucifer in white fire. Michael took the blade and grabbed Lucifer by the neck.

"You will never again speak lies to children nor tempt the souls of men. I will not wait until the Apocalypse to deliver this miracle." Michael plunged the blade into Lucifer's neck.

Lightening struck from the Western Mountain, but instead of thunder came the sound of a great trumpet. The Angels thought the Apocalypse had begun, and they sang of Satan's demise. The whole of Heaven could be heard rejoicing as Lucifer's blood spilled out like kerosene. The flames rose up into the sky illuminating the field of lotus. The clouds above were burned away, and Lucifer began to die beneath a naked sky with white stars dancing all around.