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Excerpt: The Infiltrator and the Fallen

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Asomon, The Beguiler

It’s begun.

          Silently we descend, pausing to extinguish the floodlights that illuminate this Hound Compound in Israel, waiting after each lamp has been darkened to observe if the loss of its light arouses a guard.  We leave the lamp closest to the Command Center entry for last, checking for signs of movement within the building.  Just one room in that section is lighted, the remaining length of the building is dark, indicating at least one Warrior is probably inside on sentry, but only in that room.

          I send a scout to investigate.  He descends on quiet wings, black against the night, to hover beside the window with light streaming through it and carefully observes the interior of the lighted room.  It appears to be empty, but that may not be the case, that light is on for some reason.  Listening, the scout detects something, but it’s in an area he’s unable to see through the window, no matter how he positions himself.  Landing, he stands very still near the entry door, listening intently, attempting to discern the noise.  Then, jerking back, he bounds into the air, hurrying to me and gives the alarm, “I think we’ve been discovered, someone was whispering, but I could only make out fragments of what he said.  What do we do now?!”

          Setting my jaw, I reply, “What can they do to stop us, we’re two-hundred strong against humans, they don’t have a chance!”

          The scout insists, “But I think I heard ‘Sword’!  Do we have a chance against him and his Shield?!  You know if one comes the other will!  What if he was communicating with them?”

          “The Sword?” I consider, “He and his Shield could be a problem, but we far out-number them.  Let’s ascend and obser…”  A healing beam shoots past my head into the black sky.  Then another, followed by multiple orb blasts that chain through our ranks as more healing beams shoot skyward, many hitting their targets, in a constant deadly barrage.  The pain is excruciating!  We’re unable to get our bearings, as we’re shoved repeatedly by force around the sky while orb blasts and healing beams decimate us, never giving us a chance to find a target for any retaliation.  I shriek in agony, writhing as the orb blasts chain through us over and over and the healing beams slice in deep gouges, fatal for some.

          “WHO?!” I scream, “The SWORD?!”  I spin, attempting to dodge as I look for the source of the bombardment, but can’t make out the direction of their attack at first.  Then, in front of the barracks, I see a large group of as great a number as I have with me of what must be ‘Iyr.  “‘IYR!  In FORCE!”  A healing beam sears through my left calf and I howl with the added agony.  Giving a frantic shove of my wings, I shoot into the concealing blackness of the night sky, bellowing, “RETREAT!” as I flee.  Growling in determination, I flap my wings furiously climbing for my life, burning with pain, fear and hatred, “Did Abaddon know they were here?”  Those that aren’t dead, no more than half my former contingent, follow close behind me, frantic to escape from this unexpected assault by our most deadly enemy other than Yahweh’s Apex.  Hissing in angry disgust, I spit, “‘Iyr,  they’re here on Earth guarding it now!  It’s begun.”

~*~

Gyphon, conflicted.

They were like us?

          Lowering my arm, I walk over to the middle of the training yard and examine the only body left of all those who had fallen from the sky during our battle, he’s moaning almost inaudibly.  Looking up at me as I approach him, his black eyes are filled with pain and fear.  He stares at me a moment, then closes his eyes and turns his head away, still moaning.  One of his wings is gone, the other broken and twisted.  “Black wings,” I mutter, “one of the Fallen.”  My healing beam is death for him, so I don’t know what to do.  Would I heal him if I could?  Why would I want to heal a being whose only purpose is the destruction of Mankind?  Examining him, I note he looks almost like us, except for those black wings and even blacker eyes.

          “Who are you?” I ask.

          “Why do you care?” he grunts, “Just kill me and be done.”

          “Why did you rebel against Yahweh?” I wonder.

          He snarls, “I don’t know, seemed like the thing to do at the time.”  He turns his head to look at me, “Why did you?”

          Shocked, I recall our history from The Book Of ‘Iyr, He’s right, ‘Iyr rebelled, too, but that was our far distant ancestors, not us, and we have paid our recompense.  I reply, “I didn’t rebel against Yahweh.”

          He sucks in a fast breath, turning his head away again, admitting, “Guess not, you use His power.  Couldn’t if you had.”

          “I don’t want to kill you,” I reveal, “but I have no idea how to heal you.  What heals us kills you.”

          He laughs, low at first then increasing in volume as he opens his mouth, laughing out loud, then suddenly jerks his head and grunts, “That really hurts.”  Focusing on me, he states, “Yahweh still loves you…” his eyes drift away and his face screws up in pain, “rebelled against Him and He still loves you,” he grunts again, then asks, “Is that fair?”

          “You’ve had hundreds of thousands of years to seek His face,” I remind him, “Have you?  Ever?  Even once?”

          He hisses, “Why should I?  We’re on the winning side.  Look around, this Earth is ours, today more than ever.  Lucifer will rule.  You’ll lose, ‘Iyr, you’ll see soon enough.”

          “Didn’t look that way tonight,” I comment, “Why are you so sure of Lucifer?”

          Taking in a rattling breath, he admits, “What choice do I have?”  He closes his eyes, wincing in pain, stating, “Look, I’m sick of talking, just kill me and get it over.”

          Shaking my head, I reveal, “No, I won’t, I’m an Infiltrator, we don’t kill.”

          A derisive smile contorts his features as he narrows his eyes at me, taunting, “Oh, really, Infiltrators don’t kill?  Then how’d I get this way?”

          That crawls all over me.  Studying him, I wonder, “Are you similar to Lucifer, is he like you?”

          He nods, “Only a thousand times more.”  He stares up at the black sky for a few seconds, then his eyes go wide and he mumbles, “Guess you already killed me…” as he exhales, the life leaving his eyes, and then he lays still.  After a few more seconds he begins to fade, then he’s gone.

          “Was it my beam that killed you?” I ask the spot he had occupied, empty now.

          From behind me there’s suddenly a brilliant light, and I know I’ll turn to see Jissin or Ethan, probably both, it’s so bright.  Turning, I’m nearly blinded as I behold a radiant angel, tall and terrifying, more glorious than even Jissin.  Falling to my knees, I hide my face as I ask, “Holy One, how can I serve you?”

          “I am Michael, and I have come with a message for you and all ‘Iyr,” he reveals.  “That Fallen was never as the ‘Iyr and the ‘Iyr were never as him.  He was meant for destruction from the first and that will be his part.  This is not and has never been so for ‘Iyr,” he informs me with a solemn sternness, “He and his kind are the manifestation of evil on this Earth, they’re goal is to confound Yahweh’s plans by the complete destruction of all Mankind, both Man Upon The Earth and ‘Iyr.  Do not trust their words, do not believe their lies.  Their Father was the cause of your great fall, do not allow yourselves to be deceived again!”  His eyes soften, “Yahweh knows your hearts and loves you all.  Your purpose is to protect the Earth and Man Upon The Earth.  In this you have always been good and faithful servants.  You were created for this time.  Yahweh is always with you, Jesus is Lord of all.  Do your sacred duty, as He has written it on your hearts.”

          Then he’s gone, and the blackness of night engulfs me.  “As soon as I can see anything, I’ve got to go tell Jissin Michael’s message.”  Blinking, I notice a faint light to my right, then my vision begins to clear and I see it’s shining through the window of the CO’s office.  Going to the door, I open it and look in.  No one’s here.

          Heading back to the barracks, I find a very happy milling mass of Warriors, Brains, Academics and Hounds.  Caught up by the infectious joy filling the room, I grin broadly as I inform Mradrik, “I have a very important message for all ‘Iyr, given to me by our Archangel Michael.”

          Mradrik looks startled, then immediately raises his hands above his head as he shouts to the room, “BE STILL!  Gyphon has a message to deliver to us from our Archangel Michael!”

          The room becomes silent at once, as everyone turns to look at me.  “Alright, Gyphon,” Mradrik asks, “what’s Michael’s message?”

          Smiling at the crowd, I clarify before I begin, “It was primarily to the ‘Iyr, but it would be good for the Hounds to hear, too,” then I recite verbatim Michael’s message.  After I’m through, they all just stand, taking in the message.  I assert, “We aren’t our ancestors, Lucifer will never deceive us again.  As it’s written on our hearts, we will fight to protect all we hold most dear, we will defeat Lucifer’s armies because Yahweh is with us and we fight in the power of His name!  As Ethan’s fond of saying: God wins, God always wins!”  A cheer goes up and joyous celebration fills the room again.

          John walks over to me, followed by Trista.  As I hug Trista, John states, “That was one powerful message!  Think ya should go find Jissin an’ Ethan ‘n’ give it to ‘em, they need ta hear it.”

          Trista suggests, “You should transcribe it and we can make copies to distribute, all ‘Iyr need to hear it.  It clears up some worries I’ve heard repeated among the ‘Iyr.  Everyone knows Jissin’s ex-son-in-law is one of the Fallen now, that’s made some of us worry as to who exactly the Fallen really are.  The Warriors don’t want to kill ‘Iyr ever again, but the Fallen seemed so much like we ‘Iyr.  It bothers a lot of us, the Warriors and Infiltrators most.  Michael’s message straightened that out.”

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