In Exile (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book III) (31 page)

A MARK

Cain ran back to the cave of his parents, Adam and Eve, and called out in anguish, “Abel and Enoch have been captured by Angels. I tried to fight them off but I was no match for these creatures.”

“They attacked you?” Adam asked, his eyes looking him over from head to toe for wounds as he grasped him at arm’s length by the shoulders. He was covered in mud and blood.

“That is terrible!” said Eve as she came running over to her son and checked him from behind for the wounds that would have caused all of this blood.

“Do you know what Angels came and attacked you, Cain? Did they come from above or below?” Adam asked.

“They dropped down out of the sky and returned in the same direction.”

“Where did this happen?” Adam asked when he confirmed that Cain did not have any wounds on him.

“It happened up in the far pastures on the opposite side of the fields where I was planting additional crops. I was walking over to see how Abel and Enoch were doing and we were all attacked by these Cherubim Angels.”

“Were Abel and Enoch able to defend themselves at all, Cain?” Adam asked as he headed back into the cave to grab his own staff. He was growing more and more concerned about what happened to his sons.

“I did most of the fighting, neither Abel nor Enoch were effective in fighting against the Angels. But I was far outnumbered and did not stand a chance keeping my brothers safe,” Cain said, welling up with tears.

As he was finishing his statement to his parents, the two Simian women, Gaela and Borea arrived and entered the cave to join all of them in their evening meal. They were shocked at first at all of the blood and mud on Cain, but began to wail once they heard that Abel and Enoch had been brutally captured by Angels from above. Gaela was heartbroken that Abel was missing; first it was that she believed her favorite pet had been killed for the contest for her hand, now it was Abel himself that was missing. Borea was devastated as well, because she was very attached to Abel.

The two females came to Cain and cried on his shoulder. Gaela and Borea both wanted him to hold them, and he held each close to him as he rocked them and consoled them. Cain kept a sorrowful face but underneath he was delighted that the females came to him. He was so lost in the moment that he at first acted angry when Adam interrupted them and asked Cain to accompany him and show him where this all happened. Once the others heard Adam’s request, they all wanted to go, and Cain reluctantly agreed. The two females sweetened the arrangements, by offering to help Cain walk and both held his hands as they walked from the cave back to the fields.

Once they arrived at the spot, everyone other than Cain gasped at the scene. Cain had done a great job in chasing the sheep so that the field was all torn up in the area around Abel’s freshly dug grave. Only Cain knew that Abel’s body was buried underneath this spot. The others were all convinced by Cain’s story that Abel and Enoch were taken up to the Heavens at the same time by the Angels.

Adam looked carefully at the ground and said, “Cain, you are so fortunate to have escaped from the attack that occurred here. Look at this ground, it is all torn up brutally. I have seen Angels fight in the past, but I never recall seeing it so brutal, my son. You are truly a hero!”

“Yes, yes!” the two Simian females agreed.

Gaela stepped closer to Cain like she used to do and whispered, “I am so sorry for pushing you away. I should have realized that you were only trying to make things better for me and my sister Borea. If for some reason Abel and Enoch do not return, I will be glad to have you as my mate instead.”

Cain could not have been happier. He had won the female of his dreams and everyone in his family considered him to be a hero.

Eve, though, was crying; she could not help her grief as it penetrated and overwhelmed her. And being in the spot where her two sons were captured, she was not ready to celebrate the bravery that Cain exemplified.

“Adam?” Eve interrupted before they returned home from the scene. “We haven’t prayed to the Almighty in a very long time. Could it be that the Almighty is punishing us again? For not praying to Him after all this time? I suggest we humble ourselves and pray to ask for His forgiveness for our old sins, and pray for protection over our sons Abel and Enoch!”

“I have no idea why this would have happened and why it would have happened without any warning. That is not the way I remember the Almighty to do things. But there have been a lot of strange things happening lately, so yes, Eve, I think it is a good idea to pray once again.”

The two Simian females thought it would be a good idea to pray as well. They had never done so, not because of stubbornness or any other reason except for the fact that they had never known that they could or even how one would pray to the Almighty.

Cain was going to object to everyone praying, but Luciferael was clear that the Almighty would never allow Angels to interfere with Human affairs, so there was no danger that a contrary version of the day’s events would be told. He was enjoying being the most important Human at the moment and he did not want to jeopardize his status, so he agreed.

The small group followed Adam and Eve’s lead and all kneeled down in the churned over Earth and held hands as Adam bowed his head and called out to the Almighty.

“I know that we have not prayed to You for a while, our Lord, but we try to please You by living good and just lives. All of us assembled here want to beseech You to return our sons, brothers, and friends, Abel and Enoch. Our dear son Cain here, tried to protect the two of them, he was brave and true and we are very proud of him. Please accept our humble prayer, our Lord!”

Silence returned at the end of their prayer and the group rose up again from kneeling on the ground. Cain was relieved that there was no response. It could be true that the Almighty had abandoned the Humans. With no response from above, he felt stronger as he was now part of Luciferael’s kingdom and had the power of the rebel Angels, no matter what happened with the Almighty’s Universe.

Gaela and Borea came up to Cain again and gave him their hands to hold on the way back home. They were all bathed in the last remnants of light of the setting sun as the darkness of night approached.

But before they had finished walking out of that section of the field, the sky lit up again as though the sun was rising. They all dropped to their knees and lowered their heads, as they could not look up into the light.

A voice from above bellowed, and Adam and Eve recognized it as the voice of the Almighty Himself.

“Cain, son of Adam, come forward!” the Almighty commanded.

Cain was trembling, horrified that it was the Almighty who had come to answer their prayers. Was it possible that He knew what Cain had done?

“I hear the voice of your brother Abel calling to me from his grave! Why do you pray to know where he is?”

Cain was speechless as his mind raced to create an answer.

“Where is your brother Abel?”

Cain had a choice. Either maintain his story that Abel and Enoch had been taken to the Heavens, though he was sure that the Almighty would know whether or not Abel was taken up into His realm in the sky. Or he could alter his story and act like he did not know where Abel was, and admit he lied to his parents and the Simian females. Cain made his choice; the wrath of his parents and the Simians would be nothing compared to that of the Almighty. Cain then answered, trembling, “Why would I know where my brother Abel is? Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Adam, Eve, Gaela and Borea looked at one another, their heads still bowed before the Almighty, with quizzical looks upon their faces. Hadn’t Cain just explained to them that Angels from above took Abel and Enoch and that he had personally fought with them to protect his brothers?

Now the ground shook along with the sound of the Almighty’s voice pitched low in anger. “Yes, Cain, you are your brother’s keeper!”

The ground continued to shake and rumble, causing the ground over Abel’s grave to churn like water in a natural spring rising to the surface, and within a minute the body of Abel rose up out of the Earth and the dirt fell away from it.

“And you are more than your brother’s keeper, Cain! You are your brother’s murderer!”

Eve and the Simian females wailed out in anguish, Eve stumbled up and crawled over to the body of her son, the other females following as best they could. Once Eve reached the body the ground tremors stopped, allowing her to embrace her son’s body.

Adam looked over at Cain with horror that his son was even capable of such a heinous act.

“I condemn you, Cain! You shall be cursed to wander the Earth, never to find peace of mind, the memory of murdering your brother to haunt your dreams every night of your life!” the Almighty proclaimed.

Cain, still worried about himself, called out and pleaded with the Almighty. “Please do not send me away, my Lord. The other Humans or Simians will eventually feel free to murder me just as I killed my brother.”

A lightning bolt flew out from the brightness above, striking Cain’s face and leaving a terrible scar that made him look ferocious.

“With that mark I protect you by cursing anyone who tries to kill you for your brother’s murder,” the voice of the Almighty boomed again. “Now go and get out of the sight of decent Humans and Simians. You have no business here any longer!”

Cain was picked up by a funnel of wind that took him up off the ground and blew him off into the distance as a gust of wind, to a distance so far that he could no longer be seen.

Two loyal Cherubim then descended next to Abel’s body and gently picked it up between them. They looked at Adam and Eve with a great deal of sympathy in their eyes, as the parents cried for the loss of their sons. The sounds of a Choir of Angels could be heard by Adam and Eve and the Simian females as they stood there watching. Then the Cherubim carried the body respectfully on their shoulders as they ascended slowly up into the Heavens.

The Almighty could still hear the sorrow of those who had prayed to him, and He took mercy upon them all and a gentle rain began to fall from the cloudless sky.

“These are the tears of Heaven, Adam and Eve, Gaela and Borea. They will take the heartache away from you, Adam and Eve. Focus on your child Seth, he shall be the future of the Human race. Gaela and Borea, for all your love and kindness I bestow upon all Simians a soul and free will, so your race will now be the equivalent of the Humans.”

The Almighty and his entourage began rising back into the Heavens as He left the two Humans and two Simians with these words: “Rest assured that Abel and Enoch are both safe with Me in the Heavens and you will see them again, one day in the future. Now go home and let not your hearts be troubled, for the Almighty loves you.”