Leviathan

He laid his hands upon them, one after another—the vortex of power swirling at his center coursing down the length of his arms into his hands. Whether they be Orisha, fallen, or heavenly elite; Aaron touched them all, igniting their dying essences with the force of redemption. “It’s over now,” he said to them, their bodies glowing like stars, fallen from the night skies to show the fabulous extent of their beauty.

Camael stepped back, bathed in the radiance of their transformation, and Aaron wondered if it was only awe that he saw expressed upon the angel warrior’s face, or was it envy?

What the angels had become, as sustenance for a monster’s hunger, was no longer a concern—burned away to expose the final flames of divine brilliance that still thrived in each of them.

“You’re free,” Aaron said as they hovered above the cave floor, reveling in the experience of their rebirth. He spread his wings of shining black and opened his arms. “Time to go home,” he proclaimed, and with those words spoken, the dank, eerie darkness of Leviathan’s lair was filled with the light of the divine, and any trace of evil still alive within the monster’s dwelling was routed out and a

The vivified angels gravitated toward the Archangel Gabriel, orbiting around the messenger of God, bathing him in their luminous auras—and through the light, Aaron could see that Gabriel was growing stronger, gaining sustenance from his angelic brothers.

Aaron felt at peace as he watched the long-suffering creatures of Heaven reunite, and let his angelic countenance recede back into his body—sated, for now. The arcane sigils that were etched upon his skin started to fade, and his wings furled, gradually withdrawing beneath the flesh and muscle of his back. Both Camael and his dog had joined him, not wanting to interfere in any way with the once-imprisoned angels’ communion.

“They’re very happy to see one another again,” the dog said, tail wagging happily.

“They have been too long without the company of their own kind,” Camael said, his eyes riveted to the scene before him, and Aaron questioned if the warrior was not in some way speaking for himself as well.

The Archangel Gabriel was restored to true glory, armor glistening as if freshly forged and polished, wings the color of a virgin snowfall opening from his back. The wingspan of the messenger was enormous, and he curled them around the children of Heaven, drawing them closer to him.

“We have much to thank you for, fellow messenger,” the archangel said in a rich, powerful voice that vibrated in the air like the lower notes played on a church organ. “The monster has been vanquished—and our freedom regained.”

Aaron was speechless; even after all that he had seen over the past life-changing weeks, the sight before him filled him with awe. They all floated in the air now, Gabriel as the center of their universe, all those who had survived their ordeal, enwrapped in his loving embrace. He was taking them back—the Archangel Gabriel was escorting them home.

“Know that my blessing goes with you on your perilous journey, brave Nephilim,” the angel continued, “and that your acts of heroism shall be spoken of in the kingdom of God.”

His dog nudged his hand with his head. “Did you hear that, Aaron?” he asked excitedly. “They’re going to be talking about you in God’s kingdom.”

Aaron petted his ecstatic friend, still mesmerized by the awesome vision before him.

“With these acts, you have done much to expunge the sins of the father and to fulfill the edicts of prophecy—”

Aaron was so caught up in the melodious sounds of the angel’s proclamation of thanks that he didn’t immediately catch the meaning of the last sentence—but it gradually sunk in, permeated his brain, and alarm bells began to sound.

He hadn’t even heard the final words of gratitude spoken by the messenger. The Archangel Gabriel had lifted his head toward the ceiling of the cave, the heavenly glow about them all growing in intensity. Bringer of Light had appeared in his hand, and he pointed the mighty blade toward the cave roof—toward their celestial destination beyond the ceiling of rock and the world of man above.

Aaron charged forward, shielding his eyes from the blinding light of their ascension. “Wait,” he cried as he tried to find the Archangel within the radiant spectacle. “Did you say the sins of the father?”

He could just about make out the outline of the angel messenger at the center of the expanding ball of light. Through squinted eyes he saw that Gabriel was looking at him. “My father’s sins?” Aaron asked, wanting desperately for the emissary of Heaven to clarify what he had said. “Do you know who my father was? Please…”

The light burned so brightly now that he had no choice but to turn away, or go blind.

“You are your father’s son,” Gabriel said within the light of Heaven. “At first I did not see it, but then it was oh so obvious.”

His back to the departing creatures now seemingly composed of living light, Aaron begged for answers from the messenger. “If you know who he is, can’t you tell me something—anything … please!”

Aaron could feel the pull of the celestial powers as the angels were drawn up to Heaven. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and throw himself into the light, to prevent Gabriel from returning to God’s kingdom—until the Archangel told him what he knew.

There were sounds like the world’s largest orchestra tuning their instruments all at the same time—and he knew that it was only a matter of seconds before Gabriel and the others were gone form this plain of existence, taking their valuable knowledge with them.

Aaron fell to his knees upon the cave floor, both physically and emotionally drained.

“You’re the messenger,” he said, holding out all hope that he would be heard. “Give me a message … give me something.”

There was a sudden flash of brilliance—and the cavern was filled with an eerie silence as the denizens of Heaven returned to their homes—but not before he heard the whispering voice of the Archangel Gabriel in his ear. “You have your father’s eyes.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The people of Blithe were vomiting—and Aaron imagined he knew exactly how they must feel. No, he didn’t have some crablike creature living inside his chest, but he had just received the very first pieces of information he had ever learned about his real father; that the prophecy had something to do with his father’s sins, and that he had his father’s eyes. He thought he might be sick.

Aaron, Camael, and Gabriel moved through the winding passage that led up from Leviathan’s lair, to one of the many chambers that had been excavated out of the rock by the townspeople under the sea monster’s thrall.

“Gross,” Gabriel said, and Aaron couldn’t have agreed more. The people, who up until Leviathan’s demise had been busily clearing away tons of rock and dirt in an attempt to free the beast, had stopped their work. They had dropped their tools and were bent over in obvious pain—their bodies racked with vomiting and throwing up the horrible things that had crawled inside to control their actions.

“Are they all right?” Aaron asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the repellant sounds of people in the midst of being sick.

“Their bodies are rejecting Leviathan’s invasive spawn,” the angel warrior said, rather blasé. “I would imagine they will be fine—as soon as the dead creatures and their nests are expelled from the body.”

The floor of the smaller chamber was puddled with all ma

Aaron wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about what he had learned; it wasn’t as if he had been given a phone number or a home address. The identity of the man—angel—that had sired him was still a complete mystery, and one that he really couldn’t afford to think about right now. He decided that he would deal with it later, when things had calmed down—when things were back to normal. He laughed to himself, as if his life could ever be that way again.