Read In the Beginning (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book I) Online
Authors: John J. Higgins
In the Beginning (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book I) (26 page)
Lillith began to walk quietly through Eden, trying to find some signs of Adam. Perhaps he had been moved by the Almighty after her disappearance. She went down by the river area where Adam would sit with the Almighty to name creatures at His request. In the darkness she found another trail that led away from the old hut and she followed it around. Coming up over a hill she found a new hut, on the other side of the river from the old one.
Adam must not have been able to bear staying in the same hut so he built another one.
She felt a pang of sorrow thinking that he had suffered in her absence, while she also had a perverse sense that it served Adam right to be left alone in Paradise. She wasn't sure she ever wanted to speak with him again. But she wasn't sure either how she would react if he begged her with tears falling from his cheek that he missed her and would do anything to make her happy now.
As she approached the hut, she could hear his breathing as he slept. He was never a quiet sleeper, his breathing during the night was always loud and obnoxious, except this night it now sounded almost endearing to her.
Well, maybe she would awaken him and tell him of her findings, that the world that was available to them was much larger than Eden. There were other places, places to explore if they would take the chance. And who knows, maybe she could sit again with the Almighty, ask Him questions about the Creation and request other tasks where she could be involved.
Arriving at the new hut, she crept through the doorway and saw Adam stretched out before her, on his side facing away from her. She took a moment to watch his steady breathing, his long brown hair a bit messy as it fell between his shoulder blades onto the bedding below his body.
Maybe he really wasn't so bad,
she thought to herself.
Perhaps we can forgive one another, perhaps he can give me some more respect, now that he knows what it's like to be alone.
Lillith moved a bit closer and prepared to reach down and touch Adam's shoulder to awaken him gently. At that moment, he rolled over on his back towards her and she saw his face. It was quite handsome, as it was the face of the first man ever created. As she was leaning down to touch his face, she suddenly froze. Lying beside him was another woman! This other woman had a satisfied look on her face, framed neatly by dark hair like Adam's. She looked amazingly like Adam; it was as if someone had created a female version of him. On cue, this female rolled herself over, wrapping her arm over his far shoulder and nestling her head onto his chest.
Lillith felt dizzy as she backed out of there. Many questions ran through her mind as she stood in a state of confusion.
How could he have found another woman? Where did he find another woman? Where did she come from? And in just a couple of days' time? Did he even miss me? Did anyone even notice or care that I went away? Should I go back in and confront them? Wait, the Almighty had to have been involved in this, does He want me gone? Destroyed?
Lillith thought of Jarahmael and his kind face and wished he was here or there was some way she could talk to him and ask him what was happening. She decided it would be better to wait and see what was going on before she would confront Adam and that other woman. What was she to do?
She decided that she would return to the pyramid and go back to the original plan. She would leave the clues for Jarahmael. She could always come back and confront Adam and his new woman. For now, she had to keep herself safe and the pyramid seemed the best solution. She needed to stay out of the Garden of Eden and take time to think.
She rushed back and made sure she carefully folded and placed one of the leaves from the Tree of Life at the entrance to the pyramid. She then went down the hallway and found a passageway to a portal that led to another pyramid, this one located on a mountain-top. She passed through the portal and looked around at her surroundings. She found herself at a pyramid that was built in a thick jungle. As she worked her way to the outside of this mountain-top pyramid, she saw that the plants, shrubs and trees were even more dense than the one in the Garden of Eden or the one where the Angels had constructed the two statues. The construction here was also different, the large building blocks left as a series of steps, not smoothly sloped as the other two she had seen.
Still magnificent
, she thought to herself.
Exhausted, she briefly explored an area within the pyramid to make sure there was nothing lurking within it. During her search, she found a small hidden compartment in one of the lower halls and she placed one of the Tree of Life branches within it. "Just in case," she said aloud. Seeing that this room was safely tucked deep within the pyramid, she thought it was as good a place as any to catch some sleep. She took the backpack off, took off some of the palm tree fronds, and then made herself comfortable on the floor. She was excited at the prospect that Jarahmael may find her, if he followed her clues. As she was falling asleep, her thoughts were of her Archangel searching for her and then finding her. She smiled to herself and it was not long before she was sound asleep, as it had been a very long day and a very long night.
The next morning Cerebriel flew to the pyramid in Eden. On his flight there, he passed Jarahmael flying over Eden again, still looking in the Garden for signs of the missing Human woman, Lillith. They waved to one another as Cerebriel flew overhead. As Cerebriel landed at the entrance to the pyramid he noticed a single folded leaf lying in the entrance way. He never remembered seeing a leaf there. A cool breeze often passed through this entranceway, but he had never found a leaf here before, especially one that was folded up. Looking around, he thought that maybe some small animal may have dragged it into the pyramid. He walked down the main corridor looking to see if there were any other signs of a small stowaway in the structure. When he reached the passageway for the portal to the mountain-top pyramid in an area the Angels called Medius, he saw another leaf folded inside the doorway. Perplexed, he looked down the smaller hallway that ended in the portal. There was no sign of any creature hiding there. He decided to look back down the main hallway once again and went from one passage way to the next searching for any hidden creature.
Although it was strange, Cerebriel did not see any reason for alarm. He took the folded leaves and placed them in his tunic as he then went back outside to continue supervising the other Cherubim Angels who were now beginning to arrive. Work progressed and Cerebriel did not give it any more thought. Later in the morning he saw Jarahmael still flying over Eden. "Still looking for some form of clue as to where Lillith was hiding," Cerebriel muttered to himself.
A while later in the late afternoon, Jarahmael flew over to Cerebriel from deeper in the Garden of Eden.
"I think I found a trail for Lillith finally!" Jarahmael said excitedly despite his haggard appearance.
"Really? I know you have been scouring Eden for days for a clue." said Cerebriel.
"Day and night actually. Don't know how I missed it actually, there were some footprints over by Adam's new home. Looks like someone had gotten their feet wet with overnight dew. From what I can see they appeared close to his new home, went inside and then left. Their feet must have dried off by then because the trail stops again a bit further away."
"Are the footprints Adam's or the new woman's, Eve's?" asked Cerebriel.
"I initially thought that they were from Adam and Eve. But then I noticed that their feet are extremely close in size. And the footprints I found were much smaller than either of their sets of feet. I found where Adam and Eve had stepped in some soft mud near the river and unknowingly made impressions of their feet. When I compared the impressions to the footprints by the hut, I could plainly see that the footprints left there were much smaller. I remember that Lillith had feet a lot smaller than Adam's when I saw them together sitting on a log, feet splashing in one of the rivers in Eden one day. So if the footprints don't belong to Adam or Eve, they must belong to Lillith," Jarahmael said happily.
Cerebriel thought about it a moment. "Yes, I see your point. I have not heard of any additional Humans in Eden, but then again I was never privy to any of these three either. Where do you think Lillith went? You haven't been able to find her yet in Eden? Where else can she possibly be?" Cerebriel said with a vacant expression on his face as he began to think about what his Cherubim still needed to get done to complete the day's work assignments.
He knew Jarahmael had grown an attachment to Lillith and her absence was making him obsessed with the Human. Cerebriel moved forward, outstretching his hands to Jarahmael and patting him on his shoulders. In doing so, the two leaves he had picked up earlier fell to the ground in front of Jarahmael's feet.
Jarahmael bent over and picked up the leaves, and saw that they had both been neatly folded. As he unfolded them and looked, he thought the leaves looked very familiar. Then when he was handing them back to Cerebriel, Jarahmael asked him out of curiosity, "Why did you fold these leaves like this?"
"They are not mine Jarahmael, I found them like that," Cerebriel answered.
"Where did you find them?"
"The first one I found was in the entrance way to the pyramid. The second one, I found in the entrance way to one of the portals."
Jarahmael thought about the possibility of the wind blowing the leaves inside or some other small creature dropping them there. But the leaves were neatly folded as an Angel or a Human would do. Then it struck Jarahmael, could these leaves have been dropped by Lillith herself?
"Did you know these are leaves for the Tree of Life?" asked Jarahmael.
"No," answered Cerebriel. "Never saw anything like them before."
Jarahmael responded, "Yes, they both come from the Tree of Life itself and provide food and nourishment to the Humans. Show me exactly where you found them!"
The two Angels went to the locations where Cerebriel found the leaves. Looking down the portal passageway, Jarahmael asked, "What are these passageways for, anyway?"
"They are a transport system between Eden and the Earth below. The Almighty hasn't fully explained them to us. We assume that at some point He will have the Humans colonize the planet as well as Eden," Cerebriel explained to his friend. "There has been mention of the Humans having children and reproducing, making more of them. Even spreading out and ruling over the Simians and other creatures living on the Earth."
"I see. Can an Angel use the portals?" Jarahmael asked.
"Not sure. We have never tried it. We just fly to the other pyramids as needed on our own."
"Where are the other pyramids?" Jarahmael asked, thinking aloud.
"There are a number of them located around the Earth. The Almighty is having us build at least one pyramid on each of the larger land masses," Cerebriel responded.
"Where does this one go?" Jarahmael asked pointing at the portal where Cerebriel told him he had found the folded leaf.
"This one here? This one goes to the mountain-top pyramid located in a central land mass named Medius," responded Cerebriel. "I don't like that look in your eyes, Jarahmael. I am not sure that is a good idea for you to follow her this way, perhaps you should discuss the use of these passageways with the Almighty first," Cerebriel added quickly.
"I will not be able to return in time to speak with Him and then go try to find her, and this is the only real clue I have had in days. What if she leaves to go somewhere else? The Almighty told me to find her and bring her back. That should override any other concerns. Besides, I believe Luciferael has sent some of his Auxilium to search for her too. I have a feeling that I had better find her first, you remember how they enjoyed the attacks on the dinosaurs. And the dinosaurs were Luciferael's own creations!"
Jarahmael paused for a second in thought then continued, "It's probably best that you just leave me, then it can't be your fault, if it does become a problem."
"As you wish, my friend. Come find me when you get back here so I know that you are safe!" Cerebriel said, concern back in his voice.
"Certainly! Now go, Cerebriel, before it gets dark and you are missing; you are the leader of your Order after all. And thanks for your help!" Jarahmael gave a smile that could have easily been interpreted as being one of nervousness or one of excitement as he prepared to walk down the passageway to the portal.
"Be safe my friend," Cerebriel said as he walked down the hallway, past the other portals and out to the main entrance.
It was dusk and beginning to get dark. Cerebriel went out the entrance and down the steps of the pyramid, and then flew off heading back to the Heavens. As he left, his mind was so focused on what Jarahmael was going to do, that he did not notice the serpent creature that was hiding behind some of the nearby bushes. The serpent had barely slithered out of the pyramid before he could be seen by Cerebriel. Now having avoided detection, Serpentalia was armed with the conversation he had overheard between the two Angels.
Luciferael will be very interested in hearing this,
he thought to himself.
Jarahmael walked down the passageway watching his reflection get closer as he approached the portal. When he was up close he saw that the portal was mirror-like and framed in silver and gold. Beautiful as it was, he knew he did not have time to study it, because he needed to go find Lillith. He looked at the inscriptions on the wall near the portal and read that one had to repeat the phrase "Peto! Peto! Peto!" in order to make the portal work. He called out the phrase and then placed his hands on the portal, but found that they went right into it. The solid surface had vanished despite its reflecting his own image back at him like the mirrors he created. It was only after he stepped through that he could see he was in a different passageway, somewhere else. Daylight still streamed down the hallway. It was earlier in the day here. The passageway from the portal was similar in many respects, but there was no writing on the walls. The stones were more crude and not as finely polished as the one in Eden. He turned around and looked himself over in his reflection from the portal, checking to make sure there had not been any adverse effects from being transported. From what he could see he was all intact, and there were no changes in his appearance.
Reassured, he turned and moved down the hallway away from the portal. Now to see if he could find Lillith!