Archangel:Love

The archangel Michael and seven others in his command track a dark object to earth.

Dimensions

Chapter 1

 

Once upon a time and place far far way, there was an impenetrable castle. It sat on the highest peak in the middle of a burrow of clouds, that secluded it from the outside world and made it seems as if it floated in the sky like an island.  The cliffs were made of the hardest stone in the universe.  The palace interior was a cathedral made of shining matter and anti-matter. If one looked over the side it was as if they would descend into nothingness and its workers, villagers and serfs too worked, ate, played, and rested until one day, long ago.

 The Great War sparked in heaven on all tiers of the realm at once. Lucifer severed his ties, broke ranks and turned on the others.  He led the rebellion and it swept like wildfire. Battalions of dark angels were determined to take power from the father and abandoned their posts and stormed the great castle in the sky.  However, Michael the chief archangel would stand between darkness and light.

The dark archangels took over the dark angels, watchers, and the demons. They ultimately drove a splinter between the angels within all ranks. The first battle ignited so quickly and repeated just as quickly every minute of time ever since. When the father’s most valiant warrior, prince of the heavenly palace, defender of all that is invisible and indivisible, God’s champion, arrived the enemy was weakened and their ranks decimated. The dark archangels and dark angels were quickly identified. The angels and archangels did all to protect the palace, and the realm in all times.

The dark foe got as far as the gardens outside the castle. The others who fell fought back. Michael, chief of all the archangels took all of the angels he found and fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.  The general and the armies that he commanded outnumbered them in the millions and drove them into the hills beyond First Heaven right outside the castle gates He marched in front of a row of angels that followed at his command at First Heaven’s gate. The city of All That Lie in Between was on the right and the castle gates were on the left beside All That Lie in Between. All That Lie in-Between was a never ending city with blinking lights. It was a working city that never slept, and as in a parallel world between heaven and earth, separated by an invisible wall. They worked day and night at their jobs to keep the universe safe.

The regiment marched past the water falls. The water flushed down a circle and bounced off a ring of paradise. There was an everlasting rainbow that formed in the crater on a sunny day and the sun in this dimension was everlasting. They desperately looked for an exit. All of the portals were covered with other portals. He finally found one at the steps of No Return. The steps went on forever. Water slowly washed over the steps to slow time. Michael led the way as a regiment from his crop followed him. The water as fast as they could as if all and the archangels of light would be there soon.  The roaring water held them back but at times looked still. The landed at the edge of a murky puddle.

The sea foam water rushed down a slope that was easily four feet wide. The water bounced up against the large boulder. The trees on the edges were dark green. The boulders were sculpted dark grey granite. They were treacherous yet beautiful. Michael scanned the edge for the water looking. The Pegasus trampled and positioned on the clouds.  Michael halted his Pegasus then looked to his left. “Have you found them? ’He asked Raphael.

“No,”said Raphael. Raphael’s had a beard and a large purple angel tattoo on his neck with a pale complexion throughout. Raphael’s short brown hair tousled from wind and sweat.

“Secure Heaven’s End. Take a fleet of chariots and six regiments to the rear..” Michael ordered. Michael narrowed his dark brown eyes until they were more narrow. His dark brown hair fluttered against his brow,

“General, Sariel, Ramiel, and Ragule, are uncounted for,” Gabriel said before Michael could continue. His eyes were also blue, He was Caucasian with shoulder length sandy blonde hair that stopped at his shoulders. Raphael’s blue eyes widened, the mechanical  grip from his gauntlets tightened on the reigns, and steered his Pegasus steed. The animal took off beyond light into the clouds to Heaven’s End. The bulk of Michael’s force had arrived.

The general looked from the left to right sides of the lines as he marched along sizing up his force. He was angry and pursed his lips, but held his anger within his closed fist as he released it to halt his troops behind him. The chief archangel looked to the sky and one dark horse appeared on his flank behind the highest mountain in heaven. He could see it instantly even though it was miles away. They turned their energies to the underworld and the occult. Angels fell from all the ranks in heaven. Michael gave them a choice to follow him, the Father, or to fall. His eyes glowed, lit up like a Christmas tree, and he was ready.

Michael drove them to Heaven’s End was one of many realms in their sky kingdom. Once outside the castle. Michael hunted them down like dogs. Lucifer was stripped of his wings and title from the moment that he fell. He took the dragon for his avatar on that day and every day since. Lucifer took to the earth with all his angels, never to return. He had many shapes and many names but he was too many known as Satan. They created sin and sought to this day to destroy man. Satan fell to the ground. The dark angels and archangels were stripped of their powers at Heaven’s End.

Heaven’s End was the gate between heaven and earth. It was close to some of the highest mountains on earth.  There as an invisible barrier between the ceilings of earth that was colored like the blackest night. They fought, escaped, and hid clinging against the layers of the atmospheres for eons. Michael prevailed against all of them over and over. But they disappeared one by one with every fight. When he took account of all his angels one third were betrayers and like stars they went dark. They fell from the sky that day and lost their light.  They held on with all their might in battle after battle at the plain between heaven and earth. The dark archangels gained darkness. It became their friend and with all their light, the powers given to them also vanished and they were left with what they could forge from darkness fire and the dark arts, those who were against them and would always be against them.

In the last battle, Michael lost many to death. He was the only seraphim capable of fighting in a battle of this magnitude. This battle was the key to all the others and would repeat all the others for every day since in the hearts of man in song and legend. He was charged to lead them all. The Powers were the Father’s most lethal fighting force, and they outnumbered all the angels, and they answered only to Michael’s command. They sang as they defended their kingdom in between minutes and eons.

The chief archangel jumped down to First Heaven and looked up to Heaven’s End and beyond with his X-ray vision. And then the clouds closed and the dimensions locked. He sighed in relief then turned to his duty the scavengers beyond his reach. Michael stood for a moment locked in a gaze with the horse. The horse was Suriel. Michael looked to his right and beheld a vulture that sat on a rock, waiting. It could be anyone of the dark archangels that deceived him that day. He searched one eye and his jaw was, drawn, squared as if chiseled with the strength of on sole muscle.  

Then a flock of crows landed on the ground to his left and he identified Uzza and Ariel.  The chief quickly turned from them sizing up the scene. The chief archangel growled looking around. If they thought to surround the general they would be disappointed. Michael could see the path they had chosen now. The general looked back to the horse. The dark horse darted forward then snorted. His angels looked at it, distracted, and then thousands upon thousands of dark angels appeared, surrounding them, and that was when it started. Michael shouted orders time after time until his forces drove them away. The dark angels sought refuge in the highest, the most barren caves they could find, and slithered about in these holes for eons.

 

Mount Herman was a giant chiseled mountain made of stone and was the highest peak on earth. It touched the heavens. Mount Herman sat beyond them cloaked from the real world, yet these giant mountains were only known in the spiritual world. It was made of pure white stone and reached from the base of the earth to the tip of First Heaven. Its beauty set it apart from all of the mountains in all the realms. In the sunlight it sparkled of pearl and ivory. The edges, sides and very top were made of the hardest purest granite of the entire universe. Warfare had raged there for centuries and it was one of many doors to earth.

Michael followed them to the peak of Mount Herman. As many as forty archangels teetered between salvation and ruin. He saved as many as he could and gave the rest the choice of heaven or hell. Instead of making a decision, they hid amongst the heavens but something else blocked his sight. Michael followed them through all times looking for them, spent the greater part of his time searching for them, and his time was infinite. Seven of the dark archangels fell, yet three of them were within his sights on Terra, but where? They scattered like vermin throughout the earth.

The air trembled, and then the water to the left lay still. Beyond the beach rose land covered in granite rocks and pebbles of all sizes. These shifted and wavered as the beings appeared. They stood before him one by one as shadows, morphed into the shape of angels. Michael ran to a nearby mountain, aware they were following him. They moved slowly like ghosts anchored in one dimension, yet easily seen in another. The chief archangel turned to face them as he armored up and lit his sword. He rolled it into a spear then lunged into them as they phased into time. Michael took on all seven of the dark ones alone. The archangel of light slammed into the earth, he rose from the dirt, and he looked from the left to the right with a gaze as bright as a flickering flame.

Michael grabbed the demon to his left, by the throat and brought it eye level. It wasn’t even an angel, let alone an archangel. He heard Samael’s laughter not far away. Laughter again and again each time higher and wicked than the last. This time Samael chuckled. Michael turned his head then ran to Samael’s position.

”You’re wasting your energy, chief,” he said with a wicked heckle. Michael grabbed Samael and threw him into a lake beside a nearby mountain then turned again. Ariel and Azeal slammed into his back. Michael twisted and tossed and Ariel was thrown on the ground. Then Michael scanned the area, three of them, but together would be no match for one chief archangel.

“Michael, Michael,” Samael hissed as master of distortion. Samael rose from the lake and attacked again, but Michael whirled his attackers into the side of the same mountain, and then dashed in pursuit. They disappeared before he got to them in the corner of the base of the mountain.

The small valley beneath the mountain range was thin and narrow. A few meters from the base, the ground on opposite sides was of mixed turf and black sand. The shadows of his foe competed with clouds near the peaks. It was prime real estate for colossal creatures like these, with egos that were even larger than life. Michael chased Azeal and Samael around the base of the mountain, but the pair dove into the darkness. Michael stopped and searched the darkness for them. Creatures of the underworld that they were, the darkness of caverns and volcanoes called to them. Samael moved at the speed of light into sight and drove his staff into Michael’s thigh. Michael grabbed the staff and pulled it out, and sent a wave of heat up to Samael’s arm. Samael let go of the staff and backed up, grunting.

They chuckled and hopped from peak to peak along the small range of mountains. Ariel favored one leg, but he was still nimble. The sky was now dark blue with smoky and light pink colored clouds, lit with the hue from a descending sun,whichglared like a streetlight along the mountain base and the ground below at the very base. The mountains themselves were a mix of light and brown; the color of the richest dirt on earth. A crow landed next to Michael. He recognized it as Ariel just before it flew up at his face. Michael morphed his armor to protect his eyes. The archangels were made of the best; gathering two or three from each type of angel in heaven. Ariel was a seraph, one of Michael’s own kin, and Seraphim could change into any creature they chose.

The clouds thickened and hovered together in a thick barrier closing out the sky. The valley and the base of the mountain had darkened, as had the low hills at the foot of the mountain that covered the scene for miles and miles. From the base of the rock to the north-west of the beach was a purple light with a pink and yellow hue. It bounced off the water while elsewhere the darkness of the impending night cloaked the ground and the grass as far as one could see.

Azeal recovered from behind the mountain. He ran toward Michael who turned and squared his shoulders in readiness. Then he stretched out across the ground and galloped on the ground like a four legged animal. Azeal launched into Michael through the air. Michael opened his helmet, and then he pulled it back over his face. He bent forward on the ground stretched out his arm and moved his fingers. It was as though Michael was bending and slowing time with the other hand clasped in the dirt. Azeal slammed into Michael with the force of two ton trucks. He felt the ground rattle beneath him. Michael took the blow and held his ground for a moment. Then he curled around the blind spot on the other side of the mountain.

Michael saw Azazel out of the corner of his eye, tugged off gauntlets then brought Azazel down with his light. The other archangels took off running into the wilderness. Michael still had Azazel, the dragon’s second lieutenant and one of the instigators that started it all. Before this time, even, farther back near the beginning, Azazel was expelled from the sky kingdom for making weapons and conspiring against the crown. These were the least of his crimes. It took Michael ages to find him, as his quarry always slipped from his reach. Azazel fled to earth and time circled on earth in their time by the second. Michael pinned Azazel on the ground below his boot as he looked up and saw a bright star fall to the ground. The gold body descended to land softly, and Raphael walked out of the light. He hurled abeam into Azazel, then split the earth with his fist and Azazel fell into the gorge. Michael nodded and launched into the sky.

 

As many as twenty archangels were still at large and teetered between good and evil. They lost their power over time when they fell but something brought them here, linked them through worlds and times, and it was this dark object that called for Michael’s attention. When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth; he hissed and vowed to pursue man and its descendants for all time and he slithered into the earth. Michael lost them where he always lost them; they disappeared near Mount Ararat in the time of Noah.  The realm they created was never equal to what they had in heaven. Many of the archangels had scattered since that battle, some not knowing what to do with their powers and newfound freedom.

Mount Ararat was the same a cluster of many large mountains that climbed from the sea. The cliffs housed early man, early beast, and early demons. The earth was beautiful then with oceans and cliffs and green pastures went on forever. Man ran wild learning, yet consumed with eating and breeding and later speaking, reading then writing. They looked to the stars and dreamed of the spiritual world and the unknown.

 

It was the watchers who taught the humans all of the dark arts known to earth and just some of the secrets of the mystical realms beyond terra. There was enough evil contained in some of the treasure of knowledge to last them for lifetimes beyond this world. The weapon making, enchantments, Gnosticism and violence seemed infinite and it was Michael’s task to stop them before it would get worse.But something went horribly wrong, time and the battles of old not repeatingit as it always did.

Michael crashed onto the shores somewhere in Italy and with one glance he knew this ancient place. Michael pried off both his gauntlets and wiped the wet sand from his brow and beard. His legs felt weak, so he fell to his knees, and then looked about for his helmet, which had come off during the long fall. His eyes glowed, star-like, his focus was odd, so he closed them then shook his head to get a better sense of his surroundings.  The last thing he remembered was Sariel in one hand and Ramiel in the other. This was how time always repeated itself but not this day.Thetornadoes and winds blew out of control. The archangel of light braced himself for the light and fell backwards. The chief archangel dug one gauntlet into the sand and then the other to steady his torso his eyes lit then turned dark brown. The general saw the stars shooting from the sky and he knew he lost control of it. The war was still on and the commander had lost control of it.

 

Michael opened his eyes again and sensed they had turned dark brown. That was better. He needed to look at this place with the eyes of a human. The general oriented himself, narrowed his gaze and looked to his left along the shore, no more than a meter from the water. The chief archangel concentrated, but he had lost the signal of the dark thing he followed. In the distance was a very long sliver of land, perhaps a peninsula, boasting bright city lights that twinkled every second. The sky was aqua blue and the dark grey clouds swirled round the moon. The water was light blue in the waning light and to his left was a large brown rock that sparkled with copper infused in the fossilized rock shells and starfish.

The sun was setting and the commander of all the archangels knew he didn’t have much time to accomplish his mission. Michael tried to get up, but his legs were still oddly weak. He sat back on the ground and rubbed more sand from his beard. But this would get him nowhere. Soon, the prince of the palace was on all fours with his hands in the sand, searching for the signal from the dark relic that led him to this location.

The archangel of light arched his back from exhaustion. An outline of purple and white wings glowed on his back beneath his skin. They were for propulsion, nothing more and they didn’t help him today when what he sought was on the earth. Michael shifted out of his armor to his second suit, white trimmed in silver. He looked to his hands and gloves morphed over his white glowing palms. He reached to his gold utility belt as he concentrated on slowing his breath and centering himself.

Each second of each minute he felt more and more lost and this weakened him more and more as the once valiant general amongst heaven’s ranks clung to the skin of this planet. Michael had followed a signal to earth once before, caught up in a time paradox, because his angel corps was out of sync that time. The general located his helmet easily, dragged it close to him and snapped it over his face. Then he staggered to his feet, his helmet covered his face and his battle armor extended over his golden suit, ready for the archangels of darkness to phase into this time period. The archangel of light could tell from technology and shape of the buildings in the distance that he was well past the year 2000.

The black marbled sky was quiet, but not for long. First there was a loud boom and then a thousand stars burst in the sky. The chief archangel saw it like a picture before him. These were his brethren, his kin, colleagues, not just stars in the sky. He read every star in the sky like a story, and every solar system like a book. It was like a collection of words that spoke to him. He knew ever entity in the universe both near and far. Only Michael and the dominion knew this language. They were the managers of all angels. The starsmarched in unison over the trees in the distance and fell to earth.

The sky turned light blue, and surely the humans noticed it. He didn’t have the power to turn the earth but time was another story. Michael was a zeitgeist or a time spirit. He spun his forefinger as if winding a clock to the precipice of dusk teetering on night and day. The clouds swirled like a tornado to the sun. The archangel of light opened up the Milky Way and wound the wind with his hand. He pointed and moved his hand across the air, hoping to seal the rift to his left. The chief archangel opened his hands again, the clouds wouldn’t stop. The general pounded his fist in the sand again and then relaxed thinking he still could save the earth.  This was his Father’s world.

Michael squinted and looked again at the clouds, then narrowed his far-reaching vision close to Rome. Michael smelled the smog from the city streets in the night air and knew he was not far from the city. The clouds above had grown dark and the sky yellowed. The clouds billowed aimlessly as if with no time and purpose. Yet Michael knew what it was. Something was coming to this time and place. It was a dark archangel, who would churn the skies, scorch the earth, raise the winds, and open a window to chaos.

Now he was alone. Now it was the time… the time he had fallen from the sky. A talisman fused with darkness and evil had brought him here, but why to this place? The objects held dark power and he would need to find his archangels to consolidate his ranks. The dreams and memories swirled around him and settled. The general was somewhere near Rome in the 21^st Century. The chief archangel sat up, found the energy to rise slowly, morphed into a white suit and white shirt. Michael walked to the edge of the rushing water. The archangel stood watching it as rushedback and forth against his feet. He turned to look up the sandy hill, then set off walking.

The sand poured into his shoes and the force of gravity tried to draw him back to the shore. Michael continued up to the peak of the hill and brushed past two thick green shrubs to the road towards the city. His short time on earth had weakened him, and the general would need Uriel to intensify his power until autumn. It was still summer, according to the mildness of the air, and Uriel’s time to shine bright. Gabriel was the archangel of winter and Raphael was the spring. There was interference from good as well as evil in the wind, so he went walking towards it near the city of Rome. Michael imagined what would happen when he found this particular dark object, which called to him and to every other angel. The dark archangels would not be far behind and vice versa. They were always drawn to their masters. Michael stood on the edge of the road not sure where to go next.

 

Michael walked for miles through path after path around a curve of the dusty small country road that intersected into one after another. It was a barren and desolate space in this part of Italy. The chief archangel brushed past the trees in the thick brush on either side of the enclosure made entirely of thick brush on either side. The spaces were small but still passable. Michael walked out of the brush with light emitting from the outside of his body and meters beyond to light his path. When he emerged in his customary white suit. He stopped, stood, and ran his left hand through his wild brown hair. He paused in silence with his eyes drawn then closed them. Thearchangel titled his head back slightly and ascended into the air. The avenging angel turning into a golden man, and then morphed into pure light to a place in the sky with the stars. Michael armored up and flew low the rest of the way to Rome.