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 Rise
of
Lucifer
Legion

By:
Michael J Callaway
 Rise of Lucifer
Legion
Table of Contents
1 Legion
2 The Tournament Of Noketer
3 The Katizic Match
4 Knowledge and Song
5 Someone Else Was Listening Too
6 Two Are Chosen
7 Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega
8 Why Are They Following Us?
9 Melchizedek’s Mission
10 Cold Trail
11 The Valley of Megiddo
12 Temple is Complete
13 The Cave
14 Journey Home
15 Michael’s Temptation
16 Reunion
17 Legion Takes the Stand
18 Gabriel’s Rebuttal
19 Everyone Must Choose
20 Epilogue
 Chapter 1
Legion

Running as fast as he could into the forest, Noketer had to get

away, this was too much for him to deal with. He was so mad that he
had lost that last match; this was not supposed to happen to him.
“Everyone wanted Jaenan to win and were so happy to see her
beat me. The judges were all on her side and weren’t giving me the
right calls; I should have been treated with respect. It isn’t fair, I do
what I should and everyone else does better than me. They are all out
to get me!”
At that moment, Noketer felt a presence near him that he could
not describe, the hairs on his body stood up and he was very uneasy.
He was not sure how, but he knew someone was watching him. He
called out, “ Is anyone out there? If you want me to go back and accept
that defeat, I will not do it.”
From behind the trees Noketer heard a shrill voice say, “Poor,
poor, Noketer, you have been cheated and humiliated and no one, not
even God, cares about you.”
Noketer was surprised, because yes he did feel cheated and
humiliated, however, he had never thought that God was a part of it.
“What do you mean when you say that not even God cares?”
At this, the creature stepped out of the shadows and Noketer’s
eyes tried to adjust to see who he was speaking with. The creature did
not look like any being that Noketer had seen before. It was much
shorter than he was, standing about five and half feet tall and did not
2
seem to actually have a real physical form.
The creature continued, “Well, if the judges and audience did
not let you play the game fairly, who is ultimately responsible for that?”
Noketer had not really thought of that. “I just assumed that they
wanted to see Jaenan win because she had never won before and
thought that it would help her self-esteem.”
“At your expense, they would deliberately humiliate you just so
that they could lift this poor sap of a Cherub up? Why not let her beat
Michael or Israel and really make her feel good? No, no, no, this was
personal, this was deliberate and this was against you!” hissed the
creature.
Noketer stood there for a while and then said, “Well, why
would God do that, and furthermore, who are you?”
“You have asked me two questions so I shall give you two
answers. First, why would God do that? And second, who am I? Well
in order for me to give you the first answer, I must give you the second
first.
“First, I am a we, what you see as one form is really a collection
of many spirits. We work as one, with our combined strength we are
more powerful than any other creature that has been, we call ourselves
Legion, for we are many. We used to be called Jinn and lived in mortal
form once like you do now. Like your people, God was ‘teaching’ us
and ‘testing’ us. Those were the words that He would use, however,
we later learned the truth.”
At this Noketer jumped in and said, “The truth, the truth about
what?”

3
 “Patience, patience, we will tell you all you need to know in
good time. Anyway, we decided that we would combine our strengths
and work together for the common good. We would create a new order
and a new system. We no longer wanted to live under the tyranny of
God; we wanted our own society. Do you think that God gave in, gave
us our freedom?”
“I don’t know, you’re here so He must have done something,”
was all Noketer could reply.
“Something, something, oh he did something!” Legion hissed.
“He banned us and sent us to wander the mortal worlds, at some point
we will face judgment, all because we wanted freedom. God chose to
humiliate us so that way He could lift up others, just like He is doing to
you.”
Noketer stood there as he tried to find some kind of argument,
some kind of reason that he could bring up against Legion. However,
he could not think of any. At last he said, “Well, what does this have to
do with me?”
At this Legion smiled and said, “At last the true reason that we
are here today. You see, many worlds ago, we found that if one of the
mortals that lived on that planet would allow us to live inside of him or
her, we would not be forced to wander around aimlessly, but could
have a purpose and a mission.
“With our strength and our host body, we could become one
flesh, the two of us could be better for it. Imagine what your fellow
Cherubim would think if you could beat Michael at katizic, sing better
than Gabriel or write better than Segest? Why, they would almost think

4
that you were a god, no longer would they treat you so poorly and use
your misfortune as a way to lift up lesser beings.
“You and we would have much to gain by working together; all
you would need to do is let us come and live inside you and all your
troubles and worries will be left behind.”
Noketer shook his head and said, “I can’t commit to anything
yet, however, meet me here in this same place in three days, and I will
have an answer for you.”
“As you wish,” said Legion. “However, if we find someone
else who is more worthy and more willing to commit than you in that
time, then they, not you, will receive our help and our blessing.” With
that Noketer ran off and headed back into Verden.

Noketer went to find a place where he could think, overlooking

the city. Verden is a beautiful city that runs along the mountain range,
it is on the far western plains of Melchizedek, to the west lies the
Kalyia mountain range. As the Cherubim grew and multiplied, they
moved west and built the great cities, Sontuc, Malaguata, Nopla,
Kartaja, Las Dal, and finally Verden, six in all.
When Noketer’s ancestors first came to the mountain range
some eight hundred years ago, they founded Verden with seven other
Cherub families. Now seven generations later, Verden, while not the
largest of the Cherub cities, it is by far one of the most beautiful.
Noketer liked coming out and looking at the city and thinking about all
the early Cherub that had built this place.
While it made him feel better, it also made him feel worse. The

5
more he would look at the accomplishments of others, the less worthy
he felt. He was about to go see his wife-to-be, a beautiful Cherub
named Bayler, and talk things over with her when Legion came out of a
cave to meet him.
This first shocked Noketer, then he said, “I thought we had
decided to wait three days?”
“Oh we did,” said Legion, “but like we said, if there was a
worthier and more willing candidate, then we would have to go with
them. However, here is the problem and this is the reason that we came
to you right away.
“There is another cherub who was willing, but was not at as
worthy as you, she approached us shortly after we spoke, she must have
been hiding in the forest because she could identify with all the feelings
of self-doubt and despair that you were feeling.
“Anyway, she wanted us to come into her instead of you and
help her achieve all the goals that God had denied her. Well, this was
quite unexpected from our part; we usually approach mortals and ask
them, not the other way around. Now, we must admit, the girl has
talent and that with her body and our abilities, she would make a fine
Cherub indeed. However, we still think that you would be the best
candidate.
“Well, what we decided to do was let her know about the
agreement we had with you. We let her know that you would take
these three days to decide and that if you turned us down, then we
would be happy to consider her.”
At this Legion’s head shook. “That was probably not the best

6
way for us to word that. It made her feel like she was unimportant and
that next to you, she was pure garbage. She shouted at us, ‘Fine, wait
for your prized Cherub all you want, as for me, my offer for you ends at
sun up tomorrow!’”
Legion looked very troubled, like a person torn between saving
two lives when all they can do is save one. Legion looked at Noketer
and said, “We are so sorry that we must rush you into making such an
important decision, and also sorry that we are putting this burden on
you. You see, if she had been more willing and more worthy, then it
would be an easy choice. As it is, she is willing, but you are worthy,
therefore, what we need to know from you is, are you with us or not?”
Legion emphasized.
As Noketer looked into the creature’s eyes, something drew him
in. Flattered by the comment of being worthy, Noketer hung on every
word. “If you are with us, great, we can do this tonight and let the
transformation begin. If not, then we must go to this girl right away,
smooth things over and start working with her.”
This was not what Noketer had wanted to hear at all, he wanted
more time to think this through and talk with Bayler and some other
Cherubim first. However, if he did not act now, he would lose this
golden opportunity to become the greatest Cherub ever.
Noketer weighed everything in his mind and decided that he
needed to act now; if things did not work out, he could always
reevaluate the situation later. “I agree,” said Noketer, and after that, he
has never been seen again.

7
 Chapter 2
The Tournament of Noketer

After Noketer had disappeared, teams of Cherubim from all

three of the western cities sent out search parties looking for him. They
searched all over the mountains looking for signs that Noketer might
have gotten hurt and could not fly home. They searched every valley
and checked as many caves as they could find, word spread to the
eastern cities about the mystery and they started a search for him too.
He had simply vanished.
In the last two thousand years of Cherub history, no one had
ever been lost like this before. Finally, when they had tried everything
that they knew, Melchizedek and the other members of the Sharah went
to God seeking guidance. While they should have known that God
already knew what was going on, they were surprised that He spoke to
them before they ever said a word.
“Noketer has fallen under the spell of evil. Call off your search
parties, they will never be able to find him.”
This was not the answer they thought they would get, they
assumed that the Lord would tell them that Noketer had gone to find a
quiet place for prayer and fasting and had just forgotten to tell his clan
as was the custom. Melchizedek came and fell before the Lord and
said, “What must we do to save him?”
“He cannot be saved at this time, he has not yet realized the
mistake that he has made. The time will come when you will be told
what to do. For now, set up a memorial in every city and pray for
8
him.”
With that, the Lord went up into heaven. That was forty years
ago.

As months turned to years, and years turned to decades, the

Cherubim had begun to think that Noketer would never come back.
The final week of Noketer’s known life had become the third most
important holiday in Cherub culture. While little was known as to why
he had chosen evil, parents used this as an opportunity to train their
young.
If one child would not share her toy with another, a parent was
very likely to say, “Now you know, it was just that kind of attitude that
led to Noketer never being seen again.” The child would immediately
start to be nicer after that.
On the fortieth anniversary of Noketer’s disappearance, the
Lord came down and met with Kalyia. He told her that the time had
come to gather the elders of every city, and that they were to begin the
process of selecting two of their own who would make the trip out west
to find Noketer.
Kalyia spoke to the people and said, “God has specifically told
me that my husband and I are not eligible to be part of the search, we
will be needed here until they come back. He also said that Yani and
Natali would not be going either, the pain of seeing what Legion had
done to their son would be overwhelming. The Lord also told me was
that everyone else must be considered, age and generation number
cannot be the criteria that we use.”

9
 Enoch, her first-born asked, “But how are we going to choose
who the two will be?”
There was much discussion in the Sharah as to what form the
selection process should take. Some wanted it to be an elected
position, that anyone who felt like they were capable could go out and
campaign for the job, and that the two with the most votes would be the
ones. However, Segest, one of the wisest members of the council
pointed out how that would not work.
“God said that everyone would have to be considered. If we
had an election, some people would not be considered because of their
birth order. Tell me, who would vote for Dagon over Enoch or myself?
No, the process that we come up with must include everyone.”
While no one would say it, everyone there in the Sharah would
have preferred it if God had not made it universal. There was still a
prevailing feeling among the majority that if you were born after the
seventh generation, you were too young. They did have members of
the Sharah that were younger than that, but none was younger than the
ninth. It was a generally accepted rule.
The first seven generations lived together in the Garden of God,
as their numbers had begun to increase, it became apparent that they
needed to build a bigger city. Sontuc was that first city and is the
largest still to this day with a population of over three hundred and fifty
million Cherubim.
Nathan asked, “What do you have in mind?”
“A tournament, a tournament the likes of which we have never
seen before. Everyone except for the four are to gather in their

10
respective towns, first, everyone will compete by family, then by clan,
and then by division. Finally, all the division winners will meet up and
each city will have two representatives that they will send east to this
very spot where the two will be chosen.”
Kalyia said, “It should be called the Tournament of Noketer in
his honor, in addition to katizic matches, there should also be
songwriting contests, and general knowledge exams. The two that
stand out the most will be chosen and sent off to find our brother
Noketer.”
The katizic match was something that everyone knew how to
organize right away. They had had large tournaments before; generally
it was split up between regions. Verden would produce a champion
and he or she would match up with the Las Dal champion and the
winner would be named Western Champion for that year. What was
more challenging was how to come up with songwriting and general
knowledge tests.
Early in the morning, all the Cherubim gathered by families all
across the plains and began having the various tournaments. Making
everyone compete in all three events made the contest fairer. While
katizic favored older Cherub, songwriting and knowledge favored
younger ones who were fresh from school.
This first phase of the Tournament of Noketer went on for
almost two weeks. What everyone liked the most was that it reminded
them of the way it was back in the beginning when they had first been
created; they met like this all the time. As time went on and each clan
grew, it had became harder and harder to keep in touch. Many of the

11
older Cherubim longed for the old days when everyone knew and
interacted with everyone.
The tournament lasted two months, and finally there were only
twelve Cherubim standing, two from each city. While everyone
competed in all three events, there was a definitive split among the
three major western cities and the three major eastern ones. Katizic,
the game of physical and mental skill was the very popular in the West,
this fit with their more active outdoor lifestyle. Songwriting and
performing was much more popular in the East.
The only thing that did not change was knowledge; Cherubim
spend a lot of time teaching their young about physical laws, biology,
and history. About one hundred years of a Cherub’s life was spent in
school.

The twelve finalists all made their way east and then south past
Sontuc to the peninsula where the Garden of God was. While the
Cherubim did not live there anymore, it was still a very holy and
special place for them. Every year, one city sent one thousand of its
citizens to the Garden to take care of it, it was a big honor to be chosen
and no one could be chosen twice.
The Garden was a thing of beauty, fruits and vegetables grew
there that could not grow anywhere else in all of Roacen. Even if a
fruit did grow somewhere else on the plain, you could always taste the
difference from one that came out of the Garden. The Garden was
about a day’s flight south of Sontuc, it was surrounded on three sides
by ocean and protruded from the main land. To its east lay the great

12
ocean; no one could imagine what might lie to the east of this great
body of water.
In the center of the Garden was a great fountain with the
clearest water and when the sun was shinning overhead, the reflection
could be seen for miles, the water had a sparkle that did not exist with
any other fountain in all of Roacen. It was the fountain of the
knowledge of good and evil, when the Garden was first created,
Melchizedek and Kalyia were told that they could eat from any fruit
tree and drink from any spring that they wanted to, they were, however,
prohibited from drinking from this one fountain.
Melchizedek and Kalyia never even went near the fountain for
many years, when they gave birth to their first son, Enoch, and then
later to their daughter, Chalis, they did take them there and taught them
never to drink from this fountain or to even play around it.
There had been a close call in the sixth generation, a young
Cherub named Gog, son of Magog, had been out playing by himself
when he happened to come across the fountain. He was no more than
eighteen years old at the time; he saw the water, with all its sparkle he
thought to himself, if I could just have a taste of this water, I am sure
that it wouldn’t do any harm. He was about to scoop some water into
his hand when two older females, Ruth and Aria, saw him and grabbed
him by the heels, pulling him away from the fountain.
Gog had no real answer for why he had wanted to do that, he
just did not think that it would be that bad. After this near miss was
when the community started gradually moving farther away from the
fountain. The only workers that could even work around it at all had to

13
be of the highest character. Many had called for the building of a wall
around it so as to make such a mistake impossible, the only reason that
did not happen was because God had come down and told them not to.
“Free will,” He said, “was not free if the possibility to do wrong did not
exist.”

Now having over a billion Cherubim in one of the great cities

would have been a challenge, having them all in the Garden would be
impossible. Fortunately, a very clever Cherub named Zek, from
Sontuc, had found a way to take pictures and sounds and have them
transferred through the air into monitors so that people could see and
hear events or meetings and not have to be there physically. These
zekomotions, as they were called, were not commonly used, but this
kind of event was something that they were perfect for.
Most regional centers in the cities had a zekomotion and used it
for community events. This was the first event that would be broadcast
live all across the plain, everyone built temporary housing all around
the zekomotions and rarely left.
Melchizedek said, “Congratulations to all of you! This has been
a fine tournament and I am pleased that everyone gave their best. The
twelve finalists here represent very different sections of our society and
culture.”
“I am sure that there are those that are surprised to see so many
younger people here. Let me tell you right now, I am not one of them.
The Lord has shown me many flaws in our society; I never thought that
anyone would ever feel the way that Noketer felt, that we were holding

14
him down so that others could improve. That one small misconception
was all Legion needed in order to lead Noketer astray. Soon, all of us
will have to face this Legion, I do not want there to be anyone out there
that has a misconception about their worth.
“Now, on a lighter note, the competition, this will not be like
the regional or citywide games. Results will not be made available; no
one will know how they are doing until the very end. Points and values
will not be published, whether an event is worth many points or only a
few will only be known by the judges. All you will know is to do the
absolute best you can and see how it plays out. We will begin at dawn
tomorrow.”

15
 Chapter 3
The Katizic Match

The Cherubim were split up into teams based on overall rank,

everyone went up to check the list to see who their partner was.
Michael’s face dropped when he saw that he would have Gabriel as his
teammate, Gabriel more so because he realized that this meant that of
the twelve, he was either ranked number eleven or twelve, behind
Alevia and Jaenan, and they were a lot younger than he was.
Michael went up to Gabriel and said with a coy smile, “You
know, I was hoping to end up with one of the good-looking females
from Nopla, instead I end up with you.”
“Well, I was hoping to end up with a great katizic master like
Nathan, and I ended up with you, so I guess we both didn’t get what we
wanted,” replied Gabriel with a shrug. “Hey, I heard that you sang off
key in the Verden trials, what happened?”
“Probably the same thing that happened to you when you
matched up against Segest, I think he set a record for the fastest
victory,” was Michael’s reply.
The two went at it like that for a while, finally Alevia came up
to them, pretending like she did not know that they were talking, and
very sweetly said, “Come, you two, the first match has already started,
we don’t want to be late.”

The first match was Melany and Kystina against James and
Segest; this one was the longest of the three and had the most drama.
16
At one point Melany did a forward flip and kick to James’ head so hard
that it almost knocked him out. The two females worked well together
and in the end were able to defeat James and Segest, who were both
older.
The quickest match was Richer and Jaenan against Israel and
Alevia. While Richer was one of the best individual katizic players, he
was not very good with a partner. Jaenan, while knowing the technical
aspects of the games, was a pretty poor player. She had been thrown
out of the sphere by Israel and Alevia in a matter of seconds, then they
took turns sparing with Richer one on one until he finally tired out. At
last, both Israel and Alevia each grabbed a leg and pinned Richer on his
back.
That evening, all the twelve competitors gathered together
under one of the large trees there in the Garden and begin talking about
the day’s activities. Gabriel said, “The most amazing match was James
and Segest against Melany and Kystina, that was something else. By
the way, how is your head, James?”
“Very well, and thank you for reminding me!” yelled James
from beyond the trees. “I think that if you had taken that kind of hit,
you may never have sung again.” At this, everyone laughed.
Richer chimed in, “I’m sorry that I left you out there all by
yourself, Jaenan, I have never been very good at doubles play. Israel
and Alevia just escorted you out of the game and I did nothing to stop
them. By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late.”
“That is the trick in doubles play, you need to watch each
other’s backs. Especially when you have a great player and one that is

17
newer to the sport,” said Israel. He did not like to say weaker or not as
good, he felt like that may hurt someone’s feelings.
“Nathan did the best that he could to protect Tjome against
Michael, and if you guys were going to come after Alevia, I was not
about to let you get to her without coming through me first.”
“Do you think that was the purpose?” asked Tjome. “No matter
what we are good at or how great we are, if we lose even the weakest
amongst us, we can be beaten. Today it was just a game, I’m no better
or worse off than if Nathan and I had won.”
“However, out there in the western mountain lies something
that none of us have ever encountered before, something evil. I can’t
help but think that we are being prepared to face something, something
that was clever enough to fool Noketer and could probably do the same
to us.”
“I think Tjome is right,” said James. “This event here is more
than who can beat who in katizic, or who knows more than who, or
who can sing well. We are being tested so that we can see what is
inside of us. Right over there is the fountain of life, and the fountain of
knowledge of good and evil.”
“Any one of us could go and take a drink and no one would
have to know, but the fact is we aren’t perfect. The reason that we have
been prohibited from drinking from the fountain is because we aren’t
ready. We aren’t yet ready to know all the evil that there is to know,
we aren’t ready to live with the heavenly host as immortals living with
and serving God. That is why we have been prohibited from doing
this.”

18
 Somewhere in the mountains, there is a creature that all the
animals now flee from. Its presence is something that they do not
understand; all they know is that to be near it invites suffering and
death. The sounds and the screams do not sound like anything that any
of them have heard before. While they could never understand the
actual words, they could understand the tone and the emotions.
It started with the more intelligent animals first, lions and
wolves among others. While none in their packs had ever been
attacked, they had come across some horrific scenes and were trying to
understand what it all meant.
The animals had come in contact with Cherubim before, but
they had never posed any danger to anyone. While large creatures like
the behemoth and the leviathan had been known to kill other animals
by accident before, they were largely harmless if left alone.
The one drawback of living in paradise is that you never learn
to be cautious; you never learn how to avoid predators.

For the next round of competition, all three of the winning

teams would move on to the next round. The fourth team would be
chosen at random, one member from each of the losing teams was to
come up, put their hand in the bag and grab a urim stone, the one that
grabbed the red stone would move on to the second round.
James, Nathan, and Richer all walked up to the platform, each
reached in and grabbed the first stone that they felt. When everyone
had a stone in hand, they all revealed them at the same time; James had

19
chosen the red urim stone so he and Segest would be moving on.
The first match was Israel and Alevia against Kystina and
Melany, Israel went to the ground quickly, this allowed him the ability
to use his strength to his advantage. He was able to pin Melany
quickly, and then Alevia and him pushed Kystina out of the sphere.
The next match would go on a lot longer, both James and
Segest did a very good job of switching off Michael since he was the
best player of the four. Segest and Gabriel were fighting very close to
the edge of the sphere; Gabriel dove down, turned and kicked up,
forcing Segest out of play. However, Segest was able to hang on to the
heel of Gabriel and pull him out too.
Finally Michael was able to pin James, and so the finals would
be Israel, Alevia, Michael and Gabriel. Gabriel stood at the sidelines
gasping for air. “Great, now I get to do this all over again.”

All four of the Cherubim entered the arena. They each bowed
to each other, and then to the judges as well as to the other eight
Cherubim who had been part of the contest.
Michael said to Gabriel, “I don’t think that they will try sending
Israel against you and have Alevia spar against me, just do your best
against her and I will do my best against Israel. If you need help, fly
toward the center and I will do what I can. Alevia isn’t a great attacker,
however, she can defend well enough to hold off Richer so be careful,
especially around the perimeter.”
“What if they both come after me like they did against Jaenan?”
asked Gabriel

20
 “If they do that, then fly towards the edge of the sphere, when
they try to push you out lock on to Alevia, or if you can Israel, and then
pull them out of the game with you. Don’t worry, you will be fine,”
was Michael’s response.
As the four Cherubim started coming towards each other, it was
just as Michael had thought, the two master katizic players would face
off, leaving Gabriel and Alevia to themselves. Michael and Israel both
stayed on the ground while Gabriel and Alevia flew up high into the
air.
With both Cherubim on the ground, they retracted their wings
and began circling each other. “I am glad to see that you aren’t using
any trickery to try to beat us today,” came Israel’s challenge.
“I would only need to use trickery if I thought that you could
actually beat me, I have been the Verden champion for two years in a
row now.”
“Well that will do you no good when I beat you in front of
everyone today, my friend.”
With that, both Michael and Israel charged at each other and
collided at mid-circle. The force of two hard charging Cherubim made
a loud noise and knocked both Michael and Israel back. As each
regained their footing, they started circling each other and made
another charge. This time, instead of coming straight at Israel, Michael
went left, then right at the last moment and hit Israel at a slight angle.
The collision was fierce and while Michael was knocked to the
ground, Israel was knocked off his feet and went flying though the air,
he landed on his back with a thud. Both got up slowly, Israel more so,

21
he could have kicked himself for getting tricked like that and knew he
could not take another direct hit. Both came running at each other, but
just before impact, Israel jumped up and kicked right at Michael’s
chest.
Seeing this, Michael did a forward summersault, swung his
right leg back around and tried to sweep Israel off his feet. Israel was
out of his range because of how far he had jumped. Israel turned
around and took a big swing at Michael that he was just barely able to
block. This was going to be the longest katizic match of all time.

Up head, Gabriel and Alevia were swapping blows mostly with

their wings, trying to edge their opponent out of the sphere. Gabriel
looked down and said, “I am glad that we are up here and not down
there, those two will be sore for a few days, if not a whole week, the
way that they are smashing into each other.”
He flew at Alevia to try to catch her off guard by attacking from
below, he got off a solid punch that hit her in the midsection, however,
she was able to fly with the punch so that it did not hurt that much.
Gabriel pressed on and kicked with his leg while at the same time
swinging his wing at her. The kick missed, but the wing hit her on her
left side, Gabriel kept coming swinging wildly. Some punches and
kicks hit, most did not. However, because of Gabriel’s quick charge,
Alevia could never get set up to take a defensive stance.
Gabriel got a hold of one leg and was trying as hard as he could
to get his other arm around her neck so that way he could pin her to the
ground. With Alevia’s free leg she began kicking him anyway she

22
could. In response, Gabriel started punching at her with his left arm.
With both Cherubim locked up, they could not control their flying and
began to fall. Now this was what Gabriel was trying to do, but he
wanted a more controlled fall than what it was.
Israel looked up and saw Alevia and Gabriel falling toward the
ground, while the fall would not harm them, it would give Gabriel an
excellent opportunity to pin Alevia. Israel quickly extended his wings
and flew as fast as he could toward the falling Cherubim and barely
missed being smacked by a strong kick from Michael, whose back was
turned toward Alevia and Gabriel.
Michael spun around and saw Israel speeding towards Gabriel
and Alevia and quickly extended his wings too and went chasing after
Israel, who caught them just before they both hit the ground. Israel
pulled Gabriel off Alevia and was about to punch him when Michael
tackled him from behind.
Both Michael and Israel hit the ground and began wrestling
each other for position, trying to pin the other. Neither could get
control and both were very tired from the pounding that they had taken.
Michael made a good move to get Israel in a headlock and was about to
pin him when all of a sudden, he was hit from behind, this knocked him
off Israel.
Michael quickly got up and was ready to make a counterattack,
however, Alevia was now flying away from him at a fast pace and was
heading back towards Gabriel. Michael retracted his wings and called
out to Israel, “I know you won’t admit it, but there is a part of you that
wishes she hadn’t come to your rescue. I would have pinned you,

23
Gabriel and I would have pushed her out of the sphere and we would be
enjoying a lovely salad and drinking iced milk right now.”
“Oh, I think you would have found Alevia to be a feisty
defender, even against the two of you. Who knows, she may have even
found a way to win,” was Israel’s reply, which made Michael smile.
“What, what are you smiling about?”
“Oh nothing, it is just you flew mighty fast to save your partner
back there, a lot faster than I have ever seen you fly before. And then
the way you threw Gabriel, why that was just something! You left
yourself completely unprotected, it was almost like you had forgotten
that I was there.”
Israel shook his head, “It isn’t what you think. I was just
looking after my partner, that’s all. Besides, we are from different
regions, I am from the west and she is from the east, our families don’t
even know each other, and I am over seven hundred years older than
her. I just thought that if I could take out Gabriel, Alevia and I would
have an easier time against you. I just didn’t expect you to get to me so
fast.”
Michael laughed. “That is the weakest excuse I have ever
heard, since when did age ever become a concern for our people? You
and I have been friends for many years, I know you, and I know that
you are in love. Now, shall we charge at each other or are you afraid
that Alevia may not love you if I mess up your pretty face?”
“You are going down, Michael son of Amos,” came Israel’s
reply.

24
 Alevia and Gabriel were not doing a lot of fighting, after the last
exchange, they were circling each other in the air waiting for the other
to make the next move. Gabriel was considering swooping down and
getting a couple of good hits on Israel to help Michael out. However,
watching the two crash into each other made him change his mind,
also, he remembered that hit he could have taken, why that could have
been really painful. No, no, it was much better to stay up here.
“I may have been born at night, but not last night, I think those
two can take care of themselves.”
“You know, we can just agree to let those two decide the
outcome of this match, we could always call our match a tie,” called
Alevia over to Gabriel.
“Normally, I would agree with you, but since this is more than
just a sporting event, I think that we should give it our best. I don’t
think that it would be honorable to just quit and let those two work
alone. Sure, they may be better than us at katizic, but you just saved
Israel from being pinned by Michael. If you were to defeat me or I
defeat you’ it would greatly change the outcome of what goes on down
there. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to be relaxing like those
Cherubs sitting their watching us, but that isn’t our place right now.”
“Well,” said Alevia, “in that case, I do apologize.”
“Apologize for what?”
“For this.”
And with that, Alevia came flying at Gabriel. She punched him
so hard that he flew backwards. Alevia circled around, drew back her
wings and did a forward flip landing a solid kick into Gabriel’s side.

25
This sent him flying towards the edge; he desperately flapped his wings
in an attempt to keep from flying out of bounds.
He stopped mere feet from the edge, Alevia came back around,
but was careful not to over pursue and get herself thrown out. Gabriel
then flew at her and tried to push her out, she wrapped her legs around
him, did a backward flip and kicked with all her might. This sent
Gabriel flying out of the sphere and her dropping towards the ground.
When she was out of danger of going out of bounds, she extended her
wings and glided towards Michael and Israel.
Michael saw Alevia falling towards the ground and knew that
meant he was in trouble. Israel and Alevia had been able to tag team
Richer out and he was one of the best individual players. However,
once Richer was outnumbered he had taken to the air where he had a
better defense, this had played to Alevia’s strength. Michael decided
that he would stay on the ground and battle the two down there.
He stopped fighting Israel for the time being and went straight
at Alevia. Alevia did not like the look of that so she extended her
wings and tried to fly just out of Michael’s reach. However, she
misjudged Michael’s leaping ability and felt herself being pulled down
towards the ground by her legs.
Once Michael hit the ground, he began spinning round and
round while holding on to her feet. Once he had built up enough
momentum, he flung her as hard as he could. Poor Alevia did not have
a chance; she flew through the air and could not stop at all. She flew
right out of bounds and into the arms of Gabriel, who saw what was
happening.

26
 “That would have been a nasty fall,” came Gabriel’s response
once they were safely on the ground.
“I hope that makes you feel better about me throwing you out,”
said Alevia in a huff, however, she was very glad that Gabriel had
caught her; it would have been a nasty fall.
“Oh, it does, now here is something for you to drink while we
watch those two finish it up.”

Israel had chased down Michael and had tried to stop him from
throwing Alevia out, however, he had not been able to get close
enough, if he had, he would have been smacked by a spinning Alevia.
Once Michael let go and she went flying through the air, he thought
about trying to catch her, but knew that he never could. He also knew
that Michael would never let him live that down if he tried. Seeing that
Gabriel caught her once she was out of bonds made him breathe a little
easier, he would have to thank him later.
The battle lasted all through the night, there were times when it
looked like Israel would win, but Michael would escape and then it
would turn the other way. Back and forth this went on and on, the rest
of the Cherubim could not even cheer anymore they were so tired.
Neither one was willing to quit, finally, right before the sun was about
to rise, Michael got his right foot behind Israel’s legs, pulled him to the
ground and had him pinned.
Afterward, he fell to the ground next to his friend and said,
“That was the longest match I have ever had in my life, I plan to sleep
all day. I bet you are now wishing that your girlfriend had not saved

27
you half a day ago, aren’t you?”
“Great match, my friend, and will you please stop! She isn’t my
girlfriend, we just met, she was my partner, that is all!”
“Denial is an ugly thing.”
“I am not in denial!” stated Israel in a much stronger tone than
he really meant.
Of course, it is impossible to escape the charge of being in
denial in the first place; the more you deny it, the stronger you make
the case that you are. However, Michael was right about Israel and
both of them knew it.
Israel got up, pulled Michael up and the two walked over to
where the other Cherubs had been sitting. Fortunately during the night,
some of the others thought that it would be nice to have food and drink
prepared for the two of them, it was the best meal that they had ever
had.

28
 Chapter 4
Knowledge and Song

While the katizic match was fun for everyone to watch on the
screen and for the players involved, there was nothing fun about a two-
day test that covered everything from Physics and Chemistry to History
and Geography.
To make matters worse, no results would be published or
released. You had no idea if you were doing well or if you had failed,
at least with katizic there was a feeling of purpose, this seemed to just
drag on.
While the events were being broadcast in all six of the cities,
few were camped out watching this test. This gave everyone time to
rest up before the song competition started, now that would be
entertaining and was something that everyone was excited about.
After the two days were over, all twelve of finalists came back
to their camp that they had made. They were physically and mentally
exhausted, except for a few short breaks, the test had been non-stop.
Tjome fell to the ground and said, “That was the worst thing
that I have ever been through in my life. Why would they make us do
something like that?”
Segest responded, “I had nothing to do with this final design,
that was the work of the remaining members of the Sharah to put
together, James and I are innocent.”
“Yes, I know, but why such a long test and why did we not even
get a chance to break for the night and get some sleep? Two days, two
29
days of answering all kinds of questions, I am glad that they aren’t
telling us our results, I am sure that mine were terrible. Especially
towards the end,” replied Tjome.
“Well, it actually makes perfect sense,” said James.
“Legion is crafty, they were able to convince Noketer that they
could give him what he wanted if he would just open himself to them.
While the words were smooth, their motive was pure evil, something
that none of us have ever experienced before,” said Segest.
“Legion will try the same thing once they are caught, no doubt
about it. The two that do go after him must know the truth about God
and know the truth about themselves. Know your limits; know what
God has given you and what you lack. Legion will try to promise you
something, you must be determined to stand against them or you too
will fall like Noketer,” added James.
“Why was this legion of evil Jinn even allowed to live, why
didn’t God destroy them the moment that they chose to rebel? Better
yet, why make them at all if He knew what they would do?” asked
Nathan.
“That isn’t for us to know, however, I can tell you why Legion
hasn’t been destroyed now,” said James. “If Legion were sent to their
final judgment place, Noketer would have to go with them. He has
bonded himself to Legion and the fate of Legion would also be the fate
of Noketer. God is sparing Legion for now because he wants to give
Noketer a chance for redemption.”
“But what exactly are we supposed to do? All we have been
told is that two of us will find him and bring him back. How and when

30
will we be able to do this?” asked Richer.
“I am sure that when we need to know, we will know. Either
God will tell us directly or reveal it through Melchizedek and the other
elders. Don’t worry about something that hasn’t even happened yet,”
replied Segest.
“Besides, the tournament isn’t even over with, I am sure that we
will hear more once that is done and the two are chosen,” said Kystina.
Jaenan was starting to get scared, she said, “There is a part of
me that now hopes that I am not chosen, I think that I would be afraid
to meet this Legion. Do you remember what Melchizedek said at the
beginning, that Yani and Natali were ineligible because the shock
would be too much for them? I am now starting to think that it is too
much for me too.”

The next day, the elders held a ceremony to congratulate

everyone for finishing the first two phases of the competition. Kalyia
announced, “This last part will not be graded nor will you be ranked.
This is solely for your benefit and for all of those Cherubim watching at
home on their zekomotions. Sing any song you like, you can write one
or you can sing a song that we already know. Let it praise God and
encourage each other.”
All the names were put into a golden bowl and were drawn at
random. One by one each Cherub came up and sang a song, some of
them were funny, some fast, others were serious and somber. Each
song spoke to everyone in some shape or manner, of all the tests, this
was proving to be the most fun, no bruising and no hard questions, just

31
pure joy and love for each other and for God.
Finally, Gabriel took the stage, “The song I would like to sing
comes to us from the twenty-four elders who sit at the throne-room of
God. I feel like there is nothing that I could write or sing that would be
more beautiful than that.”
Gabriel took a harp and began to sing:
Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.
You are worthy, our Lord and God.
To receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.
After all the others had finished, everyone applauded their work
even if they were not very good by Cherub standards. However, when
Gabriel finished, there was complete quiet. After the silence the whole
plain burst into song, everyone, young and old sang out:
Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.
You are worthy, our Lord and God.
To receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.

32
 Hearing one angel sing is one thing, hearing over a billion all
sing at once, that is powerful. Their voices lifted so high into the
heavens that all the heavenly hosts could hear them loud and clear.
They had been following what was happening down on the mortal
planet of Roacen too, they knew that the time of testing for the
Cherubim was at hand and all were eager to see how they would handle
the evil of Legion.

33
 Chapter 5
Someone Else Was Listening Too

Deep in the heart of the western mountains, someone else could

here the singing of the Cherubim too. However, the response from
Legion was not that of joy like it was for everyone else. They cursed
and screamed all sorts of vile chants and spells.
Noketer, deep in the core of his inner being, fought desperately
to join with his other Cherubim in song, for this was a well-known song
to all of them. However, by now Legion was far too powerful for him.
Legion began to taunt Noketer and say, “Poor little Cherub
wants to sing a song, we will give you something worth singing about,
sing about how a stupid Cherub could be so easily fooled! Or you
could sing about how we ripped a ewe lamb’s head off and drank all its
blood. Why don’t you sing about that?”
Legion kept screaming even after the song had finished being
sung, the echo of it was more than they could bear. They ran up to the
highest mountain peak and screamed.
“You are not holy, you are not worthy, you may have created all
life, but we have the power to destroy it! You create and we destroy,
what is more powerful than that?”
When Legion screamed those words, the ground beneath them
shook and a loud clap of thunder rolled across the sky. A voice from
the heavens boomed, and the blast was enough that trees began to sway
and even rocks began to crack.
“Your days are numbered, Legion, the fool has said that he is
34
greater than Me! You will find yourself thrown into the abyss for all
the evil that you have done!”
Legion fell to the ground, trembling on hands and knees, not out
of respect, but because they had no choice.
“You cannot throw us into the abyss, you cannot, if You do,
then you will be condemning Noketer to suffer in our fate. He gave
himself to us, he gave himself to us freely!”
“A mistake that he has suffered for these many long years. I
have not forgotten what he did; you need not remind Me of facts,
Legion. But know that there is no place that you can go where I will
not take back what is mine.”
And with that everything went quiet, Legion was still on the
ground shaking like a leaf in the wind, when it was clear that the Lord
had gone, Legion stood up and dusted off.
“Guess we showed Him.”

Inside Noketer’s mind he could see himself and Legion just as

he could on that day so long ago. At first when he asked Legion to
come in and live in him, nothing much had really changed. He could
feel the power inside him and could hear Legion talking to him in his
thoughts. At first it was a wonderful feeling, he had strength like he
could never have imagined. He was able to pull a tree out of the
ground by its roots and swing it over his head like a mere club.
However, the best part was that he did not feel alone anymore,
no matter where he went, he was in constant companionship with the
Legion of Jinn. They told him that he needed to go off into the woods

35
for a full month to separate himself from the other Cherubim to learn to
live with the power that Legion had given him, and then when that time
had passed he would return to the company of Cherubim and be their
new ruler.
Now at first, Noketer had had full control of his body and mind,
Legion was after all an invited guest. Legion would make a suggestion
and Noketer could or could not comply. At first the thought of going
off into the woods by himself scared him, Legion reminded him that he
would not be alone, he would never be alone.
“Besides, if we run back to the other Cherubim, they are going
to think that you have lost your mind. You need time, my young
Cherub, time to learn how to live with us inside you, time to learn how
to rule your people justly and fairly. Remember, when the other
Cherubim see you, they are likely to think that you are some kind of
god, full of wisdom and power.
“This would be very frightening to these poor little creatures,
just look at the way God comes to speak to you. Does He come to you
with all His glory and power? Of course not, and why you may ask?
Because if He did, you would die of fright.
“You, my dear Noketer, must do the same, you must learn to
live with your power, you must learn how to be a god. These were
things that Melchizedek and the others would never have taught you,
that is why they kept you down. If you do not learn more from us in
one week than you have learned in your whole life, then you are free to
come back here.”
With these words Legion convinced Noketer that he did need to

36
learn, that he did need time, and the only way that he could get it was to
go deep into the mountains were no one would disturb them. While
there were times that he was not too fond of his fellow Cherubim, he
certainly did not want them to be terrified by his new godlike powers.
So deep into the mountains Noketer ran, he had never run so
hard for so long in his life. Noketer could go all day and all night and
still not tire, he had no need to eat or drink anything either.
Up ahead, Noketer saw an apple tree in full bloom with
hundreds of golden apples growing on it. He was going to stop and eat
one, when Legion asked him a question.
“Feel your stomach, does it have need for nourishment? Have
you grown weak with hunger that you must stop for food?”
“No actually, why I hadn’t even noticed. I guess it was out of
habit, if you see such beautiful fruit, it seems like a waste to not eat
any. Could I have one anyway?” asked Noketer.
“Well sure you can have one; however, if you do not need one,
will you really enjoy it? What we are trying to show you is that you
will be able to go months, even years, without needing any food at all.
Also, does not food taste so much better when you are truly hungry?
Trust us, we will find food that is just as good, if not better than this
later on, then when you are hungry you will truly savor it.”
Looking back, Noketer had no idea what all that had meant, he
did now, and those very words shook him every waking moment.

37
 Chapter 6
Two Are Chosen
The last day of the tournament, all of the Cherubim were
waiting for the announcement. It was the topic of conversation for
everyone all across the plain. A consensus favorite was Gabriel, his
singing and knowledge were extremely strong and because he was
teamed up with Michael, he found himself a winner at katizic. That
was the first and only time that he had ever won in katizic before.
As far as who the second person was going to be, there was no
clear favorite. Basically everyone in their city thought for sure that one
of their own would be the second representative. However, there was
no way to really know for sure, Michael and Gabriel did not even know
if winning the katizic match would help them or not.
For the twelve that had been going through the test, however,
they did not talk about it at all. At the beginning there was not one of
them who did not want this assignment, now, no one was sure, the
thought of chasing down a group of evil spirits out in the mountains
and forest far away from civilization and all alone did not sound as
exciting as it had when they started.
Melchizedek took the stand. “Everyone, thank you for your
patience, I know that it has been hard to wait, we have come to a
uniform decision. I want to tell all of you out in the cities that your
representatives did a fine job over these last five days. Not just on
stage, but off, there was a lot of growth and maturity from all involved.
“This was not a casual championship, score and results had
nothing to do with the final decision. Legion is crafty and it is going to
38
take knowledge to avoid his traps. They will try to say things about
God, us, and everyone that will be false. However, they will not stop
there, they will find a way to take the truth and change it so that it suits
their purpose. The truth that they may try to distort could be of God’s
character; it could be about our origins and history, or any other
subject. The only way to combat their lies is with knowledge of what is
true.
“The next challenge will be physical. The two will need to fly
out to the western waterfalls, where they will begin the search. The
road that will take you to Legion will be difficult and dangerous.
Physical skills will be vital not only for tracking, but for survival.
“Finally song, we could send twenty of the strongest Cherub
that we have and they could not match Legion’s strength. While
physical skill will be greatly needed, the only weapon that we can use
against them is praise.
“With that in mind, the two that we have chosen are Michael of
Verden, son of Amos, and Gabriel of Sontuc, son of Nebat. The two of
you are to say your goodbyes and fly immediately to the western falls.
From there you will follow the clues until you have found Noketer, you
will bring Noketer and Legion before the council at that time. You are
to take nothing with you, no food for the journey or tools to make a
shelter.
“The Lord has commanded that we lay our hands on you and
that you will be given the power to smell blood from far away. This is
how you find Legion; they have preyed on the helpless creatures in the
mountains. Follow the blood, and you will find Legion.”

39
 Melchizedek continued, “We are not sure how long it will take
Michael and Gabriel to find them and bring them back. It may take a
few months or several years, the Lord has not revealed anything to us
yet. However, we who are left behind will be charged with the task of
preparing for their return and dealing with this evil.
“This is the task that we have been given, the opportunity that
we have waited for, to leave this mortal life and begin a new one. Let
us pray that we have the strength to do it well.”
With that, Michael and Gabriel said their goodbyes to all the
other ten Cherubs. Michael embraced Israel and said, “Make sure that
you do not marry Alevia before I get back, it is my role to stand at your
right side at the ceremony, remember that.”
“Oh, get going you, and knock Legion around for me, will
you?” replied Israel.
With that, the two flew west towards the Kalyia Mountains and
the western falls. The ten other Cherubs all flew out after them in
support of their mission. As they passed over each city on the plain, all
the Cherubim came out of their homes and cheered them on.
As they came to Sontuc, everyone was in the air waiting for
them. Gabriel’s parents, Nebat and Hana were there to embrace their
son and encourage him. Tears came to Gabriel’s eyes. “I will miss
you, pray for me every week.”
Hana hugged her son and said, “The sun will not set before your
father and I will have prayed for the two of you. Now go, find this evil
beast and stop them.”
They continued west until they came to Verden, Michael’s

40
parents, Amos and Grace, both flew up to their son and wrapped their
arms around him.
“You have done well, my son,” said Amos. “Never forget who
you are or whom you serve. As long as you remember that, Legion
will never be able to fool you like they did Noketer.”

As Michael and Gabriel landed at the base of the falls,

something caught their eye; it looked like a Cherub in form but so
much more imposing and powerful. They were at first frightened,
thinking that perhaps this was Legion coming to meet them. However,
as the Cherub came closer, they knew that it was the Lord.
“Come my children, I have been expecting you, I have prepared
some fruit for you.” Both of them sat at the table that had been
prepared with all kinds of fruits, some of them they did not even
recognize.
“You are not one of us, are you?” asked Michael in a rather
weak voice, “Somehow I always pictured that You would look
different.”
“I do look different, and no, I am not one of you. However, you
are one of mine and as such, when I come down to visit with you, I take
your form. Right now neither of you, nor any of your race, are ready to
see Me in all my glory. Only those in the heavenly realms can know
Me like that.”
“The time will come when you will know Me just as I know
you. Right now it is as if you are looking through frosted glass, but
there will come a time when you will see clearly and see Me face to

41
face.”
“But what are we supposed to do?” asked Gabriel, “I know that
we will be able to hunt Legion down by the smell of blood, but what do
we do when we find them? How do we bring him back to the council
of Cherubim, and once they are there, what do we do next?”
“You ask many questions, some of them you answer by your
own questions,” laughed the Lord. “When you find Legion, and you
will find them, you will bring them before the council. They will come
with you, in fact, they will be so desperate when the time comes to go
to the council that you will have difficulty keeping up with them.
“As for what will happen at the council of Cherubim, that is not
your task. I have given that to others, however, at the council you two
will both know what to do and what to say. Be watchful and observant
of all that Legion has done; make a detailed record so that you will be
able to make a good report. Finally, take care of those you find on your
journey, you will know them when you see them.
“Even when the road is dark and dangerous, know that I will
always be with you, Legion cannot win; they have already been
defeated, now it is time to bring their reign of terror to an end.”
And with that, the Lord disappeared, leaving them to their
banquet of fruits and vegetables. The two sat down and began to eat
and talk about the day’s events. When they had finished, the most
powerful smell that they could ever imagine hit them. It took them a
while to adjust as it was making them nauseous.
“Over there, on top of the waterfall, the smell is coming from
that direction. I say that we find out what in all creation that is,” said

42
Michael.
“Look, we don’t have time for games here, we are on a mission
to search for Legion and Noketer, not to find out where bad smells are
coming from,” said Gabriel, but then it hit him, that was how they
would be doing this in the first place. “Oh right, I just never thought
that blood would smell so bad, let’s be off.”
The two climbed the rocks looking for clues, they were in no
hurry to get to the source of the smell because the closer they got, the
more powerful it was.
Michael said, “You know, this climbing will help you build leg
strength for future katizic games.”
“I always thought that you said katizic was a game of skill, not
strength, so now the truth comes out,” quipped Gabriel.
“It is a game of skill, when Alevia flipped you out, it wasn’t
because of her amazing strength, she was able to use leverage and your
own motion against you. I am much stronger than Melany, but she has
beaten me a few times because of her skills. However, strength is
always an asset, but by itself it is useless,” responded Michael in a
much more serious tone than was necessary, Gabriel was joking, but
Michael had failed to see that at the time.
“I was joking.”
“Oh, sorry, I was just focused on the climb and wasn’t paying
attention. But might I ask you a question, why did katizic never appeal
to you before?”
“Well,” said Gabriel, “I just never felt like I fit in with you or
the other athletes. Cherubim such as Nathan, Richer, and Natali all

43
made me nervous. Also, you, Israel, and Tjome were all so close that I
could never be part of your group.”
“We just assumed that you thought less of us because we
couldn’t sing or weren’t as smart as you.” came Michael’s reply.
For a while the two had been rivals, Michael had always felt
like it was because of Gabriel that the two did not like each other, it
never occurred to him that he could be equally to blame. “Why didn’t
you ever say anything to us or to one of the elders?”
“I don’t know, I guess I didn’t want to bother anyone with my
issues, besides, we can’t all be warriors anyway. Some of us have
talent in other areas and that was what I chose to focus on,” said
Gabriel. He assumed that they had always known that he felt excluded,
but just did not care.
The two kept on climbing and when they finally got to the top,
they could not believe their eyes. There on top of the ridge were six
dead goats; all tore to pieces. Some of them had been eaten to the
bone; others had been just killed and drained of blood.
The two fell to their knees gasping, they had never seen
anything like this, before Legion, no one on Roacen ate animals. Most
Cherubim lived off fruits and vegetables, some of them, especially in
the western regions, did use animal products such as milk and eggs.
All the animals were that way; there were no natural carnivores on
Roacen.
In the center, there was a giant altar made of stone, each one
had been finely chiseled and polished, if it were not for the blood and
the decay, it would have been a very impressive sight. On top lay a

44
goat’s head with dried blood on it, and beneath it was a five-pointed
star etched in the stone and then filled in with the blood from the goat.
Down at the bottom was an inscription in a language that they
did not know; it read Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega. They sat there for
hours in horror of what they had seen; neither could find any words to
say.

“It doesn’t seem right to leave them out like this, and I for one
will not leave that altar standing up a moment longer.” With that
Michael picked up the largest rock that he could find and threw it at the
altar. It hit with such force that it shattered into a thousand pieces.
“Now we must bury the dead.”
They worked in silence, it was the only thing that they could do.
All the previous conversation about not being liked and this and that
seemed meaningless at that moment. This was serious and they wanted
to keep it that way until they were done.

45
 Chapter 7
Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega
“I am thirsty,” was all Legion needed to say to send a chill
through Noketer’s soul. This meant that Legion wanted to feed. When
Noketer heard the voice of God booming overhead, it was the first time
in the last forty years that he had experienced any hope at all. Noketer
had come to the conclusion that God had given up on him just like the
other Cherubim had done when they had gone looking for him.
One of the search parties was so close to Noketer that he could
have reached out and touched them. However, Legion was in control
of the body and kept him very still so the search party never found
them.
That was the last time he ever heard any other voice except the
voice of Legion. He felt better knowing that God had said that his time
of suffering would be coming to an end, however, he still hated the
thought of Legion using his body for their own pleasure.
Noketer remembered the first time he had experienced Legion
satisfying their hunger, he was appalled and in total shock. By then
however, there was nothing Noketer could do to get his body back. He
had already given up total control to his ‘friend’ Legion.
Oh how cleaver Legion had been, they did not come out and
ask, ‘Why don’t you let us take over and show you’, no, they had given
him tasks to train him to be a god, and when Noketer failed, they would
tell him what they would have done differently.
“But do not worry,” said Legion. “You are doing splendidly,
just splendidly. Why it has been forty days and you have neither eaten
46
nor drunk anything, yet here you are as strong as ever. It will just take
time to learn, that is all. Besides, you do not have a visual example, we
cannot show you what to do, all you have to go by is what we are
telling you and that is a much harder way to learn.”
Noketer then asked, “Is there a way that you could take over the
control of my body and I could be like you in my mind?”
“Why, that is a brilliant idea! We should have thought of it on
our own, yes, that would be a much better way for you to learn. You
see, you are taking this god training much better than that young
Cherub girl would have, we knew we made the right choice with you,”
said Legion in a tone that just beamed with pride.
“How do we do it?” asked Noketer with eager anticipation.
“Well, let us think, right now you and us share your body. We
occupy only the frontal lob of your brain, this is why you can hear our
thoughts; however, you occupy the center core, this is where body
motion and control is. Now, we cannot be in the same part at the same
time, the mind can only have one master.
“What we will need you to do is lie down on the ground while
we are passing each other because the body will have no one behind the
wheel so to speak. We will pass each other in your mind and then we
will occupy the core and you will be in the frontal lob. Once we finish
teaching you, we will switch back,” said Legion.
So he did just as Legion said, he lay down, closed his eyes and
felt himself letting go, it was is if he was walking down a hall passing
someone on his right. As he was passing Legion in his mind something
did not look right. Legion, who had always looked so pure and lovely,

47
looked different, almost has if they were laughing about something.
However, he did not feel any fear because Legion was his friend and
you could always trust your friends not to hurt you.
As soon as Noketer was safely in the frontal lob and Legion was
firmly in control of the core, the eyes of the Cherub opened. It was
Noketer’s body, however, the eyes were different, not a different color
or shape, no, they were still the same physical shape, but they were
different, they were evil, they were Legion.
With that, Legion let out a loud long laugh, they stood up and
screamed at the top of their lungs, “You fool! You utter wretched fool!
We have you now and you will be ours forever. Get comfortable
watching from the side because you are never coming back here again.
This is our body now!”
This shocked Noketer with such a jolt that it made the body
twitch just a bit. “What do you mean?” asked Noketer, who for once in
his life was truly terrified. “I thought that this was an exercise.”
“Oh, it was,” said Legion in a demonic tone. “It was an
exercise in how stupid you are and how smart we are. Did it not
concern to you in the least that the occupant of the core has control and
the occupant of the lob is just there?”
“We were even dumb enough to tell you that beforehand and
you still did it! You see, now that we are in control, you can never get
it back unless we give it to you. There is nothing you can do or say to
change that. Now, enough chitchat, we are starving for some real food
and drink.”

48
 Noketer hated it most when Legion feasted, he was powerless to
stop them, he could, however, still feel everything that happened to his
body. What he hated most was the glee that they would take in killing
a goat or lamb or whatever they happened across.
They were the cruelest beings in the universe this Legion of
jinn, Noketer could not imagine how they had hidden their true identity
from him. After forty years of Legion’s lustful appetite, Noketer found
ways to hide within his mind during the worst of it; however, it still
always made him sick. The first time, he had been totally unprepared
for the nightmare that awaited him.
After Legion had said that he was hungry, Noketer could feel
his body getting up and flying through the air, try as he might, he could
not control his own body. It was the strangest sensation. Now Noketer
assumed that Legion would fly back to the giant fruit trees that they had
seen last month. In his mind he thought, This is just a test, Legion is
just testing me, that is all, they don’t mean me any harm, they are good,
yes, of course this is just a test.
As they were flying, Legion spotted a heard of goats grazing on
a hill, they aimed right for the middle of the pack, grabbed one of them,
twisted its head and broke its neck. Noketer screamed when he heard
the sound, Legion dropped the dead goat on the ground and flew back
towards the pack.
Because Roacen had no natural predators, the goats did not
realize that they were under attack; they just stayed where they were
eating grass, unaware of the danger. One by one, Legion broke the
neck of each goat that was there, sometimes they did it quickly, and

49
other times they dragged it out just for fun.
Noketer could not believe what he was seeing, he wanted to
scream out to all the other goats, ‘Run, run for your lives,’ but the
words would not come out, only thoughts in his head.
Finally, all the goats were dead, the worst was over, or so
Noketer thought. Then Legion grabbed the closest one, sunk Noketer’s
teeth into its neck and began drinking the dead creature’s blood.
Noketer could feel the blood in his mouth, going down his throat and
made him gauge.
“Now this is what I call a good meal!” cried Legion with blood
running down the sides of his mouth. “What do you think, young
Noketer, I bet they did not serve this tasty a meal back in Verden. You
are about to learn what true living is all about, satisfy your own desires.
Nothing we want will ever be denied.” With that Legion threw the
body of the first goat and went and grabbed another.
Finally, Legion was full and did not want any more, next thing
Noketer saw was his body taking all the dead goats and forming a circle
with them. Using rocks from nearby, Legion took a thigh bone and
began to sharpen it into a pointed spear, once the spear was made he
went to the center of the circle and began drawing a five-pointed star in
the ground, two ends were pointed up, two were pointed to the side,
and one was pointed down. Then Legion drew a circle around the star,
drove the spear into the ground and placed one of the goat heads on top
of it.
Finally, when everything was perfect, Legion stepped back, fell
to their knees and began to whisper, “Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega,”

50
over and over again.

After Michael and Gabriel finished burying the dead, they got
up and headed west. While they could not smell any blood, they knew
that was the way that Legion had to go, if they had gone east, they
would have hit the small outpost of Natar. From what they gathered,
Legion liked to be alone, and that meant going west.
They followed the Adin River looking for signs that Legion had
been there. While Legion did not drink water, the animals did so it
made sense to follow the water source until they could pick up the trail
again.
Two full weeks had gone by and still they could not find or
smell anything. “What if we lost them?” asked Gabriel as they sat
down to rest. “I mean, this area is huge and we could be here for
months, even years looking for them.”
“I think that you might be right, God did not tell us how long
this would take, I think that we just assumed it would be quick because
we were told not to pack anything for the journey. I don’t think that
was because the journey would be short. Anyway, we know that they
had to go west and we know that Legion feasts on living creatures. All
living creatures need water and this is the largest water source,
eventually, we will find some unfortunate victims,” Michael replied.
They sat down and all of a sudden that strong smell hit them
from somewhere beyond the river. They both looked at each other and
knew that another gruesome sight lay before them. Getting up, they
both ran as fast as they could to the source of the smell.

51
 It was farther than they had expected, it took them the better
part of the afternoon to get to the source. As they were getting closer,
Gabriel grabbed Michael by the arm, “We should pray before we go
over that hill, I fear something dreadful may lie ahead.”
“Not a bad idea,” said Michael, with that both Cherubim got on
their knees and prayed that God would give them the strength to face
whatever lay on the other side of the hill. With that they both got up
and charged the hill as fast as they could.
When they got to the top, they were glad that they had stopped
to pray, the sight was awful. All kinds of animals just torn to pieces
and body parts hanging from the trees, the blood, while not fresh, had
not been there much more than a day or two. Again, there was that
five-pointed star like they had seen the last time.
Instead of an altar this time there was a large pole at the head of
the star, it had all kinds of markings on it, most of them did not make
sense. Some of them were drawings of fire and torment; along the side
they noticed the same four words that had been placed on the altar,
‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’.
“What do you think that phrase means?” asked Michael. “It
must be very important to Legion because they seem to leave it
everywhere.”
“I don’t know, ‘Omega’ is a word that I recognize, I have heard
one of the heavenly host use it one time when they came down to visit
long ago. I don’t remember what it meant, but I think they were using
it to describe God. The other three I have no idea, do you think it could
be their names, you know, like a painter signing her artwork?” said

52
Gabriel.
“It is possible, but I thought that there might be more than just
four Jinn, when you think of a legion of something, you don’t think of
four,” said Michael.
“Maybe it is just the most important four.”
“Whatever it is, I don’t like it, let’s bury the dead, burn the pole
and pour its ashes over that star,” came Michael’s reply. Gabriel could
tell that he was burning with anger towards Legion and would probably
want to tear him apart if he could.
Just as before at the water fountain, the two worked silently
burying the dead animals. Then they cut the pole into pieces and set it
on fire, burning it to ashes. Once the pole was burned up, they smeared
the ashes all over the star. Neither of them knew why they had to do
that, they could have easily buried the dead and then started looking for
Legion again, it took a long time to burn up the pole.
Something stirred within them, these trophies had to be
destroyed, even if it meant delaying their search. While God hadn’t
told them to do this, they knew that they had to; leaving something so
vile to stand did not seem right. After they were done, both went to
sleep for the night, the next day would be another long day.

Early in the morning Gabriel heard a rustle in the bushes, he

was terrified that it might be Legion, but out came a little ewe lamb. Its
leg was broken and there was a tear by its ear, obviously the lamb had
been one of Legions victims, but must have escaped somehow.
Gabriel got up and walked over to it, but the lamb ran away as

53
Gabriel got closer. This took Gabriel by surprise as he had never seen
an animal scurry away. Also lambs were very affectionate in addition
to providing good milk, and they were great to have as pets.
Gabriel tried to catch up, but this made the lamb even more
terrified, “What is going on here?” said Gabriel as he stopped chasing
the lamb. “Can’t she tell that I am trying to help?”
Then it hit him, no she could not tell. While lambs may not be
the smartest of God’s creatures, they do know that when they have been
attacked by a big creature with wings, to avoid that same big creature.
Gabriel realized that the lamb had no way of telling if he was like
Legion or not, the more he chased after the lamb, the more it felt like it
was in danger.
Gabriel flew up to the top of one of the narvola trees and picked
one of its flowers, lambs like to eat those, but because they cannot
climb, they can only eat them in the fall when they are on the ground.
Gabriel placed it on the ground, backed away and sat down.
The lamb came to the food, watching Gabriel very carefully.
Once she got to the flower, she began to nibble. Then as she tasted
more of it, she began to eat quite carefree, when she had finished
Gabriel flew up, grabbed another flower, placed on the ground closer to
him and sat down again. Again the lamb came closer to the food, still
watching Gabriel and would scurry off now and then even though
Gabriel never moved.
Two more times and the lamb was close enough that Gabriel
could have reached out and grabbed her, but he did not want to scare
her again. He stuck out his hand so that she could smell him, this way

54
she would know that it was not the same Cherub that had attacked her
before.
Finally the lamb trusted Gabriel enough that she let Gabriel pick
her up and fly back to the camp, where Michael had prepared breakfast.
“I was wondering where you flew off to? What have you got there?”
asked Michael.
“It was one of Legion’s, this one got away, but her leg is broken
and there is a pretty bad cut on her ear.”
“I can fix that,” said Michael. “Back home we had quite a few
lambs that would fall off a cliff or get tangled in a bush. Here, let me
make a splint for her leg and if you could find me an avel plant that
would be great.”
“Maybe you should find the avel plant and I make the splint,
this lamb took a long time to warm up to me and until she gets to know
your smell, she will probably be afraid of you too. Remember, she has
no way to tell us apart from Legion, to her we are the same type of
creature that attacked her.”
“Good thinking, are you sure you know how to make the splint,
you easterners aren’t known for having many animals?” came
Michael’s reply.
“Be quiet you, you western Cherubs think that you are so
rugged and wild and that because we easterners live by the ocean that
we don’t know how to do anything with animals. I would like to have
seen you do a better job with bringing her in and rebuilding her trust.
Go fly away and find the avel and when you return, you will see the
best splint that your eyes have ever seen,” was Gabriel’s response,

55
trying to imitate a western accent. After Michael flew off, Gabriel put
the lamb down and said, “How in all of creation do I make a splint?”

Gabriel had seen Richer and Melany make a splint once before
when he was in Las Dal. He knew that you needed a solid stick and a
soft vine and then you would wrap the stick around the leg and voilà,
you had a splint. So he went and broke off the biggest branch he could
find, got some vine from a necca tree and began to wrap it around the
lamb’s leg.
It looked like someone trying to wrap a pillow around a pen, the
branch was almost as tall as the lamb and Gabriel wrapped so many
vines around its leg that you could not see the branch at all. The little
lamb was almost standing at a forty five-degree angle because the splint
did not stay even with the ground.
“Somehow I don’t think this will be the best splint Michael’s
eyes have ever seen. What do you think, little lamb?” asked Gabriel in
a cutesy voice that he would never have wanted another male Cherub to
hear. The lamb just looked at him, while she was uncomfortable with
the splint, she trusted this Cherub so she did not put up any kind of
struggle at all.
When Michael came back with the avel plant and saw the splint
that Gabriel had tried to make, he just started to laugh. Gabriel had to
laugh too and in his best western accent he said, “As promised, the best
splint that you have ever seen.” With that he swept his arm towards his
monstrous creation.
“Now please, fix this mess that I have made,” said Gabriel in

56
his own voice.
“I had better not break my legs on this journey or else I am in a
lot of trouble. Oh my, that stick would be perfect for an elephant, you
just sit there and keep the lamb happy while I get a proper stick. Good
job with the necca vine, however, you don’t have to wrap it up, it isn’t
a present.” With that Michael flew to one of the nearby trees and said,
“This will do nicely.”
With Gabriel holding the lamb, Michael began to unwrap the
vines that Gabriel had put on and replaced the large stick with the much
smaller one. He then gently wrapped the vines around the stick and the
splint was now complete. “Now just rub some of the avel on her ears.”
The next morning Michael said, “Well, we had better find her a
new flock of lambs that she can live with, I think her family must have
all been killed by Legion. I bet over that hill we can find a good family
for her to live with.”
Gabriel scoped up the lamb and the two of them went and flew
over the hills, sure enough there was a large flock of lambs and lions on
the other side of the hill. “This is perfect,” said Gabriel. “The lions
will help protect them should Legion come this way again.”
They dropped down in the middle of the pack and let the lamb
go. You could tell that she was sad to see them go but was very happy
to be among her own kind again. All the lions were on their feet when
the two landed in the middle of the pack.
“We should go introduce ourselves to them, we don’t want
these lions thinking that all Cherubim are monsters and killers,” said
Michael.

57
 The two walked over to where the head lion was standing, both
had their hands outstretched so that way the lions could smell them.
Once they were very close, the lion licked their hands and they kissed
him on the head, the rest of the lions all sat down after that.
With that Michael and Gabriel spread their wings and flew back
to camp. It was time to start looking for Legion again and that was not
a fun job. They both had to admit that taking care of that little lamb
probably did them more good than they had done for her. It got their
minds off the gruesome scene that they had seen three days ago. Now
they could begin their search knowing that they had done some good.

58
 Chapter 8
Why Are They Following Us?
Legion was high on the cliff watching Michael and Gabriel
burn their pole, Legion was furious, how could they be finding them so
easily. They knew that Cherubim had come looking for Noketer
before, they had enjoyed being chased, it made them feel powerful.
Not only were these Cherubim following them but they were
destroying the scared places. “They defy our sanctuaries, they smash
our altars and burn our poles. They have no regard for our sacred star
or the blood that we have sacrificed to it! Go away, serve your own
God and let us live in peace!” shrieked Legion.
No other search party had even come close to finding them; it
was Legion who would stalk the search parties. It was a fun way to
torment Noketer, one time Legion had spotted a group of females out in
the woods; they had looked so beautiful that Legion wanted to attack
them.
“Come, let us ravish these beautiful Cherub females, would it
not be more delightful than killing lambs and sheep?” said Legion.
“We could overpower them, they would be no match for our strength,
and we could do whatever we wanted.”
Noketer was terrified, killing lambs and goats had been a
nightmare for him, he could only imagine what attacking one of his
own would feel like. He screamed in his head, “Why are you so evil,
what does it take to satisfy you?”
This only made Legion laugh. “Nothing will ever satisfy us,
nothing.”
59
 Legion did not attack, but the fantasy alone was enough to
torment Noketer.

“We must hide, we must hide deep in the mountains, they will
not find us there. We will hide and we will wait. Yes, that is what we
will do, hide and wait, hide and wait.” Legion kept repeating this over
and over.
Legion ran for thirty days straight, they did not stop to rest and
they did not stop to eat. High atop one of the mountains, Legion rested
there, “We are safe here, they will never come this deep into the
mountains. Even if they do, they could never find us up here. We are
safe.”
Noketer was feeling lower than he ever had before during these
last forty years. When he had seen Michael and Gabriel still following
them, he had been sure that the time had come, that his deliverance
from this evil curse was finally here. While he hated to give Legion a
reason to mock him, he just could not help it.
He wept bitterly in his soul and cried out to God, “Why have
You turned your back on me? Why have You raised my hope of
salvation only to let it slip away again? Why have you forsaken me?”
It was after he said this that something odd happened, he
expected Legion to curse him or laugh at him or do something like that.
But they didn’t, instead they remained silent and then in a very
soothing voice Legion said, “There, there, do not weep, God has not
forsaken you, He wants you back desperately. However, He cannot
have you, you have given yourself to us, you are part of our family

60
now. Why do you fight us, why do you hate us, after all that we have
done for you?”
“Remember when all the other Cherubim used to keep you
down and use you to build themselves up? We were the ones that came
to you; we were the ones that made you not feel alone. Remember
when we first started training in the woods together, how much fun that
was? You never felt alone or afraid, we gave you everything and now
you fight us, why?”
This totally took Noketer by surprise; he did not know what to
say, in fact, it was the first nice thing Legion had said to him ever since
they took control of his body so long ago.
He thought for a moment and then said, “Well for one, ever
since you took control of my body, all we have done is kill and destroy.
You have also done nothing but laugh at and curse me.”
“Have you not thought that perhaps this was necessary, that in
order to be the person we want you to be that this was part of the
training? Has that ever crossed your mind, that we are doing this for a
greater good?” said Legion, again in a very smooth comforting voice, a
voice that Noketer had not heard in a long time.
Noketer was close to being convinced, but then he thought
about it and said, “If it had only been mocking and cursing me I could
see your point. You have killed thousands and thousands of helpless
animals over the last forty years, you have taken great pleasure in their
pain and suffering and you have threatened to attack other Cherubim
that have been looking for me. There is no way that can be part of a
greater good.”

61
 “Come, let us build ourselves a great monument here on this
mountain, it will tell our story and show you why blood is necessary. It
will also show you the secret wisdom that we have learned, learned
from the stars and why God does not deserve the gratitude that He so
seems to think is necessary. After you learn this truth, then you will
know and understand, then you will be ready to join us in our quest to
become a god too,” said Legion.

Legion found a clearing near the top of the mountain which

would be a perfect sight for the monument. Noketer was for once very
much interested in all that Legion was doing. While he was not sure if
he could trust Legion, he was glad to be doing something productive
and not killing anything.
With stones from the side of the mountain Legion first built the
foundation and then built the outside structure. What Noketer was
most impressed with was the focus that Legion had, he had seen them
build altars and large wooden poles before with that same focus, but
this was amazing in both its size and detail.
After completing the outside part of the temple, Legion began
working on the inside, again, this was no easy task. On top of the
mountain there were no trees, they had to go down the mountain, get
the supplies that they needed and bring them back up. This process
alone took over nine weeks to complete. Legion did not stop at all, not
for food, not even to sleep. The only time that they would stop was to
say the chant in the morning and in the evening.

62
 After Michael and Gabriel said there goodbyes to the lamb and
started heading west, they knew that there was no place that Legion
could hide where they would not find them. They continued heading
west following the water source, every now and then they would notice
some of the animals flee from them, a sight that they were just now
getting used to. While they were hiking through the woods, they came
to an old stone altar made just like the one that they had seen at the
waterfall, only this one must have been built many years ago.
What they were actually looking at was the first altar that
Legion had built after taking possession over Noketer’s body. The
animal remains were now completely decayed the only evidence that
Legion had been there was the altar and the star.
Maybe because it was so old or because they had become numb
to the violence from the two previous encounters, but it was not so
somber a moment. They demolished the altar and then buried the
whole thing, altar and all.
“Well, let’s keep on going, I don’t want to sleep in the same
area that Legion chose to kill innocent life,” said Gabriel.
“I wonder what everyone back home is doing, God made it
sound like they had work too. I wonder what it is?” wondered Michael.
“It cannot be as hard as what we are doing I can tell you that.
For one, we have no supplies and nowhere to really get rested. They at
least get to sleep in their own beds and have prepared meals every
day,” replied Gabriel.

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 Chapter 9
Melchizedek’s Mission

One week after Michael and Gabriel left to search for Noketer,
the word of the Lord came to Melchizedek. “You and all the Cherubim
that are left are to fly east. There you will find a great land that no one
has ever seen or been to, here you will find all the stone and wood that
you will need to complete the project that I have set for you.”
Melchizedek summoned all the elders from all the towns of the
plain and they met in the Garden of God. Melchizedek said, “Last
night the Lord reveled to me what our mission is while we wait for
Michael and Gabriel to come back. To our east beyond the sea lays a
great valley, a place that was designed for this very purpose. In this
valley we are going to build a massive cathedral, a cathedral that will
be able to hold every single Cherub at one time.”
“How are we going to do such a thing? There are over one
billion Cherubim living on the plain all scattered around. To build one
cathedral that could hold all of them at once would be an enormous
task,” asked Nathan.
“The Lord has shown me that everything that we will need will
be there. The base of the valley floor is solid rock and this will be the
foundation. All the wood and stone is there too. Also, once we begin
the work, the Lord himself will provide food from heaven, we are to
worry about nothing else other than this project.”
“When do we leave for this land?” asked Ruth.
“We will leave here in two weeks; this will give everyone time
64
to get ready. We will need to bring tools and start making plans.
Nathan, I want you to form a team that will start putting a design
together.”
“It will be as you say,” replied Nathan.
“I was hoping that Michael and Gabriel would not be gone long,
maybe a month or two, however, the Lord has reveled that they will not
be returning until after our project is complete. That will be at least
two full years from now, maybe longer, I hope that they do not get
discouraged by the length of their journey,” said Kalyia.
“Yes, let me say a prayer and then we will be off,” said
Melchizedek. “Dear Lord, give us strength to complete the great work
that you have given us and give Michael and Gabriel the strength to
continue searching for Noketer and not to get discouraged by the length
of the road that faces them, amen.”

Two weeks after the Sharah meeting, the whole community of

Cherubim headed east to the great valley. They named the valley
Megiddo; this meant conflict in their language, because it would be
here that the choice between good and evil would be decided.
At sunrise all the Cherubim assembled at the eastern edges of
their cities or outposts, they were all going to fly in a series of V
shapes, this would allow them to draft off each other and let them fly
farther as a group than they could individually. The stronger ones
would take turns leading while the weaker ones would stay in the back
where the air resistance was the lightest. One Cherub alone could
probably fly a week or two without resting, but after that would be

65
exhausted. By flying in the V shape, the team could go two months
without stopping and cover huge distances because the workload per
person was much lighter.
On the morning that they were to head east, Melchizedek had
organized everyone to be in groups of ten, one hundred and one
thousand. Every group would form a V shape that would build off each
other. With over one billion Cherubim the sky would be covered with
flying V’s.
“We will start with Cherubim that live in the west, you are to
head out and start flying east, as the last of your group flies overhead
then the next group will take off and follow. By the time the last of you
flies over the Garden of God, myself and the other members of the
Sharah will take off and then we will all be heading east together,”
came Melchizedek over the zekomotions in every city.
Yani and Natali were the leaders of Verden and they called out,
“Everyone to the sky.” With that over eighty-six million Cherubim
began to flap their wings and take off. The vibrations on the ground
were enough to shake fruit from the trees. They all formed into their
groups of ten, a hundred and then a thousand.
As the wave of Cherubim flew east, it began to multiply, and as
it multiplied the thundering sound of millions of wings began to shake
the ground even more. By the time the wave made it to Sontuc, the
sound was deafening, buildings were shaking and the glass in the
windows was breaking.
All two hundred and fifteen members of the council were in the
Garden of God and when the last of Cherubim flew overhead they took

66
off and got behind and began making sure everyone was in the right
formation all heading due east. Every single Cherub except Michael
and Gabriel was accounted for. In all there were exactly 1,198,002
groups of thousands with two hundred and fifteen members of the
council all heading due east.

It had been six weeks since the Cherubim had left the shores of
their land and there was nothing in sight. Cherubim packs had been
able to go as long as two months straight without stopping when flying
in formation, no one was sure how much longer beyond that their
bodies could hold up.
Melchizedek was not concerned, God had told him to go east so
he was confident that they could make it. However, he was starting to
wish that he had sent an exploratory team first to find out how far it
was. When you do not know where you are going, the distance seems
so much longer, it could be five days more, it could be five more hours,
no one knew and that made it harder on everyone.
Still the outlook was very positive, the teams would switch
leaders so that way everyone could rest and keep going as long as they
physically could. They also kept the pace smooth and steady assuming
that they had a long way to go. Every now and then they would send a
scout ahead to see if they were close or maybe if there was an island
that they could rest on.
Nathan asked Melchizedek, “How much longer do you think
that we can keep this up, no team has ever gone more than two months
straight?”

67
 “Yes, I know, however, there has never been such a large team
as this. We have been able to rotate the leaders of the pack so often
that no one team has had to run point more than once. In fact, we could
go five years and still not have used every group at the front. I think
that we can go a very long time, however, it would be nice to know
how much farther we have,” replied Melchizedek.
“Besides,” came Kalyia, “if we have it hard, imagine what
Michael and Gabriel must be going through. No, I am quite sure that
we can make it as long as it takes. Also, I think that there is a positive
about not knowing how far you have left, it does not allow you to get
discouraged at how much farther you have to go.”

68
 Chapter 10
Cold Trail
Michael and Gabriel kept following the river heading west and
then north. While they stayed on the ground most of the time, every
now and then one of them would fly up into the air to see if maybe
there were any altars or herds of sheep, goats or lambs that might be
possible targets.
Whenever they found an old altar or pole or any evidence
whatsoever that someone had camped there they would quickly hike
over to it. They thought about flying, but did not want to miss any
details. As they were hiking towards one of the remains, Gabriel asked.
“Why do you think God sent us without anything in the first
place, He knew this would be a long journey, would it not have made
more sense for us to have something with us?”
“I was thinking about that too,” said Michael. “When we were
first told to bring nothing, my thought was that we would be done in a
week or two. It has been two months since we started and six weeks
since we last smelled blood, while that makes me happy that they have
not killed anything recently, it sure does make finding them harder. I
think the reason that we were sent out with nothing was for two
reasons, one so that we couldn’t depend on our own skills and tools in
searching for Legion, and two, so that way we would have to depend on
God for everything, including food.”
“I can see that,” said Gabriel. “I remember when Noketer was
first missing, we all just thought that he had gotten really, really lost.
Zek had even invented a device that could sense Cherub life signs. The
69
only problem was that it kept always detecting the search parties too
and sometimes in the mountains the life signs would echo off rocks.”
“I remember one time while I was searching with my zekofind I
got really excited because I picked up one male Cherub alone in the
woods. I thought to myself, this must be him because we always went
in search parties of at least three, usually five. He was really close so I
kept running around and around looking for him. Strangely enough
when I moved to my right, so did the lone male Cherub in the woods.
When I started to run so did he, finally I realized something, I was
chasing myself.”
This made Michael laugh. “I think that you weren’t the only
one that had that happen. I have heard lots of stories similar to that,
those zekofinds made it look like you were hot on the trial, like chasing
someone in a moving mirror.”
“Poor Zek, people would tease him about that all the time. He
always kept looking for ways to improve that too, I like that about him,
I would have quit and been discouraged.”
“You know, that is how he wound up inventing the
zekomotion,” replied Gabriel. “But what I don’t still understand is
what are we to do when we finally catch them? From the way God
described Legion’s strength, they could have a whole army and we will
not be able to subdue them. I know that He said singing calms them,
but what are we to do, sing them back to Melchizedek and the others?”
“You know, for someone who is as young as you are, you are
starting to sound like my grandmother. It will be fine,” replied
Michael.

70
 Legion was finishing up the outside of the structure and the
building was like no other that he had ever seen before. Cherubim did
not have any temples, most of their buildings were either family homes
where each new generation would build a new room when they got
married and moved out. Sometimes they built outward, adding to the
base or sometimes they would build up and add a new floor.
The result was a building that never really looked finished, it
was always being built up or built out and so it had a very square shape.
This building had very sharp corners and a triangular roof. Noketer
was surprised to see that Legion had a creative side, these last forty
years he had grown to despise them and did not think that they were
capable of doing anything positive.

“You don’t supposed that they figured out how we were

following them, do you?” asked Gabriel.
“I was wondering about that too, we were talking openly about
that at the last camp that we found with fresh kill. That wasn’t smart
on our part, what if Legion was hiding nearby and overheard. We
should be more careful,” Michael replied.
Over in the distance Gabriel could see the remains of an old
camp, the two quickly took off to investigate. “Hey, Michael, take a
look at this, this is something that we haven’t seen before,” said
Gabriel.
Michael came over, looked and saw the picture that Gabriel was
talking about. The picture was not intact, but it looked like a group of

71
creatures that neither of them had seen before, all eating a live sheep.
“I wonder if that is what they look like.”

So far so good, Legion looked at the outside of the temple and

saw that it was very good. They were very particular about all the
details, the temple had to be perfect; it would be telling the story of the
stars and of their grand vision of the old ways.
Legion had spent four months working on the outside of the
temple, now they wanted to focus on the inside, this would take even
more time. Legion began by making the tools; they planned on hand
carving every detail into the rock all along the sides and ceiling.
They must explain the truth to Noketer and as many of these
weak-minded creatures as they could. They were pawns, mere servants
of some self-appointed egomaniac who demanded complete worship.
If only they knew what Legion knew, they would change.
The temple would be the staging ground where they would tell
their story that would change the world. Legion knew that they could
not tell the story in words, words are hard to translate and can lose their
meaning from one generation to the next and from one culture to the
next.
Pictures, on the other hand, last forever and this was how they
would spread their good news. There, high on the mountain with the
cold dry air it was safe from most of the elements that would cause
harm. Legion began the work by chanting ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica
Omega’ over and over again.

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 Chapter 11
The Valley of Megiddo
The community had been flying for three months now; a whole
month longer than any Cherub team had ever gone before. On the
second day of the fourth month, a scouting team from Sontuc was sent
out to see if any land was near. The scout team was led by Gog and
members of his family, they flew out from the pack early in the
morning and at around midday they could see the outline of the new
continent there in the distance.
They quickly turned around and came rushing back towards the
pack to report the good news that their journey was almost done. Gog
quickly flew towards Segest shouting, “We have found it! We have
found it.”
“How far off is it?”
“I would say that the front end should hit land by nightfall, the
rest probably early in the morning.”
“Send a messenger to Melchizedek and the others that we are
almost there. Good work and praise be to God, I am starting to get very
thirsty and am eager to be done with this flight. Hopefully I never have
to do this again,” replied Segest.
Gog sent his friend Ashima to report to the council, she took off
and flew to the back of the formation. Ashima went straight up to let
the pack fly beneath her and then she flew towards the council.
Aria, one of the younger females on the council saw Ashima
flying towards them and rushed out to meet her. “Do you have good
news to report?” asked Aria.
73
 “Yes, I do, Gog and his patrol have found the valley that was
spoken of, we should hit it by nightfall,” replied Ashima.
“Praise God, come, let us go and report the news to
Melchizedek,” came Aria’s excited reply.
“You go, I must get back to my team and let them know that I
have informed you, otherwise they may worry about me. I will talk to
you more tonight.” With that, Ashima took off and began flying east
again to rejoin her group.
Aria zoomed back to where Melchizedek and Enoch were; she
was so excited that she was not talking in complete sentences. “It is
there, it is there, tonight, tonight, it is there!”
“Slow down, Aria, what is going on?” asked Enoch.
“The place, the land, where it is we are flying to, we will be
there tonight. Gog and his patrol have seen it, we will be there soon,”
came Aria’s reply, she was out of breath because she had flown so fast
and was talking just as fast.
Enoch said, “At last, I did not know how much longer I could
go.”
Melchizedek turned to his daughter Chalis and said, “Sound the
trumpet, let everyone know that we are almost there, this is good news
indeed.”
Chalis and all the others that had their trumpets with them
began to sound the victory tune. As those teams closest to them heard
it, they began to play as well, like a great wave the victory tune was
being played by every group in the formation. The sound of it could be
heard back in the Kalyia Mountains by Michael and Gabriel, while

74
faint but they knew that something big was happening back home.

The next morning Kalyia announced that there would be a two-

week-long feast to celebrate the arrival in the valley. All the Cherubim
built themselves little booths that they could live in during the feast.
They gathered all kinds of fruits and nuts and other items to eat. The
area around the valley was full of food and trees to make the shelters.
Tjome went up to Israel and said, “So I noticed that you
switched groups while we were flying east. You joined the Nopla
delegation, why was that?”
“It isn’t what you think, a lot of us changed out, and it was a
good way to get to meet other people. Besides, people from Verden
aren’t very good singers and we wanted some music, the people from
Nopla were having trouble staying on course so we were able to help
them. It was a good idea, what are you trying to imply?” retorted
Israel.
“Absolutely nothing, it is just talking, we switched out too with
Cherubim from Malaguata, it was a good way to break down the east
and west differences that had began to separate us as a people. I
personally think that a high profile marriage of one western Cherub to
an eastern Cherub would do a lot, if only that were possible,” said
Tjome with a smile.
“Listen, I know you think that because Michael isn’t here that
somehow you have been appointed by Melchizedek himself to bug me
in his place,” said Israel in a tone that did not match how he really felt.
Michael, Tjome, and Israel had been friends for a long time and that

75
was just the way that they would talk to each other.
“I wonder how he and Gabriel are doing, I hope that they don’t
drive each other crazy,” said Tjome.
“I know, I was worried about that myself, it is strange because
you couldn’t pick two more completely different people for that job.
Gabriel is from the big city of Sontuc while Michael is from Verden; in
fact, we really aren’t even from Verden, that is just the closest real city.
I wonder if was just random chance, or if God did that on purpose,”
said Israel.
“I cannot imagine anything with God being chance, I think
everything is planned, even to the smallest detail. Take our coming
here, logic would have told you to send a team out to find out where
this place is before you uproot the whole community. However, I don’t
think that there is any team that could have flown three months straight
without a rest. We needed each other just to make it.
“Also, if the team could have made it this far it would have
taken them another three months just to get back. That would have
been half a year wasted just so that we would know how to get here.
No, I think every little detail was orchestrated for a purpose,” said
Tjome in a very serious tone.
“I know that it wasn’t chance, like God did not know, what I
meant was that was it an important part of the rationale, or did it just
happen? There are some things that can just happen,” responded Israel.
“I don’t think so. I think everything is as it was meant to be,
down to the smallest letter,” Tjome answered. This was a big debate
amongst many Cherubim, there were those that believed that they had a

76
choice and those that thought everything was preplanned, while both
had good points, no one could prove their point so usually people just
let it go.
“Well that explains why you keep saying that I am going to
marry Alevia, because I was destined to be her partner at the games and
I was destined to fly with her when the leaders of my city and the
leaders of her city decided that we needed to switch out. Verden could
have switched with Malaguata or Sontuc and it would have had the
same effect, but we changed with Nopla,” said Israel, he started off in a
more joking tone, but then started to think about the words that he was
saying.
Finally he said, “I guess it is possible, anyway, we have a task
at hand, Tjome, and I plan on dealing with that first, if something
happens, it happens.”
“Actually, no we don’t have a task at hand. Right now we are
in the middle of a two-week celebration. No working, planning or
otherwise will begin until the celebration is over. Go and talk to Alevia
and tell her how you feel, either way she deserves to know,” said
Tjome in a much more friendly tone than when he had started out.
“Why are you doing this to me, this is so hard for me to do,”
said Israel.
“I know.”
With that the two friends parted and went their separate ways.

The feast was a grand feast indeed, Cherubim from all the
different regions where making friends with new people all the time.

77
 Segest had routinely organized interregional games and events
before, which were a big part in keeping the community together even
as they drifted apart. However, nothing that he or his wife ever came
up with was like this. The long flight over from the Melchizedek
valley to the valley of Megiddo forced people to work together in ways
that they had never had to before.
By the time the groups landed in the valley of Megiddo, there
had become such a tight bound amongst the people that the celebration
became more of a social interaction rather than a religious festival with
speeches and plays.
Israel and Alevia did talk, while there was no great romance to
write of, there was an understanding of how they both felt towards each
other. Israel was not exactly smooth with the ladies and because no
one knew what would happen with the building project it did not seem
prudent to rush into a relationship.
“I feel so much better now that I have talked with you,” said
Israel. “I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”
“I know what you mean,” replied Alevia. “I had no way to
interpret your actions towards me. There was a part of me that thought
you were just being protective like a big brother, and then there were
times that I thought maybe, just maybe, you felt more than that. Thank
you for sharing.”
That sentiment lasted one week, by the end of the festival Israel
and Alevia were seeing each other exclusively and were already
planning to get married. Tjome and Israel’s other friends seemed to
drop off the globe. Tjome would later joke that if he had known what

78
being with Alevia was going to do to Israel he never would have
pushed him so hard in the first place.
Their story was not unique there were lots of Cherubim who
found their husband or wife because of the journey and the following
two-week feast. There were so many requests to get married that
Melchizedek had to extend the celebration for another two weeks just
to handle all the weddings. There in the valley all the brides and all the
grooms were joined with their family and friends and were pronounced
duly married in the sight of both God and the community.
Alevia and Israel were one of those couples, while Israel hated
the thought of getting married without his friend Michael there to stand
in his place, he felt like it was necessary given the situation. To honor
his friend, they left that space empty; no one would fill it or stand in his
place.
Over a hundred thousand couples got married that week, no
family or household was without someone being married. The
celebration that followed the mass marriage was just as harmonious as
the previous celebration had been, maybe even more so.
At first some of the council were afraid that the work of
building the cathedral might be getting seriously delayed and that
perhaps the community was sinning by not doing the work right away.
However, when the Lord God came down from heaven and blessed the
wedding ceremonies in person, they knew that this was the whole
reason that they had come here in the first place.
Finally after a full four weeks of feasting and weddings and
more feasting, the Cherubim were ready to get to work on the great task

79
that was before them. Never in their history had they celebrated for so
long or in such a strong sense of family as they did that fourth month of
their 2012 year on Roacen.

There were twenty-five generations of Cherubim, starting with

the first two of Melchizedek and his wife Kalyia down to the very
youngest Cherub, Dagon, son of Nibhaz and Tartak. Dagon had been
born thirty years before the flight to Megiddo. There were other
children too, but he was youngest and last Cherub to be born on
Roacen.
Every generation except the youngest would have a part in
building the cathedral. The older members of the youngest generation
were in charge of taking care of the children. The two oldest that were
in charge were Adrammelech, son of Belzar, and Anammelech
daughter of Rhan, these would be the leaders of the twenty-fifth
generation.
Through most of Cherub history they had divided themselves
by age and location, this time they divided the work by individual
strengths and interest. This was a radical shift because now you had a
young hundred-year-old Cherub working alongside a one-thousand-
year-old Cherub. There were five main groups, design, procurement,
supervision, cleanup and then the largest group, the workers.
Melchizedek, while being a great leader of the people, knew
nothing of quality materials and certainly could not design anything.
He went where he knew he could do the most good, as a simple worker
who would do what he was told. Adin, who was much younger than

80
Melchizedek and would never dream of being his boss wound up doing
just that. Her talent was in being able to make sure that tasks were
being done correctly, and as such she was in supervision.
Melchizedek went up to her and said with a grin, “I hope you go
easy on me, boss, I would hate my wife to come and yell at me.”
“Oh, she will be the first person that I go to if you mess up,
mister,” she said right back to him with a smile.
Kalyia was on the design team but not as the leader, that job
was given to Zek, the inventor. Only one group, the workforce, was
headed up by someone from the council, Nathan was in charge because
he had been part of all the great structures back home. The rest of the
teams would be headed up by the Cherub who showed the most talent.
Procurement was headed by Keros, and she and her team set out
for the mountains and began cutting stone and getting lumber right
away while the design team tried to come up with some way to build
the massive structure. For right now, the work crews and the cleanup
team had it easy, they had to wait until the design team could draw up
the plans for the cathedral. Normally they would have begun setting up
the foundation, but that was not required because that was already in
place, the bottom of the valley was one large rock that was perfectly
smooth.
Actually the Cherubim would later learn that it was not one
rock, rather it was millions of smaller rocks all put in place so that they
formed one unit. This gave the structure much more flexibility than it
would have had if it had it been one solid piece of rock, but that detail
would not be important now.

81
 While Keros did not know what the cathedral would eventually
look like, she did know what they would need, high quality stone cut
into perfect cubes and the best wood. Her team was working constantly
six days a week; they only took one day off to rest.

The design team was finally able to draw up a plan that could
house over one billion people. They had tried many approaches,
making the cathedral like one giant bowl, making it look like an upside
down cone, each had its advantages and disadvantages.
They finally came up with a compromise design that everyone
really liked, it would be a merge of the two. The base would be very
wide, cover most of the valley and would expand up and out like a
bowl. At the midpoint the rows would get closer and closer, in the end
it would like two bowls put together. In order to hold the outer walls
up, six giant columns would circle the cathedral and reach up to the
midpoint. There would be twelve inner columns that would be in the
interior to support the lower half of the bowl.
Once the design was in place, Nathan and his work crew, which
accounted for almost half of all the Cherubim began working on the
massive structure. They were spilt up into four teams, north, south,
east, and west. Keros had provided them with at least a month’s worth
of supplies before the design had been finalized so they were well
supplied with timber and dressed stone.
Supervision was headed up by Elam, she and her team of
seventy-two supervisors worked with the design team to make sure that
construction was following the design. Because they were in four

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separate construction sites, being off by just the smallest degree would
be disastrous later on when they tried to join up all the pieces.
The cleanup crew did more than just pick up trash, they were
responsible for making sure that the workplace was safe and making
sure that the project would look beautiful once everything was in place.
For every tree that was cut down by Keros’ crew, Talmon and her
group were going to plant two surrounding the cathedral. Talmon was
very concerned about the project affecting the local environment.
While there were no animals on this Eastern Continent, she still wanted
the place to look good. This had been a theme for all Cherub cities
since Sontuc was built; Talmon was not about to be the first designer
that left the place worse than she found it.

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 Chapter 12
The Temple is Complete
Michael and Gabriel continued searching along the main river
and the surrounding forest. They had gone throughout the whole
territory destroying altars and poles and anything that they found that
was from Legion. It had now been seven months and still no sign of
Legion and no smell of blood.
They had followed the Adin River all the way from the great
waterfall all through the mountains and valleys. This land had been
explored before, but there was no settlement west of Verden. At far
end of the western mountains lay an enormous valley, very similar to
the plains of Melchizedek. The Cherubim had thought of building
another city way out here when they had first discovered it eight
hundred years ago. However, when they discovered its natural
inhabitants, they thought better of it and left it alone.
This was the land of the Behemoth and the Leviathan and they
were not creatures that would share their land with anyone. These were
huge creatures that the Cherubim made sure to only study from a
distance. While the creatures were harmless in that they did not attack
other animals, their bodies would have crushed any settlements that
would have been in their way.
When Michael and Gabriel reached the valley, they debated if
Legion would have been dumb enough to have actually tried to go into
the valley and kill a behemoth. Michael felt like they should go in and
look for possible remains and altars, Gabriel was absolutely against it.
Not out of fear, the two of them could have flown high above and been
84
completely safe. Gabriel was just convinced that Legion would not
even try to mess with a behemoth or a leviathan.
Gabriel finally won out and the two headed back east looking
for signs of Legion’s presence and knowing that at some point they
would smell blood and that would lead them to Legion.

The inside was finally complete, there were all sorts of carvings
and images all over the walls. All along the sides of the wall were
pictures in a story-like fashion. Noketer did not understand what any of
it meant, however, even he had to admit that artistically it was one of
the finest buildings that he had ever seen. Starting by the door and
moving to the right was the first picture, it was totally black. The next
picture was all black too, but in the middle was a faint white light, as
you moved down the wall, the light got larger and larger until it filled
the scene, now the picture was all white.
The next picture was of a vast city with all sorts of living
creatures, the creatures were very happy. There above the city was the
five-pointed star shining down on it, wherever the light shone there was
life.
The next series of pictures showed creatures feasting on lambs
and sheep, drinking blood out of gold goblets and singing songs. There
were pictures of some of them all in large groups abusing some of their
own. There was something in these creatures’ eyes that scared
Noketer, but it had nothing to do with their shape or color. It reminded
him of what Legion’s eyes had looked like when they had passed each
other in his mind before he gave up control.

85
 There was one painting that showed three female creatures all
standing before a judge of some kind. They cast lots and the female on
the left was chosen, the look of terror in her eyes was very real. The
next series explained why she was so afraid, you see her tied up in the
middle of a groups of beings, all abusing her.
Oddly enough, the two other females that had been standing
before the judge were also part of the group abusing this one lone
creature. In the background you could see a large crowd all gathered
around cheering them on.
The next painting made Noketer gasp, there in front of him was
the most ferocious looking beast he had ever seen. This creature was
massive and very angry; he was all alone on a high cliff looking down
on the city with his right arm raised over his head and his mouth open
wide screaming. The following scenes showed him breathing fire
down on the city and all its inhabitants in horrible pain.
This monster seemed to actually be very amused with the
destruction that he was causing. There was one painting of him
standing over the ruined city with arms folded over his chest and his
head tilted back in laughter.
After the city was destroyed, the creature climbed the tower to
where the star was, he covered the light from the star with his own
body and shone down on the city. Life returned to the city, only this
time the creatures did not look happy at all, they were all made to work.
The colors were extremely dull and gray, no one except the creature
seemed happy at all.
Next you saw other creatures hitting those in the city not

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working fast enough or hard enough. Everyone was forced to bow
down to the creature and all that refused were beaten. If they refused
again, fire came out of the creature’s mouth and destroyed them,
leaving only a charred remain where they once stood.
Noketer sat there trying to figure out what all of this could
mean, while the first group of people seemed cruel, they all looked very
happy, well, most of them looked happy anyway. Sure there were
some that did not look happy at all, but they were the minority, there
was life and bright colors, much better than the drudgery that was life
in the city afterwards.
The next picture surprised him; there was a small group of city
residents that were able to resist the will of the creature. One by one he
sent taskmasters to them to make them work in his city. Each time they
fought back and forced the taskmaster away, the citizens all celebrated
with great joy over their victory. Even some of the unhappy residences
in the city looked on with a hopeful stare.
The next series was more or less the same, the resistors being
moved around, gaining followers, and getting stronger and stronger.
Finally, you saw all of them working together with ropes and coils all
wrapped around the fierce creature in the sky. They were pulling him
down and he was trying to stay up over the star.
At last he was pulled down, all the people in the city, even the
former taskmasters that made the people work were all rejoicing. The
star that was there in the beginning was shining on the people again and
you saw them celebrate as they did before. The last picture was the star
all by itself with the words ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’ at the

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bottom.

It had been over a year and a half now since Michael and
Gabriel had smelled blood, they had hoped that maybe Legion had
changed, but Legion had been so busy building the temple that they had
forgot about food all together.
Once they were done, however, that was about to change.
Noketer had asked Legion what the engravings all meant. Legion
chose to ignore the question and went straight to their favorite pastime,
hunting for food.
After a year and half of no killing, Noketer had forgotten what
the whole experience was like, it was terrible, it was like he was going
through it for first time all over again. For Legion it was not just about
getting food, they enjoyed the killing, Legion did not even need food to
survive; it was all a question of taste.
Legion had Noketer kill over seventy different animals that day,
far more than they had ever killed at one time. Maybe because they
were making up for lost time, or perhaps it was a way to dedicate the
temple that they had built.
Noketer screamed out, “Why do you do this?”
“Because we can, we are strong and they are week. Because
they are here to satisfy us, not the other way around. Someday you will
learn to appreciate the power that we have given you. Someday you
will bow at our feet and call us god.”
“I will never appreciate you, I will never think of you as God.
You are nothing but cowards. With my strength you could kill lions or

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bears or anything, but you do not. Why? Because a lion or bear might
fight back, that is why you like sheep, lambs, and goats. They are
defenseless and that is all you have the courage to attack, even with
your great powers!”
Noketer expected some kind of curse or rebuttal to his argument
from Legion, but nothing came. Now Noketer felt embolden, he knew
that he had found a weakness, that as horrid and evil as Legion was,
just a little resistance was enough to make them flee. A pack of lions
and bears would be no match for one Cherub, especially Noketer with
his super strength.
“Your time will come, Michael and Gabriel will find you, and
then you will see what true courage is.”
Legion said nothing and they just continued to feast on the flesh
of goats and sheep. It was something that tormented them, how did
these two wretched creatures keep finding them. More importantly,
why did they keep destroying the altars that they had built? The stars
would not be pleased at all with them if this kept up.
After they were finished eating, Legion stood Noketer’s body
up and had him bow down towards the temple that they had built and
began chanting over and over again.

Michael and Gabriel start heading northeast, following the scent

of blood. The two kept running northeast following the river on the
backside of the Kalyia mountain range. If they had looked up, they
probably would have seen the temple at the very top of one of the
mountains. They pressed on and finally the smell of blood began

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having its overpowering affect, this meant that they were very close.
“Let us pray,” said Gabriel. “It has been a long time since we
have come across a fresh kill and I think that we will need God’s help.”
“I agree.”
With that the two said a quick prayer and began charging down
the hill towards the valley, this must be where the slaughter had taken
place. What they found shocked them, they expected to find between
ten and twenty dead animals; that had been the norm at all the other
sites, this was massive, there were over seventy dead sheep, and blood
was everywhere.
But even more surprising they saw Noketer, or at least his body;
they would not have recognized that it was him if they had seen him in
a market place. All Cherubim are amazingly beautiful creatures, strong
frame, bright eyes and a shimmering bronze color skin, Noketer looked
like a monster. His nails on his hands and feet had grown long so that
they looked like claws, he had scars all over his body, most had to have
been self-inflicted by those horrid claws. The color of his skin had
changed from a healthy bronze color to a sickly yellow. Finally, he
was covered with the blood of a sheep that had just been devoured.
Noketer was lying down under a tree sleeping, but it was not a
natural or restful sleep, the eyes were twitching under the eyelids and it
looked like someone who was sleeping and having a nightmare which
is usually what it was for Noketer.
Neither of them knew what to do, should they run up and pin
Noketer down or should they wake him and tell them to surrender?
They knew of Noketer’s super strength so trying to pin him would not

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work, if only God had allowed them to bring chains and ropes, surely
that would work.
Michael called out in a loud and commanding voice, “You,
Legion, enemy of the Most High God, you are commanded to come
with us and face the Sharah at once!”
He spoke so loud that it even jolted Gabriel, Noketer shot up,
bewildered and looking all around. When they saw Michael and
Gabriel, they just stared at them for a long time, not moving or saying
anything.

Inside Noketer a power struggle was going on. Legion had

gorged himself on so much blood and flesh that they felt ill. Noketer
tried to take advantage of the situation and gain control of his body.
Noketer almost had Legion dislodged from the core and managed to get
these words out of his body to his rescuers.
“Help me, please!”
The words were so weak that Michael and Gabriel could hardly
hear them. Noketer could not, however, regain control of his body on
his own; Legion was too powerful. Legion threw Noketer from the
core and with that the body fell to the ground and started to go into
convulsions.
When it was over, Legion was in complete control of the body
again and stood up, looking at the angels they said in the most
terrifying voice they could produce, “Leave us alone, or your bodies
will be devoured just like these sheep!”
Michael and Gabriel did not move, in fact they started to come

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even closer, Michael started circling towards him from the left and
Gabriel from the right. Legion was preparing to attack them when all
of a sudden Gabriel started singing. The song was an old Cherub
hymn.
This made Legion shriek, picking up a large rock they threw it
at Gabriel as hard as possible and then ran away. Gabriel just barely
got away from being pummeled by the rock that was thrown at him.
Michael tried to chase Noketer, but with his demonic speed he could
not catch up.
“Well that was scary,” said Michael when he came back.
“You’re telling me, you didn’t almost have your head smashed
open.”
“That was pretty impressive the way you got out of the way, if
you had been that fast in our katizic match, there is no way Alevia
would have been able to throw you out of the ring like she did,” said
Michael with a laugh.
This made Gabriel smile. “Yeah, I guess there is more
motivation to move when your life is on the line. Who knew I had it in
me?”
The two began the process of burying the dead, there were no
survivors to heal this time, Legion was pretty thorough with the killing.
After burying the dead, both of them began looking around for the altar
or pole that they usually had to destroy, there was none.
“Do you think that we got here before they had a chance to
make it?” asked Gabriel.
“No way, we first smelt the blood eight days ago, that would

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have given them plenty of time. No, there is something different about
this kill than the others that we have seen.”
“Well one thing is for sure, Noketer hasn’t become a willing
agent of evil himself. It broke my heart hearing him plead for help. I
don’t know if you noticed this, but the eyes changed when Noketer
spoke to us before Legion regained control,” said Gabriel.
The two traveled along the river for another day, they headed
off in the direction that they had seen Noketer run. After ten days of
constant running the two were getting tired. As they were making
camp Michael asked if maybe someone should stay awake, just in case
Legion were to try to sneak down and kill them like he said.
They discussed it for a while and then decided against it. While
Legion was powerful and capable of great evil, they were by nature
cowardly. If pinned in a corner, then they would attack, but otherwise
they felt they were safe out in the open.
Legion would have fought them out at the camp when they were
trying to circle around them. Also, if they had tried to tie them with
ropes and chains, it would have done no good; Legion would have been
able to snap those like a thin piece of string. However, Legion would
never put themselves into harm’s way on purpose.
Legion kept running for almost a full week before stopping.
“How have they been tracking us? How have they been tracking us?
No one has gotten this close before, why will they not just leave us
alone?”
Legion was so mad that foam began to form on Noketer’s
mouth; they also had a habit of grinding the teeth too. The sound drove

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Noketer crazy, however, he enjoyed seeing Legion in a tortured state,
served him right for all the animals that he killed.
That was what made Noketer weep the most, not that he was
suffering because of his sin, but that other life forms were paying for it
too. It almost did not seem fair, why did God allow all those poor
innocent sheep, lambs, goats and other creatures to suffer because of
him?
“What if they destroy the temple? They must not destroy the
temple, it tells the story of the stars, of how the ‘Evil One’ took their
place and named himself god. Oh, they must not destroy the temple.”

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 Chapter 13
The Cave
Legion was pacing and mumbling all sorts of profanity towards
God and those Cherubim who kept destroying their work.
“They must not find the temple, we must lead them far away
from the temple. If they find it, they will surely burn it to the ground.
They cannot, they must not, but what if they do? Oh we should be
banished by the great Satinica, the true lord of the universe, if that
temple is destroyed.”
“We must find out what they want, we must go to them and find
out what they want, lead them away from the temple and then kill them.
But how, how do we kill them?”
Legion went on like this for sometime, they would ramble on
about the importance of the temple, the need to kill and then curse God,
and then start all over again. Finally Legion decided that the best way
to lead the Cherubim away from the temple was to climb atop a peak
and call out to them. This way they could lead them away from the
temple and find a good place to kill them, with that they headed back
towards the camp.
When Legion reached the top of a mountain, they screamed at
the top of Noketer’s lungs, “Servants of the Most High God, what do
you want with us?”
The sound was unnatural and was able to carry a lot farther than
it should. It jolted the angels right out of their sleep. It was the most
horrid shrieking that they could ever imagine, it sounded like metal
grinding against metal.
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 The two ran towards the sound as fast as they could, for four
days they pressed on, heading towards the shrieking sound. “How I
wish they would stop, that sound is making my ears hurt,” said Michael
in a very annoyed voice.
“I know what you mean, can’t they at least have some variety,
maybe say something else instead of repeating over and over?”
“Well, I think we now know how we will be able to bring them
before the council, the mere fact that we are chasing them seems to be
driving them mad. There must be something greater than ourselves that
they fear.”
“You know what it is,” said Gabriel. “They fear God’s
judgment, you and I are no match for that monster, they know that
judgment isn’t far behind us and that is what they fear. If they have
killed on this world, I am sure that they killed on theirs and other
worlds too.”
Finally, as the two were coming within sight of Noketer, Legion
stopped screaming and turned and fled father away from the temple,
however, this time they did not try to outrun the Cherubim. Michael
and Gabriel were always within sight.

After two days of this cat and mouse running, it was becoming
obvious to both of them that Legion was not running as hard as they
could. The last time Michael and Gabriel could not even keep up and
this time they were running almost stride for stride.
“Ok, they are just playing games with us right now, I will stay
on the ground giving chase and you take off and fly overhead. We will

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switch out every now and then and that way we will not lose them,”
said Michael.
At once Gabriel took to the sky and started flying over Michael
while Michael chased Legion from the ground. Michael would call out
to Gabriel where he was and Gabriel would follow his voice. Once
Legion felt like they had led them far enough, they picked up the pace
and soon neither of them could keep up. Noketer was once again lost.
“Why did he do that?” asked Michael.
“Do what?”
“Call to us, wait until we were in plain view and then run
basically at half speed for a long time, then just disappear. I am afraid
that they are trying to lead us into a trap.”
“Or try to lead us away from something else,” said Gabriel.
“Like what?”
“Well, we never did find any altar or any pole, maybe they were
tired of us destroying their monuments and wanted to lure us away
from it?”
“Should we go back then, find whatever it is and destroy it?”
asked Michael.
The two talked it over, while that did seem like a good idea, if it
was that important to Legion then for that reason alone it should be
destroyed. They thought about their original commission from God,
find Noketer and bring them back. The burial of the animals and the
destruction of the altars had never been a direct command. This was
just something that they did because it did not feel right to leave them
out.

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 The main objective was to find Noketer, to spend time going
back and looking for something that may not even be there did not
make sense. Whatever Legion’s was thinking did not matter, they had
been able to track them down and no blood was spilled.

They kept heading in the same direction as they had seen

Legion go, every now and then Michael would see a broken stick or a
footprint and follow the path. This was something that western
Cherubs had to do more often anyway, they usually had large herds and
sometimes one would wander off or get lost. They had become very
good at following a trail.
Gabriel had no idea how to follow a trail, but would always nod
his head in approval of whatever Michael said. He was not sure why
Michael would even ask him the question in the first place; his answer
was of no value anyway. Gabriel learned that Michael was not really
asking because he needed his help, but that was just his way of
thinking. Totally different than the way an eastern Cherub would
approach the situation, Gabriel would never have asked a question
unless he really needed to know what you thought about the situation.
It was strange how geography made such a large difference in
the way a Cherub thought and how they spoke. Gabriel had never
really liked Michael, not that he wished anything bad on him; it was
just that they had never gotten a chance to get to know each other more.
It is easy to judge someone else’s actions based on what you would be
thinking if you were doing the exact same thing. Gabriel wished he
had learned this lesson a lot sooner and hoped that his other Cherubim

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back home could have the same experience.

The trail led them into a deep canyon with very little vegetation
and a large river. From here the trail went cold, Noketer must have
jumped into the river and then could have swum in either direction.
Also in the canyon there were lots of caves and they could be hiding in
any of them. Michael and Gabriel had no desire to walk into a dark
cave were a demon possessed Cherub might be waiting for them so
they made camp by the river and decided to get some rest.
Now the problem with the location that Legion had chosen to
hide in was that there was no way out except through the opening in the
front. The front opening offered no cover and from where the
Cherubim had set up camp, they would see them right way.
The walls of the canyon were so high that even with Legion’s
strength, they could not scale them fast enough. What Legion had
hoped for was that they would come searching inside the caves and
then they would be trapped.
Legion loved the thought of setting a trap were they could kill
by surprise. If the angels did not go searching their cave, which was
the very first one that you saw when you entered the canyon, then
Legion planned to kill them in their sleep. Here was the problem, they
both never went to sleep at the same time and they never moved far
from the camp that they had set up.
It had been two weeks and those cursed creatures had not
looked in a single cave and had not moved at all. What were they
waiting for? They screamed in Noketer’s head.

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 “They must know that we are here, that is why that stand watch
and do not leave. How could they know, how could they know?”
They did not know, when Michael and Gabriel came into the
canyon they had seen the giant cave that Legion was hiding in. They
had even thought about setting up their camp there. Gabriel did not
like the idea, not because of fear of ambush, but because he did not like
the musty feel that large caves near rivers have. He preferred to stay
outdoors where he could feel the gentle breeze. Michael was an
outdoor Cherub anyway so that suited him just fine.
When the two first got to the canyon, they had debated whether
they should turn northwest and go upstream or if Legion had gone
downstream going southeast. At the top of the canyon was the great
desert, no one had found this desert before and it would later be named
Legion’s Desert.
The two figured that Legion would not go into the desert, there
were no animals to kill, just light vegetation. The question was to go
northwest or southeast, since both were quite possible, they figured it
was best to stay put until they heard Legion scream again or, God
forbid, kill another heard of sheep or goats. They did not want to have
to backtrack if they chose wrong. Also, right behind them, before you
approached the canyon, there were plenty of fruit trees so they were
very comfortable where they were.
Legion on the other hand was not; Legion did not like being
cooped up in such a dark confining space. It reminded them of the
Abyss, this was a place they did not want to go. They had been told

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that was where they would eventually go after their time of wandering
was complete. While they knew this to be true, most of the time they
just chose to forget, especially now that they were having so much fun
killing at will.
Soon these Cherub pursuers of theirs would have to go to sleep
at the same time and then they would kill them, this was the only way.
“We are stronger than they, why do we not just go out there and kill
them now?”
Noketer said to them, “Sure, go out there now, try to fight them,
you know that they will not try to fight you with fists or stones. No,
they will sing at you and that will drive you mad.”
While it was probably not a good strategic idea for Noketer to
tell Legion anything about what Michael and Gabriel might do, he
could not help himself. These evil spirits had tormented him for well
over forty years and this was payback. Noketer’s words shook the
Legion.
“Yes, he is right, we will wait until they sleep and then we will
kill them.”

Now a whole month had passed, and there had been no sounds
from Legion and no smell of blood. This was the longest that the two
angels had not moved from place to place chasing Legion. One day
Michael was lying down taking a quick nap and Gabriel was swimming
in the river. Gabriel looked over and saw Michael lying down and then
a thought hit him, neither one of them had slept at the exact same time
since they got there.

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 It was as if they were standing watch, only that was not what
they had planned to do. It just happened that when one was tired or
bored, the other was not. Gabriel thought about this and said, “They
must but here, somewhere close by, perhaps in one of these caves.”
Then a shiver went down his spine, what if they had walked into
one of them? Surely Legion was waiting for them, setting an ambush
and to kill them, they were also probably waiting for them to fall asleep
and would either flee or try to kill them in the middle of the night.
Gabriel quickly swam over to where Michael was lying down,
running over to him he woke him up and whispered, “Legion is here.”
Michael shot up in an instant thinking that Legion was there in
the camp; he looked around frantically saying, “Where, where are
they?”
Trying to quiet Michael down Gabriel said, “Not here in the
camp, here hiding in one of those caves. Think about it, it has been a
full month since we have moved at all waiting for some sign to go after.
Also, this whole time, either by day or night, neither of us have slept or
left this place at all. It is as if we have been on guard this whole time.”
“I was just dreaming about that, in my dream I heard the Lord
say that the time was coming to an end. That Legion would show
himself soon and that we must stay ready, Legion will try to deceive us
and if it wasn’t for the last three years, we too would be deceived as
Noketer was.”
“What should we do?” asked Gabriel.
“If Legion is here and is close by, we must do the one thing that
they hate, we must sing non-stopp, you sing until you cannot sing

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anymore and then I will take over.”

At first they would sing all the old praise songs that they knew
growing up as young Cherubs. After they sang every one that they
knew, they just started making up songs, some of them would be praise
towards God, others would be just random songs made up about what
they could see and hear.
This drove Legion crazy, to them it was the same as thousands
of chalkboards all being scratched at the same time. Legion was
tearing at the rocks with their hands trying to dig a way out of the cave
that they were in.
Had Legion chosen any other cave, this would have worked.
However, the cave that Legion was in offered no escape. The walls
were very thick and it would have taken Legion years to dig through
that cave, even with the right tools.
As it was Noketer’s body just could not take it anymore, the
skin around the hands had been rubbed off from scratching the walls so
hard. Blood was everywhere, hands, arms, and head. Noketer’s body
had taken quite a beating because of Legion’s outburst. Finally, out of
pure exhaustion, Legion collapsed on the ground. They could take it no
longer, they had to find out why these Cherub were chasing them and
find a way to make it stop, no matter what.
It was dusk, the sun was just setting and Michael and Gabriel
were about to start singing all over again when out of the cave in front
of them stepped Legion.

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 With a great shout Legion called out, “Servants of the Most
High God, why do you follow us? Has our time of wandering come to
an end, must we now be cast into the Abyss? Why are you here and
what must we do?”
God had never mentioned anything about a time of wandering
or the Abyss, but Michael could tell by the way Legion was shouting
and the look of fear that this was a place they did not want to go.
Looking at Legion, Michael shouted back, “No, your time of
wandering has not passed, we were charged with bringing you before
our Sharah. However, if you do not come willingly and we are forced
to go back without you, then I am sure that the Abyss is where you will
go next.”
This brought some amount of relief to Legion’s tortured
appearance. They could face a mortal council and be fine; it was facing
the prospect of the Abyss that scared them.
“We will face this Sharah of yours, but know this, Noketer is
ours, he gave himself to us and then willingly chose to give us control.
If you cast us into the Abyss, you will have to cast Noketer in too, the
law of freewill is not something that even God can break.”
Gabriel shot back, “God is all-powerful, of course He can.”
“Listen to us, we were around long before you and your planet
ever came into being. We know more about God than all of your
people combined. God can never be anything less than who He is, we
are all capable of being less than we are, but not God.”
“It was He who gave Noketer freewill, whereas we may choose
to give something and then take it back when it suits our purpose; that

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is not the nature of God. Noketer belongs to us, only a perfect
substitute can take his place, are any of you willing to do that?” asked
Legion.

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 Chapter 14
Journey Home
The cathedral took two years, three months and one week to
complete. When it was done, the cathedral stood well over one mile
high and was nearly three miles wide, it stood taller than any mountain
on the Eastern Continent and would be probably one of the taller
mountains in the Kalyia range back home. It was a marvelous
structure, all of the Cherubim workers got together and flew as one unit
as they raised the roof off the floor and slowly placed it on top of the
cathedral. They named the cathedral ‘Jehovah’ in honor of God the
provider.
When they finished placing the roof on the cathedral, a thick
cloud surrounded all of them, it was so thick that they could not even
see the person next to them, they heard a loud voice, a voice that they
all immediately recognized speak to them.
“Well done, my good and faithful servants, you have been
faithful in building this place for all to gather. Soon Michael and
Gabriel will return to you, bring them here to this place where you shall
all as a community judge for yourself if you will choose to follow me
or if you will choose to join Legion. That is your final test.
“The ten other finalist led by Melchizedek and Kalyia will go
back home to the Garden, there you will rest and hold a festival to me,
then you are to fast and pray until Michael and Gabriel return to you.
Legion is very cunning they will try to fool you into believing a lie, a
lie so brilliantly crafted that if you were not prepared you too could
easily be fooled.
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 “The rest of you are to stay here, Enoch will lead the people and
you will need to teach your children what they are to know about the
Lord and your history. We have taken great care to make sure that the
enemy did not get their chance at you until you were properly trained.
“Now you must choose for yourself, will you serve the Lord or
will you follow the evil desires that Legion will present for you. Listen
to Michael and Gabriel, they will have seen firsthand what Legion is
capable of, listen to Noketer, he has suffered at the hands of Legion for
these many years.”
With that the glory of the Lord departed and whole community
of Cherubim went down to the ground where they would sleep tonight.
Tomorrow the twelve would begin the long journey back home while
the rest stayed to teach all the children of eighty years and younger.

Melchizedek, Kalyia, Segest, James, Kystina, Jaenan, Alevia,

Nathan, Tjome, Richer, Melany, and Israel all prepared to fly back
towards the Garden of God and await the return of Michael, Gabriel,
and Legion. When the Cherubim first left their homes, James was
tasked with drawing aerial maps along the way so they knew exactly
how to get home and how much longer it would be.
However, the trip home would not take nearly as long as it had
to come to the valley of Megiddo. The angels had, up until that point,
thought that their world was flat. James on the flight east had
discovered that their planet was actually round; he had noticed this
while taking measurements making the map.
Also, James had come to the conclusion that the wind would

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rotate clockwise, first going northeast, then southeast, then southwest,
and finally northwest. This meant that for the journey home if they
first flew southwest for half of the trip and then northwest for the other
half it would be a shorter distance and they would always have the
wind at their back. To honor James with his discovery they named the
wind current the James Winds. In the end, this discovery would make
it possible for a smaller team to be able to traverse the great ocean and
cut the trip time in half.
Israel said to his wife Alevia, “I am going to miss the
community bounding that we had while building this project, I wonder
if when we return it will be life as usual?”
“Life will never be the same again, I don’t think that we can go
through so much social change just to go back to the way we were. We
used to be a very segmented society, east versus west, young versus
old, this has changed all that for the better.”
“While on the design team I hung around Cherubs that were
three times my age, I never would have done that back home, here it
was just natural,” said Alevia.
“And...?” said Israel
“And what?”
“Come on, you wound up marrying a western Cherub, tell me,
never in a million years would you have thought that. I bet you wanted
a stylish eastern Cherub like Gabriel or Zek, not some farm boy like
myself,” said Israel.
“That isn’t true, I never thought any different about my fellow
Cherubim that lived in the large cities or in the small villages. I was a

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model citizen.”
“Well hurray for you, little miss enlightened Cherub, why did
you not share this revelation with the rest of your clan before, hum?”
joked Israel.
“I never thought it was an issue.”
Tjome joined them and said, “Come on you two lovebirds, it is
time to head west, besides, you are going to have a lot of explaining to
do when Michael comes back. I hope that you have thought about
that.”
“I have, here is my thought, Michael will have been chasing a
demon possessed Cherub for the last three years, I am sure that the first
thing that he thinks about isn’t going to be weather or not I am
married.”
“Besides, we did leave his space empty in his honor. I know
that Gabriel’s friend Zek did the same thing in his wedding. Surely that
will not be the first thing that they think about, that we got married
without them?” said Israel.
“I can tell you one thing, he will be very happy for you both, of
course he will never let you forget it either,” Tjome said with a laugh.
“Come on, it is time to go.”
Melchizedek gathered with the other eleven members and said
to them, “The end is almost here. When we get back to the Garden, we
will have a feast and then fast and pray until the others come back. The
Lord has told me that all the work that we have done has not been in
vain. We are ready to face this evil that will try to tempt us into
betrayal of our God.”

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 With that they took off and headed southwest with the wind at
their back, just as James had said it would be.
Enoch and the remaining members of the Sharah began teaching
the youngest generation everything that they knew. It soon became
more than just council members teaching. The eldest were the primary
teachers but everyone got a chance and all were able to benefit.

Two years, nine months, and three weeks to the day after they
had left their homes in the plains of Melchizedek, the twelve Cherubim
returned home. Many were concerned that the place would be
overgrown and look unkempt after so long, however, that was not what
had happened. Nothing had changed, the Garden of God looked as if
someone had been there the whole time taking care of it.
When they landed in the Garden Tjome looked and saw a great
table with all kinds of food waiting for them. The Lord was their
waiting for them and all twelve immediately fell at His feet and
worshiped Him.
No one is sure how long they were there, but finally the Lord
told them to rise and get some food that had been prepared for them.
He let them know that the time was near and that they would need to
have strength for the journey back to Megiddo. He also let them know
to be on their guard, they needed to fast and pray so that they would not
fall into temptation. He also told them to especially pray for Michael
saying that Legion was going to try something that could potentially be
disastrous if it were to succeed.
“No one is to talk or speak with Legion until you have reached

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the valley, once there you will address the crowd and then allow Legion
to speak. Michael and Gabriel will testify later and then everyone will
have to choose for themselves if they will serve the Lord or not.
“From the oldest to the youngest, all will have to make a choice,
the words of Legion will be very impressive, they will say things to
trick you, know that they have already been defeated and theirs is not a
life worth choosing.
“There will be some of my people who will be poisoned by
what Legion says. It will not be evident right away, but it will show
itself in time.”
Melchizedek came and bowed before the Lord and said, “My
God, what can we do to stop this? I do not want to lose any of Your
people.”
The Lord replied, “Everyone must choose for themselves what
they will do. Will they serve Me or will they be enslaved to sin? That
is why I have prepared you these many years; however, even if you had
done everything exactly right, we still would lose some because they
have already set it in their heart to rebel.
“Those that I can redeem I will redeem, even if it costs me
everything, there is not one willing soul that can be lost that I cannot
get back. However, the one who hardens their heart, they will be lost.”
With that the Lord vanished, leaving the twelve very concerned
about the safety of Michael and Gabriel. Why had the Lord singled out
Michael, no one knew, immediately all twelve began to pray for
Michael and Gabriel. They prayed that God would protect them and
that whatever it was that Michael was about to face that he would do

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the right thing, whatever that may be.

The three of them headed east back home towards the plains of
Melchizedek, for the first two days they traveled by foot. They had
been doing it for so long they had forgotten that flying would make the
trip much faster. It had almost been three years since they had started
out on the journey. However, they could not just fly home, Noketer's
wings had been severely damaged in the cave, Legion had tried
everything they could in order to dig out. Because of all that abuse,
Noketer’s body could hardly move let alone fly.
Michael asked Gabriel, “So, who wants to carry the evil ones
first?”
“Clearly you should, after all, you are the strongest and bravest
Cherub in all the western lands. As we know, the weakest western
Cherub is worth more than ten eastern Cherubs any day,” said Gabriel
with a touch of humor.
“While this may be true, I would like to think that we have
grown past our differences these last three years. I think the honor
should go to you good champion of the east.”
This went on for a few moments, finally Legion spoke up,
“Clearly you fear us, and it is wise that you do. Why not make a sling
out of vines that we can sit on and then you both can carry us?”
While neither of them wanted to admit that it was a good idea, it
sure was better than having Legion riding on your back where they
could bite you behind the neck or claw at you. Michael flew off and
grabbed the vines leaving Gabriel to watch Legion, no one wanted to be

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left alone with Legion, but it only made sense for Michael to make the
sling. Gabriel remembered his attempt at bandaging the little lamb and
knew that he could never make something strong enough to hold
Legion up in the air as they flew. Not that dropping Legion would be
bad, but Noketer would suffer too.
Gabriel was careful not to turn his back on them for one second,
while they did not think that Legion would do anything, they were after
all glad to be facing the Sharah, not the Abyss, Gabriel did not feel like
he could trust them at all.
Legion spoke first. “So, why have you risked everything to
come after just one of your own? There are over a billion Cherubim,
all living in ignorance and bliss, why come after one who is seeking
truth and knowledge?” asked Legion in such a polite tone.
“Because all life is precious to God, there may be one billion
souls that are safe, but the fact that there is one that is lost is
unacceptable to Him. You ask the question as if Noketer were a piece
of fruit or fine furniture, if one is lost but the rest are all here why
bother looking for the one missing? The fact that you asked the
question shows how evil you are.”
“Now that is not fair,” said Legion, sounding far more hurt than
they were even capable of. “You assume that Noketer is here because
we forced him, not realizing it was your own perverted sense of self-
worth that drove him to us in the first place.”
“If that is true, then let him out, let Noketer speak for himself
and tell us how great you are?”
That question infuriated Legion, all pretense of being civil was

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gone, Legion ranted and raved that Noketer was far too simple to
understand the value of what was being taught to him right now.
Legion was showing him the true way of things; that powerful beings
are here to be served not to serve. They went on to say that God had
lied to them all and that there would come a time when the old ways
were restored.
“We have seen this revelation, it was foretold by the stars long
ago. The God that you know will not always be, someday you will be
worshiping us!”
Gabriel was never happier to see Michael in his life when he
finally came back with the vines that were needed to make the sling.
“Sorry it took me so long, it was rather hard finding the right
vines here in this climate. However, these will work fine, did they give
you any trouble?” said Michael looking over in the direction of Legion.
“Not really, but be careful when speaking with Legion, they can
sound very sincere when they want to. Also, never turn your back
toward them, I fear they would do something terrible if given the
chance.”
“I agree,” said Michael. “In fact, I was thinking about that as I
was searching for vines, it was probably unwise to leave you alone.”
Michael worked for half the day and made a sling that Legion
could sit on and that he and Gabriel could pull as they flew home. The
vines were very long, Michael did not want Legion to be able to reach
up and grab the two while they flew.
Legion sat in the seat and the two Cherubim took to the air,
flying very high as they headed east over the mountains and valleys

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towards home. They followed the river back towards the waterfall,
they pointed out to Legion with great joy all the altars and poles that
they had destroyed, this so angered Legion that they spat at Michael
and Gabriel.
Gabriel said to Michael in a rather cheerful voice, “I am glad
that you made this sling very long, if some of that dreadful spit were to
hit me, I may be forced to let go.”
Legion became afraid at the prospect of falling to their death;
they chose to ignore Michael and Gabriel for the time being. The time
would come when they would pay for their defiance. At least the main
temple had been spared; Legion had had nightmares about it being
burned down.

The journey that had taken them almost three years on foot
would be over in one week of flying. While the two could have easily
flown the whole way without stopping on their own, carrying Legion
made it much more tiring. Legion was much heavier than what even
the heaviest Cherub would have weighed, while they were in Noketer’s
body, a lot had changed in forty-three years.
They had gone for five days straight and were almost home, but
they had to stop. They did not know how but it seemed like Legion
was getting even heavier. They had to rest; they had to stop for the
night.
Neither of them were crazy about stopping, they would be tired
and weak. Legion could physically overpower them even at their best,
being weary only made them more vulnerable. They headed towards

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the very camp where they had found the ewe lamb so long ago.
It was a wide-open expanse with great trees and the grass was
very soft, making a perfect place to rest. What should they do about
Legion? While it was possible that one could stay awake and the other
sleep, it was highly doubtful because they were both so tired.
Michael said, “Heavenly Father, help us as we head home,
deliver us from evil, help us in our moment of weakness.”
Not long after Michael prayed that prayer, out of forest to the
west came a large pack of lions. They came out into the open plain and
made a big circle, the two angels could see this forming way up high,
and they came down and placed Legion in the center of the circle.
Immediately the lions closed that circle around Legion and then
formed another around Michael and Gabriel. The circle of lions around
Legion never ventured close at all, they kept their gaze fixed on the
creature that they knew had done unspeakable things. The lions around
Michael and Gabriel were altogether different, they were playful and
acted more like pet kittens excited to see their masters home than lions.
The two were astonished; this was the same group that they had
delivered the wounded lamb to. These lions that had protected lambs
from Legion would now protect the weary Cherubim from Legion too.
The lions created a much smaller protective circle around the Cherubim
with many of them sleeping next to them throughout the night.
Legion started to move towards Michael and Gabriel, with that
all the lions start to growl a low deep growl that scared Legion.
Legion, seeing that the lions would not back down, decided to lie down
and think of their next move. Legion had hoped to kill the Cherub in

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their sleep, now they would have to come up with a different plan.

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 Chapter 15
Michael’s Temptation
Legion had been watching Michael and Gabriel following them
every chance that they could. Legion knew a lot about them already
from Noketer, Noketer had been jealous of their status. Before Legion
took over control, they would have long talks well into the night.
Noketer did not realize this at the time, but Legion was gathering as
much information as they could.
Michael and Israel were both very fierce competitors in katizic,
but outside of the ring they were the best of friends. Gabriel and Zek
were two of the brightest minds on all of Roacen, Zek had so
distinguished himself by his inventions and his creative thinking that
you would think that the two of them might have become rivals, but
they never had.
It was hard to understand and most just choose not to think
about it, there had been rivalries between east and west for at least a
thousand years and younger versus older from the moment
Melchizedek and Kalyia had had their first children.
Legion had figured that they could someday use this to their
advantage. Legion was smart enough to know that he could not
approach Michael the same way they had Noketer. He would never
agree to allow himself to be possessed by Legion, however, there were
other ways.
Early the next morning Michael awoke and wanted to go and
check on their prisoner. He walked over to the circle of lions and saw
Legion on his hands and knees facing a group of stars called Lucimus,
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it was right before morning so the sun was not quite up yet and the star
constellation was right at the horizon. While Michael could not hear
what he was saying, he was almost certain it had to be the inscription
that they had found at all the altars before.
He called out, “So is that what ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’
is? Do you pray to the stars and hope that they answer you?” he said it
more as a taunt than a direct question.
They knew very little about the inner workings of Legions
religion, however, from the altars that they had found and destroyed,
they knew that stars and alignment were very important.
Gabriel was actually the first one to notice that all the altars
faced a southeastern position. They could not be sure what the altar
had been pointing at unless they had been there the exact day that it
was built. The constellation Lucimus looked like a dragon, while
dragons were not something that Cherubim feared, they definitely were
not a domesticated animal.
Legion at first paid no attention to Michael’s call, they were
deep into their morning prayers and would not be bothered by anyone.
Finally, when Legion was finished, they stood up and answered
Michael’s question. “Yes, we follow the great dragon in the sky and
await his return. He shall dwell among us and restore the old ways.”
Talking with Legion made Michael uneasy, he was not sure
why and very much wanted to change the subject. “We are almost
home, we should be there tonight. I just wanted to make sure that you
were ready, that is all.”
Michael was about to turn and go back when Legion called out

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to him, “Why have the two of you spent the last three years or so of
your life chasing us? Does that not seem like a waste to you? Noketer
is ours, it does not matter if I am out there in the mountains or if I am
there with you before your council. He gave himself to us and nothing
can change that, so why bother with this whole pursuit?”
These were questions that Michael had asked himself, they had
assumed that bringing him to the council would solve everything.
Legion had informed them that this was not the case, that Noketer
would still be bound to this evil no matter what they did, it did seem
kind of futile to go through this if they could not save Noketer.
However, before Michael could answer Legion spoke again.
“We are curious, why were you and Gabriel chosen for this
assignment? You we understand, Gabriel is a mystery, it is obvious
that he has not been outdoors much and does not have your physical
strength. We watched as he made a rather feeble attempt at making a
sling for that wounded lamb that escaped our feeding frenzy.”
“Yeah, Gabriel and I had a good laugh over that too,” said
Michael almost as if he were talking to a friend.
“Anyway, we just thought it was an odd pairing that is all. To
be honest we would have thought that with Noketer being a western
Cherub that maybe the search party would have been you and Melany,
or Israel and Nathan or some combination like that. But, we guess that
the eastern Cherubim had to have their glory too, would not want you
to get all the credit now, would they?”
“Credit has nothing to do with it, the Lord told us that strength
alone would not be enough to bring you back. I could have come with

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eleven of the strongest Cherubim and we would not have been able to
drag you back.”
“Oh, so you provide all the strength and he provides the
brains?”
“No, it does not work like that.”
“Let us ask you something,” said Legion. “Are your parents on
the council?”
“No, Amos and Grace are part of the city government of
Verden.”
“But Gabriel’s parents are, are not his parents the same age as
yours, why would they be on the council and yours not?”
“There are only two hundred and fifty members of the council,
not every Cherub is on it.”
“Oh, well is it split fifty/fifty of east and west then?”
“No, it is more like sixty/forty I think.”
Legion leaned back and repeated Michael’s words, “That does
not sound fair to us, now they send the two of you on a great mission
and yet only one of you is really fit for it. It sounds like the east is
getting all the credit and doing less work.”
Michael just sat there, he found himself in a box that he could
not really answer. At this point Michael said something that later on he
wished he could take back. “Well, what would you do?”
This was the opening that Legion needed. “Your mission was
to find us and bring us back to your council right? Well, we have
clearly explained why that does nothing to help Noketer, he belongs to
us and that does not change. If we are banished, he is banished, if we

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go to the abyss, he goes too. But what if it did not have to be that way?
What if we told you there was a way that you could get Noketer back
for good, that you could do more than your mission asked?”
“I don’t understand, you said that Noketer was yours and that
not even God could force you to give him up.”
“Noketer is ours, but we would be willing to let him go. You
were charged with bringing us before your council and bring us you
shall. But, if you could bring us and save Noketer, would that not
make you even more powerful and affective? Here is what we are
saying; it is obvious that our time on this planet is over. We have been
beaten and we understand that. All we ask is that you honor us as a
worthy competitor much like you would someone that you beat at
katizic. If you will do that, we will release Noketer and face this
council of yours.”
Here was the chance to save Noketer; the Lord had clearly told
them that when they went on this mission that Legion would come to a
point where they would reveal how they could be beaten.
In katizic, the two competitors would bow their heads slightly
towards each other before and after the match. They also did that to the
judges too; it was a way of thanking them and showing respect all at
the same time. While Michael was prepared to acknowledge that
Legion was by far the strongest and fastest creature he had ever seen,
that was not the kind of honor that Legion meant.
“No, no, no, you must not bow your head as you would in
katizic, there you are showing respect for someone that is equal to you.
The kind of honor that would be due to us would be the honor that you

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would show someone who is above you. That is the honor that we
seek, do this and we will release Noketer.”
‘Honor like someone who is above you?’ They did not even do
that with Melchizedek or Kalyia or any of the heavenly hosts that had
come down to teach them. These of course were beings that deserved
respect, what did Legion mean, to be honored as someone above you?
“What kind of honor are you looking for then?”
“You must get on one knee, take our right hand and repeat the
holy phrase that you and your friend so causally destroyed. Then you
will have shown us the honor that we deserve and we shall release your
brother to you and face this council of yours.”
Something did not feel right, while at first Michael thought that
this was a golden opportunity to save Noketer, now he was not so sure.
How bad would it be to hold someone’s hand and say four words that
he did not understand anyway? But, if it was essentially the same as a
katizic bow, then why would Legion care, why the need to be on one
knee?
Michael tried to think of a time that he had ever been on one
knee out of respect, he thought of every governor of every city,
Melchizedek, Kalyia, even his parents. Never had he got on one knee
before them, then it hit him, when they had seen the Lord at the great
waterfalls just before they headed west over three years ago. Yes, both
he and Gabriel had gone to one knee and bowed their heads before the
Lord.
If that was how they showed honor to the Lord, could he go and
do the same to this legion of demons? No, he could not, respect of

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strength was one thing, worshiping them like they were a god was
totally different. Off in the distance he could hear Gabriel singing a
song that they had created. One of the phrases was ‘only God is worthy
of our honor’, that sealed it in his mind. This evil spirit would get no
such honor from him.
“No, thank you,” came Michael’s reply, with that he turned
around and started to walk away.

As Michael was walking away, he heard the most terrifying

scream he could have ever imagined. Coming straight at him was
Legion at full speed, he leaped at Michael and threw a punch that just
barely missed him and snapped one of the large trees in half.
Michael immediately jumped up, extended his wings and was
hovering in the air in a defensive stance. He knew that he could not
take on Legion directly, their strength was too much for him, he had
lost his fair share of katizic matches to people that were not as good as
he was, it would all be about timing and defense.
Legion quickly got up and came running at where Michael was
hovering, jumping again they came flying right at him. Michael was
able to dodge Legion again and use his left wing to slap him back to the
ground.
With Noketer’s wings damaged Legion could not fly, however,
they were still able to jump with amazing speed and come straight at
him. When Michael slapped them to the ground they realized that this
was a bad plan of just leaping and swinging, they were going to need
more.

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 Looking around, Legion saw the tree that had just been broken,
they rushed over and grabbed the tree by its base and began swinging it
at Michael like a club. The tree trunk was over thirty feet long and
about ten feet wide, the sound of the swing maybe the loudest swoosh
sound that anyone could imagine.
Michael flew up higher, but the higher he flew the higher
Legion would jump and those huge swings would have surely knocked
him out for good if they were to connect. Michael decided that his best
defense would be on the ground because then Legion could only swing
side to side.
Legion came flying at him swinging the tree trunk from the
down left side to their top right. Michael just hovered there and at the
last moment retracted his wings and fell to the ground. The turbulence
of the swing made Michael tumble and he did not fall straight to the
ground like he had planned. Instead he landed on his stomach with his
feet and arms extended. This stopped his fall but gave Legion and
opportunity to pounce on him.
As Legion was about to do just that, three lions jumped at them,
one got on the neck, the other the back and the third on the legs. They
started biting and clawing at Legion and this caused them to scream out
even more. Legion was able to throw the three lions off him very
quickly, however, that attack gave Michael enough time to get to his
feet and take a defensive stance.
Being on the ground had a lot of disadvantages; the one main
one was that you could not deflect the power of a punch or kick merely
by folding your wings into a shield like position. However, with

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Legion swinging a whole tree at him, in the air it became very hard to
dodge, on the ground Legion would have to swing side to side or come
up on top and bring it crashing down. Neither would be a pretty sight if
Legion were able to succeed; however, Michael really had no choice
right now.
“Where in Roacen is Gabriel right now?” muttered Michael to
himself.
Not that Gabriel would be much help at this point, in fact, it was
a good thing that he was not there because Michael would have had to
worry about defending Gabriel too. As it was, Michael had a better
shot of staying alive with just him in there.
Legion had decided with Michael on the ground that the tree
trunk would be of limited value, so they threw that to the side and came
running right at him. Michael thought about going up in the air again,
but did not want Legion to go back to swinging the tree at him. Instead
Michael went charging at Legion and made it look like he was about to
leap at him, Legion took the bait and leaped at Michael. However,
instead of going up Michael dove down and did a forward
summersault, when he landed on his feet he jumped up and did a
backward kick right into the area where he figured Legion would be.
The gambit paid off and Michael hit Legion square in the back,
with their own momentum against them, plus the power of Michael’s
kick, Legion flew right into a rocky hillside. The impact of the crash
caused rocks and debris to rain down on Legion. Legion stumbled for
just a bit and then picked up two of the larger boulders that had crashed
on them. They were just big enough that Legion could fit them nicely

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in their forearm. With the right hand they threw one and with the left
they threw another, the rocks flew at incredible speeds.
Michael ducked to the ground and could feel them fly right
overhead, next he saw Legion throwing another one low to the ground
right where he was lying on his stomach. Using his arms and legs;
Michael pushed himself off the ground and was able to dodge that one
too. On and on this went, Legion seemed to never get tired, at one
point Legion took two rock in both arms and in a big swim-like motion
they threw two rocks at once, they then dove down and grabbed one
rock in the right hand and another rock in the left, doing a forward flip
Legion threw one rock and then flipped again and threw the fourth.
Michael could see all four rocks flying at him at once and knew
that he had no hope of dodging all four. He retracted his wings and got
down on one knee and formed a shield, the first two rocks went flying
overhead and the third sailed to his right, the fourth, however, hit him
square in the middle and sent him flying backwards.
Michael landed on the ground with a loud thud, fortunately the
ground that he landed on was quite soft due to recent rains, and this
caused the pain to be much less than it could have been. Seeing
Michael laying on his back, Legion quickly put down the rocks and
went charging right at the spot where Michael was lying down, they
jumped and were ready to pounce on him when all of a sudden from the
left side of the body they felt this crunching blow that completely
knocked them off course and they fell to the ground.

Legion was in disbelief. “Where did that come from?” they

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shouted.
Over in the distance was Gabriel with some lions, apparently
they had ran after Gabriel and let him know what was going on. As
Gabriel was rushing to the battle he saw Legion running straight
towards Michael lying helpless on the ground. There was no way that
he could get there in time so taking one of the smaller rocks that Legion
had thrown Gabriel picked one up and with all his might threw it at the
hard-charging Legion.
If Legion had seen it coming, it probably would have done
nothing; they simply would have been able to block it. However,
Legion had no idea that Gabriel was there and the hit totally took them
by surprise.
After Legion hit the ground, Michael popped up and swung his
right wing at Legion. The hit knocked Legion to the ground again.
Michael retracted his wings and charged right at Legion, Legion threw
a wild punch right at Michael’s head but Michael ducked and landed a
punch right in Legion’s midsection with his left hand. He then jumped
up and kicked him in the chest with his right leg, and that sent Legion
to the ground again.
Legion cried out, “We surrender, take us to your wretched
council and let us be done with you!”
Michael did not turn his back this time, but slowly backed
away, always staying in a defensive stance. Gabriel came up to him
with the large rope that they had made and the two took to the air.
Legion sat down in the harness and the three of them headed out to the
Garden of God, they were close enough that they knew that they would

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be there by nightfall.

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 Chapter 16
Reunion
Those at the cathedral began to discus how people should be
seated. Inside the cathedral there was box seating that would allow the
members of the council to sit and would have a space for the speakers.
However, where everyone else would sit was a logistical nightmare.
Some people wanted to arrange the viewing based on age and others by
geography or family. Finally a lottery system was put into place,
husbands and wives and any unmarried Cherubim were all considered
one unit, the units were then drawn at random and that is how the
seating was done.
After everyone found their seat, the whole community got
together and started to pray, at first silently and then in groups aloud.
Many were genuinely afraid, what was going to happen to them once
this was over, what was this Legion person going to say, what were
they going to have to choose? These were all questions that the
Cherubim were asking and praying about.
Cherubim never had to face the death of one of their own; as
such, they never really thought much about an afterlife. While they had
always been taught that their time on Roacen would not last forever and
that at some point they would be part of the heavenly host, it was still a
hard concept to imagine.

If the people at the cathedral were fearful, the twelve were even
more so, after three days of silent prayer, Melchizedek got up and
spoke. “Our time here on Roacen is coming to an end, the Lord has
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made it clear that this is our last test before we are to join the rest of His
creation in the Great Heavenly City. We know from heavenly hosts
that have come to teach us that when we pass from this life on to the
next that we will know God in his full majesty and that many things
that we do not know will be made known.
“It has also been said that we are to give an account to God of
what we have done with our time on the planet that He has given us.
Did we take care of the land, did we care for His Garden, did we treat
the lesser animals with respect? These are all questions that we are
going to have to answer.
“I feel very confident in what our answer will be in that regard,
what concerns me is the fact that people will have a choice, they will
get to choose if they want to be with God or not. I had never thought
that was really even an option that someone would choose, it is like me
saying, you have a choice between eating rocks or guava, drinking sand
or sparkling water. Why would anyone choose the former over the
later?”
After finishing his statement Melchizedek sat down, next Kalyia
responded to Melchizedek’s question by saying, “The question is not
why someone would choose not to follow God, the question that we
must ask is how is it that you get to the point that you do not want to
follow God?
“We can see from our own history that we are not perfect, while
none of us have done anything like what we hear Legion has done,
have we not been self-centered at times? Was there not division
amongst us?

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 “The more we are wrapped in ourselves, the less likely we are
to serve God. Legion will focus on that; they will talk about being free
to choose your own path. Legion will not try to convince the Cherubim
that killing goats is better than eating plants, they know that would not
convince anyone.
“What Legion will do is ask why you should be forced to follow
any rules, why not be free to follow your own law? That is what we
must be prepared to answer, remember, God has said that every
Cherub, from the oldest to the youngest, will have to choose for
themselves.
“This is not something that we can decided or vote on, if even
one Cherub should choose to follow the path of Legion, we will have
failed that one. We must be able to answer why being a servant of God
is much better than being the master of yourself. If we cannot answer
that question, then we will lose.”
After Kalyia had finished speaking, everyone in the group
started talking amongst themselves in groups, looking at the question,
‘why is it better to be servant than to be your own master?’
They started by listing the positive benefits of living for
yourself, they tried to imagine a world of no rules and no responsibility.
In order to understand something you have to know why it is tempting
in the first place. Next they looked at the downside and why that was
destructive or unpleasant.
Melchizedek and the others began to pray in earnest that they
were able to do everything in their power to not lose a single Cherub.
The council was up all night praying and meditating. Finally, early in

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the morning, the sounds of Michael and Gabriel could be heard in the
distance.
They had spent the last week and a half working and answering
questions and praying, when they heard the sounds of Michael and
Gabriel, they knew that it was time to meet Legion and fly east.

After Legion’s attack on Michael, both Cherubim were

determined to make it home without stopping again. What was even
more frightening than the attack itself was the deception that Legion
had put together.
“What if I had taken his hand and bowed to them like they
asked?” said Michael.
“I’m not sure, it seems odd to me that Legion would have even
brought it up unless it was of extreme importance to them. Also, the
anger that was spewing out of Legion was fierce, it was as if they
almost had something that they wanted and then it was taken away. I
can see why Noketer could have fallen victim to them in the first place,
we had three years of seeing their evil, Noketer would have had none,”
came Gabriel’s reply.
Something still haunted Michael about the whole scene, it
seemed so surreal, while he had never been told ‘do not bow down to
anyone’, it just did not feel right when the opportunity was presented.
What would have happened if he had bowed down, would he be
possessed like Noketer was? These were questions that went through
Michael’s mind over and over.
As they approached the city of Verden, Michael’s heart leaped

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for joy, they were home. It was strange to fly over this vast city and
see no one at all. Very different than when they had left three years
ago and everyone had come out to see them off. They kept flying east
over all the great Cherub cities, just like Verden and the other western
cities none of them had any people either.
“I wonder where they all could be?” asked Gabriel, more to
himself than as a question.
Finally, they approached the Garden of God and there in front
of them were the ten others that they had competed against and
Melchizedek and Kalyia all in the air to meet them. It was such a
joyous sight for Michael and Gabriel that they almost dropped Legion
and rushed over to greet everyone.
Michael instantly knew that Israel and Alevia had got married,
he could see their arm bands from a great distance and knew he would
have some fun at Israel’s expense. Gabriel was disappointed that Zek
was not there, but was still just has happy. Three years is a long time to
be with just one person.
For Noketer’s spirit, this was a day to celebrate, while Legion
kept pounding him with the message that he still belonged to them and
that there was nothing that anyone could do to change that, Noketer did
not care. All his life he had resented authority and felt held back
because of it, now he would welcome it with open arms. Come what
may, he was glad to see more of his own kind and glad that they had
not forgotten him. He dreaded what they must be feeling looking upon
the monster that he had become.
Segest and James went and took the vines that held Legion

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away from Michael and Gabriel. The two of them immediately started
heading northeast towards the valley of Megiddo. They wanted to give
Michael and Gabriel some rest from the work that they had been doing
for the last three years and to have a chance to talk to other Cherubim.
Also, because they had to carry extra weight the others would be able
to catch up with them soon.
Legion immediately tried to start up conversation with their new
handlers, however, Segest and James would not budge, they kept
talking to each other or singing, anything they could do to ignore
Legion.
This made Legion very mad, finally they shouted out, “We have
been around longer than your puny race and we will still be around
long after you are gone!”

Back in the Garden, Michael and Gabriel went and hugged all
the remaining Cherubim, while the two of them had learned to get
along fairly well, it was still very nice to see other faces.
Israel went straight up to Michael and said, “See, I told you that
I would marry that girl, you said that it would never happen, I was too
old, I was too western. Thought that she was out of my league, like
some beauty queen. Well, I proved you wrong, didn’t I, mister?”
“Now that is cold, here I am back after three years of chasing a
screaming demon, almost getting killed by flying rocks, and I come
back and find that my friend Izzy has gotten married to the girl that I
told him he was in love with, and tries to make it sound like I doubted
him. That isn’t right,” said Michael with a smile.

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 Flying over to Alevia, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and said,
“I am sure that you looked great, and I am sorry that I missed it. I am
sure that you will tell me every detail.”
They could have been there talking for days, but they would
have plenty of time on the flight to Megiddo. Finally Melchizedek
said, “Well, we cannot stand around here anymore, we have an
appointment to keep, let’s head east.”
With that everyone took to the sky and began to chase down
James and Segest. By the time they caught up with them, Legion had
had enough of screaming; they just sat on the ropes pouting about the
unfair treatment that they were receiving.
Listening to all these hymns was just painful, these poor
wretched souls had no idea that they were serving the very enemy that
they would someday come to hate. They were so blind to God’s
tyranny that they thought it was a good thing, the fools. Legion knew
that they could not save all of them, but felt confident that some of
them would listen to their values of strength and power.
“Someday the Great Tyrant will be pulled down from His
position and the old ways will be restored. We have seen it in the stars,
we must be prepared to give an account for the hope that we have, for
the power that we serve.”
With that Legion began to chant in a very loud voice the
mysterious chant ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’. None of the other
Cherubim picked up on it, they were singing and talking, however, both
Michael and Gabriel immediately looked at each other, they had seen it
written down at least a thousand times over the last three years and

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while they had no idea why, it sent a shiver up their spine.

For the whole trip to the land of Megiddo, the Cherubim

changed out Legion duty. The only ones exempt were Michael and
Gabriel, they had had to deal with this burden for the last three years,
everyone felt like that was plenty and they should have some rest. One
day, when Melchizedek and Kalyia were taking their turn, Legion
called out to them and tried to engage them in a dialog. They just kept
ignoring them and singing all the louder, the Cherubim found that was
the only way that they could deal with the venom that continuously
kept coming out of their mouth.
“You realize that your place of leadership will be gone when
you leave this temporal world that you are on? Once your race passes
this final test and you go to live in the land of the Great Tyrant, all the
respect and honor that people used to pay to you will all be gone, it will
go to Him instead! Turn back, there is still hope, you do not need to be
led blindly to a mindless life of praising and worshiping some beast of
a being.”
Finally Legion screamed in a loud voice that everyone could
hear, “Fine, if you will not be saved, then we will find another race
more deserving than yours!” With that Legion did not say anything for
the rest of the trip to Megiddo.

When the group arrived, they found watchmen stationed at the

top of the cathedral. When the watchmen saw them coming from the
northwest, they blew their trumpets to let everyone know to take their

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place. As they arrived everyone got up on their feet to cheer, this was
the moment that they had all been waiting for and at last it was here.
As Melchizedek and the others came in through the opening in
the top of the cathedral, the cheers got even louder. However, when the
last two Cherubim came in carrying Legion on a long vine, everyone
became quiet. It was rather strange seeing this evil creature being
lowered like a king by two powerful and beautiful Cherubim.
Legion liked the look of awe and fear that the whole crowd was
showing them; obviously they could recognize power when they saw it.
This was going to be way too easy, sure Melchizedek and his mindless
council had more time with these saps than they had. However, Legion
knew things that none of them could have ever known. They were sure
to win some converts here, the question was not would they, but how
many.
Melchizedek addressed the crowd and let them know how the
trial was going to work. The charges were going to be read against
Legion, and then Legion would have an opportunity to address the
crowd. After Legion spoke, then Michael and Gabriel would also
address the crowd.
“Every one of you is going to have to choose for yourself, do
you follow the Lord or will you follow Legion? This is your choice I
cannot make it for you. God has revealed it to me that some of you will
choose evil. I plead with you, whoever you may be, listen to Michael
and Gabriel. Listen carefully, they have seen evil face to face, Legion
will make all kinds of promises that sound good. Know from the
experience of Noketer that while it starts out good, it never stays that

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way.
“As we were flying here, Legion tried to tempt Kalyia and I,
they shouted at us saying that once we join the heavenly hosts and go to
be with God that our position of leadership will be gone forever. That
any respect that you used to pay me or Kalyia will now go to God.
“Here is what I say to that, good! Who am I that you should
respect me? The only difference between Kalyia and me versus
everyone else is that God chose to make us first. God could have easily
chosen to make any of you first and have us all be descendants from
you.
“Know this, I would rather be a doorman in the house of God
than be king over all the mortal lands! There is nothing that Legion can
offer you that is worth taking.”

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 Chapter 17
Legion Takes The Stand
This was going to be the end of Cherub history as they knew it,
the final test. While the Cherubim were anxious about future change,
Legion was thrilled, they had never had such a large audience in which
to speak and share the truth about what they knew. On all the other
worlds, Legion would just roam and look from a distance, never
experiencing anything and never having this kind of contact with the
race. Here was their big chance; they had one Cherub that was
completely under their control, could they get more?
Legion was disappointed that Michael did not worship the
Satinica, it would have made things so much easier had one of their
own not only given himself willingly to them, but revered them as a
god. Where to begin was the key, Legion searched for a moment and
then came up with what they figured to be the perfect defense.
“We are so pleased that you are all here and have given us your
complete attention,” the voice was metallic and did not sound anything
like the melodic voice from a Cherubim.
“We want to clear up some misunderstandings that we are sure
that you must all have. First of all, we are not the horrible monsters
that we have been made out to be. However, we can see how you
might come to think that given your point of view.”
Here Legion walked to the right, away from the council and
towards the area where the vast majority of the Cherubim were sitting.
They were all around so they wanted to make sure to use the stage just
right to get personal eye contact with as many as possible.
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 “You see, you will look at our actions such as eating meat as
horrid and cruel. When you are told how we have killed goats and
sheep, we are sure that Michael and Gabriel will tell it in such a way as
to make you gasp and put your hand over your mouth.
“Yes it is true, we have killed animals for our consumption.”
Legion let that point hang out in the air for some time, there was
some discussion murmuring around the cathedral, but they quickly got
back to listening to what they had to say. Legion continued:
“However, it is not at all as you are imagining it. You see, you
are viewing the lesser creatures as equal with yourself. This is a flaw in
your thinking, not in our actions. However, do not blame yourself for
this flaw, the real fault lies with the one that created this thinking in the
first place. But that is something we will discuss later, our point is this,
the animals on this planet are here to serve you. They are not your
equals, they do not deserve to be treated with the same kind of respect
that you would show one of your own.
“Tell us this, why stop at the lesser animals, why not say that
the grass and fruit trees and vegetables are your equal too? Why not
treat them with the same amount of love and respect that you would
show your own parents? You see, you have no problem realizing that
those items are there for your pleasure, why not the animals too?
“Here are the facts, the weak live to serve the strong, and you
are the strong. Why should you be serving the weak? That, my
friends, is the real sin, taking what is of noble purpose and making it
the same as what is common.
“Answer us this, if Melchizedek and all the members of this

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council were coming to your home for dinner would you treat it as if it
were a quiet meal with your own family? Would you not make special
arrangements to bring in some rare food and prepare your residence to
receive your guest? Of course you would, and to not do so would be
wrong.
“This is not some strange idea that we are making up, it is as old
as time, there are common items and there are rare items, there is the
strong and there is the weak. We must be able to give proper value to
each and have them each serve their role. When we consume the goat
or the sheep, we do not do so lightly, however, we also do not suffer
from guilt or shame. If everything was of equal value then why is there
such a huge difference between us and them?
“Look around you, look at the amazing building that you and
your fellow creatures have been able to make. Could a lion build
something such as this, could a bear, could a lamb? No! Why not?
Because they do not have that ability, they are weaker than you and you
are superior to them.
“But where did this flaw in thinking come from, where did it
originate, has it always been like this? The answer is no.”
Legion now moved to the other side of the room and faced the
council directly, pointing up at the heavens in an accusing method
Legion cried, “It began when He took over!”
No one was quite sure if Legion was pausing for dramatic effect
or if they were expecting the Cherubim to be in an uproar over this
comment. They however did not say anything; Legion, seeing no
response from the crowd, kept on going.

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 “God claims to be the author and creator of all life. He also
claims to have always been and will always be. Now let me ask you a
basic question, how can something always have been?
“Think about it, everything in life has a beginning, there is
nothing that does not have a beginning of some kind. Furthermore, if
there is no beginning, then there can be no present either. If you go
back forever in time, then there is no way you could ever get to the
present. It just does not make any sense.
“This is where we started our journey toward enlightenment.
We were once mortal beings just as you are now. God was ‘teaching’
us His ways and values, while most of our kind followed this mindless
garble, there arose a leader among us. She did not buy the stories that
she was told and began to look for an explanation for herself, and what
she found was amazing.
“She discovered that God is not something that always has
been, but rather that we were on a continuous celestial circle from
mortal to godhood and back again. That all life continues in a circle,
from matter such as oxygen and helium, to plants such as grass and
trees, to animals such as birds, to mortals, to spirits, to god and back
again.
“We said earlier that there is nothing that does not have a
beginning, well there is, a circle, it has no beginning and it has no end.
This was the only way that one could reconcile God’s claim to have
always been and to always be, for course He has, we all have. It is the
circle.
“What do you think your God did when our divine mistress

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found these things? Do you think that He accepted them; do you think
that He congratulated her on such a great discovery? No!
“She was banished from our world and deemed a heretic, she
was abused by our fellow Jinn and made a mockery by our elders!
Does this sound fair, does this sound right? Let’s suppose for a minute
that she was wrong, what is the big deal?
“But let us suppose that she is right, then it becomes a huge
deal,” said Legion almost in a whisper. Bending their knees and sitting
in a squat like stance, Legion wrote on the ground the four words that
Michael and Gabriel had come to hate, ‘Eshcar Dante Satinica Omega’.
“This is why Lilith was banished! Because she dared to utter
these four words before the tyrant you call God!”
At this the very calm demeanor that Legion had been projecting
was gone, now Legion was ranting and raving and screaming all sorts
of things. Most of them did not even make sense; they described all
sorts of conspiracies and cover-ups that had happened over the ages.
They told how Lilith had come up with a theory that everyone
was meant to be God at some point in their celestial journey. This is
the way that it had always been, Legion then went on to recall when
one of their own had been the supreme god that they called Satinica,
and how he had been one of the best Satinicas the circle had ever had.
At first, Lilith had theorized that God would be passing on to a
new phase of existence, probably stardust or some other basic
compound. After all, once you are at the top, the only place next was
to start at the beginning. Lilith was confident that because she had
discovered this truth, that she would be next in line to become the great

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Satinica or God as He was called.
However, when God rebuked her for her blasphemy and tried to
bring her back to the fold, she rebelled. She then came up with a new
theory, somehow God had stopped the circle, that He was not prepared
to go back to the beginning. God wanted to keep absolute power and
did not want to share with the rest of the cosmos. The only way that He
could do this was to stop the wheel and then convince everyone that
this had always been the case, the way it had always been.
The circle had to be restarted; Lilith started gathering followers
who started looking to the stars for insight and guidance. After all, they
were the last ones to have been god before the tyranny of Adonai took
over. They started making connections between the alignment of the
stars and things that would happen on their mortal world of Mardis.
They also placed a lot of importance on the constellation of your birth,
if you were born during the time of the dragon you were seen as priest.
More Jinn started to join her cult, the movement was gaining
ground and more people were coming to join them all the time. Legion
went on to explain how they had built a temple in Lilith’s honor, that it
was a replica of her face, the face of enlightenment they called it.
After the temple was built, the Jinn that were loyal to God were
full of jealousy and in their rage, they killed Lilith and all of her
followers. They linked their spirits up and became Legion and were
forced to roam the mortal worlds.
There had been times that Legion had been able to control a
mortal being, but it had never been given to them. Usually the other
mortals would take the possessed mortal before God’s chosen ones and

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they would cast Legion out. Legion went on to laugh about how if they
tried to cast them out, Noketer would be cast out too.
Legion suddenly remember that they were there to try to
convert people and that it probably was not a good idea to remind them
that Noketer’s choice was final and that no one could change that.
After all, that is not good for business; you want to sell the idea that
there is limited risk.
Legion became quiet for a short time and then regaining the
calm eloquent presence they had had before they went off on the
tangent said, “What do you choose to believe?
“Will you choose to believe in something that cannot possibly
be real, one being that has always been, was never created, and will
always be? Or will you choose the path of enlightenment? We are all
on a path that will in someway take us to godhood; the only thing is
you must be willing to be led. The tyrant Adonai cannot hold the title
of God forever, the circle will be restarted. We have seen it in the stars,
we know it to be true.
“Choose for yourself, will you continue to be a puppet, a
servant, a slave? Or will you choose to someday be a god? The choice
is yours, because once the celestial circle does get restarted, once the
old ways are restored, Adonai will pay for His crimes against nature.
All who have chosen to side with him will be excluded from godhood
and will never be given the title of Grand Satinica again.”
With that Legion summed up their defense and sat down.

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 Chapter 18
Gabriel’s Rebuttal
Michael and Gabriel had had a long talk as to who should
speak before the gathered assembly, at first they both wanted to speak,
and then it was finally decided that just Gabriel would address the
assembly and that Michael would be up there for moral support. The
two spent some time writing down their counter charges to Legion’s
defense, and finally Gabriel stood up and addressed the crowd.
“Michael and I are so pleased to see all of you again. In the last
three years the Lord Almighty has taught us a lot about ourselves and
about our God. I understand from speaking with some of you that you
too have gone through a lot in our absence. The building of this
cathedral was a unifying experience that made our people better, the
old divisions that we used to have, old and young, male and female,
east and west, the Lord has shown us that these differences are to be
celebrated and not scorned.
“I stand up here today with an awesome task. Legion has
explained why you should follow them, that you have the ability to
become a god. That all that we know is a lie and that out there is a
much greater truth. Legion has spoken of us being deceived, that we
have been denied our rights as the superior race on this home world of
ours. That God is not who He says He is.
“I am not going to stand up here and point and scream and say
how dare they challenge God. I have listened carefully to everything
that Legion has said, even the stuff that made no sense, and have come
up with three tenets of what I call Legionism.
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 “The first and most fatal being that God is not who He says he
is. The second is that the weak are here to serve the strong, and the
final point is the value of the self. Really the first and the third are very
similar, but I will look at them individually because they affect our
actions differently.
“Legion claims that because we do not understand it, it cannot
be true. I will confess, I have often wondered about how God could
always have been, how He had no beginning. Like Legion, I too have
wondered how that can be possible, if there is no beginning how can
there be a now?
“We have also heard how God is part of The Trinity, three in
one, I confess that this also has been a great mystery to me as it has
been for our people for these last two thousand years. We have come
up with theories and have written songs, but the fact is none of us really
knows. Legion’s claim actually makes the most sense out of
everything that I have ever heard.”
When Gabriel said that, everyone was kind of surprised,
especially Michael. He had a look on his face that said, ‘“What you
talking about, Gabriel?’ After a brief moment of silence, Gabriel
continued.
“However, because we do not understand something does not
make it impossible. Look around at the building that you have made,
imagine if we brought in sheep and then asked them to try and figure
out how this place was made. They would have no idea; their brain
cannot comprehend something of this magnitude. Imagine farther if I
had the ability to become a sheep and communicate directly with them,

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there would be nothing that I could tell them that would make them
understand.
“The sheep would know who we are, after all I have seen how
western shepherds can call out and how the individual sheep will come
running home. They would be forced to accept that we made this
building; they would not be able to understand how or why.
“That Legion’s theory makes sense with our known concept of
time and space tells me one thing, that it is not divine, that it is not
sacred, that it is not powerful. If I can understand it completely, then it
is made by someone or something that has the same intellectual
capacity as I do. If God is who He says He is, then it would only make
sense that we cannot completely understand everything.
“Furthermore, if God was so intent on keeping this knowledge
hidden from us, why is this fool even allowed to speak? Would not
God have wiped them out if indeed he were the type of tyrant that
Legion speaks of?
“The reason that Legion is allowed to speak is not for their
benefit, it is for ours. Will we choose to follow God or not, will we
choose to accept that an all-powerful being is going to be much more
advanced than our understanding? The difference between sheep and
ourselves is vast, the difference between us and God is even more so.
“Legion’s views on God are not the only reason that they have
become the monster that they are, their philosophy that the weak serve
the strong adds to it. It is the next logical step, when you do not know
who God is, you cannot understand who you are, and how to interact
with other beings.

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 “The weak serve the strong. Do you think that Legion’s view
would stop with just us and the other animals? Would that not include
ourselves too? Michael is stronger me, then I must be his slave. And
what about Richer, Nathan, and Israel, will they all be content to share
power, will not one of them try to dominate all of them?
“What about Zek, James and Segest? They do not have the
physical power that the others have, but they are very smart and can
invent all kinds of things. How about using their talent to invent
machines that help them dominate other Cherubim too?
“It would not stop there, the lions are more powerful than
lambs, the bears more than the sheep. Creature would be killing
creature, both their own for power and others for prey. If this
philosophy should ever become the accepted norm, the destruction that
would follow would make the horrors that we saw done by Legion
seem small and insignificant.
“Yes, God has made us the most powerful beings on all of
Roacen, however, with that power comes responsibility. If we were to
act as Legion would have us act, the amount of suffering and misery
could not even begin to be weighed.
“Finally, the value of the self, Legion would have you believe
that at some point in the celestial journey, you will someday become
god. If that is true, then there really is no difference between myself
and God, it just so happens that He is in a different stage of life, but
someday the tables will be turned and I will be the god and He will be
the servant.
“In that case, there is no difference between the oldest and the

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wisest Cherub and someone that was just born yesterday. Basically,
you are the most important thing in the entire universe. If this is true,
then there will be no real sense of community; you will have groups
that form communities that will eventually come to hate each other.
“Now we are not perfect, we have had our own division, our
divisions were able to remain peaceful because we knew our place, we
did not view ourselves more importantly than we should and we never
accepted the notion that the weak were here to serve the strong. It was
not our perfection that saved us, rather our priorities are what kept us
off this path of destruction.
“Legion calls it enlightenment, I call it pure terror. Our
language does not have the words that could describe such a place as
Legion would have us create. God says that we get to choose, I am
terrified of the thought of anyone choosing wrong.”
With that Gabriel ended his reply and sat back down.

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 Chapter 19
Everyone Must Choose
Melchizedek had never been so afraid in all his life, what were
his people going to do? It made no sense that they would not follow
God; they had all spent time with God personally. Kalyia took the
stage now and closed in prayer, when she was finished she told
everyone that they would be making the choice soon. All who wanted
to follow the teachings of Legion were to stand when Legion called on
them to stand.
“This decision is yours and yours alone, do not make it based
on what your neighbor or your parents or anyone else will think. This
will affect you for all eternity. God has given you a choice, you can
choose Him or you cannot choose Him. Do not take your
responsibility lightly, do not choose to follow the Lord because that is
what the majority is doing or because that it was I want you to do.
Choose to follow the Lord because He is right.”
It was strange that she would be arguing for someone to follow
Legion, after all, it was known that the majority would follow God no
matter what Legion said. However, why you do something is just as
important as what you do. They did not want someone choosing to
follow God because of peer pressure.
Kalyia motioned to Legion, they stood up and cried out in a
loud commanding voice, “Whoever wants to follow us on the pathway
to godhood, stand up now and be counted!”
Their words echoed through the cathedral for a long time,
everyone was looking around to see if anyone would indeed stand up.
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After a long moment, Legion called on them again, still no one stood
up, finally after the third call Legion spat on the ground and said,
“Fools, we do not need you, we have Noketer and one is all we needed
anyway!”
Next Kalyia called out and said, “All who will follow Jehovah
as the one true God, please take your stand.”
With that the whole community of Cherubim stood up and
shouted with a great shout. The sound echoed throughout the cathedral
and then they all sang:
Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.
You are worthy, our Lord and God.
To receive glory and honor and power
For you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.
Legion was writhing in pain; the sound of praise to the tyrant
was unbearable. If they could have, they would have fled just as fast as
the legs of their host could take them. As it was there was no place to
go.
Noketer was singing too and was truly happy for the first time
in a long time, while there had been glimmers of happiness over the last
three years, nothing pleased him more than to see that none of his
people made the same mistake that he had made. Noketer had grown
up a lot over the last forty-three years, he was glad to see that no one

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else needed to suffer.
He did not even care about the fact that he was still lost, while it
would be something that he would think about for the rest of his
existence, he was glad to be home, if only for a short while. These
would be the thoughts that would get him through his life of hell living
with Legion, seeing how deeply his fellow Cherubim had cared about
him, knowing that his body could not hurt another living creature again,
and that none of his people had fallen victim to Legion’s hollow
philosophy.
This would do Noketer no good, his fate was sealed, he had
given himself to Legion and there was nothing that he or anyone else
out there could do to change that. This had depressed Michael and
Gabriel when they had first heard that, they thought that bringing him
back would save him, Legion had pointed out that this was wrong.
Legion had even agreed to let Noketer go if Michael would just
bow down and worship him. Noketer had no idea why, but he knew
that if Michael had done that, while he might have been saved a life of
banishment and the abyss, that something far worse would have
happened. Noketer was sad, but he knew that he was getting what he
deserved, he was just glad that no one else would have to suffer too.

When the angels had stopped singing, the ground underneath

shock, this was not the same kind of shake that it had done when they
were all flying. This was like a strong earthquake, however, none of
the building suffered any damage and no one was hurt. After the
shaking was finished, a loud voice came from heaven and said.

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 “Well done, my good and faithful servants, you have been
faithful to care for the Garden that We gave you, you have respected
and cared for the animals around you, and you have all chosen to
follow Me and not the teachings of Legion. Come and share in your
Master’s happiness!”
“As for you, Legion, your time on this planet has come to an
end. You have caused great harm and suffering to all life around you.
You will be banished to wander aimlessly through another world until
your final moment of judgment when you shall be cast into the abyss.”
“What about Noketer?” cried Legion. “He is ours, if you banish
us, then you must banish him too and when you cast us into the abyss,
you will be forced to cast him in with us! What do you say about
that?”
“This is true, Noketer gave himself to you and is now yours.
You are right in saying that if you are banished, then he will have to be
banished too. However, you also know that someone else can take his
place, do you not?”
“Of course we know that!” screamed Legion. “Why don’t you
ask anyone of these precious creatures here to take his place? We are
sure that you will not find one that is blameless, and even if they were,
who would be willing to do that? Noketer is ours and there is nothing,
nothing that can change that!”
God’s response was one that no one, not the angels, not the
heavenly host, not even Legion was ready for. God said, “If you will
let him go, I, Myself will provide the perfect substitute in due time.”
A smile came across Legion’s face, “As You wish, he is now

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Yours.” And with that Legion left the body of Noketer.

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 Chapter 20
EPILOGUE
The whole community rejoiced when they realized that Noketer
had been released by Legion. Everyone was glad that Noketer, who
once had been lost, now was back. It was amazing how quickly his
body began to heal once the power of Legion left him. He would still
have some physical scares on his body that would never go away.
Noketer would use them to remind him of how much the Lord was
willing to pay to rescue him.
As expected, Michael did tease Israel quite a bit about getting
married without him there. While he never took offense at it, he had
fun teasing his friend. Alevia would sometimes tease him too and
Israel would say things like he did not fall in love until after they were
building the cathedral. Everyone knew that was untrue, it was not that
Israel hated to admit to being wrong, he just had a hard time admitting
that Michael had been right.
Gabriel and Zek were far more formal with their friendship,
Gabriel was glad that Zek had found love and they spent a lot of time
sharing their adventures. Gabriel was extremely impressed with the
design that Zek had come up with for the massive cathedral; it was
truly a work of art.
Everyone was extremely happy, they had passed their last test
and not one Cherub had chosen to join Legion. Everyone was happy,
that is except Melchizedek, he had remembered that the Lord had told
him that some would choose evil. Even more disturbing had been the
phrase, ‘Even if you had done everything exactly as I told you’ that
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some would still choose evil. Since no one had stood up at Legion’s
call, Melchizedek was worried that some may have chosen the Lord for
the wrong reasons. What could those wrong reasons be?
The euphoria of the moment however eventually caught up with
Melchizedek and he joined the others in celebrating the return of
Noketer and the victory over Legion. The ground shook because of the
singing and the dancing; the Cherubim had never celebrated this much
before.
Even up in heaven all were celebrating, all the creatures that the
Lord had made before the Cherubim were glad to see that they had
passed and would be joining them in the great city. They too were
unaware of what had happened between the Lord and Legion, all they
knew was that Noketer was now free and for right now that was all that
really mattered.
The Lord returned to the Cherubim and said to them, “You have
chosen to follow me, now return to the Garden that I created for you.
There you will drink from the fountain, from the fountain of the
knowledge of good and evil. After that, you will come up and join the
heavenly host and be one with us. Many of the questions that you have
had will be answered, many more will be presented to you.
“This time here on Roacen was just a shadow of what is to
come. Do not be grieved of the life you will be leaving behind, I tell
you the truth, where you are going will make this wonderful world that
We created seem drab and dull. Come, We have much to show you.”
Everyone felt like God had been talking to just them, not only
that, but somehow everyone felt connected to one another in a way that

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they never had before. The whole community flew back to the Garden
of God and there, everyone took a drink from the fountain. When
Melchizedek and Kalyia, who were the last to drink, finished
something amazing began to happen to all of them, they all felt that
they were flying, but not by their own power, and much faster than they
ever could have flown.
Up and up they went, past the moon and the stars, through the
galaxy and into black space. They kept going faster and faster, ahead
of them they could see a bright light, at first very distant, then as they
were getting closer, the light began to grow until they realized that they
were coming towards a huge city, the likes of which no one had ever
seen before. This city would make all six of the great Cherub cities
together look like a small dot in comparison.
There were all kinds of creatures; all waiting to welcome the
newcomers, the sight of it was overwhelming. Every Cherub there
knew that they were now home; any thought of going back to Roacen
was completely gone.

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