Hammer of the Gods

Chapter 12

“I’m so sorry!” Angelica replied.

“It’s ok. If we are to combat the Tonrar Kiisiwok and travel together, you should know. It has been five years since she left. Come, I will show you to your rooms; we start at first light.”

They all stood and cleaned the kitchen before turning in for bed.

The clock in Angelica’s room read 3:30 AM. She awoke to the sound of murmuring. There were two shadowy, grey, figures at each end of her bed. She could not move her body other than her eyes; she was unable scream or cry out for help. The spirits gestured in the air, as their large dark eyes seemed to stare with evil intent. She tried to cry for Jonah, but nothing would come from her mouth. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she felt herself giving way to despair.

Since her parent’s deaths, she had forsaken her belief in God. She went from being angry, to cursing the creator, before finally claiming to be atheist. This was a hasty transition over only a matter of months after her parent’s murders. All that she had known and believed was being challenged. Images of the creature in Battery Langdon, the vampire Barabbas, Gabriel who claims to be an archangel and her brother’s experience with Satan and Cain flashed through her brain.

Stories of little people and devils in Nome seemed unbelievable until today. And now, in this room, she was faced with the most terrible of all experiences. Surely these were the devils Konosak had spoken of, the Tonrar Kiisiwok! At least she could run from the creature in the old fort. With Barabbas, she could make an attempt to fight, but now, she was completely helpless. The demons stretched their hands towards her body, low murmuring emitted from their mouths. One appeared human under its hooded cloak; the others were various grotesque combinations of animals, with clawed hands, hair or scales, horns and misshaped bodies. The room grew cold; she was so scared.

And then, in the back of her mind, she had a memory of her mother, long ago, singing to her after she had a bad dream. It was a beautiful hymn called “I am a Child of God.” She could not voice the words, but she clung to that memory and sang it in her mind.

Suddenly, the room burst into light, as bright as the noonday sun. A golden aura drove away the darkness and the shadows. Unlike staring at the sun, it did not hurt her eyes. The demons fell to their knees, shielding their eyes and crying out in fear. Angelica saw a being materializing in the luminescence, a beautiful woman, who held aloft her left hand. A blue radiance emanated from a ring that she wore upon her finger. The light seemed to wrap around the demons and bind them together, she raised her arm and they were lifted into the air. She quickly dropped her arm down and the demons disappeared through the floor without damage or sound. The angel’s feet were bare to the ankles, and she did not touch the floor. Her forearms and hands were bare as was her neck. Her skin shone like polished brass. Her eyes were as flaming fire, or like the setting of the sun on the horizon.

The angel smiled at Angelica and stated clearly, “I am Afriel the angel of sunset.” Her voice had melodious tones, like a beautiful harp.

Angelica felt a warmth course through her. The feeling began in her chest, spreading to her hands, then her feet and head, releasing her from her paralysis.

“I have desired to help you, but first you needed to express some degree of faith in God, and now you have done so. It is a step in the right direction, Angelica.”

“Satan desires to have thee and thy brother. You must complete your quests. You must find the missing archangels. You must find Azazyel, or all may be lost.” To protect you on your journey, I offer you Solomon’s Ring. Only a prophet or one of angelic blood can wield it. But even though you possess the blood of Azazyel, you will have to exercise faith in God to call upon its powers.”

Afriel removed the ring and handed it to Angelica, who was now sitting on the bed. Angelica stared at the ring and held it aloft. It was gold in the shape of a circle with a six-pointed star inside. Two triangles were inverted upon one another, forming a raised star. It no longer glowed with the blue light.

Angelica looked back at Afriel, who said, “You must repent, Angelica. You must have faith. You must believe in God.”

In a flash like a lightning bolt in the dark, she was gone. Although the encounter had seemed to last a long time, the clock still flashed 3:30 AM.

SAFRIEL’S BANE

Long ago and far away,

A lonely angel lost his way

Sent from heaven on a mission he came,

Sent by Gabriel to Camelot’s flames

To find and bury King Arthur’s gem,

Under the stones that men call henge

One day he met a lady fair,

And became enamored by her auburn hair

A touch a kiss he broke his vow,

For to love a mortal is not allowed

In her eyes he found true love,

But forbidden it was from up above

Two sons to him she one day bore,

In secret vale on Ireland’s shores

For his sin an Archangel came,

To take him to prison head bowed in shame

Without angelic father his sons grew no more,

Their children’s children waved from shore

As half-angel sons sailed far away,

To paradise where the Menehune play

For a time they found love once more

On the beaches of Hawaii’s shores

On Maui were buried side by side,

Their second wives while children cried

They took the gem and sailed far away,

At first all was calm upon gentle waves

The sun was warm, their spirits high,

Their sorrow faded where gulls fly

The gem can find the sons of morn

The eleven seek the one forlorn

Then Satan came and winds did blow,

The ship was tossed to and fro

Upon sharp rocks the timbers did break,

Cold water rushed in, their bodies did shake

All seemed lost, they began to pray,

They held the gem towards the end of day

Red light shot down to an ancient one,

Now awoke the fourth born son

Up from the deep from beneath the sea,

A Son of the Morning their plight did see

He bore them up upon a wave,

He showed them mercy, their lives he saved

Now was battle like none before,

Two Sons of Morning on distant shores

Mountains rose and islands fell

For mighty is the King of Hell

The dragon of the oceans fought fiercely,

But Leviathan fled from the Lord of the Sea

Amongst the Inuit where polar bears run

Brother’s found love in the midnight sun

Even in mortals with angel’s blood,

They one day grow old since the Great Flood

War broke out amongst their kin,

Over who would take their father’s great gem