Before the Fall (23 page)

The golden-haired angel paused.

“Please, give us time,” his voice pleaded.

Green eyes locked with his for a moment. Her face was filled with unimaginable heartache, the likes of which Naomi had never seen.

Taking a deep breath, the angel plunged the sword into the ground.

A chorus of rams’ horns blew a second time.

R
aphael went to the North and Jeremiel to the West. Fighting through the crowds with Rebecca and Lahash as they headed to the south side of the city, Naomi prayed fervently that they would find her sisters before the final blowing of the rams’ horns.

Dozens of soldiers with swords in hand yelled at the crowds, pushing them out of their way as they headed toward the city gates. The ground shook again and people screamed as they stumbled.

She shouted for Leah and Lilia, helplessly. How could they possibly hear her over the chaos?

“Wait. I hear something.” Lahash stopped. “Over there!”

They ran down a path near the city’s wall. The canopies that lined the path shook as merchants frantically gathered their possessions.

Then Naomi heard a small wail. She would recognize that cry anywhere.

“Lilia!”

“Naomi! Naomi!”

“Look, they’re over there,” Rebecca said.

Huddled underneath a pottery table were Leah and Lilia. Naomi sighed with relief.

Lahash took hold of Leah in his arms and Naomi scooped up Lilia.

“Hurry,” she said. “We must get them to the inn.”

They fled down the path as fast as they could, maneuvering their way between the fallen stones and bricks that littered the ground.

“Rebecca!” Raphael rushed toward them, and Naomi could hear Rebecca sigh with relief.

“We have the girls. Where is Jeremiel?”

“He’s at the inn now. I told him to wait until my return.”

Hope swept through Naomi. They just might make it.

There was a rumble as the ground shook again, then a loud cracking sound.

Naomi looked at the city wall to her left and gasped when the bricks started to crumble.

Then there was an explosion of brick fragments and smoke, and the wall collapsed.

Through the smoke filled air, she heard them, Joshua’s soldiers as they climbed over the rubble with swords in hand.

“Take her,” Lahash handed Leah to Raphael.

“No, Lahash!” Rebecca cried as he ran toward one of the soldiers who was heading in their direction.

Lahash ducked as a sword sliced through the air. In one swift move, he latched onto the soldier’s wrist. The soldier winced in pain, releasing the sword. With his other arm, Lahash punched the wailing soldier in the face. The soldier fell to the ground, unconscious.

Picking up the sword, he ran back to Naomi.

“Let’s go.”

“Leaving so soon, my son?”

Rebecca screamed and she frantically reached out to Raphael. Naomi slowly turned to see what would cause the look of terror on her face.

It was a dark-haired man she’d seen many times before with her father and the governor. His gray eyes gazed at Lahash, sending a shiver through her. Standing next to him were Saleos and his brothers, Jether and Joab. They looked different. Somehow they were bigger. Saleos’ black eyes scanned her body. It sent a chill down her spine.

Then she remembered what David had said. Demons. They had become demons.

“No,” she gasped. “It can’t be.”

“Lucifer.” Raphael’s voice was as cold as ice. He handed Leah to Rebecca. “Lahash, take the others to the inn.”

“Raphael, come with us. Please,” Rebecca said.

“Go. Now, Lahash!”

“I will make this easy for you, Raphael. All I want is the boy.” Lucifer then glanced at Rebecca with disdain. “Your whore has already served her purpose.”

Raphael let out a savage roar and lunged toward Lucifer. Immediately, the demon twins attacked him.

“Let go of him,” Lahash shouted as he charged the demons.

He leapt through the air, his feet striking one of the demon twins in the chest, causing his grip on Raphael to slip.

With his arm loosened, Raphael threw a punch at the remaining twin. The demon soared through the air, landing in a pile of mud bricks.

There was a loud war cry as Saleos charged at Raphael, his sword held outward.

Naomi cried out when Jether and Joab went after Lahash. She held Lilia close to her chest, covering her little face.

Blood streaked down Lahash’s face as he grunted, swinging his sword at Jether. As the sword slammed against Jether’s shield, Joab clamped down on Lahash’s arm and with a turn of his wrist, there was a loud snap and Lahash cried out in pain.

His sword fell to the ground as he dropped to his knees.

“Lahash!” she sobbed.

“Take him. Now!” Lucifer ordered.

Naomi’s eyes widened as wings as black as night snapped out of Joab and Jether’s backs.

“No!” Raphael fought against Saleos and Lucifer. “Not my son!”

“Lahash!”

Naomi’s heart leapt at the sound of Jeremiel’s voice. Through the hazy smoke, he ran through the crowds, his face fierce.

In one seamless motion, Jeremiel jumped into the air and swiftly kicked Jether. Jeremiel landed gracefully on his feet and turned to direct his sword toward Joab. Seeing the sword coming toward him, Joab released Lahash. The tip of the sword sliced through his wing before he could move out of reach.

Lahash regained hold of his sword. “Jeremiel, I...”

Before he could say another word, Jether came charging at them. Jeremiel shoved Lahash away and raised his sword to meet Jether’s.

“Go now, Lahash! Father and I will be behind you.”

Lahash paused as he looked at Jeremiel and his father. He swallowed thickly then ran to Naomi. “Here, take my sword. Give the girls to me, quickly. Stay close to me.”

“Raphael,” Rebecca sobbed.

“Please, Rebecca.” Naomi took hold of her hand.

Naomi struggled to keep up with Lahash as she carried the heavy sword in one hand and pulled on Rebecca with the other. When the entrance to the inn came into sight, she sighed.
We’re almost there.

Then there was a loud cry, and Rebecca fell to the ground, taking Naomi with her.

“Lahash, wait!”

Turning, she saw Rebecca’s foot caught in the crevice of a pile of bricks.

Naomi tossed the sword aside and tried to move the bricks from Rebecca’s foot.

“No, Lahash,” Rebecca moaned. “Take the girls to safety. Go with him, Naomi.”

He looked frantic as he eyed the entrance of the inn and then back at his mother.

“Naomi!” Lilia cried, reaching out her tiny arms.

“I’ll help your mother,” Naomi said to him, and then looked to her sisters. “Lahash will take care of you. Don’t be frightened.”

“I’ll be right back,” he said as he flew down the street in a blur.

“Go with him, Naomi,” Rebecca said as she struggled to get up.

“I will not leave you.” She pulled off the bricks and her foot was released, but obviously injured. She placed her shoulder underneath Rebecca’s arm, helping her to stand.

A strong hand gripped Naomi’s shoulder and she screamed.

“Move aside, girl.” She flew back and fell to the ground.

Baka’s menacing face loomed over hers. “After I take care of Rebecca, I will take care of you. If you’re lucky, Saleos may still want you yet.”

Naomi fingered the ground, searching for something, anything to defend them. Her hand hit against the hilt of the sword.

She clenched her teeth as Baka laughed and moved toward Rebecca.

“You should have belonged to me,” he said. “Now, all that you have will be destroyed today.”

When his back was to her, Naomi jumped up. Struggling, she lifted the sword with both hands and touched the tip of it to his back.

“Back away, Baka,” she seethed.

He laughed and in one swift motion he turned, knocking the sword out of her hands.

“Get down, Naomi!”

With the sound of Lahash’s voice, she immediately dropped to the ground. There was a loud swooshing sound and then Baka grunted. She looked up and there was a surprised look on his face. His hands flew up to his chest, touching the sword that protruded out of him. He looked at his bloodied fingers in disbelief. Bright red dripped from them, splattering onto the dirt. His dark eyes then grew empty and he collapsed.

Lahash’s strong arms embraced her. “Are you hurt?”

Naomi shook her head as she wept.

“Your sisters are safe in the inn. We need to go.” He pulled away from her and reached down to Rebecca. “Mother, lean against me.”

There was a sudden chorus of rams’ horns that pierced the air.

She froze.

The third chorus. We’re too late!

Then there was a sound of wings flapping. It was as if hundreds of birds were headed toward them. She looked up at the sky. In the distance, the sky became gray with what looked like an army of angels.

“They’re here,” she whispered in awe.

“What is it?” Rebecca asked. “I don’t see anything.”

“Angels,” Lahash said.

“Look over there.” She pointed to four black objects flying overhead. They swooped for a moment, then took off, heading away from the city.

“It’s Lucifer. Saleos and his brothers flee with him,” Lahash grumbled. “Cowards.”

There was a loud yell and Jeremiel ran down the street toward them. “They’re coming! Hurry, get inside!”

There was a loud war cry and the streets filled with the invading soldiers, striking down every person in sight.

“It’s too late,” Rebecca whispered under her breath.

With sword and shield in hand, Lahash stood by Jeremiel, side by side, as they crouched protectively in front of Naomi and their mother.

Naomi sobbed as she clutched onto Rebecca, watching the throngs of soldiers surrounding them. They were a sea of determined faces, young and old. Their swords glinted as they swung them, taking down anyone in their way.

This was it. She would never see her sisters grow up. She would never see Lahash again.

“I love you, Lahash.”

He turned and gazed into her eyes. “I love you. I will never stop fighting for you.”

Placing a determined look on his face, he then turned to Jeremiel. “Brother.”

Jeremiel smiled. “Till the end.”

With a loud cry, they raised their swords and charged at the oncoming group of soldiers.

Time moved slowly. Her heartbeat ticked off the last moments she had with the only man she could ever love. She closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks as memories of her time with Lahash swept through her, taking her away from inevitable death, if just for that moment. Every look, every touch, every kiss, every whisper of ‘I love you’ was seared into her heart so that her soul could hold on to the last memories of their life together in hopes that after death he would still be with her.

When she opened her eyes, she saw each swing of his sword, every droplet of sweat that rolled down his face, the sound of a blade as it plunged into his chest, then another and another. Then came the muffled thump of his knees as he hit the ground. Dark lashes brushed against his cheeks then slowly lifted. Hazel eyes locked with hers as his last breath sounded out her name ‘Naomi’.

Her world fell silent.

Through the haze that slowly rolled over her, she saw Raphael. He floated through the throng of soldiers, his feet hovering over the ground. Behind him was the Archangel Michael. The soldiers parted as if making way for them. Raphael’s face twisted in agony as he looked directly at Rebecca.

“Your promise,” Rebecca’s voice was a feather in the wind.

He gave her a nod and his lips moved, forming the words “I shall love you . . . forever.”

Wings sprang out of his back and Naomi looked at him in awe. And then, she knew. Lahash would live on. His father would see to that.

Michael lifted his sword and a streak of lightning bolted from out of the sky.

There was a flash of light.

Then, darkness.

L
ight.

It is the source of life. It is all around us. It lives in those we love because where there is love there is always light. When love is gone, so is the light and we lose our way.

Candles lined the Hall of Judgment, illuminating what was good. It was a symbol of hope to those who had lost their way.

For Raphael, none of that mattered. He stared at his sons as the flickering candlelight danced on their faces. They lay at his feet, their bodies lifeless. They were grown men, but in his eyes, he could only see them as the baby boys he had helped bring into this world. He saw the happiness that had shone in Rebecca’s eyes when each of them was born. Jeremiel. Lahash.
They
were his light.
She
was his light. And now, they were all gone.

Rebecca, his love, his wife. Never would he hold her in his arms again. All he had left of her was memories.

He had been shown mercy during her last moments of life. Not that he deserved it. He should have been forced to see her take her last breath, to witness the agony of watching the soldiers take away her life as well as the others. His only comfort was that Naomi’s little sisters had made it into the inn and been spared, just as Michael had promised.

He looked to Lahash, his son—his brave, selfless son. Why had it taken the loss of his life to realize how much he truly loved him? Rebecca knew. She had known his heart. Underneath his bitter anger for what Lucifer had done to Rebecca and his constant need to remind himself that Lahash was not of his seed, he loved Lahash. He had allowed Lucifer’s evil ways to blur his vision of what truly makes a father.

“
I
am your father,” he muttered under his breath. “Forgive me, Lahash.”

He sobbed, knowing he was too late. He had lost his way, and with him he had taken the light from those he loved the most. If his sentence was to stare at his sons’ lifeless bodies for all eternity, it would be a just punishment.

“Raphael, a decision has been made as to your punishment.”

Michael sat in the seat of judgment, watching Raphael carefully. Gabrielle stood next to him, her face passive except for her eyes. They held his for a moment. He could feel the sadness she had for him.