THE FALL (Rapha Chronicles #1) (The Rapha Chronicles) (7 page)

Mealtimes were ongoing for the human. The angels often teased Adam that his strongest muscles were those in his jaws since he was always either chewing or talking. From nuts to fruits that hung down in their path, Adam constantly partook. He gave no thought to a need for food since he dwelled in such abundance. Occasionally, Rapha and a few of the other angels would eat with Adam, enjoying the camaraderie even though their angelic bodies did not require the sustenance.

The afternoon hours were Rapha’s favorite, usually a time he had Adam all to himself. It was then that Adam grew calm, relaxing in the sleepy atmosphere of napping animals. This was when they discussed the morning’s discoveries and Adam attempted to discern what Adonai would want him to learn from his adventures. In these quiet hours the active young man’s body and mind grew receptive to Rapha’s leading, partly because his favorite time of day approached and he wanted to ready himself for his appointment with Adonai.

Rapha treasured images of Adam’s earnest face imprinted by leafy shadows as the boy laughed about the antics of the dolphins or grew reflective as he absorbed ancient tales. His favorite stories were the fables Rapha would weave about the various animals that sprawled around them, each with an aspect of Adonai’s personality encoded in their instinctive behavior. Adam would interrupt with a burst of laughter in response to the squirrels’ tenacity, or the pride of the lion, so aware of his mane’s crowning glory. Rapha was trying to warn his young charge of the dangers of vanity (Adam was extremely aware of his own flowing hair) but the young man was blissfully blind to this shortcoming.

Later, as the shadows lengthened, they would walk together to the appointed place as a fragrant stillness descended over the garden. Rapha was always amused by Adam’s sudden attention to hygiene, bathing the dirt from his body and asking Rapha’s assistance with his hair, whereas the rest of the day the boy was content to wrestle in the grass and leaves with the bears and wolf cubs. But Adonai was the center of the young man’s existence, which was as it should be.

Then would come the golden hours of Eden. The physical glory of Adonai would descend to His waiting creation. How Rapha loved the moment when the blinding brightness dimmed by slow degrees until every eye could gaze on Adonai’s much-simplified form. The next moment, what would begin as a tentative creeping forward would become a veritable stampede of adoring beings, as all were drawn with the force of a central star on orbiting planets.

Indeed, although Adonai became an approachable form, every element was transformed by His presence. The air pulsed with His power, the ground underfoot hummed with it, the waters would steam and swell as hidden openings in the earth’s pores released life-giving, cleansing vapors. It was a daily restoration and healing as the planet nestled in the bosom of its Creator.

Then Adam, the usually cocksure manchild, would approach. Rapha’s heart swelled with pride every time he beheld the awe of those meetings when Adam collapsed at Adonai’s feet. The Holy One would raise him up (Rapha believed that touch also strengthened the man to stand in His presence) then manchild and Creator would stroll, arm in arm, through the garden’s deepening shadows that drew back in wonder at His approach.

At all times Adam’s body was clothed in light, but in those precious hours with Adonai, he would shine even brighter. The reflected and absorbed radiance of his Creator made him rival the glow of the celestial host who hovered close, witnesses to this extraordinary communion.

Ah, the beauty of those hours! Much of the time Adonai spoke only to Adam but the celestial host was always nearby, ever attendant to His summons. On the occasions when Rapha joined the discussions, he felt a soaring sense of destiny and purpose—not to mention humility—at the role he was honored to play in this pivotal moment in history.

Yes, Adam was receiving training to fulfill his monumental task but, after those moments with Adonai, his gaze was so firmly fixed on the precious beauty of that relationship, even governing the world became trivial in comparison.

The transformation of Adam’s countenance in Adonai’s presence was breathtaking. He became both more innocent and more kingly as the intensity of his expression was more glorious than the most noble crown, and his ardent love for his Maker clothed him in radiance that would have made garments wrought of pure gold appear as filthy rags.

And later, when the sun was tucked away for the night, Adonai instituted a sacred rite between parent and child: the bedtime story. With His power dimmed, He would draw Adam close and together they would ponder the dazzling points of light in the sky, as the greatest power in the universe became chief bard and storyteller. The Maker wove simple tales of undying love, of ancient battles, of past mistakes and future threat, of the riches of loyalty, and the poverty of becoming a slave to ambition.

In these moments Rapha fulfilled the role of scribe, recording these tales in long, fluid strokes, sometimes having to blot a tear that fell onto smooth parchment, as his immortal soul struggled to fathom the paradox of Adonai’s magnified glory presented in such a humble form.

One particular night, when the boy had quizzed Adonai about why all the animals had mates and for what purpose, the fateful question arose, “So where are the angels’ mates?”

“Their wholeness is complete in My presence. A mate is the other half of a whole.”

“But they are not like me, are they?” Adam’s gaze brushed across Rapha’s reclining form. Their differences had been downplayed and the angelic form dimmed for dwelling in Eden, but those differences could not be denied when Rapha’s body steamed even as it streaked through the water in their morning swims. And it was impossible to hide the fact his kind never hungered or slept. As with all earth creatures, Adam obeyed a pattern of night and day, waking and resting, and his sustenance came from the soil from which he was formed; while the celestial beings were restored by the sun’s light filtering through earth’s canopy and their daily sojourn in heaven’s halls to bask in the glory of their Maker.

Adam’s thoughtful gaze searched the night sky as if he were hesitant to speak his mind. Finally, he swallowed with an audible gulp, took a deep breath, and blurted a bit too loudly, “Will I have a mate?”

He squared his shoulders as if bracing for disappointment and raced on, “I know I’m given everything I could possibly need… and You must think me ungrateful to still desire….”

His words were silenced when Adonai laid a hand to his cheek,
“I wondered, child, when you would ask.”

Adam’s jaw dropped, “But… I thought it was faithless of me to still long for… when the world is laid at my feet.”

Adonai’s soft chuckle summoned a warm breeze to ruffle Adam’s hair.
“Foolish boy. Who made you? Who placed those longings in your heart? The longing is not wrong. Only if it reveals a distrust of My love can it lead to evil.”

Adam’s eyes were wide with wonder.

“So?”
Adonai prompted.

With a dazzling smile, Adam almost shouted his enthusiastic request, “Please Adonai, Most High Creator of all things, Joy of my heart, He who embodies all bliss….”

“Child,”
Adonai smiled as a solitary streak of light arced overhead,
“will you make your request before this age is spent?”

One deep breath, then Adam’s heart overflowed. “Please, may I have a she-man—uh, a mate?”

“Of course.”

Overwhelmed, Adam fell back against a lion’s side, disturbing the king of beast’s slumber. The great cat gave a low growl but Adam remained, gazing at the stars as the lion’s tail flicked a warning across his face. With a start he sat upright. “When?”

“Well, perhaps I should ask Rapha’s opinion. Oh venerable tutor,”
Adonai turned to Rapha with a mischievous gleam in His eye,
“are you pleased with your student’s progress?”

“He makes good progress. However,” Rapha’s brow furrowed, “he remains easily distracted.”

“Hey!”

“With a ‘she-man’ trotting around I doubt I would ever again have his undivided attention.”

The Maker nodded and rubbed His chin,
“Perhaps the granting of this desire should wait until he exhibits more maturity.”

“I
am
mature!” Adam’s voice cracked in protest.

They continued discussing Adam’s fate, ignoring the young man’s agitated state.
“Perhaps if you turn his studies to the mapping of stars he would learn patience.”

“I AM patient!” Adam’s hand slapped the lion’s side who, with lightning reflex, enveloped him with velveted paws. With yelps, growls, and screeches, the wolves, bears, and monkeys joined the fray, overjoyed at the prospect of a late-night tussle.

As the menagerie’s cacophony blended with the laughter of God, angel, and man, the bright streaks in the nighttime sky multiplied until the heavens were alight with sparkling rain. Soon Adam and the animals were distracted from their fight by the streaks of brilliance and lay in a jumble on the ground, faces upturned to the dazzling display. One of the wolves howled in appreciation and more laughter echoed into the night.

Even in that golden moment, Rapha felt malevolent eyes watching. He almost turned to seek the source of the hate-filled current probing the back of his skull but Adonai’s kind regard stopped him. A simple phrase stilled Rapha’s mind,
“Never let him steal the NOW.”

Obeying that command, he kept his back to the evil presence, feeling Lucifer’s anger at being ignored, and focused instead on etching that moment’s beauty on his heart, even as it was captured with a thought onto the parchment in his hand.

Chapter Six

Begin Again

Rapha stood, peering down into turquoise depths. With a sudden intake of breath he hovered a couple feet off the ground and moved over the water for a better view of dark shadows flitting in the seabed’s rocky terrain. For a moment, as he lost sight of the drama unfolding below, a flicker of fear crossed his mind.

Ah! There was Adam rising to the surface, a mere thirty feet below. But wait. Rapha focused on the large shadow looming out of the depths in Adam’s wake.
It could not be!
Mocking laughter floated across the water, drawing Rapha’s gaze to an outcropping where Lucifer lounged, enjoying an excellent view of Adam’s plight, with Emeth, Rapha’s monkey friend, perched on his shoulder.

If that creature was what Rapha thought it was, Adam didn’t stand a chance of out-swimming it. Rapha dove. Immediately the scene sprang to life with a piercing shriek, a rush of warm current and the flash of a long scaled body shooting past. Rapha strove to overtake them; his only thought was to come between monster and prey.

He had to give the boy credit as the frantic flight wove through submerged forests that forced the massive body to slow its pursuit. Finally, Adam led it into a maze with twisting corridors and, after coming dangerously close to snapping off the boy’s retreating feet, the creature was caught before a hole too small for its passage. Rapha saw Adam streak to the surface and, feeling relief course through his frame, he moved to follow, careful to rise slowly lest his shining form attract the monster’s attention like a flickering lure.

Just as Rapha broke the surface, Adam dove back in and streaked past. What was the boy doing? Obviously, Adam was determined to
not
leave well enough alone. In his hand, Rapha spied a long, thick branch. Did he expect to duel the beast?

But Adam was aiming for a point several yards behind the confused creature. The young man’s intent dawned over Rapha as he saw Adam wedge the stick beneath a large boulder and attempt to topple it from its precarious perch. He swam to Adam’s aid and, with their combined efforts, the huge rock shifted and fell. With a final roll it settled into place, blocking the creature’s corridor of escape.

Once again Adam shot to the surface and Rapha followed, thankful their morning’s adventure was over.

“That was cutting it a bit close, don’t you think,” Rapha began his lecture as soon as he clambered onto a sunny rock. Yet Adam grabbed an armful of surface plants, took a deep breath and dove again. “Adam!” He yelled as the boy’s shape disappeared once again into the depths. Rapha carried on a mumbled, frustrated, one-sided conversation as he stood to re-enter the water. Curious, he shot a glance where he had spied Lucifer earlier, but fallen angel and monkey were nowhere to be seen.

He dove to where their guest mucked the water, attacking the rock over and over in attempts to free itself. Through the murky cloud, Rapha saw Adam with an arm poked into the hole of the makeshift cage. The young man was yanked forward and almost through while Rapha froze, fully expecting to see a pool of red join the expanding cloud of silt—but all grew still and Adam withdrew an unscathed arm. Rapha swam closer until his glow lit the interior of the large, rocky chamber. There curled the beast, munching the plants Adam had provided and keeping a wary, luminescent eye on its benefactor.

After several more trips to the surface for Adam to secure more of the plants the beast favored, Adam and Rapha emerged to flop onto the sun-warmed rock. Adam’s formidable lung capacity had been sorely tried by their exertion but the expression on his face as he gasped for air was exultant.

“He’s one of the ancient ones isn’t he!” Adam proclaimed.

“He’s magnificent! Did you see the size of those teeth?”

“They would not be so exciting from the inside.”

“That was
amazing
!” Adam’s enthusiasm soared. “I thought they were just legend! And then whoosh! There he was staring right at me!”

“He was sent to kill you… or at least to test you.”

“How do you know that? He probably survived in some hidden cave all these years and….”

“Lucifer was here to watch the show.”

“Lucifer! THE Lucifer? Where?” Adam craned his neck to look everywhere at once. “What does he look like?”

“Your fascination is disturbing….”

“I’m not fascinated. It’s just….” Adam knew he was denying the obvious, “Aw Rapha, you must admit he’s a legend too. He must be pretty powerful to have… I mean,
war
against
Adonai
.”

Rapha remained silent. Finally he sighed, “Perhaps I have been too careful. Trying to protect you, I have left too much to your active imagination.”

“I understand.” Adam’s young face flushed as he hurried to protest the accusation of ignorance. “You’ve told me his history.”

“Yes, but cursory knowledge does not acquaint you with the horrors of which he is capable. Your heart has not been destroyed in his quest for power.” A niggling foreknowledge in Rapha’s mind added a disturbing
yet.

“What else do I need to know? He’s the enemy of Adonai and therefore he’s my enemy.”

How could Rapha convince Adam of a hideous, consuming ambition that would stop at nothing to achieve dominance? How could he explain such hatred when the protected manchild had no point of reference?

“What? I should fear him? Why should I fear the one Adonai defeated?” He searched Rapha’s face, striving to read his tutor’s thoughts. “Wait,” Adam’s eyes narrowed in concentration. “Why is he allowed here? If he was defeated, why does he still roam free?”

In truth, Rapha had wondered the same thing. When Lucifer had boasted of his residence in the garden, Rapha had immediately sought Adonai. Just short of formal protest, he had made his thoughts on the matter known—as if they were ever hidden—and in answer he had been offered only two words:
“Trust me.”

As Adonai’s calm command had filled his mind, it had happened. There were no words to describe the merest flash of Adonai’s burden. Rapha, whose body was created to never fade, suddenly felt crippled, blind, and naked, shredded before the enormity of horrors past and those yet to come. A searing stripping of his sanity overwhelmed him in grief-drenched agony. Blessedly, the connection had halted as quickly as it had begun. Then, like warm, healing oil, Adonai’s voice had flowed through his being.

“Understanding would destroy you. Please trust.”

Now Adam was asking him to explain the unexplainable.

With a deep breath, Rapha said, “He is allowed here because it is his lawful right.”

“But Adonai created all things, including eternal law. Why would He knowingly allow….”

“I don’t know!”

Rapha immediately regretted his outburst. Never before had he revealed vulnerability, thinking it would lessen Adam’s confidence in him.

“Good.”

Stunned, Rapha looked at Adam.

“I’m glad you don’t know everything. It’s no fun to be with someone who
always
knows, who’s
always
under control. I think,” Adam hesitated, understanding dawning on his face, “I think that’s why I sometimes try to drive you crazy.”

Rapha smiled, “You are very good at it. Diving foolishly into Lucifer’s traps….”

“You can blame Lucifer all you want but this whole thing was your fault,” Adam accused.

“
My
fault?”

“If you hadn’t hidden the stone so well, I might never have disturbed the beast.”

“Well, at least you showed
some
wisdom by abandoning our game when it meant a choice between life or being devoured.”

With a smug smile, Adam reached into a crevice beside him and withdrew a large diamond.

Rapha tossed back his head for a laugh. As an eternal being, surprise was a rare commodity. It felt good.

“My turn!” Adam dove back into the water.

For a moment Rapha breathed deep, enjoying the beauty surrounding him. The sun’s warmth filtering through the azure sky soothed him. He needed to laugh more. The joy in Adam’s face when he had sensed Rapha’s approval had also been a ray of sunshine. Instead of feeding Adam’s cockiness, the thing he had been trying to avoid by limiting praise, Rapha had sensed an eagerness to please that had been lacking in their relationship. The day was indeed full of surprises when an old angel was learning something new.

Deep in his soul he knew this time was limited. He was under no delusions. Lucifer was biding his time, looking for an opportunity to tarnish this perfect corner of the world. Somehow, rather than bringing panic, the thought made Rapha determined to infuse as much joy into what remained as possible—as much joy
and
as much preparation. As far as was within his power, when the test came, his student would be ready.

For now, the boy’s greatest weakness was a steadfast belief in his own invincibility. Rapha peered into the water’s crystalline depths but could not spy Adam. Would the lad really be foolhardy enough to… yes. He saw Adam shoot out the narrow hole where the creature was trapped.

“Ah, well,” Rapha commented to himself as he prepared to seek the diamond, most likely hidden in the beast’s teeth, “maybe when the creature claims a chunk of Adam’s flesh and bone the boy will finally learn caution.”

Later, he would wince at the prophecy of those words.

The next morning, Rapha gave up trying to teach the boy a blessed thing. By midday, Adam was beside himself with anticipation, chattering and cavorting around Rapha in a manner that once more brought to mind the excitable Emeth. Indeed Rapha could not have felt more harried if the manchild had been climbing back and forth over his head as the little monkey was wont to do.

“But Adonai laughed! He actually
laughed
as He gave hints of when but He wouldn’t tell me!” A fresh wave of restlessness struck Adam and he climbed up the nearest tree where he proceeded to dangle upside down while his barrage of chatter continued. “All He would say is that it would be ‘soon’ and I would be ‘summoned’ when it was time. What do I do with that? Does ‘soon’ mean a day, several weeks? Anyway, I couldn’t sleep and I can’t eat, so hopefully ‘soon’ will mean….”

“By the way,” Rapha studied his fingernails with casual ease as he broke in, “it is time.”

With a thud, Adam landed headfirst. “What?” He sat up rubbing his head with a look of terror. “What does that mean, ‘It’s time’? That Adonai wants to discuss things more, that there’s unfinished work on the shelter? What?”

Once again Rapha was surprised. Why should the fulfillment of his heart’s desire frighten the lad? Wasn’t this what he had been begging for and talking about for weeks? Why did he now look prepared to flee? The angel could only guess it had something to do with being young and inexperienced. Rapha could relate very little on either count.

As it was, he could not resist exploiting this turn of events. It seemed due payback for the countless times Adam had harassed him. The particular morning the young man had organized the tree-dwellers to ambush Rapha with a barrage of fruit projectiles sprang to mind. Some of the chimpanzees had enjoyed the game so much they still shook the trees with their laughter whenever he passed.

“When I say ‘It is time’ I refer to several things, starting with ‘It is time for you to come down out of the tree.’ Once again you are being a bad example for the primates.” As he spoke, Rapha offered a hand to assist Adam to his feet. “But since you have already fulfilled the first directive, we will move on to the second—the issue of your appearance. Adonai has decreed you should care for and understand the animals, not smell like them. So, it is time for you to bathe!”

With that, Rapha flung the astonished young man over his shoulder and covered the short distance to the water’s edge. As if Adam weighed no more than a skipping stone, the angel tossed him high and far over the water, then threw back his head with a roar of laughter as Adam flailed in mid-air and landed with a spread-eagle slap that routed several gliding flocks of waterfowl.

When Adam sputtered to the surface with a disgruntled “Hey!” Rapha ignored the boy’s protests.

“Now come here. It is time to cleanse that bird’s nest you call hair.”

With the sun’s light filtering through the trees overhead, Adam’s hair shone as if he too were woven of light rather than earth. “So, are we going to meet her?” His appearance may have been kingly but the tremor in his voice belied Adam’s nervousness.

“No,” Rapha said as he worked drops of fragrant oil through Adam’s tangle-free, debris-free mane.

Adam whirled to grip the angel’s muscular shoulders, his hands at the height of his own head to do so. “What do you mean, ‘No’?”

He was tempted to continue teasing but Adam’s emotions were so strong on this point Rapha felt it would be cruel.

“I am afraid that person does not yet exist.”

“What?” Adam searched the angel’s face. Rapha could be evasive but he never lied. “Look! I’ve been scrubbed within an inch of my life, not to mention I endured your raking that, that
thing
through my hair until my scalp fairly bleeds, only for you to tell me she doesn’t exist?”