Unholy Empire: Chronicles of the Host, Vol 2: Chronicles of the Host, Book 2 (46 page)

Serus and several other angels sat near the two men, watching them silently. For Serus, this had been an enjoyable assignment. He had grown fond of Joshua, who along with Caleb, seemed to be the exhorter on this trip, ever since the spies had set out from the Desert of Zin. Joshua was extremely courageous, and according to Michael, he was also being considered for the position of Moses’ successor.

Several of Pellecus’s demons—former wisdom angels who had a talent for entering into the minds of men as they slept and bringing horrifying dreams—skulked about the camp, going from tent to tent. At one point, one of them looked at Serus and grinned a bizarre smile that made him look more simian than spirit.

“There they go, spreading their poison,” said Archais, who had accompanied Serus on this particular assignment.

“Nothing we can do about them, I’m afraid,” said Serus.

“I’d like to do something,” said one of Serus’s companions, who had stood up when the demon had grinned at them.

“I understand, my friend,” said Serus. “But they are going into the hearts and minds of men who have already succumbed to fear. These men have already made up their minds to oppose the Lord’s plan; therefore, they have opened themselves up to such incursions by the enemy.”

A scream broke the night air. A man rushed out from one of the tents, muttering that he had seen a demon spirit who warned him that the land was going to devour them. The other men rallied around him and listened to his story. Some confirmed that they, too, had had such a dream.

The devils stood around snickering at their work, quite satisfied that they were a success. Serus and his crew, keeping a careful eye on both men and devils, watched as Joshua and Caleb went to the others. The man who had had the dream, a Danite named Ammiel, became angry when he saw them.

“I told you that we were going to die here,” he screamed. “It’s obvious that we are unwelcome by the gods and people of this land.”

The others wore silent scowls that betrayed their agreement with Ammiel’s assessment. Joshua looked back.

“A nightmare. A walled city. A warrior…” Joshua began with a hint of disgust in his voice.

“No! No, Joshua,” said Ammiel, who was drinking a bit of wine that someone had brought him. He wiped his mouth with his robe. “Not a nightmare. A demon creature! Not simply a walled city…a fortress. And not just a warrior…a giant!”

“Anak’s own descendants!” piped in Palti, the Benjamite.

“Listen to me,” pleaded Joshua. “The Lord has promised us this land. He will give it to us if we are willing to fight for it!”

Shammua stood to speak. He had been quiet all along. As a member of the tribe of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, his opinion carried a great deal of weight with the group. He looked over the faces of the men, glowing from the dying embers of the fire.

“I say this,” he began. “We are to finish this mission and make a report to Moses. But as far as I am concerned, I have seen enough to tell me that we are bringing our families into a hornet’s nest. I for one will not see my wife and children destroyed in this land of demons and giants!”

The group agreed heartily with Shammua’s assessment. Joshua and Caleb were disappointed by the lack of courage among these leading men of Israel. Caleb stormed off into the night and Joshua looked at Shammua.

“You would discourage the plan of Almighty God for our people, because you are afraid?” he asked.

“No Joshua,” said Shammua. “I would discourage the plan of Moses, because it is foolishness!”

Had Joshua been able, he would have seen just off Shammua’s shoulder the reddish eyes and ape-like face of a demon grinning wildly at him.

C
HAPTER
23

“Moses, what were you thinking?”

The people were filled with curiosity at the size of the cluster of grapes, which had to be hauled in by two men. They gasped at the pomegranates, dates, olives, and other wonderful foods they had been without for so long. From time to time a child, too young to remember such delights, plucked a grape and tossed it into his mouth, to the amusement of the adults.

Inside Moses’ tent, the leaders of the expedition reported exactly what they had found in Canaan. Before they were allowed to fully give their reports, though, Moses told them to appear before the people who were clamoring for news about their future homeland.

One by one the men addressed the crowd, extolling the wonderful nature of the land and its produce. They spoke of green valleys and plenty of water, great herds of livestock and lush grazing fields. It was truly a wonderful place. But as they spoke, the spirits of fear that had accompanied the explorers in Canaan began arriving and covering the spies’ eyes with their hands. Into unsuspecting but open minds the devils spoke the fearful thoughts that they had cultivated on the journey. Caleb and Joshua, ignored by the offending devils, merely hung their heads in shame as one by one the men reported:

“The people who live there are mighty!”

“The cities are fortified with great walls and well-defended!”

“Great giants, Anak’s very descendants, live there!”

The Israelites recoiled in horror as the men painted a bleak and frightening picture of life in Canaan. Though a place of great beauty and wealth, in spite of its reputation for flowing with milk and honey—all in all, Canaan was to be avoided by any people who wanted to survive. Shammua assessed the situation for all the men with his simple statement: “We were like grasshoppers in our own eyes!”

Lucifer had arrived for the final summation by Shammua. He applauded Pellecus’s subtle intrusion into the minds of the explorers. Pellecus acknowledged Lucifer’s gratitude and began speaking, when suddenly Caleb blurted out:

“We should go and take this land!” he implored. “We can most certainly do it!”

“Silence him!” ordered Lucifer. The devils immediately began moving in and out of the people’s minds. An already tense attitude instantly turned hostile, and the people shouted Caleb down.

“That’s how you deal with dissenters,” said Lucifer. “Human mobs always come together when they are afraid of something.”

Off to the side and keeping careful watch on Joshua, Caleb, Moses, and others who merited special attention from the Most High, Michael and Serus looked at the pitiful display in amazement.

“I shall never understand humans,” said Serus. “The Lord is indeed a longsuffering God to put up with such nonsense.”

“Longsuffering, yes,” agreed Crispin, who had arrived with a group of student angels to demonstrate to them the fickleness of the human heart. “But my feeling is that there is a limit to His patience.”

“But where does one cross the line?” asked Michael. “I for one am ready to move on from these people!”

Crispin laughed. “I’m sure, Michael, that were it up to you or me, these people might have ceased to be long ago. But the Lord is true to His promises. And that is the difference between a creature and a Creator.”

Chronicles of the Host

Fearful Night

The evening passed slowly as the people of God became people of fear. On the very edge of realizing a great promise, the Israelites tossed it away on the strength of the bad report.

Many meetings occurred throughout the camp that night, as groups of men discussed the future of the nation. The question that passed every lip was: Can we actually move into this land or not?

There would be a fearful reckoning before the issue was decided…but it was not to be decided by the faithless spies, or faithful men, or even angels, good or bad. It would be decided by the Lord of Hosts…and would affect Israel for the next 40 years…

“This should prove a very interesting meeting,” said Kara, as Moses emerged from his tent with Aaron.

Joshua and Caleb took their places with the two elderly leaders in front of the assembly of Hebrews. The air was filled with a tense feeling of unrest. The men waited until the appropriate time, and then Shammua, encouraged by Korah, stood to speak.

“My demons have been hard at work,” remarked Pellecus. “All night long.”

“I’m sure they have done remarkably well,” said Kara. “Almost as well as my demons might have done, given the chance.”

Pellecus smiled at Kara’s obvious jealousy for having been passed over in this action. “Lucifer calls upon you when an issue requires gathering information,” Pellecus said casually. “But when a subtle approach to the mind is needed, he defers to me.”

“Well,” said Kara. “Let us see how well your demons did. The fool Shammua is about to present the people’s case before Moses.”

Shammua walked over and greeted Moses with great respect. Moses received him coldly and asked him to proceed. All eyes were upon Shammua as he recounted, once more, the excursion into the land. He walked about, stressing his desire “as much as any son of Israel” to claim the land that had been promised them. His tone began to get more and more hostile as he spoke, and in the end he was accusing Moses and decrying the whole idea of entering into Canaan.

As Shammua talked, Pellecus gave a signal. Hundreds of demons began hovering over the assembly, pouring in from every direction and creating a dark covering over the entire scene. Only around Moses and Joshua and a few elders who stood with them, where Michael had set up a parameter of very powerful, hulking warrior angels, was there a break in the darkness.

“Moses, what were you thinking?” Shammua demanded. “We would have been better off never to have left Egypt! In fact we were better off dead there—or in this desert. Here at least we will not have to witness the plunder of our possessions and the murder of our families, which we will surely witness if we proceed with this idea of moving into Canaan.

“I was there, Moses. I saw it. You did not. Only these two who are blindly loyal to you offer up any opposition to the will of the people.” He held up a small child for everyone to see. “Do you want to watch this little one perish at the hands of Anak or on the altar of Molech?”

He set the child down and looked over in the direction of Korah.

“I say it is time to forget this nonsense, select a new leader, and return to Egypt, where at least we know we will survive with our families!”

A cheer went up from the crowd. Devils were buzzing all over the camp, jabbering excitedly and moving in to further agitate the crowd against Moses and his loyalists. Kara was impressed with the scene.

“Your angels are doing a marvelous job, I must admit,” said Kara. “Who is that who is influencing Shammua so well?”

Pellecus indicated the small, black, shadowy creature that had attached itself to Shammua and seemed to be resting its head on Shammua’s shoulder.

“That is Kreelor.”

“Ah yes,” said Kara. “Formerly the Temple steward. He is still bitter at having been talked into throwing in with us.” He laughed at remembering Kreelor’s pleading ignorance when confronted for his complicity with Lucifer during the attempted rebellion. “He hasn’t spoken to me since we vacated Heaven!”

“He is quite useful now,” said Pellecus. “And as you can see, he is doing quite well handling Shammua.”

“I’ll mention to Lucifer about having him permanently assigned,” said Kara, who was having thoughts about recruiting Kreelor away from Pellecus.

“I already have,” said Pellecus, with a sly look on his face. “And he already is.”