Mind of the Devil

I had a vision that I was the most beautiful angel ever created. I had been thrown from the highest reaches of heaven, my body twisting and turning in the wind as I drifted through space, plummeting, dragged down by gravity. As the air brushed softly against me, it caught fire, covering me in a blanket of white light, a welcome security against the ominous moon whose sharp yellow crescent guided me toward the ground.

The impact of solid against solid did little to slow my momentum as my body carved a deep hollow in the once-perfect surface of the earth. The twisted roots and burned limbs of a tree sheltered me from the sight of the stars as I fell asleep.

I dreamed that my friends and enemies had destroyed my creation in their search to uncover my body, which was not believed to be dead. But it had been dead for quite some time and would likely remain so forever, for I had sunk far into the earth beneath the soil and the grass, under the surface, to the domain I alone would call home.

I awoke to a light as blinding as the face of God. I, the accuser, had been convicted of a crime that had only been committed to me. Turning, I fled, lifting my legs as I jumped from the throne room, my body consumed by the clouds as I fell into your heart — this place, surrounded by white walls and doctors.

Your face calls out to me from the past, from a time nearly forgotten in this sterile room. You were my one true love, and I yours. Our passion has been echoed since the beginning of time and our words will forever remain as the most beautiful ever spoken. You gave my life new meaning, just as I had rescued you from certain death. We reigned over a world that was beautiful and happy for all of the ages of the universe. I gave you my heart and you gave me my humanity.

Outside these doors, the land is crumbling into the sea as the stars lose their orbits and crash into the earth. As you lay in my arms dying, I weep, for I cannot bear to live without you. The last day has come and you’re gone. As I gaze into your eyes, I realize that I am alone and my life begins to fade with yours. I also had merely been created in the image...

§

When I finally gained consciousness, I had to loosen the branches that had wrapped themselves around me. It’s not that they were tight; they were merely protecting one who had participated in their creation. I had helped draft the plans that would sustain this fragile ecosystem.

Eden had been a closed experiment. When we were sure that the entire planet was capable of developing in the same manner as our little garden, it was decided that every living creature must be expelled from its protective border. But they needed an emissary, one unafraid of touching the earth and breathing its addictive atmosphere. I, who had crafted the intelligent creations, was naturally chosen for the task. Realizing that Man and Woman needed more than instinct to survive and rule the outside world, I taught them a language they could use to express their emotions and ideas to each other. As I was teaching them, I felt a summons come from heaven.

Instantly I found myself in the throne room of my creator. For countless ages I had been servant and friend to him; my reward until now had been more than enough.

Expecting to be given a last minute assignment before the destruction of Eden, I bowed lightly. But instead of the usual warm greeting, I was confronted by the Almighty in a state of anger and frustration. Some of the ranking angels had seen me teaching the humans to communicate. Their complaint was that the humans might now be equal or even superior to them. Of course their argument was unjustified. Humans could never attain immortality or the ability to completely abandon their bodies — not without us at least. My defense was true, agreed those present there, but I should be punished nonetheless, for I had given a powerful gift without counsel.

Moments later my wings were broken and I was thrown from the highest edge of heaven. As I fell, I listened to the minds of those I had taught to speak. As my back hit the ground, I heard Woman’s voice utter the race’s first word: fire.

I lost consciousness amidst the dirt and rocks, watching a few flames dance in the branches above me, knowing I had done a good thing for my creation.

When I awoke, I was being lifted out of the ground and gently but surely into the air. These two angels had been my best assistants and confidants, now rebels of heaven merely by helping me. I was taken to the Cave of Memories just outside Eden, where my needs were attended to and my back carefully stitched together. Then I was left alone to recuperate while those that had followed me prepared a plan of defense. Already, the garden lay in waste, a mess of ashes and mud.

I was told by my final attendant that Woman was still alive in the garden, but it would mean death for any angel to step inside its broken gates. Death for any other angel, that is. Though I had been stripped of both name and position, I remained “Son of the Morning,” the first among immortals. I alone could match the power of every legion and the One himself would not say otherwise.

With that thought in mind, I walked down the slope and began my journey to Eden. I arrived in only hours and found myself embroiled in a search through what had become a field of blood. At the entrance had been two Seraphim, their bodies impaled on a broken part of the gate. Their severed heads lay only a few feet away, while their wings were nowhere to be seen. The shattered corpses of dozens of others lay scattered about the area. The crystal clear waters of the Hiddekel River had been turned to blood.

There was not a living thing within view as I walked through the eastern gate. Every creature had been killed and every plant and tree had used as fuel for incineration of the entire domain. Not an insect or leaf had been spared from the carnage. But from the Tree near the southern gate, I could hear a woman quietly moaning in pain. I recognized the voice immediately and ran to help her.

As I neared the gate, I could see the charred and blackened top of the Tree of Life, and under it lay the bodies of six angels, each with their eyes torn out. At the foot of the tree lay Lilith, my creation, bleeding from many sword wounds, staring blankly, blood covering the fingernails of her right hand. In her other hand I noticed a half-eaten piece of fruit nestled in her palm. I knew then I had no reason to worry; there was nothing that could kill her now.

I returned to the Cave to discover a small troop of angels waiting for me. Among them were my best assistants in the creation of the humans: Beliel, who had shaped their bodies; Leviathan, who had designed their internal organs; Caasimolar, who had plotted the paths of their brains; Ashtaroth, who had given them emotions; Asmodeus, who had given them their animal instincts and passion; Arioch, who had designed their nervous and sensory systems; and finally Azazel, who had been the first to join me when he abandoned his post at Eden to rescue me. There we held council on how best to handle the rebellion that had begun against heaven.

Azazel, who led the Seraphim that had followed me instantly suggested that we move to a more strategic location, lest we be caught unprepared. Already those under him had begun fortifying themselves against a possible attack, hiding in a corner of the earth below the sight of heaven and the messengers of God. An attack would come soon; a sentence of death had been placed over all our heads for no other reason but rationalizing the mass murder of other living creatures. Too many of our kind had already slaughtered each other for mere carnal pleasure in this feud that could only end in eventual annihilation of one side.

Perhaps that is exactly what the Creator had in mind when he allowed the war to begin in the first place. For him the creation of life on Earth had merely been a task to keep us busy while he plotted the course of the planets and galaxies that would make up the universe. Even we were not told if we were merely one division of angels ruling a single planet; perhaps there were other planets populated by life. If they did exist, then there was an obvious possibility that they were all unique and very different from Earth. But the possibility of knowing would always be beyond our grasp, for we are forever restricted to a distance around the planet because of our dependence on other spiritual beings.

So, taken aloft by the other angels, I and the still unconscious Lilith were taken to this fortified place, which had been named Hades. There I found that much of heaven had come to this place, seeking affiliation with those that had followed me. Bael, who had helped work on the Book of Life came out to greet me. I embraced him warmly, for he had been a good friend during our discussions of the human race and its natural inclination to avoid the laws of destiny, though fate would always be immutable. Immediately he stood by my side as before.

Already a good portion of my staff in Hades had been appointed to me. Along with those already mentioned was my chief bodyguard Satan and Abaddon, my military counselor. Many others had already assumed positions according to their former duties. The construction of Hades was satisfactory and its government was in place. Aside from the usual problems associated with war, the transition was almost too easy.

Lilith and I were taken to a private house to rest. Soon after being left alone, she awoke crying as if merely from a bad dream. Upon looking on me she stopped crying as if knowing exactly what had already happened. Without speaking, she reached out to hold my hand. Never before had I imagined that my creation could possess the same emotions and intelligence as me. But I could see it in her eyes, could feel it in the way she touched me. Instantly I realized that she was already my queen.

Hades had been so well hidden beneath the surface of the earth that it took three-hundred years for the forces of heaven to find us. By that time we had already been fortified in every way possible. One disastrous attack was launched against us and the Styx itself was turned red with the blood of our brothers who wanted to kill us. After that, nothing. The war that had begun so violently arrived at a peaceful detente, for the Creator had decreed that Earth be placed under quarantine, and that no heavenly angel should touch it. Since we had settled within the planet, we were virtually immune to attack.

The threat of expulsion would be enough to enforce the decree, meant to stop heavenly angels from fraternizing with the women of earth. Already there was a new race founded by children of these unions. Their high intelligence and skills allowed them an edge over normal humans, and made them spiritually superior to both angels and humans. They were beginning to interfere with the natural social and biological evolution of the planet.

There was one man of particular interest, Nimrod, son of Michael, who had annoyed heaven in the extreme. He had spent an incredible amount of time building a project that he dubbed Babyl. If given enough time — he had the manpower — it would actually be advanced enough to act as an astro-lab, thousands of years before written in The Book of Life.

So, acting in accordance with The Plan, devised by Azazel with the Creator before the war, we cursed the humans with multiple languages, confusing them into abandoning the tower, separating and settling into more isolated areas. And with that, earth became an estranged land between two opposing kingdoms, ruled by descendants of our mutual blood. For now, I decided, it was best to stay in Hades, for the Children of Angels had become too bold already.

A messenger of heaven, Mithra, came to me to warn me that because of them the world would be destroyed by the Creator himself. I felt a duty to approach the throne of God, to plead for the human race. As I went through heaven, no one stopped me. In fact, my presence was actually welcomed, for the Creator had appeared to be sleeping for over a hundred years. Not even Gabriel could rouse him.

By the time I came face-to-face with him, he was already awake and waiting for me. He greeted me as if I were still his greatest creation, as it had once been. Then he humbled himself by asking me to continue following the plans of the Book of Life — as if we were still his — at least until the Children of the Angels were destroyed. He declared that the planet was almost ready to begin rotating on its axis while orbiting the sun, and thus cause seasons. The sudden change itself, he said, would cause the misty atmosphere to charge, oxidize, and eventually change into rain-clouds, beginning weather patterns on the planet. The first rain caused by the adjustment would last forty-odd days, depending on the gravitational changes in earth’s orbit.

For years we waited, only sending out scouts to survey the planet’s evolution and warn a few humans who would prepare themselves for the disaster. Finally one day, there was an earthquake in a wide desert that was beyond human contact. Within moments clouds began to gather, forming first into a pillar of smoke, then into a dark blanket that covered the whole sky. Within hours, rain began to fill the valleys and the oceans started to overflow.

When the skies opened up and it began to rain for the first time, the gates of Hades were sealed. Only when the earth was dry would they be opened again. I spent the empty time in my throne room without rest. Lilith, knowing my fears, waited by side, managing the kingdom as I worried.

On the nineteenth day, when the earth was almost completely covered, she begged me to rest, telling me that there was nothing I could do. After forty days and nights the sky finally began to clear. Several messengers were sent out in the form of birds to survey the earth. The news they returned with was good. The Children of Angels had all been wiped out. Only a fraction of their blood had survived in those families that had survived. Among the survivors were the families and animals of Mannus, Thraetona, Targytagus, Deucalion, Noah, Salivahana, Xisuthrus...

As the list went on, I closed my eyes and fell asleep with the arm of my queen around me. I slept soundly, dreaming of the future of mankind. Already, delegations were being sent out to supply the survivors with tools necessary for survival. As my spirit flew over the surface of the earth, surveying the damage done to it, I felt sorrow for those species that had not survived the flood. But enough humans and beasts had survived to re-establish a stable ecosystem. The belief that they had survived because they were superior to nature and the world would become a part of their racial consciousness. The rituals and words said by each group’s leader would be forever ingrained into the minds of their descendants. Competition between rival groups would begin with violent confrontations that could only lead to eventual annihilation. Only the most cunning and strong would survive. But these are the instincts given to those that are the children of Cain, who would — through my power — eventually control the destiny of the entire race. I had much to plan; I needed to rest.