FIST TO HEAVEN

Yes, another story for the writing project thing!

I must admit, the first thing I thought of when seeing the title was: Isn’t that the Paladin’s ultimate attack from Diablo 2?

But I didn’t think the aim of this is to write PC game fan fiction, so decided to do this instead. Part of a much longer story I always, always wanted to write:

(Note: while I did try to get details as accurate as possible, most of this is creative license and is not meant to be theological analysis or religious comment. Just wanted to tell the damn story!)

MORNINGSTAR’S RISE

The Fourteenth Letter of Philetus

Now then, as you know, Gestas, I endeavour to record the truth of what I have seen as accurately as possible, and did not mean to stir up any rebellion or dissent in the hearts of your brothers. So I apologise for some of my words, but my intentions were good. For though lies may taste as sweet as honey, it is only the truth, though it be bitter as wormwood, that will nourish and strengthen us.

In my previous letter, I told you about the great Council in the Hall of Archangels: how the Almighty, through his servant Metatron, did announce his plans to create humanity, and the great clamour that rose at this news. I laid out to you the despair that took hold of the mighty Archangel Lucifer, the battle between Metatron and Baruchiel, and the events that led to the forming of a great Anti-Heavenly Host, a legion of proud angels whose only goal was to topple the Kingdom of Heaven, and establish a new government in their place.

This letter continues my previous narrative, and tells of what happened to Veritael and Adoniel, who I spoke of in my second and third letters.


The Assault on the Pearly Gates

Now, the armies of Lucifer were mighty: angels of every rank and order were present, all of them having been seduced by the sweet words of Zerubiel, shield-bearer to Lucifer Lightbringer. Cherubim, seraphim, dominions, thrones and principalities, and even archangels, were united under Lucifer’s banner, a great flame. Some bore bows of silver, others bore flaming swords, while some flew unarmed, relying only on their celestial energies to defend themselves. And as they moved on, they sung loudly to keep their spirits. Their war songs were gross perversions of the beautiful hymns of praise to the Almighty, deliberately sung in discordance; for they had completely rejected the blessed harmonies of the Lord.

Such a great multitude they were: they were as a great swarm of locusts moving across the heavens. It is said that a third of all the angels in heaven defected on that dismal day: seeing their force, however, it seemed much more. Their leader flew proudly ahead of them, a powerful figure whose radiance glowed with the intensity of forty suns.

And soon they came across the Pearly Gates, the entrance to the City of the Lord, and they fell on it with the fury of a mighty tempest. The gates were guarded: five warrior angels stood watch at all times. And leading them was Jerrabiel, a wise and kindly dominion, who had been the Gatekeeper of Heaven before Peter the Fisherman.

O, how bravely the guards fought! Like lions, they were, like the great bears our father Elisha once called, like the armies of Gideon, unafraid despite being overwhelmed. But alas: however tall the grain grows, it can never withstand the winds. For Lucifer, who is called the Morningstar, came before them, and blinded them with the fury of his radiance, while his servants moved forward, covering their eyes that they may not be blinded, and struck at them.

And when they had quashed all opposition, the armies of Lucifer surged forward, leaving behind the beaten guards in pools of their own silver blood. And they laid waste to the City of the Lord. The six-winged seraphs unleashed their heavenly fire upon the Amber Fields, while a horde of archangels sieged the Western Tower, reducing it to rubble. And every angel faithful to the Lord was captured and tortured.

Oh, what woe there was in the city of Heaven that day! The armies of Lucifer were as a pack of jackals, ravenous and bloodthirsty, wanting only to quench their bloodthirst through slaughter. Like thunderbolts, they fell from the sky upon the altars of the Lord, destroying all that was beautiful, defiling all that was sacred. Such a great cry rose in Heaven that day, heavy with misery: one that would not be heard again until the first Passover in Egypt; until the death of our Saviour on the Cross at Calvary.

Listen, then if you have ears! Pray that you will never have to go through such suffering. For wars bring only sadness. Happy is the man who keeps his peace with his brothers, his household shall be a field that brings good harvest.

Michael calls his armies

When the news of this rebellion came to the archangels, many of them wept, to see the destruction of their beautiful home. And they took up arms and called forth the survivors, eager to heal their wounded.

The angels lamented, wondering how the Lord could allow this to happen.

‘Brother has risen against brother,
The bonds of kinship have been broken.
O Lord, our house has fallen
Your servants treacherous like vipers
How long, o Lord, will you let them go on?
We have been broken, razed to the ground
Our lips cry out for protection
Our hands call out for healing
O Lord, do not forsake us!’

And the captain of the Heavenly Host came forth: Michael, bravest of the archangels, a mighty warrior, he who will do battle with the Dragon on Judgement Day. His eyes glittered like rubies, and his great wings were wide and pure white as alabaster. His armour shone like silver, and his great sword was as long and sharp as a lion’s fang. I tell you this: his appearance was so striking, so handsome was he; that for all their talent, not even the great sculptors of Rome could do his image justice, though tey try for seven generations.

Michael was wise, and great was his skill as a general: he commanded their ranks to spread out, and keep watch over the gates that led to the Blessed Sanctuary, which he knew Lucifer would strike at first.

He and his forces would remain in the Sanctuary, the heart of the city, to be the last line of defence. And they would constantly be in prayer, beseeching the Almighty to turn the heart of the stubborn Lucifer, and end the bloodshed.

And Veritael, graceful and kind, was tasked to watch over the Gate of the Eastern Citadel. Seven thrones stood with her, as well as seventy-times-seven dominions, all of them angels with hearts strong and true.

Veritael served her post well: her courage would have shamed the armies of David. More watchful than a hawk, was she, swifter than the hares of the fields; no rebel could come within ten cubits of the Gate without her armies striking. Let her example be a lesson to you, Gestas, as well as your brothers who have given in to sloth. The Lord loves a faithful servant, who does not sleep till noon or drink to midnight.

The foolish man is never wakeful, the wise man is always on guard. For as the wolves often strike when the shepherd is asleep; so it is with the ways of the evil one.

As the battle went on, Veritael thought of her dear friend Adoniel, who she had not seen since the rebellion began. She prayed that the Lord would keep him safe, for he had been a great companion of hers, and she missed his company.

Alas, an angel came to her one day, a messenger of the ranks of Gabriel, and told her: “Adoniel has joined the ranks of Lucifer. He comes this way now, with a host of six hundred and sixty-six angels. We should lay an ambush for him, lest he strike at us and overwhelm us.”

And Veritael was distressed when she heard this, and she wept that her friend had joined the rebels. Her forces beat their breasts, and wailed, for many of them had known Adoniel, and loved him. The war had been sorrowful thus far: many of them forced to lay arms against their comrades, shed the blood of their companions. For how long would the Almighty allow this to continue?

Veritael ordered no ambush. For she could not bear the thought of attacking Adoniel.

Veritael faces Adoniel

It was not long before Adoniel arrived at the Eastern Gate, and he was dismayed to see his friend Veritael standing watch there. For he cherished Veritael as David did Jonathan, as Mary did Martha: the two had been inseperable. The two angels had been great friends. Oft had they sung hymns together in the choirs to the Lord, and many had been the times they broke bread with each other in the Amber Fields.

“Truly, I wish it had not been you here,” he said as he left his troops and approached Veritael. “I wish it had been any other angel but you, my dearest friend.”

“Turn back, Adoniel!” Veritael said. “Have you no fear of God? Your rebellion is pointless. Your forces err greatly in attempting to take the Kingdom of Heaven. You have sown the seeds of your own destruction, and the Lord will take His vengeance on you. You have toppled that which should have stood, and broken away from the love of the Almighty, whose wrath no angel can stand against.”

Adoniel scoffed, and his forces jeered. “Yea, if the Lord had wanted to smite me, would He not have done so before I entered His land? He claims to be all powerful, yet we have ruined His lands and burnt his temples, and He has done nothing. The Almighty is defenceless against us. All His words of power, were empty boasts, threats to keep us afraid of Him. Our standing here before His City, almost triumphant, proves it.”

“The Almighty stays His hand out of love,” Veritael spoke. “You are His child, and He is giving you time to repent and turn from your dark ways. The mercy of the Lord is everlasting.”

“Love?” Adoniel said. “You know not of what you speak. If the Almighty truly did love us, why would He cast us aside like young men cast aside their playthings? We have served Him to the best of our abilities. We have loved Him with all our being. Why then does He turn His face from us? Were we but a failed experiment? How have we failed Him so that He chooses to forsake us for a new creation?”

“The love of the Lord is all-encompassing!” said Veritael. “It is like the light of a candle, which shines forth to guide us. No matter how large a room you place it in, its light still covers every corner. The Almighty will not turn his love from you. He merely has a plan, which we should be delighted to be a part of.”

“I will have no part of this plan!” Adoniel cried, and his troops shouted their support. “For I am an angel of the Lord, a throne of the highest rank! I am a being of energy, pure will and spirit! I refuse to make company with those creatures the Almighty plans to make; those mortals, those flesh-beings, those creatures of ash and dust! They are unworthy of the Almighty’s love! The Almighty should love only us, His most faithful creations!”

He begged Veritael to join him. “Please, sweet Veritael. Join ranks with me. For I tell you this: the Almighty is fickle, and His plans are mysterious and dark. Who knows when He will cast you aside when you are no longer suitable to suit his whims? Take up the banner of Lucifer. He is proud and powerful, and he will never forsake us, nor lose his love for us. Together we will assault the Sanctuary, depose the great tyrant, and build a new Kingdom of Heaven. From the ashes of this city a new one shall rise, one even more glorious than before.”

But Veritael was resolute. “My only glory comes from my service to the Lord.”

Adoniel was displeased at her words. “Very well then,” he said. “Then step aside. For Lord Lucifer desires that I take the Eastern Gate, and I do not wish to kill a friend to do so.”

And Veritael wept. “Though I wish this need not come to pass, I am tasked to watch this gate, and if you wish to take it, I will have to destroy you.”

“Then so be it.”

And the two angels flew at each other, swords raised, and their armies clashed, in a great battle that would last forty days and forty nights.

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I will end my narrative here, Gestas. The season of Lent is soon upon us, and many are my duties which I will have to carry out.

I realise this letter is much shorter than the previous ones, and for this I apologize. When I next write, I will tell you of the breaching of the Holy of Holies. I will speak of how the Lord Almighty was moved to bring forth His terrible vengeance, and how this led to the creation of Sheol, that hellish place where the damned do reside.

Until then, I remain your loving friend

Philetus