I straightened to my full height, my hands still shaking, but there wasn’t anything that I could do about the adrenaline coursing through my body right now.I was alone with their plan laid out before me, and I’d been arrogant and naïve to believe that I could do this alone.I’d been so hellbent on protecting everyone else around me that I ended up losing sight of the bigger picture, and it looked like my arrogance was going to finally cost me.
Nevertheless, I still wasn’t going to go willingly.Even if I failed, God would know that I hadn’t gone freely, and that I’d been more than willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to prove to Him that we weren’t a lost cause.While some of us were surely going to burn in Hell, there were still many others that chose the right thing every day.There were still plenty of people that were on the right side of humanity.
“Then what are you waiting for?”I challenged.“I’m right here.”
Eligos’ voice deepened as he said, “We are not fools.Do you really believe that we are not aware of the others?”So, they were aware of my rare gift, but they didn’t know how it worked.“Do you think a good general goes into war before assessing all the possibilities first?”
Now, while his lack of knowledge could buy me some time, I still had no way to defeat them on my own.I had no weapons or even a plan, truth be told.Plus, while Ramiel had told us the when and why of all this, he still hadn’t said anything abouthowI was supposed to defeat these monsters.All he’d said was that I’d be taken, and that Lazarus would lead the charge to get me back, which had me wondering if I wassupposedto just let them take me.Was that God’s plan?Was that what He needed me to do in order to see if His children could rise to the occasion?
Looking across the chasm, I asked, “Are you afraid of losing?”
“We will not lose,” he replied confidently.“You just have to look around you to see that we’re already winning, Elisheva.We’ve been winning for a while now.Asmodeus, Mammon, and Moloch have been doing their jobs very well.”
Asmodeus was the demon of lust and excess, and he was the epitome of temptation.Mammon was the demon of greed, and enough said on that score.As for Moloch, he was the demon of child sacrifices, and he represented the abuse of power, injustices, and exploitation.Unfortunately, all you had to do was look around to see that Eligos wasn’t lying about how they were winning the war between good and evil right now.Temporary pleasures were more sought after than eternal life, and the more that I thought about it, maybe humanity didn’t deserve to be saved.Maybe God put me here to give Him a reason to start over, maybe take away the free will that had ruined so much.
“Elisheva, do not let doubt enter your heart now,” a voice that I’d never heard before said.“Remember your teachings;allof them.Stand before them and know their power.Stand before them and know their weaknesses.Stand before them, knowing everything in your heart.”
Like a rolodex flipping inside my brain, the teachings of The Bible raced through my mind, and I felt an enlightening that flowed through me like a warm blanket, soothing everything inside me.Every word in the book flashed behind my eyes, showing me a much deeper meaning than I’d ever considered before.I wasn’t here to win or lose; I was here to show people the way.
Angels and demons couldn’t die, and I couldn’t believe that I’d forgotten that very important fact.Angels were saved, and demons were banished, but they couldn’t die as they were not corporeal.Their wars were simply battles for redirection.If good was winning, then the demons came in to try to push them back, and the same was said for when evil was winning, and so that’s what this was.This battle was an attempt to push evil back in its place; it wasn’t for me to literally slay all the demons that stood before me.Eligos had stated that they wanted topossessme, which made complete sense now.However, now that I knew what I was doing here, that was never going to happen.
I looked across the chasm, studying all the eyes that were staring back at me, and I felt no fear.In fact, I felt empowered.I felt like I was ready for them to come for me because it was impossible for them to defeat me.Whatever it was inside me that made me believe, it was stronger than a million demons come together.It was stronger than Satan himself, and God knew it.No longer concerned withwhyI’d been chosen, standing here, I was finally accepting that I had been, and that was all that mattered right now.God’sfaith in me was all that mattered.
Just then, I felt the ground beneath me begin to shake, and when that familiar smoke from before started rising from the chasm, I knew why.While the black smoke might help empower the army on the other side, Hell was raging, and there was only one reason why it would be.
Lazarus was here.
I turned just in time to see him materialize from the gateway that Ramiel said belonged to me, and tears immediately hit my eyes as a love that I didn’t know was possible flowed through me, screaming out his name like a prayer.
“Elisa!”he roared, but it was too late.
I turned back around just in time to see Eligos leaping over the chasm, and the next thing that I knew, I was shrouded in darkness.
Chapter 26
Lazarus~
