"You reign undefeated, Brother," Laurence said.
"Of course," Michael replied. "The interest in these challenges is what
we might learn from the tactics used against me. Who will win is not
really an issue."
Laurence nodded, knowing that only Michael could make such a declaration
and know it to be True. Together, they watched the next Archangel who
approached the Groves. Laurence registered some surprise. "I didn't
think he would respond."
"I confess I wasn't expecting him either, but I am pleased to see him
participating," Michael said. "The more he socializes with us, the
better." He nodded in greeting to the beautiful Elohite. "Al-salaam
alaikum, Khalid."
"Wa alaikum al-salaam, Mika'il." The Archangel of Faith bowed low. "And
God's peace be upon you also, Laurence."
"May the Lord bless you and keep you," Laurence replied sincerely. "Have
you come to answer Michael's challenge?"
"Indeed I have, if it would not be too presumptuous." Khalid bowed low
again.
"Presumptuous, Faith? I doubt it." Michael smiled slightly. "And what is
the nature of your challenge, and the stakes?"
"I pondered long how to challenge him who is first among the Host,"
Khalid replied. "For as God made you and named you War, surely no being
can defeat you."
"Unless it was God's will for me to lose," Michael observed,
anticipating Khalid's line of thinking.
"Indeed. Under what circumstances, then, would God wish for you to lose?
But to contemplate that is to attempt to apprehend the mind of God and
anticipate His desires, and except inasmuch as He has revealed His will
in the holy Quran, surely to look elsewhere to divine His intentions
would be presumptuous and faithless."
Laurence shifted uncomfortably. "But it's our job to carry out God's
will, and sometimes that means making decisions without knowing exactly
what His will is..."
"But with perfect faith that whatever we do will be His will."
Khalid smiled at Laurence, and for just a moment, the Commander of the
Host wondered if his erstwhile rival, who had only very recently put
centuries of animosity behind him, might be teasing him....or worse,
mocking him. But that was an unworthy thought, and Laurence dismissed
it. "I take your point, Khalid, even if my perspective is.....slightly
different. But that leads to the question, how do you intend to
challenge Michael?"
"With faith, of course." Khalid turned to face the Archangel of War,
looking more serious. "Mika'il -- praise be upon you -- it is well known
that you count the greatest warriors who have ever lived among your
servants, both in Heaven and on Earth. Likewise, it is well known that
your finest servants are beloved by you, as are mine by me." Michael
nodded, scratching his chin, and indicated that Khalid should continue.
"Therefore, my challenge is this: you must choose one servant -- mortal
or angel, it matters not -- whom you are absolutely certain can defeat
any servant I choose. The conditions are two: first, that the one you
choose is beloved by you beyond all measure, as shall be the servant
that I choose. Second, that they shall battle to the death on Earth, and
that him who dies shall be forever cast out of his master's sight."
Even Michael blinked at this. "You mean.... you will Outcast your proxy
if he loses to mine?"
"If he is an angel, yes," Khalid replied. "If he suffers corporeal
death. As you shall do if your Servitor dies. If he is a mortal, you
shall banish him forever from your Cathedral, and swear never again to
lay eyes on him until Judgment Day."
Laurence opened his mouth, intending to ask what they would do if a
mortal representative didn't happen to wind up in Heaven after
dying.... but then thought better of it. However, he shook his head and
said "I can't approve of turning a Servitor in good standing into an
Outcast for losing a fight on behalf of his Archangel."
"Would you not cast out any Servitor who so completely destroyed the
faith you placed in him, much as you might love him?" Khalid asked.
Laurence opened his mouth again, then closed it. He looked at Michael,
who was still scratching his chin.
"And the stakes?" Michael asked.
"The holiest man in the world," Khalid whispered. "I give unto you the
power to precipitate Armageddon once again, should you choose to do so
and it be God's will. For the next seven generations, I will whisper in
your ear the name of him who is the most holy."
"I accept," replied the Archangel of War. Khalid bowed.
"If the loser is an angel, I require that you permit me to take him into
my service should he lose," Laurence said. Khalid and Michael
both nodded in agreement
..........
"Not far from Baal's stomping grounds," Laurence muttered, looking
around at the war-ravaged ruins. He and Michael waited in the Iraqi
desert. Standing calmly some distance away was a young woman wearing a
shawl and headscarf over camouflage fatigues. Her head was bowed in
prayer, her lips moving silently as she fingered a necklace of prayer
beads. There was an AK-47 slung over her shoulder.
"Good of you to choose a Catholic," Laurence said, and then flushed.
"Uh...not that your champion is going to lose, I mean...."
"Actually, she's Muslim," Michael said, ignoring Laurence's
discomfiture. "Bosnian. The prayer beads belonged to her mother. Both of
them spent months in Keraterm. Aida survived; her mother didn't."
Laurence nodded slowly. "A Soldier of yours? She must have great
resilience. But... what makes her so special that you're certain of her
victory? Khalid could pit her against a Malakite Master of the Wrath of
God."
"He could," Michael agreed. "But I have faith in Aida." He smiled fondly
as he looked at the woman. "And," he said softly, "if any of my servants
deserve an early discharge to Heaven, she does. She's already done her
time in hell."
Khalid arrived not long thereafter. He and his champion both descended
in celestial form, and the shimmering of the Virtue's Forces confirmed
Laurence's fears; this was no mean Servitor. No matter what talents
Michael's human servant might possess, Laurence didn't see how she could
survive a battle to the death with a mighty Malakite of Faith who was
fully prepared and loaded for bear.
But Michael had faith in her, and Laurence had faith in Michael.
Khalid regarded the woman dispassionately. She licked her lips, finally
betraying nervousness as the Archangel of Faith and his designated
killer materialized in the desert in all their celestial glory. Khalid
looked at Michael. "This woman, she is precious to you?"
Michael nodded. "I love her no less than any of my Servitors. And your
servant?"
"Faris, my beloved, was among the first Malakim to join me after I
became an Archangel."
"Hello Faris," Laurence said quietly, tight-lipped. Faris,
expressionless, bowed to the Archangel of the Sword, from whose service
he had deserted twelve centuries ago to join Khalid. As Khalid regarded
the Bosnian Muslim, no doubt hearing her prayers as if they were spoken
aloud to him, Michael smiled tightly and murmured to Laurence, "It seems
we're both making statements of sorts. Faris served alongside you and
Khalid both under Uriel, didn't he? If you don't want him back, perhaps
the Tsayadim will take him."
Laurence struggled to maintain his composure, then said simply "Are you
ready?" Aida, the human, and Faris, the angel, nodded. "Then you may
begin."
Aida simply continued praying, but with greater intensity. Faris took
two steps towards her, shouted "ALLAH'U AKBAR!", and exploded.
The shockwave would have knocked all three Archangels off their feet,
except that Khalid and Michael both assumed celestial form a millisecond
before the detonation, and Laurence, reacting, did so half a millisecond
after them. The explosion sent a plume of sand and smoke half a mile
into the air, and the rumble was felt in the nearest town, some fifteen
miles away.
Khalid, Laurence, and Michael recorporealized in a swirling cloud of
dust. "He must have been carrying enough explosives to level a city!"
Laurence exclaimed. "What sort of insanity was that? Khalid, your
servant's vessel has been blown to bits, so by the terms of your
challenge, BOTH of you have lost your servants!"
"Not so," Khalid said. "Mika'il -- God's peace be upon you -- you knew,
didn't you?"
"That you would sacrifice your servant, and that he wouldn't think twice
about making such a sacrifice? Of course. You are an Elohite; you
couldn't possibly let your love for him prevent you from seeking the
surest way to victory."
Laurence sputtered, then looked confused, until he noticed a miniature
cyclone spinning in the middle of the blast-strewn debris and fallout. A
few seconds later it subsided, and Aida, coughing, fell to her knees and
echoed the obliterated Malakite's words: "Allah'u akbar! Allah'u akbar!"
Her hands and forehead touched the ground, and Khalid regarded her
silently.
"The Song of Shields," Laurence said. He shook his head, chuckling.
"I told her to sing it immediately when things began. I had faith in her
ability to time it correctly. Although," Michael grinned, "I did give
her a reliquary with enough Essence to make sure it would go off."
Laurence eyed the prayer beads still clutched in the woman's hand.
Khalid said "Allah'u akbar! You have won the challenge, Mika'il, God's
peace be upon you!" He stepped forward and cupped a hand to the Seraph
Archangel's ear, and whispered into it. Michael nodded.
The Archangel of Faith turned to Laurence. "I did encourage Faris to
return to your service, oh Laurence, insha'Allah. But he is surely
leaving my Mosque, even as we speak. It is my hope that he will take up
service with someone in Heaven, rather than remaining Outcast,
but..." Khalid shrugged, and repeated "Insha'Allah."
"He has another vessel, I suppose," Laurence remarked dryly, not really
asking a question. But Khalid was already gone.
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EDG <edg@sjgames.com>
In Nomine Collection Curator