A PALE HORSE

Sam slowly opened his eyes and looked at Jo sitting quietly in the wing-backed chair. She gazed steadily at him as she said, “Hello, Samael. It’s been a long time.”

“Jophiel. I am surprised I did not notice it before. You will pardon me, but I am pissed off,” he said with no pause. Sam sat up and rested his arms on his knees as he said, “Where is he? Where is the bastard?”

“I haven’t the foggiest idea of whom you might be speaking.” Jo said with an air of innocence. “I do not associate with bastards of any type.”

Sam sneered and said, “You know I speak of Michael, Jo. Don’t pretend otherwise.” Jophiel could tell that Sam was getting upset but she stayed calm.

“You mean the one who saved you from your own personal hell? Trapped with that demon and his lies? You should not be so quick to condemn, Sam. Your brother saved you from a fate worse than death. He went before the Master to plead for your soul!” Now Jo was angry. “You call him a bastard? The one that you should be thanking? The one who saved you from your own arrogance and selfishness?” She stood up and paced across the room.

“He killed my wife!”, Sam shouted at her, rising.

Jo spun around, “You think so little of him? That he relishes the suffering of others?”

Sam had the good grace to look ashamed, then angry. “I don’t know, but I know that he knew they were my family. He knew they were important to me.”

“I did.”, came a new voice at the other end of the room. Sam spun around and closed the distance between him and Michael.

“You killed them!.. and then took my memory from me?! For what purpose?” About the time that Sam reached Michael, Michael reached out and grabbed Sam by the arm. In the next instant, Sam found himself face down in... sand? Tons of sand. All around him. They were not in Jo’s office anymore, but in the middle of a vast desert. “Why have you brought me here?” he said as he got up and brushed sand off his clothes.

Michael stood with his hands on his hips and said, “I thought we could use some privacy. Also, some distance from anything breakable. I didn’t want to mess up Jo’s office.” Upon mention of her name, Jophiel appeared, along with the other archangels: Raphael, Gabriel, and Uriel.

“Come to finish what you started?” He sneered at the lot of them, turning his attention back to Michael. “Weren’t you finished with me long ago?”

“I didn’t start this, Sam. Neither did you. The blame lies with Lucifer and the rest in the pit. He and the others brought you to this. Although, I would have to say that you went willingly, I don’t feel that you had any malicious intent. I honestly believe that you had love for Ailah and Cephas,” Michael said. With the mention of his son, Sam once again threw himself in Michael’s direction, only to be stopped by the gleaming blade of Gabriel against his throat.

“Maybe you should stop reacting and start listening,” he suggested in an even tone. Sam looked at him, and then at Michael.

“Speak.”

Michael looked to the others and told him, “Samael, you are special to the Master.” Sam scoffed at the prospect that he was in any way special to the Master, but he continued to fume and listen to Michael. It wasn’t really hard, considering Gabriel’s sword was still at his throat. He reached up and gently pushed the sword away. Gabriel raised an eyebrow but did not resist.

“If I am so special, why has the Master allowed you to keep me trapped on Earth for so long?” Sam asked impatiently. “How many lives have I lived, Michael? How many years have I been forced to forget? How many PEOPLE, Michael? The only ‘special’ I am to Him is a special thing to torture for eternity!”

Michael sighed and said, “The Master has always had a plan, as you know. The nephilim children were not part of that plan. When you all rebelled against Him and created them, He was angry and hurt. The children posed a threat to His Earthly creations… the very ones they were sworn to protect as Watchers. We were sent to destroy them.” Michael looked wearily and sadly at his friend. “Do you remember any of this? Do you remember what happened? The Great War?”

“If I rebelled, as you call it, along with the others, Michael,” Sam said, “why didn’t I get thrown into the pit? Did I deserve my own special hell of being shuffled around every age, doomed to forget everyone over and over again?” He had a suspicion, but waited to hear the answer for himself.

“You were being protected all of that time. You are special… more special to Him than you could ever know. You have a very unique ability, Sam. Gifted to you… just you. One that is sorely needed.”

“If the Master has need of this ability, why did he shut me away for so long? Out of touch with all our brethren? Why now?” Sam shouted, spitting, and furious at his betrayer. “And why, after EVERYTHING that He has taken from me, should I help Him now?!! Why should I help you, Michael? BROTHER?”, he spat the word, murder in his eyes. “You killed my family to serve… what? Who? One that destroys what is good to further His own plans.” He spat the last of his venom at Michael and the ground rumbled in response to his accusations. Sam looked once again to the heavens and said in a broken voice, spent and sobbing, “Why?” Michael reached out to try and comfort Sam but was rebuffed and shove away for his effort.

“Sam, we did what we had to do. You know that… somewhere in you. None of us, including the Master, wants to destroy the living, but what was Created did not belong. When he came, the corruption came with him. If blame must be leveled, level it at the one who lied to you, who gifted the humans and Watchers too much power. The Master watched in silence for years but when the nephilim started to corrupt the very nature of the humans with greed, envy, spite, wrath...it was the final straw. The Master had to take action.”

“My family was not that way! My wife was good! My son was good!”

“NONE are GOOD!”, Michael thundered, flashing brilliantly. “You suppose yourself to be the arbiter of what is good?”

“He and my wife were murdered by you as innocents!!” Sam lunged once again at Michael, this time pulling a great black sword from what appeared to be thin air. Gabriel met Sam’s sword with his own, and Michael yelled.

“No! This has been coming a long time. Let Sam have his piece of me.” He pulled his own gleaming blade from the ether and he and Sam squared off. “You have accused me of a great many wrongs, brother.” Michael told him.

“You are no brother of mine!” He stepped to the side and swung his great sword, barely missing Michael by a hair’s breadth.

“Michael, be careful. You know which sword he is using.” Gabriel said, standing off to the side with his own scimitar gripped in his hand. Michael and Sam circled each other under the scorching sun of the desert.

“I am aware,” Michael said, not taking his eyes off of Sam or the dark sword. To Sam he said, “I have ever been your friend and brother, Sam. I was when you chose to take the lesser path, I was when I begged the Master to spare you the fate of the others, and I am now as I stand accused by you of murdering your family.”

Sam stopped circling a moment and said, “You did murder them! I saw you myself, standing over the body of my dead wife!” he spat at him. In a surprising movement, he rushed Michael with his sword held high and his rage behind him. Michael met his blade and held it as he looked him in the eye.

“You saw me standing over the body of a woman who had already been murdered.” Sam let go and stepped back quickly.

“What lies do you tell now, Michael?”

“I DO NOT LIE!” Michael shouted as he closed the distance with his great sword in hand. This Michael was the one to be feared, he was the bringer of justice and the herald of righteousness. “If you know no other thing, you should know that I have not lied to you. Not once! It was not by my hand that your wife was murdered, but by your own son!” Sam had taken a step backward and, at this pronouncement, sat hard in the sand. He stared at nothing, trying to make sense of what he was just told. He knew it was unfair of him to accuse Michael of lying. Sam knew better than anyone that Michael was incapable of lying. He was a master at sidestepping issues, but Sam knew that when he spoke about anything, he told the truth. He didn’t want to accept that his own son may have been the monster that Michael had accused him of being, but he had been in the world a long time and had seen seemingly innocent people do monstrous things. The others stood in a circle around Sam and let him work out in his head what this new information meant to him. After what seemed like hours, Sam finally looked up at each face standing around him.

“I do not like this.” he said in a sullen voice.

“We do not like it any better than you,” Michael told him. “We have watched you for eons and felt that now was the right time to tell you, to show you, what really happened all those years ago, and to bring you back.” Sam looked at Michael, squinting through the bright afternoon sun.

“What do you mean ‘show me’?”

Michael sighed and said, “The Master has allowed me to share my memory of that day with you, so that you may see and experience for yourself what happened.” Michael reached down and touched the top of Sam’s head. Sam was immediately surrounded by light and he felt himself falling back through time. H recognized the point in time in his memories earlier where he came upon Michael, only this time he was Michael. Michael walking through the streets of the city, the noise of battle furious in his ears. He felt great sorrow as he watched his angel brethren fighting one another over the abysmal creatures that had been created. Women were screaming, running from the warriors and clutching children by the hand. Michael hurried through the street, fighting off the occasional combatant with ease. His destination was known to only him, and he felt the sudden need to fly the remaining distance. He vaulted into the air, golden wings unfurled, chanting justice and vengeance in equal measure over the battle below. Streaking northward, he came to a small house on the outskirts of the village. He alit, and ran to the door. The house was very well kept, with a few small plants used for medicines and potions planted just outside the door. Michael paused at the door and knocked respectfully. The door was thrown open and standing before Michael was a wild-eyed youth. Michael looked the boy up and down. He didn’t remember him as tall as he was now. He felt sure that the boy was on his way to becoming one of the giant men that the Master had warned him about. Sam was not going to like this at all.

“Cephas, where’s Samael? Where’s your father?” Michael asked him. Cephas stood, his great girth blocking the doorway and a sword held tightly in his fist,

“Out protecting the village from attackers. Is that why you are here, uncle?” Michael winced at the term Cephas used and placed a large hand on the boy’s shoulder. He was definitely named well, thought Michael. The boy was easily six and a half feet tall at only thirteen summers old and was a solid mass of muscles. Michael knew in his heart that Sam had been teaching the boy how to swing a sword, how to protect his mother and his village. Why was Cephas not with Samael?

“How come you’re not with him?” Michael asked him circling around to look for Ahlai, Sam’s wife. “Where is your mother?” Michael made to go to the adjoining room but was blocked by Cephas.

“Mother is resting, uncle,” he told him. Michael found that statement strange, considering the carnage taking place down in the city. Ahlai was one of Michael’s most favorite people, full of life and light, but prone to great emotion and hysteria if she got excited or scared.

“I’ll bet she is afraid. Let’s check on her, huh?” Michael again made for the door to the other room when Cephas tackled him to the floor, the bulk of the two great bodies smashing a table to pieces. Michael threw Cephas off of him and stood. He backed toward the door to the adjoining room slowly, keeping Cephas between him and the door. “Why don’t you want me to check on your mother, Cephas? What’s happened?” Michael watched as a look of panic came over the boy’s face. He watched the rocky countenance crumble before his eyes.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen! She wouldn’t go with me!” He exclaimed, the unsure boy that he was resurfaced where the man stood a moment ago. “I told her that father sent me to get her out of the village and to safety. She said she wouldn’t leave and that I should go back to him, that she could take care of herself.” The silent tears made tracks down his cheeks as he told the rest of the story, “I told her that I couldn’t leave without her. She was holding a small sword in her hand and when I went to get her she ran from me. She tripped over the water bucket and fell. The sword…” He was crying in earnest now. Michael went into the room and found Ahlai face down, the blood had seeped into the dirt floor and made a wide stain around her unmoving body. As he knelt down, his eyes took in all the evidence around him. The bruising that was evident on Ahlai’s face and body. The sword held out, away from her body. There was no way that she could have inflicted this type of injury on herself. Michael stood and turned to face Cephas, only the youth wasn’t there. Instead, Sam stood looking at Michael with a face full of loathing. The memory faded from his mind. Sam threw down the sword in his hand and , sobbing, ran a few paces, stumbling into the desert sand.

He fell on his face, his body racked, lamenting “AHLAI!” over and over until he was spent. Jophiel approached him tearfully, laying her hands on his shoulders, wanting to soothe his pain.

She whispered, “Forbidden love is still love, and we all loved her. I grieve for her, Sam.” She wept over him, then turned back to the other archangels. “Leave him to his grief. He is ready.”, she said, wiping a tear from her eye. After some time, Sam rose up, wiping the mud from his tear-streaked face, and walked back to the group. Coming upon it, he considered the sword he had wielded moments earlier.

He picked it up and looked up at Michael, “It was Cephas. My own son. I am sorry, brother, for doubting you. Can you forgive me?” Sam sank again to his knees with the weight of the revelation.

Michael smiled down at Sam and helped him up from the sand. “I forgave you long ago.”

Sam wiped sand from his pants and from his hands and asked, “What happened to Cephas? I naturally concluded that he was dead, but when Jo opened up my memory to the past, I noticed that he was not in the house. Your memory showed the same thing. What happened to him after...?” Sam asked them. Michael looked around at all the faces present and received a small nod from Uriel.

“Tell him the rest.” Michael nodded and turned to Sam who stood waiting, his fists opening and closing at his side.

“Sam, Cephas is alive.”

Sam gasped and said, “How is this possible?”

Michael turned to the others and said, “Back to Jo’s” and, just like that they all stood in Jo’s homey office. Sam sat down hard on the couch he had vacated earlier. Michael took one of the wingbacks and Jophiel took the other.

“Cephas escaped the day he killed his mother and we were unable to find him. It is our belief that he was hidden from us.”

“Who would hide someone from the Master’s angels?” Sam said in disbelief. “Such a person would be destroyed.” The others noticed what Sam did not, his visage flickered between that of Sam as he sat on the couch and a behemoth in black armor with the cold look of death in his eyes. They turned and regarded each other, then Michael turned back to Sam.

“Yes, the Master in his wisdom knew that the demons had taken and hid Cephas from Him. With you as his father, he is able to reside in hell for as long as he wants.”

“What do you mean? I thought all the angel-born were destroyed in the flood?” Sam ground out in frustration, “Just get to the point, Michael. What aren’t you telling me?” Michael looked at the others and at Jophiel who smiled in encouragement.

“Cephas was never destroyed in the flood. He has taken up residence in Hell. It has allowed him to live on as part mortal and part angel. He is the one who is responsible for the first hybrids.”

“You mean like the naga, werewolves and the like? How?” Sam asked, but he wasn’t completely sure he wanted the answer.

“He wed the daughter of Abbadon. They have produced many children, the first of which was a vampire named Alaric. I believe he is still alive and causing mayhem. The firstborn of Cephas and Addaine are said to be the strongest and the hardest to kill.” Michael said, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “We have managed to get rid of a few of them, but most of them are able to return to Hell on a regular basis, thus hiding from us. This is a tragic complication that has cost countless lives.” Sam was feeling guilty.

“What is it you want from me? An apology? Fine, I m sorry, Michael,” He looked skyward and said, “Is that what You want to hear? I have wronged You and have been made to see the error of my ways.” He faced Michael and the others with pain-filled eyes, “What does He want from me?” His shoulders slumped in his brokenness, and the others turned to Michael. Michael sighed and became blunt.

“Do you not yet remember who you are?” The ground trembled and Michael looked skyward. His gaze came back to Sam and he simply said, “Forgive me.” With a snap of his fingers, Sam was gone and the five were alone.

“Has he been summoned?” Uriel asked Michael.

“Yes.” Michael said with a hint of worry in his eyes.

“You have done everything you could to make him understand without telling him outright, Michael. You’ve succeeded. He is ready for this. The Master is gracious and forgiving and Samael has shown that he is repentant. The Master will not make this easy. Sam has to truly want this in order to be redeemed.” She placed a hand on Michael’s shoulder, trying to reassure him. “The rest is up to him.”