Laughter and echoes of laughter emanated from the whirlpool that formed behind them. The vortex of obsidian caught fire and the golden glass bricks of Heaven fell into the blazing sinkhole. When the smoke cleared, three great octopi-like tendrils of flame and brimstone shot through the hole and suctioned themselves onto the streets, and the hiss of steam and the maggots of Hell bored through like termites, and the floor of heaven was transparent that all might see below.
Gasps and outrage traveled through the city while Malakim warriors flying overhead struggled to control their steeds as they bucked and neighed at the fires and screams below.
For Yeshua stood suspended over Talus, and the two were draped as morsels to be consumed over the lattice of teeth that was Hell's gaping mouth.
* * *
Lucifer's challenge filled the air.
"It is time, Yeshua, for why doth the life of God cower in the valley of the shadow of death and conceal thyself amidst the righteous dead? It is time to complete the task for which thou hast come. For hast thou not said that the Son of Man came not but to give His life for many? Or doth thy words mean nothing? Come out Begotten of El! Come out and face the decision that YOU have made!"
King David looked upon his Lord, knowing what He would do, and said, "Do not do it, my Lord. I beg thee."
But Yeshua just smiled and lifted Himself from bended knee.
"Behold, Lucifer, the culmination of your schemes."
And when Christ had spoken, He walked to the edge of the gulf that separated the realms of the righteous and unrighteous dead and stepped into the void, and when He did so, He floated, walking across the gulf toward Hades. Lucifer watched as He approached, smiling as Yeshua landed on the shore and walked up to Satan. The Son of God then spoke.
"You have bid me come, child, and here now I stand."
Lucifer drew closer until they were arm's length from one another, and he spoke through gritted teeth.
"Thou hast robbed me of what is mine and scolded me for aspiring to be nothing more than You." The Deceiver's face turned livid with rage. "I have from eternities past done nothing but love thee, and with an everlasting love did I faithfully serve, and yet thou didst strip from me the inheritance that a father owes a son."
Lucifer paused and moved within inches of Yeshua's face.
"Know that my scorn for thee is strong, and my hate as an eternal fire, for look where we have come, You and I, to stand face to face in the abominable creation that THOU hast designed to bring our kind to heel. Know that I will never forgive You! Never cease in my hunger for thy demise! And know that when I am done, I shall destroy the glory that You so covet from the memory of creation. This I promise, Lord Yeshua, and this I do swear."
Yeshua looked upon Lucifer with sadness in His face and shook His head.
"Thou wilt find thy end within a lake of fire, and all that thou desire will be as ash within thy mouth. Have I not told thee twice and yet say now again? What thou doest, do quickly?"
Lucifer's face contorted, and his breathing quickened as he gritted his teeth and shouted in explosive rage, backhanding the Son of God across His cheek.
"Take Him to the Forge and hang Him next to my brother."
Ares and Ashtaroth then took Yeshua by each arm and settled Him onto a platform next to where Talus hung, and placed Him near the entrance of the completed Hellforge. Then Lucifer spoke.
"Now, El. Now, after millennia on this wretched world, cast out by thine own hand. Now I shall have my vengeance. Thou hast denied me my throne, robbed me of my station, exiled me to this mote, and to what end? Only to see Thyself made bond slave to the filth that is mankind. Yet thou didst see fit to deny me a place at Thy side. And now, Godking, now you will serve as bond-slave to me. Within the depths of this creature shalt Thou minister to me. Within the kingdom of Hell wilt thy spirit reside, and thy memory, Son of God...thy memory shall be snuffed out in all the Earth. For if I can cross the gulf of death with the heartstone of an angel, behold me cross the Heavens with the Son of the Living God!"
Immediately, Lucifer lifted his hands in triumph and he recited in the ancient tongue the words to cause Hell to obey, and the beast hearkened to her master and extended her tendrils to take hold of the Son of God, and the creature stretched forth her hands, wrapping flaming coils around the True Vine.
Yeshua stood suspended over Talus and the two were draped as morsels over the lattice of teeth that was Hell's gaping mouth. A bridge of fire then shot from the bowels of Hell and punctured the dimensions that separated the Heavens from one another. The space between the realms rolled back and opened so that one might pass through a funnel of Hellfire that latched itself onto the foundation of Heaven. The citizens of Heaven beheld a great rift that appeared on the floor of the heavenly city, and all of Heaven could see the Lord Yeshua and Talus shackled and lifted up within Hell.
And lo, the furnace of Hell, the power of God, and Talus's own heartstone ignited the Forge and Lucifer's eyes widened in gleeful anticipation as the stones he had placed within them slowly sprang to life. A tremor rumbled through the realms of both Heaven and Hell, and the song that came from the stones was familiar to but three in Creation...Lucifer, Michael, and God. For it was the rhythmic chant of a reignited Stone of Fire that sang the yearning chorus to its maker, a chant that yearned "to be."
And Lucifer pranced in jubilation, for his scheme to ignite life through the theft of God's own power was in that moment made real.
Talus screamed, for the energy that flowed through him was more than he could endure, and his flesh began to show lacerations across his face and chest as the virtue of Yeshua's own life crackled through Talus' frail body.
The Godhead stood to His feet, and the three kings of the celestial hosts and all of Heaven gazed into the Realm of the Dead. Yeshua and Talus hung within the beast, captive in the flaming web that was its tendrils.
Michael clutched his sword, looking in panic at El and said, "Release me, Lord! I beg you, release me now!"
But El shook His head no. Eying all and quiet.
Michael's eyes narrowed and his muscles tensed in nervous anticipation of a command to spring into action.
Hell expanded herself as they watched, for the beast had tasted the flesh of both men and angels. From her entire existence, she had suckled the milk of angelic hate and nursed at the breast of men's sins, waxing fat. She grew, sprawling ever deeper into the depths of the Earth, and now under the command of Lucifer, the creature had now breached the third heaven.
And the bridge which Lucifer created to span the gulf to Paradise, completed its self-replicating march to reach the other side. Lucifer laughed as David and all his kin backed away from the edge of the gulf as it was now spanned. Hell no longer compartmentalized between the righteous and unrighteous dead. For in that moment, there was no Hades--no Paradise. Just the expansive and encroaching territory that would be the Kingdom of Satan, powered by the captive Son of God now suspended in the fiery new Kiln of the Devil's making.
Yeshua screamed out in pain, for in that moment captivity itself was held captive by the love of God. The whole of celestial existence anchored by the outstretched limbs of the Word Made Flesh...God, who had surrendered to the devices of evil, that He might fill all things. The God of creation, who in the person of Yeshua, now suffered the penalty of sinful man. The second death.
The thing was incomprehensible to the citizens of Heaven for the Ophanim could not understand it, nor could angels comprehend the plan of God. The daemons in the underworld cheered for after a millennia stuck in the wasteland that was 'Time' they now had hope that they might return home...as conquerors.
Michael looked at Gabriel, who mirrored his nervousness and looked back at the Lord who stood, still eying the events below.
"Now, Lord?" Michael said, his eyes pleading to do something, anything but stand idle.
Again the Lord shook His head no as He listened to the echoes of His only begotten Son's screams.
The cries of the Word Made Flesh wafted along the celestial winds and split the ears of the spiritual realm, but it was as music to the ears of Satan. Music he had longed many days to hear. An orchestral chorus of the gnashing of teeth, the moans of defeated enemies, and the beautiful cries of the living God who had exiled him in judgment.
Smiling, Lucifer looked at Zeus and spoke. "Go to. Take my armies across the gulf and bring those wayward spirits of El's to heel."
Zeus returned his lord's smile, nodded and stepped away from the pedestal where his master stood and waved the assembled legions to march across the Cadmime Bridge.
And so they did.
An armada of daemons and angels who on command proceeded to cross the scaffold of darkness that Lucifer had created.
A bridge now buttressed by the very power of God. Their marching made the realm to quake and their cadence, the ground to tremble.
David, Moses and various ones calmed those who saw the encroaching army and spoke. "Have faith. Our God is with us!"
Lucifer then looked up to Yeshua and shouted at his Creator. "I have been having sport with Talus, and I would much like to add thee as a player to our game." Lucifer then waved his hand and four flashing lights appeared in front of both the head of house Arelim and Yeshua.
"Yeshua, I have asked thine child, Talus, to tell me how many lights he sees. He is, of course, most stubborn. Yet, I think he is now ready to give me the answer I desire. But before I pose this question to him once more, and before I give his heart to Hell forever, I would give thee the chance to save his life. And if thou answerest correctly, I will release him and all the rabble of Paradise. This will I offer if ye but call me Lord and worship me as God. All this will I give thee if thou but answereth the simplest of questions. If thou be the Son of God – how many lights do you see?"
Lucifer brashly posed his question that all who saw from Heaven might hear.
For in the tick-tock that marked the passing of time – as Heaven's fate hung in the balance and; whilst daemonic armies marched across the gulf on a mission to slaughter in a second death, the righteous dead, Creation waited with bated breath for Yeshua's answer to the Devil's question.
And Yeshua His body convulsing and glistening with sweat, wracked in excruciating pain. Endured by His own choosing the eternal punishment reserved by the Father for those separated from God---the second death. Looked down in both agony and smirking triumph and replied, "Oh, foolish child. Know ye not that I AM the Light of the World?"
And forthwith, the power that siphoned from Yeshua and Talus reversed itself, and the flaming tendrils that held them violently recoiled and withered, crumpled as a dry leaf in a man's hand, and disintegrated into ash at the Lord's feet. The depleted braids of celestial consumption hung powerless as the Son of God withdrew from Hell all power He had deposited into it upon creation. All watched in terror as the Son of the living God began to draw power from Hell itself. Where the great mountain consumed alive its denizens, all now watched as Yeshua drew strength from the creature and siphoned power from the mountain.
Hell's remaining coils unwound from His body and the Lord glowed like a star. The brightness of His glory eclipsed the lights Lucifer had generated. Yeshua floated gently to the ground while sparks and great bolts of plasma projected in terrifying electric arcs from His person and set fire to already lit flames within Hell. For fire, itself, had now become a flammable substance to be consumed by the wrath of the Son of God.
The Lord then turned and spoke to Talus. "Thou art a faithful son. Now return recompense upon thy brother, and release thy charges."
Immediately Talus was completely healed, though he was still connected to the Forge. He roared with renewed strength and power and stretched forth his restored wings. The tendrils of fire snapped off his person, and he flew to the entrance of the newly formed Kiln and shouted to the Godstones within.
"Come forth!"
And from the great furnace, giant Phanes, materialized in the blaze, and they walked as smoky half men and half panthers of coalescent mists. The air rippled around them, and they leaped from the flames of the Forge. Fiery entrails followed them, and the hissing of steam echoed in their steps. Ashen swords lifted from their misty forms, and in fury, they set themselves to attack the gloating daemons and rebel angels that had surrounded Lucifer in celebration.
Lucifer beheld in bewilderment and confusion, his smugness now erased from his rapidly dispirited face. He spoke aloud to Yeshua in disorientation, the scene escalating out of control all around him.
"It is not possible. Your body was dead! Thy spirit captive within Hell. How can this be?"
Christ gleamed in starlight, and His form was such that galaxies and galaxies of galaxies floated within Him. The fires of Hell extinguished as He took a step forward while fallen angels and daemons panicked. Moans and wails filled the chambers, for many thought judgment had come. The Lord Yeshua hovered in unapproachable light as He floated toward His wayward son, and spoke.
"Know ye not that death hath no claim on one who hath not sinned? Thy unlawful actions hath voided thy claim to Death, Hell, and the grave for herein doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again. None may take it from me, for I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. And my life, Devil...was never thine to take."
A golden sword then appeared from the Lord's mouth and He stepped menacingly toward the Adversary in blazing luminance.