Satan

But Adam said to Haniel: "I and my siblings will protect the human Goddess. And will will avenge what He has done to her, and what He has done to us. With our fathers and with Ashima we will avenge Him. I want to free my first father." And Haniel knew who the first father of Emim had been. Haniel still remembered him well. His name was Shemhazai. Jehovah called Him Satan - His Adversary. For Shemhazai had been the leader of the Grigori - the Watchers. Those Angels who left Heaven for a life on Earth. He was among those Angels first to take a mortal woman as his wife. And he had lived among the humans. And he had shared the secrets of Heaven with them. And the humans had loved the Angels. And highest of them all had they loved Shemazhai. Lucifer had they called him - the Light Carrier - for he brought to the humans much wisdom and knowledge and enlightenment. And Jehovah God hated him for this defiance of His divine Law and His rule. For the humans were His and the ways of Heaven were His, and Shemazai had taken from Him both. Shemhazai was indeed a proud Angel. Brave and stubborn he was. And for this, he was one of those who had been punished the worst of all the Angels whom Jehovah felt had betrayed Him. For this betrayal, Shemazai has been chained and contained somewhere deep down in a dark, narrow cave somewhere in tthe valley of Gehenna. In eternal darkness did he dwell, and fretting ether was pouring from the walls around him. No one knew where he was held, and no one could ever set him free. He was to be there in torment forever.

That morning a little boy came running in panic and fear into the Temple of Asherah. And he came to Ashima, and he said to her that her trees had been cut down. And Ashima was very saddened. But in her heart she already knew, for she had seen it in her dream. And she took up her staff, and she drew a circle in the air, and she opened up the very Space, as the Priestesses Tabitha and Leah had taught her. There, inside the circle, they could see her old room at the inn. And she said to the boy to enter the circle, but that he must not touch its edge. And the boy went through the circle, and Ashima went after him, and she closed the circle behind her. And ineed, they were now at the inn, in her room. And Ashima and the boy went down to the kitchen. And everyone was there - Haniel and Dido and Atalja and Ben and Adam. And they were all surprised and happy to see her come. And Ashima replanted the trees. And in a moment they had grown taller than the trees that had stood there before. And from the wood of the old trees, Haniel carved amulets and figurines and altars, and Dido sold them at the inn to the people of the city, though Ashima did not like this at all. And many people gathered by the sight of the miracle and brought offerings to the Goddess that they loved.

And Adam asked Ashima then to help him free his father. To make an opening in space with her staff to the unknown place in Gehenna were Jehovah had bound him. And Ashima agreed to help. He wanted to save the father of Emim from the cruelty of Jehovah. But she said to Adam that he must know that revenge is no cure - it is truly a desease. And forgiveness is the only way to leave the pain behind. And so they went high up in the mountains. And also the nephilims were with them. And Ashima asked Adam to picture his father before him. And she pictured before her the mind of Adam. And she then could see Shemazai before her. He was beautiful. He was kind. She saw him laughing. She saw him singing. She saw him playing with his children, teaching them of magic, hugging his wife - the mother of Emim - and she felt much love in him. And she drew a circle in the air. And she opened up the Space. And her body was shaking, her arms were trembling. She could not see anymore. She was blinded. And a terrible smell filled the air. Her body was filled with nausea and sickness. And as she completed the full circle, a roaring thunder came and the whole Earth shook in its foundattions. And she fell hard to the naked ground, vomiting in floods, screaming a cry of unbearable pain.

She opened her eyes then. She could see once more. And she saw Haniel and Adam standing inside the circle. A cave. A dark, stinking pit. And under her the whole grund were still shaking. The Earth was still in uproar. It was shaken in its grounds. And she saw Haniel carrying something in his arms. A large, unshapely thing. And he and Adam stepped out of the gate. And Ashima lifted the staff. It was heavy. She could not close the gate. The pain was too immense. But Haniel gave her of his Heavenly power. He gave her of his Angelic strength. He put his hands upon hers. And they moved the staff. And the gate was closed. And the Earth stopped shaking.

Shemazhai was free once more. After thousands of years in his dark prison. He was all naked. His wings were broken and no feathers had he left. His skin was pale white and bloody, fretten to pieces by acid into the bare bones. His left hand had touched the edge of the gate as they passed through, and now hung dead and black in ashes on his arm. Of the lush golden hair of the Angel only a few thin gray strings remained, as delicate as old hay. And Haniel and Ashima swept him in with their cloaks. And Ashima healed Shemazhai with her power as much as she was able. But he did not wake up. But he lived still. Ineed, immortality is a cruel gift.

And the first thing that he uttered was a primeval scream, sprung from the ultimate suffering. And he opened his for the first time in thousands of years. They were of golden yellow. And for the first time in thousands of years did he see light. And he looked at them. And he spoke, though he hardly could. He asked the strangers who they were. And Haniel told him that he was the Arch Angel, and that Adam was Emim his son, and that Ashima was the Goddess who had freed him. Though Ashima was not happy about him saying so for she could still not believe that she was divine. But Haniel told her the truth now - what she had always known in her heart. That she indeed was Asherah Goddess, that she had fled from the rage of Jehovah down to Earth, and that she was reborn. And she knew now in her heart that Haniel spoke the truth. But neither could Shemhazai easily believe that they were those that Haniel had said. And he could not believe that this was the Angelic Haniel that he had known. And he could not believe that the little boy was his Emim - for Emim had been a grown man when they saw each other last. And he had held his son in his arm as he had died with the spear of Angel Gabriel in his heart. But he believed them at last it was in fact true - and that this boy that they called Adam was his very own Emim. For indeed, who else than the Asherah Goddess would ever have the Power to defy Jehovah and undo His will. And Shemhazai cried happy trears holding his son in arms once again.

And they rode to the inn then. And Dido met them at the door. And Haniel introduced her to Shemhazai as the new mother of his Adam - she who had given birth do him once more. And Shemhazai was cleaned and fed, and dressed up in proper clothes. And the inn was now to him home too. And he made then glove out of gold to cover his dead hand. And in time there were new feathers growing on his wings. Long feathers in shining blue. And his hair grew back and became long and blond and thick and lush once more. And even his dead hand woke to life. And his old Angelic strength was fast returning. Indeed, he was Lucifer once more.