Piercing screams tore through a swirling mist, and the smell of smoke and sulfur choked Aaron’s lungs. No, not Aaron’s lungs—Kaemon’s. Golden wings spread wide; he circled above a large waterfall. The roar of the cascade poured into the river below, drowning out the angry howls of the demons swarming the lush landscape below. The war had begun. Lilith had returned to Eden from the Underworld to take revenge on Adam and his new wife, Eve.
Before Eve, Lilith was Adam’s wife, but when she sought the forbidden tree of knowledge for herself, Adam betrayed her to The Light. As punishment, The Light stripped her of her title as Keeper and cast her into the Underworld. Now, she wanted them all to pay.
Kaemon watched as a half-eaten apple fell from Adam’s hand, red skin bright as fresh blood against the spring-green carpet of pristine grass. As it hit the ground, the fruit shriveled, the shape caving in on itself. In seconds, it had decomposed, turning brown and then black, like someone had charred the edges of the skin. From the center of the mush that was once a living fruit, a funnel of smoke blossomed. It rose three feet above the ground and cascaded back down in a mushroom cloud before spreading across the landscape.
Hideous creatures erupted from the fog, like worms pushing their way to the surface after a rain. Some slithered, some crawled, and others stood on two legs like men with leathery wings protruding from skeleton-like forms. The garden was breached. Everything the demons touched died and rotted, their presence a plague upon the land, and he could feel their evil intent rolling off them like waves. Hungry, so hungry, they wanted to eat until satiated; life, beauty, meaning, they sought to take it at any cost, for her, Lilith, their mother, their queen, for revenge.
As the smoke cleared, animal carcasses littered the countryside. All the trees in the great forest lay twisted and dead. The taint from the demon horde killed every living thing it touched and turned beauty into desolation.
Dozens of Elite angels followed Kaemon, weapons at the ready. Righteous anger burned in their hearts, fueling their power. Thunder rolled across the sky, dark clouds gathering over the horizon, moving fast. The war had begun.
Remiel, Zephon, find Lilith. I want her essence flung back into the Underworld now. Do you understand? The rest of you, spread out. Take down as many as you can. Kaemon relayed the message through his telepathic link with the rest of the host. Be careful, the enemy has taken the Qeres fields.
Eden was the only realm where Qeres flowers bloomed, from which came the poison that killed immortals, angels, and demons alike. Lilith knew exactly where the flowers were cultivated; she tended the garden herself before her banishment and commanded her army to rip out the purple flowers by the roots and coat their own weapons in the deadly juice of the plant. The raw poison wouldn’t do as much damage as a proper Qeres blade forged in the fire of the Arcadian sun, but they would be dangerous enough.
Tucking his wings to his side, Kaemon started his descent, circling toward the epicenter of the destruction. What had been grass was now nothing but dust. The evil taint released from Lilith’s poisoned apple spread, a black plague across the land.
There, in the middle of the chaos, kneeled a girl in the center of a blackened ring that spread outward for miles. Eve. Adam’s new wife. Kaemon could feel regret dripping from her like rain. So this was her doing. Disguised as a serpent, Lilith had led Eve astray. Her emotions pulsed with shame, her heart crushed under the weight of her betrayal. Long, brown hair cascaded against her bare back and past her waist in sweeping curls. In her hands, she clutched the other half of the apple.
Smoke writhed through Eve’s fingers, evil trying to escape, but she wouldn’t let go of the tainted fruit, wouldn’t let the rest of the demon horde touch her beautiful home, not like Adam had. Adam’s disgrace drove him back inside the cave to hide from what he’d done, a coward. Kaemon sensed her determination and courage, but he feared her desire to correct her mistake was a little too late.
Refusing to give up, she pursed her lips and grabbed the closest container she could find, a small, carved, wooden chest, and dropped the remaining apple into it. It would take more than that to hold the rest of the demon horde, but maybe it would buy the angelic host a little more time. He had to admire her courage.
On her knees, Eve clutched the container that kept the rest of Lilith’s children from being loosed on Eden to her chest. It quaked as the trapped demons pushed the lid, trying to escape. She wept in fear and remorse, tears rushing down her cheeks to fall upon the polished wood. Kaemon watched in awe as a rainbow of phosphorescent runes etched themselves upon the box, a new prophecy writing itself to bring balance back to the realms.
When the tears of Eve have turned to blood and her sins have turned to flesh, the key will fall. For love is bound by the power of the Trinity. Their destiny is written by chaos and betrayal, and on the first eclipse of the eighteenth year, the voice of the sacrifice will break the lock, restoring darkness unto the light. By this promise, be compelled.
Somehow, her regret and desire to right the wrong acted as a catalyst, calling forth an inner power. This was something beyond the control of The Light. An intricate system of checks and balances was in constant play to ensure no one realm dominated over another. Kaemon had witnessed many a miracle that kept the scales from tipping one way or the other for too long. There were loopholes within loopholes, and it was the job of the Dominions to keep track of all the threads and find ways to gain the upper hand.
In the celestial hierarchy, Kaemon belonged to the first order of angels called The Powers, and as a Power, a warrior Elite, part of Kaemon’s job was to restore order to chaos. Keep the box away from Lilith, keep her from finding a way to open it and gaining the key to unleashing the rest of her army.
After the last rune blazed across wood, a bright light flashed, sealing the box with magic, and the prediction faded like invisible ink, but Kaemon’s memory would never let him forget what he’d read as he hovered transfixed above her shoulder.
Thunder cracked, and a rift opened in the ground before them, startling them both from their stupor. A demon rose from the crack, eight feet in height with hollow eyes, horns like a ram, and a long, skeletal snout curving down into one sharp bone tooth. Spikes protruded from his furry back and shoulders like lances, and his armor appeared to be made of cobwebs and smoke. Another crack opened behind them. Six serpents with bodies as thick as tree trunks slithered through the rift. One reared back to strike the girl, but Kaemon was faster, chopping its head from its body. Black blood spurted from the wound, the tail still wriggling.
How was he so stupid to let down his guard for a second? One simple task, protect The Keepers until this was over. Wind whipped at his tunic as he took to the air, drawing them away from Eve as best he could. Grabbing her chance at escape, Eve darted to the right, making for the cave, but she stumbled, and the chest fell from her hands. It tumbled end over end until it landed at the edge of the rift.
Leave it, save yourself. Kaemon used his telepathic ability to guide her, but she disregarded him and scrambled to retrieve her charge, putting her directly in the path of the large bone demon. Such a stubborn child. Now he would have to rescue her. Before Kaemon could reach her, the bone demon snatched the box with one hand and wrapped the other around Eve’s throat. Holding them both up in triumph, it let out a howl that shook the ground.
Eve choked out a strangled scream, clawing at the exposed bone and sinew on the creature’s arm, trying to get loose. But the monster laughed and shook her so hard Kaemon thought her neck might snap.
All the fire of the Arcadian sun raced through Kaemon, and he shot straight into the air. An arc of blue, like a bolt of lightning, cut the demon’s head from his body. Smoke poured from its severed neck as immortal poison ate away at his essence and turned him to dust before he hit the ground. The box fell from the ashes of one hand, while the girl tumbled from the grip of the other. Lilith’s entire army howled in rage and turned all their attention to him.