Ex Inferno Ad Caelum

[Vayahakas]

I will post here a work of mine, Ex Inferno Ad Caelum. I would greatly appreciate comments. Be warned, I'm not a very good writer anymore.

 

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I.

 

It has been in the time that I have taken in life to step out of the shadows and into the meadows

I stand on this rock, blasted and weather by the frozen rain and torn by the miasmic haze

In this time, I shall come to tell of the journey I have had, so that your children are not blinded

Inside this moment, I talk from the dark waters that drenched my ashen soul and freed me in whole

 

For beyond where the shadow of the spire pierces the murky horizon, I stood a man quartered

Felicity had no call to me, and the songbirds did not sing my name, for I was always blinded

Forced apart was I in weakness, wrath, whinging, and wickedness, the fruit borne of a violent branch

From where the words I speak hail, listen! For in this, I was soon let to see the feathered rays of light

 

Off the path of my soul, did my rags burn and blindfold fade, and I was in the Abyss of Hell

Oh, those wicked lands I saw, where the men did the vile and dank fog embraced every soul

Obscene and gluttonous dogs of putrescent metals, thick with sludge covering their loathsome cogs

Ostentatious in their hunting, as they tear the ground for caked dirt and ilex to fuel the flames

 

Never had I seen the madness, that never I disgrace the reader with, in any time every before

Nothing had these men thought that was holy or pure, they wandered to kill with rocks and stones

Now had I taken to the ground, for as I wandered these years, I could only think of my wounds

Night was eternal in my heart, and I ask… Had I become one of these? Naught in good could I see

 

Listen to the ravens that trickle famine and sow the seeds of pestilent waters to flood the wastes

Loam and dust cry in anger as they bring the water to foam, the blood to howl, and the mud to flow

Lust and agony take a heart so slowly, assassins that hold a league long knife to bleed the clouds

Leave me be, worthless hearts and demons of rape, for a soul cries out this night to leave this land

 

Yea, I had no longer the capacity for hope’s azure blossoming to take my flesh and salve me true

You must see I have nothing left to do; all that is left is a fleeting pain and my climb to the world

Years have passed that I have licked poisoned sands and crawled on my belly like an iniquitous serpent

Yesterday and today are different now, and the hands of a clock shall cut the rope of nine slaves

 

When I had my resolve, I took upon my arms and hands of talents the Feather of Anubis, in the night

Whittling at rock for every era of this world with my deformed talons of rotted bark and mangled flesh

What blood was lost in foam and flow upon the crimson rock was but my small price for freedom

Why I stayed in madness, I know not, but nothing short of miracle defined how my life was shaped

 

Earth divided as I awoke, and I stood in a field of goldenrod blazing, basking in the reviving sun

Every ray splashed upon me turned to the wisp of an amber light, as each healed a blade’s nick

Even in the razor was light, for upon the bulk of a machination were seven spliced rays of moonlight

Each man can open the hundreds of locks upon Elysium’s door, but many fade into Acheron too quick

 

So in the field stood four pillars, and a fifth of ilex and piled f@&#!ts chained in vines, each an omen

Slain dragons lay on three, and coiling around a fourth was a serpent of wind, water, waves, and ice

Shingled plates of armor made of waves adorned its prideful figure and its whiskers were zephyrs

Said it to me, “Call in a vernal rain, and I shall take you from the darkness.”. And so I have now

 

And stoic stood the figure upon the fifth, a vulpine wonder so brave and heroic in its stance on high

Adorning it was ten plumes, each a different colour, each to speak of an omen, each bearing an amulet

All shall be said of these, for they are the keys that unbind, three are known and seven hide in the dark

At this point, the fox said, “In every virtue of the heart lies he who inherits the earth. Learn.” Soon

 

We see viridian, the grace of love, auburn of the way of concern that heals, and amethyst, of control

We see sapphire, scarlet, jade, marigold, and orchid, but we do not feel them, and we do not know them

We see nothing, we are blind fools that walk the dirt roads, and none can be superior if none can see

We see we must progress… As the dragon comes to enrapture me, I remember the fox’s words… Amen.

 

 

II.

 

If only we saw the light earlier, we could have stopped our tragedy. We could have ended the pain and the suffering and the misery. Listen now, for I will tell you of our world and how it is shattering. This may be but my final chance. My final chance to tell daemons how they are crawling into the ashes that consume everything and my final chance to end this madness.

 

I rest my self on the mountains, far beyond the wind in the noise. I must. I stay where it rains on the mountain, because my soul must bath in the waters of recollection. An empty life indeed, if one does not feel but a drop of rain. Rain defines the torrents that roar upon the waters of the soul, and to be truly whole, we must feel them again and again until the whitewashing has melted away.

 

My darkness is ever growing, and it smothers me. Upon my ebon sinew I form, the vines and the gnawed roots take hold as I ferociously battle with all my willpower and mind against Utima’s Master, the one who takes upon himself to cause all misery. He roars in fury, to divide the sky and rain upon our world pillars of basalt and granite that split and crack to unleash rivers of iron and lead.

 

My eye is blind and drowned in the murky waters, and my blindfold shall return soon. But no blindness can ever come with a ray of like, vapid as shadow because it flows like lightning coiled around quicksilver. So I will tell of what my eyes saw while my vision remained, for it is a horror to witness that which is the lifeblood of everything you stand against in plain sight.

 

I looked to the heavens and saw a great swirling tempest, ashen gray, which rained desolation upon the earth below. Upon it rested a great dragon, which clutched tightly to Terra’s stars in its slumber, as it foamed out deplorable muds and breathed vile smokes that wreathed the air and choked the world. Upon the dragon’s tail lay seven milliard keys, as it taunts the burned doors in the Abyss.

 

The dragon had thirty lesser horns, each adorned with a crown of clay. The dragon had four great horns; each more wicked than the last, three about the last. The first had seven halos of tar, the second had seven halos of cuprum, and the third had seven halos of gold. The fourth pierced the sky, for it was thirty cubits long, with every cubit bearing a chasm equal to its bearer.

 

The dragon also had seven claws on every foot, each black as the night. The dragon’s scales were as blood, red as the innocence shed by its bearer. Draped over the beast was a robe of the west wind, which haunts the ground by its deceit. The dragon bore four bangles on each wrist and ankle: One of clay, one of cuprum, one of iron, and one of gold.

 

Upon the robe of the dragon were streams of white water, poisoned by lies. It is not safe to drink from the rivers or streams so long as the dragon stays. The last thing I saw was that the dragon wore a crown, a circlet of stone with seven spikes on it. With these spikes, it gored the heavens as the dragon thrashed in its sleep, and the skies rained blood.

 

My blindfold came, and I thrashed as I slept in the darkness. There were times I saw the light, but it always evaded me. For all that I worked for, I felt I lost everything. I had become the darkened monster I wished to forget. My chains returned, and I screamed with every fiber of my soul, my soul that was wailing in horror from the return of my torment. Ex Inferno ad Caelum, I thought. But nothing changed.

 

 

III.

 

Was it days? Was it years? I do not know anymore. I was blind, and time did not exist in my world. There are no clocks, there are no memories. There was nothing but pain… pain never subsiding and never relenting. The ebb and flow of time was replaced not by the ticking of a clock, but a heartbeat and a twinge of pain. In my world, there was nothing. I had lost everything.

 

One day, I awoke… but I was not on the mountains. I was in a forest, surrounded by a long forgotten world. Vines curled about my whole, roots had bound my legs, and the mosses and grasses covered my skin. I was a prisoner of bark and blade, no freer than I was before. I had forgotten everything I had learned. I was nothing, nothing more than a mite in the void, dust in the zephyrs of Terra.

 

Where was I? What was I? Am I? There were so many questions… but no answers. I was alone once more. I had no one to talk to and no voice to soothe my soul. I had lost more than my worth, I had lost my life. What was there for me now? What little I knew was now dead, being nothing more than a memory I cannot grasp.

 

And then I heard a sound. Sound… a thing long forgotten. I didn’t even remember what sound was like. Something was here… but what? What saw reason in my world? I am a monument of the past, I hold no treasures. I heard no words, only more sound. What could it be that was coming my way? Was it even coming my way? The answer came, as a figure emerged from the bushes. It was the fox.

 

The fox came towards me and said, “Your purpose on this earth has not been fulfilled. You must learn. You must embrace the lost. For, know this well… much of mankind has lost it volumes more. They revile it, they loathe it. They curse it and call it evil in the darkness. But man shall gnash his teeth and curse the light behind closed doors. Look and listen! I shall show you the ways of the world.”.

 

I wanted to answer… but I didn’t remember how. I don’t understand… These lips… how do they work? Does this jaw move? How do I learn if I cannot speak nor hear? What makes sense? Can sense even exist? So many questions… but it hurt to think. I wanted to speak. I moved my jaw and my lips, but nothing came. Hoarse vibrations, but nothing came. And so I tried for what seemed like ages.

 

And soon, an answer emerged. I said, hoarse as could be, “Who… who are you? What are you? I… I have so many questions…”. The fox spoke, and said to me, “My name is Havana, and I am a Chayil. We are the guardians of light. To each Chayil is a tail, to paint the colours of the world of light. I am a Great Chayil, and I have ten tails, to paint the minds of men with virtue. Your race is in danger.”.

 

I said, confused by this onslaught of knowledge, “My… race?”. Havana told me, “Your world is dying. You have summoned the Greys, the vile hounds known as the Heress. Mankind has evoked the destruction of the world, because of his blindness. So the time of the Heress draws near…”. I said, “What are… the Heress?”.

 

Havana said, “They are the blackened beasts, our antithesis. They bear a tail that slashes and wounds the world. As they move, the world darkens, as they feed off of the horrors of those who summoned them. They feed on the blackness of hearts, and corrode the world with the darkness they release. In a single fog of repulsive mist, they shall consume the world.”.

 

He continued, “Come! See what horrors must be in the days to come! The world is approaching its end. Terra is dying, dying because of the wickedness that is washing life away. You must see nature of the hearts of these men, so you will be repulsed by them and stay pure. This planet is dying, and you must learn, for all else have shunned the way. Look and listen! For I will show you the ways of the world!”

 

 

IV.

 

I awoke, but I do not remember my sleep. Everything was black, much like the life that preceded it. But I saw through the cobalt mist the silhouette of Havana. Beyond him lay a great plain, with thick tar and scorched grains littering the fields. Havana said, “Look! Look to the rivers, and see the loathsome vice before you!”. And with this, Havana parted the clouds so that I may see the people.

 

My face went white with horror. The very sight of the creatures before me made me recoil. I saw a great many people, leprous and covered wholly with boils and deformities. These hulking masses knelt by the rivers, and were vomiting poison into the river for eternity before and after. Their necks were bound by twine and they were draped in fiery robes, furthering their pain that they loved to receive.

 

Havana said, “These are cold men. They speak of love and raise a banner of peace, but it is naught but a whitewashed wall. The men of earth drink the water of the rivers, and it poisons their minds and souls. And through this, the numbers grow. Their miasmic foam is endless, and they know not how great of carnage their hatred spews. These are the Men of Carnality.”.

 

As the twisted men continued their endless retching of terrible liquids, a black fox with a large tail and eyes as red as flames appeared, and stood at the mouth of the river, watching the destruction of the vice of Carnality. It stabbed the water with its tail, and it murdered everything living in the water as the water became black like coals. Havana said, “It is the first Heress that you see. Nine more must come.”.

 

The Heress turned its gaze to me, and Havana quickly put his tails in front of me to block the Heress’ gaze. Havana said, “Do not look a Heress in the eyes when it looks into yours. For it shall make you of the violence it serves. It is how they garner followers… by preying on those who let their guard down. A lion does not attack the great and virile antelopes and wildebeest, but the sickly and weak instead.”.

 

The Heress roared in fury, and emitted vast black fogs into the sky from its gape. And the skies rained tar, and would for seven days and seven nights, as the Heress slept in its loveless marsh. Oh, what a vile vision I have seen in this vice, of unspeakable hatred and deception. Havana knew my thoughts, and he said, “Do not hate these sinners. They are victims of flesh. Love them, but detest their sin.”.

 

What is this? This world… is this truly what is? Have I been blind to the destruction around me? I wish no more questions… I want a solution. But before lips could make words, Havana said to me, “You must learn of the virtue that rules the antithesis of this world: Love. For those of love cannot do such hateful violences. Look and listen! For I will show you the ways of the world!”

 

V.

 

And the greater world was shown as I opened my eyes. As I opened my eyes… I saw many wonders. I

saw many men, clothed in whole with dark leather. Above their heads were bells of brass, which rang

three times every year for their ways, but never for a year that was before then. And I saw a great pillar,

which had, from it, many hundreds and hundreds of thousands of poles, each bearing a white banner.

 

Havana turned to me and said, “This is the world of Love. Each of the men in this land live in chastity

and silence, that urge may ordain no befouling of their immortal souls. Kindness is not the tongue of the men of Terra. They have spat loathsome venoms at each other, venoms that turn bark to amber and

bone to rock. In this virtue, the utmost control is needed, for by fruit, the mind is dark.”.

 

And I looked to a stream, not of water but cloud, rainless in nature. Oh, a drought in good way! And at

the river’s mouth stood a Chayil. The fox howled, and then proceeded to paint the river with its tail. And with that, grass and flowers did bloom along the world, to the bounds of the domain of Love. Havana said, “Do you understand this world? Or is this but riddle and parable to your heart?”.

 

I said to Havana, “I do not know the way. I see these men, but I question if this is Paradise. For all the

beauty I see, I cannot take to my heart that only this defines the Chayil. I do not believe Love is the only key. As it is, it is not whole, and it cannot be the way.”. And Havana said, “For your kind, you have a power of Love. But you do not know all of what it is. Tell me, what of the men of Carnality?”.

 

I said, “Their ways are vile, but I cannot commit to my heart their violence in trying to stop the ways of

the world. I shall drink the rain, but the river ordains no wisdoms. For the beings of the Heress I saw, I

can only hold pity and mercy. They are hurt by the violence their heart lusts after. Love not their ways,

but the sinner is not the sin.”. And so Havana said, “Come with me. Follow me to the river.”.

 

And so I went to the bank of the fog at the cusp of the river, and waited for Havana to speak. But he

only responded with an action, his action being his first tail dipping into the water. Havana wiped the tail across my first finger, and its colour turned to the viridian of the tail. Havana said, “If violence upon you shall return compassion, you are a being of Love.”.

 

Havana said, “But the world is dying. The teaching of one shall not save the planet. Men are sick and

blind; they gnaw their tongues and pull iron yokes in a great fire. They have taken in their hearts the

ways of the Heress, and they have pleased the detestable hearts of the Heress. The world cannot be

saved by men, for they hold the razor. Look and listen! I shall show you the ways of the world!”.

 

 

VI.

 

Sad was I to leave such beauty, but I was to learn more. A purpose… could there be one hidden in all

of this madness? Why am I the one chosen? Have I seen something long lost? I do not remember… It

was all lost. Perhaps I once knew Love. I do not remember through the fog. But it was time, and Havana covered me with his tails so I may not see the light I do not comprehend.

 

And when Havana revealed the world, a greater nightmare than I had ever remembered was before me.

I saw a fissured world of wildfire and cracked lands, desolation beyond the comprehension of man. The

sky was choked by the void, and the world was to eternally rain molten lead to sate the wicked men

below. The men I saw were even more horrid monsters than those of Carnality.

 

The beings were constructs of ebon vines and rotted flesh, taut and tightly bound by the melted iron

that is draped thin over their grotesque form. Their skin is not visible as my eye can tell, for a fog of

darkness and miasmic wisps covered them wholly. Their eyes were of a waxxen jaundice, devoid of pupil and iris, for they are blind to the men they have slain.

 

They held barbaric weapons, maniacal deviations of a wicked mind, meant to drain life to make rivers

and fields in the honour of fire. The world was splinted by metal and glass, long morphed and fused by

lightning. The eyes of the Wrathful lay here, no doubt be held in my mind. They can only see the drink

they love, and the weapons that are their idols.

 

They shout from high places and hang banners of courage and valour, but the lies are a thin veil holding a wizened face of hyacinth nectars that are caress by pikes and spears. The men do everything they can to destroy the land, for they are vagabonds in a killing field. Upon their bodies lie an aegis and bulwark of bone, and they shall take skulls as their honourless helmets.

 

One of these beasts came to me, and put between my eyes his demonic blade, that he may take my

whole as a carcass to parade about the world they live in. Fear turned my blood to ice, and I only could

wish the nightmare I saw was a phantom, a hallucination, a dream. Havana painted upon the trenchant

with his second tail, and the creature roared and shrieked horribly as fire turned it to ash.

 

Havana said, “This is the land of the men of Wrath. They parade a mission of honour and service as a

masquerade to hide the truth. Beyond the two-faced mask, however, there is a horrid reality. I do not

know why these men love murder, but I can only try to save their victims. Men, women, and children

scream in pain as their bodies become molten, and as their limbs are razed from them… A true evil.”.

 

I was on the ground, shaken and cowering, curled up, for I was deeply afraid. I asked Havana in my

sorrow, “Why do men love war and violence? Why do they love hatred and pestilence? Why do they

worship blood as their drink? I ask you, Havana… Why do these beings of hatred love that which I could not wish on my greatest foes? Why do they trivialize human tragedy so?”.

 

Havana said, “For all I know, I can never answer these questions. I will never be able to understand how anything with the capability of love could love nothing but taking the lives of others for ideology and pleasure.”. I asked Havana, “Why? Why must I see this?” Havana said, “The world must be in darkness before it can be in light. Know this well… Your race is dying, and we shall not be painters.”.

 

I did not know what was meant by this. Did he mean the death of the Chayil, or did he mean that they are not the ones to destroy? Why does our race act the victim when we rain the fire and lead, when we hold the blade, when we have blood-soaked arms and legs by our own doing? I walked off, that I may try to escape the bitter madness I saw. But little did I know that it would be wholly eclipsed very soon.

 

Eventually, I came to a horror that mirrored the Hell of folklore in every way. A great ring of caked and ashen dirt lay about, enveloping a fiery whirlwind that tunneled to the core of Hell. I walked to the fiery cyclone and peered down, but Havana, who had followed me, goaded me back forcefully with his tails. Havana said, “Do not wander upon the edge of a knife, lest you be cleft in two.”.

 

As Havana spoke, I felt a terrifying wind that turned my blood as solid as bedrock, and I saw the sky become redder than blood. In the sky, I saw a blazing nova of flame that boiled the air and drew sweat from my face. Never had I felt a heat that even compared to this, an incendiary ball of light that made a furnace of the world. And from this nova, as it burst apart, emerged the Heress of Wrath.

 

But something was different. Its brazen eyes of fiery red and orange did not blink. They did not even move. I walked to the Heress, and even though its gaze met me, I felt nothing different from how I was before. I stood in front of the Heress, and slowly passed my hands in front of its eyes. I said, surprised, “It’s blind…”. Havana called out and said, “Be wary! It may be blind, but it is very dangerous!”.

 

The Heress, however, knew I was there, and pounced on me, holding its tail to my throat, as it said, “Right you are, Havana.”. The Heress then slashed away at me viciously, enjoying its slow kill. Havana ran to me, and as the Heress went to kill Havana, it was struck by three of Havana’s tails, scarring the Heress and turning its blood to the colours of the tails.

 

The Heress slashed Havana, creating a nick across Havana’s face, and the Heress came to get me once more. I backed up to the rim of the whirlwind of damnation behind me, and asked the Heress, “Why? Why?”. The Heress replied, in a voice cold and loveless, filled with malice, “You do not get it. I want EVERYTHING to die.”. And as it raised its tail, Havana rammed into the Heress’ tail.

 

The tail slit the Heress throat, and as its eyes shot open for the last seconds of its life, the Heress gasped and let out its final breaths as it fell down the whirlwind and into Hell. The Heress weakly stabbed its tail into the earth as it was falling, and as it pulled its tail out, it said, “And so my Master receives me, whole and complete…”, as it died. So came the second plague of the world.

 

Blades rose up and formed iron chains among the earth, choking it, and the skies poured torrents of molten lead. Havana said, “We must leave now. The world is dying further, and more must be taught. You must learn of the ways of Compassion, so that you may not fall into Wrath or Carnality.”. And Havana took the two of us away… far away… from the world of madness.

 

 

VII.

 

When my eyes opened, I saw a world even more beautiful than Love. Hard to believe such perfection could exist, but perhaps my ignorance made me realize that perfection was not the world I thought it was. But I can say it was beautiful. Yes, it was beautiful… more so than anything I had ever seen in my whole life… However long that has been.

 

I saw around me a great ocean, with thousands of great lilies floating in the water. Upon each stood a virgin, in gowns of white, draped with a silk curtain of ten tassels over their arms. Each virgin sang a note for eternity, making a wonderful chorus comprising the most heavenly song my ears had ever heard.

 

The leaves of cherry trees slowly descended from their lofty clouds of satin that lined the heavens, and the sun shone forever, never setting or rising. I saw many men walking on the water, for the water was as if solid ground. Blades of water made grass, and ripples held still to form firm earth below those who held compassion. For those who held violence, the waters consumed them as they endlessly sank.

 

I emerged from my speechless wonder, and said to Havana, “This… this is amazing!”. Havana said, “This is the world of Compassion. None can be hurt, for they are protected from hatred by their ways. Those who come in that are hurt and abused, they find rest and care. Many of those who were helped stayed. Some were ungrateful, and the waters took them. A heartless spirit is not welcome here.”.

 

Havana said further, “Follow me. You are hurt, and must be saved.”. Havana walked into the water’s depths, and I followed hesitantly. I found that I struggled for breath, yet Havana was fine. I was not sure if it was my lack of the virtue or Havana’s power that afflicted me and protected him. We came to a great sphere of water, in which laid a temple and a city.

 

Havana wrapped his tails around me and went through the sphere’s outer shell, emerging and reaching dry air, where we fell a great way to the temple. The tails softened my impact, but I was still shaken by the drop’s landing. Havana brought me into the courtyard of the temple, and released his tails’ grip. A man walked to me, looked at me, and then poured water on my wounds.

 

I was taken aback by how little time he took in doing this, but what amazed me more was to see my wounds vanish before me. I was confused… for I was not of their virtue. I looked to the man, and asked him, “I do not understand. Why have you healed me? I am not of your virtue. I am lost, I am a leper in your world.”.

 

The man simply smiled and responded, “What man goes to save the saved? Is it not the lost that need help the most? We go by the words and actions of the Teacher. Let it be known to you, young one, that he healed all that needed it. Even the greatest sinners are given chances at salvation and life. You are no different. We do not reject men for their hearts, but rather, we honour, love, and serve them.”.

 

Havana said to me, “It is not right to cast men away for their ways or who they are. The vilest of being can ask for bread and water. You have much to learn, and in so little time.”. I said to Havana, “I am confused, Havana. You speak of learning, yet I know not the fullest scope of what I must learn. A map is not useful at all if you know not the destination, for with or without that map, you will wander.”.

 

Havana said, “I have said very much, but perhaps I must tell more. Much may I know, but I know not everything.”. Havana elaborated, “There are ten virtues and ten vices. Seven lesser virtues and vices and three greater virtues and vices that encompass them. Then lay the greatest virtues of these, which are the entirety of the ways of the ten virtues or vices in their spectra.”.

 

Havana continued, “The ten virtues are Love, Compassion, Charity, Suffice, Humility, Patience, Diligence, Control, Tolerance, and Knowledge. The ten vices are Carnality, Wrath, Gluttony, Vanity, Pride, Sloth, Incontinence, Intolerance, and Ignorance. The greatest virtue and vice are the names of their Embodiments, the Chayil Havana, who is me, and the Heress Challal, my antithesis.”.

 

Havana continued, “My name, Havana, means ‘Understanding’ in the old tongue of the Chayil. The name Challal means ‘Void’, and represents the state of lacking all understanding. The Chayil and Heress are not given names at birth, but usually after we have shown a dominant virtue or vice for several hundred years.”.

 

Havana continued, “The Heress and Chayil were not always separate. Once, there were only Chayil. The Chayil are much like Seraphim and Heress are much like Nephilim. We were made as Terra’s counterparts for the Seraphim, in fact. We were bound to being the painters, the guardians of light and virtue of the world.”.

 

Havana continued, “But like the Seraphim above, we too can fall. Some of us loathed the concept of light and servitude to our Maker. So many of us went into defiance, and went against the Lord. Our hearts turned hard and our coats blackened every bit more unholy we became. Our eyes grew to be like coals of fire and our tales became weapons of hatred. We became a divided race.”.

 

Havana continued, “I am the eldest pure Chayil, but Challal was the very first one. He was the most wondrous and beautiful Chayil of them all, but he now lies as the most horrid and hideous Heress. He was once our leader and he once pleased the Lord. But his heart became cold and he lusted for power over all. He became as evil as the Nephil he emulated, the most evil and vile of beasts.”.

 

Havana continued, “I am Terra’s counterpart to the Archangel Michael, and Challal is Terra’s counterpart to the Dragon Lucifer. We both have unbelievable power, and we both once had the greatest purity, like those Seraphim we were the counterparts to. And like the ones we were the counterparts of, one of us ascended as one of us descended.”.

 

Havana continued, “Lucifer was once the most beautiful and holy of angels. But his heart grew envious of God’s power. He rebelled against the Lord in hope that he would become the most powerful being of all. But he was defeated, and cast to Hell, opened to receive him. He fell from glory because his heart had become hard. Just like Challal’s did.”.

 

Havana continued, “Lucifer was twisted over the millennia, and he became putrid and vile. He grew in darkness, and slowly descended into his draconic form. As he rang his cursed bells, many Seraphim came to him and festered into the same monstrosity the Dragon had become. What a terrible thing, that something so beautiful had destroyed himself. Just like Challal did.”.

 

Havana continued, “This eternal war of Chayil and Heress, Seraph and Nephil… It has been culminating to the inevitable: The complete and utter destruction of Earth and everything on it. The Heress shall make a final effort to destroy everything and shall send the ultimate vices to destroy Terra. And they shall succeed. I shall battle Challal to end the war, and then we shall both die.”.

 

Havana continued, “At the same time, the Seraphim and Nephilim shall create war in the heavens. The Dragon and his Nephilim shall challenge Michael and the Seraphim, and they shall fight to determine the fate of the Paradise, which we call Elysium. Lucifer shall lose the war and be sent once more to Hell, the nightmare land of Tartarus, and he shall rest in the waters of Acheron in turmoil.”.

 

Havana said, “When he rises again, the Chayil shall not be there to stop Lucifer. He shall bear the corpses of the Heress, and corrupt men for one thousand years. And then, when fire and plague end, and all is in ruin, the Saviour, the Arbiter of Heaven and Earth, shall come from on high to destroy all opposing him with a single word: His name. And he shall destroy the Dragon Lucifer forever.”.

 

Havana continued, “The Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet shall all be thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where they shall be tormented forever. Terra will be gone, and the heavens shall rejoice in the victory of the Lord forever. The Heress, Nephilim, and the Unholy Trinity shall be gone for eternity, and there will be no pain or sadness… only eternal happiness.”.

 

Havana said, “Know this is not your fault. The Heress answered the call of your race, and the Nephilim bend their knee to their master’s will. Everything will be washed clean, and Paradise will be all that is left. Though none but the Father know the date, we accept this fate. Mourn not for me, for my death is necessary for life. If the death of the Chayil shall be a harbinger of victory, we shall gladly die.”.

 

Havana finished, “I have told you all that you seek. I have told of the loom of time and what it shall hold for all. Do not ask for what fate holds for you. It does not matter. We are all part of a greater plan than a simple isolated tale. And I ask of you, so that time can proceed in every bit of the way it is planned by God… What of the men of Wrath?”.

 

Now that my cup, sate, had fulfilled a thirst great, I said to Havana, “The darkened hearts of men do not matter. When their own destructive nature marks them and gashes them deep, I shall not finish them with a sword, but I shall take my own rags to clean and dress their wounds. Their ways may seethe below the surface, and they may be darkened like a starless sky, but compassion makes all right.”.

 

Havana said to me, “You have the spirit and wind of Compassion inside your soul. Great are you, for you know more now than many of your kind ever will.”. Havana then ran his tail across the ground, and wiped my finger, colouring it auburn. Havana then said, “We must go, for the end draws close. Clocks start to shatter, the end comes. Look and listen! I shall show you the ways of the world!”.

 

 

VIII.

 

And it was then that I had been sent to another nightmare. The same place, much like Hell itself, glistening in blood. The land was different, but I saw no difference. These vices are now one and the same under the same unholy and godless banner. My eyes had already opened, but were now starting to see. I always had my eyes open, but I was merely a man who was truly blind, lost in a crimson fog.

 

I saw before me lavish castles of white marble and great fields of wheat and corn everywhere. Men who were dumb and bloated hung from their castles, gorging their endless gaping jowls with fistfuls of bread drenched in their perspiration, repulsively vacuuming food for all eternity. With every bite, tears of silver ran down their rotund, wrinkled, and vile cheeks and as the tears fell, they set fire to the earth.

 

Men of loathsome form and unspeakably putrescent manner walked the fields like beasts, foaming and rabid, as they hurled gales upon the grains and maize of the earthbound, to raze the lands and destroy the lifeblood of the virtuous. And the men consumed the broken earth, taking pleasure in their total destruction as their flesh distended and their bones nearly shattered from the weight they bore.

 

Havana spoke and told me, “These are the men of Gluttony. They are vile beings; ones that take absolute pleasure not only in the destruction they cause, but in the morbid transmogrification their flesh endures as their bodies slowly are destroyed by the accumulation of the mass of their bodies. Oh, what repugnant creatures, that take pleasure in the destruction of every last thing!”.

 

Havana continued, “The men of gluttonous ways are simple and disgusting. Of every vice, these mask themselves the least, and they revel in their foulness. Let me tell you, what you see is what the extent of their thin veil is. We only wait further for a single thing: The Heress that rules this realm of squalor and repugnancy.”.

 

Not a second had passed nor a clock had ticked from the final word, and we beheld the Heress of Gluttony upon the highest tower. It spewed its horrendous fog of ebon ash to the heavens, and sent forth upon the world great plagues that would glorify self-indulgence as the wizened became wizened further by a dark hatred of life.

 

I saw the roads, now a thick lacquer of bubbling tar. I saw the castles crumble and rain massive slabs of of marble upon the earth, which turned to jade as the marble struck. I saw the fields become a storm of sand, a great hurricane borne of self-worship and hedonistic pains. Everything that I saw had turned to smoke in the wind slowly, as the world faded away.

 

Havana said, “There shall be nothing left of those who do nothing but destroy themselves. Deep in their veins is an arsenic wind that wails in arias of metamorphic debauchery. Let nothing be left of this vileness!”. With those words, Havana covered me again, and proceeded to save me from a nihilistic world of pain and anger.

 

 

IX.

 

And so I beheld yet another land of glory, the land of Charity, if my memory does not fail me in the

recollection of Havana’s list. Every land I have seen of the Chayil and pure men has been more beautiful than the one before, and this one followed in suite. Every time I believe I see Paradise, I see a great beauty that redefines my views. Perhaps Paradise is so much more than divided virtues…

 

I looked upon the world before me, and I saw a glistening land, the ground paved in alabaster. I saw

great forests of trees made of crystallized myrrh, which held three white ribbons from each of their

branches. From the sky came a gentle rain of tourmaline that fell amongst the mist of turquoise beads.

The roads were paved in silver and the fields were filled with sapphire coated flowers. It was amazing.

 

Upon each tree laid a white fox, draped in clouds of beryl. And upon the ground was a great many men

and women, clothed in shining white eodorics that bore seven symbols set in platinum across the chest:

A star, a heart, a ewer, a bell, a yoke, a pot, and a set of hands. And draped over their shoulders was a

sun that shined as bright as their virtue did, and was as great in size as their journey was long.

 

At their ankles were greaves of gold which bore six symbols set in onyx, three to a greave: a sickle, a

knife, a feasting table, a mask, a flute, a mirror, and a coinpurse. The greaves were as large as their pain,

and impeded them as much for every bit of power they lacked in Charity. A hollow note emanated with

every step, as low as their pain was great. What I saw was a beautiful land… but it was not perfection.

 

Havana spoke to me and said, “This is the land of Charity. In this land, no man or woman or child in

virtue goes hungry or becomes thirsty, for they have consumed bread of life and living water. These

people shall only be without the pain of hunger so long as they lift the burdens of others, lest they

perish. For the food is to be given to the poor and destitute, and no man deserves the alms.”.

 

I said to Havana, “I look at these men and women, and see that their virtue is isolated yet unified at the

same time. I see them, and see that they are brought to pain by however weak they are in the other

virtues. Why do these people suffer for their vices, when no drop of rain in this flood is distributed upon those of Love and Compassion? Why do any in virtue suffer?”.

 

Havana explained to me, “Charity is a reflection of every virtue. Each virtue reflects all others, but

Charity is formed by the natures of the other virtues practiced in perfection. Charity requires a loving

heart, a caring soul, a humble mind, a modest being, an honest arm, and a giving spirit. To be one of

Charity, a person must be strong in all virtues. And whatever they lack, that shall be pains’ impeding.”.

 

I questioned the complex nature of virtue. Perhaps, though, this was because I was incomplete in it.

Before I could ask any further, Havana asked me, “The candles have been put out by dark hearts. Men

who are blind spread blindness like a disease that consumes. For all the destruction they cause, show

me your understanding of this world of light!”.

 

I responded, “A fire consumes, and those who enter the flames shall be fodder as well. Any who tread in death shall spread it further. A man of vilest form is the man who consumes himself and others by his actions. The only way to stop the flames from consuming the world is to douse it with water. A flood must come, for creation rebuilds all. Once the destroyer dies, what power does his kingdom hold?”.

 

Havana said, “A light appears, but the shadows cannot fade. For the hopeless world we hold, it is joyous that even a single one can be saved.”. Havana then ran his third tail across my ring finger, and coloured it sapphire. Havana said, “Three vices have been shown, and three virtues as well. The time has come for another vice to be shown. Look and listen! For I shall show you the ways of the world!”.

 

 

X.

 

Havana had again taken me from a glorious land, and I was taken away to another nightmare. Before I

was shown the world, a lot went through my mind. I thought about all the beauty I had been shown so

far, but was saddened that every glorious land led to yet another form of Hell, where I was reminded of

the vile wickedness of the world. Every time… I left Paradise to be thrust into Hell… or so it felt.

 

Havana revealed the world, and I opened my eyes hesitantly, for I loathed the monstrosities I saw in the

worlds of vice. When my eyes opened, I saw I was in a earthen cave, with no exit and no lights shining

from the outer world. The only light I saw was from the dim glow of the bright sulphur that boiled

below. Whatever creatures lived here, they loathed light, without any doubt.

 

I felt the burn upon my flesh of the molten stone that eternally dripped from the ceiling. I felt a deep

pain as it ran into the scar of the bite wound made by the Heress of Wrath. Havana said, “A poison from the vilest lips runs deeper than water from the purest pitcher. In all you do, fight the darkness. No more darkness exists now than before.”.

 

I looked forth into the dank realm before me, and saw what may have been the least distorted men

I have seen so far. Much of their bodies was normal, but a great shagged growth of violet adamant

coated their right arms, coated in lines of bubbling nacre. The crystalline growth continued, and

overtook much of the right and centre of their chest and the right side of their face.

 

Their right eyes were topaz spheres, deeply flawed, with great scars of blackened blood making their

irises. They laid upon enormous stashes of jewels, and when approached, they would violently and

brutally murder the approaching beings as if they were feral, foaming beasts, consuming the flesh of

their foes in an inhuman manner.

 

For all eternity, they would clutch with their great, beastly demon claws their hordes of jewels and

treasures, as if it were a part of their soul. I was not quick to believe these could be human beings,

but their multitudes were so great that I could hardly thing of some other being it could be, as they

outnumbered even the Nephilim and the Heress combined.

 

Havana said to me, “These are the men of Avarice. They murder and rape to accumulate jewels, which

rot besides them as they slowly die, for they would give their life before abandoning a single possession. They will do any horrible thing to anyone who approaches a single treasure of their horde, and they will constantly live in paranoid, rabid fear as they attempt to grow their abhorrent stashes.”.

 

I said to Havana, “How greatly I pity these beings. Their house has become their soul, and they are so

consumed by their wickedness that they will atrophy and waste away, losing every moment of life to the nature of their sickness and obsession. There is nothing they see as beneath them, if it means preserving their trophies. How diseased the flesh they bear is, for they become their desires.”.

 

Havana said, “These men are as much their transformation as they are consumed by their vice. The

world shall become poor by a thief’s hand, and I pity this world, for the men it holds are lost.”. As he

finished, the Heress of Avarice appeared, and the Heress retched skyward his black fog, which consumed the ceiling of the realm in whole.

 

The jewels and treasures became silver and dust, and they beasts that loved them flew into murderous

rage, and they took it upon themselves to slaughter their kin in their idolatrous lust for their lost jewels,

each blaming another for the destruction of their ill-gained riches. Truly these men are a facet of

Gluttony and Wrath, but are a fusion indeed begat of the two vices.

 

Havana said to me, “There shall be naught left of this world in the times soon to come. I shall spare

your eyes the sight of the violent destruction of this realm, and shall show you another virtue that you

must learn in order to grow.”. And so I await eagerly the sight of a new world of wonder and beauty, as

Havana covered me with his tails and took me away from Avarice.

 

 

XI.

 

When Havana moved his tails and let me see the world, I was not so much amazed as I was confused. I

did not see a gleaming paradise, but rather a plaintive land, with simple houses of stone and dirt roads.

The men were not of a glorious form, but wore robes of sackcloth and baked twine. I was so used to

seeing magnificent lands that the idea of a simple land puzzled me greatly.

 

Havana looked at me and said, “Why are you confused? Is the concept of Paradise I have engraved into

your mind one of lavish lands and spectacular monuments? Beware the thoughts you hold, for this is the road to Pride and Vanity that you travel. The land you see before you is truly glorious, but it is not the kind of glory you have come to expect.”.

 

I responded, “It is merely that this world comes as a surprise to me. I have seen three worlds prior of

glorious form and marvelous beauty, indescribable with any word other than my concept of perfection.

But I am starting to learn that perfection does not lie in a single virtue or in a typecast land. I am learning perfection is within, not without, and that this is the way to show my flawed mind perfection.”.

 

Havana said, “These men have forsaken a world of riches and splendor for a life of poverty. For as long

as they are without possession, all their needs are taken care of. They give all their possessions to the

unfortunate, those struggling to survive. This is the land of Suffice, and should not a heart of Suffice

have the mercy upon others to be willing to die to let the innocent live?”.

 

I asked of Havana, “But questions still lie in my mind… What comes of this road? What is to happen

when all is said and done? Is the extent of my purpose to be a conduit of these omens of the world, or

one who reviles the ways of men to pursue perfection?”. Havana responded, “You are still lost, and I

shall guide the way once more. You are still so blind that you do not see the truth.”.

 

Havana said, “When all the virtues and vices have been shown, the King of Hell and the Heress shall join under the same banner, in chains and fire. Challal and his Heress shall assault the Kingdom of Terra, and Lucifer and his Nephilim shall assault the Kingdom of Heaven. Challal shall take his life and I shall take mine, and our powers shall end both our lives. Our kinds shall battle, and die thereafter.”.

 

Havana continued, “But you must remember this is a vision, and not time itself. You shall be returned to your time, and what choice you make after is yours. If you cannot hold the power of your virtue without isolation, you must isolate yourself for the good of man. But if you can hold the power of your virtue without isolation, you must sow the seeds of virtue upon the earth.”.

 

Havana finished, “Know the greater picture is of your race, and not of you. But if you cannot save a

single man, you will be a pillar in obscurity. So know that as time runs thin, I must ask you of what this

virtue means, so that you can grow further into virtue and further out of vice. So I ask you, what is the

way of Suffice.”.

 

I responded, “Perfection lies not in the splendor you hold or all you have garnered, but in how great

you can become with as little as possible. Suffice is nothing more than that needed to survive and not a

single thing further. For if one is poor, they must steal to survive, and if one is rich, they may very well

fall victim to every vice of the world.”.

 

Havana said, “And so you learn of Suffice. At this point, you have learned more now than you did before you became blind. You have grown in four virtues, when you only knew three before. You see my tails, but don’t understand the significance of many of them still.”. Havana ran his fourth tail across my little finger and coloured it scarlet.

 

Havana said, “The time has come to leave this world. Beware of the next place you shall find yourself,

for it is a very thin stride to either side that would cause you to lose everything you have learned, and

your life and soul with it. I cannot stress enough how much care you must take. Look and listen! For I

shall show you the ways of the world!”.

 

 

XII.

 

When the world was revealed, I saw a dark land, and felt very little ground beneath my feet. I looked

below, and saw a platform about a cubit across. I had an immense sense of fear that coursed through

my veins as I tried to keep my balance. A great fall was on either side. I would not have thought that

Havana’s words would have been quite so literal.

 

Havana spoke and said, “This is the land of Pride. Below lie men who have fallen into their own all-

consuming self-veneration, those who are so completely lost in themselves that they have lost the

ability to know the world around them. For this, they eternally live in ebon haze that shrouds the truth

and the world from them.”.

 

I looked below me, and saw men whose flesh and meat had become thick growths of vines and

thorns. The mask they wear is thin, and each bore a veil that was torn and razed by the south wind.

Havana said, “Call a snake by no other name, for these men are their vice. And know that a rose by

any other name bears the same thorn. They see nothing beyond their face, nothing holds meaning but

themselves.”.

 

The men below writhed in agony as they gored each other with their thorns, but their complete

ignorance to others made them believe it was self-inflicted. I cannot believe there could be much to

the minds of these infernal beasts. But perhaps I should pity these men. For they live in a self-inflicted

blindness caused by their horrible, destructive self-worship.

 

Havana said, “Little exists in their minds. The little that does exist is self-centric exaltation. In a sense,

they are their own gods. This is not to be confused with vanity. The vain can care for others, but hold

themselves in highest regard. The men of Pride believe in nothing but themselves. A Heress would not

exist to their eyes, but it exists nonetheless.”.

 

And as he finished, the Heress appeared. It seems to be that a Heress is not one to ignore a summon,

a challenge, or a call. The Heress ejected its dark vapours to the sky, and a jet black sphere surrounded

the Heress. It slowly grew, and started to consume all it touched. The sphere grew and grew, and would

soon reach me and Havana. Hopefully, Havana would take us away soon.

 

Havana covered me with his tails and said, “Nothing breeds nothing. Destruction breeds destruction.

There shall be nothing of this world, and I must take you away from the destruction, for it will consume

this whole world and us as well. A fifth virtue is to be shown to you, and not a moment too soon.”. And

Havana took me away as this world was destroyed.

 

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Originally, each paragraph was four lines. Sorry for that mess-up.

[Vayahakas]

Comments... anybody?