destructive, they will be pests to our existence no different to the cherubim of our world -” At his words the commander released him falling slack within the ophanim. The seraphim released a sigh of realisation turning to look at Samyaza. “Apathy is instilled in my set, Yaza, I am incapable of feeling your pain.”
“No,” she whispered, feeling the vessel take a tremendous burst upwards towards the planet’s upper atmosphere. Realising the pilot’s intents Samyaza lashed out with her stillot, the weapon burst to flame crashing into the craft’s navigations. “Land upon Hermon! Return us to the ark’s coordinates.” The entity breathed uneasily nodding at her orders. At once the force pinning them all to the ophanim’s interior gave way as its momentum changed, extending out across Eden’s sky towards the mountain. Samyaza looked out through the clear interior noticing three other craft alter their course to match her own, a final craft however held true to its aim, hastily vanishing beyond her vision, doubtlessly travelling to board Heaven in efforts to alert Yahweh of all that had been discovered this day.
Samyaza rest back to secure herself for landing, her thoughts raced between Tamiel and anger at herself and her seraphim. All is lost.
“What are your intentions, Samyaza?”
“If your intentions are to destroy this world, then I will see it done in the company of those who still live to see our kind’s future secured. Your actions will destroy all life, not just the experiments. This world will be dead, just as your set destroyed the last.”
“Nature will find a way to survive, Yaza.”
“I saw with my own eyes nature perish, Heylel, our star crumbled in your set’s pursuit of advancements! Since our departure I had feared that Yahweh may herald the same fate upon any world we settled upon, but never you, Heylel.” She watched the seraphim’s face scrunch, raising his arms up an abrupt judder thrust Samyaza violently against the craft’s interior.
The navigator rest slumped unconscious against their panels erupting an instinctive reaction within the commander. She pushed the body aside taking up the levers and controls. “They approach once more, Yaza!” Heylel yelled before another crash resonated a crunching sound all about the ship thrusting the vessel awkwardly out of sync with their destination. A web of fine cracks began to spread across the craft’s exterior. Samyaza glanced back to see their pursuing ophanims’ limbs aimed forward in efforts to penetrate her craft’s shell.
“Secure yourself!” She screamed before jarring the craft’s acceleration. Their altitude suddenly sank forcing the ship roaring down at Eden’s surface towards a vast forest beneath. Beyond it rest the slopes and pinnacle of Mount Hermon, Samyaza breathed fiercely, constantly she glanced up and behind her, keeping tabs on her pursuers as she manoeuvred her vessel in erratic motions in efforts to deter their danger. Again a painful shudder wracked through the ophanim’s interior shocking Samyaza. Pain coursed through her where the vessel’s restraints held her to the navigation panel.
“We cannot land upon Hermon, Yaza, we will be easy targets.”
“Upon Hermon is not my destination, seraphim.” Samyaza quickly recognised the ark’s wreckage and the path which her crew took. Her ophanim roared over the jagged terrain until she located the small entry within the mountain’s roof through which her crew had initially left. “There.” She whispered, swiftly shifting the craft’s legs in efforts to slow it and alter its course. The ophanim juddered wildly as its speed diminished dragging Samyaza around inside. In the dark it became a struggle to pinpoint the small passageway in the cave ceiling.
Steadying the ship for entry another collision struck her from above and momentarily after from underneath throwing her vessel into the rocky surfaces below. They tumbled without control into the ceiling mouth. Samyaza thrust at the control panels around her. The ophanim’s legs sprouted outwards becoming rigid as they fell into the consuming hole beneath.
The solid shafts struck out at the cave’s walls high above its floor causing sparks to fly but they could find no holding. The ophanim scraped down the inside of the vertical tunnel. “Brace yourself!” Samyaza screamed. The vessel became unstuck falling a final great distance down into the granite floor. She whimpered as they crashed. Something trickled past her brow, withdrawing a hand she noticed blood and a sharp pain splinting the side of her head yet there was no time to rest.
Samyaza pressed at her thigh causing her visor to surround her skull before fiddling about the vessel in efforts to release its seal. With a hiss the hatch opened. She moaned, falling from the craft into the black cave. She struggled to breath, pain throbbed inside her and a feeling of utter loss consumed her. “Tamiel?” She mumbled into her headset withdrawing a stillot from her shoulder. Looking up towards the hole in the cave’s ceiling she noticed her pursuing craft perching upon the rim of the ceiling breach. Without waiting Samyaza hobbled through the cave, clutching her stillot the shaft burst ablaze enabling her vision in the causeway. “Tamiel, it’s Samyaza.” She blurted her words hoping desperately for a reply.
Her worries were met only by silence. “Samyaza!” Heylel’s voice echoed through the cave behind her yet she could not risk stopping, her trust in the seraphim had been shattered, he will destroy all things upon this world. Past the skeleton filled rooms, beyond the open hall in which Rafaela’s body still lay and through the scarcely open door Samyaza stumbled at speed. Once clear of the ancient way she pushed the experiment remains back into the hall from which it was attempting to escape and with a gurgled scream tried manically with each of her limbs and stillots to force the stone blockade shut.
She gasped awkwardly, unable to catch her breath in the panic of the moment yet with a blunt scraping sound the granite door slowly shifted across the walkway until the open end allowed but a slither of air between the door and its surroundings. She stumbled backwards, and turning with pace staggered up the cave’s long single entry corridor. The exit. With a rush of emotion she dashed for the open way, and bursting into Eden’s night fell upon her knees. The commander wept hysterically, resting against the mountainside. She extinguished her stillot returning it to her shoulder. You must keep moving, Yaza. She took some deep breaths before attempting to continue but could not find the strength to stand.
15.
Within Heaven’s bowels, hidden away in his personal quarters, Michael sat slouched, staring obsessively over some projected imagery of Mount Hermon. In his arms he clutched a child. His son. Born in the secrecy of a society built upon creation. “Your mother is in there somewhere, my boy.” He whispered softly, though the child did not react for he slept soundly in the safety of his father’s grasp.
Despite knowing the whereabouts of Samyaza’s crash site the grand lenses were incapable of displaying clear imagery of such minute objects, instead he sat, resting, waiting for some news upon the fate of Heylel. We must be free of the seraphim. The subject consumed him.
“High-malakhim, a lone ophanim returns to Heaven, docking in the third gate. You may wish to be present.”
“Very well, I am on my way.” Michael stood, carrying his child across the room to lay him down in a padded basin. The boy rest silently whilst his father watched over him for some time rejoicing in the moment of calm. “So alike you both look.” Each minor details upon his son’s face reminded him of his lost companion. “Rest, my boy.” He leant down and kissed his child’s forehead before turning to make a hasty leave.
Anxiety overtook the malakhim on his route, could he truly be dead? Despite all his efforts a small streak within him simply could not imagine or believe his set might be free of the seraphim. He took a deep breath before stepping into the launch depot in which the stray ophanim stood. Uriel stepped out from the vessel as Michael approached.
“What news do you have for me, malakhim?”
“My last report from Gabriel indicated Heylel had been brought down, Michael,” he pressed at his thigh to reveal his face. “Yet Samyaza guided their ophanim into an entry within Mount Hermon. Gabriel is making an effort to trac
k any routes that exit the tunnel. Heylel is within.”
“Have Gabriel use firepower to damage the ophanim, his life suit was ruined when they left Heaven, he will suffocate.”
“There is something you should know, Michael... The seraphim can breathe Eden’s air.” The huge malakhim’s single iris locked onto Uriel.
“You are certain of this?” His kin nodded.
“Certain, Michael. He was completely exposed to the planet’s elements, I have never seen a seraphim look so powerful. His eyes shone as brightly as Eden’s sun.” Michael began to nod.
“The atmosphere we poisoned him with. His immune system must have altered him. Incredible. If similar experiments can be successful on the lesser sets we truly can inherit this world as our own. A fresh start, without the tyranny of the seraphim.”
“Michael?” The high-malakhim sighed.
“I will explain in good time, Uriel. Order all malakhim crews to assemble to their gates immediately. The ophanim will descend upon Hermon. Go, with haste!” Uriel nodded repeatedly rushing from the depot. Michael could scarcely contain his excitement. Mere hope, mere dreams. They become reality.
16.
“Samyaza?” The commander shuddered with relief at the