Unholy Empire: Chronicles of the Host, Vol 2: Chronicles of the Host, Book 2 Read Free Page A

ultimate deliverance, or in lieu of, our ultimate damnation.
    “All of you are in agreement with this covenant and its fundamental declarations. This text shall go down in our own earthly chronicles as witness to the justice of our cause. Tinius, I appoint you as the Chronicler of the Morning Star, with the duties of recording the teachings, my prophecies, inspirations, and history throughout the remainder of this great struggle. Since you raise so many questions, perhaps your talents will be better suited to answering them. We must preserve an accurate rendering of this conflict for posterity.”
    “Brothers! We shall shortly convene again as to the further conduct of the war. Until then—farewell.”
    “So be it,” they said in unison.

    Chronicles of the Host
    Creation’s Grief
    The holy angels grieved with the Father as the children made in His image were cast into the darkness of a fallen world, never again to return to the near-perfection of Eden. Thus were the lines drawn quite neatly between the Kingdoms of Light and darkness. The battle, begun in Heaven, would be played out on earth, which seemed a grim place now, as creation itself reeled from the disaster that the sin of rebellion had brought to the universe.
    For his part, Lucifer, despite all of his presumed powers, realized that his only ability to wage an effective war lay in the willingness of the humans to be deceived. Thus the war would be waged by both sides for the hearts and minds of future generations of humans. But the Father, in His grace and love, gave a measure of hope to the humans through the promise of a coming one, from the seed of the woman, who would crush Lucifer once and for all. The holy angels would aid men in the delivery of this Seed; the fallen rebels would seek to delay or destroy the Seed.
    It was a great mystery to the angels of Heaven, as they watched Lucifer’s rebels take authority on earth. Why didn’t the Lord simply assume control? Why did He delay the end in favor of the Seed of the woman? What no creature, angel or human, anticipated was that the conflict would be fought not in the pride of war, but in the humility of love—not by the taking up of arms, but by the laying down of them.

C HAPTER 2
    “How can these weak and disgraced creatures live like this?”
    A’dam looked across the flatness that stretched before him, endless and uninviting. The sun, as always, bled through the heavenly canopy that was suspended between the greater heavens and the earth. Heavy with moisture, the air that once kept Eden vibrant now sustained life apart from Eden.
    The man observed with a sigh that the bit of garden he tended was badly overrun with weeds—again. He cursed under his breath as a thorny plant scratched his leg. Bending down, he began tugging gingerly at the offensive plant, trying not to upset the melon sprig next to it. Other weeds flourished nearby. The man shook his head in disgust at the losing battle he waged as Eve walked up, their two sons behind her.
    “The only thing this ground is good for is weeds and thorns,” A’dam said, pulling violently now at the large thorny plant that had scratched him, not caring for the tender young shoots around it. “These thorns seem to grow overnight. And all these choking vines. And the mist doesn’t nourish the earth as it once did.” He finally pulled the thorny plant out of the ground and tossed it aside. “How I miss Eden,” he said, wiping his dirty brow. “If only…”
    He stopped and looked at Eve with the look of one who had blurted out an unmentionable. Since the catastrophe at Eden, the subject of their disobedience to God was a sore one—particularly since A’dam still held Eve largely responsible.
    “I’m sorry, love,” he said. “I only meant…”
    “I know,” Eve replied. She looked at the desolate wilderness that surrounded them, encompassing the whole of the land of Havilah. “I also long for Eden’s comforts.” Her gaze shifted to her