48. Judge and Executioner | Beyond the Firmament: Tales From the Cosmos

Beyond The Firmament

Tales From The Cosmos

48. Judge and Executioner 

- Written by Gift C Enyadike Jr

The resurrection of Da Suun brought a new level of understanding and inspiration among the hosts, so much so that many of them sought to create life as well and set out to take new worlds in the ever-expanding cosmos. 

Their newborn peoples would be the first casualties. 

They would never be allowed to sin and desecrate the heavens as all the Jarwan peoples had done. As the humans on Teyra had done. 

This was the will of Diohlatas, and Hasira, blinded by grief, rage and hunger that he fueled, was his hand. And he would point her in every direction.

The would-be Jarwa made no effort to fend them off. The Arbiter was beyond them. And the Titaness? Out of the question! Especially in the state she was in. No, most of the angels simply fled as their worlds, their entire systems, were devoured. 

It took everything for the Umtlik to hold the veil of silence, to keep mortal ears from hearing Hasira's roars and the screams of millions.

The Paadlan saw this rampage and kept a wide berth. They were not the targets of this campaign, but any within reach would not be spared. 

It was truly the two of them against all that was, all that lived. 

As they advanced, they encountered Karmisi, planet and Jarwa, and the latter did not recognise Diohlatas.

"Come no closer, agent of Evil!"

"Evil, I am not!"

"Avenger?" She asked, and then she saw Hasira, "What have you done?"

"What have YOU done but enable those abominations?"

"The Ner An are my children!"

"Your 'children' are dead! Finally, bury them, I will!"

Karmisi began to pull away, taking her roaming planet with her. But the Titaness' sheer magnitude pulled harder.

And then the archangels, Huun and Laam, descended upon them with the aim of driving them back. 

"Flee, Crimson!" Huun commanded.

"Thank you."

"Thank the Father."

"Yes. Thank the Father." 

As Karmisi, world and Jarwa fled, Laam lunged at Diohlatas, only to be blocked by the Hasira.

"I had called you sister and brother," Laam said,  "And now you serve the Evil One?!"

"Serves me, she does. Serve justice, I do!"

"Justice for whom?" Asked Huun, "The Son is risen!"

The white embers began to appear on Hasira's form as she struggled against Laa. She was finding clarity of thought, of realisation, of horror.

"It matters not!" Diohlatas declared, "Bled, he did still. Broken. Defiled. Rejected. All for them! It is a victory for the Evil One, and it will not stand!"

The embers died down, and with it, her reason as her mind was taken back to Da Suun's execution, helplessly watching it over and over.

"He has fought a losing battle since the beginning!" Huun declared,  "He has only delayed the inevitable. You have seen it time and again. He had sown a seed of separation, and a bridge was built! The offspring of the woman had struck the head of the serpent! As was foretold! As was promised to them-"

"They... are... UNWORTHY!"

"Are YOU the Father?"

"The Arbiter, I am! Guilty, they are! And if they are His image, HE is guilty! You are ALL guilty! Fury, take them!"

The embers completely disappeared, and Hasira roared, driving back Laam, who recovered quickly.

"You blaspheme, Avenger! For that you will SUFFER! Come, brother!"

Laam and Huun charged once again.

Diohlatas was weakened, as all fallen hosts were. But Hasira had never been like them, though she had joined their ranks. She had once annihilated a sibling of Da Vaada, a child of the One Before. 

Yet, before the archs, together as they were, it meant absolutely nothing. And as they dealt with her, the Arbiter escaped down into the Depths, where the Puraserpa slept. Where they could not follow, as their radiance would arouse the beast, and he, having lost his own light, would not be seen.