Defending Heaven (eBook)

I

“ON YOUR LEFT!” I screamed. They were coming at us from all sides. This was supposed to be an everyday low level gather of intel. It had now become a fight for our life. The Suhtan were everywhere. I was fighting like I have never done before, and so were my men. “Watch your back!” I yelled. I could hear my guys screaming in horror as they were being taken to hell. 

How could this happen? How did I lead my men into this ambush and why did we not know? “Jacob, get to the Heavens!! Find out why the Brigades are not coming,” I called out. “I’m not leaving you!” Jacob screamed. “That is an order, Jacob. Get out of here!” I reiterated. He hesitated as he fought and then bolted toward the Heavens. “Godspeed brother. We are going to need him.” I said quietly. “Men on me!” I ordered. I was being sliced by the talons on the hands of the Suhtan. If I did not die by their hand today, it would only be by the grace of God himself. 

My men were nowhere to be seen. Their screams of horror as they were being taken to Hell by the Suhtan were unbearable. I could not save them. I am fighting for my own life and yet losing part of it watching them die. How? How could I have done this to my men? I screamed out in pain as one of my wings was ripped. I could not even see daylight there were so many of them. I kept trying to look to the Heavens to find some hope but even that was blacked out from my sight. If the brigades were coming, I would not even know it. I felt like I was fighting in quicksand. The more I fought, the more I had to fight to stay alive. Suddenly my trident was snatched from my hands. I reached over my shoulder to pull my sword from my back, and it too was gone. I was kicking and punching at anything that moved. I continued to hear my men scream in blood curdling pain. I screamed, “KEEP FIGHTING…. KEEP FIGHTING!” and it was then I realized I could only hear MY voice. Only MY heavy breathing as I fought these wicked creatures. Only MY screams of pain as they lacerated my body and ripped my wings with their sharp claws. 

My body finally gave out as they grabbed me. I hung there barely able to breathe from exerting everything I had. I was gasping for oxygen, my chest expanding and retracting with every deep breath I could take. I could hardly even keep my eyes open. My mind was still kicking and punching but my body just could not respond. I heard the screams of my men over and over in the distance as they were being dragged down to Hell. Their horror and pain ran through my head as the Suhtan kept me there, suspended in air. What were they waiting on? I wish they would just kill me. I led my men to their deaths and have nothing left in me to fight.

Killing me would be too easy. I will be made a slave and all of them will have their day with me as Hell will be my new dungeon.

Unable to raise my head from exhaustion, I heard a familiar voice. A hand grabbed my body around my chest and held me. It was the Devil’s hand. He laughed at me as he held me up so he could see my face and said, “I told you that you would pay for what you did. You should have taken my offer, Shephard.” He turned to his tortured souls and paraded me in front of them, showing them his prize. I heard them screaming joyfully as each of them got a look at me. “Kill me” my mouth pleaded, with what little breath my lungs could muster. I could barely talk as my body was savagely beaten and cut. I took a deep breath and yelled, “KILL ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!” with every ounce of energy I had left. The Devil just laughed in my face and said, “I have other plans for you, Shephard. Killing you would be too easy. I want you to pay for eternity for what you have done to me and my men.” I hung there lifeless. My white goatee was now red with the blood coming from my mouth. The Devil laughed for all the Universe to hear. He extended his arms and I heard him say as if in slow motion, “by the way……………I’m pregnant.”

I shot up from my sleep screaming and in a cold sweat. I was weak and dizzy. What kind of dream was that? I thought, “Gesa, pregnant?” How could this be? I was exhausted and sweating profusely. I checked my body for lacerations. I checked my wings for rips. It was a dream!!! My men were not dead and taken to Hell. I was breathing heavily as if I had just done battle, and my heart was jumping out of rhythm. This was a dream, but I was going to have a grandchild with the blood of the evil in them, and that was not.

I should have told Gesa. I should have gone against the rules and contacted her somehow, some way. This is all my fault, and I do not know how to make it right. How could I have promised my daughter that I would never let evil get close to her, and now it surrounds her in her own home. How can things have gone so wrong?

Jacob came running from the commotion I made. “Shep, are you ok?” he asked. “I just had a nightmare,” I replied. “How could I have let this happen? My daughter. How is she going to live with this? She will be unsafe.” Jacob calmly told me, “We have time. We will come up with a plan.” I looked at him and said, “We don’t have much time being that time moves so fast up here.” Jacob confidently replied “We will do what we can. Gather yourself.”

When I asked Jacob how the men are doing he said, “They are good. They are training and seem relaxed. They still talk about how they were going to take you down when they thought you were going to switch sides.” I chuckled a little and said, “I bet they would have too. They would have probably enjoyed it. Did you see the look on that beast’s face when I threw my trident at him? Priceless to say the least. He is not happy, and he vowed to get me back. I guess he has, considering my grandchild has the blood of the evil. I must find a way to purify the baby. There has to be a way to clean the blood.” Jacob looked at me and just nodded his head. “If there is a way, we will find it” he reassured me.

Just then Gabriel and Raphael came over saying, “Shep, there is something you need to know.” I stood up and stared at them both. Waiting for them to say something I finally said, “Tell me.” I saw Raphael hang his head and look behind him. I looked over his shoulder and noticed a figure walking toward us. “What is this?” I asked. “TELL ME!!!” I exclaimed; my voice excited from anxiety. The figure got closer and then I saw. I fell to a crouch as tears started to fill my eyes. WHY? WHAT HAPPENED? I could see him staring at me. He was clear as day to me now and I did not like what I saw. He stood in front of me and put his hand on my shoulder.

“Stand my brother” he said quietly. I stood and looked him in the eyes and hugged him. “SUTTER, not you brother. NOT YOU!!!! How did this happen?” He said “Shep, I lived a good life. I cannot complain about any of it. I had a battle with cancer and kicked its ass for a long time. It finally won.” “Your family?” I asked. “My wife is at peace and my daughters are strong women. They helped me every minute of every day to the end. I do miss them, but I made sure they knew I loved them before I went,” he replied. I wiped my tears from my face and smiled. “YOU ARE HERE!!! I am surprised you did not go straight to Heaven. Let me see your feathers, SPREAD THEM!!!” As I looked at Sutter’s wings, they were almost all white. I just threw my hands up like go figure. He quickly turned and said, “let me see yours.” He walked around me and then back to the front looking at me with a WTF expression. He asked, “Are those like military ribbons in Heaven? Did you earn all of those already?” Raphael stepped up and gladly explained to Sutter what the colored feathers were. He said, “Sutter, to get to Heaven you have to have all white feathers. This is the stop before Heaven, and the colored feathers are the sins from your earthly past.” Sutter turned to me and started to grin in my direction. “Don’t even judge me brother,” I said in haste. He then started to laugh at me out loud for all to hear.

“Have you met the Arch’s?” I asked, trying to divert any other questions he might have about the color of my feathers. “The Arch’s are your greatest allies up here” I told him. Gabriel stepped forward and handed Sutter his trident. “This is your weapon to defeat evil. As you wore it on your chest on earth, you will wield it here, and use it in its truest form for what it was meant to do.” Sutter said, “I know you are Archangels, but I see thousands upon thousands of warriors up here. Who are they?” Gabriel looked at him then turned to look at the Brigades of Defenders. “These men you see are protectors of Heaven. They keep any evil from getting close to Heaven’s gates. There are seven Brigades that fight to keep Heaven safe. Sutter, you are now part of SABAOTH!!! You are now a member of God’s armies.” I then saw Gabriel smile as he exclaimed “Sutter, Welcome to Defending Heaven.”

I hope you are not as much of a pain in the ass as Shephard. By the look of your feathers your stay will be shorter than his.” Sutter laughed and turned to me saying “they know you well.” I gave him a quick smart-ass smirk like “whatever, white feathers.” Sutter then turned to Jacob and said, “Jaker, how I have...