I got within an inch of the Devil when he held up a hand and cried: “STOP!”
I barrelled into him at full force nonetheless, hitting him with my shoulder even as he dodged my sword thrust. We grappled, rolling on the stone floor. I felt like I was struggling with a tempest, an earthquake, a sea. A primal force that should have crushed me, had I not been sustained by faith.
“Astarte!” Azazel called in desperation, and I heard real fear in his voice. He knew that he could not get the best of me. I rolled off of him and bounced to my feet, keeping an eye on the Prince of Lies while preparing for the arrival of the temptress from the desert.
The ceiling disappeared, and she descended on dark wings to alight beside Azazel, who had risen to his feet. Her robes were a dusty crimson, with intricate armour on her shoulders and chest. Her blonde hair streamed out from her helmet. Astarte was lovely and terrible at once. She threw a form to the floor, another cowering prisoner.
“I’ve brought her,” Astarte told him. Her black eyes flicked over me with recognition and hatred before returning to her leader.
“Good. Ethan, perhaps you will recognize our guest. I believe she means something to you.” Azazel reached down and pulled this unfortunate soul’s hair to force her head up. I shuddered with anger when I saw her face.
“Mara! You leave her alone!” I brandished my sword, and Azazel made a halting gesture.
“Stay back, pilgrim! I cannot touch you, but I can certainly inflict an infinite amount of pain on her. Keep your distance!”
I have never felt such anguish. My beloved was in the hands of humanity’s greatest enemy, when she was meant for the glories of Heaven. It wasn’t fair. She had been good and kind for thousands of years, yet one bad moment put her here. It was just bad timing: had she lived a little longer, Mara’s love for God would have surely led to repentance for the death of Lamb. What kind of system was this? Where was the justice? The mercy?
“Let me make you a deal.” Azazel said. “Renounce your God, give up your quest, and I will let the two of you live here forever, in luxury. I can give you anything you want. Here, I am a god! ”
He let Mara stay on the floor, and stepped closer to me, speaking smoothly, his words like honey.
“It isn’t fair, is it? She is so beautiful, so perfect. How could God abandon her to this? How can He say He loves His children, when He leaves them here to rot? How could a loving God inflict damnation on anyone for all eternity?”
He smiled at me, and I could feel how charming this demon could be when he wanted to. “I’m not such a bad guy. I just have a bad reputation. God demands obedience, demands worship, demands your constant attention. I don’t ask for anything – I offer free gifts. I give people what they want. Is that so bad? Can I help it that they want sex and drugs, alcohol and violence? I’m just catering to the market demand. But all I want is to help people have a good time. What’s wrong with offering them that choice?”
Azazel seemed to think my continuing silence signalled my defeat, for he smiled at Astarte. Little did they realize that I was thinking, and thinking hard.
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May 31, 2008 at 5:31 pm
nomananisland
Ladies and gentlemen, some announcements:
1. The Surprising Life and Death of Diggory Franklin has won the readers’ choice contest for what I will be writing. It has started at http://www.gavin7w.blogspot.com if you want to check it out. Unless I have a lot of time on my hands (in which case it will be daily) I am going to aim for updates every Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday.
2. You can buy a print copy of No Man an Island at Lulu.com by clicking the button in the left-hand column at the top of the page.
3. Leave comments. I like comments. I learn from comments. I answer comments.
4. If you like my writing, learn from my writing, or just feel philanthropic, you can also donate to the cause, also at http://www.gavin7w.blogspot.com
5. Write a review for No Man an Island at Pages Unbound if you like it too. Once we have more posts up, I’ll be submitting Surprising Life there.
June 1, 2008 at 1:01 am
Fiona
I’m wondering about Dorothy and Rebecca and the Church of the Ephesians. They had Ethan killing demons right and left without any mention that it could be considered a sin. There didn’t seem to be any way to save the human hosts that these demons had occupied, or at least no attempt was made to do so.
June 1, 2008 at 1:21 am
nomananisland
Well, since the text won’t give away an answer about that, I see no harm in explaining it.
Ethan killed demons because of the motivation of the Holy Spirit. He was obeying God’s command. Mara’s sin wasn’t killing a demon (that’s kind of her job) but because her heart wasn’t full of the love of God while doing it. It was full of hatred instead.
It fits old school theology where obedience to God made almost anything okay. Spanish Inquistion? Hey, I’m doing God’s work and getting rid of infidels. Same deal with Crusades, witch-burnings…
There’s an underlying thread in the novel where maybe the ends don’t justify the means (which was in fact a theological principal, the origin of which I’m going to go look up).
June 1, 2008 at 4:07 am
sonjanitschke
I am possibly being humanistic, but I don’t really see why it’s wrong to hate a demon and to kill it because you hate it.
June 1, 2008 at 7:29 am
Brian
Nice chapter so is that the link for the new story?
June 1, 2008 at 7:34 am
Brian
Excuse me in The Surprising Life and Death of Diggory Franklin there is a typo;Sorry, Chris, my mine must have drifted. I think you mean mind. Just letting you know
June 1, 2008 at 12:13 pm
nomananisland
Thanks for catching the typo Brian.
As for the demon discussion concerning hatred:
There are two ways to regret sin. One is contrition, where you repent of your sin for love of God. The other is attrition, where you regret your sin because you fear punishment, but not because of loving God.
I kind of turned that on its head, because that’s the flip side of the theology. It means that all actions (theologically speaking) should be taken because they reflect your love of God. Mara’s murder of Simon Lamb was motivated by her hatred of him, not her love of her Creator. He wasn’t the first thing on her mind during the act. He was far from her thoughts at all.
Human beings can only judge an act by its consequence. By its result in the world. However, the Bible claims God looks at our hearts, the reasons behind our actions. Apparently God didn’t think Mara’s heart was in the right place.