Chapter 22: The Beginnings

“I, along with my other half, my younger twin, Michael, was born out of the first released energy of the High Forces. However, there was an immense difference between us – I was created out of the black energy which the High Forces had borrowed, in order to make me a destructive power with a kind heart that would work for them and eliminate that same Black Energy which sought to destroy their creations. Michael was born after me – the High Forces deemed protection as a top priority, so, the destructive force in my form was born first, in order to provide that protection. As for Michael, he was born as the angel of life and therefore the force of creation. The High Forces created him with a kind heart like me, but purely out of their light energy. Thus, the High Forces gained an advantage over the Black Energy. Before the two of us would be born, their strength was equal – nothing could live as it was destroyed immediately upon its creation. The balance of those powers provided the stability of Nature and maintained its Essence. However, after we were born, I began to eliminate the Black Energy with my destructive power, working for the High Forces, while Michael helped them speed up the creation process. Thus, it became able to maintain life, and the world – the natural energy – transformed. The High Forces managed to create the other archangels and angels. Some of them were given offensive powers from the High Forces and me, in order to help me battle the Black Energy.

Nature, on its part, gave birth to nature spirits – the creatures strictly under its domain – who would uphold the balance of the newly-transformed world.

As for Black Energy, it is the primal source for demonic beings. They always were our prime rivals. I never had mercy on them, as I was a black energy creature too, and therefore, the sense of mercy was unknown to me.

After the creation of life was complete, the High Forces, the angels, and Nature created the Garden of Eden, where they let all the creatures of Nature live peacefully. The natural energy was the blend of the light and the black energies. The creatures of Nature which resided the Garden of Eden were plants and animals – creatures with only the sense of instincts, thus, above the demonic level, but still not completely sophisticated. In order to look after the Garden of Eden, the High Forces decided to combine their powers with the natural power, and created the first two humans. They breathed life into earthly dust, and thus, the first man – Adam, and the first woman – Lilith, were born. They had heavenly souls but earthly bodies. In order to hold the balance between the material and the heavenly worlds and not overwhelm the universe, the High Forces decided to appoint me not only with the duties of destruction but also death – I would kill plants, animals, and other creatures which had lived long in the world, so that they could return to their primal source of power and be able to transform. Adam’s and Lilith’s souls had the longest lifespan.

So the time passed. Adam and Lilith deeply loved each other and enjoyed their time in the Garden of Eden. They were overseers of all the creatures. However, like all the opposite powers in the world, this male and female had many differences, too: while Adam was more inclined towards his heavenly gifts – the mind and the spirit, Lilith was closer to her earthly nature – the body and the heart. Thus, Adam cared more about his thoughts while Lilith listened more to her feelings. When I saw such a strong attachment of each of them to only one part of their being, I understood these creatures were incomplete, thus, they might cause disasters in the future. I knew it because I too, the only one of all angels, held two natures within me – the light of the High Forces and the darkness of Black Energy. However, as an angel, I had complete control over myself and was balanced. Those two, on the other hand, couldn’t hold themselves in check. Of course, no one but I could see it, as I was the only one who knew how they truly felt – the off-springs of two powers, thus not entirely stable. I knew that no matter what I told the angels, they would not understand me, so I decided to visit the High Forces and inform them about my fears. However, they too told me not to worry, for they believed in their ‘children’. I was truly disappointed, but as I knew the High Forces’ word was absolute, I silenced myself and waited. I kept a close eye on Adam and Lilith from then on.

I soon began to grow even more concerned as I noticed how Lilith started to form a close relationship with a low-level creature – a wolf. It was an animal, thus, not sophisticated enough. However, Lilith, due to her being more inclined towards her earthly feelings, believed to be forming a bond with the wolf – a special bond, that is. I decided it was a grave mistake as she was far higher than that. She possessed a heavenly soul and there was no way she could be so close to a wolf that she would spend less time with Adam, her own kind. But neither angels nor the High Forces seemed to worry – they thought it was just Lilith’s extremely kind heart, so she would soon forget about the wolf once it died, and I knew its time would come sooner than that of Lilith’s – my being the celestial reaper, no one could know that better than I.

I got really frightened when, once I descended at the river to kill some fish which had passed their time, I overheard how Lilith had already given a name to the wolf, and it was not just a simple name the High Forces had permitted them to give to animals. They had permitted Adam and Lilith to name only the species of plants and animals so they could distinguish them, but this name Lilith had given to that wolf was unique to that wolf, thus, it meant she accepted him as her blood kin. In heaven, there was a rule on who we gave names. We gave them only to our kin – our children. Lilith, having named the wolf, had broken one of the highest laws. She had accepted the wolf in her family, which was unacceptable just as it was for us angels and them humans to accept one another as blood kin. To let you get it more easily – you can’t imagine accepting a plant or a stone as your brother or sister, can you? That was the same – one who is not your kind, cannot be your family. So, I realised – Lilith had become attached to material things. If I didn’t sever that attachment, something terrible would happen. As the High Forces and other angels didn’t seem to worry, I decided to make my move, for my responsibility was to destroy things for the sake of the common good and the high laws, and by destroying the chain formed between Lilith and the wolf she had named – Zeev, I would bring peace back to our realms.