Chapter 41
Azazel's robe was made of deep blue silk with thicker white bands of fabric stitched at the cuffs, collar and hem. The white neckline was bordered with a double braid of a golden rope looping in and out of the material, like a sea serpent rising and plunging along the water's surface.
This beautiful cord stretched, pulled by unseen hands, upward toward the heavens. As it rose, the collar constricted more and more tightly around Azazel's neck, which distended above the taut rope.
Azazel gurgled audibly, but at least the avalanche of words was stifled. With a loud tear, the bottom hem of his robe ripped free and began winding itself up, creating a fist-sized ball of white and gold. This shot violently into the Azazel's open mouth, further muffling the noise. Apparently even the inarticulate grunting was too much for Helel to take.
'What makes you believe you can walk away? Do you think I will let you, once again, abandon the cause you started? You stinking coward!' Helel spat the words into Azazel's face.
'You cannot forsake this any more than Gadreel or I can. We see this all the way through. You will not betray us like you did Quemel and Maleyan. You sicken me.'
Something pushed Helel roughly away. He spun toward Gadreel.
'Can you please help restrain him, unless you are busy?' Helel said.
A split second later, Azazel's ankles were pulled together, rigid arms frozen securely to his side. He struggled briefly, then, realizing the futility, the fight dissipated and he hung limply, pinioned by Gadreel's invisible tethers.
Helel turned back toward Azazel and addressed him much more calmly, 'I want you to understand one thing. There is no way out. If you attempt to repeat your performance of a millennium ago, I will go to the Kings and tell them you are the one who started this whole thing. You took impressionable students and filled them with seditious thoughts and now are attempting to deny responsibility. Do you understand that, Azazel?' Helel asked with icy intensity.
Azazel nodded his head, straining against the pressure of his gag in the process.
'Can I let you go without you acting like a fool again?' Helel asked.
Azazel again nodded and suddenly collapsed to his knees as the visible and invisible cords binding him released. He knelt on all fours, gasping for air and shaking in a spastic rhythm.
Gadreel studied their former trainer with pity and understanding. His had been as stunned by Helel's actions as the older angel. Azazel's reaction was quicker and only Helel's sudden and vicious response to the outburst silenced his own complaints. It was quite stunning how quickly Helel subdued a powerful arella, with much more experience. Gadreel had no idea what forces Helel utilized in restraining Azazel. Yet again his friend's capabilities surprised him.
The meeting had been a disaster. Helel informed him on the way to the throne room where they were headed. His nervousness increased as they neared Mount Kol and nearly overpowered him as he entered the presence of the Kings. Helel was frequently in the throne room and barely seemed to notice his surroundings, but Gadreel had never been and couldn't stop gawking at everything. Azazel was smooth and unaffected, only increasing his feelings of awkwardness.
Azazel spoke first and had, quite humbly, submitted the list of requests. He explained that they were there as the representatives of a large number of arella who were concerned that many of the rules being imposed were contrary to the stated will of the Kings.
Elyon spoke on behalf of the Kings and explained that the rules are put in place to protect free will. He said that freedom without boundaries created a chaotic environment for all. If everyone did anything they wished, no one would be able to lead fulfilled lives.
At this point, Helel interrupted, forcefully. Both Gadreel and Azazel were stunned by the demanding tone he used. He said the Kings were guilty of hypocrisy and the free will they spoke of was an illusion. He accused them of tyranny and demanded, on behalf of a force of millions of arella, that their list of demands, as he called them, be met.
Elyon replied that the rules are a necessity of a civil society and anarchy are a product of chaos, not creation. He explained that the very nature of the Kings is creative, which is both orderly and driven by specific rules. Chaos is antithetical to that creative principal.
At that point, Helel marched out of the throne room, with Gadreel and Azazel forced to follow along. In his fury, Helel immediately took flight and exited Mount Kol. It required several minutes of hard flying for Azazel to catch Helel and confront him.
So, as Gadreel watched Azazel crawling pathetically on the ground, he was somewhat sympathetic. He was also scared. The three of them, regardless of intent, had just given the Kings a list of demands. He was shocked that they hadn't been instantly vaporized. He wondered how long it would take the Kings to amend this oversight.
He began to speak to Helel, but a stern look and a shake of the head stopped him.
'Are you with us, Azazel? Or do I need to return to the Kings and explain the situation?' Helel asked.
Azazel nodded and stumbled away. He didn't seem to know where he was going. He just staggered blindly along looking around as if unsure which way to go.
'Thanks for waiting until he left. I don't think we should talk freely in front of Azazel any longer. He has once more proven his cowardice. But you have, once again, shown your bravery and steadfastness. I know I can count on you, Gadreel.'
Gadreel wasn't sure how to respond. Suddenly, all of his objections seemed liked acts of betrayal. But he needed to understand where they were going with all of this. They never spoke of taking it to this level. He only wanted to serve the Kings, not confront and accuse them.
'Helel, help me understand what the strategy is here. This is not what we talked about. You know we believe in the same thing, but I don't recall any mention of making demands of the Kings. Did I miss something?'
'Gadreel, this is the plan. Don't look so worried. I understand how these things work. Remember that my preceptorship is in the throne room. Everyone thinks the Kings will annihilate anyone who disagrees with them.'
Gadreel thought of his instinctual fear and nodded in agreement.
'The reality is it is completely against their character to destroy. Azazel is living proof of that. That sniveling coward has outlived his own rebellion by a full millennium.’
'But what about Quemel and Maleyan?' Gadreel asked.
'They killed a native,' answered Helel. 'They weren't executed for the rebellion. That is a story they allow to circulate to keep us in line. If Azazel hadn't been such a weakling, we wouldn't need to be here. This would be done already. But he failed to follow through, so we must. And we will follow this through, all the way to the end. There is no going back!'
'But, Helel, we have been saying we are defending the will of the Kings. Now, the Kings say these rules are in place because of their will. How do we justify moving forward when they explicitly said these laws are ordained by them?' Gadreel asked.
'Did you listen to what the Kings said? They said we need rules in order to have a civil society, which is, of course, correct. However, that does not mean the existing rules aren't wrong. We need amendments to the current legal framework. That is the real objective here. We need to have rules, but those rules should take into account our desires. When we serve as administrators on other worlds, we are forced to give the natives the ability to govern themselves. And yet, we, a much higher form of life, don't possess that right. We abide by arbitrary rules with no means of self-representation. Primitive, uneducated and backwards species have more rights and privileges than we. Why is it we alone lack the power to create? We have no offspring. Why?'
Gadreel could not answer. He wondered these things himself. It didn't seem fair they were denied the rights that other species enjoyed. But what could be gained by challenging the Kings?
'So what can we do to change any of this?' Gadreel asked.
'We've already done it. Actually, I should say you've already done it.'
'Me
. What did I do?'
'How may responses to your message came back?'
'About seventy-five percent of the messages were answered. I instructed individuals who received their correspondence and planned to comply, to send a two-digit response. Those uninterested, a single digit reply. We currently have about 750,000 affirmative responses, to 30,000 negative replies. I expect, given that rate, about 900,000 arella...' he stopped as he realized what he was saying.
'Now you get it,' Helel said, smiling. 'We have an army coming and a mission for them to accomplish. We are going to change things, my friend. You and I.'