Free Reluctant Demon by Linda Rios Brook Page A

complete stillness. No sound interrupted the unmistakable sanctity of the moment. Something unprecedented was about to happen on Earth. I myself had chills.
    Satan knew it also, and he paced back and forth fever-ishly trying to anticipate what the Holy Trinity was about to do. I had to see what was going on, so I convinced myself the warring angels weren't interested in me, and I slowly stood and joined the others. I could see the Holy Trinity clearly as they moved together as in a dance over the surface of the newly restored planet. In such perfect harmony, it was difficult to be sure who was doing what, but I dared not go any closer. Ruah Ha Kadosh hovered as Yahweh (or was it Adonai? I cannot be certain—it was just God) stood upon the face of Earth.
    Then God said, "Let Us make mankind exactly in our image, male and female. Let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
    It was impossible to distinguish among them as the Trinity. God touched the earth, scooped mud into His hands, and spat into it, forming a kind of clay. Right there in front of us He made a human being and named him Adam. Then, Yahweh or Adonai or both—what does it matter anyway—kissed Adam, and Ruah Ha Kadosh entered his nostrils, and Adam came to life.
     

 CHAPTER 9
    I WILL CONFESS TO being stunned by Adam's appearance. He was the spitting image of God, if you will pardon the pun. There was only one of him (we wouldn't figure out the male and female part until later), and beyond a doubt, he encompassed the essence of the triune God. I believe that may have been the moment when Satan slipped over the edge into complete madness.
    There is no other explanation for his behavior. His wrath exploded into bleating howls that he bawled and growled into the expanse above as he threw aside every demon unfortunate enough to be near him.
    At the time, I could not think of any reason for such unrestrained rage. "No, God!" Satan spewed the words as he burst out from the edge of second heaven. "This creature will not have You."
    Satan was behaving like a scorned lover who was bent on destroying not only a rival but also himself in the process.
    With nary a thought to the consequences, and fueled with passion and jealousy, Satan flew with force toward Adam to destroy him. In less time than a flash can occur, Michael and the warring angels descended around Adam with their swords drawn for battle and the certainty of victory on their faces. I was scared half to death, but I don't think Adam had a clue as to the danger he was in. He stood there not appreciating the scale of warfare about to breakout over him.
    Of course Satan could not pass the angelic line of defense.
    As he drew near them and saw their flaming swords, he came to his senses and realized they would destroy him with pleasure. They only needed an excuse. The bruised archdemon regained his sense of self-preservation and whimpered back out of their reach. We dropped our gaze to the ground and pretended not to have seen anything.
    He should have known Michael would stop him.
    Maybe his jealous fit had short-circuited his thought-processing ability. That might explain some of his faulty reasoning. Because he had once held a position of authority in heaven, perhaps he thought he still had influence where the angelic guard was concerned.
    Of course, it was not remotely true. Although he ruled over us, fallen as we were, he retained nothing of the majesty and power of the faithful angels. Compared to them, Satan had become, well, wimpy is a good word (although, please, don't attribute it to me). The heavenly host could have destroyed him easily. I wondered why they didn't just go ahead and get it over with.
    Humiliated to his core, Satan limped back to the precipice of our domain and glared at those of us who had witnessed his meltdown. We stretched our wings, shuffled our hooves, hummed a