Free Messiah: The First Judgement (Chronicles of Brothers) by Wendy Alec Page B

swaddling prince shall not escape my wrath. Summon Belzoc!’ he cried. ‘Great prince of Persia, Prince Michael is his! Prepare our war chariots! Amass all regents to make war against my brothers. Astaroth!’ he screamed, ‘Alert all powers, principalities and rulers of the darkness of this world ... the great satanic princes ... Nakan and his Necromancer Kings, the Thrones of Folcador, the Warlocks of Ishtar ... Call them to assemble on the great plains of Perdition. And find my brother Michael. Where Michael is, there will be the child Christos, also!’
    Lucifer hissed, ‘Then we strike!’

Chapter Eight
    The Seventh Stone
    Jether sat on his jacinth throne in the seventh chamber, deep in the underground crypts of the labyrinths, poring over the great blue codex. Gabriel stood across from him, studying him intently ... waiting.
    ‘The codex unveils Yehovah’s plan, his secret counsel prepared aeons before the advent of the Race of Men,’ Jether said, closing his eyes in reverence.
    ‘Yehovah prepares a place for the infant king in Egypt, in Alexandria. There is one king of Arabia; his name is Aretas. He has been chosen to bear his name. He will aid the infant in his flight.’
    ‘Lucifer has not seen the codices?’ Gabriel asked.
    ‘Lucifer was long captivated by the codices of fire. They have lain in the labyrinths for aeons before his origin,’ Jether said. ‘His soul yearned to gaze upon their pages, but no, he has not looked upon their contents.’
    ‘And what of Charsoc?’ Gabriel questioned. ‘He was privy to the sacred mysteries. Keeper of the sixth stone.’
    ‘Charsoc...’ Jether’s expression grew hard. ‘He well knows of their existence. The sixth chamber of knowledge was his abode but the chamber of the seventh flame was sealed from him.’
    ‘So the sacred mystery of the Messiah is safe from their polluted sorceries.’ Jether closed the book; its golden inclusions of pyrites shimmered like little stars out of the codex’s deep blue lapis casing. He looked up at Gabriel.
    ‘I go to retrieve the seventh stone.’
    Gabriel stared at Jether, incredulous. ‘Six stones resided here within the Labyrinths,’ he whispered. ‘One went missing ... from the sixth Chamber ... at Charsoc’s defection.’ Gabriel stared at Jether intently.
    ‘No angelic being has ever laid eyes on the seventh stone...’
    ‘The seventh stone, the stone of fire, possesses all the combined power of the six. It lies beyond the ordinances of heaven.’ Jether’s eyes grew dim with wonder. ‘It lies beyond the treasuries of winds and hail, beyond the seven seas of wisdom. In the very cradle of the universe.’
    Jether carefully picked up the codex and deposited it into a large crevice in the cavern wall into the great silver casket of the sacred writs.
    ‘It will protect the infant while he walks as one of the Race of Men, until its seal is lifted when he will face the ultimate test ... against Lucifer himself.’
    Jether placed his cloak around his shoulders and clasped it with shaking fingers. ‘We have no time to waste. The child must be sealed with the seventh stone. At present he is vulnerable. Unprotected. You, Gabriel, make haste to Joseph. Instruct him of Yehovah’s plan to take the infant to Egypt. Aretas is Yehovah’s instrument to lead them to the monastery at Alexandria.’
    ‘I will leave at once for the land of the Race of Men,’ Gabriel said.
    Jether nodded. ‘I dispatch Vesper, my warrior eagle, with a message for Michael to leave the Eastern horizons. He must journey at once to the caravan. He is the infant’s only protection from Lucifer’s evil scheming until I seal the child at Alexandria with the seventh stone of fire.’ Jether removed a small ampulla filled with myrrh and cassia oils from his robes. Gabriel knelt before him.
    ‘Time is against us.’ Jether anointed Gabriel’s temple, then laid his hands gently on his head in a blessing of consecration.
    ‘Avoid the eastern