by Daniel Olarnick
I should have known better, but it was my desire, my final wish, to be the witness to the Armageddon, the ultimate battle between good and evil!
Yes, I should have known better.
How this came about is difficult to say, but suffice it to say it has come about.
I find myself traveling through infinite space. I am a passenger, amongst thousands of like souls, on a vessel that is named, and rightly so, "The Infinity of Time." It is a ship unlike anything that you and I have ever imagined. I will not bore you with the details.
I am The Witness, The Scribe of this battle. These are not titles that I have given unto myself, but titles that have been bestowed upon me. By whom, I cannot say, but it was done.
The words force themselves into my now advanced and altered mind: "Battle, victory, collective angelic powers, triumphant prominence. "
The concept of triumph rings true to my thought process, if ever I have truly possessed a thought process.
The numbers pass in front of my eyes. Yes, I still have eyes to see with to help delve into a process that a human mind can no longer understand, but they are there: "666 the frightful number that we have been raised with; the seven seals," the last seal being the one I so desired."
I should have known better.
Symbols that were so secretive in my youth flash into my mind. They are crystal clear now. They should have remained shrouded in mystery for all of man's existence: "The Books of Daniel; The Revelation; The Beast; the Dragon; The Kingdom of G-d; The Mark of the Beast; The Sickle, The Sword, again, the Seven Seals, and, at last, Armageddon!
The horror is too much to comprehend. It is truly merciful that I am no longer a mere fragile human.
It is a battle of men's souls or spiritual energy, of horsemen, and their messengers, opposing forces, angels of Michael and The Dragon.
Here I am the Witness, the Scribe! I know I do not belong among these soon to be legends, but I am forced to remain, to stay, to witness and to write of the events as I see them unfold.
An "arrow" flashes through the air. It strikes down one of the golden angels. I weep. How can this happen?
The Brazen Serpent appears. He is everywhere. His speed is blinding. His bite is deadly. He swallows armies of angels on both sides!
The Bottomless Pit appears.
The horror is incomprehensible.
All is lost.
Then he appears. He is glorious in his majesty, in his grandeur and splendor.
One of our chosen is selected.
I look down upon myself. I have slain thousands, yet they continued to come.
I am but The Witness, The Scribe. How many more had the true Warriors slain? No mortal could possibly count them.
It is the moment of infinite reckoning. We are all intoxicated with the doctrines, with pleasure, with our influence.
The judgment is pronounced: Surrender or perish!
There shall be only one survivor. His magnificent horns are docked down to the skull; his tail is cropped; his wings are clipped. He is made into the image of the Leader, the great Accuser.
Now the Final Judgment is at hand: " … You shall have your worshippers … they shall be in your own image … their sins shall be burned out of their minds with this holy fire … you may be the fornicators you desired to be…"
Our great leader's head is bloodied but unbowed. He chants words that will start it all again, a never-ending fable of deceit, as our minds are cleansed of all that has been witnessed.
We hear the beginning of the incantation, "In the Beginning…"
Then all is blank!
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DanO...
"Odan The Scribe."
"...Have Stylus...Will Travel..."
***
"...DOUBTS ARE MORE CRUEL THAN THE WORST OF TRUTHS..."
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