Читать книгу A Hero's Heart - Joseph David Hightower - Страница 19

Standing in the entrance as they were, Heru began to feel a wind that had no source coming from inside of the cave, almost like the monster was breathing on him. Heru turned to Yeshua and asked him about the strange wind. “It is the breath of the accuser breathing out his constant lies” was Yeshua’s simple answer. As he was saying this they were moving further into the inner chamber of the mouth of the cave. Inside this open space, in the very center, sat what appeared to be a throne of sorts. It was made from bone and rocks and sitting in the throne was a suit of Red Ronin Armor holding the masks in its gruesome fist.

Suddenly, the armor jumped to its feet and gave a thunderous roar. When the echoes had finally subsided, a strange light seemed to be lighting up the rooms around them. It was not until this point that Heru had even noticed that there were several other rooms like the one they were standing in. Each room was filled with a pale color that gave rise to an assorted number of ghastly creatures. They all seemed to come to life with the sound of the Red Armor’s roar. It seemed as if time was moving at an alarmingly slow rate. With each breath, another minute slipped past with a new creature being reveled.

Yeshua began, “Be careful of this one, she will fill you poison and distort your views. She speaks lies and talks out of both side of her face.”

The first creature to move forward was what appeared to be female, she wore a blue sash tied around her eyes. This she-creature had two mouths, one in the proper place and the other taking up what should have been her left cheek. She was wearing a green armor that had red-stripped wooden plates to cover her thighs, shoulders and forearms. Bottles labeled as toxin were tied about her waist. Extending below the plates on her forearms came tentacle-like ropes with poisonous barbs as fingers. In a screeching, but soft lullaby-like voice she announced herself as Lady Toxicara.

The next to arrive was more pleasant to look at. She was like a woman in a painting, timeless and captivating in her exquisite beauty. Her eyes seemed to draw you into her and make you forget about anything that mattered other than that moment. She was dressed like a courtesan with rich vibrant colors and fabrics that clung to her body like a second skin. Over her shoulder, she carried a red parasol along with a small assassin’s dagger and fife at her waist. The two oddest things Heru noticed about her were the strings wrapped about her arms and the fact that she had no mouth.

“She is Lady Tamblish”, said Yeshua. “Her beauty causes man to lust in their hearts through glances either in their memories or their eyes. She uses the wind to carry her perfume and play her flute to lure men into worshiping her. This I will not tolerate as my Father is a jealous God and will have no others before him.”

The third creature startled Heru when it solidified from its light form. It seemed male but was hard to clearly identify due to its kneeling position. The demon looked rather deformed in his body structure due to very slender, stick like legs and a massively muscular upper body. He was dressed in blue pants and a white sleeveless shirt. He seemed to sway around the room, not wanting to stay in one spot for very long. The creature even found a taste of Toxicara’s whips when he tried to latch on to her.

“He is Craven Fear, a demon that has great strength to take hold of you but his weakness is that he must have your surrender to him before he can manifest his powers. He shrinks back at those who stand up to him and prefers to hide in shadows and darkness riding behind others more powerful that will give him his openings.”

The fourth creature disturbed Heru the most. It did not enter the throne room like the others. It appeared to be male but one could not tell at first due to its reshaping of its body. The oddest thing was that it kept changing into different creatures. First it became a tiger, then it kept its size but changed into a disfigured long necked vulture with razor sharped talons. Finally, it melted back into the ground and arose again in the shape of a man, saluting his master, the Red Armor.

“That abomination is known as the Watcher. He was once an angel who counted its self among the fallen and embraced darkness rather than love and light thus condemning its self to hell. He now takes whatever form his master needs providing a spying eye and only interfering when instructed to. Now let us see the one who thinks himself to be the next in command.”

There seemed to come out of nowhere a great rushing wind followed by a light stronger than any others there before. It created a very oppressive and sickening feeling in Heru; yet it seemed to carry a great presence about all that it touched. The form was male and strikingly taller than all but the Red Armor. He was dressed like royalty in robes of splendor with patches adorning every area. He had a beard and looked as though he were a king, bearing a large belly and muscular arms. The more Heru stared at this regal figure the more oddities began revealing themselves. This figure bore tusks just under his nostrils that appeared to be pig like. He bowed to his master yet it was only a half bow. This action caused the Red Armor to roar in anger commanding this new demon to retract and deliver full honor to his tribute as the cave shook with that rage.

“That demon is called Strong Man. His specialty is bondage, blackmail, addiction, even slavery, anything he can hold you within, even tradition Heru. Now his weakness is that if he is not the center of attention, his anger flares, causing division in his ranks. He feels he should be leading this band of evil, not the Red Armor.”

Heru was dumbfounded. He never could have known such creatures were the cause of his peoples suffering and pain. War, destruction, death and ruin were all part of what made up life before all this was revealed. “Is there no hope Yeshua? You and the Father are outnumbered; how can you hope to overcome such a battle?”

“Three things will keep our victory assured little brother. One is that my sacrifice on the cross broke the curse of sin off man once and for all. The second is the fact that my father has already willed it to be and that brings us to the third reason, choice. It is the choosing of a human soul that can break or make the tide of battle. If one chooses love and to serve others and puts him or herself last instead of self-serving in their own lusts, greed, and desires, then there is no way the enemy can win.”

Heru just felt so overwhelmed. This just wasn’t something that you drop in someone’s lap and expect them to handle. Yeshua looked at him and touched his shoulder. The surroundings returned to the peaceful shack by the waterfall and its sound brought peace back to Heru. Yeshua had returned to his humble tunic appearance and looked his friend in the eyes.

“This was a lot for you to take in little brother, so for now, awake and be refreshed. Remember, help is coming to you in ways you probably will not be expecting, so keep your eyes and heart open. One last thing, REMEMBER I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS EVEN UNTILL THE END OF THE AGE.” said Yeshua as his voice echoed in Heru’s very soul.

Heru’s eyes once again became blurry, forcing him to rub them for clarity. When he looked again the smoke of the previous night’s campfire stung in his eyes. After rubbing them once more he found himself being stared at by Ojiisan with the sun just coming up over the horizon. “So, do you always sleep standing up or is this some special occasion”, asked Ojiisan.