A short story - continued part 12

Aêšmi and Ha’dad were close to meeting. They had been joined by Asmodeus and Lilitu by incantation, when they were born. That incantation was part of the sacrifice of the two half human children's birth mothers. The bloody sacrifice had been made by Asmodeus and Lilitu simultaneously. By blood and horror with souls of demons were they brought into the world and for inhuman purposes were they conceived by Asmodeus and the unfortunate women he went in to. The two knew only hatred. When other's souls would be torn apart with the kind of hatred they felt, theirs were at ease as with an old friend. Human children all had the Divine spark in the core of their being, at the very nadir of the base of their soul's existence from God. The two demon children had no such element to their very nature. They were fitted to hell and no other place. The creation of God in the light of the sun, groaned in their very presence to be released from their existence.

Aêšmi prowled, heading west. Ha’dad moved north toward their rendezvous, the hordes of hell following him. Time passed and they neared one another. Finally, as Aêšmi slunk through a wooded glen in a coastal secluded wild, she started, raising her snout, for she had assumed the guise of a pig. The scent, she would know it anywhere though they had never met, it was Ha’dad. Transforming herself into the beautiful seductress, she walked upright in human form, though far from ever human. The dress was rolled and not worn and she had on only the gossamer, deadly to human men, but not Ha’dad. She stopped in a dark dry glade full of nettles and stood immoveable. Then Ha’dad shuffled quietly into the glade, he was in the shape of Pan. The hordes that followed him were behind by a half day's journey. Appearing as half beast and half man, Ha’dad's soul was as inhuman as Aêšmi's. He stopped and his nostrils flared and his serpents tongue curled out and in. The red demon light inflamed his eyes. Aêšmi stepped forward and the gossamer fell and revealed the serpent mottled dark green yellow red of her torso, unlike the fair appearance of her limbs. Ha’dad was blue, but a hideous metallic glistening serpentine blue. The hairs of his beastial legs and arms were flaming dark scarlet scarab red. There were no betrothals for these two, no declarations of love. No poetry and no song did they sing. None of the beauty of a man and a woman in the world of men lit by the sun in God's creation. Their embrace was inhuman and holding nothing but terror for any unfortunate mortal that might behold it. A Medusa's turning a man to stone would be a mercy by comparision. Shear shrieking demonic insane terror could be the only reaction. When done they parted without a word, but continued west in each others proximity, for 'company' it could not be called. Now they hunted together.

* * *

"Ready yourself, Prince Shafiq," said the angel. "I am," replied Shafiq, "and await the Princess."

"Hello and good morning," said Belle to the maiden who had been sent to help her with her bath. "Ma'am, good morning and at your service," said the young lady. After her bath, Belle assisted by the maiden dressed and groomed herself, and yet still quite early in the morning, was ready for their journey. She stepped forward into the main tent and said to Shafiq and Abdul, "a blessed morning, good angel and a blessed morning Prince Shafiq, I am ready."

Abdul laid out the reason for their tour they were going to take. "There are many in the Western and Eastern kingdoms who have suffered greatly from the ravages of the incursions from the northern and southern diabolic hordes," the angel began. He continued, "The split between the two kingdoms is partly caused by that and also the feud between the two families. There are many who lay listless and still, unable to rouse themselves due to the spirits the Ashipu have brought into the lands. The Ashipu must be expelled, and the Habiru from the sea as well. Together they plague the lands. False friends abound and those who falsely claim to hold authority. The people suffer immensely.

The yearly counsel will be held some days hence. There is time to see what must be seen and then to speak at the counsel with words of redress. It will not be well thought of by the syncophants there. They will try harm if not stopped. When our tour is complete and the Daughters of Astarte have arrived, I will leave to keep watch over the connivings and movements of Aêšmi and Ha’dad and their hordes from hell.

Then, will the two armies be gathered against one another for battle. Two armies, each headed by a Monarch and a Consort, one is good and the other evil, will clash to determine who rules." The angel finished and they began their journey.