Shurod and the blood rock prophecy book 2
Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Dan was sitting at a small table inside a make shift tent eating some manna drinking some of the most pure water he had ever tasted. Mogort pulled back the tent doorway and walked into the tent, “Eat well, and drink up Shurod it will give you strength.”

Dan said with his mouth full, “I can feel it already.” a piece of bread fell out of his mouth while he was talking and he tried to catch it in his hand, “This water is amazing, do you have it delivered?” he said trying to be funny.

Just then, another angel walked into the tent carrying a large container, “Mogort here is the water you requested.”

Mogort looked at Dan and smiled, “Does that answer your question?”

“You got me there.” He snickered as well as Mogort.

“Today you will learn many hand to hand fighting styles and techniques. When you are done come out to the arena and we will get started.”

“Ok, I’ll be done in a sec.”

Mogort walked out of the tent and Dan watched him leave with his sword being the last thing he saw as he passed through the doorway.

Dan took one more drink of the water and said, “Man I get to get some of this for the trip back home.”

He wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand, straightened out his clothing, and walked out of the tent. Mogort was standing in the center of the arena with his back toward Dan and turned around slowly when he heard Dan coming up behind him. Dan noticed Mogort’s face and knew something was up.

Mogort’s sword was a flame and Dan quickly pulled his sword out, “What’s going on Mogort?”

“I need to make sure that you are ready for this.”

“For what?”

Mogort’s spun his sword around and it was humming with every rotation. Dan knew what was coming up next because he had just practiced the same move. Dan started to spin his sword around in the same manner. Mogort’s face was with without expression as he starred at Dan. Dan was not scared but rather more confident in his abilities to defend himself, thanks to Mogort’s training. Mogort stopped his sword and he was covered in pulsing light. Dan stopped too and they faced each other. At the same time they both released their power at each other. Streaks of light raced toward each other and collided in between them. The blast sent Dan falling to the ground on his back. Mogort flew at Dan and swung his sword down at him while he was lying on the ground. Dan blocked the attack, flapped his wings one time, and flew backwards landing on his feet. Mogort flew at him with impressive speed and swung his sword again. Dan ducked the swing, struck Mogort in the leg, and did a somersault on the ground. Mogort did even flinch at the strike. Dan had a crazed look in his eye, and Mogort saw it, “Control your emotions, if you don’t you will die.”

Dan swallowed hardly and took a few deep breaths. Mogort attacked once again but from the air this time. Dan leaped into the air to meet him; their swords clanged together loudly which got the attention of some other angels nearby. They walked into the arena to watch the drama unfold. Both Dan and Mogort flipped around in the air trying to counter attack each other strikes. Dan was moving faster than he had ever done before, so fast that he noticed it. Mogort noticed it to and thought, “Wow he is really quick.” Dan shot his shards at Mogort and he blocked every one of them with ease, “You will have to do better than that Shurod.” Dan began to perform backward handsprings toward Mogort. Mogort watched Dan and was waiting for the precise moment to strike. Dan stopped in front of Mogort and he was met with a fist in the face. Dan stumbled back holding his nose. He griped his sword tightly, lunged into the air at Mogort spinning his sword while in the air, and shot a small burst of energy at him. Mogort wasn’t expecting that move while in the air. He tried to block it but it hit him and knocked him down. Dan landed on top of him with his legs on either side of Mogort’s body and his sword at his throat, “Do you yield?” Mogort kicked Dan in the back sending him forward out of control, “Don’t talk, Fight! Your enemy will not will not care about words, just your death.”

“How can I beat you, you are too fast and powerful for me?”

“Experience is the key to winning a battle, use what you have been taught and apply it to your fighting technique. Adapt your fighting skills when necessary.”

“I have, and you have countered everything that I have thrown at you.”

“Indeed, I have but you haven’t tapped into the power that is available to you. There is more to you than you know. Although you are not an angel you have angelic powers.”

“Mogort, I know this already.” He shook his head.

“Look deep into your soul and replace the strength to defeat me, you can do it if you concentrate.”

Dan closed his eyes, and light began to shine on him from above. Mogort backed up when he saw the light and smiled. He was starting to harness the power God had given to him. Dan’s muscles started to grow slightly larger. His veins could clearly be seen from underneath his skin. Wind began to blow around Dan and small lightning bolts sprang forth out of his body. He opened his eyes, and they were white as snow. Mogort took a step back and braced himself for the impact that he was about to receive. Dan laid his sword down on the ground and walked slowly at Mogort, “I can feel God’s power surging through my veins.”

“I can see that.” Mogort said nervously.

“I think. I’m ready now.”

Mogort ran at Dan with his sword and swung it at Dan. Dan caught the swords in between his palms and twisted it, knocking it out of Mogort’s hands. Dan looked up at him, “Hand to Hand.”

“Hand to Hand it is.”

Each of them punched at each other hitting their fists together. Mogort pulled his hand back and shook it in a pain. “To defeat and angel in hand to hand combat, you must hit him in his armpit area of his body. This will immobilize them or stun them depending on what you want to do.” Dan punched at Mogort like a wild ninja, Mogort blocked and punched back with lighting speed. Dan dipped down, caught Mogort under the arm, and gave him a quick jab in the armpit. Mogort’s body froze; Dan stood up and looked in amazement at Mogort. Mogort stood there in noticeable pain and grunted, “Yes, that is how you do it.” Dan walked around Mogort, “So now I could kill you if I wanted to?”

“Yes”

Dan leaned back and was about to strike Mogort in the back with his fist when Mogort turned sideways and grabbed Dan’s arm and pulled him forward wrapping him up in a head lock, “That only lasts for a few seconds Shurod.”

Dan struggled to break free; he kicked his legs above his head, which caused Mogort to lose his grip. Dan slipped out, grabbed Mogort by his head, and threw him as his flipped in the air. Mogort landed on his back, “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Dan hovered in the air looking down at Mogort. He got up on his feet and dusted himself off, “Shurod come here.” Dan floated down and landed in front of Mogort. “You are ready.” Dan’s eyes began to turn back to normal and the outer glow that he had started to fade. “I’m ready?”

“Indeed, you have mastered your fear and fought well.” Mogort rubbed his armpit, “But there is one more thing that I must give you.”

“What is it?”

“Your new armor of course, I can’t have one of my recruits fighting in subpar armor, follow me.”

Mogort and Dan walked through doors that lead down into the lower area of the arena. Mogort stopped, “This is where angelic armor given, only those who are worthy receive this great honor of being part of God’s elite army. May God bless you Shurod.”

Mogort open another door and they both entered into the room. The room was filled with magnificent pieces of armor. There was an array of armor and weapons available to Dan. Dan looked in awe struck wonder at all the armor, neatly arranged by piece. Dan picked up a helmet and admired it, “Can I have this one?”

“You pick your armor Shurod you have earned it.”

Dan walked along a narrow path in between all the armor and slid his hands over the top of some of the pieces. He took his time and picked out each piece that he liked. He gathered all the armor together and walked out the door. Sephri was standing outside the armory and nodded at Dan as he walked by. Dan said, “Sephri.”

“Shurod.”

Dan smiled and walked out into the arena and placed the armor on the ground. He put his hands on his hips. He walked around and he couldn’t believe that he had his own angelic armor. He had seen the angels wearing their armor in combat. He knew that the armor was strong and could withstand a lot of punishment from demon attacks. His only though was. “How does it hold up against angel attacks?” Mogort and Sephri walked into the arena with smiles on their faces.

“Why are you ya’ll smiling at me?”

“We are proud of what you have accomplished Shurod.” Mogort announced.

“I never would have thought you would have made this far Shurod.” Sephri offered and smiled.

“Me either, and I couldn’t have made it without your help.” Dan pointed at both of them.

“Okay, then let’s put this on you and see if it fits.” Mogort picked the helmet up and placed it on Dan’s head. The helmet was too big for Dan, he shook his head, and the helmet turned around covering up his eyes, “This helmet is too big”

Sephri turned the helmet around and stepped back, “Human heads are smaller than angels heads.” The helmet shrunk and molded to the exact size of Dan’s head, “Whoa that was weird.”

“This is the helmet of salvation Shurod, may it serve you well,” Sephri said.

He picked up a breastplate and put it on Dan’s body and it shrunk to fit him, “This is the breast plate of righteous, may it guard your heart.”

Dan stepped into the leg portion of the armor, “This will protect you lower body, and these will protect your feet.” Sephri placed the feet armor on Dan, “May peace be with you wherever your feet take you, and last but not least the shield of faith may it protect you from all the fiery arrows of the Satan.”

Dan stood motionless for a moment, “Is this what the Bible talks about putting on the whole armor of God in Ephesians?”

“Yes, but for us it is literal.”

The shield was light and easy to move around. On the front of it, it had a pair of angel wings with a two edged sword engraved on it. On the outer edge of the shield was covered with diamond plated substance. It was gold in color for the most part. Mogort said, “This shield has many uses. Not only will it block anything demons send at you, but angels as well in most cases. The edges of the shield can extend outward up to three feet. It can be thrown like a boomerang and kill many demons.” He laughed as he saw Gapa heading toward them, “That’s one of Gapa’s trademark moves.”

“Shurod, you have done well.” Gapa said.

“Thank you, just like I was telling them, I couldn’t have done it without your help.

“You are a great friend Gapa, thank you for all your help.” Dan snapped his wings back in an angel salute to Gapa. Gapa looked impressed at Dan’s change of demeanor, “You have become the Shurod that your father would be proud of.”

Dan’s armor began to disappear off his body, he looked around wondering where it had gone, “What is happening to the armor?”

“It’s alright; the armor is becoming part of you?” Gapa said.

“Part of me?”

“Yes, like your wing armor, you can make it appear and disappear off your body at will. Give it a try.”

Dan forced his wing armor on and off a few times but none of the new armor appeared, “Nothing is happening, where is it.”

“It will some practice before you master that technique.”

“Okay I will start right now!”

Dan tried to make the armor appear and it did the only problem was that it was sporadic. Sometimes only, his helmet would appear and other times one piece would only show at a time. Dan tried harder to make all the armor appear once again and only the foot armor appeared. Gapa laughed and pointed at him, “You will need more than that to go into battle.”

Dan made a face at his comment. Mogort and Sephri snickered at him to. Dan was getting frustrated not being able to master dawning the armor. Finally, after multiple tries all his armor appeared on his body at the same time. He stood there wearing all of it. Dan looked at himself, his body glowed with the power of God. A beam of light fell on top of Dan from above him. It resembled a ray of light peeking through the clouds shinning on his body. Dan and all the angels looked up at the light. Dan squinted his eyes because he saw something coming down at him slowly. The angels looked at one another and smiled. Dan wasn’t sure what it was, he stared in the direction of the object. Closer and closer it traveled down the ray of light. Just as it got to him, he reached out and grabbed it. Dan carefully took it into his hands and admired it. “This is your new sword Dan.” Gapa said.

It was solid gold and silver with diamonds and sapphires layered in the handle of it. The handle was in the form of one single angel wing. Dan sliced in the air with it, and it sounded like the rushing of a wild river, flowing over the rapids.

Dan felt empowered by the sword, Sephri walked toward Dan, “You have received another great honor besides salvation from God. You now have in your possession a sword from the holy of holies.” All the angels present kneeled down on both of their knees and bowed their heads in reverence. Dan did the same thing and held the sword above his head with both hands, “Thank you Lord for this honor.” Then a voice from above said, “Will you do my work?” Dan stood up as well as the other angels. He thrust the sword into the ground and it caused a small tremor, “YES LORD I WILL!” The light faded and Dan stood before the angels, “I’m ready.”

“Get him prepared for the trip back, Goleg has informed me that he is needed back on earth.” Gapa said to Sephri.

Anar and some of his fellow Kinsman were combing the hills close to the Shurod lair. Anar had a device in his hand and it beeped every so often. He pointed up the side of a hill and he and some of his people walked up it. The sound of the beeping grew louder with every step the men took. Anar saw something that was out of the ordinary. He held out his hand to his side and made the other men stop. He covered his nose because the smells of burning flesh. Small amounts of smoke rose off the charred men bodies. Off to the left was the homing device that alerted the other Kinsmen to their location flashing every so often. Anar sighed, “What could have done such a horrible act?” He picked up a stick and picked through the bones and clothing, at least what was left. Trying to figure out who exactly the men were that had been murdered. Anar inspected the area and found one set of foot prints that didn’t lead away anywhere. He looked up into the air, “It must have been demon or something that killed these men, there are no tracks leading away from here. The other men split up and searched for any signs of the perpetrator.

Anar pulled out a small electronic device and waved it over the area. It was a form of S.E. (Supernatural Energy) small antenna’s popped out of the sides of the device and moved back and forth. The antennas stopped and Anar looked at the small LCD screen and thought. “How is this possible, something has to be wrong, the read out indicates an angelic presence.”

“Anar, did you replace out anything?” one of the men asked.

“Yes, but it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Why, what do you think it was that killed our men?”

“An angel!” he said with an unbelieving tone, “I must meet with the Shurod and tell him what I have found.”

“An angel Anar? This is highly irregular.”

“Yes I know, let’s make haste back to village and you will need to alert the rest of the Kinsmen on what we have found. They need to be on high alert.”

“Yes, it will be done.” The man whistled and the other men ran down the hill back toward the village.

Anar went in a different direction to meet with Jerom. He was deeply troubled by the events that had taken place and couldn’t imagine why an angel would attack a loyal servant. He refused to believe that an angel was capable of killing one of the Kinsmen.

John was doctoring his wounds inside the backup location known as Golgotha. The mountain resembled a human skull. It had holes in the rock that looked like eye sockets, and the nose of a skull. One of the holes was the entrance into the back up location. Many people visited this holy place, because of what took place. It was the crucifixion site of Christ. Jerom was very reluctant about having John there. It broke all the rules of the Shurod having a non-Shurod member so close to them. Even the Kinsmen didn’t know about this place. Jerom paced back and forth trying to figure out their next move.

The Blood Rock was very precious to the Shurod. It was the main source of their power and if Joe ever got a hold of it, many horrific things could occur. Not only to the Shurod, but the entire world.

“Father.” Jamie said.

“Yes, what is it?”

“What are we gonna do now?”

“I don’t know yet, but if the blood rock is the prize, then we need to think of something quickly.”

“How do they even know of the blood rock? Are you sure that’s what they are wanting?”

“It seems to be the only logical explanation. Why else would they try so hard in locating our whereabouts? The Sintenna was destroyed months ago, so they devised another plan to breach the prison gates. ” Jerom huffed in disgust, “I should have taken Joe out when I had the chance.”

“Don’t beat yourself up father, he will get his in the end, you can count of God taking care of that.”

“Well, I guess you are right, but something has to be done soon, or all our lives will be at risk.”

Jerom turned his head sharply and listened. Jamie asked what was going on. Anar is calling me, something must be urgent, “You stay here with John and see to it that he gets cleaned up.”

John walked back into the area where Jamie was and saw Jerom flying out of the doorway, “Where is he off to so quickly?”

“Anar, is requesting to speak with him.”

“Oh! I just don’t get that man; he doesn’t have much of a personality.”

“Oh, John, stop it, he is just very focused on protecting us, and you for that matter.”

“Yeah, I suppose your right.”

“Here let me help you with that eye of yours, they beat ya up real good didn’t they.”

John nodded his head, “Omar is more cunning than I anticipated.” Jamie wiped at the gash in his eye, “Ouch!”

“Jamie jumped back, “Stop it!”

John smiled at her, “I’m just kidding, you didn’t hurt me. When is Dan supposed to be back?”

“Not sure but father said it would be sometime soon. I’m anxious to see him.”

“Me too. I hope he is ok.”

Anar was waiting for any sign of Jerom, it was night time and the sound of crickets chirped loudly; he had been waiting for a few minutes when Jerom fell from the sky and landed in front of him, “What news do you bring?”

Anar was bowed his head and took a deep breath, “Four of my men were killed not to long ago.”

“Who did this?” Jerom became angry.

“I’m not sure but.”

Jerom interrupted, “But what!”

“I scanned the area with the S.E. monitor and, well it must be broken.”

“What do you mean Anar, out with it?”

“It revealed an angelic presence had been there.”

Jerom calmed down a bit and sighed, “Where did this happen?

“About six miles from here.”

“Take me there. Hop on.” Jerom turned his back to Jerom. Anar hesitated for a moment, “Saddle up.” Jerom said.

Anar climbed on his back and they flew up, “I should tell you Jerom, I’m not very fond of heights.”

Jerom smiled and his body lit up projecting light so Anar could see, “Hang on, I’ve got you.” He sped up and gained some altitude.

Anar closed his eyes and gripped Jerom’s shoulders tightly.

“Anar, open your eyes, where am I going?”

Anar looked down and saw the earth beneath him speeding by, and he ducted his head into Jerom’s back, “Anar!” Slowly he looked over the side of Jerom’s body and pointed, “That way, can you fly a little closer to the ground”

Jerom looked back at Anar and dipped down closer to the ground, “Is that better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Jerom was about four feet off the ground weaving in and out of trees and bushes. Anar was holding on for dear life. He decided to look up over Jerom’s head. The wind was blowing in his face making his eyes water, “This isn’t so bad.”

“Where now?”

“You are almost there, right on top of that hill over there.”

Jerom landed close to where the men had been burned alive. Anar got off of Jerom back and smoothed out his clothes, “Right there Jerom.”

Jerom walked over to see the where the ground had been scorched. There was little left of the four men. The rocks on the ground had been melted. Anar walked over where the footprints were that they had found, “These are the foot prints we found, there are none leaving the area.”

Jerom kneeled down, picked up some dirt out of the footprint, and smelled it. He rubbed it in between his fingers and threw it back on the ground, “I’m getting something here, but it is evil not typical of an angel.” He stood back up, flipped his robe off to one side, and unclipped a small bag of powder, “This will let us see what was here.”

Anar watched in amazement as Jerom reached into the small pouch, grabbed a handful of a dust like substance, and threw it in the air over the footprints. Tiny sparkles lit up the area and began to take on a form. Jerom backed up to close to Anar and said watch. The powder started to mend together little by little until it finally made a solid figure. Anar couldn’t believe his eyes, “Is this for real Shurod? How can this be, it’s an angel. Why would an angel be killing my men?”

“Look closer Anar.”

“What is that on the side of his head?”

“That is the mark of disobedience.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that some angels have escaped from their prison.”

“WHAT! How is this possible?”

“The battle we had about a year ago weakened the prison gates and some of the angels were freed.”

“So it was an angel that killed my men.”

“Yes, I’m afraid so.”

“How do we fight against angels?”

“You don’t, you would surely perish if you encountered one of them. My son and I along with his sister will have to take care of this situation.”

“What can we do to help? We want to help.”

“This battle can only be fought by the Shurod; your men will be a great asset in fighting Joe’s men again when the time comes.”

“Is there nothing that we can do?”

“There might be a way, but I must speak with one of the angelic generals to see if it is possible for a human to fight against an angel and survive.”

The image of the angel faded after it revealed itself. Jerom paused and his eyes started to glow. Anar asked what was going on and Jerom said something is watching us and he could feel a presence of nearby. The light from Jerom’s body dimmed quickly and they stood in the darkness listening. Anar couldn’t see much, only the light from the moon helped him see at all. Anar peered into the darkness looking for any sign of movement. Jerom turned around swiftly to look behind him, he pulled his sword out, and it turned bright blue. From out of nowhere and angel sliced down at Jerom. He blocked it and the angel flew up into the air. Anar was knocked down to the ground by the speed in which the angel was moving, “Get behind me Anar.” Anar scrambled to get up on his feet while Jerom looked worriedly for the angel not paying attention to Anar. The angel swooped down, snatched Anar up, and disappeared behind a small out cropping of rock. Jerom was about to chase after the angel when he saw it coming back at him, “C’mon you foul creature.” The angel shot a white fireball hitting Jerom and sending him backwards bouncing along the ground a few times. Jerom shook his head, stood back up, and twirled his sword around in front of his body. The angel growled at Jerom because he got back up on his feet. He landed in front of Jerom and said, “I remember you Shurod. I have seen you many times coming to check on us. Look, I am free and you can do nothing about it. I guess my clever planned work.” He laughed aloud.

“What plan is that?”

“The plan to lure you here to this location by killing some of your human puppets. I have wanted to get a piece of the Shurod for many centuries and now it has come to pass. I have watched your kind come and go over the years. Are you ready to meet our maker?”

Jerom huffed, “Even with the evilness that courses in your veins, you acknowledge your creator.”

The angel became irate and charged Jerom swinging wildly at him. Jerom blocked his attacks rather well and kept him from hurting him. Jerom flapped his wings forward, which sent him backwards. The angel swung and missed, which made him even madder.

“Looks like you are out of practice angel.” Jerom said candidly.

“Yeah, I’m a little rusty since I have been, CAGED LIKE A DOG FOR EONS.” He rushed Jerom again. Jerom moved out of the way and the angel flew by him and stopped, “You are pretty quick for a half-breed.”

“And you are pretty slow for an angel.”

The angel looked toward the ground and said, “Try some of these.” The angel threw his shards at Jerom blocked all but one of them and one sliced into his upper arm, “Ha, how did you like that.” Jerom held his in pain and looked at the angel. The shards returned to the angel’s hand, when Jerom saw the angel flinch. He looked down at his hand and it began to turn a gray color. The angel started to whimper in pain. He opened his hand and his shards fell onto the ground and clanged together. One of the shards had Jerom’s blood on it and had been exposed to the angel’s flesh. Jerom backed away from the angel because he could see that something was wrong. The angel shook his hand and grabbed it with his other. He held it up and it started to deteriorate and melt away and turn into ashes, “What is this!” the angel screamed out.

Jerom remembered when Dan was attacked and one of the angels was sent back to the prison because it had come in contact with Dan blood. Jerom wiped at his wound on his arm. He hand was covered in his own blood. He looked at the angel and thought. “I wonder if this will work.” Jerom walked toward the angel cautiously, reared his hand back, and flung his blood on the angel. When his blood hit the angel, it burned through his garments and burned his angelic flesh. The little splatters of blood burned right through his body like acid. The angel looked like he had just been shot with a shotgun. He watched in awe as parts of the angel burned off. The angel was in shear panic on what was happening to him, “No! This can’t be happening.” His body turned into a pile of ashes and he was gone. The angel’s screams faded as his body was reduced to nothing. Jerom was concerned for Anar so he went in the direction that that angel had taken him. He searched for a few moments until he heard the moans of Anar. Jerom flew to his side.

Anar was badly beaten and blood was coming out of his mouth. He was holding his side in and barely conscious. Jerom focused on his upper body and looked inside of Anar’s body. One of his ribs had pierced his heart slightly and he was hemorrhaging. Jerom kneeled down into Anar’s face, “My friend, you are seriously wounded. Your heart has been punctured by one of your ribs.” He closed his eyes because he knew that Anar wouldn’t survive the bout with the angel.

“Shurod, thank you for all that you stand for.” Anar coughed and spit up blood, “It was my honor to call you friend.”

“No, the honor was all mine Anar.” He looked up at the sky, “I feel that we will see each other sooner than you think old friend.”

Anar grabbed Jerom by his collar and lifted his head up slightly, “No! You must carry on doing the Lord’s work.”

“I will Anar, but my time is limited just like yours.”

“Habib will succeed me, he is a young man but very loyal.”

“Habib? Ok Anar, don’t talk anymore, rest your eyes.”

Anar’s breathing slowed down and he was panting instead of breathing normally. Jerom watched Anar, placed his hand into his, and prayed to the Lord for mercy and guidance. Anar clutched his hand as he prayed. Jerom heard Anar’s final exhale of air and his hand went limp. Jerom cried as he placed Anar’s hands over his body. He picked him up and with tears raining down from his face he took off with Anar’s body in his arms. His head drooped backwards over Jerom’s arm and blood was still dripping out of his mouth as Jerom flew through the night sky.

Jerom was disturbed by the death of Anar. They had been friends for many years and did many great things in the name of God. He was starting to realize that he wanted Joe dead more than anything in the world at that moment, and it scared him.

Jerom cruised about thirty-five feet off the ground. He was so distraught that he didn’t even think about using the Shadow. He flew over the tops of buildings in plain view. Luckily, it was night and not many people were out.

Up a head, a man was closing up his bookstore for the evening. He placed a key into the door and turned it until it locked. He was humming and ready to go home after a long day at the bookstore store. A swooshing noise made the merchant look up and he saw Jerom flying down the center of the street holding a man in his arms. The merchant watched as long as he could until Jerom was out of site. The man wiped at his eyes, took a second look, and shook his head. He leaned back from the door with his hand still on the doorknob and looked through the glass window at a display case of a book called “Angels and Demons.” He unlocked the door and went back inside and pulled it out of the display and started to read it. The man thought to himself. “I need to get my life together.” He locked the door once again and looked up. He walked down the street with his head buried in the book glancing upwards every now and then for any sign of movement.

Jerom flew to Anar’s home and landed on the roof. There was a small bed on top of the roof. Anar used to it to sleep beneath the stars on a hot night. He laid his body on the small cot. He brushed Anar’s hair out of his face. He took Anar by his hand and pulled a ring of his finger. The Shurod or an angel could only remove the ring. All the Kinsmen knew that the Shurod gave the ring to the head Kinsmen to signify leadership and flew down in through an open window.

Habib was sharpening his sword and Jerom came up behind him concealed by the shadow. He said, “Habib!”

Habib jumped up and swung his sword behind him. He looked all around the room for someone to show their face, “Where, where are you, show yourself.”

“Anar is dead, I have brought him back to you. You need to make arrangements for his burial.”

Habib got choked up, “Anar is dead?”

“Yes Habib and you are going to take his place as the leader of the Kinsmen. It was his wish for you to assume this duty and assist the Shurod with gathering secrets and protecting the lair.”

“Who are you?” Habib looked around in all directions, “Are you an angel?”

“No, my name is Jerom. I am Shurod, or one of them.” Jerom revealed himself to Habib and he was shocked by the sight of Jerom. He kneeled down and started speaking in an Arabic tongue. Jerom told him to get up and he was not worthy of worship, and only God has that right. Habib had a wild and excited look on his face, “So you are the Shurod my Uncle always spoke about.”

“Indeed.”

“I believed him, but here you are standing right in front of my face. I can’t believe it.” Habib was so intrigued by the sight of Jerom he momentarily forgot about his uncle who had just been killed. Jerom bowed his head, “Make sure that your uncle receives a proper burial, he was a great friend of mine, as you will be Habib.”

“Oh yes, Anar!” he frowned at the news of the passing of his uncle, “I must contact his wife, she is out visiting with some family members down south.” He looked around for something. Jerom asked what he was doing and he said that he was looking for the warning pipe. Jerom pointed at a table and Habib said thank you. He walked outside and blew on the pipe as hard as he could. The sound echoed loudly and men started to show up from out of nowhere. Habib was calling all the Kinsmen to Anar’s house. Jerom gave him gave him the seal of leadership that Anar had, which was a ring that signified he was the leader now. He had to have that on him when the Kinsmen showed up so they would know who was in charge now.

A few minutes had passed by and Kinsmen were gathered outside of Anar’s home. Jerom told Habib that he had to leave and that he would be in contact with him shortly. He started to leave and Habib stopped him and said thank you for bringing his uncle back to me. Jerom nodded and reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of gold and placed it on the table. Habib looked at the gold and asked him what it was for. Jerom explained that it was for Anar’s family and his burial expenses. The news about his uncle was starting to sink into his mind and he broke down and cried. The muffled monotone voices were just outside the front door. Jerom pointed at the door and told him to be a great leader. Habib was nervous because there were other Kinsmen he thought would be a better choice than he was. Jerom saw the hesitation in Habib and told him that it was Anar’s wishes for him to take his place. Habib took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked out to explain his new role to his fellow Kinsmen.

Jerom flew out of the window and headed back to Golgotha to meet with John and Jamie and tell them the news about Anar.