"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." – C.S. Lewis

The riders came like a black wave, cresting over the hilltops with crushing force. Carrying torches and covered in armor, they rode fantastic beasts I had no name for. Elephant-like creatures with teeth like lions, horses that appeared to be skeletons, covered in smooth black scales, and screaming six-legged beasts with shimmering silver fur that seemed to be made entirely of metal. Dragons flew over them, their masters perched above them, red eyes glowing in the darkness.

The storm clouds rolled in the sky, a thick mass, indicative of the righteous anger of That Which Is. With a crack that shook the world, a single, shattering bolt of lightning split the heavens and ripped the clouds open, unleashing a torrent of rain upon the earth. The thunder rolled and rolled, impossible to distinguish from the sounds of the stampeding masses moving toward us.

I reached my hand to the right and found Michael's hand. He reached out and linked his fingers with Donovan who took the hand of Andrew who stood, silent and brave, next to him. On the left I held tight to my dearest friend, Freyja, who, at this moment, in her shining armor, with her extraordinary necklace at her throat, and her cloak of falcon feathers billowing out behind her in the wind, had never looked more glorious. The golden sheath hung at her hip, bejeweled and beautiful and empty. No sword would be wielded by her this day. She reached to Hnoss, upon whose shoulder the tiny Fayette stood, braced against the mighty wind with feet spread wide.

Behind the riders came the foot soldiers. They stretched to the horizon: Giants, towering above the others, trolls, short, powerful, slow, and nearly impossible to kill.

A new sound came to me, over the wind and the thunder, the torrential rain and the roars and thudding steps of the monstrous hoards approaching. It was a terrible moaning scream that made the marrow of my bones ache like an arctic wind. It seemed to come from every direction at once. I looked up and sawthose angels who had rejected the light. They sped at us with terrifying purpose and unfailing direction.

I knelt in submission to the Will of the One who had created all, and those with me knelt alongside me, still holding tight to my hands, forming an unbroken chain around the entirety of the tiny village where we'd camped. Outside the circle, between us and the oncoming nightmare army, the angels stood. They lifted and spread their wings high, each magnificent wing tip just touching the tip of the one next to it. They raised their hands to heaven and sang out as they never had in the history of everything that ever was, to the praise of That Which Is. Tears poured down my cheeks at the sound of it, indistinguishable from the relentless cold, heavy rain pouring down on us. There were six who flew overhead, circling the entire camp.

The army drew ever nearer. The earth itself began to tremble and rip apart, opening in a great rift, splitting the approaching warriors into two groups. The rebellious spirits of the underworld emerged to join our attackers.

Michael squeezed my hand tightly. "This could be how we die."

Death held no fear for me. "There are worse things than death," I said. I knew he agreed.

The sky was suddenly ablaze with comets. The stars themselves appeared to be falling--a meteor shower. They fell by the dozens, the hundreds, the thousands, burning as they entered the atmosphere at blinding speeds, knocking the dark ones from the sky, exploding into the earth amidst our attackers, throwing them back and away from us.

The mountains to the east and west shook tossing their tops off like flimsy aluminum lids. Fire and ash poured forth. We heard war cries degenerate to wails of agony as beings burned in the incredible heat or were trampled by those suddenly trying to escape it.

The angels' song grew even louder and, with a wind like a hurricane, the trumpets of the six who hovered above joined them, bringing as though it were carried upon the sound, an immense wave of water, rushing out of the mountains. A dam had broken. The waters of the mighty river, pent up these past one hundred years, poured forth over the armies. The lava continued to rush down, now toward the raging waters and the heavens rained down with water, rock, and fire. The distant hills began to crumble and fall from the tops downward, creating great avalanches of rock and heat, flames and ash and tortured souls being swept away, some falling into the same crevice which others had climbed out of.

The angels sang, and the trumpets blew, and we all trembled, and wept, and prostrated ourselves before the Creator as the most powerful army ever mustered in the history of the realms raged against Him.

The fallen angels raised swords against those who surrounded us and the swords bounced back against a blazing light that burst forth around them.

"My God!" I heard Freyja, above the phenomenal noise. I followed her line of sight and saw what she saw. "The fallen angels are bleeding!" she cried out in astonishment.

All around us they bled and fell and died. They were knocked down by the meteors and crushed under the trampling feet of their beasts and they did not rise again. They burned and didn't stand from the ash. They were overcome by the water and were tossed up, limp and still, upon the muddy ground.

The angels began to grow in form, rising, beings of pure light becoming constantly brighter until they became too much for the humans to bear. All around me the chain of hands was broken as men and women lay upon the ground, covering their heads with their hands. I could hear them, sobbing and praying.

The sun was obscured from view and the light that illuminated the world changed to that purest white fire. It pressed down from above, covering everything and piercing every living being to the very core of their inmost heart.

I was certain I'd be crushed, ripped apart, dissolved into something infinitely tinier and more scattered than the atoms of the matter that made up my body. There was no way to stand this. There was no way to exist in the presence of this. It was like trying to breathe in the face of an atomic blast. I would be shattered for sure! I knew that I was dying and I embraced the chance to enter the Heavenly Gate I could only glimpse before. And then, like a cool compress against a feverish brow, I felt something soft and firm cover my face and the pressure on my soul became tolerable--just.

"STAND, RAZIEL, KEEPER OF THE KNOWLEDGE."

The voice was barely a whisper but it came from everywhere. It spoke out from every particle of matter that surrounded me and it sounded within my very being.

"STAND, SIMONE, FAITHFUL FOLLOWER OF I AM."

I was lifted to my feet and held by a strength that was outside of me.

"STAND, FREYJA, CHAMPION OF MOTHERS AND WARRIORS. STAND, ALL WHO LOVE ME AND HONOR THE LIFE YOU'VE BEEN GRANTED."

All around me the members of our group rose up, trembling and pale.

"WHAT HAS HAPPENED TODAY MUST NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. I AM EXISTS AS THE ETERNAL ONE IN COMMUNION. THERE IS NO SELF WITHOUT OTHER. THERE IS NO ONE WITHOUT MANY. TEACH THE CHILDREN TO LOVE AS THEY HAVE BEEN LOVED. LET THEM SPEAK FOREVERMORE THAT I AM IS LOVE UNENDING. NO DARKNESS CAN STAND AGAINST THE LIGHT THAT IS."

A new sound filled the air, an unearthly chorus. "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! PRAISE BE TO THE ONE WHO IS ALMIGHTY! THE REALMS SHOW THE GLORY!"

I found myself upon the ground once more. Slowly, the light and the sound withdrew until there was nothing but the sound of the rain, falling upon the surface of the earth and then that, too slowed and quieted and was gone.

For a long moment no one moved. Then I felt Freyja stir next to me, not rising, but reaching out in search of my hand. Her cool, strong fingers wrapped around mine. I lay there, and clung to her, and then reached out again toward my husband.

I opened my eyes. My cheek was pressed against a large stone and it felt cool and smooth under my flesh. Above me, the sun shone in a blue sky and a soft breeze moved over me. I looked out upon the earth and saw that where there had been mountains the world was now flat. There was an enormous lake where the water had pooled and the surface of the water was gently rippling, refracting the sunlight like countless jewels. No part of the earth showed so much as a scorch mark. A lush grassy prairie spread out as far as the eye could see and small birds darted about in the tall grass.

If I let my eyes unfocus just a bit I could see, as transparencies lain one on top of another, each a different picture, each fitting together flawlessly, the realms stretching into infinity. No veil existed between them. All barriers had been removed.

Directly in front of me, some distance away, lying upon the ground, was a man who was tall and thin, covered in battle wounds and grime.

There were no other bodies or injured beings crying for help. There was nothing but perfect peace.

I pushed myself to my feet and stood looking at the pitiful creature sprawled in the grass. I felt the others around me returning to awareness and standing up.

The man slowly seemed to become aware. As he stood, he seemed to be taking in his surroundings in much the same way I had. He ran his hands through his hair and then held out his hands and stared at them as though seeing them for the first time. He began to tremble and shake his head wildly back and forth and then he stepped, stumbled and fell to his knees, and wept like a child.

"Who is he?" Michael asked.

"It's Acedia," Freyja told him. "Given exactly what he wanted. He's a mortal man. He has everything he envied, including a body of flesh that can be wounded and weaken and die."

"Donovan, take Adam with you and go to him. Offer him sanctuary. Not a hand is to be raised against him nor a word said in offense to him by anyone. This day the fight was won by That Which Is and we will know only peace."

He nodded and the two ran off to do what they'd been told but, at their approach, he stumbled backward and ran away. They were wise enough not to give chase. The one who sought to destroy the world would now have to find a way to survive in it. Or not. Just like the rest of us.

The angels were gone as were the six spirits. "Where did they go? Why did they leave?"

Freyja shrugged. "It's their way. They've returned to their stations."

I nodded and I stood, marveling at this beautiful world, the same and yet entirely different, that had been spared for another day.