Cover Art by Jena Brignola / Bibliophile Productions
Genre: Urban Fantasy/New Adult
What
if you discovered there was time before time began? What if everything
you thought was true, was not? What if there was a beginning before, “In
the beginning”? What if another story was unfolding within our time? A story steeped in loss, love, betrayal, and secrets?
On
her twenty-third celebrated birthday, Lilith arrived in Scotland,
following clues she had secretly collected about her past. Little did
she know that her arrival at the Rosslyn Chapel would reignite one of
the oldest wars of all time- The Fall. Sides will be chosen, lives will
be lost, and the secret kept all this time by the Illuminati will be
exposed.
Welcome
to Eden. The place where magic was born, trees are gateways to other
realms, and Angels aren’t what you think they are. Meet Lilith. A young
woman with an incredible story; one she isn’t supposed to know, much
less tell. Meet Sam. A man with an unknown past and powers that rival
Lilith’s.
Standing in the shadows, concealed by an invisibility spell, stood the
Lady Ariel, clothed in a white, silken dobok with embroidery of her tribe
around the sleeves and down the legs. Her intricately braided brown hair showed
her status as the Lady of her tribe. The crest of the Tribe of Saphira was
embroidered on the dobok’s back in beautiful hues of green. She frantically
whispered the spell that would finally send Lilith to sleep.
As Lilith finally succumbed, Ariel slowly and carefully began pulling
away the spells that caused Lilith's pain. Some were imbedded in her kelipot.
Ariel tried to limit the pain, following her to the dream realm, but it was not
an easy task. The spells attacking Lilith were strong. There was a familiar
edge to them. Ariel recognized that type of pain and the wielder’s magical
signature.
“Shaytan. What are you doing here?” Ariel stood up and turned. Her sword
appeared in her hand in one fluid motion. The emerald flame matched her eyes.
In the corner behind her, a tall man walked out. He was everything one would
expect the antithesis of God to look like. Black hair, inky black eyes, a trim
waist, and brute strength radiating out from his body. He was not a beautiful
white light or a cloud in the sky guiding a people. Dressed in a
black-and-charcoal-lined dobok void of any markings, he was power personified
in every negative way power was construed. He was forceful, unyielding, and His
sword appeared, but slowly as if to say, You
are an unworthy opponent.
“You will not have her. She is not yours to take.” Ariel spoke with
confidence.
The fiery swords clashed repeatedly as a battle raged. Her movements were
elegant and smooth, faster than he could match, but his were unpredictable,
fluid, and more deliberate. Ariel spun and kicked Shaytan in the chest,
knocking him to the floor. With singular focus, she pushed her sword through
his shoulder. The Sword of Life began to reverse the Shade in his heart,
transforming the darkest pieces into light.
The pain of redemption was extreme, and Shaytan gritted his teeth in
agony as he spoke. “It is amazing how strong you have become, Ari, especially
since you spend your time praying about something in which you will surely
fail.” The shaded angel flipped himself upright and swept Ari’s feet out from
underneath her.
Her sword clattered to the floor and out of her grasp.
“Stop trying to save me. You’re wasting your time. I do not wish for
salvation. I am a prince amongst my people. I am the ruler of all the Chosen
Shade. All your hoping and praying will not change that.” He brushed the
non-existent dust from his suit and leveled his poisonous sword at her neck.
An outsider may have begun to panic, but not Ariel. She would not let him
bait her.
“I will never stop trying to save you from yourself, Shay. It is you who
forgets. You who does not believe, who has lost your faith. It is you, Shaytan,
and your minions who are going to lose. I will never stop battling to heal you.
You are an angel of the Lord. Turning from Him does not make you less His. You
will always be His.”
“Na tikkun olam!” To Shaytan’s surprise, her sword, which he held just out
of her reach, disappeared.
Ariel quickly broke free of his binding spell and held out her arm as the
sword materialized in her grasp. This time she aimed at his heart.
“What you refuse to see, Shay, is the simple truth. Yahweh loves you. He
loves you whether you believe it or not, whether you love Him or not. That love
will continue to grow, and He wants you back. Even after all you have done to
Him and his children along with the
creations that you and Elohim have abandoned here. You and your traitorous
brother have not broken them. They have survived and made a world for
themselves. And I love you. You are my brother, but I will fight your minions
every day to save you. In this task, I will not fail.”
The swords continued to clash in beautiful arcs, no one being getting the
upper hand. Instead, it was an elegant, seemingly choreographed dance.
“My dear, dear, innocent Ariel. Your blind faith in that which you do not
understand is touching. It is like a child who believes whatever the parent
says and does, never thinking for himself. When will you and your siblings
learn? How many more have to die? And I promise, many more will die, Ariel. All
because He kept secrets. Secrets not even your precious Raziel knows. My only
aim is to even the playing field for the Others. I want to give them the tools
to fight. To fight you, dear sister. It is you, after all, who is keeping them
from discovering who they really are. Mistakes. Castoffs. Unwanted by a Father
who never really loved them. And since we are chatting, why don’t you tell me
about this woman named Lilith and why she deserves your protection?”
Ariel leveled her sword, gathering her fury at the blasphemy Shaytan
spewed. She swiped at her brown hair pushing it out of her eyes. “There are no
mistakes under heaven. Your abominations were created at the Sheol, not here.
The Others were a cruel joke. You created beings with no capacity for magic and
without the knowledge of their Creator. You know who she is, Shay. You were
there. You turned your back on us that day and chose to support that vile
traitor. The one who stole His name, and used it to invoke the loyalties of a
people.” Ariel attempted to sneak into Shaytan’s mind and plant the
transformation spell.
“Tsk, tsk, Ariel. Your surreptitious spells will only keep us out of her
mind for so long. Elohim is coming for her. The power surrounding her is what
draws the Fallen. Her light is a beacon to the darkness. You should have hidden
her better. If she is who I think she is, little sister, you are out of your
league.”
“Your weakness is underestimating. It always has been.” Ariel shoved the
sword into his heart and chanted over and over again the healing spell for a
Shaded soul. She prayed fervently for Yahweh to heal him.
“You can… not… save… me… Ariel… Only the Taken… will reverse… our fate.”
Gasping for breath through the pain, Shaytan shimmered away to Ariel’s
astonishment.
She stumbled forward, his great
weight no longer an opposing force against her sword. Wearily, she looked at
the sleeping form next to her. Shaytan’s powers had grown as well. The devil’s
hand had been well played in this round. Well played, indeed.
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B.
L. Marsh has been writing and telling stories her entire life. She is a
music teacher, guest lecturer and runs Master Classes. Her academic
research is focused on the L’homme arme tradition, the Dead Sea Scrolls,
chant transmission in the Medieval and Renaissance, and Gnostic and
Kabbalah history. Her passion for spirituality, mythology and
developing her relationship with God are parts of her Rule of Life. In
her reading of the Bible and other extra-biblical texts however, she
began to daydream about the characters, about how life was back then,
and how cool it would have been to walk in the Garden with God. Her
stories weave a new mythology revolving around Genesis.
When
she is not writing or teaching, she spends her days hanging out with
five of the coolest boys on the planet and at night can be found doing
completely ridiculous things like reading Joseph Campbell and Jane
Austin and watching the same 3 movies on TV.
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