TCD2

On the eve of the first major battle for Salem Raphaela came to Lilith and said, "Your Royal Highness, you have been gracious to instruct me in the way of Bat-El, but many of the Fallen Angels have remarked that you are a yan of very few words."

Lilith said, “The chatter of ordinary yen flows from their nature, Raphaela, but the silence of a yen of war flows from her understanding. When you release a flood of words, there is a greater chance that you may inadvertently utter something that you did not intend to say, and this will reveal your foolishness to all."

Raphaela objected, "But if the wise speak like fools then they are fools.”

Lilith said, "A foolish yan may be considered wise if she simply closes her lips. Long ago before men and women were brought to heaven people walked the way of Bat-El and they did what needed to be done with few words. Then they invented writing and recordkeeping and they recorded what they saw as history.

“Today, few still walk the path laid out by Bat-El, so we are overrun by speechmakers and long-winded politicians with their solutions for this or that crisis, when all of their problems can be solved by letting things freely reach their natural balance."

Raphaela said, "But in that event, Your Royal Highess, the politicians would not get credit for saving the day, and people would begin to think such parasites were not needed at all."

And Lilith said, "You have hit very close to the mark, Raphaela."

Raphaela asked, "Can a yan of war still be loving?"

Lilith said, "We have the word 'loving' to identify someone who loves, and to distinguish them someone who hates, because in this dark age there are many who hate."

Raphaela asked, "Has hatred not always been with us?"

Lilith said, "Long ago everyone loved, so the word 'loving' did not yet exist. Love was as abundant as the air we breath, or like the water a fish lives and moves in. Only the absence of love demanded the invention of the word 'loving' to describe those who still held to my path."

Raphaela asked, "Could the same be said of the wise, or the honest, or the just?”

Lilith nodded in the affirmative. “As more and more people fell away from the way of Bat-El, the names for more and more virtues began to appear, where before there had been only formless innocence. The yan of war sets her foot on the path to return to that."

Raphaela said, "Then it seems that to be a yen of war is to set yourself apart from all other yen, not to mention apart from all len and jen and men."

Lilith said, "This is true, Raphael, but not from a desire to be elite, but only because a yan of war clings to her inner nature while others flutter about chasing their illusions."

Raphaela asked, “Is it misguided to seek the truth?"

Lilith replied, "It is wasted effort to seek the truth, Raphaela. While others run around looking for external truths, the yan of war cultivates the way of Bat-El, which brings her mind naturally into accordance with the way things are."

Raphaela said, “I think, Your Royal Highess, that frequently when the people running to and fro it is simply so they can continue their own livelihood."

Lilith replied, "People lead busy lives because they perceive their wants as needs, so their needs become endless. Being a yan of war means having a good sense of priorities. Her needs are relatively few, and her desires are almost nonexistent, so she appears calm and contemplative."

Raphaela said, "If the way of Bat-El is about always simplifying things, should I not start by ignoring authority figures?"

Lilith answered, "That is a good beginning. Power attracts people who are more interested in expanding and clinging to that power rather than nourishing their mind in the way of Bat-El."

Raphaela said, "Then, Your Royal Highness, what would you say if I also, in the name of simplifying my life, began ignoring you?"

Lilith said, "That is a good direction in which to continue, Raphael. Individual people, even one such as I, may not truly be in harmony with the way of Bat-El despite their claims to the contrary. But now the way of Bat-El has taken root in Heaven, so all the people, taken in aggregate, cannot help but be in harmony with that path."

Raphaela asked, "So if I take all the people as my teacher, I cannot go wrong?"

Lilith said "That is most assuredly true, Raphaela. Individual leaders or teachers mayi have ambitions, and so depart from the way of Bat-El. But the common people lack ambition. Here in Salem and even in distant Rammon they have embraced the preaching of Michael and live in natural simplicity, and so too does the yan of war. She protects her inner dignity even as she protects the people, by being supremely mysterious. Only the outward actions of her can be observed, never her guarded inner core."

Raphaela said, “Your Royal Highness, before I make an assertion, I always take care to qualify it with, 'I may be wrong about this, but...' or 'I'm not really certain, but...' or ‘This will probably sound stupid, but...’”

Lilith said, "That is not what I mean by protecting your center, Raphael. You do not even realize it, but with such self-effacing language as you describe, you are really playing down your intelligence in order to gain acceptance from the opposite sex."

Raphaela said "Your Royal Higness, are saying that mincing words is not true humility, but actually a form of display?"

Lilith said, "Yes! And when your tentative speech becomes a habit, you begin to automatically think bad of yourself. This serves only to perpetrate the dominance that len enjoy over yan which is reinforced by physical strength and by law, None of those things are important to the yan of war. She is interested, rather, only in the survival and well-being of the people she protects."

And Raphaela said, "Excellent."

During the battle the King's forces, which were a larger body than the Fallen Angels, took the role of the primary force. Lilith's yen were the skirmishers, the saboteurs, and the assassins.

On a grander scale, it was King Melchiyahu and his ordinary force that gained the victory, but Zadkiel's yeng remembered only the leather-clad yen who had somehow gotten behind their lines, throwing knives, cutting throats, driving off horses and setting fire to wagons.

And Elyon, watching through the eyes of the dragon Demonstroke flying high over the field, witnessed the defeat of Zadkiel. He discounted his numerical losses and ordered more yeng to march west from Adan. They moved toward Salem like buckets of water in a fire brigade.

Zadkiel spent the lives of yeng on the Plain of Galcha without remorse until the Adanite horde was on the utter brink of mutiny. Then Melchiyahu and Lilith withdrew closer to Salem but the enemy did not pursue.

There was relative quiet for a time as Zadkiel waited for replacement troops to come west. But on the day before the second major battle for Salem Raphaela said, “Look at that, Your Royal Highness! Thrice ten thousand arrayed against us! Did you ever see such a host?"

Lilith said, "A large force does not assure the enemy a victory, Raphael. What are the stakes? They are fighting to restore Salem as a taxpaying province in Samael's empire. But our people can barely made do as things stand now. Paying the ‘worship’ tribute to the Eyes of Samael would starve them. They are fighting to survive."

Raphaela objected, "But the hashmalim Zadkiel and Bezaliel are over there!"

Lilith said, "And they hate each other more than they hate us, Raphael. They only joined together against me only because Samael commanded it."

Raphaela said, "But under them are the most famous erelim and sarim in House Gerash!"

Lilith said, "And how did they get so famous, Raphael? By their reckless aggression. If I present my shock troops to them as bait they will rush out to engage them, thinking how this will advance their reputation."

Raphaela said, "But behind them are the best fed and best trained soldiers in Kemen!"

Lilith said, "But they aren't fighting for their wives or cities or farms in Italy, they are fighting to prop up a bankrupt culture and a fragile slave economy.

Raphaela said, "Your Royal Highness, help me to understand how we, numbering in our thousands, can hope to prevail against our enemies numbering in tens of thousands?"

Lilith said, "A light commando force wreaking havoc behind enemy lines will tie down a much greater force hunting for it. A small army that is still and rested with have the better of a large army that is worn out marching double-time to meet it."

Raphaela said, "But there must be a limit to how small a unit can be before it is ineffective no matter how intelligently it is employed."

Lilith nodded in agreement. She said, "Too light, and we invite aggression. Too heavy, and our army becomes unwieldy. A commander in harmony with the way of Bat-El coordinates the small with the great, the strong with the weak, the eager with the reticent, balancing opposites to attain the middle path. I will unleash the extraordinary force. When they see the carnage wrought by the Fallen Angels, they will hesitate. And in that moment my father the king will strike with the main force. Salem must prevail because the army is humble. Our soldiers and the officers who lead them do not think of self-aggrandizement of the aggrandizement of the state."

During the battle the King’s forces, which were a larger body than the Fallen Angels, took the role of the primary force. Lilith’s yen were the skirmishers, the saboteurs, and the assassins. On a grander scale, it was King Melchiyahu and his ordinary force that gained the victory, but Zadkiel’s yeng remembered only the leather-clad yen who had somehow gotten behind their lines, throwing knives, cutting throats, driving off horses and setting fire to wagons.

They clashed in the ravine of Anixi and Melchiyahu was driven down the brook to Nolesh Wood. But Zadkiel's greater numbers were of no advantage there. Then Lilith came with timely Fallen Angel reinforcements to turn Zadkiel's flank and press the Adanite army to the very edge of the gorge of Armak.

The flags of truce were brought out, and with the King's consent Lilith rode into the lines of the enemy to see if Zadkiel, with hyz back against an awesome precipice, had come to new wisdom. He had not truly believed Elyon's words concerning Lilith, but that was before this fight.

'I find I want you working for me and not against me,' Zadkiel told har as Michael watched from his cage only a few paces away. 'You can destroy this finger of army in this position, but I fear that Michael is close to the edge and something might happen to hym during the confusion. To keep Michael safe you will dissolve your band of yen dressed as warriors, ride at the head of this army, and go where I command you in the East Lands and the West Lands and Salem, and every place where angels and men dare to hold the law of the God of Kemen in contempt.'

'Where is the honor here, Zadkiel? Where is the glory? Do you really want me to command your army while every decision is tainted by holding hostage a peaceful yang that I love? Elyon would do better to shun pretense and send Demonstroke down to finish the Fallen Angels.'

Zadkiel was delighted to hear Lilith declare that she loved the prisoner. 'Then are the rumors true, Princess? Michael must not fall outside of the control of my army but he need not be confined to a cage. Consider very carefully. You could go to hym this very night.'

'At a word from my father every Salemite would flock into his army, Hashmal Zadkiel; yea, even the yen, the infirm, the dirks and the dolls. The war would grow so bloody that the whole face of the land would be covered with the dead, and no one would be left to bury them.

This,' said sha, 'must not be.' Then she turned on her heels and quit the parley. There had been no need to prod Lilith to do the right thing. Never was Michael more proud of her .'Sha knows, Elyon. The things you love are always used against you. Always! she knows!'

'Sha does know,' Michael replied, 'but woe to those who turn love into a weapon and dare to use it against the ones who love. Beware, Zadkiel. Your doom lies before you. It takes no supernatural power of foresight to know the struggle for Salem will end badly for you.'

Many years before Zadkiel brought war to Salem, the Cherub Gordiel hitched a wagon to a nearby tree with a knot so elaborate no one has ever been able to fairly begin to unravel it. At that time an oracle said whoever untied the wagon would rule all the angels in Heaven.

Zadkiel had heard the prophecy, of course. When the Army of Elyon drew near the city he found the wagon and laid eyes on the Gordian Knot. For several days, while the army built camps in the surrounding fields, Zadkiel tried to undo the legendary knot, but to no avail.

This he did in great secret, for the Eyes of Elyon would look askance at any attempt to usurp the power of Samael by fulfilling the prophecy. Then, accepting at last the wagon was going nowhere, Zadkiel had his yeng lash Michael's cage to the old wagon on the hilltop.

Sibiel, the farmer from Odargas who once smuggled Princess Lilith into Salem, was fingered by witnesses after the Eyes of Elyon threatened torment. The Eyes elected not to kill or even maim Sibiel, for it seemed a waste of good yengpower. Lilith had made Zadkiel's army short-handed.

Sibiel was issued army livery and pressed into service as a waterbearer in Zadkiel's camp. Having little else to do for entertainment, often the Adanite soldiers tripped hym, laughing together with their fellows as Sibiel trudged back and forth to refill hyz waterskin.

One night when Sibiel wandered off toward the edge of the camp he was attacked by a hooded shape and dragged into a ravine. When they were alone the attacker revealed her self to be Lilith and ordered hym to swap their clothes. As he stripped Sibiel said he wanted to help.

But after some stern words from the Ophan, tempered with ample thanks for what he had already done for her, Sibiel faded off into the night under the black robe.Lilith adjusted Sibiel's second-hand armor and helmet, which was almost worse than no protection at all.

Sha padded out her ample curves and applied false facial hair to offset the soft yenish features that belied her status as commander of the most fierce army in heaven. Then Lilith drifted into camp fetching water for the yeng and taking abuse as though she were Sibiel.

Lilith searched in the area where Sibiel told her Michael was being held captive. The wooden cage that had been his home for far too long had been taken off the wagon tied to a tree by the Gordian Knot and relocated to the center of the camp. It was guarded by only two yeng.

The cage was covered with a canvas to keep Michael from dying of exposure. It would not do, Zadkiel knew, to break the single thread keeping hymself and his whole army alive.Lilith could swagger with the best of them. The guards permitted her to bring water to Michael.

Lilith appeared between the canvas and the cage with her ladle of rancid water. For light she put on a green flexible band of intricate make, a gift from Michael. In the center it possessed a brilliant white light that allowed Lilith to move on the darkest nights.

There was none like it in Heaven. The canvas covering Michael's cage was thick enough that no light escaped to betray the princess and whispers could not be heard outside. Michael was initially filled with joy when he saw the face of his disciple but this quickly changed.

'Nice beard.Hush! Take my headband.I gave that to you and I never ask for my gifts to be returned.You will have to make an exception.Do you want me to use it to escape?Please don't do anything stupid, Michael. Better yet, don't do anything at all!'

Michael immediately got the joke and smiled. Lilith offered the water sha brought, such as it was. Then she said, 'That headband is the only thing I have that says 'Lilith was here' without mistake. Zadkiel will come here later to gloat over you like they always do.'

'At that time I want you to let hym see that you have my headband. That's my message to hym, and it is a very simple one: that I can come or go at will.It will rattle hym good.It will rattle him to the point of pulling many yeng off the front lines to guard you.'

'It is a sound plan,' whispered Michael. 'I never doubted that you had a scheme to get me away from Zadkiel.'Their last moment together that evening was spent in a passionate kiss that was made necessarily short because the guards were already getting suspicious.

At dawn Lilith and her father beheld the enemy, now very close to the city, from a small rise. Michael's cage was visible in the center of the field, protected by a sizeable fraction of Zadkiel's available yeng, perhaps up to a third. Lilith marveled how easy it had been.

'Do you see what I have done, father?' said sha. 'Things have been neatly reversed. Michael has become Zadkiel's greatest weakness instead, a precious jewel tying down a third of his force just as our attack begins.'And Melchiyahu did not hesitate to let the attack begin.

The armies slammed together. With the new disparity in numbers the battle inexorably began to tip against Zadkiel. Lilith fought her way to the top of the hill behind Zadkiel's army where the wagon was tied up, standing all by itself and forgotten. Zadkiel spotted her.

Zadkiel nudged his horse up the hill to cut her off. A sudden fear gripped hym that Lilith could accomplish what no others had achieved, solve the Gordian Knot, and inherit the promise of the oracle to rule Heaven.Alone on the summit they both dismounted and squared off.

After a flurry of clashing swords just the tip of Zadkiel's blade slashed Lilith's bare midsection and he attained first blood. Sha feigned shock at the injury and slowed her dance.Zadkiel saw that and let his guard wither for just a few heartbeats, but it was enough.

Seeing her slim opening, Lilith let fly a ferocious kick of one booted foot to his face and Zadkiel was laid out cold. his sword separated from his unconscious hand. Lilith tossed it far away, then returned to har helpless prey with a strong urge to make an end of hym.

Before she met Michael, Lilith would have done precisely that, to avenge Imriel. No, far better to let the Hashmal live and explain hyz defeat to his god. she suppressed her rage and glanced at the forgotten wagon fastened to a tree on the hilltop. Lilith ran to it instead.

Sha attempted to untie the knot that her mad grandfather old King Gordiel had made to secure the wagon to a mighty tree, but like so many that came before her she made no headway. she looked down and saw Adanite skirmishers ascending to come to the aid of their commander. Finally, with no time to lose, Lilith just hacked at the knot with her sword. The wagon was free, but she was certain Gordiel didn't have that solution in mind when he created the knot. The wagon began to roll downhill and Lilith jumped inside, hanging on for her very life.

Lilith's war cry caught the attention of the troops guarding Michael but the wagon gripped it. They gaped at the horror rushing down upon them faster than any horse could drive it. All of the yeng fled as her desperate gamble played out. she ducked inside and braced her self.

Michael saw what she was doing also, and flattened hymself against the side of the cage that he guessed would avoid a direct impact. The wagon collided with enough speed to shatter both the cage and the wagon to splinters. Lilith was unceremoniously dumped on her ass. But somehow they both survived the collision. Lilith was more bruised and beaten than she had ever been in her life but Michael was free. Melchiyahu and the Fallen Angels under Lilith's lieutenants pursued the defeated and scattered forces of Zadkiel's army into the forest.

But Melchiyahu knew this defeated army was a fraction of the strength that Samael could bring to bear on hym. The king knew Samael would return with an even greater force.

When Lord Zadkiel awoke he drank in the scope of his humiliation from hyz vantage on the hilltop. Cursing, he fled the field alone on his horse. For the rest of his life, which endured little longer than his long ride back to Adan, he contemplated how to explain it to Samael.

Raphaela came to aid Lilith but was waved off. She said, "The Adanites no longer have a coherent army. We are seeing them flee east by platoons and companies. Shall we cut them off?"

Lilith said, "My father has left one escape route open, inviting the enemy to retire. What is now a trickle out the back door will become a flood. We must never engage in slaughter for the sake of slaughter, dear Raphaela. It is enough that we have won the field this day."

Raphaela rejoiced, and said, “Happy is the city that thinks of war in times of peace!”

Lilith answered, "And wise is the yan who immerses herself in military lore. But make no mistake, dear disciple. Happiness has nothing to do with it. The clash of arms is the worst experience the dwellers of Kemen can ever experience.”

Raphaela said, "And Your Royal Highness, what of these vainglorious thrill-seekers we often hear about, who claim to love warfare?"

Lilith said, "They are either lying and have never tasted actual combat, or their mind has failed them."

But something more pressing weighed upon Lilith's mind, the well-being of her husband. She hobbled her way to the pile of sticks that had once been his cage.

'No more adventures for a while,' Lilith told Michael while he made certain she was not seriously hurt. 'I've cracked a rib, for starters. But you know this battle would have been unnecessary if you had just let me carry out my plan at Adan.

'You would have been killed.'

Lilith touched the back of her head. 'But now you have changed me, and unleashed a warrior yin in Kemen who does not blanch at the consequence of death.'

'I would unleash an army of them. But tell me, why did you throw away everything you've worked for since you met me?'

'I don't understand what you just said.'

Michael held up one end of the wagon's rope. 'I'm talking about the Gordian Knot. I'll admit, cutting it was probably not what the oracle intended, but now you are destined to rule Kemen. Fate! The unreformed Lilith must return.'

'Must sha? You say Elyon was behind all this, but do you think he will have his way forever? What if the oracle really meant the spirit of the new Lilith will take over Heaven? The one who changed --' her eyes brimmed with moisture and her voice broke, but she went on. 'The one who changed on that unforgettable day when she first heard you speak.'

The last word was a sob. Michael ran his had over Lilith's side, and somehow he took the underlying pain away. Lilith didn't have to use her new talent to shunt the agony away enough to breathe deeply.

'It may take many centuries to play out, my beloved, both here and in the other world. But I really believe you turned a corner here today. If every person in every age grows willing to do for each other what you did for me today, then love won. Once and for all, love won!'