Muno, a powerful and much loved Watcher Angel, had by a momentary lapse in judgment, brought upon himself and his platoon of Watcher Angels, the CREATOR's wrath.
His mission was simple, or so it seemed, 'Deliver the Ark of Recompense to the Mount of the Fallen on Earthian soil.'
Little or no resistance was expected from the 'Fallen'-mighty angels who once basked in the glory of the CREATOR and exuded great power; until they were ensnared and seduced by the Beguiler-the one they were meant to imprison on Earth.
Theirs was a certain fate of damnation, so, Muno's task was to pronounce an inescapable damnation, encoded in the Ark of Recompense on the Mount of the Fallen-the place of incarceration of the Beguiler and his 'Fallen'.
However, the Beguiler-the angel who once shone the brightest in the heavens had a surprise for Muno and his travelling platoon of Watcher Angels...
For a seduction so great; a desire like nothing they ever felt, was to be the greatest defeat they ever suffered. 'What have you done?!' Screamed Muno, in abject desperation.
Persuaded by those he commanded, Muno for the first time in his distinguished service to the CREATOR, ignored his trusty instincts and succumbed to the dictates of angelic military protocol; by sending an advance party of angels-three-quarter his platoon: Two days afore, to herald his arrival-the one empowered to declare the Judgement ordained by the CREATOR.
The Watcher Angels were never immune to the charms of the daughters of men, for indeed the CREATOR wonderfully created them. Hence an advance party of Watcher Angels, without the uncompromising and stoic leadership of Muno, stood no chance with the Beguiler's mistresses-bred for such an occasion, as this angelic visit to the Mount of the Fallen.
And there they fell, deep into the bosoms of well blossomed human damsels. All but Muno and a quarter of his troops ran amok with unbridled lust; fully unleashed on the daughters of men. Muno, aware of the consequences of his failure, rent his wings and wandered into the misty mountains.
Many days he wandered in absolute dejection and despondency until he found the strength to cry to the CREATOR for mercy. 'Abba Father! Plenteous in mercy, abounding in love... Can your anger towards the "Fallen" be assuaged? Surely it can, for you will not always chide, neither will you keep your anger forever. Just and merciful CREATOR.'
Such was his despair and grievous wailing, that he collapsed in a heap and fell into a deep slumber. 'Awake child'! The unmistakable voice of the CREATOR triggered Muno into a frenzy. 'Here is the fate that awaits all of creation, should the "Fallen" be delivered from their recompense...'
And right before Muno's eyes, unspeakable horrors and a life-ending battle, inspired by the 'Fallen' and their offsprings, against the CREATOR and his beloved humanity, flashed past theatrically.
'My love for you regardless, I keep my covenant... You are a "Fallen", and you shall die as one!' The CREATOR resolutely declared.
Muno dropped to his knees and forlornly whispered, 'Should I prove that the children of the "Fallen" can be a force for good, will Mercy prevail over Judgement?'
The rumbling thunder suddenly quietened and the flashes of lightning got less frequent-indicating a change in the countenance of the CREATOR.
'Take me into the revealed horrible future everlasting CREATOR; allow me prove my fealty, devotion and strength to you, in the battle foretold; allow me raise an army from the offsprings of the condemned, allow me prove they can be a force for good.' Exasperated, he slipped into unconsciousness...
'Get off the road'! Startled, Muno awoke to the unabated honking of horns amidst a cacophony of rhythmless music. 'Where am I?' He muttered under his breath. Around him was a maze of high-rise buildings, he turned to the man sitting next to him in the dingy bus he found himself.
'Where are we, sir?' The man flashed a set of plaque laden teeth cynically at him, 'Your father's kitchen fool, of course, you are in Victoria Island... Better stay off drugs boy.'
Immediately, it dawned on Muno, the CREATOR had granted his request; he had transmigrated into the future. 'What year is this? Where in the CREATOR's name is Victoria Island?' His aching head sought answers.
Muno knew he had but a little time, for the view before him, he had seen before, in that horrible vision of the future the CREATOR had shown him. Something terrible was about to happen in Victoria Island. He had to be ready...
No sooner had he hatched the thought, than the screeching sounds of vehicles coming to an abrupt stop, followed by the loud bangs of cars crashing into each other, jolted him into a heightened sense of imminent danger.
Then there was silence... A ghastly silence that was as loud as it was silent.
Suddenly, screams rent the still air and a stampede broke out amongst pedestrians and occupants of the scores of vehicles, who had by now disembarked.
There was absolutely no room to manoeuvre any vehicle away from the ensuing chaos, so, instinctively, many without realizing what threat lay ahead of them, embarked on a foot race.
Just as Muno's travelling companions in the dingy bus he awoke in, made to scamper to supposed safety. A deafening roar and a rapidly spreading darkness took courage away from any who dared venture. 'Help us oh... "Olorun"! Yeh!! We are going to die here today!' A panic-stricken woman in the rear of Muno's bus wailed uncontrollably.
'No one is dying here today!' Muno tried to instil some calm in the now tumultuous atmosphere in the bus.
'Ka--boom!!' A truck came crashing into Muno's Transport; pinning the vehicle and its occupants against a stationary lorry.
It seemed Muno and his co-travellers were fated to have a front-seat view, of the unfolding spectacle before them.
The impact of the crash left all but Muno and a green-eyed boy, unconscious or dead.
Curiously, the green-eyed lad didn't seem terrified by the supernatural events playing out in Victoria Island.
He rather looked assured that Muno could help him. 'Here', Handing Muno a handkerchief, he gestured towards Muno's forehead. 'You are bleeding sir', Muno could feel a rush of blood trickle down his forehead.
'You are here to help me, aren't you?' The green-eyed boy asked rhetorically.
Surprised, Muno asked 'Who are you?'
'I am Dike, the reason for this carnage; I believe the reason you are here and of course, why they are here', Dike motioned Muno towards some activity on the gridlocked streets.
Peering through the shattered windshield of the bus, Muno saw scores of headless, bare-chested and heavily tattooed axe-wielding creatures. They actually were green-skinned men, except that they were headless.
They had leather skirts for pants, giving them a medieval look. The screams grew louder as occupants of the vehicles stranded in the gridlock, disembarked passengers and pedestrians, made frantic efforts to flee, at the appearance of these hideous creatures.
Muno watched helplessly, as the headless men embarked on a slaughter, decapitating victims with axes. Those who attempted to flee, seemed to be slowed down by an invisible force; it was as though they were running in slow motion.
'This is an enchantment of the darkest kind', Muno muttered.
Inexplicably, some entrapped persons were spared, perhaps to be enslaved, because steel bands from the undergarments of the headless men, were securely placed around their necks; rendering them motionless-somewhat in a lifeless state.
'The "Slain" and the "Bogs of Hell" will provide a feast of Blood for several days for the "Fallen" and inspire fear-induced worship of the Beguiler, unless you act now! They know I am here and they will stop at nothing until I am found.' Dike railed.
Perplexed, Muno retorted ' "Slain"? "Bogs of Hell"? What are you talking about? Are you an agent of the CREATOR? What am I supposed to do without my celestial powers against such creatures of magic...?'
'So you are an angel then?' Dike interjected, 'Listen hard enough, you'd hear the prayers of Believers, asking rescue of the CREATOR. Hear them call out to their Maker, as they breathe their last.' With head bowed, Dike clasped his hands and began to pray to the CREATOR.
'Clang!' The blade of the axe sliced clean through what was left of the mangled rear door of the bus.
'They are upon us', Muno whispered to Dike, who seemed lost in prayers.
Shortly, Muno began to hear the prayers of Believers, trapped by the enchantment of the 'Bogs of Hell'-revealed that instant to him, as a vicious species of the 'Offsprings of the Fallen'.
He could hear every detail of the prayers offered before the axes of the 'Slain' ran through the necks of victims. The trembling voices and hands of those in hiding became literal to his reality.
And as if in response to the now audible prayers, he felt angelic power course through every fibre of his body. Sparks of electricity buzzed all over his body and he began to glow in the eerie darkness.
His clothes were torn to shreds by his bulging torso and ripped thighs; a familiar silver suit of armour, though without its accompanying wings, covered up his nakedness.
Muno knew just what to do, as his trusty double-edged blades, protruded from both his upper arms, replacing his forearms and hands-he was in prime battle mode.
Without wings, he wondered if he could fly; not for long though, for without much effort, he leapt into the air, straight through the roof of the bus, to evade his assailant.
'Wow! Who needs to fly when I can leap this high.' He reckoned mid-air.
It was as though, he had super-energized springboards for legs. It felt as though he could reach for the stars again.
'I bring you a taste of the vengeance of Heaven, for the saints lost below', Muno bellowed, as he made a quick descent from the heights reached.
With blade-like forearms and hands, swinging in perfect sync with his upper arms; he cut through the 'Slain'-the headless minions of the Beguiler; like hot knife through butter.
Even the enchantments of the 'Bogs of Hell' could not slow him down.
He conjured lightning bolts from Heaven and struck the rooftop of a twelve-floor high-rise, from whence the 'Bogs of Hell' exerted influence on the hapless humans trapped in the gridlock.
Muno was making light work of the resistance before him.
Dike expected much from the Celestial who sat two seats away from him earlier; but not this much.
Dike, an 'Offspring of the Fallen', was known in Offspring circles, as a 'Deep'-Offsprings with mind-reading abilities.
He was a fourth-generation descendant of a 'Fallen' Watcher Angel, named Darius, previously under Muno's command. Like the rest of the advance party of Muno's platoon, on that ill-fated day; Darius fell into the bosom of a fair damsel of the Earth.
Having come to his senses; disconsolate, Darius wandered into oblivion. Unbeknownst to him, his tryst that day yielded seed. A noble warrior, whose name is sung in African folklore for his bravery and nobility, was birthed by an angelic tryst: His name was Obim. Dike was Obim's great-grandchild.
It was Dike, Excalibur-a 'Fallen', versed in the dark arts of sorcery; revealed as the one vessel powerful enough to host the entirety of the Beguiler's being.
For the Beguiler had not instigated fear enough in the hearts of men, to inspire worship powerful enough, to break him free from the chains of incarceration on the Mount of the Fallen.
Hence he sought to transmigrate into Dike's powerful body, to speed up his plans to recreate and dominate the Earth.
Whilst Muno was having fun dismantling the Beguiler's foot soldiers, Dike caught glimpse of a previously unnoticed 'Offspring of the Fallen'; a 'Shadow', in Offspring nomenclature-with the ability to walk through walls.
She slipped away from the battle and appeared to speak to the winds; with a quick hand movement, she unsheathed a dagger strapped to her arm and drove the glistering blade straight through her heart.
Dike had just witnessed a Kildur-an Offspring blood sacrifice, done to summon Excalibur, the 'Fallen' charged with Offspring conscription and tutelage.
Dike knew instantly, that a powerful summons had been issued. He had heard tales, that the 'Offspring of the Fallen', his blood relatives, could summon Excalibur. He feared Muno would be no match for the guile and strength of Excalibur, especially in his semi-celestial form.
Muno gave chase to what was left of the 'Slain' but was soon stopped dead in his tracks, by an aggressive fluster of bats, a few yards away from him.
Precipitously, the bats condensed into an entity, with a male anterior and female posterior, covered with a leathery hide. Its eyes were bloodshot red. On its male anterior, a spear and a large serrated sword dangled menacingly from both hands.
The female posterior wielded a highly reflective shield with its left hand, which seemed to give off a luminance in the dark: And in its right hand, was the distinct claret coloured Harp of a long lost Cherub-Haggai, a Ministering Angel, whose task was to minister to the stars in songs.
For only by the playing of his Harp and his sultry singing, did the stars dance and sparkle the brightest?
Consequent upon Haggai's disappearance, the CREATOR refused to name a replacement, because he held hope that Haggai would someday return.
The CREATOR never countenanced any suggestion that Haggai might have betrayed him for the Beguiler's earthly pleasures. For in the CREATOR's words, 'Haggai's heart remained untainted.'
And that was the end of it because only the CREATOR could distinguish the Sullied from the Unsullied. How Haggai's claret Harp ended in Excalibur's hand-for it was he who stood before Muno; was a puzzle Muno was about to unravel.
'Excalibur! The filth of the Beguiler sits well on you!' Muno exclaimed loudly.
'Look around you Muno, this world and all within could be ours, yet you choose to slave for the CREATOR's attention. He has grown old, soon the Heaven and the Earth shall be as one, and I shall serve the conquering Beguiler as chief Cherub.' Excalibur blustered.
'Not if I cut you down tonight, Excalibur!' Muno retorted, 'I am here to enforce your doom and preserve the liberty of humanity.'
Excalibur burst into laughter, 'The butterfly that thinks itself a bird, shall be cut down mid-flight. Take my advice, hand over Dike and qualify for a prison cell with a prime viewing spot, to watch Heaven and Earth bow to the Beguiler's authority. Refuse and suffer a painful death!!'
'Where is Haggai, the Cherub of the Firmament?' Muno asked.
'Now that you have asked, hand over the boy and I swear on my honour, I'd take you to him and lock you both in a nice warm cell, with pretty girls. I'd have the Cherub and what's left of your ill-fated platoon impaled, should you refuse my generous offer.' Excalibur replied derisively.
Muno, consumed by rage, hurled lightning bolts at Excalibur, who deflected the strikes with his shield into a departmental store, filled with people.
'Ha-ha-hah!' Excalibur reeled in uncontrollable laughter, 'You just killed those unfortunate people. You've got murder on your hands.'
In a puff of smoke, Excalibur vanished into thin air, with a grim message for Muno.
'See you soon Muno. The choice is yours, give me Dike or Haggai dies in three days. Better ask your CREATOR before making hasty decisions... Ask Haggai's father...'