I began to watch. I watched closely. Was there anything to redeem humankind? I renewed the perimeters and, they were breached again.
At one point I was almost taken by surprise, almost. The things had used a human for bait. What was the point?
I was summoned. I was questioned. I was granted a place before Him.
It was like thunder, His voice, His face,, I could not see it, I didn’t dare look, I fell at His feet.
A simple question: “Who are you to tamper with my creations?”
I didn’t dare answer, what answer could I give, instead, I made up my mind to show Him.
I was sick with my convictions, surely, my Lord would see, He would see how much I loved Him, He would see how insignificant humankind was. What good were they?
I walked the grounds, I watched them, they gave me a wide berth, I didn’t care.
I heard a cry, I searched for it. A little human, it had fallen. I reached down and picked it up, it wrapped it’s arms around my neck. It was not afraid. I held it. I felt it’s heart beating, so fast.
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Beginning the Demise of Man 1V - part 1
The little human brought back feelings, I didn't want to feel, memories, I didn't want to remember. I cried, I think.. I didn't have tears but, I hurt inside, deep down.
I had been human once, an innocent human just like the little one. I had only wanted to live my life, I never hurt anyone. Brian had been a good person, infact, I'd always admired his resolve to help those less fortunate than himself. Look what's happened to us.
All because someone wanted oil, someone wanted power, someone didn't recognize the devestation that came with absolute power, now look.
I became angry all over again.. The humans deserved nothing better than elimination.
But the little one, the way it had clung to me. The way it had smiled, the way it had shown no fear..
Maybe, the little ones would be protected, after all, they could be taught. They could be shown a different way. I made my decision as Brian and I sat under the tree. I touched his hand.. What a pitiful pair we were..
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Resolve for the "little ones"
Brian and I, the acid spitter and the protector, sat beside each other on the hill not speaking. I touched his hand briefly to get his attention, "I picked up a little human that had fallen down today," I began hesitantly. "Did you eat it?" he said, with what he thought was a grin, but was actually a grimace in his horribly damaged face.
I looked at him, surprised. I wasn't sure if he was serious or not. I used to know all his moods, every nuance of every word that he spoke was understood. That was a lifetime ago now, I barely knew myself anymore, let alone him. " I gave it back, it was not at fault," I answered simply.
He nodded slowly "no, the little ones are not at fault, and yet they will carry on the destruction that their parents began." I leaned forward with my scaley forarms on my knees. The long lethal red claws hung down, at rest and safe for the moment. "They wouldn't carry on their parents' destruction if they were taught otherwise," I said quietly, forming a brilliant plan as I spoke.
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Beginning The Demise of Man V - part 1
My plan had been put into motion, each day I sat at the river and watched the little ones play. I always made sure they were safe and, I had begun to talk to them. The one I'd picked up that day was bold, he was strong, he was fearless, he was a leader. I lavished most of my attention on him. Through him my plan would come to fruition. Through him a new world would be born.
I made sure to take my time, I had to lull the parents into a sense of security which, wasn't that difficult since, they pushed the little ones towards me when they saw me coming.
Humans, I spit on the ground, what good were they? I watched them, the parents, they would walk the little ones to the river, point at me and turn away. They would just leave them, never a word to me, not even a wave to them, just turn and walk away.
I began to tell the little ones stories.. I told them about a world where there was no need to fear. A world of people that cared about the earth, about the people and things that in habited it. One day, a question I hadn't considered was asked.. "What about the acid spitters, will they be cared about too?" It stopped me.. It made me catch my breath.. I knew Brian but, what about the rest of them?I held the little one close to me, my resolve, no one or, nothing would ever hurt one of them.
The little ones belonged to me!
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The Acid Spitters (what to do)
The human parents brought their little ones to me because they knew that I would protect them. Ever since I had rescued that one brave child, the adult humans had decided that I was safe to leave their children with. The children were safe yes, but what the adults didn't know was that they were not safe.
There had been no more attacks on the perimeter since Brian and I had spoken. I kept the humans inside the barriers, and presumably Brian kept the the acid spitters outside of them. We had both agreed that all of the humans except the children had to be annihilated. In order for the earth to recover from its' near destruction, we had to remove the forces responsible for it.
I had begun to gain the children's trust, but they were not yet ready to follow me away from the river. When that day came, I would lead them away from the village like the pied piper of Hamlin. The difference here would be that it would be the villagers that would be destroyed, not the rats. I had no argument with the vermin. They would be left alive to eat up the mess afterward.
So far the acid spitters had not bothered us, but what if they were planning something? I had to see Brian again. I would protect the children, and I would leave the adults to the acid spitters. But what would they do after the humans in this village were dead? Would they leave and find other humans to destroy, or would they wait until the children were older to kill them? These are questions that must be answered before I would allow the adult humans to be harmed.
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Beginning The Demise Of Man V1 - part 1
The little ones sat in a circle Indian style. I motioned with my hand towards the sky. I told them of a time when the Earth was perfect. A time when there was no pollution, no pestilence, no need for vaccinations, a time when the water was so very, very pure, the air clean and fresh.
A time when a grape was as large as an apple, a time when the bounty was plentiful, there was no need to kill in order to eat. A time there was no need for red meat.
I looked at their little faces, their eyes intent, trained on me and I understood. Right at that moment I understood it all.
My master was a most loving, forgiving and generous being, oh not with things but, with love, that one emotion that covered all transgressions. I understood it, I knew it because, I felt it. I looked into the little faces, brown, white, yellow, black, I stared into the eyes, blue, brown, green and I knew, I would die for them, I would gladly give my life for them.
I sat in the middle of the circle of little ones, I felt my eyes well, my heart swell, they came to me, they draped their arms around me, they kissed the scaly skin of my face and I pulled them to me, each and every one..
Nothing or No One would ever, EVER hurt them.. I had to make it right for my little ones..
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Beginning the Demise of Man v1-prtll
My beloved Master had given me an amazing gift. He had given me the ability to see the true nature of any being, by being able to see their aura. The aura is a light that surrounds everyone. It shows those who can see it, a person's "true colours." I could tell whether someone was good or evil, lying or telling the truth.
My Master had made me his Avenging Angel. It was up to me to rid the Earth of all the evil that still remained on it. It was up to me to rid the Earth of the carnivores, the killers, the acid spitters. I had seen by Brian's aura that he was still good. He had never eaten human flesh, just the flesh of animals.
Eating human flesh changes a creature's aura. There is something about human blood that changes a potentially good creature to something evil. The Master probably did this on purpose, to protect humanity from becoming a viable part of the food chain.
The Acid spitters that had eaten human flesh would have to die, there was no question of that. Those of the spitters that still had enough humanity in them to avoid human flesh, still had a chance of surviving if they stopped harassing the humans. Eating the meat of domestic animals was still alright, because God had put them on earth for that reason. If the animals weren't eaten either by animal predators or humans, they would overrun the earth. They would eat the vegetation that humans needed to survive.
The children of the humans were innocent. They were the third generation after The Destruction, their blood was pure, it had no trace of radiation. Their children would be able to build a world without hatred, without racism and the fury of religious intolerance. It was was up to Miranda as the Avenging Angel, to clean up the mess that the old world order had left behind.
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Beginning the Demise of Man VII - Part 1
It was time, the little ones were ready, I had prepared them.. They knew what was about to happen, they'd be the witnesses to it all, they would be the writers of the new bible for man. There would be new rules and all would be equal..
THE DARK ANGEL
An aura, a beautiful thing depending on what it surrounds. I was now one that could see this very distinctly in fact, I now saw in x-ray.
I could see a person the way you would see a person, but my sight ran a bit deeper. According to the existence, if you will, of the person. Their substance, what they were made of, if they were good or, evil, blood letting showed it..
This was my gift, my burden, my demon, my cross to bear..it had been protection before..
The man was strange, I didn't know where he'd come from but, he sat across from me, he had no aura, nothing distinct there was no substance. He was... empty.
I stared into the huge black eyes, like night and they made me afraid, they were like the black holes in space that swallowed stars, planets, whole galaxies that came too close .
And I felt the pull, I perceived the threat I knew it to be real, I knew it would be lethal. I looked away.
He smiled and stretched out his hands, I stared at them for a moment. I had the power to see, to predict, to discern, then, I could neutralize, negating evil. Lately there were almost too many for me and my powers seemed to be weakening, I had a plan but, I need more strength..
I didn't know what he was, I could not see the substance of him. Still, something urged me to take the outstretched hands. Something made me realize he was here for a purpose and that purpose was me. I stretched out my scaly appendage..
I timidly touched his finger tips.. A burst of energy, a fire so hot, I screamed, he pulled me close and held me steady. I saw worlds collide, super novas, light flowed from his hands to mine. My clothes fell away from my body. He held me tighter. I could not breathe, I could only see auras, blues, purples, reds, pinks, benign and soft, then dark red, brown, black.. malignancies.. I closed my eyes against the onslaught of sights.
I see now, I see the faces of the evil ones that roam the earth. The ones that do harm, kill maim, destroy.. They are poisoned souls, desperate spirits, manslayers.
I have the power, to see, to perceive, to discern, to seperate, to negate... to destroy and, I destroy without hesitation, without remorse, without prejudice.. All fall at my hand..
I am the ANGEL OF DEATH!!!
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Beginning the Demise of Man Vll prt2 (the children take over)
It has been decades, the children that I had protected from the acid spitters had grown and had children of their own. I am old, I am tired, I think that I will soon die, and my Master must choose another Angel of Death. I have killed when I had to, and left the pure and the good to carry on, to procreate.
I was the Angel of Death, it was up to me to rid the Earth of those that threatened mankind. Brian was good, so I did not kill him, he just left the area and lived out his life span. He did not harm humans in any way, so he was left alone. The other acid spitters did not fare so well. They had to be removed from the earth because they were predators.
Since I could see who was good and who was evil, I killed only those who would again bring the Earth to destruction in time. There were still adults left, more than I had expected in fact. I began speaking to the adults when they came to get their children at the end of the day. Their horizons had expanded after the acid spitters had been destroyed.
The children that I protected, gathered round me, as I told them what a new world order would look like. The older ones wrote down my words. These words became a book central to their new culture. The adults worked the land, helped it recover. They came to accept my presence as inevitable, helped the children to write a book of guidance for following generations.
The book became their guidance toward building a safe and productive Earth, without the need for wars. It preached the virtue of moderation in all things. It showed ways to advance in technology without allowing it to take over man's ability to think for himself. It guided man toward an Earth that still had music, and theatre, science and books.
The world that survived Armageddon was not perfect, there was still evil and crime in it, I could not be every where at once. However, the bad segments of society were never able to expand and organize to the point to cause world destrucion.
I had underlings that reported to me when it looked like a corporation was damaging the environment, or was getting too big to control. My master led me to those who had become dangerous. I always confronted them to see for myself if these people were redeemable. If I could not see redemption in their auras, I would put an end to them and their destructive ways.
The world enjoyed relative peace. There were regional squabbles of course.There would always be a certain tension among different cultures, but there would never again be world destruction. There would always be an Angel of Death to stop concentrations of hatred and evil that would lead to war. The people who had survived advanced in technology, without letting it control them. The people of Earth had recovered from near destruction, and it was time for my Master to choose someone to take my place.
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The End
This has been my story, something that started so many milleniums before, something that had started, festered and then came to a culmination of destruction.
I often think about the world before then. I can see Brian, I still see that day, that changed the world as we knew it.
There is another Angel of Death.. this one will never tire, this one will never gray and grow old, this one is the true Angel of Death. As for me, well, I stand in the good graces of my master and after all isn't that all I could ever want.
I sit on the precipice where the Crying Angel sat, I watch the little ones, now adults. They gaze up at the sky sometimes and I let my tears fall on their faces.
I love them still and, I understand.. the love my master had felt for humankind..
