The days passed quickly as Esmeralda led me through the basic steps of regaining my sanity. It had been three weeks since I had been found. Each day was a progressive delving into my nightmares, probing for granules of memories each revealed with shocking effect. Some revelations came with such effect they left me weeping and shaking with terror. Some were so repulsive I retched as they were exposed. Nevertheless, the vague sense of progress was starting to evolve each day.
At night after dinner Esmeralda and I would walk the vast catacombs of this edifice sometimes silently, more often exploring each other’s thoughts about the state of my “healing”. It is worthwhile to mention at this point that leaving the building was far too dangerous as legions of the underworld patroled every dark place on Earth. What I had been infected with would identify me to these monsters instantly and I would be set upon and destroyed.
The days were manageable but frequently at night I would wake covered with sweat and screaming. Esmeralda would ease into bed with me as I trembled in her gentle embrace. As the weeks passed I seemed to reach a threshold, an impasse. Physically I was dramatically better but mentally I was still vulnerable to the most hideous thoughts. Nothing seemed to mitigate the rot within me.
Esmeralda had taken to sleeping in bed with me every night. The comfort of her body next to me was therapeutic and gradually I felt more than comfort. One night as I lay with my eyes closed she climbed into my bed moving against me her body soft and perfumed as her hand caressed my body. Pulling the sheets back and revealing my nude body her hand moved across my chest fingers circling each nipple sending quivers of arousal throughout my body. Her mouth replaced the fingers with soft lips sucking each nipple as her tongue flicked them. Unbelievably my body responded to her attention, my cock firmed as her hand found its fullness and began to slowly stroke its length. At the apex of each stroke, her thumb circled the precum-coated tip as my hips slowly arched upwards in response. I reached around her pulling her closer our eyes met as we leaned in for a kiss. The tentative touch of our lips and tongues grew in intensity until our arousal fueled the embers of passion. Our bodies flexed against one another, legs interlacing, hips twisting in an attempt to form an intimate bond.
Esmeralda turned on her back pulling me on top of her as her legs spread opening her wet nexus to my erect cock. Without guidance, it found her entry and her hard thrust drove it deep into her core her walls grasping as I pushed back and forth. The coupling quickly became frantic, needy, and desperate. Our bodies slapped passionately together lust compelling a driving union until she quivered when the peak of her passion was released in a roar of pleasure. Her juices flowed freely down each leg enhancing the wet penetration of my cock as it probed her vagina. Her knees lifted, heels centering on my back as my cock contracted feeding one after another explosion of seed into her core.
The waves of a collection of emotions swept over me. Confused and at the same time pleased I stared at the ceiling.
“I could never have imagined that I would ever feel the need for sex again.”
“The void created by your experience was an open wound unable to heal until such time as a positive, loving emotion could fill it. It is a natural evolution of your process of recovery.”
“So what just happened was a deliberate, predetermined element of my recovery?”
“It wasn’t premeditated but was not unexpected.”
“Tomorrow you will meet with Thaddeus our oldest member and in his way our historian. We were once known as the Talamasca but were unnamed for a very long time but have evolved over generations. We have been warriors, observers, saviors, and protectors. Today we rise to the myriad of challenges the world presents. Until tomorrow, sleep, you will need your rest.”
As the dawn broke I rose and dressed for the day. There was a scent in the air of breakfast being prepared. While the scents of the start of the day comforted me they were tempered by an undefined sense of trepidation. The meeting with the elder Thaddeus was on the schedule and there was no revelation forthcoming as to what was to be addressed in the meeting. Esmeralda was nowhere to be found which was unusual inasmuch as she had been my constant companion up to this point.
The breakfast room was a beehive of activity people coming and going and others preparing the meal. It was a warm, convivial atmosphere that over my time here I had become accustomed to. Towards the end of my breakfast, a young man approached me.
“If you are finished I would like you to accompany me to meet with Thaddeus.”
“Of course.” I rose and followed his lead.
We turned into a long dimly lighted hallway sandals echoing on the brick floor as we walked. We approached a thick wooden door that seemed to have been charred at some point in its history. It was slightly ajar and a fragment of light pierced the dimness of the hallway. My escort knocked firmly and a deep, mellow voice answered,
“Come.”
The young man pushed me gently forward as my hand moved the door open. Unlike most of the rooms, this was brightly lit by large French doors opening into a lush courtyard. Behind an impressively carved desk stood a tall, thin man reminiscent of what one would imagine Merlin might look like. Like almost everyone else he had on a flowing robe. His hair was a tangled mess hanging just past his shoulders. His beard reached mid-chest both hair and beard were entirely white. He was both imposing and familiar. As he walked around his desk to greet me his arms enveloped me in a firm hug.
“Now young man let he look at you.” He pushed me back to the length of his arms and appraised me through crystal-clear blue eyes which except for a very light blue seemed almost colorless.
“Like many of us, you have been on quite a journey, horrific would best describe it wouldn’t you say?” I nodded in agreement.
He confirmed he was Thaddeus and beckoned me to take one of the chairs fronting his desk as he took the other. He said he was going to tell me something about the place I was and its history. I won’t recount the accounting in its entirety…the short version follows.
Thaddeus was very frank in saying that most, including himself, used a pseudonym. He would get to the reason why in time. He said that this collection of people at its core actually existed before time was counted. He in fact was a warrior and was one of four of his kind and what he would tell me initially would seem farfetched but that will change in time.
“No doubt you have heard or read about the rebellion amongst the Angels in heaven.?The annoyed cherub was the guardian and protector of the throne of God. He was perfect in all ways from the day he was created until iniquity was found in him. In him was the fullness of wisdom and the perfection if beauty.”
He continued,” It was his beauty that caused the pride that was his downfall. He dwelt in Eden, the garden of God. Lucifer, Son of Morning, This was a glorious title when he was created.”
“His position was so exalted that even the Archangel Michael dare not insult him as no man could successfully resist him without divine help. This permitted him to continually tempt the inhabitants of God’s creation, Earth. In this, the rebellion was brewed. Lucifer, as you recall, was behind the corruption of Adam and Eve the was before the time of humans. This among other things caused dissension between my brother Lucifer and myself.”
“As you no doubt now understand I am the Archangel Michael. It was I, not my Father who defeated Lucifer and cast him out of Eden, and the grace of our Father,”
My mind was in disarray, what I had just heard couldn’t be true! Thaddeus stood and metamorphosed before my eyes. He grew to almost one-third more of his initial size and behind him, great wings spread in an arching array. He was an impressive sight with his chest covered with an ornate gold chest plate his arms and legs were thickly muscled.
“I am speaking to you and revealing my true self for a particular reason. During the past weeks of treating you, we have discovered that you are one of the truly blessed by our Father. Within you is a strength even you don’t realize. If you agree we wish to develop your gift to their fullest. There is another battle close at hand which some call the Apocalypse. Ultimately its intent is to destroy mankind and destroy all that remains of Earth as we know it.”
“I defeated Lucifer eons ago during the rebellion but the forces of evil have grown strong and stopping Lucifer will not be assured. He is a formidable opponent and his legions are vast. Thus far our resistance has kept the challenge at a stalemate, but the storm is gathering.”
“If you agree you will be sent to a mansion we built three hundred years ago just north of New Orleans. There you will be trained to use your gifts by the some the finest warriors.”
“I agree without reservation.”
This began my renewal as a warrior and the coming battle for the heart of humanity. What the consequences of defeat will be are unimaginable. My life had been compromised by evil, renewed by a strange sect, and now pushed into the fray by the powers of good. It is indeed the coming of the storm.
