The Temptation of Caine

And from the Darkness

came a bright shining light -

fire in the night.

And the archangel Michael revealed himself 25 to me.

I was unafraid. I asked his business.

Michael, General of Heaven,

wielder of the holy Flame,

said unto me,

"Son of Adam, Son of Eve, thy crime is great,

and yet the mercy of my Father is also great.

Will you not repent the evil that you

have done, and let his mercy wash you clean?"

And I said to Michael,

"Not by [the One Above]'s grace, but mine own

will I live, in pride."26

Michael cursed me, saying

"Then, for as long as you walk this

earth, you and your children will

fear my living flame, and it will

bite deep and savor your flesh." 27

And on the morning, Raphael came28

on lambent wings,

light over the horizon

the driver of the Sun,

ward of the East.

Raphael spoke, saying

Caine, son of Adam,

son of Eve,

your brother Abel

forgives you your sin

will you not repent, and accept the

mercy of the Almighty?"

And I said to Raphael

"Not by Abel`s forgiveness,

but mine own, will be forgiven."

Raphael cursed me, saying

"Then, for as long

as you walk this earth,

you and your children

will fear the dawn,

and the sun's rays will seek

to burn you like fire

where ever you hide always.

Hide now for the Sun rises to take

its wrath on you."

But I found a secret place in the earth

and hid from the burning light of the Sun.

Deep in the earth, I slept until the

Light of the World was hidden behind the

mountain of Night.29

When I awoke from my day of sleep,

I heard the sound of gentle rushing wings30

and I saw the black wings of Uriel

draped around me -

Uriel, reaper, angel of Death,

dark Uriel who dwells in darkness.

Uriel spoke to me quietly, saying

"Son of Adam. Son of Eve. God Almighty

has forgiven you your sin.

Will you accept his mercy and let me

take you to your reward, no longer cursed?31

And I said to dark-winged Uriel,

"Not by God`s mercy, but my own, will I live.

I am what I am, I did what I did,

and that will never change.”32

And then, through dread Uriel

God Almighty cyrsed me, saying.33

"Then, for as long as you walk this earth,

you and your children will cling to Darkness

You will drink only blood

You will eat only ashes34

You will be always as you were at death,

Never dying, living on.

You will walk forever in Darkness,

all you touch will crumble into nothing,

until the last days.”

I gave a cry of anguish

at this terrible curse and

tore at my flesh.

I wept blood

I caught the tears in a cup

and drank them 35

When I looked up

from my drink of sorrow

the archangel Gabriel

gentle Gabriel

Gabriel, Lord of Mercy

appeared to me.

The archangel Gabriel said unto me,

"Son of Adam, Son of Eve,

Behold, the mercy of the Father is greater

than you can ever know

for even now there is a path opened

a road of Mercy

and you shall call this road [Golconda].36

And tell you children of it,

for by that road may they come

once again dwell in the Light.”

And with that, the darkness

was lifted like a veil

and the only light was

Lilith’s bright eyes.

Looking around me, I knew

that I had Awakened.

When my energies first

surged through me

I discovered

how to move like lightning

[Celerity]

how to borrow the strength

of the earth [Potence]

how to be as stone

[Fortitude]

These were like

breathing once was to me.

Lilith then showed me

how she hides herself from

hunters [Obfuscate]

how she commands

obedience [Dominate]

and how she demands

respect [Presence]

Then, Awakening myself further, I found

the way to alter forms [Protean]

the way to have dominion over animals [Animalism]

the way to make eyes see sight [Auspex]37

Then Lilith commanded that I stop, saying that

I had over reached my bounds

That I had gone too far

That I threatened my very essence.

She used her powers and commanded me to stop.

Because of her power, I heeded her,

but deep within me a seed was planted

a seed of rebellion

and when she turned her face from me,

I opened myself up once more, to the Night,

and saw the infinite possibilities in the stars

and knew that a path of power, a path of Blood

was mine for the taking,

and so I awakened in me this Final Path,

from which all other paths would grow.

With this newest power, I broke the bonds

that the Lady of Night put on me

I left the Damned Queen that evening,

cloaking myself in shadows,

I fled the lands of Nod

and came at last to a place

where not even her demons could find me.