Inside Lucifer's War by Byron J. Smith Read Free Book Online Page A

forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. . . . Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.”
    I heard the usual chorus of hisses and moans after the reading, but then I heard shouts, singing, and chanting.
    Lucifer returns to an upright position and the chants quiet. He stares at me, and I shudder at his look. He speaks slowly, as if he is drained from the recitation. “Dear Thomas. I offer you the chance to write the story of the one whom I shall raise. You will author the only book of the person who will rule on my behalf. It will be a sacred text. A book above all books. It will define how people should live so they should have peace. For this role, you will have great power and authority. You will write the New Testament of this time.”
    I can hardly breathe at this proposition. I am to write the book of the Antichrist. This is madness.
    Bluntly he commands, “Tell me that I chose the right person! Tell me now or perish, for my time has come!”
    “You chose well,” I reply instantly. “I will do all that you ask.”
    He continues, “I thought so. I don’t make mistakes. Now for your first assignment. I realize you haven’t had time to consume all of this, but there is an urgency you don’t understand.
    “When you return to work on Monday, a colleague will ask if you would like to have coffee with him and a special guest. Accept the invitation. Talk naturally about the topics that are raised. You will be in your element, and the guest will be moved by your ideas. Accept any generosity he bestows on you and agree to meet him again. All that I ask of you is to be yourself.”
    I sit quietly. My head wraps around his first statement: When I return to work on Monday . What day is it? I have had no concept of time since I awakened in this lair. I ask, “What day is tomorrow?”
    He laughs. “Ah, yes, Thomas, always thinking of the big picture. Out of all that is laid before you, you simply desire to know what day tomorrow is. What an intellectual enigma you are.” He laughs and shakes his head.
    “I’m sorry,” I say, feeling some reason to apologize. “It’s just that these past few days, well, I haven’t had a sense of time.”
    “When you die, and you are with me, you will have no sense of it. Time will pass, the living will age, the rivers will eat away at their banks, the waves will lap the shores, and yet you will not perceive the passage of time.” He adds as if it is a passing thought, “Tomorrow is Sunday, Thomas. I shall leave you Saturday evening. When you awake, it will be Sunday morning.”
    Again I try to recall what I was doing prior to being in this lair, but I can’t recall anything of the moments before finding myself on the floor of the cave. I once knew a man who’d had a cardiac arrest. He survived, thanks to his son’s rapid emergency response, and a new procedure to