Chapter 53

THE CHOKING DUST tore at him as he struggled along the track, an arm extended across his face to keep the grime out of his eyes and nose. With every step he could feel himself getting weaker as he fought to breathe. At last he could go no farther and sank to his knees, then forward onto his face. Stretching out with his hands in a final gesture of defiance, he touched something solid lying on the ground ahead. Straining his fingers, he reached forward and grasped it. The dust storm vanished immediately and the sun poured its warming rays over his body. Power such as he had never known before swept through him generating his whole being with energy and he stood up with the object in his hand.  He knew now that he was ready, and he held it high in a salute to the Almighty. The blade of the golden sword coruscated in the sun as he acknowledged the heavens.

He felt someone’s hand on his shoulder and turned. His friend stood there holding the bridles of two horses, one red in colour and the other white. The two of them, he saw, were dressed exactly alike, with breastplates of burnished gold, leather tunics and robes with golden friezes, with one notable exception. The outfit he wore was red whilst his companion’s was white just like their horses. The swords they carried were also identical, being made of pure gold with jewelled ornate handles.

“Come!” his friend said. “The end days are at hand!”

“Yes, I know!” Lechaim replied.

Lechaim sheathed his sword and then they mounted and started their horses along the road. As they rode, Lechaim could see that they were passing through the valley he knew so well. It wasn’t long before they reached the fork where the roads divided.

“What is this place?”

“This is called Har Megiddo and that below,” his friend said pointing down the valley to the country beyond, “is the plain of Esdraelon”.

“Does this crossroad have any significance?” Lechaim asked curiously.

His friend looked at him for a moment before replying.

“It is the divide between good and evil! In life, everyone has a choice to make! Each person must choose a road, one leading to enlightenment and one to eternal damnation.  You see free will is both a gift and a curse, a double-edged sword, for it allows all to determine their destiny in your world and the next. Therefore, a person best choose  wisely for there is no going back!”

Lechaim thought for a while and then asked, “Do I need to make a choice? Do I need to choose the road that we take now?”

“You have already chosen. You chose well! Our course is already set!”

“I see!” Lechaim said. “But why me? Why now?”

“Because you are pure of heart and represent the best in man. Those that we oppose embody the worst. Why now? Because mankind itself has reached this crossroad, this juncture between good and evil. We go to do battle now on behalf of those that seek the light. Our purpose this day is not to win the battle  but rather not to lose it, for the final battle is yet to come”

His friend then smiled gently and added, “Fear not! Good must always triumph over evil in the end. It is an immutable law that one far greater than us has decreed.”

Pointing to the plain that lay before them, he then said, “But come! They wait for us down there!”

 “How many of them are there?”

“They are beyond counting!”

“Are we enough?”

“We are now!” his friend replied as he looked back and Lechaim did the same. In the distance, he saw two riders approaching rapidly. It wasn’t long before they drew near enough so that Lechaim could see them clearly. They wore the same garb he and his friend wore except that they too were dressed in different colours, one wearing all black and the other an ashen hue. Their horses were coloured likewise. The two riders reined up before them, their horses snorting, their flanks covered in tides of sweat. Lechaim found himself looking in a mirror for all four men now had his face. Somehow, this did not surprise him. The rider dressed in ashen grinned, and, as he did so, his face changed, becoming the one that Lechaim had looked upon many times in his nightmares; a flayed skull that crawled with maggots. This time, however, Lechaim was not afraid because he knew who he was.

In the distance, dust clouds could be seen rising from the plain of Esdraelon as the mighty army confronting them jostled for position. A trumpet sounded and its call to arms echoed through the valley. 

All four riders drew their swords from their scabbards and held them aloft in salutation. The four horsemen, their course set, spurred their horses forward at the gallop, to do battle and death rode with them. The air soon filled with the sound of dying men as they spilt their blood on the plain of Esdraelon, which lies before Har Megiddo, that place known to us all as ARMAGEDDON.