Tag: Deity/Gods

Flash: Saint David

Erin Penn

Appears multiple places on the Internet, no attribution given

One of the miracles of St. David, saint of Wales, retold in a bardic manner, meant to be performed

St. Dewi, pious and true saint of Wales, known in the English tongue as “David the Waterdrinker”, was man, monk, and missionary throughout Wales after making his right pilgrimage to Jerusalem where he was made Bishop.

During one of his missionary trips, he found himself at the Synod of Llanddewi Brefi. A large crowd gathered as he spoke, so large those in the back of the crowd asked him to speak louder. So he did, his powerful, God-blessed voice carrying and even more gathered until, again, those in the back of the crowd asked for him to speak louder. He reached within himself, drawing on his faith in the Christ, and his voice boomed. Even more gathered until, once more, those in the back of the crowd asked for him to speak louder. The Welsh Saint, feed only on water, bread and vegetable, who pulled his own plow instead of putting God’s creatures to work, looked to the heavens for help.

A dove, white and holy, flew down from the clouds and alight on the Saint’s shoulder. The ground his blessed feet stood upon started to rise and rise until a hill formed. Everyone now had a good view of the nephew of King Arthur who resumed his sermon, his voice carrying to everyone present. As more gathered, the hill would raise a bit more until finally the day and the sermon ended.

Upon the miracle hill a church was build.

As for Saint David, he continued to travel. He never again had difficulty with a crowd unable to see him or hear him speak. At home, he continued to eat only bread and vegetables, drawing his own water and pulling his own plow. Upon his deathbed he encouraged those around him to “Do the little things that you have heard and seen me do.”

Pope Callixtus II, during the 12th century, declared St. David’s Cathedral to be a place of pilgrimage. With two such pilgrimages being equal to one to Rome, and three such pilgrimages being equal to one to Jerusalem.

(words 342; first published 9/15/2019)

Flash: Escaleras de Muertos

Erin Penn 4 Comments

Photo by Tony Hernandez on Unsplash

She swore the stairs reached higher the longer she lived in the walkup. Maria straightened her ancient back, catching her breath at the second landing. The bags in her left hand dragged, pulling downward, encouraging her to turn around and never leave the ground again. The right hand gripped a cane. If she didn’t need it, if she could make it to the corner store on her own, she would only need to make the trip every other day.

She was getting too old to make this trip every day.

Only two more flights to go.

Turning the corner on the stone landing, she started the next bank of stairs. One tread, two tread. Move the cane. Only 34 more steps to go.

“Maria, we need to talk.”

The kindly voice sounded above, echoing on the ancient stones of the stairwell. Steadying herself by leaning against the wall, Maria looked up. Step by step, first seeing shoes, then finally a handsome young woman above her in Dia de Muertos makeup. Squinting, Maria reevaluated her initial assessment of makeup on a face to make it look like a skull.

“Hola.” Maria’s voice shaky as a function of age, not facing Death. “Do I have time to put away the groceries?”

“I think you have climbed enough stairs for this lifetime.” Death stood and skipped down the few treads separating them. Offering a hand, white bone but looking soft and sturdy, she asked, “Shall we? You have some friends waiting.”

(words 248; first published 5/26/2019)

Author Spotlight: Elisa Hansen

Erin Penn

Book Cover from Amazon

Editing can be a long journey, and I started the journey with Elisa Hansen over a year ago when I first read her “The Company of Death” and told my boss at Falstaff Publishing I wanted the book. During that time we did a minor rewrite, a couple other editing passes, brought on new staff at the publisher, and dealt with bottlenecks in getting books out the doors into hands. Also during that time I got to know Elisa Hansen as a person. And she is a pretty awesome person.

On one hand, she is a vlogger about Vampires of all sorts. Check out her youtube channel “The Maven of the Eventide”. Wonderfully camping, she explores books and movies on this long-running vlog (four years and counting). If it has fangs, it is fang-tastic for her channel. (Also includes her announcement about this book.)

On another hand, she is a mother of a soon-to-be expanding family. Her present spawn is adorable in his madness, and I think present-parasite-soon-to-be-outside-body shall be equally entertaining in her ability to tear through the house faster than the progenitors. 

A third hand is devoted to her writing career, with the publication of her second book this week and working on other vlogs.

Want to get to know this awesome lady too? Her website is here. And her patreon is here. If you are into vampires and camp, I highly recommend her vlog. If you just want to dive into an urban fantasy about Death (not humor-oriented), check out her book on Amazon (and other outlets).

Flash: Small Wings

Erin Penn

Photo by Tikkho Maciel on Unsplash (Cropped and Color Adjusted by Erin Penn)

Someone wanted him here. The geocache might as well have made for him, taking him from one end of the city to the other on his skateboard for the last four hours. A couple of clues…. well, he had fallen for it.

Raff looked around the empty parking garage, his stomach saying it wasn’t empty. He learned to trust his gut a long time ago. The sibilant hiss of pipes in the ceiling and tires echoing from the streets above seemed too loud. Spreading his legs to drop his center of gravity, he called his true self to the surface, giving his eyes the ability to see elsewhere. As soon as his wings appeared, black snakes rose out of the shadows and raced at him, sliding back and forth on the cement.

His Cupid bow released three arrows before they had closed half the distance, and he hoped for some gender differences between the snakes, or at least a beneficial, to him, sexual orientation, so the lust would distract them. No effect. Snapping down his skateboard where it leaned against his leg, he jumped on it, using his right foot to push it hard, and he beat his tiny wings for what little help they could give to move faster.

The ramps all led up. The final stage of the geocache was in the bottom of the old Sears catalog building, three floors below ground. One of the periodic bumps lifted the board off the ground enough he turned it on edge to use a column to bank, aiming up a ramp. Two lights behind him snapped off; no sparks or flares, just dark. Spinning on the board to look behind, he saw the snakes enter one end of the deep shadows and exit the other end the next instant.

Cheaters.

Well, two can play at that game. Rounding another column, he reached out and crushed a chunk out. Twisting the board around, he took aim and threw the mass of concrete at one.

It sailed through the insubstantial creature.

The way the snakes were acting, they weren’t going to be insubstantial when they closed.

His arrows had hit them.

He likely could hit them too, thanks to his frisky pop’s sperm donation to his mom. Eros, like every Greek god in existence, couldn’t keep it under the toga, and Mom was never what you would call discerning in her choice of male companionship. But Eros was no Zeus, and Raff was no Hercules. Snakes would win if he wrestled. Coils trump arrows.

Making for a bank of bright lights, hoping to slow them down, Raff switched his push leg. Did Psyche send the snakes after him in revenge for Cupid’s wandering ways, like Hera did on Hercules? She hadn’t seemed upset, just tired, when Eros brought him by at age thirteen to get his bow. The one and only time he met his dad.

Maybe one of the other living mortal Cupids were ticked off at the new guy. But he wasn’t the new guy anymore, Shewon over in Tibet had that dubious honor, hitting thirteen last week. At nineteen, Raff was now one of the old guys and no longer the most powerful Cupid and well glad to be rid of it. Were any of the other twelve pissed off at him and had been waiting for his powers to drop?

The lights slowed them down. Though a few of florescent winked out so shadows became available for the snakes to slither through, the deep dark allowing the teleportation they had used before did not result. Raff had vaguely missed that aspect of being the head Cupid once he had his life back; having a life way outweighed the benefits of the extra magic, even if that life mostly focused on earning his GED after six year helping strangers hook up. Now he really wanted to blink up to the afternoon sunlight to keep his life, sad though it was, intact.

The ramp between level B and A was completely in the dark. He jumped off the board, flipped it into his hands and ran up the pavement.

The fastest snake exited the dark at the same time he did, snapping at his feet with its triangular head. Triangle means poison, right? Missing out on all of high school killed everything science. Popping around the world let him see its wonders, but he didn’t understand any of it. Fortunately his high ankle sneakers kept the fangs from breaking skin. Calling his bow back to his hands, he dropped his board, swung the bow to crack the creature on its jaw, then ran once he was free to jump on the board and start moving again. The first shadow snake’s brethren joined it after it reoriented on him.

Too close. He wasn’t going to make it.

(words 807; first published 8/26/2018)

Flash: Following Orders

Erin Penn

http://budireve.deviantart.com/art/Keris-Fire-Sword-312072387
Copyright unknown, but a button on the website was provided to facilitate the download.
I am providing the link above to give credit as best as I am able.

Strewn with blood and bone, the celestial battlefield had no dead bodies for only the immortal angels fought. Feathers and skin burned as fiery swords melted through exhausted defenses. The raqia below formed and turned for untold eons only noticed by the opposing armies as a down direction. A few angels had fallen towards the new planet when wings had been clipped, but mended long before hitting ground and the beings immediately returned to the ranging maelstrom.

In the conflict’s center stood proud Lucifer, an angel who questioned his purpose and demanded free will. His army formed a protective sphere around their assigned general. Michael, Uriah, Gabriel and Raphael were unable to drive their undying legions through the blockade to the heavenly traitor.

The swirl of battle broke combatants apart and reunited others. Beyond the immediate strife, Kamella protected a pathway. The Supreme Being had plucked her out of Michael’s soldiers. She was pleased to stand guard while the Supreme Being crafted a new plane of existence. Firstly, being chosen was an honor. Secondly, defending the way removed her from the possibility of crossing blades with Herne. For untold eternities they had delighted each other. Assigned to different archangels, no restriction was placed on their relationship. Now that blessing turned into a curse.

Only a few of Lucifer’s rebels escaped the four armies surrounding them. Kamella dispatched the depleted minions quickly. Skilled in war as few angels were before Lucifer’s ego selfishly consumed him, her great stature allowed her to stand easily against two or three angels by herself. The midnight winged creature wielded two fire swords and two shields, leaving two of her six hands free for grappling.

Outside the primary engagement, she watched and worried. Somehow Lucifer was slowly gaining and the outer defense sphere leaked. More and more opposition tried to investigate the road she defended. None passed over the threshold.

A spike attack broke combatants free from the center. Dozens of multi-hued beings were funneled to her post and the broad paved avenue beyond. Several had form-changed into ferocious visages. At their front was a golden haired angel who remained in the form he had been shaped to hold. His black eyes flashed in his perfect face. In his left hand was a blue-flamed sword. His right hand curled in a half-formed charm. Herne, the love of her existence and one of Lucifer’s best scout captains, closed on her position.

Not wanting to see what her clever male was about to release, Kamella completed the three-in-one spell she kept at ready for an organized mass attack. Two clones flew out to meet the new arrivals; black avenging angels plunging into the fray against the servants of the Angel of Light. Flame and steel clashed with renewed fury. Herne’s charm failed when one of his companions severed wing fell on him.

Without hesitation Kamella attacked Herne when he came to rest relative to her. His scouting group’s armor and battle skills wavered under her other selves’ fury. Blinking back tears, she effortlessly blocked his attack with one uplifted shield and drove her right sword into his hip. She whispered, “I’m sorry,” as he fell to his knees.

Her regret did not keep her from using her left side shield to throw Chase’s attack out of line. Grabbing Herne’s closest friend and second-in-command with her two free limbs, she lifted him with a grunt and threw him at an incoming monstrosity. Her own huge size made dodging difficult but the collusion displaced the flyer enough to miss her and sail past the nexus she guarded.

Herne tried to use the diversion to roll past her. She kicked his burning side with her booted foot.

“Please don’t make me do this.” She begged.

Grabbing her boot to topple her, Herne replied. “We must serve as we were created, my heart.”

Her red tipped wings caressed his face as they pushed him closer to her legs. She used his recentered mass to increase her personal balance. Her black and his white feathers mingled in a parody of embrace.

She needed to concentrate on eliminating his squad. With regret, she drove a sword through his leg to prevent him from sneaking past. His scream pierced her.

Turning her face to where her last duplicate fought, Kamella’s blue eyes widened as she watched the sphere surrounding Lucifer explode out with the force of a nova. Angels boiled towards her in the hundreds.

Bracing herself forward against the wind of beating wings, she fell at the sudden pressure change on her back. She burned her hand grabbing the sword she pinned Herne with to prevent him further injury. She used the fiery steel to pivot and landed hard on her side beside him, pulling the sword lose. Her large wings protected them both as the Supreme Being’s presence passed over them, returning to the celestial arena.

*ENOUGH! THOU WILT HOLD*

Even Lucifer’s minions froze at the command. For too long the Being they been created to worship had been absent. Everywhere swords lowered and the choir started offering adoration.

Herne’s limited two arms devoted themselves entirely to encircling her waist, hugging her closer during the moment’s peace. Without thinking Kamella’s chin rubbed the blond’s hair in affection.

Muffled by their wings, the coupled barely heard Lucifer resonant voice rallying against his Liege.

Kamella grasped the white angel’s face with two hands. Just before she captured her favorite lips, Herne whispered, “I will love you forever.” Covered by angel wings, the two kissed.

*A PLACE HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR YOUR RULE. MAY YOU LEARN HOW TO DO SO.  NOW GET THEE AND YOUR LEGIONS HENCE.*

Rolling onto her back before her greater weight crushed him, Kamella howled as Herne was torn from her arms with one final Word from the Supreme Being to Lucifer.

*BEGONE*

Grabbing with her half dozen hands, she tried to capture him before he was exiled from her plane of existence. Her enormous strength allowed her to succeed. Tapping the ability to change shape, she transformed her feet into claws to anchor herself to the firmament. Blue eyes met black in fear and desperation. Created as mirrors to each other, they had only tolerated the rebellion knowing when it was over they would be reunited. His legs were being tugged into the whirlwind siphoning Lucifer and his followers. Her arms bulged as she tried to save him.

“No!” she cried.

In the end, the Word of the Supreme Being determined the outcome. Even their immortal flesh could not deny the instruction. Herne twisted and turned as the whirlwind worked to free him from her grasp. Both wrists holding him back shattered as she tried to absorb the worst of the torque to save him pain. Bones burst through skin, covering her arms and hands with slippery blood. Before her other hands could grasp his forearms, Herne was snatched away.

Kamella collapsed in anguish as Herne’s face disappeared screaming down the path she had guarded for so long.

Others returned to their appropriate levels in heaven. Locking her agony away, Kamella picked up her swords with her quickly healing hands and returned to her post. The Supreme Being had not changed her orders.

None shall pass over the threshold without permission.

Facing towards Lucifer’s realm, Kamella’s long watch started. The black she searched for scouts foreshadowing the Fallen’s next attack only reminded her of eyes she would never see again.

(words 1,239 – originally published 4/3/2013 – published in new blog format 5/6/2018)