Legacy of the Dreams

Prologue

Satan considered the servants of the Lord, a man and woman of different religions, whose names were recorded in the Book of Life as Jalyn and Cadence. The pair had managed to meet his challenge to the Lord: that they could live based on faith despite their differences in religion, actively sharing that message with others. What's more, they remembered their failings from their past lives and were blessed by the Lord because of it. It was almost more than he could bear. It rankled that after causing them to fail six separate times, that he could not find a way to divert them from the Lord's path in this, their last life. After centuries of effort, he was poised to lose his wager with the Lord of Hosts, for even he had to admit, Greg and Susan, as they were known in this life, were succeeding despite his repeated efforts to cause them to fail.

"You've done your worst," the Lord pointed out. "And still they remain faithful to me."

"Not true," Satan protested.

"You took everything from them, and they clung to me. You hid from them the nature of their task, but they have discovered it. You cloaked the messages I sent in mystery, causing those memories to become their most pervasive and troubling of dreams, and they solved it," the Lord said.

"I did not believe they could succeed if they didn't know how they failed. And they failed magnificently in their fourth life," Satan recalled.

"Ah, but they have learned from their mistakes. In this, their seventh life, they discovered your treachery through their own brand of faith. They have managed to unravel the mystery, not just for themselves, but for a dozen others I've put in their path. I even allowed you to bring family tragedy upon them in their moment of triumph. The death of Susan's father coming on the heels of their message being publically delivered has not deterred them. While sadden, not once did they lose sight of their goal," the Lord said. "They did not turn away. If anything, they became more driven to resolve their mystery because of it."

Satan thought about the case being made by the Lord. "You thought them poised to succeed once before, and I caused them to fail. If You will not bring them home to You now, they will again. I will not forfeit my challenge until You do. As long as they are alive, the game is in play."

"What do you have in mind?" the Lord asked.

"Some men do not respond to sorrows placed only on themselves, but they do to burdens and suffering experienced by others. These two are just such a pair. You took everything from them and they became stronger. You visited them with injury and tragedy and they clung to you still. But what about challenges and suffering brought upon those they love? Those they care for and who have received the benefit of their guidance thus far?" the fallen angel said. "Surely that will increase their level of doubt in You."

The Lord considered this. "You are talking about the souls of others aside from my chosen two," he said.

"They do not live in the world alone. Their actions and experiences may influence others, but such influence is not unidirectional. Your chosen pair are also affected by the successes and failures of those they love," Satan said. "Due to the gift of awareness You have given them, they are more cognizant of it than most who serve you. They see it clearly when you allow me free reign in the world. That knowledge will weigh them down. It will cause them to turn from you when those they love suffer."

"You will not sway them," the Lord maintained.

"Perhaps not, but the battle for the souls has not ended. The game between us is still in play," Satan said. "It will be until the end."

"Even this is according to my will," the Lord said. "You may come before me again to discuss the matter of their souls, when you are ready to propose your challenge to servants other than my chosen pair. When it comes to these two, do not come before Me again until you are ready to hear Me proclaim victory at the end."

"I will be here," Satan promised. "Until then, there is work to do."

"By all my servants on Heaven and Earth," the Lord said.

"And those from the gates of Hell," Satan said. "I will send your faithful new burdens to bear."

"You may not take a soul. That decision is mine and mine alone," the Lord reminded him.

"Ah ... but short of taking a life, I can do much to trouble those who live," Satan said. "Even if your faithful weather well my challenges, how they react can generate doubt in those around them. And when doubt is in play, my agents and I will have a field day."

That proclamation garnered the attention of the Heavenly Hosts.

"They will see what you are doing," the Lord predicted.

"They may ... but no one will listen," Satan predicted.

"We will see," Lord said.

And the Lord of Hosts turned His attention once again to the goings on between His servants, still living on the face of the Earth. They knew the Lord's faithful would join them on the Lord's side, but the forces of evil they were facing could be formidable ... and Satan and his allies were very, very good at disguising their deceptions as logical and rational to the men of the earth. Given that, all those of Heaven wondered what sort of trouble Satan might design to bring.

The forces of good and evil positioned themselves, ready to advance their cause. Disguised as ordinary life, being lived by servants of the Lord who were not so ordinary as they first appeared, the Heavenly Hosts turned their attention once again to the face of the earth, anxious to watch the game in play as the pieces shifted in the eyes of the Lord.

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