Owakar

Updated 5/2/24

Chapter 3

Owakar

Owakar sat in the barber’s chair as a red-haired angel snipped at his brown locks. Waving the scissors this way and that, the stylist pouted as he trimmed an errant strand. “Sir Owakar, what do you have planned for the day?”

“Just the usual, Cranik, watching and writing, and more writing.” He wouldn’t say anything that might get back to the Warrior or some other disobedient brother.

As the Watcher over the Province of Lorness, he needed to look more respectable. He wasn’t just a messenger any longer, scurrying about informing angels of orders, or providing humans with words of inspiration from J’shua ha Mashiach. Now he had a more important position, so he kept his hair shoulder length as was common both here in the Celestial Sea and in the earthly realm of Lorness.

The people in the Density changed, and the angels above changed with them. Even though most angels thought humans were an annoying reminder of the secret the God of Truth had kept, they were infatuated with everything human and imitated many of their ways. He supposed it was like a moth to the flame—that which they hated or feared drew them. He trusted his creator, the God of Truth, so he neither hated nor feared them. But he too was besotted with those in his charge.

Breaking glass and a crash caused Owakar to turn as a crowd of guardians dragged a struggling messenger from the game room next door. A basket flew through the air, impaled by a sword. It had been pretty quiet recently.

“Hey, let me go! I was just saying what I think,” the messenger cried.

One guardian, a burly angel, his muscles rippling as he gripped the messenger by the hair. “You were spreading discordant rumors about the God of Truth and J’shua Ha Mashiach.”

“We’re free to state our opinions. Who are you to interfere?”

“I’ll tell you who I am. I’m the one that’s going to teach you to be more respectful,” the guardian spat.

One didn’t become a guardian if you were small and petite. And messengers tended to be trim and fast. The God of Truth loved diversity as much as he loved free will, which was the cause of all this.

In the Celestial Sea, every angel was a law unto themselves. All were free to state their thoughts. Arguments abounded and often fights broke out. Angels were quick to self-heal so there was no reason not to fight.

Owakar watched as the guardian gave the vocal messenger a kick. After stumbling, the bruised angel ran off. The guardians went back inside and other patrons along the street went back to enjoying themselves.

Everyone had an opinion about the trial of the Serpent. No one knew how much longer the pretrial motions would take. It could take yet another millennium. Everyday more angels were deposed by one side or the other. Even those loyal to the God of Truth and his son J’shua were unsettled by the upcoming addition of humans into their society. It was bad enough when there were only two of them. Now there were a four hundred fifty million, two hundred twenty-eight thousand, three hundred and one. He looked at the luach again, make that, and three. Would all of them be allowed in the new heaven and earth?

It seemed everyone’s anger was easily pricked by the Serpent’s followers. Though locked away until the trial, he still sowed chaos in the Celestial Sea and in the earth, the Density.

Chaos abounded in both places. That’s why the second heaven was called the Celestial Sea. Just as in the realm of humanity, free will and selfish tendencies made the angelic society structured around individual autonomy rather than collective harmony. Each angel often prioritized their own desires and goals over communal well-being. The hierarchy was based on power, influence, and accomplishment. Angels competed for status, resources, and dominance. Without a shared mission or goal, many pursued personal pleasure.

Even the best of them could be tempted. This minor brawl was not his affair.

Sighing, Owakar looked in the mirror and nodded his approval.

He was a Watcher now and had responsibilities in the Density, in the Province of Lorness. When J’shua spoke to him today, he gave him leave to appoint assistants so that he could provide better overwatch for the Otuals. He smiled thinking of how adversity had sent the four family members in different directions, only one of which had he predicted.. Yes, these humans were very surprising. He never knew what they would do next.

It was easier to keep events straight if he used the calendar of Freislicht rather than the heavenly reckoning of time. Today was the Waning Crescent of Late Summer, in the thirty-first year of the Reign of King Edal. The youngest, Sarah, now eight years old had sparked an ember of seeking in a boy that was so repressed he rarely had a thought of his own. Owakar prayed for the boy every day after learning of his suffering at the hands of his lord, Earl Gaelib Melazera. He had to giggle whenever he thought of how the natural expression of her character had affected the young soldier.. She was the perfect emissary to him. Only the wise God of Truth could have orchestrated it. And now she was learning to be a lady at Locke Castle. He wondered whose heart she might touch there with her simple faith. The faith of a child.

The luach warmed in his pocket and he took it out. He smiled as he read it, ever so happy to have input from the Book of Life always nearby.

[But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but the God of Truth meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.]

David, the Otual’s son would soon finish his apprenticeship as a horse breeder and would be trained as his father had to become a Knight of J’shua. So far the group in the Shining Mountains had been untainted by a lust for superiority and control. It was inevitable that all organizations fell to such in the end.Ssome groups merely held to their good intentions for a year. Others for decades. But this group had maintained their simplicity and humbleness for one hundred and fifty years. Their oldest and wisest daikons had managed to avoid usurping God as overseers of the younger knights they taught. By submitting to God and each other in daily study of the Writings, manifestation of the gift, abundant sharing of their temporal things, bearing witness of truth, and in fellowship. It was truly remarkable. But it wouldn’t last. Not unless future leaders were as humble and wise as the two oldest knights, Daikon Theodomo Crispus and Daikon Sylvanus Baxter. Only time will tell.

Jonathan Otual continued to evade Earl Melazera’s soldiers who pursued him every time he entered Freislicht. Even now he followed the call of the spirit into the surrounding countryside to spread the word of the God of Truth. He had recently visited the Knights School and learned that his wife was still alive and on a mission of her own. The man had no idea what that might be, her letter gave him no details, but he trusted she was led by the spirit of God. He left a letter with Crispus for her, before setting out for Tarinland.

 Owakar wondered what the God of Truth might be working on there.

And Rebekah, that remarkable lady, masquerading as a man in order to unearth the hidden plans of evil men and spirits in  Freislicht. Initially, she intended to find her daughter, but upon realizing that there was a greater evil gaining control in the country, she accepted the call to spy out the evil ones and recruit others who wished to end the growing blight upon the good people of Freislicht. Today she set out to retrieve David from Agon Gorum’s horse farm in the republic of Esthlanis and deliver him to the Knights’ School.

Chapter 8 - 1599

Owakar

[Ages- Sarah 10          David 13         BH 20              J,Sg,Dr, Ga 32]

It was the last half-moon of early autumn in the thirty-third year of King Edal’s reign. Owakar was off duty since his wards were all asleep. He headed to a tavern outside High Keep. Several roughly dressed men sat at a table, talking in low tones. The chair’s leg squeaked across the floor as he pulled it out and joined them.

The one with shaggy brown hair looked up. “Owakar, what brings you here?” Dressed like a peasant, the guardian’s cloak was dusty and he hadn’t shaved for days.

Owakar looked him over, smiling. “Guendal, I heard about the fire. Was anyone hurt? I read that someone accused Steven Blackhawk of setting it.”

“No one hurt. Blackhawk was behind it,” he said with a chuckle. “Those shacks were about to fall down and Fortuch’s out to ruin him. What’s Blackhawk to you?”

Owakar snorted. “He’s someone connected to Lorness that I have been following for some time.”

“Fortuch’s aunt continues to pray for him. But the man won’t listen. So when we realized what was really happening and saw the opportunity to teach Karl a lesson…Reaven here,” the guardian pointed to his friend, “tossed the stolen silver goblet into the open so that the commander and everyone else saw it.”

Owakar scanned the luach. “Did J’shua approve that? No, but when he heard of it, he laughed and said it was well done.”

The two guardians bumped their cups together. Owakar shook his head.

Reaven smiled. “It was risky, but right now it seems to me, Fortuch’s best hope is to be demoted enough times to change his ways. Otherwise, he could face something much worse.”

Guendal pointed all his fingers toward himself. “How do you like our disguise?”

“You fit in perfectly. I on the other hand should leave. I can’t be seen talking to the likes of you.” Owakar gave them a nod. As he turned to the door, he said, “Keep an eye on Blackhawk for me, would you?”

“Our pleasure.” Reaven raised his cup.

Owakar continued walking down the empty road, not a soul in sight. Only a few rare candles burned inside buildings across the road. When he passed into the shadow of a tree, he disappeared.

***

Over the next several years, Owakar had observed Steven Blackhawk from the Celestial Sea and read of his doings in the luach. He had no compassion for the boy when he first encountered him, a loyal pawn of Gaelib Melazera. He should have remembered that great upheavals often turned on simple changes of heart. Owakar knew he should have been less cynical. But in his defense, he had a limited view of things as a messenger, with no access to a luach, the Words of the God of Truth.

Now this boy who tragically lost his family, only to be rescued by the despicable earl… It wrenched his heart to think of it. He was a man now, a seeking man. His Little Soldier, Sarah Otual, had set him on a path of questions. Nothing hurts more than uncertainty and doubt. Then he found a book of the Writings hidden in his quarters. And ever since then he prayed to Little Soldier’s God every day. Because of the intention of his heart, we knew who he meant.

Owakar finished writing in the luach and reread it.

In the thirty-sixth year in the reign of King Edal, Rebekah Otual had woven her way into communities all over in Freislicht. If they responded positively to her statements of concern for orphans and the darkness spreading across the land, she proposed that they join Licht Gegen. However, some claimed orphans were the problem of the local lord and they hadn’t noticed any growing blight. These she blessed with silence.

When she was outside his jurisdiction of Lorness Province, Owakar relied on entries in the luach from other watchers. In response to her visits, many circles were taking up weapons training if they had someone to teach them. Others formed teams to walk the village at night, keeping watch. Most agreed that orphans were being taken off the streets. It grieved them when soldiers pushed children into a cage. These circles were actively seeking orphans to take in. Although they couldn’t attack overtly.

Although Owakar had originally scoffed at her secret group, Licht Gegen… He shook his head. The name still made him laugh. It meant ‘light against.’ That wasn’t even a complete thought. He had to admit they did clever work. They’d decided early on, regarding saving orphans, that the families would do the best they could for them. This included teaching them all to read and write well, and placing them in apprenticeships. If an orphan wished it, she delivered them to the secret knights’ school in the Shining Mountains. A sheltered plateau between the two greatest peaks that protected it from the harsh weather and fostered the growth of lower elevation edible plants. That is where the teachers and students dwelled since their school was burned down.

Rebekah had been the hub of communication. Each of the Licht Gegen leaders were aware of which inn she stayed in nearest them to leave her messages, and none knew her schedule. But townspeople expected her to ride down the main road with a wagon full of plows some time each moon.

Her last visit with her “kinsman,” Commander Taelor, revealed that the royal heralds were loyal to the king for he himself approved every selection in that system after a thorough investigation. They could not be in a noble family line. They could not be in debt to any lord. They had to own land, which they could purchase from the king. This insulated them from pressures from the local lords.

She gradually met with each herald as she traveled from town to town and brought them into Licht Gegen. Thus the various leaders could take a letter to their local herald and send it to another herald. Each letter from Licht Gegen bore a wax seal imprinted with an aspen tree inside a circle. This was created by the wooden coins that Charles had given each when they left the Frei Forest community years ago. Since then, Charles made one as each new leader was chosen by Licht Gegen. This gave the group an alternative communication system, allowing Rebekah to pursue information gathering more.

She still rode her circuit, but she stayed longer in each town, getting to know people better. She  was now very comfortable as Tommas Bekh, the plow salesman. And she always asked every person if they had any information about debt collections or survivors returned home. Because she prayed about everything, he could add all this as evidence into the luach to hold against the Serpent at his trial.

Her actions in Lorness had caused far reaching effects when she prayed and sang spiritual songs in that cave in the Bloody Rocks. She was spontaneous, and he would not underestimate her again. If the Warrior knew she had done it, he would attack her ferociously so Owakar followed her movements closely, aiming to keep her hidden from his demons. As Licht Gegen grew, this would become more difficult.

Her cover as a traveling plow merchant was remarkably successful. She was growing wealthy. Yet, in order to gather intelligence and pass secret messages, she still needed to move about as inconspicuously as possible so she changed nothing and diverted all her money to Licht Gegen.

She again had two young assistants, orphans raised by members of Licht Gegen. After two years with her, these boys desired to become knights so she would take them to the school soon. Owakar smiled when she babied them, serving them their meals and making sure they were well rested. She had difficulty treating them like an unrelated man would. She was still a mother at heart.

Owakar had kept up on all the Otuals when they moved out of his area of Lorness Province and he could not watch them directly. Well, sometimes he skipped off to visit another watcher to take a look. Although his employment as a watcher was not tentative as it was when he was an apprentice watcher, he still must follow the rules to keep it. That’s where the fact that angels don’t sleep comes in handy. When all of Lorness slept, he could find the location of one of his interesting humans in the luach and hang out with the Watcher there. Even so he usually only saw them sleeping, but he could lay a hand on them, giving them a more peaceful, healing sleep. Now Sarah was fourteen and David, seventeen.

As for Jonathan Otual, his wanted posters were everywhere in Lorness. According to the luach, he continued to evade the earl of Lorness’ soldiers, staying out of Freislicht for the most part. When he did travel through Freislicht, he stayed near the Shining Mountains so that he could run there if necessary.

The daikons of the Knights’ School, Crispus and Baxter, now taught the novice knights on Bowing Sister. That area had no watcher, it was not populated enough, mostly forest and mountain. Owakar could go there without stepping on any angel toes. He checked in on them and their rambunctious boys almost every night before visiting others. They had five or six students in each year of the program, all sleeping soundly in the caves of the Kneeling Queen’s Skirt. While he watched and prayed for them, he tapped through the luach for the latest updates that the God of Truth had revealed.

Chapter 16

Owakar - 256

Amidst the Atmosphere of Lorness

Owakar whispered Words of Life to those that could hear him in Lorness,

[Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for sin.]

Even though the Warrior was away manipulating his latest plaything in Farr Castle, the gloom remained over Lorness as his minions stirred up misery. But the Book of Life always provided encouragement for himself, and sometimes for the earthly followers of J’shua in the Density.

His luach came alive. Line after line rose up. There would be a wedding in Caswell.

“Why is this of interest?” Owakar asked himself, flicking through the glowing words.

More words, more words, then finally, David Otual’s name was large and illuminated. He poked it to learn more. The son of Rebekah and Jonathan would marry soon.

“Will they go? Do they know?”

The Otual’s son had attracted the Warrior’s eye. He sent a message to Temana, the guardian overseeing Caswell. “Do you have everything in hand?”

“Peace, Owakar, you’re not the only competent one. We are ready to help them.”

Contrite, Owakar responded, “Yes, of course you are. I wasn’t implying you weren’t. The family has become special to me. But they don’t stay in one place like most of those entrusted to us.” The prayers of each Otual echoed from the Book of Life on Owakar’s luach. And it reminded him of the passage:

[Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.]

Chapter 21

Owakar - 62

Amidst the Atmosphere of Lorness

Owakar stirred through the updating facts, marveling at Jonathan and Rebekah Otual. Each continued to pray as the Writings had shown them. And who is this Albertus Bekh boy? He poked a link. So many trails to follow.

[Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.]

Chapter 27

Owakar

Owakar tapped through the account of King Edal’s death. Saddened, he continued reading from the Book.

Blackhawk found the king’s horse, but instead of returning him to the royal stable at Farr Castle as Alocrin expected, he rode hard to High Keep. Alocrin sent guardians to observe and report. It seems this one’s affection for King Edal is strong enough for him to risk his life to bring truth to light.

Owakar tingled, thinking of how J’shua must rejoice at his unexpected behavior. Would he ferret out the traitors? Or would they catch and torture him. Melazera would never forgive his betrayal.

[But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.]

One day, Gaelib Melazera, the ninth Earl of Lorness, would be brought to justice by his victims.

Chapter 32

Owakar

Owakar tucked the luach in his tunic, hoping he wasn’t bending the rule to breaking. But he just had to see this defector up close. He decided to interact in the Density.

Looking for a clump of brush near the cooks wagon, Owakar hid himself as he materialized. He popped a warm macaron in his mouth when the cook turned his back. Then he grabbed a waterskin from a hook and walked briskly to catch up to Blackhawk. He tingled as he followed him, gathering courage.

Finally, he ran up to the soldier, smiled broadly, offering him the skin.

The big, dark-headed man drank deeply.

“Thank you, I needed that. I haven’t seen you before. What’s your name?”

“I am Owakar, sir. A water-boy for the cook.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Blackhawk eyed him up and down. Then he clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks for the drink.”

Owakar bowed.

“He touched me. It felt… heavy, and warm…pleasant.” He scurried off, happy to get a close look at this one who J’shua said seeks the truth.

As he left the Density, his luach flashed a message:

[That ye put off concerning the former ways, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.]

Steven Blackhawk seemed to be straying from blind devotion to his lord. Was he choosing to be freed from his past?