There was a thunder clap. Rahab shuddered in a sheer mixture of every emotion known to man or woman. There was another thunder clap and she screamed as a towering creature stood on top of the shield. The thing was as grey as mist. It towered as tall as the building. Its two eyes were sown shut, as if it were a ragged doll. The creature had its hands crossed. Its lips parted, and with a soft, hollow but clear voice said: "Who has awakened me?" Rahab was in a state of shock. Your nervous system can only handle so much until it breaks down. She shuddered and she bit her fingers. She looked around, as if trying to find something to make her grip to reality again.

The creature was silent. It breathed softly as if it were half asleep. The breathing slightly calmed her down. "Wh... Who are you?" She heard herself asking.

"Mammon was the name given to me by many. I was worshipped as God of Wealth by the Syriacs for four hundred years. I am frustrated so for I have been made blind and enslaved twice by the power of the alpha.". Rahab shuddered again: "You... You are satan?" The creature nodded: "One of." he rectified. "Are you going to hurt me?" She asked. The creature frowned and didn't reply. "Who has awakened me?" He asked again.

"My name is Rahab." she said finally, slowly trying to whimper away. The creature suddenly shuddered and stood up straight. "Will you wreak an oath to the creator that you tell me no lie?" she stopped and frowned: "As God be our witness, let there be no lies between us; my name is Rahab." She said, half-pleading.

The creature bowed. "Lord." Rahab's eyes widened. "Huh... What?" that was the last thing she expected to happen.

"Lord." The creature said again and bowed. She giggled to herself and wondered what the hell kind of joke was being played on her. But by whom??

"Pardon my absence from the earth, good lord, for an evil witch had enslaved me in this hexalpha for hundreds of years I slept in. Now once again I be, oh great one over the seas." She shook her head as she understood nothing from what he had just said. But she pointed at him: "How were you worshipped if you were a worshipper?" The creature stood up straight. "Many a man bowed down to me and sold me their souls in return for the bliss that I gave them. And their wishes I made true of richness and glory." Somehow this story sounded all too familiar to her; from Jewish or Arabic folk tales perhaps. She was still wondering whether this demon was pulling her leg to enjoy a good laugh before he could eat her whole.

"And I am your lord?" She asked. He nodded: "Yes oh Rahab the great. And I among many am witness to the great wonders that you've boasted onto the Earth and the Sea. And the souls that you've shook to death from your terrible screams as you arose from the deep." She frowned as she tried to think who the demon was confusing her with, in all her studying of the Torah she never heard of any Rahab "Lords". Maybe she didn't read enough. "Free me, master, from my prison." the creature pleaded with a whimpering voice that sounded like a dog's. Rahab shook her head. She didn't know how to free him, but she also didn't want to either. If this creature could make her dreams come true... Then she just got a new pet. "In time, my faithful one, in time." She said in an inflated voice trying to sound the best she can like a demon, or even, a man. She then started crawling away but screamed as she came across Moshe's head.

The creature moved its head around, trying to make sense of what's going on. The creature moved and there was a thunderous slam as an invisible force-field denied the creature from moving away from the circumference of the disc. "Lord. Will you not set me free?" the creature pleaded again. Rahab turned around. She was starting to get scared. She didn't want to get decapacitated if the demon found out she was not who he thought she was. "Mammon." She said as she got an idea. "Yes, Master?" the creature asked. She looked at the disc. "Explain to me how the disc enslaved you?" The creature sighed: "When Solomon enslaved us with the pentalpha, we contemplated on how to protect ourselves from the impermeable captivity of the five pointed star. One day, I discovered that one of the greater demons, Locan, had committed treason against the demonia and befriended a human, namely the Evil King Solomon himself. Locan begged me not to tell on him in return for the secret of not falling into the pentalpha. Locan made me understand what the pentagram symbol looked like and showed me the shape of a circle. First, I had to check with my foresight whenever I'm summoned to make sure that there was no circle around the star, for if there was then this is a demon trap. So I took this knowledge and revered it dearly. After Solomon died and the demons were dispersed onto the Earth, I went to Syria and found many loyal worshippers. Thus I greatly frustrated God by claiming their souls to myself. Until a witch attempted to summon me into a pentalpha, I remembered Locan's advice and looked into the chambers with my hindsight and accounted for the pentagram and indeed, a circle hence I knew it was a trap. So I refused to respond. The witch summoned me again, and once again I checked, and once again saw a five pointed star and a circle. This went on many a day. Then one day after a long absence of summons, she summoned me again onto a symbol I didn't recognize as the pentalpha so I obeyed."

Rahab looked at the disc and smiled: "She used six points instead of five. She tricked you." The demon nodded: "This is how the disc enslaved me." She stood up, having more courage now. "I command you by the name of God to go back into the disc!" The demon shuddered: "Huh? Wait. You are not Rahab! What are you? A man?" He was furious. Rahab shrugged: "My name is Rahab. I'm not who or what you thought I was and I'm not a man, but I'm a woman." The creature laughed. "In that case. I can... K..." he stuttered. "What? You can't say that you can kill me? You can't say that because you'll only say that to scare me. And you can't lie because I swore that truth be told between us."

He humphed: "Fine then. But you cannot make me go back into the disc, feeble human. You don't know it." She took a deep breath then shouted: "I am commanding you to go back into the disc!!" The creature screamed and a whirlpool formed that sucked it into the space in the middle of the hexagram symbol. She stood there and wondered. Worked that time? She walked up towards the disc and picked it up. She turned it around and noticed that the disc was actually a shield; there was a small band attached to it to strap your arm with. She inserted her hand through the band and was surprised to notice that it fit her perfectly... As if it was made just for her! As the shield was secured to her arm, thoughts started streaming through her head: ""You don't know it." The demon had said. What was he talking about?" She was looking up, so she didn't notice the invisible liquid oozing across the surface of the shield, leaving behind it the sparkly and fiery red metal of the shield and the shiny silver outline of the six pointed star. "But I said, I command you in the name of God? I thought demons were scared of the name of God."

She thought. "You don't know it." He had said. He was talking about the name of God she realized. Then she remembered him screaming after she commanded him the second time. She gasped. "I.. I said the name of God. That's why it worked. I said... I command you to go into the disc." Another voice inside her head spoke: "I am..." It corrected. "I am commanding you to go into the disc." "I am." She repeated then a million voices echoed in her head. "Was, Is, Will be." and with her eyes shut, found herself saying: "The one who Was, Is and Will Be." The redness in her weary eyes immediately disappeared and her eyes shone from a light emanating from within. A light that has been awakened. Her breathing became heavy. "Unh..." She closed her eyes as she felt so light she thought she could float. The permanent purple in her beaten eye disappeared. Her body clock rewinded a few years back. Rahab open her "eyes"... The veil in front of her eyes was gone. She could now see: for the first time. "I am He Who Was, He Who Is and He Who Will be. That is the name of God."

"That's right. And don't you forget it." A woman suddenly said from behind her. She turned around and saw a hooded woman. The stranger approached. Rahab stepped back, but it wasn't out of fear, this new Rahab didn't know fear. But she stepped back to prepare for a fight. She's been the down-trodden, now she was out to revenge for her suffering. The woman lowered her scarf and revealed a beautiful black-eyed, black-haired woman. First thing that came to Rahab's mind is that she was most likely Arab. "But fortunately, unlike others who've made that mistake, you did not ascribe the name to yourself, rather acknowledged who the name truly belonged to. The soul that you have may have come from God, but does not make you God. That's why you've passed the test of life. And you are now an Ascended neutral left. You've broken free of the circle of life just as many have before you."

The woman motioned in the air with her hand and a Tetra card formed in the air. In the bottom of the card, in Hebrew words. It said: "The World." and the card had the symbols 21 and the greek letter Omega. It was the image of a woman standing on a field in front of a circular "window". Behind the window, there were animals and angels. This was the window to the world. She realized that the card represented a story that happened a long time ago. It was the day when Adam opened his eyes and became conscious. He saw the nakedness of Eve for the first time because he had his eyes open for the first time. He saw the world and understood where he stood in it. It was the day that he declared: "I am". He didn't have his divine eyes closed anymore like the angels and animals. The Tetra image dissapeared.

"What do you mean token?" Rahab quizzed.
Tetra pointed at the shield. "You found the shield that's been moving from thief to thief for the past century. It was stolen from the old Kabbala sanctuary in Petra. It's the Red Shield. It is the symbol of the Queen of Discs; the Queen of Coins; the Queen of Earth. You." Rahab shook her unshielded arm in the air. "Ok I have no idea what you are talking about. May I ask, who are you? Don't tell me you're an angel. I've had enough supernatural experiences for one night."

She sighed to herself: "I used to be an angel. Once upon a time... My name... Well I can't tell you my name because it's been stripped off me. But I'm known as Tetra. With my brother, we were the first to teach the name of God to man. We didn't know that they were actually going to have the opposite effects that we intended them to have. The demons decieved the humans into blaspheming against God inspite of our strict warnings to the humans. But that's only because we gave the secret away freely without testing the people first. But oh well, what's happened has happened. But I'm out there to fix what I can. Only for myself; I've had enough of helping humans. So here I am. Accounting for the tokens." She said as she pointed at the shield. "Step back, you're not taking it away from me, it makes me feel... Worth something." Rahab warned. Tetra shook her head: "I'm not here to take it away from you; I'm just here to make sure you know what you're up against. And no, you're worth much more than you think, whether you're ascended or not. And whether you're wielding a token or cleaning your house or praying to God for your son to return." Rahab stopped walking backwards and tried to fight the tears. "You could hear my prayers?"

Tetra nodded: "All 800 of them. That must be the luckiest son in the world. You see... God hears your prayers, and echoes them to the whole universe. Even us fallen angels can sometimes hear them if they're loud enough." Rahab smiled and felt guilty for cursing out God in her anger fit. She turned around at Tetra. "Tetra. What's the fate of my son?" Tetra sighed: "I'm sorry Rahab, I don't deal with heaven anymore nor am I in contact with any of the angels. I'm fallen like I said; I'm stuck here as the self appointed herald of Earth. Me and my brother, herald of Atlantis. Wherever he may be."

Rahab nodded. She took off the shield for a moment but all the warmth, wisdom and strength she got left with it. She now felt like old miserable Rahab again, so she quickly wore the shield again. "Oh what a sweet addiction." She thought. "Who was that witch anyway, who made this shield, Tetra?" Rahab asked as she opened her eyes. But she saw a guilty look on Tetra's eyes. "It was you?" Rahab gasped.

Tetra nodded and started narrating: "It was seven hundred years B.C., Mammon struggled hard when he realized that he was trapped. His screams and flames nearly raized the Sanctuary of Diamonds to nothing. That's where I stored the Tokens that I found throughout the centuries, including the Ring of Solomon. So I entrusted the shield and whatever tokens I had to Rakim Moses, a Levite Scholar married to an Arab Jew. I made him pledge an oath never to wield any of the tokens and he promised to store them safely in his sanctified house in return for the secret of the Holy Name. So I taught him the art of the Tetra deck and showed him how they could be arranged to represent the three levels of consciousness and the 22 levels of ascension, and how that can be arranged to represent the tree of life, the tree of knowledge and the name of God. He cherished the secret and was careful in passing down the knowledge only to his son. Azzab went on to teach it to his apprentice and so on. This secret society grew through the years and became known as The Kabbala. Which meant, "Receivers of divine knowledge." The knowledge they gained granted them amazing powers. But Azzab became fearful that the other Levite or Israelite Jews would steal the knowledge to themselves, or worse, that the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzer would seek them out and take the secret to himself and wage tyranny against the Earth, as King Nimrod did during the era of Abraham. So, Azzab and his followers set out to the desert and invoked their loyal demons to cleave a rock in the desert and carve them houses and shrines out of stone including a large Sanctuary in which they kept the books and artifacts. And thus they cleverly hid themselves from the evil Babylonians and the power-hungry Israelites. In a city called Petra; made of stone hidden in the middle of the desert. These self-exiled jews and arabs, became known as the Nabateans."

"One day, many generations later, a wicked King slyly became a member of the order. He learned the secrets and gave them away freely to everyone in Petra, most of whom blasphemed against God openly. There was a battle between newly invoked evil demons and the old demons, and the evil ones won and were set as Gods by the Nabatean Kings (now turned evil). The Kabbals were furious but they were relunctant to hit back. God didn't take this insult lightly and he punished the Nabateans by invoking one of his very own letters. An angel carried the First Thunder to Petra and when it was thrown into the valley, it shattered every living soul. No soul and no bone was found in the valley, whether king, child or scholar; good or bad. A year later in 106 AD, when the romans discovered the whereabouts of the city and came to conquer it, it was too late. They were perplexed to find it barren but they claimed to have conquered the Nabateans anyway and said that they made them extinct to strike fear into the region which they wanted to control completely."

"Luckily the Romans didn't stick around long and didn't bother venturing deep into the sanctuary to find the well-hidden ancient books and the artifacts in there. The Byzantine Christians came in the 6th century and replaced tombs with churches. But they didn't stick around in this now-barren valley too long either. The place was haunted and it scared them. That is, until the crusaders landed 500 years later in Jerusalem. The crusaders were ruthless and they massacred Jews and Muslims alike; anyone who wasn't christian. They set up the Holy Church of Jerusalem. It was from here that a band of six crusader knights from the order known as the Knights of Solomon's Temple set off to the desert and came across Petra. At first, when they stepped into the valley, they thought there was Gold, but there wasn't any."

"Miraculously, they were fated to find the secret chambers of the Kabbala. Some were more indulged in the knowledge than the actual tokens. Some of the tokens that were found was the King of Spades Token, and that..." Tetra pointed at the shield again. "...Some of them indulged their knowledge freely with the rest of their brotherhood, others even made their make-shift sanctuaries in Petra for years. These knights became known as the Templar Knights, they converged Judaism with Christianity with the Mysticism of the Kabbala and thus revived an ancient faith... Gnostism: The Faith of Knowledge. They pledged to continue keeping the secret of the holy name sacred and secret (the name was decyphered by ancient jewish mystics into the letters: "Je-Ho-Va-H" to protect its sanctity). Of course, the Christian Church called the Templars heretics and expelled them from the Holy Church of Jerusalem, and the Europan Church followed suit when they moved back to Europe. Their rival knightly order, the french Knights Hospitaller even planted lies and conspiracies to them. This the church gladly accepted as a means to rebuke this new religion that would probably threaten the Absolute control of the Pope. The brotherhood moved back to Europe with their knowledge and with the tokens. Some of the templars were trialled cruelly and were found guilty of heresy by the church of europe. Some renamed themselves to other names to hide their true identity. Some fled to hide in the ghettos of Germany, Rhode Island, Malta, Venice, France and as far away as Scotland. Finally, a hundred years ago, the shield of Mammon was stolen from the templars' cell here in Germany. And that's why I'm here in Europe. With the task of tracking down the templars and accounting for all the tokens, once again." Tetra finished her narration and took a deep breath.

"But... What "powers" does it have?" Rahab wondered aloud as she marvelled at the shield. It was more attractive now that she knew its "Romantic" history. Tetra shrugged: "The powers that you are feeling right now: Immortality, increased wisdom, increased strength. And. Mammon." Rahab thought: "Wealth? I can be rich?" "I'm glad you were smart enough not to have sold your soul to the devil. But unfortunately, there's more to it than that. You now carry an old curse of wealth: The curse that Mammon declared when I enslaved him." Rahab frowned: "How can being rich be a curse?" Tetra recalled that day. The screaming demon made Tetra's Sanctuary walls cave in. "I curse the human who wields this Token that six-fold their lifespan , their children will start gaining infinite wealth from usury. Their wealth will make them the richest people on earth. But they will be hunted for what they have, out of hate and jealousy. Like the dog hunts the fox. And thus their eternal wealth will be their eternal misery." Tetra ended her narration. Rahab shook her head: "That curse doesn't scare me. On the contrary, I welcome it. If my children shall be hunted fox, they'll know how to protect themselves, for foxes are the smartest animals. We'll be able to handle ourselves; we won't hurt anybody as long as they don't hurt us." Tetra smiled: "You sound like the perfect karmic, Rahab. I'm sure you'll make an excellent Queen of Earth. And my heart's rested now." Tetra covered her head. Her smile disappeared with the shadow that the hood cast on her face. She started walking away.

"Wait. Tetra. Before you go. I have one last question." Tetra turned around: "Yes?" "Who's Rahab that Mammon worships?" She asked. Tetra nodded "Rahab was a gigantic and fearsome worm-like demon that traveled the world and lived in the sea and mountains. It terrorized humans and villages, the other demons marveled him. They didn't worship him, rather they respected him because of his ability to strike fear into man. The legend of the Demon Rahab lives in almost every culture. The Hebrews knew him as The Leviathan. The Egyptians knew him as Behemoth, the Teutons knew him as The Drake, the Japanese knew him as The Great Dragon and the Arabs knew him as the great Efreet of the Sea." Rahab nodded and laughed: "Oh. He thought I was that? Wow."

Tetra nodded as she started walking away. "Goodbye Queen of Diamonds."

Rahab looked up and stared until Tetra's shadow disappeared in the streets of the town.

(Continued....)