p Jesus of Nazareth had been wandering in the desert for forty days and forty nights. His fasting had wearied him and he fell in exhaustion at the foot of the mount. Towers of rock and crackling shrubbery laid around his tired body; dust and sand slipped into clothing and burned. The midday sun beat upon his brow as he rolled onto his back with a heavy sigh. His pores had ceased sweating and his mouth had run dry. No more water would be found within a day's hike. p From the distance the daemons of the Prince of Darkness approached, having followed Jesus' steps since he had left the Jordan River where John the Baptizer was. Chants escaped their black lips and their skin shuddered. The daemons danced and jumped and smashed their faces to the ground, gritting their teeth with a gaze of mock joy and love. They beat their chests and called out to their Master with a deep roar from their fiery throats, "The Son is here, Lord. Come, come now and deliver him to Your cause." No reply answered them and no sound nor sight came, though the daemons had begun to quiver in fear and hid behind rocks and in crevasses. p And then he was there. No part of the landscape had changed; no signal to identify a shift, but he was there. The Prince wore a weathered cloak that shrouded his body, tempered with weeds and dirt that made its home on the cloaks surface. Where his body laid underneath was hidden and indistinguishable. A wide brimmed headpiece adorned his head obscuring it from even the closest inspection. It shined dimly under the sunny sky with a royal glow. He stepped towards Jesus, carefully picking his way across the crumbling and rocky terrain. p "Tidings, my child," said the Prince in a barely audible voice, slowly raising his palm upwards. Jesus raised his head doggedly, but fell back into darkness and sleep. p When he awoke, the sun had already been overtaken by the moon. The many pin pricks of starlight illuminated the sky and crowned the lunar body. The air was cool and humid, a great change from the earlier day. Darkness had also brought more creatures of the night. Specters and devils crowded around the corners of the surrounding cliffs, staying away from a large bonfire close to Jesus. p The Prince sat cross legged in the middle of the fire, its source. "I have tended to your wounds and pains," he stated. p "Your help is not wanted," replied Jesus, sitting up firmly. He no longer ached and felt reasonably well. p "Come now, my child. I only wanted to help." The Prince raised his head to the sky, letting his headpiece fall to the ground. The glint of his eyes and bright teeth reflected the flames of the blaze. "You must be hungry! You have been out here oh so long." p "I am fine," Jesus muttered contemptuously. "I shall be going now." He stood up, pushing off the rock wall to balance himself. p "No you won't. We are here to agree on a certain matter." p "I shall be going now," he repeated and began to walk away. p "Do not ignore me, child!" The earth shuddered under the command of his voice and the hiding daemons shrieked with fear. "Turn around and sit with me." p A tug inside of Jesus urged him, commanded him to obey. The Spirit flared in his heart, the thing that had drawn him to this forsaken wasteland in the first place; away from safety and comfort of the villages. The Prince sensed his strength with the Powers of YHWH quickly, and eased off his Temptation. "Please, please, my child. Sit with me. I have much to ask. I can do you no harm. You are strong and wise now. You can see." His pleas were innocuous on the surface. Through his will he made himself appear weak and harmless; a poor, defeated spirit. p In the previous month Jesus had meditated and prayed to strengthen himself with the Spirit, which he had received on his last visit with John. He was able to bend and twist its fierce power to do his bidding and break through Temptation, but he had not encountered any daemon great enough to prepare him for the Prince. One month could never compare to thousands of years of preparation, and Jesus did not notice his ulterior motives. He sat down across from the Prince and was silent. p The two did not speak for a great time. Instead, the bonfire between them exemplified their thoughts. p i Why are you here? p I need you. p For what? p For the Battle. p You know I will not. p I know; you must come though. p No. p Your tests begin now. /i p And the fire erupted into a column of smoke, ash, and embers that swirled with fury and mimicked faces of pain. Jesus strained and gibbered prayers while the Prince contorted his arms into impossible twists. Then the fire ceased to exist. p "You needn't be so angry," the Prince muttered. "I cannot be defeated by your conflagration. Remember that your Powers need to grow." p "I only wished that the Spirit would have burned you away to cleanse the land, Lucifer." p "You address me with such a proper name. Don't." The Prince raised his hand and Jesus saw nor heard no more, the depths of unconsciousness enveloping him once again. p "Awake child, awake." The Prince bent over Jesus' prone figure, shading his face from the midday sun. Jesus snapped up to ready himself for anything. The Tempter sat down and folded his legs. Picking up a rock at his foot he said, "You are truly the Son of YHWH. I know you hunger from your fasting. Turn this stone into bread to nourish your weary self! You shalt surely die without it." p The Prince stared deeply into Jesus, his powers of Temptation in full effect. The Nazarene held his head in his hands in resistance and said, "One does not live on bread alone." The Spirit flared from him and the two sat silently. p "Come with me, then," Lucifer stated. He jumped up and threw his cloak off to reveal dirty rags that covered his body tightly. And he ran. The Prince sprinted with an astonishing speed that blew the dust of the earth into the air. He trampled daemons on his way past the cliff surfaces and headed to the summit of a large mount overlooking the Earth. Jesus followed in pursuit, inexorably drawn forward. When he finally ascended to the top the Tempter had been waiting for many hours. p Again their was silence as the two figures looked down on the Creation. Visions flooded Jesus' mind and he was able to see all the nations of the Earth and all that ever would be. He foresaw wars and plagues and many great deeds accomplished by man. He saw himself, working to accomplish these deeds. He saw the minions of YHWH, the angels and the souls of those who would fight for the Lord, battling the daemons and followers of Lucifer. He saw himself leading both sides. p The phantasms faded from his eye and he beheld the pitiful form of Lucifer. His eyes shone brightly with hope, but his body was wasting away. Skin hung loosely on his bones and his hair and beard were gray. The rags he wore reinforced his old age. He spoke earnestly and truthfully, the future edging on the next few moments. "I shall give unto you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish. All this will be yours if you follow me. Pledge your powers to me and we shall right what went wrong." p Jesus clenched his jaw and breathed heavily. "Begone, Satan! The Lord you shall worship and him alone shall you serve," he bellowed and the mountain split in two beneath their feet, one figure on each side. He called out to the Heavens and the loose rocks threw themselves into the air. They crashed down onto Lucifer with a thunderous bang and the dust raised into the atmosphere. Jesus fell to his hands and knees and let out a large sigh. p The Prince reappeared behind Jesus and put his hand on his head. i Why must it be so? /i His tiny frame kicked Jesus' back and he fell off the summit, unable to stop himself. The jagged stones cut his body and fractured bones. He tumbled to a stop into a dying bush. Blood dripped from gashes in his skin. Lucifer appeared next to Jesus and picked him up and disappeared. p Noise from the Holy City surrounded the two figures above the Temple as merchants hawked their wares and cried out for attention over eachother. The two were huddled shadows, noticable to only the most keen onlooker, crouched and small on the rooftop. p The lean figure of the Tempter squatted over Jesus' still faint body and brushed the hair from his closed eyes. i I must try again. One more time. He must give in, away from his false Father. He is such an important young man. He is being deceived by the Creator. He is no Messiah, he is a sign who will be spoken against. I must save him. He must save us. If not, he must perish. /i p And Jesus awoke suddenly, thrashing upwards and away from his captor. He pushed his palms forward and outward. The air between them clouded and vicious winds ripped the cloth from the Prince's body. His form was not affected. He pounced on top of the Nazarene. His surprisingly strong fingers grasped Jesus' wrists and pinned them to the ground, and he locked his legs around the Son's waist. "I give you the final offer. Jump from here by yourself and be saved by the seraphs or plunge with me. It is written that they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone. The Creator bids them so. Decide now." p "I tell you, Lucifer," he added defiantly, "It is also written 'You shall not put your Lord to the test.' I will never help you." p A deafening shriek escaped the Prince's lips and his eyes burned. He rolled onto his back and kept going, toppling the two over the parapet of the Temple. Time slowed and the celestial bodyguards took physical form and raced down to save him. As they all fell, he whispered into his ear "You will remember this moment when I come for you when you die. You will know your Father has abandoned you and it will be too late. For you. For me. For all of us." p With that, he released his vice grip and floated upwards. He melted through the angels, startling them enough to brace and slow for the blow. He disappeared, becoming the sky and was gone. Jesus' body hit the booths below, crushing them from the impact. Wood and smoke flung into the air and clattered down around him. People gathered and said to eachother "It is the Carpenter's son! He is alive, how can this be?" p i It will be too late, /i he heard over and over again in his head. The seraphs landed lightly next to him and took him into their arms. They flew to a secluded place and administered to his wounds. I My tests are not yet finished. /i /p