The Breaking of the Dawn

By David A. Liapis

Do you feel like a faint glimmer of light in the midst of oppressive darkness? Do you even know that there is darkness all around you? What would you do if there was a price tag on your head, and the only way to conceal and save yourself would be to disobey and betray your lord?

Find out what Lucas and his companions do as they struggle to survive in a dark land dominated by a fierce enemy bent on destroying themwhile at the same time doing the bidding of their lord by sharing the truth with lost souls. Will any of them survive to see the day when their hoped-for savior returns to wage war on his enemies? Will they live to see the breaking of the dawn?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9781449717841

David A. Liapis

David Liapis currently serves in the US Air Force as a public affairs officer. David met and married Kristina in 2003 while working at Hume Lake Christian Camps in California.. As of 2011, they have four children and are expecting another one around Thanksgiving David’s influences include John Bunyan, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and Derek Webb.

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Copyright © 2011 David A. Liapis

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-1785-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-1786-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-1784-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011929265

Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 7/11/2011

Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 - The Revolution

Chapter 2 - The Chase

Chapter 3 - Mysteries in the Dark

Chapter 4 - Regeneration

Chapter 5 - A Narrow Escape

Chapter 6 - A House Divided…

Chapter 7 - The Hermit

Chapter 8 - Sikarios

Chapter 9 - Friends or Foes?

Chapter 10 - Into the Unknown

Chapter 11 - The Town

Chapter 12 - Betrayal

Chapter 13 - The Rescue

Chapter 14 - The Massacre

Chapter 15 - The Resurgence

Chapter 16 - Defeated?

Chapter 17 - The Breaking of the Dawn

Glossary

Acknowledgements

I MUST THANK MY GOD FIRST of all for enabling me to do anything–-breathe, have a heartbeat, live another day in spite of my iniquities, and to even have the ability to write more than my name in crayon. I have been given grace upon grace and it is more than I deserve. Secondly, I must thank my wife for her support. She has blessed me with four beautiful children (and another on the way), cheered me on as I completed my bachelor’s degree in spite of TDY’s, long work hours, sicknesses, and even volcanic eruptions, and has given me profitable criticism of my story. I also want to thank my mom, Mary Liapis, for editing this book, Kyia Friesen for encouraging me to use more adjectives, and John Piper, Paul Washer, Mark Driscoll, and Dennis Richardson for helping me (whether they knew it or not) as I navigated the ofttimes treacherous waters of that unfortunately taboo thing called theology. Lastly, I want to thank Derek Webb for his often times controversial, yet I believe profitable, contributions to the world of music. His songs have challenged my thinking and have, along with the pastors mentioned above, helped shape how I see God, the world, the Church, and myself.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Preface

THE FOLLOWING TALE STARTED AS A two page children’s bedtime story featuring a character portrayed as a little light. It has since turned into a novel that has taken me more than five years to write and revise multiple times. I passed many lonely nights while on assignment away from my family as an aircraft maintainer in the United States Air Force working on a story that I believe reveals much of who I am, where I struggle, and what I believe about our Lord and His word.

My inspiration for the short story that got this whole thing rolling actually came about because a good portion of my Air Force work day was spent riding on the launch truck. You can think of a launch truck as an airplane ambulance. If a pilot needed someone to fix a malfunction while they were preparing to take off, we rushed over and did what we could to repair the plane so it could still fly.

The truck for me was a necessary evil. Not only did I struggle with motion sickness from sitting in the back of a bread-van-like vehicle making circles around the flight line for hours on end, I struggled with the conversations that took place. Some of what was said in the confines of the truck on any given day would make a foul-mouthed sailor spend the afternoon in confession just for hearing what was said.

I was the only Christian in my entire unit, and as such I felt like a light, a mere glimmer, in the midst of great darkness, especially on that truck. I became discouraged as the enemy tried to convince me my puny little glow was worthless in such a benighted place. It was then I remembered something my father once told me about light. He said that in perfect darkness, the naked eye could see a lit match something like two miles away. It occurred to me that the person holding the match could probably only see a few inches in front of them, but the small flame they held could be seen for a great distance.

My revelation about the light not only encouraged me as I continued to be a witness to those lost in the darkness all around, but it also gave me the idea for the first little light story. After writing that story, I thought it would be fun to expand on the idea and compose a number of short stories with the characters from the first book. I got a little carried away. My short children’s bedtime stories ended up as the PG-13 short novel you are about to read.

As you read, you might think you detect a bit of allegory, a few underlying themes, and indications of what I believe theologically (at least at the time I wrote it). Be assured, you are correct. Even though the book is loosely based on the redemption story, and though there are many direct quotes from Scripture, I do take some liberties that might lead some to believe I am all messed up doctrinally. Please don’t email me and tell me that I am all wrong because I have the end times out of order according to your eschatological view. Remember, this is a story. If you want infallibility, you will want to pick up the book on your shelf that says Holy Bible on the cover.

Introduction

AS I STRUGGLED TO DEVELOP NAMES for the characters, I came up with the idea of giving each one a name that had to do with their personality or part in the story. That concept carried over into the choices for the names of places and even some objects. I debated whether I should try to work the definitions of all the various names into the story but decided against it for the sake of flow. Therefore, providing a glossary became necessary so that the reader would know the connection between the name and the story. I know some of the names are difficult to read since they are all derived from foreign languages; but I found it integral to the book to have meaningful names. The list of names and their meanings can be found in the glossary at the end of the book.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5, ESV

Chapter 1 - The Revolution

WHEN TIME HAD SCARCELY BEGUN, A beautiful place, called the Land of Luchnos, was created. It was a dazzlingly bright land that abounded with wonderfully pleasant sights and sounds. From the smallest plant and animal to the largest tree and highest mountain peak, everything that existed in Luchnos was fashioned to bring glory to Lord Elyon, the one who had created the land and its inhabitants. Lush green valleys blossomed with thousands of stunning wild flowers. Cool babbling brooks and the morning dew fed an unfathomable variety of trees and plants. Majestic mountains with jagged snowcapped peaks cut into the pure blue sky. Broad winding rivers, swift streams, and vast lakes abounding with amazing creatures shaped the landscape into a labyrinth of meadow, vale, hill, and mountain. Immense lush forests teeming with an innumerable variety of animals covered much of the higher places. Lord Elyon himself used to leave his throne, in the perfect realm of Shamayin, to walk among the trees and gardens of the land, and to speak with the people whom he had made.

In all of Shamayin, the most beautiful and highest ranking servant was Abishaqar. He was jealous of Lord Elyon, not only because of the glory and praise he received from his creation, but also because of his enjoyment in walking and talking with the people of Luchnos. Abishaqar longed to be adored and glorified with an insatiable and treacherous lust. As a result, he convinced some of his fellow servants that they need not submit to Lord Elyon anymore. After all, Lord Elyon’s son, Arnion, would inherit both the kingdom of Shamayin and the land of Luchnos. Those who followed Abishaqar were persuaded that there was no point in continuing to serve Lord Elyon since they would never receive any glory or inheritance for themselves.

The mutiny failed. Quickly, Lord Elyon cursed Abishaqar and his followers for their insurrection and banished them from Shamayin forever. Enraged by his punishment, Abishaqar resolved to do grievous harm to Lord Elyon’s creation. Through cunning and deception, he convinced the men of Luchnos to disobey the spoken words of Lord Elyon. Once the seeds of rebellion were planted firmly in the fickle hearts of men, Abishaqar easily persuaded them to rise up against Lord Elyon, even to the point of bloodshed.

Upon amassing a formidable army, Abishaqar’s rebels attempted to storm the gates of Shamayin. Many men lost their lives in their vain effort to overthrow Lord Elyon and Arnion, his heir. This defeat only hardened the hearts of men and of Lord Elyon’s former servants.

After quelling the revolt, in order to prevent any man from returning to and defiling Shamayin, Lord Elyon destroyed the expansive and beautiful bridge that once extended across the Great Divide between Shamayin and Luchnos. Eliminating this connector was a terrible and very difficult thing for him to do, but Lord Elyon had no choice. The men of Luchnos had broken their relationship with him and declared allegiance to Abishaqar. Lord Elyon could not allow anything unholy and impure to come so near to Shamayin ever again.

When access to this realm by way of the bridge was taken away, the illumination from Shamayin almost completely left all the lands of Luchnos. A thick, dark, and noxious fog blanketed the entire realm, replacing the warmth and glow of the light. The loathsome, murky mist has remained ever since, so that Luchnos came to be called Choshek, which means darkness in the tongue of Shamayin. At times it seemed that the light just might break through and once again flood the land with brightness, but the abysmal gloom remained dominant — except for a short time when Arnion was sent to Choshek.

Abishaqar knew well that Lord Elyon loved his subjects dearly, and he feared that if they were to cry out in repentance, Lord Elyon might do something to redeem them from their miserable state. Abishaqar was right to be afraid. Not long after the failed rebellion and separation from his land, Lord Elyon did prove his love for his creation by making a way for the men of the land to break free from the darkness.

First, Lord Elyon gave his creation the Book of the Covenants. All who read or heard the words of the book became partakers of the promises contained therein, if Lord Elyon had given them both the ability to understand and the faith to believe in the prophecies about the coming redemption through the work of a great savior.

Eventually, the prophesied one arrived in Shamayin. He was Lord Elyon’s own beloved son Arnion, and he suffered and died at the hands of evil men in order to fulfill the requirements and purposes of the Book of the Covenants.

During the brief time Arnion lay in the grave, Abishaqar was convinced that he had secured victory over Arnion and made plans to attack the kingdom of Shamayin again. However, Elyon’s son miraculously rose from the dead, proving to all, especially Abishaqar, that he had power over everything, including death. After his resurrection, Arnion returned to be with his father in Shamayin, but not before promising to one day return and defeat Abishaqar forever.

After his return to Shamayin, Arnion commanded that the Book of the New Covenant be written by chosen men who had been close friends and followers of his while he had been in Choshek. Together, the Book of Covenants and the Book of the New Covenant became known together as the Book of Light and are contained as such in one volume. Because Lord Elyon is the Lord of Light, and because the Book of Light contains his words, to this day the book itself emits bright light when its cover is opened.

Once Arnion had accomplished his work in Choshek and the Book of Light was complete, Abishaqar struggled greatly to prevent the spread of the light from the Book in the lands Choshek he had claimed as his own. Over the course of thousands of years, he persevered in pursuit of his goals: preventing men from believing in Arnion and his father, killing all who did come to know and love Lord Elyon, destroying the Book of Light, and finding a way to keep the glow of Shamayin from shining on Choshek at all.

As countless years passed, Abishaqar constructed a massive stone wall he named The Great Chephes. In the ancient tongue of Shamayin (why Abishaqar would use a word derived from that language remains a mystery), Chephes meant Veil. He named it this because of its two purposes. First, it was to prevent anyone living in the darkened realms of Choshek from seeing across the vast abyss (which the countrymen still called The Great Divide) in an attempt to gaze upon and possibly desire the glorious Land of Shamayin. Second, the wall was to block Shamayin’s ever-present radiance from radiating into Choshek.

Abishaqar located the wall so that it would effectively cut off the large and beautiful Realm of Diaugazo, or Dawn, from the rest of Choshek. The enormous stone structure loomed up along the border between Diaugazo and a realm that Abishaqar named Porosis, which meant Hardening. The high, steep wall blocked out the light from Shamayin. Though the dark lord had his rationale for creating the wall, some, called Luchnians, recognized another reason — fear deep in Abishaqar’s heart!

The Luchnians — men and women much like the rest of the people of Choshek — took on a radiance when they renounced their loyalty to Abishaqar and declared their allegiance to and belief in Lord Elyon and his son, Arnion. Since Luchnians openly loved and willingly obeyed Elyon, Abishaqar killed them by the thousands out of hatred for what they believed…and for their light — light that reminded the dark lord of the one who had banished him and of what he had lost.

Abishaqar and his original followers from Shamayin, the saiyrs, had not been created the same as the inhabitants of Choshek, nor were they always called saiyrs. They were once beautiful, luminescent creatures with near-human features (although many had wings) created by Lord Elyon to be servants before his throne in Shamayin. After their rebellion, as a result of the curse put on them by Elyon, they lost their luminescence and became physically repugnant. However, even in his fallen state Abishaqar stood out, just as he had as Lord Elyon’s servant, since his frame was larger and now more frightening than any of his companions. He and his followers became hideous creatures, with horns and spikes replacing wings, and blackened eyes taking the place of sparkling blue, green, and brown ones. Their eyes, though similar in appearance to those of men, didn’t function like human eyes (which require light to be able to see). As a result, the saiyrs were not affected by the perpetual darkness that covered Choshek.

As for the men of the realms, the unending gloom made it nearly impossible for them to do even ordinary things. Still, they did their best to become accustomed to darkness and to cope with its challenges. For those who lived closest to the Realm of Diaugazo, it was as if there was always a full moon’s glow coming over the Great Chephes. They had an easier time than the people