The Gnostic’s Fire

By Joseph Landry

Ghoulish deaths of three Catholic priests, the insides of their bodies seemingly burned away, baffles the London Metropolitan Police Department in 1920. Inspector John Nelson is requested by Commissioner Edward Allenby to handle the case. Soul-weary after his military service in World War One, John is hesitant to accept, thinking he is well past the prime of his career, but the commissioner believes that he is the best man for the job, and insists that he take the assignment.

John learns that Doctor Alex Milton, an enthusiastic occult scholar, has been chosen to help him on the case. After they view one of the grisly corpses in the morgue, Alex tells John about his research on the Gnostics and their power to weld mysterious fire, suggesting that this is the cause of the uncanny deaths. He also describes a secret ancient cabal known as the Brotherhood of the Snake, which is believed to have once possessed the Amulet of Solomon, a mystical relic that is a source of this power and can be traced to Biblical times. Alex claims that shadowy demonic beings, called Archons, are connected with it.

At first put off by Alex, John believes there is a perfectly rational explanation for the deaths. However, he soon comes upon haunting clues which lead him deeper into the world of the occult. After Sarah Wilford, a long-time friend of Alex, teams up with them, they come to discover that the Archons are trying to find the Amulet of Solomon and free their lord, Asmodeus, who is imprisoned inside of it. John comes to find that there is truth to what Alex has been saying, that evil forces are killing people with a supernatural energy.

The investigation leads them across the English countryside to find the Archons before they can retrieve the Amulet. They come upon an old, secluded monastery in Wales where they encounter monks who are with the Brotherhood of the Snake and who can summon the same otherworldly powers to fight the rancorous demons. Only with their help, can Asmodeus and the Archons be defeated, and the Amulet reclaimed… before the world falls into terrible darkness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984569417

Joseph Landry

Joseph Landry is a police officer with over a decade of experience in law enforcement and criminal investigations. He is a twenty year-veteran of the U.S. Air Force and has served in many operations, to include the Persian Gulf War of 1991. During his time in the military, Joseph Landry was closely involved with the chaplaincy and became deeply interested in many subjects concerning religion, particularly those of Early Christianity. His academic work has led him to studies in various fields of science and history, and he has kept a keen passion for learning about the ancient world of the Bible. In 2009, he earned a Master of Science degree in psychology from the University of Phoenix, and in his law enforcement profession, he has pursued research into mental phenomena that relates to the acts of crime. Joseph Landry currently lives in Tucson, Arizona with his wife, Robin and has three children and two grandchildren.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

J ERUSALEM, 1187 A.D.

A crimson and oppressive sun has scorched the land of Palestine since time immemorial. It now sets over a smoldering battlefield near Mount Scopus, just east of the Holy City. The stench-filled air encased by the surrounding hillsides reverberates with the agonizing sound of fallen throngs of armored men, alongside the shrill whinnying of dying horses. Softly, the wailing fades away as wild jackals howl in the distance, and death permeates across the bloody, charred soil where Crusader knights and Arab cavalrymen fought to the end. Military banners that show forth the Great Crescent furl quietly, yet distinctly in the sweeping dusk wind, give testament to the Muslim victory, while the rhythmic call to prayers is heard coming from atop the prominent Al Aqsa Mosque.

Jerusalem has been a witness to centuries of brutality and warfare, but this day is more than its mere conquest of one empire by another, as has happened from age to age. It will bear forth the vilest relic from its obscure past. A secret that the esoteric writers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam feared to make anything other than vague allusion, so as to only be revealed to those learned in the scared teachings. For the elite monks guarding it, this knowledge could only be passed on to those disciplined in their devote mysteries and who were sworn to protect it with their lives.

Ibrahim bin Faisel was one of the most formidable officers of the Ayyubid Army, which is why he was personally chosen from the retinue of Saladin the Great to carry out the task of sacking Christian places of worship. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of the Nativity, the Basilica of the Visitation, and the monasteries of the Judean Desert were pillaged under his watch. His arrival to the Charnel Church at Akeldama seemed to be an unlikely stop on his looting campaign; it sat far to the south in the Hinnom Valley, almost completely out of sight from the Temple Mount. Its importance to the Christians would seem insignificant, if not completely disdained, as it marked the location where Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, is said to have ended his life. It was hardly a place where one would expect to find any venerable objects, and certainly not a place where treasures would be amassed.

It is by the decree of Saladin, our supreme commander, that the riches of the infidel churches be immediately surrendered to the caliphate, he demanded to Onuphrius, the Greek patriarch of the clandestine Encratite sect, who stood leaning on his walking cane in the center of the courtyard. You can keep whatever coinage you and your ascetic kind need for your own sustenance, but everything of gold or jewel will be rendered to us at once.

Onuphrius replied, My good pasha, we live humbly in this barren and reclusive monastery with little material means, as we always have. I tell you, we have nothing of wealth of any kind here that would even fill a small coffer to please your superiors. Their mandate for you to find any treasure is utterly futile. The Knights Hospitallers bury their dead here only after the bodies have been striped clean.

Ibrahim stared calculatedly for a while at the black-robed and gray-bearded monk, as he did not believe his sentiment about the absence of any valuables within the church. The flickering of the torch flames showed in Onuphrius’s face the signs of a life that has endured harshness. His unabashed courage to stand feebly, yet so intrepidly in front of a hoard of armed soldiers in the dark of night seemed to come casually with his old age. On first encounter with Onuphrius, one might even believe that from his haggard appearance that he has been a living part of Jerusalem since the very time of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Ibrahim could not help but have some admiration for him.

Father, he said, my mandate from my superiors is quite simple, make you surrender even the smallest item of value to the caliphate, or slay you.

Onuphrius stared back, acknowledging that sentiment without as much as a nod.

I have learned enough about your churches to know that it is in the nave of your sanctuary that the most adorned relics will be found, Ibrahim continued, we will begin our collection there. By Allah, I swear to spare your life and those of the other priests here, and I will leave the church itself unharmed, so long as nothing is done to hinder us.

The patriarch did not change the solemn expression on his face even by the slightest movement, for he knew that this looting was cost of the Crusader defeat. Do as you must, he replied, staring straight at Ibrahim.

The other much younger priests standing by in the same courtyard moved aside while the hoard of Muslims poured into the sanctuary and other buildings of the monastery, all the while looking at one another with dire concern. Not a word was spoken among them, as they knew the horror that could follow. One whispered to another, They probably won’t be able to find it.

The mass of Ibrahim’s soldiers, about seventy in all, moved quickly across the grounds of the church with torches and weapons in hand. The sounds of clanging shields and armor could be heard as they searched the place. Some of them were shouting out loud commands in Arabic to the others as they went about. Their rummaging of the sanctuary was as fruitless as the patriarch said it would be. Frustration became evident on their faces as the hope for finding some valuables was going unfulfilled. No golden chalices embedded with lavish gemstones, no ornate golden crucifixes, no brass candle holders or silver incense burners, not even a simple stone mosaic adorning any of the walls. The church was primitive, rudimentary, and bleak with no elaborate furnishings to entice a marauder.

Have you found nothing made of gold? Ibrahim asked his subordinate.

We have thoroughly searched every part of the sanctuary and living quarters, and there are no relics here to be collected. Everything seems to be made of ordinary stone and pottery, he replied.

Pasha! one of the pillaging soldiers exclaimed while walking quickly toward Ibrahim, I have found this thing, sir. It was way down in one of the catacombs that run underneath the altar in the sanctuary. I do not know what it is, but it was by itself in a solitary chamber away from where all the bones lay.

Ibrahim looked carefully at the unusual object his soldier was holding. Its design was unlike anything he had ever seen, humble and quite uninteresting, and yet enchantingly lustrous with a strange aura to it.

What is it made of? he asked as he took hold of it. The object felt like stone, but had a shiny appearance to it, like that of polished glass. Its shape was hexahedron; two three-sided pyramids whose bases connected and their apexes faced away from each other. It was grayish black and slightly silver, but of the most unusual color tone as it seemed to shimmer and sparkle, and it was the size of a vase.

I tell you, I do not know, replied the soldier, I have never seen anything like it.

There were two elaborately and expertly engraved symbols on two of its six sides. On one of the sides was a pentacle, a five pointed star with single Hebrew letters at each point On the side of its opposite end was a depiction of a tree in the midst of a paradisiac garden and that was encircled by a snake coiled from its head to its tail, and above that was an unknown word inscribed in Hebrew. The other four sides were etched with strange zodiacal and astral symbols.

The piece that you hold has no significance to you as it is used only within our enlightened rituals, spoke Onuphrius, you can see that it is not made of precious metal and can not be melted down to change its present form to become anything of worth. I implore that you let it remain.

Ibrahim held up the object toward Onuphrius. How do you know it is of no value to us? Clearly, it is made of some kind of stone of which we have never before seen; it must have some worth. Its opulence seemed to magnify as Ibrahim held it up and spoke these words, almost as though it relished in them being spoken.

What is it? I demand you tell me! he shouted.

Onuphrius, now slightly unnerved by the Muslim officer being in possession of the relic, replied to him, It is the Amulet of Solomon…from the Potter’s Field, where Judas the betrayer of our Lord took his own life, where his entrails spilled out onto the ground; the same ground on which you now stand.

Ibrahim looked intrigued. This is the Amulet of Solomon? The great and powerful King Solomon who could bring even the fearsome jinn under his command; this is his fabled amulet? Incredible!

Onuphrius’s voice became slightly agitated from his otherwise stoic disposition. It has great power, and here it must stay, with us, the Encratites to whom it was entrusted long ago by the Apostle Thomas so as to be kept away from the world. I tell you, it’s of no use to you at all.

The Arab soldiers near Ibrahim, were all transfixed on the Amulet which seemed to give off a distinct, yet barely discernable hum.

You seek earthly riches, the patriarch pled, and you waste precious time with us inquiring over the value of this meager object. To remove it from this church would be truly unwise and unprofitable for you and for the caliphate.

Ibrahim interrupted, It is not for you to decide what we are to take for the caliphate! You were warned not to impede our work! The Amulet seemed to resonate with the intonation of these reprimanding words.

Onuphrius held a steady glare at Ibrahim, and with a solemn, reverent, and soft spoken voice admonished, almost in a whispering tone, Pasha, my soul is prepared to meet God. You are warned…warned to not tamper with powers of which you do not comprehend. The Amulet of Solomon will bring you nothing but death. Leave it here…for your sake…I beg you.

The hoard of soldiers gathered closer to where Ibrahim and Onuphrius stood, as did the Encratite priests; the moment was tense, as all their postures gave a disconcerting and menacing appearance.

Ibrahim shifted his stare from Onuphrius to the object. Perhaps you give practical advice, Father. It is not golden, or even very beautiful to behold, he hesitated for a minute and then said, Yet, why should I leave this place with nothing to boast?

He peered closer at the Amulet. The center where the two pyramidal bases met had a barely noticeable seam between them, and looked as though the two pieces could be pulled apart from each other. What is inside of it? he asked with genuine and malicious curiosity.

Onuphrius watched as Ibrahim grabbed hold of both ends of the Amulet and began twisting to pull apart the two pieces. No! he shouted, Don’t separate the shafts!

Onuphrius lounged at Ibrahim with a swiftness and force that seemed abnormal for such an elderly man, knocking the austere and muscular commander to the ground. The Amulet fell from his hands and struck the ground with a peculiar dinging sound that seemed unnatural. The other soldiers quickly drew their swords and spears. Within seconds, they thrust themselves toward Onuphrius. The elder patriarch made an evasive movement to his left, while holding his cane in one hand, so quickly that he was out of reach of them in almost an instant. The soldiers looked completely baffled and awestruck that an old and decrepit man could move in such a quick bound.

Ibrahim deftly rose to his feet and drew his flashing scimitar, pointing it straight at Onuphrius, shouting, Cursed infidel! That will cost you dearly! The Amulet is mine! He then ordered to his men, Seize them all! Burn this church!

Before the hoard could initiate their assault, the priests encircled them with lightening quick speed, a synchronized movement almost undetectable. Each one held forth both of their open and empty hands toward the armed soldiers, while chanting, Eta pote tau theo kal mukoletis, nu pote tau theo kal mukoletis. The Muslim cohort stood frozen, almost mesmerized by the sight of the robed priest surrounding them, muttering these strange monotonic incantations. Some looked as though they had begun to slip into a trace.

What are you waiting for? screamed Ibrahim. Strike them!

Some of the soldiers stirred, just barely, and some even raised their swords, but looked as though they were haunted by the sight, as if fear gripped them because they were seeing something they had never encountered. The monks’ ritual seemed to leave them beguiled.

Ibrahim glared at the patriarch. This night, old man, you will lose everything! This night you will die!

Onuphrius pleaded with Ibrahim with a tone of fright in his voice, My son, do not take it, do not even touch it…it is evil. Please, leave this place now!

Ibrahim smiled mockingly at him. I never leave anywhere without a tribute, your church will be no exception. He then jumped to where the Amulet lay on the ground and grabbed it by one end. Onuphrius lounged at it and grabbed the other end with skilled swiftness. The two of them held on to it at opposite ends. Ibrahim forcefully swung his scimitar which struck Onuphrius, knocking his black klobuk off of his head and deeply slicing into his left shoulder and into his chest. Blood gushed out of him through his robe. As the patriarch fell to the ground from the blow, his grasp on the Amulet tightened in a final effort to gain control of it, and the piece he was holding pulled away from the piece that Ibrahim was clenching, so that the two pyramidal shafts separated from one another.

The other priests stopped their chant and looked in horror at the sight of the fallen elder, and at the sight of the shafts separating. The hoard of soldiers looked on also, still not making any overt movements toward the ascetic group. All of their eyes instantly became fixed on the deep red, oval-shaped piece that fell from the now opened Amulet. It struck the dirt with a dull thud. It was a crystal, and as it lay on the ground, it began to emit a slight glow, like an ember from a fire. Onuphrius and the other Encratites started to back away, while Ibrahim and the Muslim soldiers gazed steadily at it, which was slightly larger than an arrowhead, and they inched closer to it. The brightness of the glow steadily increased, such that it lite up the ground. Gradually it transformed to the appearance of a brilliant ruby which glimmered with its own energy.

It’s beautiful, whispered Ibrahim, dropping the piece of the Amulet he was holding, it must be priceless; it’s unlike any jewel I have ever seen. Is it a diadem? Is it a scepter piece? No wonder you were trying to hide it from me, you old fool!

Onuphrius lay on the ground, clutching his gapping wound and coughing up frothed blood, stammered with fear. It is not a jewel! See what you have done! It has not been released in a thousand years! Now it’s out!

It looked more and more like a ruby that glowed and glittered brightly, enough so that it cast a red hue upon the faces of everyone standing around it. The Muslim hoard kept moving closer and closer to it, while the Encratites backed away from it. The object grew brighter and redder to the point where it overpowered the light from the torches in the courtyard. Not only was its radiance stunning to look upon, but it shimmered and sparkled in all directions such that it appeared be trying to purposely seduce the observer.

Ibrahim reveled in the sight of what seemed to him to be the most alluring ruby on earth. A vibrating hum came from it that captivated those who were gazing at it.

Onuphrius writhed at its appearance as though he was looking at the Devil himself. Some of the priests moved to aid the injured patriarch, who now shouted to all the soldiers, For all that is holy to you, to your God, I beseech you! Don’t touch it! Get away from it!

Ibrahim walked towards the piece like he was under the spell of an enchantress, reaching out his hand to take hold of it. By now, its red, dazzling light was almost to the point of being blinding. All of the other priests gazed in horror. The proud commander took hold of it, ignoring the admonition, and lifted it from the ground.

Look, I have found a treasure! A magnificent gemstone like no other, and it is mine! As Ibrahim said this and held up the piece that now grew to a brightness that illuminated the entire courtyard, his body started to stiffen like a rock. His feet became cemented to the ground. Then his arms froze in place, as he stood holding up the red crystal up in front of his face. Every muscle in his body tightened. He grunted with effort to try to move from where he was positioned, but he couldn’t even move enough to turn his head away from staring at it, which now was so bright that it hurt his eyes.

Onuphrius stammered as he sat lame on the ground, bleeding profusely from his wound, and still clutching the one half of the Amulet that he had grabbed in the struggle. All of you! Take your eyes off of it! Don’t look at it!

All of the priests listened and turned their heads away from the brazen gemstone that now cast the light of a thousand torches. A few of the soldiers also tried to heed the patriarch’s command; most of the others were too close to it, and too entranced to stop staring at its marvelous beauty. The vibrating hum that it emitted became louder such that it reverberated against their bodies like an explosion.

What…what’s happening? Ibrahim uttered, I can’t move. His face started to contort with pain. The crystal became enshrouded in a red ghostly orb that moved outward and traveled along Ibrahim’s arm. He screamed as it began to sear his flesh, but he could not release it from his grip. The orb then moved outward more and more so as to consume the rest of his body. Bright red flames burst forth from it, sending out rays of intense light into his eyes. He yelled in torment as the object and its orb scorched his body with radiance like that of the sun.

The soldiers who looked on also became consumed by it, and screamed in the pain of being burned by the unearthly light. Rays then shot out from it like spears which penetrated the eyes of those who looked upon the encompassing orb which, within a matter of seconds, covered everyone like a fireball. Those who looked at the red crystal burned from its energy, but not as from an external source, instead they burned from their insides out.

The few soldiers who at first heeded Onuphrius’s warning were not wise enough to keep from looking at it; none could resist the urge. It’s a jinn! one of them screamed as his body became disintegrated by the fire.

As the inferno enshrouding the men roared and intensified, its color changed from red to orange, and then to yellow causing the courtyard to resemble a bubbling volcanic pit. The starlight sky above now became covered up in clouds that glowed like embers.

Savagery! shouted Onuphrius, We must stop it…we have to put it back into the Amulet!

By now, Ibrahim and his men, all of whom failed to pull their gaze from the beautiful and seducing energy were swallowed by the seething mass of the orb, such that they were indistinguishable as towers of flame which all began to coalesce together to form into a shape that resembled some large monstrous creature. All that was recognizable of them was their hideous screaming.

The wounded Onuphrius weakly looked up to one of his companions, one of several who were by him trying to help him. As he struggled to breathe, he gasped, It must not come into this world.

Another priest who was kneeling next to him turned a riveted gaze at the elder. Frothed blood streamed out of Onuphrius’s mouth, and he gagged as he spoke, Tell the others to begin the Sophidic Rite. It has to be done…it’s the only way.

He stared in terror at Onuphrius and then slowly nodded obediently. God be with us, Father.

God have mercy on us, my brother, was the reply.

The young novice then leapt up and shouted to his fellow priest, Kalo pietri mau thalmatitus! They all looked at him with solemn and fearful expression, yet with no hesitation to move into position to begin their enigmatic rite.

They all quickly moved into the growing orb of light and encircled the image formed from the fire. Their hands were raised in unison toward the sky, and they looked onto to the fiery mass and repeatedly chanted, Theo reme ta nibelut kyklos merakakas deo tekitias careta. The fire began to consume them also, but a white light started to glow around their bodies and radiated upward, such that it enclosed the ghostly image in the fire.

Onuphrius jumped up with what strength remained and, staggering with his gapping wound, moved toward the emblazoned image now enshrouded in an orb of white light. He picked up the other shaft that Ibrahim had dropped of the separated Amulet, and with a leap that was like a flash, went into the fire-formed effigy. He was instantly engulfed in the bright flames, but like the other priests who were encircling him, emanated a white light that at least partially shielded him from being burned. In the center of this inferno, which now appeared to be alive, Onuphrius seized hold of the crystalline object, which was now throbbing with power, and shoved it back into one of the halves.

An immense roar like that of a dreadful beast rumbled within the orb. Beams of red flames blasted out from it and went through the bodies of the priests, who now all looked like columns of white light. With one final straining motion, Onuphrius closed the other half of the Amulet and thus encapsulated the object. An intense, searing explosion of blinding radiance burst forth out of Onuphrius’s body, which quickly eradicated the white-light orb and all who were within it, and then it imploded upon the Amulet with an ear-splitting boom. In a split second, everyone evanesced away like a lifting fog, leaving behind the shriek of tearing sinews and skeletons snapping apart and crashing to the