05-03-2014, 01:09 PM
Short of Allah Himself sending down an angel to see it done, there was no way Hasan was going to see sleep this night. Across the city chants and cheers echoed against explosions and gunfire as the cleansing continued. Some elements of the CCD and its cronies wanted to hold onto power by a fingernail, a hair, a breath. The harder they tried to hold on, the more fiercely they resisted, the harder God's wrath came down on them.
Those who made the first step on the path of righteousness -- admitting they were infidels, throwing themselves upon the mercy of God -- those had a much greater chance of being spared the birth pangs. For that was indeed what was happening tonight, the Kingdom of God springing forth from its womb into daylight and taking its first breaths. And the new child of the world was glorious.
No birthing was bloodless, and the afterbirth was not nearly as pretty to behold. This birthing would cause serious wounds that would take time to heal. Battle continued to rage as pockets of resistance at the airport held out, and clashes sprang up between followers and CCD soldiers who were caught outside their perimeter. Hasan traveled to the Um Salama hospital near the airport to see to wounded as they were brought in, and perhaps help as needed. Medical teams were strained tonight, and there were some wounds that the Keramat could heal when medicine and science failed. God was never limited.
Reports trickled in to him as the night wore on. Baghdad, Karabala and Basra had fallen, as had most of the Arabian peninsula. The Emirates remained divided. The Port of Dubai and parts of the city center was still in CCD hands, though only barely. The air port had fallen and Al-Jazeera News had defected. The capital of the Dominance was teetering on edge and it was only a matter of hours, maybe, before it fell. Kuwait City remained firmly in control of the CCD. The tiny country would wake up in the morning to find itself besieged.
Hasan let these thoughts stir in the back of his mind as he focused on the unconscious man before him. He placed his hands upon the man's skull and let the Gift of Keramat flood through him as he drifted into the man's mind. The man had no visible wounds, but Hasan suspected he had taken a severe traumatic brain injury from a concussive blast. This was one of the areas where opening the man up on the operating table could still do more harm than good. While he delved into the man's mind, he could not only see but feel where the injury had happened. He focused, and fed the power into the wounded man.
His eyes snapped open. "Allah be praised!" the man exclaimed. He tried to stand.
Hasan held the man down with a gentle but firm hand. "Rest easy, child of God. You have done well and Allah has willed you be healed. Now you must recover your strength."
He signaled for two attendants to take away the man on his stretcher.
The man laid back and let himself be carried off. Hasan stood and released the Keramat. He was growing still stronger and more gifted, but he knew God's mightiness was still too much -- would always be too much -- for his limited body to handle without serious restraint.
Commotion down the corridor caught Hasan's attention. Two men were trying to carry in another stretcher, and a third man was arguing with them. "--him, I don't care! Get him out of here. Don't bring him before the Mahd--" The man cut off as Hasan approached.
He knelt. "Glorious Mahdi," he said.
"Praise and glorify Allah only,"
Hasan replied, but made no other effort to stop the man. He looked over the stretcher. A plainclothes man who looked like he'd lost a boxing match with a tiger lay unconscious in the stretcher. He was tall and his face was distinctly European in heritage. He didn't seem mortally wounded. "Why do you not want me to see this man?"
The one who'd protested stood. "Mahdi, I do not want to trouble you with such filth. This one is obviously a foreigner and an infidel. A shame on our land and an insult to God. We would do better to just throw him out with the refuse and not waste time treating him."
Hasan shook his head. "Allah is ever merciful. The infidel cannot come to believe and submit if we do not give him the opportunity."
He stretched out his hand and prepared to offer a prayer for receipt of the Keramat, but the foreigner stirred.
Those who made the first step on the path of righteousness -- admitting they were infidels, throwing themselves upon the mercy of God -- those had a much greater chance of being spared the birth pangs. For that was indeed what was happening tonight, the Kingdom of God springing forth from its womb into daylight and taking its first breaths. And the new child of the world was glorious.
No birthing was bloodless, and the afterbirth was not nearly as pretty to behold. This birthing would cause serious wounds that would take time to heal. Battle continued to rage as pockets of resistance at the airport held out, and clashes sprang up between followers and CCD soldiers who were caught outside their perimeter. Hasan traveled to the Um Salama hospital near the airport to see to wounded as they were brought in, and perhaps help as needed. Medical teams were strained tonight, and there were some wounds that the Keramat could heal when medicine and science failed. God was never limited.
Reports trickled in to him as the night wore on. Baghdad, Karabala and Basra had fallen, as had most of the Arabian peninsula. The Emirates remained divided. The Port of Dubai and parts of the city center was still in CCD hands, though only barely. The air port had fallen and Al-Jazeera News had defected. The capital of the Dominance was teetering on edge and it was only a matter of hours, maybe, before it fell. Kuwait City remained firmly in control of the CCD. The tiny country would wake up in the morning to find itself besieged.
Hasan let these thoughts stir in the back of his mind as he focused on the unconscious man before him. He placed his hands upon the man's skull and let the Gift of Keramat flood through him as he drifted into the man's mind. The man had no visible wounds, but Hasan suspected he had taken a severe traumatic brain injury from a concussive blast. This was one of the areas where opening the man up on the operating table could still do more harm than good. While he delved into the man's mind, he could not only see but feel where the injury had happened. He focused, and fed the power into the wounded man.
His eyes snapped open. "Allah be praised!" the man exclaimed. He tried to stand.
Hasan held the man down with a gentle but firm hand. "Rest easy, child of God. You have done well and Allah has willed you be healed. Now you must recover your strength."
He signaled for two attendants to take away the man on his stretcher.
The man laid back and let himself be carried off. Hasan stood and released the Keramat. He was growing still stronger and more gifted, but he knew God's mightiness was still too much -- would always be too much -- for his limited body to handle without serious restraint.
Commotion down the corridor caught Hasan's attention. Two men were trying to carry in another stretcher, and a third man was arguing with them. "--him, I don't care! Get him out of here. Don't bring him before the Mahd--" The man cut off as Hasan approached.
He knelt. "Glorious Mahdi," he said.
"Praise and glorify Allah only,"
Hasan replied, but made no other effort to stop the man. He looked over the stretcher. A plainclothes man who looked like he'd lost a boxing match with a tiger lay unconscious in the stretcher. He was tall and his face was distinctly European in heritage. He didn't seem mortally wounded. "Why do you not want me to see this man?"
The one who'd protested stood. "Mahdi, I do not want to trouble you with such filth. This one is obviously a foreigner and an infidel. A shame on our land and an insult to God. We would do better to just throw him out with the refuse and not waste time treating him."
Hasan shook his head. "Allah is ever merciful. The infidel cannot come to believe and submit if we do not give him the opportunity."
He stretched out his hand and prepared to offer a prayer for receipt of the Keramat, but the foreigner stirred.