THE EVENING STAR HAD RISEN in the western sky to witness the convergence of two firstborns. On the mountainside, Jesus was down on his knees, praying. Cain was stepping out of the woods, furtive as the approaching darkness, camouflaged by the creeping fog, a silver dagger in hand.

     Now he was right behind Jesus.

     "Cain, where is your brother?" Jesus asked without looking at him.

     Cain stopped. He was sweating. Trembling.

     (In his mind he saw his brother Abel, as a shepherd, making burnt offering of fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock with a thankful heart, which God looked with more favor than the fruits he offered with a grudging spirit)

     Aeragel was the thin mountain air swirling about Jesus and Cain. As Cain's dismissed guardian angel, she knew that Cain never wanted to serve God for the devil awoke within him a feeling of deep-seated resentment against his parents' banishment from the Garden of Eden.

     (he saw himself, burning with jealousy, luring Abel to the field, sneaking behind him and clubbing him to death)

     He drew back a few steps.

     (he heard Abel's blood crying out to God from the ground)

     The cross on his forehead, which God marked with Abel's blood, appeared. Fresh. This time it stayed there. His chest heaved with sobs.

     (and he heard God asking: "Cain, where is your brother?")

     No, it was Jesus. Jesus rose, turned to Cain. Cain found himself hiding the dagger behind his back, without even thinking about it.

     Cain remained motionless. There was something about Jesus that arose in him the feeling he had never felt since the day God cursed him to leave home and forever be a fugitive. Fear. An emotion that plunged into dread, veneration, and a wonder all at once, almost a reverence.

     He closed his eyes, breathing in and out in big bursts, trying to pull himself together, shaking off his memories. Then, he swallowed hard and raised the dagger to his face. "Son of God, you know what this is?"

     "I know every angel and every star in it by name," Jesus said.

     Cain's grip loosed and the dagger almost dropped off his hand. It became almost an effort for him to tighten his grip on its handle. He cleared his throat and tried so hard not to stammer when he talked.

     "When my mother ate from the tree of knowledge," Cain said, "her eyes were opened to the truth. About God sending His only son into the world in human flesh. And about this living dagger that could prevent the completion of the savior's work. It took me thousands of years to find both of you."

     "Cain, I found you when the ground opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand," Jesus said. "When you killed its bearer on the road to Jerusalem, the dagger found you."

     Cain's eyes flickered with a discomfiting twinge that seemed to lay his whole life before him, battering his will with incredible supernatural force. He had encountered countless humans and spiritual beings before, but nothing like this.

     He lowered the dagger, his hand tensing up as if everything he ever did to get here was weighing it down.

     He had waited a long time for this moment, but when he spoke, he stammered. "I...I will...surrender the dagger to your Father," he paused, and for the first time he doubted if it is the right thing to say, "in return, I want the annulment of my curse and a place for my soul in Eden."

     "Look at the dagger," Jesus said. "What do you see?"

     Cain didn't have to look. He knew it from Eve's story long before he laid his eyes on it.

     "Heavenly creatures," Cain said.

     "Who created them?"

     "Your Father."

     "Cain, why do you bargain with God when everything belongs to him?"

     The brooding and threatening side of Cain showed in his face. "I saved your life from the assassin out to get you."

     "Did you think I couldn't ask my Father to put angels under my disposal? But so that you may know that everything serves God, I say you were the one tasked to protect me."

     "No!" Cain screamed, swinging from cold rage to half-delirious, spreading his arms like he did before he killed Abel. "I serve no one. I will not serve you or your Father who has forsaken me."

     Without warning, he lunged at Jesus and held the dagger's blade against his neck.

     "Don't you realize that I intend to kill you if God doesn't take my offer?" Cain said, his scowl gave rise to a demented smile. "I will spoil the divine plan to save mankind! I will make your Father weep."

     Jesus remained unperturbed. He pushed back Cain's cowl to see his face.

     "No one takes my life from me," Jesus said. "I lay it down on my own accord—only to take it up again. This is my Father's will."

     Cain froze like his spirit had left him and he was just watching everything.

     Jesus traced the mark on Cain's forehead with his forefinger. The cross of blood disappeared.

     "You already made God weep," Jesus said.

     Then he walked away.

     Cain was left all alone in the brooding darkness of the mountainside. Slumped on the ground like the day God cursed him, crying.

     Aeragel was crying with him.