6. Heaven's Bestiary

6. Heaven's Bestiary

The Bible (and thus The Chronicles of Time) has an amazing bestiary. Most of these creatures are mentioned only in the Apocalypse of John (Revelation), but some are mentioned in the Old Testament as well.

1) Four Living Creatures—in the Bible, these creatures make an appearance in God's throne room, though in CoT they are gargoyle-like creatures that guard the throne room doors.

2) Horses of Fire—in 2 Kings, these are the mounts the angels ride. In CoT, they are not actually made of fire, but have coats of metallic amber with golden manes and tails that give the impression of flaming horses, especially when in motion. They also have a shimmering aura so to a mortal, they would appear to be like fire even when standing still. They also have wings, since they fly from heaven to earth and back again.

3) White Horse—the Bible says Jesus makes his return on a white horse, Again, since this horse flies from heaven to earth, in CoT, it is a pegasus. Actually, I made it a unicorn, as the unicorn has been a symbol of Christ since the early church. 4th century theologian Basil of Caesarea wrote, "Christ is the power of God, therefore He is called the Unicorn on the ground that He has one horn, that is, one common power with the Father." (Exegetic Homilies). Ambrose, bishop of Milan, said, "Who then is this unicorn but the only-begotten Son of God?" (Patrologia Latina). And Tertullian called the unicorn a symbol of Christ (Adversus Marcionem 3.18).

4) Chimera—while these lion-headed, serpent-tailed horses (who breathe fire) are unnamed in the Bible, I chose to use the closest mythological nomenclature. In the last post, I mentioned that the Bible speaks of four angels chained beneath the Euphrates River who lead an army of theses creatures during the apocalypse. (There's more to it than that, but then I'd be giving away spoilers). In CoT, the demons ride these creatures, and the venom from the serpent's fangs is toxic to angels.

Photo Credit: Throne Room Invitation. Copyright fenrysk-art. Used with Permission.
Other Photo Credits: Public Domain / Creative Commons / Copyright JC Lamont

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