To Slay a Dragon III: The Temptation

The dragon grinned evilly at her. Saliva dripped over serrated teeth and splattered onto the grass. The grass immediately smoked and shriveled up as if it were being burned. The thing stank of poison and death, all of which Eve had never known. Fear ate her mind. She stared, transfixed, as the dragon began to walk toward her.

God and all his angels watched the scene in the garden unfolding.

"Father, shall I slay the dragon?" asked Michael, his sword ever ready. His muscles bulged in anticipation. Not a hint of fear lined his face, only determined courage.

"Do nothing unless she asks us to help. She has complete free will just like you do and Adam does and all the angels do. If she even says my name, fly to her aid with all who want to come. You may even completely destroy him and the other demons forever, so that he will never plague heaven or earth again. I hope she releases her mind from her fear and calls for me."

"As you wish, my Lord," said Michael. He stood ready, watching with baited breath.

"Raphael," said God, "send a messenger to whisper into Adam’s ear to go looking for his wife." Raphael nodded and raced to the messenger.

As the dragon walked toward Eve, he transformed himself into an image of what he looked like before he fell from the Grace of God. His beauty blinded Eve. She almost forgot how ugly he had been just moments before.

God’s messenger angel flew to Adam’s side. He whispered, "Find Eve!" into Adam’s ear. Now remember, this was when people were in complete communion with God. Adam heard the angel and knew the message was from God. He ran to look for Eve.

Adam knew Eve was going to pick peaches and blueberries that day, so he ran to the peach orchard first. She wasn’t there amongst the ever-fruiting trees. He did not take time to smell the lovely fragrance as he always did. He just ran on. God had never sent such an urgent message to him before. Maybe Eve had hurt herself. Maybe that Satan creature was back. He ran toward the blueberry bushes just in time to see the ugly dragon reaching for Eve. Fear slammed into Adam’s chest as he hid behind some bushes and watched. He couldn’t save Eve. That thing—that dragon—was larger than any of the other creatures in the garden, and Adam already knew that he had no control over it. Maybe if he just knelt there behind the bushes, the creature would not see him. Maybe he would live to see another day in the beautiful garden, where the trees always had fruit, the ground always had vegetables, and bread landed gently all around them in the mornings and evenings. Sweat poured from his body.

The beautiful Satan reached his hand out to Eve. It took all of his powers of concentration to maintain this image of himself for Eve, but he had to have her. Jealousy of God fueled his desire to destroy God’s most precious creation on Earth. If he, Lucifer, could not have the wonders of heaven, surely no other creation should have it either. He forced the image of himself to radiate beauty, yet he knew he could do nothing about his eyes. The eyes were the windows to the soul, and Satan’s soul was blacker than anything known in the world.

"Eve," he said, "You are so lovely. Surely you would like to go for a walk with me."

Eve became more confused. The words came to her so sweetly, like a haunting music. The beauty of the man standing before her seemed surreal. She was hypnotized. Adam watched the ugly dragon creeping closer, its huge body lumbering toward Eve. Adam thought, Maybe he won’t notice me. I bet Eve’s done for, but maybe, if I get through this, God will make me another wife. I’m so scared. I hope that thing just goes away.

Eve walked with Satan toward the center of the garden. Adam followed, keeping hidden in the underbrush. He was fascinated in a macabre way: he wanted to run away, but he just could not stop himself from watching something terrible happening to Eve. The garden had fallen completely silent. All the animals hid, cowering in their many homes, smelling rotting flesh and death.

"What were you doing just now, Eve?" Lucifer asked in smooth, rolling tones.

"I was gathering food for dinner." She thought of the blueberries and peaches she had left on the ground. Why had she done that?

"That’s wonderful that you can have any food in the garden. Have you tried the fruit from the trees in the center of the garden?"

"Oh no. God says we can’t have that fruit. We will die if we eat it."
Lucifer touched her hand and turned her so she could look at him. He smiled at her as if he were a wise adult explaining something to a small child. "Eve, daughter of God himself, you are so naive! You won’t die if you eat the fruit. It contains the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat the fruit, you will be like God. Like GOD! God wanted you to wait to be like him until you had lived here in the garden a long, long time. He told you that lie to keep you in ignorance. He made this garden for YOU! He made those trees for YOU! I’ll bet he’s just waiting to see who will figure it out first: you or Adam. Of course, I think you’re much smarter than Adam. But all that aside, I have heard that it is the most delicious of fruits."

Adam could not make out what the dragon was saying. Its saliva and ooze were killing the plants all around it. Adam cringed as the putrid thing touched Eve’s hand. He wondered why she did not pull away or run away. If she would just run away, he would run away, too. Maybe she would, and they would go hide somewhere safe. He watched the black goop from the dragon’s front limbs stay on Eve’s hand for a moment when the dragon touched her then burn up from the grace in her soul. He looked at the dragon’s teeth and wondered when it was going to devour Eve. He wondered if the dragon could smell him with those very large nostrils.

In heaven, all the angels stood ready to battle for Eve and now for Adam. They waited with confidence in God’s decision to let the pair keep their free will. They hoped Eve would call out to God. They hated seeing God’s garden being defiled by the evil beast they had once driven out of heaven. They hoped Adam would call out to God. Certainly, he was the one who let his head rule his actions, not his heart. But neither did.

"But God said . . ." Eve began tremulously.

"Never mind what God said. I just told you it was a lie. I promise that you won’t die. Go see for yourself. You will be like God. You will have his beauty. You will have his Power. You can share it with Adam, or you can leave Adam and come away with me. I have the power of God. I can show you wonders you have never seen in this little garden. I can show you precious rocks that shine in the light. You can wear them to make yourself even more beautiful than you are. I can give you light shows filled with fire. I can give you everything your heart desires, but you have to be like me. You have to be like God. You have to eat the fruit."

Eve trembled. The images of what he was saying danced before her eyes. She saw herself wearing fabulous jewels and watching light shows with perfect clarity. She had never disobeyed God before. She had never desired to disobey God—never even considered it. She thought about disobeying him now. Somewhere in the distance, she heard the cry of a hurting animal. It sounded like it was dying.

Satan didn’t give her a chance to consider anything. "Eve! You have to do this right now. This is your one chance while God is not here and I am. There is the tree. If you don’t do this now, I won’t give you another chance. I won’t give you sparkling diamonds and sapphires that are brighter than your eyes. Do it, and I will give you the world. Don’t, and I will leave you to your pitiful life."

Eve looked at the fruit. It seemed so perfect. She had never seen such shiny beautiful fruit before. Maybe this guy was right. And Adam was kind of plain. This guy was so beautiful. He would take her away from this boring little garden. She looked at Lucifer again. How could anyone be so beautiful?

God and all the angels watched the ground around the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil bulge and tremble. The three roots of evil were feeding on Eve’s thoughts and growing. They could not burst free unless an actual sin had been committed. All of heaven held its breath.

Adam kept whispering to himself over and over, "Don’t do it, Eve. Don’t do it." But he did nothing else. He didn’t move. He didn’t cry out to Eve. He didn’t throw stones at the dragon. He didn’t call for God.

"Go on! Make up your mind. You can shine like a star in heaven or live here like a worm of the earth. Decide, Eve! I don’t have all day."

Eve walked over to the tree with its shiny fruit. She picked one and took a bite of it. Adam gasped from where he stood watching her. Eve did not die!

A tear rolled down God’s cheek as he watched the roots from the tree reach their tentacles into Eve’s soul and take root there. She felt nothing, of course, in the same way you feel nothing when you focus your attention on something, but it did happen.

"Shall I go now, My Lord," asked Michael, "before Adam sins, too, and dooms all of mankind?"

God turned his eyes toward Michael. "I gave them the divine gift of free will. I will not step in and neither will you. Besides, look at the roots entering Adam. He has already committed a sin of omission. He should have called to me. He should have called to her. He should have stood beside Eve, the other half of his person, so that each could support the other. The only thing that can save humanity is if Adam chooses now, on his own, to repair the damage of his sin by not eating the fruit, calling out for me, and battling the dragon. I am the God of Love, the God of Forgiveness. Even now, I will burn the sin from their souls if only they try to slay the dragon and ask my forgiveness.

She took another bite. The fruit was soft and juicy, more delicious than anything she had ever eaten! She heard Adam gasp, and she said, "Adam! Come taste this fruit. It is delicious!" (To be Concluded in part 4 of 4: To Slay a Dragon: The Aftermath)