The Angel of El Escorial
Fiction
Originally published in the Wavelengths anthology, June 2018.
The notes in the pages that follow are a secret to all but God the Father and their author, Epifanio Artemio Felix, servant of the Holy Mother Church and bearer and translator of the Holy Scripture in the name of Bishop of Rome and the Father General of the Society of Jesus. That I have kept the contents of this pamphlet a secret is my greatest sin, and I have begged forgiveness from the Lord for my cowardice. In the name of my life, my reputation and my station, I concealed the marvel that we discovered in the foothills of Sierra de Guadarrama. In my defense, however feeble, I feared the impact that the entity would have on an empire that stands on a foundation that even still erodes. My prayers are that this information be found in a time of stability when the information can be used to the greater glory.
The notes that follow this testimony are, I admit, tragically brief. They are but my feeble attempt to record a series of vocalizations that, to my knowledge, belong to no language in the temporal sphere. It is a crude and incomplete document, written without any efforts at further study or reasoning. Perhaps in my younger days I would have endeavored to solve the riddle myself, but the spirit of adventure has long since departed me.
