Chapter 20: Legion’s Lesson
- Carl Hiltz
- Mar 6, 2018
- 9 min read
“Jesus said to him, ‘Come out of this man, you impure spirit!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘My name is Legion,’ he replied (Mark 5:8, 9).
Allen clutched his throbbing head as he thought about the lesson Legion had just given him about pride. “I can see where I’ve made a mess of wrong choices.”
“I know it’s a lot to understand, but you’ll be better for it in the end if you learn this lesson early.” Legion patted his hand again.
Allen squeezed out a smile. “I want to learn. Tell me more.”
“Are you sure you want me to go on?” Legion asked with an inquisitive look.
“Hey, try me!” Allen already felt he was growing up as this timeless messenger poured out his understanding.
Legion lifted his shoulders to his full height and began again. “I know from experience that beings who choose to live a life of pride will sooner or later experience the consequences of their choices. High on that list of consequences is the destruction of relationships. People who think they’re more important than anyone else aren’t going to have trusting relationships. Just look at Vulpine. No one trusts him. We all do his bidding out of fear, or maybe some still hope to get more power. You’re young, but if you stop and think for a moment, you probably have friends who act in these ways and you probably don't like it. But worse yet, if you’re willing to look closely inside yourself, you may see these seeds growing there.”
A parade of memories marched through Allen’s head. He remembered his part in many arguments and fights he had been involved in with his parents and friends.
“And here’s the frightening part,” Legion raised his claws and shrugged his shoulders in disbelief. “Duns don’t have much difficulty tricking earthlings into believing the lie that they are more important than someone else.”
A shudder ran through Allen. “I know I’ve believed it.”
Legion fell silent for a few moments as memories of his former life in the City of Light flooded over him. “I’ve been paying for my decision for a long time. Thoughts of my life in the City of Light with Theos have never left me. I want to go back.”
“What was it like for you there?” Allen was concerned for his new friend.
“The people in that City practice Theos' single wonderful eternal law and the result is that everyone cares deeply for everyone else. What a difference it makes! Oh, if only I could return!”
Allen’s mind was spinning from all these new truths, and he wondered how much more he could absorb. But he wanted his escape partner to know he was listening and concerned about both of them.
“Now I have one more tidbit of information for you before we escape.” Legion looked as though tears would begin to leak from his eyes.
“A crying Dun.” Allen was touched with compassion. He gave Legion his total attention. “Go ahead. I’m ready.”
Legion’s face tightened. “Your question about where the Duns go when they leave here?”
“Yes, I’d like to know that.”
“For a long time on earth, things were going along well for Vulpine. He became known as the Prince of the Air. It looked as if there was no stopping him from achieving his goal of destroying Theos’ creation. However, Theos did something quite remarkable. He actually visited earth. It was really extraordinary and clever how He did it.”
“Theos came to earth?” Allen’s face registered amazement.
“Yes, He became an earthling. He chose an area in the midst of a major stronghold of Vulpine. He entered, lived there for quite a while, and revealed to the people His remarkable plan for delivering humans from their slavery to Vulpine’s constant temptations and lies. He told them how Vulpine operated.” Legion’s story was captivating to Allen.
“He also told them how they should live and even demonstrated it for them. Then, a final surprise, he told them about the City of Light and how they could become a resident.”
“Wow! Theos did that for us?” Allen took a long breath.
“Yes, and there’s more. During that time Vulpine used all his cunning to try to destroy Theos because it looked like He was defenseless since He no longer resembled the powerful Creator that Vulpine knew. He was human and subject to all the temptations of humanity. One day Vulpine was watching and saw Theos walking alone in a deserted desert area.” Legion’s words tumbled out faster and faster. “Vulpine is a master of disguise and tried to trick Theos. He introduced himself as a powerful ruler over the empire that Theos was living in. He offered great power and authority if Theos would side with him in ruling over the empire. He was using the same seeds of pride he used on those of us who believed him when he led the rebellion.”
“Did Vulpine's scheme work?” Allen gasped.
“No, and with that failure, every Dun was called into relentless service. Vulpine was furious. We spent unlimited time with Vulpine and other evil ones in the war room, trying to come up with new ways to get rid of Theos. A couple of them almost worked.”
The hairs on the back of Allen’s neck rose. “Really?!”
“Yes. Let me tell you a remarkable incident that happened to me. Around the same time Vulpine tempted Theos, I had been dispatched to earth right into the area where Theos was living. I’d made a significant capture. I had invaded a mortal.” Legion’s lips stiffened the instant he saw the horror on Allen’s face. “It’s always our goal to take up residence in their bodies if we can, for two reasons. First, we don’t have to keep returning here if we have made a foothold in enemy territory. Second, we are destroying a creature Theos has created by dominating and controlling him.
“Ultimately, we are commanded to rob them of their personality, steal their mind, and, if possible destroy their body through disease, numbing their brains through alcohol and drugs, distracting and causing them to have accidents. Of course, we have many different levels of success.”
Allen’s jaw tightened. Under his breath he muttered, “I can think of some examples on earth where Duns have taken over people’s minds.”

“I’m sure you can.” Legion took half a step away from him and continued his story. “I had almost completed the full job with this mortal. I had his mind and personality locked up. He lived like an animal alone in a graveyard. To say the least, this was humiliating for any human and a great victory for Vulpine.”
Allen’s face whitened. “What happened next?”
“Theos in his human form came along one day and discovered what we had done. He ordered us to leave our captive. The reason I say, “us” is because by that time many other Duns had invaded him too.”
“I’ve noticed you work in groups,” Allen replied.
“Yes, we often work in packs. That’s one way we take greater and greater control. If one of us has to leave for some reason, the others can continue their hold. We had to obey Theos because we have no physical power to combat Him. We learned that at the rebellion.” Legion’s lips twitched and continued, “He removed us from that mortal with just one word. Even as a human, He was still able to yield a power of good over us greater than our powers of evil. When He commanded us to leave our possession, we didn’t know where to go. He pointed to a herd of pigs on the hillside and sent us to enter them instead of the human.”
“Pigs, you entered pigs?” Allen curled his upper lip.

“Yes, it was really humiliating for us. The pigs didn’t know what had happened to them, and they began to run. Usually, once we invade any living thing, we can’t escape from their body until their death, and then we are free to seek others to inhabit.” Legion frowned and completed his story. “All the pigs headed for a cliff that overlooked a large lake. In their frenzy, they plunged over the cliff and were killed by the fall or drowned in the water. We were released.”
“Man, I bet that shook things up!” Allen’s gut twisted. “Just hearing it shakes me up.”
“Yes, it did, but it upset Vulpine even more.” Legion’s red eyes flashed. “It was another crushing defeat for him. He was even more furious with us when we returned to report what had happened. I was severely punished and so were the others because many mortals were released from our grip during Theos’ visit to earth.”
“Vulpine sure has control issues!” Allen twisted his hands together. “He wants to control everyone!”
“That’s his ultimate goal, but Theos’ plan messed things up for us. On top of it all, a multitude of earthlings became a part of what He was doing and teaching. His life caused quite a stir and many followed Him. They told others about his rescue plan, and we lost more and more captives.” Legion’s nostrils flared. “This conflict has raged throughout the ages on earth and in the whole created cosmos.”
Allen closed his eyes. “This all sounds like something from a horror movie and I’m playing the leading role.”
“There’s a lot of truth to that.” Legion managed a stiff-lipped smile. “Those Duns you see being dispatched are the main way Vulpine continues his attacks, especially on those who live on earth. We never give up and are always trying to discover any possible way to inhabit, harass, or at least confuse those who live there. We’ve been experiencing more success recently.”
“Why do you think that is?” Allen asked.
“I think it’s because of the intense interest growing in ‘The Dark Side.’ Humans, especially youth, seem fascinated with it. Movies, television shows, books, and of course, the Internet are full of it. Vulpine is subtly increasing his attacks, and all his brutes are working overtime to take advantage of it.” Legion’s gaze was unflinching.
Allen tensed, wondering what Legion was referring to. Could there be any connection between what he was hearing and the situation back at his home? He decided to ask. “How do you go about gaining some type of control or power over humans?” Allen thought if he could understand how evil works; maybe he could make a difference.
“It would take me a long time to tell you all the ways. Vulpine’s been around a long time and is very sly and crafty with what he has learned over the ages but he teaches his imps well.” Legion tried to convey the seriousness of the situation. “However, the most important thing we do is try to make people doubt the reality of a creature like Vulpine. At school you’ve probably heard your teachers tell the class, ‘Oh, there is evil, but it just happens.’ Or they might say that evil is just a natural result of your culture.”
Allen’s face remained expressionless for a moment. Then he frowned. “That’s how it is at home, it’s exactly what most of my friends believe.”
Legion clapped his claws together. “Just like that—we capture young minds. We do our best to keep them from recognizing that there is an actual evil Being that’s trying to destroy humankind. Oh they may talk about a comet, or overpopulation, global warming, or even atomic destruction. But they never think about a Being that’s trying to use any of these to achieve his goal.
“I see.” Allen’s head ached.
“And lastly, we do our best to convince humans that if there are some ‘forces or spirits’ in another dimension, they aren’t to be feared. We want them to think spirits ‘out there’ can be contacted and made to do the bidding of the person contacting them.” Legion rubbed his temples. “If we can get humans to think this way, we’re in. Many humans try to become familiar through some sort of contact with us. Most often this is done behind closed doors because if done openly, many humans would laugh at the behavior or argue about it—even dismiss it. Even Stacy told you not to tell your parents, right?”
Now this all made sense to Allen. That’s exactly what Stacy said about contacting the “other side,” he remembered. Allen’s fear subsided and he became fascinated with what Legion was telling him. “How do you know so much?”
“We must know everything we can so we can find ways to inflict destruction on any mortals who give us opportunity.” Legion shot Allen a wide-eyed glance. “Much of our job is done after humans have accepted all this so fully that they believe these lies on their own without us needing to ‘whisper in their ear.’ Their darkened thoughts become their normal way of thinking. Vulpine has taught us well.”
Allen wondered how he gotten into a situation like this and how was he going to get out. His fascination with what Legion was telling him had briefly taken his mind away from the task at hand—he needed to escape!
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