His plan was nigh.

He had walked the Earth and its mountains and plains long enough He felt. To overthrow the Lord and His son Christ wouldn't be so simple. Or would it? Him, the Serpent, had deceived Eve without much effort. Adam was not long after to fall into his deceitful words.

To fib and lie was his native tongue, for he was a liar, and the father of lies. What and who was to say the rest of man would not be as simple as the first? Of course, sin spread like a cancer, a raging wildfire that had become an integral part of all except those from Heaven.

He was a thief. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; for he was the father of thievery. Soon he would commit the ultimate act of thievery to ever be committed. Christ and His kingdom would be his and his alone if the plan was successful.

That was something that would be a certainty if man was so ignorant as to believe him to be their savior. Like a roaring lion he stalked the brush looking for those whom he may devour. Devour to become his and his completely.

And now, like a roaring lion, he stalked.

The air was chill and dry as the ground beneath–as was the sun nowhere to be found.

Nazareth was quiet, as it had been, for soon it would be a place revered and he knew. It was not time to speak with Mary yet. Just yet soon he would, but not now.

For now he would find another to fool under the warm light of lanterns and torches. Nobody shown him under a suspicious light as he meandured along the dirt path.

He was among man, and among man was he best.