As she rose from her knees, Sapphira helped Karen to her feet. Far above in the heavenly dimension, yet closing in on their world, Elam jumped toward a blue wall and stood in front of the tunnel of light. Sparks flew everywhere, veiling his face. The tunnel flickered and dimmed.
The giant yelled toward the floor. “Mardon! Someone is standing in the circuit. The connection is breaking, and I am running low on power!”
Mardon cupped his hands around his mouth. “Send one big wave of photons! That should kill him!”
Bagowd heaved in a breath. “Here it comes!”
A new blast of shining particles roared through the tunnel. Up above, a woman in a white dress ran toward Elam and jumped in front of him. She spread out her arms and blocked the light, shielding him from most of the new explosion of sparks. Riddling her body with bullets of electricity, the beam shook her like a rag doll.
Sapphira gasped. “That’s Naamah!”
Karen bent low, snatched up Excalibur with both hands, and charged at the giant. “You wanted me?” she yelled. “You got me!” With a mighty lunge, she swung the sword and sliced into the tunnel’s outer wall. Excalibur swept through Bagowd’s ankles, cutting off his feet.
The blade welded to the tunnel’s wall on the other side. Karen stiffened. As her fingers locked around the hilt, blue and yellow bolts of electricity arced across her body.
Letting out a scream that shook the entire turbine, the giant crumbled into a heap. His stump of a leg kicked Karen’s hands, knocking Excalibur several feet away, then his arm slapped her down, pinning her to the generator’s roof.
A second burst of energy rode up the beam and smashed into Naamah, lifting her into the air for a moment as her arms spread wide. Electricity shot from her hands and streaked into several men standing nearby. The men vaporized and disappeared. When the pulse dispersed, she dropped to the ground.
Although the waves of sparks had died away, the connecting tunnel itself remained, leaving a shimmering rope between Earth and the world above. The rope slowly contracted, pulling the two worlds closer every second.
Sapphira dashed to Karen. Lifting with all her might, she pushed Bagowd’s arm away, exposing Karen’s pale face. A trickle of blood oozed from Karen’s nose and the corner of her mouth. A pain-filled grimace streaked her brow as she gasped, “Can’t … breathe!”
Sapphira dabbed the blood with her sweater. “I have to get you down from here!” She glanced at the ladder. Much too dangerous. But how else could she do it?
Karen clutched Sapphira’s sleeve, new blood leaking from her mouth. “No,” she said, gurgling. “Have to help the girl in white!”
“Naamah?”
Karen nodded. “I see her up there.”
Sapphira took a quick look at the sky. A bolt of red lightning sizzled from the world above, closer than ever now, and zapped a tree on a nearby mountain, setting it on fire. A loud clap of thunder shot across the power plant, making Sapphira duck low. “I saw her, too,” she said, “but I can’t see her now.”
Karen raised a weak hand. “She’s up there. I have to go to her.”
“Shhhh.” Sapphira pressed a gentle finger on Karen’s lips. “Just stay quiet. I’ll call Thigocia.” She stood and shouted. “Thigocia! Roxil! Where are you?”
A distant call sounded from far away. “I’m coming!” The voice was warped by the roar of tumbling water, but it was clearly a female dragon’s, though Sapphira couldn’t tell which one.
Another red lightning bolt streaked to Earth, zapping a transmission tower only a hundred yards away. The rifle-shot thunder clap shook the generator, nearly knocking Sapphira down. A few seconds later, Roxil landed on the turbine room floor. “Who called me?” she asked, her head swinging with her neck.
“Up here!” Sapphira waved her arms. “Karen’s hurt badly. We need to get her to Thigocia!”
Roxil stretched her neck upward. “My mother is in the river spillway. Her wing is bruised, but she is slowly making her way back up here.”
With a frantic wag of her head, Sapphira scanned the floor. “Where did Mardon go?”
“He ran when he saw me coming.” Roxil flicked her tail toward the covered portion of the turbine room. “He’s hiding behind a pillar like a yellow belly.”
Suddenly, Mardon ran out into the open and waved both arms frantically. Arramos swooped down, shooting a barrage of fire at Roxil. She lunged to the side to dodge his attack, but he passed her by, caught Chazaq and Mardon in his claws, and flew away.
Roxil snuffed a stream of sparks. “Cowards! Betrayers!”
“Hurry!” Sapphira called. “Karen’s in pain!”
“But we have no healer!” Roxil countered. “Ashley and Walter are in no shape to help.”
Ashley shuffled out to Roxil and looked up. “Go ahead and bring Karen here. Walter’s stirring, so maybe I can get him to wake up and use Excalibur.”
Keeping her head low as she glanced at the darkening sky, Sapphira pressed a finger into her palm. “But what about your powers? Aren’t they”
“We have to try!” Ashley interrupted. “What else can we do?”
Sapphira leaned over and picked up the sword. “Roxil, can you carry us both, one in each claw?”
“I can, but there is not enough room to land up there. I will have to come in at your level and pick you up on the fly.” Roxil vaulted into the air and began a wide circle.
Sapphira knelt and laid a hand on Karen’s cheek. “Okay, get ready for a rough ride, but it will be short.”
Karen’s eyes stayed closed.
Sapphira gently patted her cheek. “Are you still with me?”
No response. Her head lolled to the side.
Sapphira laid her ear on Karen’s chest. As another clap of thunder rumbled across the sky, she pressed down hard to listen.
No breathing.
She grabbed her wrist and squeezed it with her fingers.
No pulse.
“Roxil!” Sapphira screamed. “Hurry!”
Sapphira put the heel of her hand on Karen’s chest and pushe—donce, twice, three times. More blood oozed from her lips.
Sapphira cried out. “Jehovah-Yasha! What do I do?”
Roxil approached, her claws extended. Sapphira turned Karen over, then, clutching Excalibur, she rolled herself up, exposing her back to the dragon. Suddenly, she lifted off the ground. Karen dangled from the opposite claw, her arms and legs completely limp.
Seconds later, beating her wings furiously, Roxil laid them softly on the ground and landed in a run.
Still gripping Excalibur, Sapphira jumped to her feet and ran to the spot she had last seen Ashley, but she was gone.
“Over here!” Ashley called. She knelt close to Walter as he leaned against the column where Gabriel also rested. “I managed to drag him over here, and he woke up.”
Sapphira sprinted to Walter’s side and handed him the sword. “Can you use it? Can you and Ashley heal Karen?”
Walter blinked and slowly wrapped his fingers around the hilt. “I’ll try,” he whispered.
Sapphira looked at Ashley. “Can you do it? Do you have the gift back?”
Ashley opened her hands. The two wounds still dressed her palms in red. “I was hoping for a miracle,” she said weakly, “but I don’t think I got one.”
Two fiery red lightning bolts crashed to the ground, rattling every window in the building. Sapphira grabbed Ashley’s jacket. “You have to try!”
“Let’s get her to a hospital, maybe she’ll”
“No!” Sapphira pulled so hard, she jerked Ashley up to her feet. “Karen’s dead. You’re her only hope!”
Chapter 23
Heaven’s Bounty
Awakened by a roar, Elam blinked his eyes open. Acacia stood in the connecting beam, her hands shooting a barrage of flames into the oval halo. Enoch and Dikaios stood close to her, peering into the halo from her vantage point. The sparks of energy that had racked her b
ody were gone, allowing safe passage in and out of the tunnel, and the encroaching Earth had slowed, easing the horizon’s flow into the void.
“Will he do it?” Enoch asked.
Dikaios shuddered his mane. “It is impossible to guess. Timothy has brought the girl, but I cannot imagine his turmoil. He is torn apart by conflicting forces of love.”
“He must do it. The destruction of the giant has only bought us a little more time. As long as the connection between Earth and Heaven remains, the two will draw slowly together, and with every inch the gap closes, a holy wrath will build against the corruption of the earthly lands.” Enoch looked into the halo again and clenched his fist. “If Timothy fails, Earth will perish.”
Elam shook his head slowly, trying to make sense of his surroundings. He twisted his neck and looked back. A red translucent film coated the blue wall of Heaven’s shield, sizzling and bubbling like oil on a hot pan. Slowly, the redness gathered toward the center of the shield a foot or so above Acacia’s head, creating a chaotic swirl of scarlet sparks. Then, in a rush, the red energy shot straight out. A jagged bolt hurtled toward Earth, following the connecting tunnel until it zapped the ground somewhere near the power plant that hovered above the horizon.
Several shadows crawled along the grass near Enoch’s feet, oozing toward Acacia’s halo like thick oil. One of the shadows streamed through the portal, but, although Enoch looked straight at it, he didn’t react at all. The other shadows sank into the soil and vanished.
Still too confused to understand what was going on, Elam tried to rise, but a bulky weight pinned him to the ground. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision. A body lay across his waist, a small body dressed in a white gown with a circlet of flowers pressed around her head.
“Naamah?” he whispered.
“Ah!” Enoch said to Dikaios. “Elam has awakened. He was merely sleeping, just as you thought.”
“Should I help him up now?” Dikaios peeked around the halo. “I still wonder why you would not allow me to move Naamah’s body out of the way.”
Enoch nodded at an approaching shadow. “I was waiting for the other faithful witness to arrive. The first one covered him, and the second will raise him up.” He smiled and returned his gaze to the portal. “Elam has all the help he needs.”
A pair of hands pulled Naamah away and helped Elam sit up. Dizzy and confused, his gaze followed the helping arms up to the shoulders and face of a red-headed girl no more than thirteen years old. “Who are you?” he asked. “I saw you down on Earth with Sapphira.”
“I’m Karen.” As she gently rolled Naamah face up, a gemstone flashed on her finger—a rubellite.
“Are you a dragon child?” Elam asked.
“No. I don’t know why this came with me.” Karen twisted the gold band and pulled it off her finger. “I should give it back to its owner, but I don’t know how.”
“Who owned it?”
“Ashley Stalworth, my adoptive sister and daughter of Thigocia, queen of the dragons.”
Elam held out his hand. “I will do everything in my power to take it to its rightful place.”
“Isn’t it strange,” she said, laying the ring in his palm, “that I would still have it, even though I died?”
Elam slid it into his tunic’s inner pocket. “You died?”
“Uh-huh. It hurt a lot at first, but then the pain suddenly stopped, and this shining man with wings … an angel, I guess … pulled me up to this place. It was all pretty cool.” She pressed her ear against Naamah’s chest. “But this isn’t cool.”
As another red lightning bolt zipped over his head, Elam crawled over to Naamah and took her limp hand. His own hand trembled. “She’s asleep, right? Or unconscious?”
Karen caressed Naamah’s cheek. “She passed away, too.”
“Dead?” Elam pressed his fist against his lips. He wanted to say more, but he couldn’t. He would cry, for sure.
“She saved your life,” Karen continued. “I saw her do it. She blocked whatever that stuff was … that energy beam. It was killing you.”
Enoch walked over to them and set his hand on Karen’s head. “And you destroyed the source.”
“Father Enoch?” Elam’s voice faltered. “What will become of Naamah? She was alive, wasn’t she? I mean, still alive in my world.”
Enoch stooped and stroked Naamah’s black tresses. “What you see is the earthly shell that was restored to Naamah after she faced the angel in the halls of judgment.” He straightened and waved toward Heaven’s shield. “Naamah’s spirit passed through the barrier while you were unconscious. She wanted to wait for you to awaken, but we had no idea when that would happen, so I told her I would deliver her message to you.”
Elam’s throat clamped so tightly, he could barely speak. “What’s the message?”
“While you were lying there, she kissed your hand and said, ‘Even though you saw every shadow of darkness in my soul, you are the only man who ever really loved me. Without your love, I never would have seen the light. Thank you for believing in me.’”
Elam stared at Enoch. He could hear Naamah’s voice saying those exact words—meekly, barely above a whisper. Turning back to her, Elam shed his cloak and laid it on her body. “There is no longer any shadow in your soul,” he said as he pulled the hood over her head. “Rest in peace, and may God grant me the pleasure of seeing you again.” Another bolt shot out from the shield and rained crimson sparks on the cloak. Elam folded his hands over Naamah’s body and wept.
Karen rose to her feet. “Is that Heaven in there?” she asked, pointing at the shimmering blue wall.
“Indeed, it is.” Enoch took Karen’s hand and bowed his head. “If not for you, my brave little heroine, all would have been lost, and billions would have died.”
“We all fought the giant.” She raised a finger for every person in her troop. “Walter and Ashley and Sapphira and Gabriel. They all gave it everything they had, too.”
“And the youngest one felled the giant!” Enoch swept his arm toward Heaven’s shield. “Are you ready to enter?”
“I think so. I believed everything Sapphira said about Jehovah-Yasha. Isn’t that all I need?”
“A surrendered life is all he asks, and you gave it without question.” Enoch led her to the blue wall, just a few paces from where Acacia stood. “Now touch the shield and be dressed in holy attire.”
Karen stepped up close, raising her hand. “Like this? Just touch it?”
“Just a touch. Your passage has already been purchased.”
Karen paused. A frown wilted her expression. “Something’s wrong. I feel something pulling me, like arms grabbing me and trying to drag me away.”
Enoch took her hand and patted it. “Your friends are trying to revive you down on Earth.”
Karen looked at the image of Earth in the sky. Ashley knelt at the side of a red-headed girl, thrusting the heels of her hands into her chest. Karen shivered and turned back to Enoch. “Will it work?”
“It is hard to say, but if you enter the shield, it will be much more difficult for them to succeed. Yet, if God so chooses for you to return, you could still go back.”
Karen moved her hand closer to the wall. “I really want to go in, but I guess they want me to come back, don’t they?”
“Of course they do. They love you. Still, because they love you, though they would weep for you bitterly, they would ultimately be satisfied to know that you have entered Paradise.”
Karen shook her head sadly. “They wouldn’t know for sure. I just started believing today.”
“A late-blooming faith is just as effectual for entering Heaven as one that has stood the test of time, but, as you say, it is less of a comfort to those on Earth.” Enoch set his gaze on the horizon. Now Thigocia was spreading her wings across Karen’s dead body while Roxil heated her scales with a blast of fire. Enoch sighed. “That is the lot of many who grieve.”
“Not to influence your
decision …” Elam rose to his feet, wiping tears on his sleeve. “But if I get to go back to Earth, I’ll tell them you went to Heaven. Sapphira knows who your friends are, so I’m sure I can find them.”
Her smile returning, Karen leaned toward the shield, pulling hard against the invisible force dragging her back. First her fingers, then her palm touched the blue wall. It rippled, sending waves of shimmering sparks across the expanse. Pure light crawled along her arm and enveloped her body in white glitter. Seconds later, the sparks evaporated, revealing Karen in a long white dress, much like Naamah’s. Somehow she looked older now, more refined than the young teenager she had been. A white crease appeared in the wall, an open door to Paradise. With a timid wave, she whispered, “Until I see you again,” and she disappeared through the shield.
Bolts of red lightning continued to streak from the spot above Acacia’s head, becoming more and more frequent as the two worlds slowly pulled together. A cataclysm beyond all measure was only minutes away. Even Enoch seemed troubled as he watched one of the bolts, the thickest and brightest yet, fling toward the planet.
Acacia called out, “Watch, if you dare to see the sacrifice of love! It is coming into the tunnel!”
Enoch put his arm around Elam, and the two hurried to Acacia’s portal. “Even though I have watched a thousand sacrificial acts,” Enoch said, “this is one that makes me shiver. Even I cannot predict what the outcome will be.”
As red streaks lit up the sky, Ashley hugged Karen’s lifeless body, still warm from Thigocia’s attempts to revive her. With her arms wrapped around Karen’s torso from behind, Ashley tried to push blood into Karen’s stiffening limbs. “Come on, sweet angel,” she cried, shoving her doubled fists into Karen’s chest. “Get your heart going!” With her ear against Karen’s back, Ashley listened. Nothing. No heartbeat. No breathing.
Loud peals of thunder reverberated, one after another, a chorus of rumbling echoes bouncing from mountain to mountain.
A wail erupted from the depths of Ashley’s soul. “Oh, Karen! Why do you have to go? I love you so much!” She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “I’m so sorry! You were a sweet little orphan, and I made you a guinea pig, but you still loved me. You even followed me across the country. If you hadn’t come with me, you’d still be alive!” She rested her face on Karen’s back, heaving. “I’m so, so sorry.”