A white lightning bolt streaked from the clouds and blasted into Enoch. Lauren and the others fell backwards in the shock wave. Above, the drones scattered in every direction.
When Lauren scrambled back to the edge, Enoch was gone. A transparent shimmer ran along the top of the stairway from edge to edge. With each drop of rain, a color appeared where it fell, and the color followed the droplet as it sizzled and danced toward the edge of the shield as if pushed along by an electrostatic impulse. Thousands of drops raised thousands of dots of color—red, blue, green, yellow, and more.
Lauren’s legs buckled. She dropped to her knees and stared at the beautiful yet tragic site. Enoch! Why? So much death. So much sorrow. When will it all end?
“The drones are regrouping,” Clefspeare growled. “I think they will delay no longer.”
Using Merlin’s staff, Lauren forced herself to rise. She had no choice. It was time to fight once more.
As Merlin looked at the sky, his expression sagged. “We have insufficient weapons. Two dragons and an Oracle of Fire against perhaps hundreds of drones.”
Walter pointed skyward. “They’re coming.”
The mass descended with claws extended and fangs exposed.
“It’s time to fight!” Walter picked up a rifle that dripped with muddy water and stood next to Lauren and her mother. “Give us cover!”
While Clefspeare and Abaddon blasted fire at the approaching beasts, Lauren tossed the staff to Merlin and created a shield of swirling flames around herself, Mom, and Walter. Big gaps appeared in the swirls. She pushed harder to make more flames, but the gaps expanded to reveal more and more of the world outside her shield.
Walter aimed at the winged beasts and pulled the trigger, but the rifle jammed. “Merlin!” Walter shouted. “Take cover with us!”
Merlin ducked low and ran. A drone crashed claws first into his shoulders and knocked him flat. The drones flocked over him like vultures.
“Merlin!” Mom cried.
She took a step toward him, but Walter pulled her back. “Not yet. Let the dragons thin them out first.”
Clefspeare shot a stream of fire at the drones atop Merlin, setting them ablaze. Abaddon blew flames all around and incinerated dozens of the slower attackers.
“Now!” Walter shouted.
Lauren extinguished the shield. Mom and Walter ran to Merlin. While Mom checked on him, Walter used his rifle as a bat and smacked drones away. Lauren joined in and pointed at one beast after another, igniting them with fire, but the flames seemed smaller with each burst.
A drone rushed past Walter’s swing, pounced on Mom, and bit her shoulder. Walter jerked it away and stomped on its head, but too late. Mom fell to the side and lay over Merlin.
“Mom!” Lauren straddled her and Merlin and created a new fire shield, but it had more gaps than the previous one. Still, it was enough to keep the beasts at bay for now.
The battle raged on. At the transport helicopter, the whirring blades kept most of the drones at bay. Sir Barlow stood near its door and hacked with his sword at any attackers that made it past the propeller. A huge drone rode Clefspeare’s head and gouged at his eyes. Another did the same to Abaddon. More drones swarmed both dragons, pulling away from their attack on Lauren and Walter.
Walter stormed toward the battle, his fists tight.
“No!” Lauren doused her fire shield, ran to Walter, and pulled him back. “It’s no use. They’ll just kill you.”
“I have never given up in a fight,” he growled. “I’m not about to—”
A shout and a trumpet blast filled the heavens. From the east, the clouds parted, giving way to brilliant light. In the midst of the shining divide, a white horse galloped across the sky, its rider bright and blinding as they drew near.
The drones flew to the west like shadows fleeing the sun.
Walter let out a whoop. “It’s Dikaios!”
The white horse looked his way and gave a brief nod of acknowledgment.
Now able to see past the brilliance, Lauren focused on the rider. He had eyes like flames and wore a robe that seemed to drip blood. A string of foreign words emblazoned the material.
“You are safe now,” Dikaios said. “My master and I will pursue the horde and give them what they deserve.”
The rider bowed his head toward Walter and Lauren. Although his lips didn’t move, whispered words trickled into Lauren’s ears. “Well done, my friends. All will be well, and I will see you again.”
Dikaios galloped away and rose into the air as his rider pointed toward the west.
Walter scooped up Lauren’s mother and set his ear close to her mouth. “She’s breathing.”
“Thank God.” Lauren looked to the west. The light of the rider still shone in the distance. “Thank you for everything.”
Abaddon set his snout next to Merlin and sniffed. “The primeval prophet has passed and has hastened to Heaven’s halls.” He grasped Merlin’s cloak with his claws and spread his wings. “My mission is no more, so I bid you good-bye.” With a flapping burst, he leaped up and flew away with Merlin.
“Good-bye, Abaddon,” Lauren whispered as she watched him ascend. “Good-bye, Merlin.”
Clefspeare splashed closer. Although the rain had stopped, deep puddles covered the entire field. He looked up. “Master Merlin?”
“He’s gone.” Lauren stroked Clefspeare’s neck scales—smooth and wet. “Were you and Merlin close friends?”
“Very close.” Clefspeare blinked through tears. “Yet I cannot tarry to grieve. We should all escape to Second Eden immediately. I sense danger of a magnitude that I have never experienced before. Wrath. Pure and righteous. I cannot say if anyone in its path will be spared.”
Lauren nodded. “I’ll open the portal. Please gather everyone, including the children and whoever is taking care of them.”
“Consider it done.” Clefspeare flew toward the parking lot.
Walter walked alongside Lauren, her mother in his arms. When they reached the portal, Lauren waved her hands over her head and created the usual fiery vortex. Within seconds, her vision penetrated the plane. Ashley paced back and forth just a few steps away while Eagle stood nearby, his arms crossed over his chest. At least a dozen torches protruded from the ground and lit up the garden where a hundred plants had sprouted. The praying leaves already bulged with new Second Edeners.
Air rushed into Lauren’s lungs. What a beautiful sight! But where had the babies come from? Had the souls of the children murdered on Earth gone directly to the garden?
She looked at Walter and gave him a tired smile. “Ashley’s there. I can take you and my mother and return for the others. But I’ll have to bring Ashley back with me to heal people until they’re, as Elizabeth put it, ambulatory. We have to move fast.”
Walter gave her a nod. “Sounds perfect. Beam us home.”
“Our new home.” Lauren lowered the flaming curtain, blocking her view of Earth’s ravaged landscape. “Let’s see what it has in store for us.”
* * *
Matt stood with Listener in the candlestone’s shadowy chamber. Colorful sparks of light floated around like multicolored fireflies flitting about. Their own bodies glowed with white light, though not enough to illuminate this place beyond a shade of dark gray.
When they first entered, Matt’s energy form had been vague and filled with static, but after heeding his mother’s advice to stay perfectly calm, the static settled, and his limbs and fingers took shape.
Listener, her own glowing form clear, sat on the crystalline floor. She patted the space next to her. “It’s a good time to talk, don’t you think?”
“I don’t see why not.” He settled to the spot. “What about?”
“About you and me.” She smiled. “If that’s not too forward.”
“Not at all. I prefer being open about everything.”
She pulled her legs up, wrapped her arms around her knees, and gazed at the tw
inkling colors. “I hope you will forgive me.”
“Forgive you? For what?”
“Because I have been … how do you say it on Earth? Dragging your heart around?”
Matt let out a soft laugh. “I guess that’s one way of putting it. But how do you think you’ve been doing that?”
She looked straight at him. “I am familiar with the differences between our cultures, and I realize that my affectionate ways have been alluring to you as well as confusing, especially when I suddenly became aloof from time to time.”
“Well …” He ran a fingertip across the glassy floor. “I did feel like you were sending mixed signals.”
“That was my fault. I should have known better than to show such affection, considering that I was not open to accepting a suitor, especially one from Earth who would misinterpret my touches as being something other than casual and nonromantic in nature.”
“Okay …” Matt swallowed. The static in his hands returned. He had to calm down, but this conversation wasn’t going in the direction he had hoped. “I understand, and I forgive you. I guess … I guess I don’t mind just being friends. You could be like a sister.”
“A sister?” She laid her glowing hand on his cheek. The sensation sent a tingle throughout his nebulous body. “That is an option I do not wish to consider, Matt Bannister.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“We are now of truth the same, followers of the Messiah. We possess the same spirit, so we are compatible in every way.” She slid her hand into his. “If it pleases you, I would like to pursue a courtship arrangement with you.”
“But you said—”
“I said I was not open to accepting a suitor, because I didn’t believe that any man I knew could be strong and sacrificial enough, but after watching you all these hours, I changed my mind. You are the greatest hero I have ever seen. So … again … if it pleases you—”
“It definitely pleases me!” New static ran through Matt’s energy. “You’re the most amazing girl I can imagine.”
She gave him an appreciative nod. “Thank you, kind sir.”
“But what about our age difference? You’re what? Thirty?”
“Does it matter? Biologically we differ only by a few months at the most. It is not an issue.”
“Well … that might be true … but I’m not sure I can live up to your perception of me. I mean, a hero? That’s quite a—”
“Don’t underestimate yourself. I have watched you, the way you respect your mother, even though you met her a scant few days ago; the way you love Lauren, barely more than a stranger to you, yet you risked life and limb to carry her dead body down an abyss with little hope of success; and especially your willingness to forgive Darcy, forgetting her cruelty and torture.”
Listener tightened her grip on his hand. “Matt, the way you treat each of these women lets me know that you will honor and cherish me. Men like you are as rare as red diamonds. I would be a fool to turn aside and maintain my isolation, to be a loner who spurns romantic partnership. That’s why I am directly asking for you to consider me as a potential Eve.”
“You mean … as a wife?” Matt shook his head. “But I’m so young. I’m not even seventeen yet.”
“I’m sure your parents will be glad to oversee our relationship and guard against emotional upheavals. You are the son of Billy and Bonnie Bannister. You have their blood coursing through your veins. You have their ideals implanted in your mind, so you are far more mature than any calendar indicates.” Glittering tears of energy spilled from her eyes. “And you love me, Matt. You know you do. It’s time to break down your walls of fear forever.”
Matt drank in her sincerity. At that moment it seemed that every blockade he had erected around his heart gave way and crumbled. “Listener, I do love you. And … and I accept your request. How could I turn down a wonderful girl like you?”
Smiling broadly, she caressed his cheek again. “And how could I not ask for the companionship of a man with a heart as beautiful as yours?”
They sat in silence, holding hands as they looked up at a tiny speck of light high above, their entry channel into the candlestone. Now they just had to wait for Ashley to draw them from this refuge. And she would. It seemed that hope had blossomed, and love had painted the night sky with dazzling colors.
Matt leaned his head against Listener’s. Everything would work out, as long as they stayed together.
CHAPTER 28
THE NEW FOREVER
Billy lay on something soft. Darkness filled every corner of his vision. Were his eyes closed? Yes, they had to be. He tried to open them, but they stayed shut.
Something sharp stung his arm, then the pain quickly eased. A muffled feminine voice bounced around, warped and indistinct. Then a new voice drifted by, this one male. A hum followed the notes of a somber melody. A skillful tenor added words and crooned in time with a familiar meter.
I charge to red horizon’s stocks,
Upend the gates, destroy the locks,
And free the captives young and old
To flee unbound from Satan’s hold.
A scale, a tooth, a dragon wing,
Appear above, the twilight’s king.
Then blade meets claws, our wrath collides;
My skin spews red, his scales divide.
A holy power actuates;
His head and body separate.
The king of darkness falls and dies
Then thund’rous hoofbeats fill the skies
The king of light from Calvary
With sword in hand rides cavalry;
Amidst a shout and trumpet calls
The devil’s army folds and falls.
Alas my fractures leave me there
To merely stand in awestruck stare.
I give my blood and final gasp
And fall into the reaper’s grasp.
The vultures feast; corruption creeps;
Yet I am but a man asleep.
The bell then tolls the twelve of noon;
Again I count within my swoon.
A chime for daylight, two for cheers,
Three for heroes through the years.
The bells of truth destroy the lies,
And wipe the tears from joyous eyes.
The twelfth sounds loud and ever strong
And calls to gather countless throngs.
Then hushes reign, I hear aloft
The children’s voices whisper soft.
Fresh trumpets blare the dawn’s commands;
I wake to see a thousand hands,
The children lifting me from death,
Their songs infusing kindled breath.
Our bodies elevate with ease;
With wings of gold we sail the breeze
From vistas high and wide we view
Uplifted hands; a world made new.
We join the throng to dance and sing,
To celebrate our risen king.
The clock has stopped, no more to chime,
At peace until the end of time.
When the song ended, Billy’s eyelids loosened. He opened them and looked around. He lay in a bed in a familiar room. Artwork scrawled on notebook paper covered the walls, attached by yellowed tape. This was his old bedroom back when he was fourteen.
He lifted a hand. The last time he had awakened in an unexpected place, tape covered his rubellite ring, but now his finger was bare. Had he lost the ring somewhere? All memories seemed fogged.
“Ah! William! You’re awake.”
Billy turned his head toward the voice. Professor Hamilton sat in a straight-back chair, his legs crossed and his hands folded on his lap. Wearing khaki pants and a white button-down shirt, he looked ready to teach class back at Castlewood Middle School. “Prof? What’s going on?”
“If you are wondering about a ring, no one bears a rubellite now. Everyone is considered equal, and there will be no draconic symbols to
separate us.” He uncrossed his legs and leaned closer. “I am not surprised that you are disoriented. You have been through quite an ordeal.”
“An ordeal is right.” Blinking, he looked at the sheet that covered his body. “I battled demons. I fought side by side with dragons. I rode on the back of the devil himself and tried to gouge out his eyes.”
“Yes, I listened as you vocalized your nightmares and watched as you thrashed with your bed coverings. During those fitful weeks, we gave you medication to calm you down, but it rarely worked.”
“Then was it all a dream? The dragons? Arramos? Second Eden?”
Professor Hamilton huffed. “Of course not. You fought against the forces of evil for twenty years. I was referring to your dreams of late. You have been in a coma for four months, and your righteous battles continued in your mind as you slept.”
“Then you must be …” Billy narrowed his eyes. “Dead?”
“Far from it. You will soon learn that the definitions of life and death have drastically altered since you were on Earth.”
“Earth?” Billy glanced at one of the drawings—a dragon battling a knight in armor. It certainly looked like one of his childhood sketches. “You mean we’re not on Earth now?”
Prof waved a hand. “That is a realm that you need no longer concern yourself about. All portals there have been closed forever, God is doing what he will with those who remain, and you have been granted rest from your labors.” He rose from his chair. “We can go now if you’re feeling up to it.”
Billy mentally probed his body. “I’m just groggy, and my throat’s really sore.”
“The sore throat is from a nasogastric feeding tube, and the grogginess will soon clear up. We had to use some conventional medical methods, because our healers were unable to counter the drones’ venom, so your body is still flushing it out. Bonnie was also bitten, and her recovery followed a similar course.”