Chapter 4
Billy lay awake on his straw bed. With thoughts of trying to rescue Gabriel dominating his mind, getting to sleep would probably take a while. Their next mission could be the most dangerous yet, but they had no choice, and Gabriel might be out there dodging shadow people and Flint’s troops, so they had to go as soon as possible. He had to make this nap a short and efficient one.
Although dawn was breaking outside, only a bare candle near his pillow illuminated his surroundings. The hut’s window had been sealed tightly for the cold weather, so total darkness had become a way of life. But it was better that way. It would help him employ his usual plan for falling asleep.
He blew out the candle and settled in. Darkness gave him a canopy for painting pictures in the air, a way to begin his dreams. He would mentally draw Bonnie’s face, and, since closing his eyes made no difference in the darkness, she would stay in his mind’s eye as he drifted off to sleep.
Soon, his portrait expanded. Bonnie, now fully drawn from head to toe, knelt at her bedside. This was definitely one of his favorite scenes. Years ago, back when her father had come to West Virginia to take her home to Montana, Billy had found her praying in this position, her hands folded on her bedspread. Back then, her wings were hidden in her backpack, but now, in his imagination, they spread out behind her in all their glory. With her blond-streaked hair draped over her back, and her sparkling eyes lifted up toward Heaven, she looked like an angel.
Billy walked into the bedroom scene and listened to her lovely voice as she prayed out loud, her cadence lacking rhythm as the words missed their obvious metric beat.
Call to me, and I will answer you;
Say my name, and my light will shine.
Draw me out, and I will rise again;
Take my hand, and I will be thine.
Billy let the words echo in his mind. These were different, not her usual prayer, and her lack of rhythm felt odd, like a drum striking at the wrong time. Normally she asked for help to escape whatever prison she was in, and she often prayed for him, for his safety, courage, and enduring faith. This was the first time his mind ever invented the scene with her praying a poem. And the opening line was familiar, the words on her poster, the phrase that helped him understand that he had to call for a doctor instead of Makaidos.
Makaidos. Billy let that name bounce around in his thoughts. Twice they had changed the poem and called for someone else, and now that the season of death had arrived and stayed, and with Acacia’s energizing light no longer available, a third opportunity never arose. The eclipses had ceased, and with clouds and snow often obscuring the sky, they rarely saw Pegasus or Phoenix anyway. The moons would sometimes peek through breaks in the clouds, and their light would bathe the covering blanket in a silvery glow. Even with those glimpses, the villagers agreed that until the season of death finally ended, the cycles would never return to normal. And no cycles, no Makaidos.
Bonnie sang her prayer again, this time with more emotion. Every word seemed drenched with sorrow, yet buoyed by hope as they rose toward the sky as an offering to God. And Bonnie glowed. Oh, yes, she glowed, far brighter than Pegasus, and with a shimmering radiance that outshone a regeneracy dome, even with all the glittering gems the dragons had gathered over the years.
He reached for her, but, as usual, a barrier stood between them, invisible, yet impenetrable. He would have to wait still longer. Someday it would be broken. Eventually it would dissolve. … Wouldn’t it?
Bonnie turned and stared at him. Billy gasped. She saw him! This was new. They had never made eye contact before.
She opened her mouth, and a harsh call burst forth.
“Billy!”
Something shook his shoulder.
“Billy. It’s me, Walter. It’s time to blast through the fire.”
Yawning, Billy blinked his eyes open. “Already?”
Walter stood over him with a lantern in hand. “You said three hours, and you got an extra five minutes.”
Billy looked at the bed on the other side of the hut. Elam had still not slept. “Where’s our warrior chief?”
“Interviewing Yellinia. He never gives up on our missing-in-action troops, so he’s trying to get every clue he can about Sapphira and Bonnie.” Walter threw a cloak over Billy’s legs. “It’s got a fresh coat of fire-be-gone. You’re all set. I told Ashley we’d meet her at her hut.”
Billy climbed to his feet, put on the cloak, and strapped on his scabbard. “When does Elam want to try the transformation?”
“It’s done. That’s why I called her Yellinia instead of Dorian. They decided it was better to go ahead and transform her so Thigocia could heal the arrow wound.”
“Great! Now we have six dragons.”
Walter nodded toward Billy’s scabbard. “I put Excalibur back, but you might want to move it to your belt for this mission.”
“Right.” As Billy made the adjustment, Walter pushed open the door and allowed Billy to go through first. Still working on the belt, he blinked at the morning light. Snow was falling again, but not heavily. “If the beam worked on the garden soil, I guess the bones of Makaidos are still functioning.”
“They sizzled up a storm. Excalibur worked great.”
Billy and Walter jogged toward Ashley’s hut. “Any effect on the two plants?” Billy asked.
“Zero. They’re both still bulging. The ugly one looks about ready to pop.”
When they reached the hut, Ashley was standing outside the door, her arms crossed tightly as she bounced on her toes. “Which dragons are we flying?”
“Grackle and Albatross,” Walter said. “They’re good and rested.”
Ashley shivered hard. “Perfect. Heated scales.”
Walter picked up a duffle bag near Ashley’s feet. “Does this one have the snowboards?” he asked.
She nodded, tight-lipped and still shivering. “And more flame retardant and a few smoke bombs, just in case.”
“Are you okay? It’s not any colder than usual.”
“Just tired, I think.” She bundled her cloak tighter against her body. “That makes me colder.”
“What did you get? One hour of sleep?”
“Maybe two.” She nodded toward the door. “My other bag’s inside, the one with a cloak for Gabriel, and my ion box.”
“I’ll get them.” Walter disappeared inside.
Ashley smiled at Billy but said nothing. A ring glittered on her finger, a new one Walter had given her when he proposed marriage.
Billy grinned. Even after three months, it was still hard getting used to thinking of his old buddy as an engaged man. For most of the four years they had lived in Second Eden, Ashley had said many times that he wasn’t old enough, that their ages were too far apart, but when he single-handedly mowed down four Vacants who had trapped her in one of the greenhouses, she changed her mind.
Sure, he was still only twenty, but living in the rigors of this world had definitely made a man out of him. He had helped Ashley design the farming greenhouses and suggested a great way to funnel geothermal energy to a heating coil system throughout the greenhouse network. Although digging through the frozen ground was bitter, backbreaking work, he never complained or took a day off. And his ability to organize and teach the villagers the intricacies of the technology was amazing. He had translated the scientific jargon into the common language so that everyone understood well enough to work without constant supervision.
And the results spoke for themselves. Without Walter’s labors, by now everyone might have starved, but their food supply had proven to be more than adequate. So one day while he was showing Ashley his new idea for keeping snow from overloading a roof, he took her to the top of one of the greenhouses where he had built a snowman kneeling in front of a snowwoman.
As Billy and Ashley continued waiting for Walter, Billy imagined the roof scene, having heard every detail from Walter a dozen times.
“What’s going on here?” Ashley said as she pushed off the top ladder rung and stepped onto the roof.
“The snow dude is asking the snow dudette a question.” Walter touched the kneeling snowman’s head. “But he’s younger and a whole lot dumber, so it took him a long time to get enough courage. That’s why he took her up on the roof, to do it privately. Down on the ground there’s always someone asking a question or needing help.”
“I see.” Ashley crossed her arms and looked back and forth between Walter and the snow sculptures. “What question did he ask?”
Walter got down on his knee, mimicking the snowman. “I’m not a hundred percent sure. That’s the reason I brought you up here. I was wondering if you could read his mind and figure it out for me.”
“Is that so?” Ashley stood in front of him and copied the snowwoman’s stance. “Judging from their facial expressions, my guess is that he’s asking her to have a cup of hot cocoa with him.”
“I doubt it. They’d both melt.”
“Good point.” Ashley stroked her chin with a gloved hand. “I guess I’ll have to do a little mind reading.”
As new snow began to fall, Walter pushed his finger into the snow dude’s ear. “You’d better hurry. I’ll bore a hole into his head so his thoughts will leak out.”
After several seconds, Ashley shook her head and gave a mock sigh. “I just can’t imagine what he’s thinking. His brain must be so cold, it totally choked.”
Walter took off his glove and then Ashley’s. Taking her bare hand, he looked into her eyes. “For years I felt like a snowman in your sight—stiff, stoic, and stupid.”
“Alliteration?” Ashley said. “Very clever.”
“Shhh. I worked on this a long time.”
“Oh, sorry.” Taking on a doe-eyed expression, she gazed at him lovingly. “Please go on.”
“Anyway, I felt like a snowman. I knew I was too young for you and too immature, but as I worked year after year, I grew up a lot faster than I would have at home, and I melted away my shallow shell until I became limber, lithe, and loquacious.”
“Loquacious?”
“Right. Elam gave me that word, but he wouldn’t tell me what it means. Anyway, . . .” He pressed a button under his coat. A sizzling sound rose from the snowman, and the snow covering his outstretched hand melted, revealing a metallic coil holding a ring. Walter took the ring and extended it to Ashley. “I have no doubt that I am now ready to be a husband to an angelic anthrozil.” Swallowing, he paused for a moment to steady his voice. “Since your father isn’t available, I asked your mother for her blessing, and she gave it without hesitation, so now I ask you. If you believe me to be worthy of taking your hand in marriage, I vow that I will never let it go. We will be side by side in everything we do, together in every adventure, just like we said when we clasped hands after you sang ‘Amazing Grace’ for your grandfather. I now ask for your grace.” He cleared his throat and spoke the final words with power and clarity. “Ashley Stalworth, will you marry me?”
As Billy let the image melt away, Ashley smiled at him. “I hope you don’t mind,” Ashley said, “but your thoughts were so vivid, I listened in.”
“Was that the way it happened?”
“Word for word, except you didn’t finish. My answer was, ‘O worthy warrior, you need no grace from me, for your request fills my heart with joy. I am the one receiving the blessing, for a noble knight has asked for my hand, the same knight who willingly laid down his life for me time and again. He melted my heart of ice so that I could hear the heralds of Heaven proclaim the amazing grace of God. I gladly accept, and it is most appropriate that you brought me here, for I want to shout from the rooftops that Walter Foley has asked for my hand in marriage.”
“I know. You shouted so loud I thought the war had started.”
As they laughed together, Walter exited Ashley’s hut, her bag in hand. “Sorry,” he said. “Emerald’s father stopped me. He wanted to give me some pointers on being a good Adam.”
Billy patted him on the back. “No problem for a noble knight.”
The three hurried to the dragon launching field. Listener had already strapped on the seats and waited next to Albatross.
“I explained your mission to them,” Listener said. “They know what to do. They promised not to get scared if Vacants show up.”
Even from where he stood, Billy could feel heat from the passenger dragons. They would definitely provide a comfortable ride, but since they had disappeared after the battle with the Vacants, Elam wasn’t comfortable with using them for important missions. When they finally came back after several weeks, they seemed contrite, so they were allowed to return to service in non-battle situations.
Albatross lowered his head, allowing Billy to climb his neck. Walter and Ashley mounted Grackle, Walter taking the front seat while Ashley tied her bags to the back.
Listener let out a shrill whistle and slapped Albatross on his flank. As the two dragons beat their wings, she yelled, “I’ll be waiting at the radio station. We’ll be praying for you!”
“Thank you!” Billy shouted. As they rose, he gazed down at the little girl. Well, not so little anymore. Although not much taller than when he first met her, she had definitely blossomed into a young lady, filled with love and laughter and no hint of the terrible wound she had suffered at the hands of the spear-wielding Vacant.
As expected, the dragons’ heated scales helped immensely, making the flight through the snowy skies bearable. It would be a long journey. Flying north, they planned to stay well west of Adam’s Marsh and the Valley of Shadows before circling east to the northern border of the valley, again wishing to avoid being sighted from within Abraham’s wall. That would put the enemy on alert, and Goliath would see to it that every guard around the perimeter kept close watch, especially at the river entry.
With Twin Falls River in sight, they landed in a woodlands clearing about a mile from the valley’s northwest border. Several years ago a landslide had flattened a section of the protective mountain range, so a thick blanket of snow would make that slope into the valley passable for someone on a snowboard.
After dismounting, Billy watched the dragons fly away in the same direction they had come. Since they had no idea when this mission would be accomplished, they planned to use Ashley’s transmitter to call Listener at the village’s radio station, and she would send the dragons back for them.
Walter joined Billy at his side. “Checking out the weather?” Walter asked.
“Just watching the dragons and thinking about the return plan.”
“You do that. I’m still trying to figure out the meteorology here.” Walter nodded toward the protective barrier, easily visible as its flames rocketed skyward. At the point the cloudbank collided with the wall, the fire seemed to absorb the vapor. “How do the clouds get inside? Shouldn’t the heat evaporate them?”
Billy shrugged. “Beats me. It was dark when we went in there, so I couldn’t see the sky, but the snow wasn’t as deep in there as it is out here. Maybe the clouds redevelop inside.”
When they had strapped into their snowboards, Billy and Walter each carrying a bag on his back, Ashley raised her hood and tied it closed. “Do you remember wearing those cloaks that protected us during portal jumps in the Circles of Seven?”
“Yep,” Walter said. “The ones with the microchips.”
“Same principle. When we get to the fire, keep your head low, and try to cover up as much as you can.”
Billy raised his own hood and checked his gloves. Every article of clothing smelled of the freshly applied flame retardant. The odor wasn’t strong enough to detect beyond a few inches, so the shadow people probably wouldn’t notice, at least that’s what he hoped.
With a little jump, they started down an easy slope that would lead them to the wall. As they dodged trees, some toppled from decay and heavy snow, Billy traced the course in his mind. The slope’s angle would increase, allowing them to pick up speed for their plunge through the wall. Then, if they survived and stayed on their feet, they would use their momentum to slide as far up the valley’s protective ridge as they could. From that point, they would hike to the lowest summit, the point where many of the rocky peaks had broken off and contributed to the landslide.
Whizzing past stumps and boulders, Billy led the way. Of course, Walter would want to stay at the rear where he could keep an eye on his fiancée. That worked out fine. Billy would cut through the powder and make an easier trail for both of them, and Ashley could save her energy for probing the forest in search of Gabriel’s thoughts. And since Walter had been busy with Dorian’s transformation, he couldn’t have gotten much sleep. There was no use taxing his body further.
As they closed in on the flames, the snow thinned. According to Valiant’s scouts, there was a slight rise within several feet of the wall that spanned a thirty-foot-wide section. The slope protected the side facing away from the fire, so it should be snow-covered, but the strip of land between it and the wall would be bare. They would have to slide up the rise at full speed, curl their bodies, and fly through the wall.
Billy scanned the forest. The rise had to be close by. If he didn’t find it in the next few seconds, they wouldn’t have a decent launch pad, and they would have to turn back and try again.
Ah! There it was, a short, sharp incline. Perfect. But would Abraham and Angel see him? Would they thin out the wall for his entry? Would he land in snow on the other side or crash onto bare ground?
He crouched low. They would all find out soon enough.
Giving his body an upward jerk, he launched over the rise and flew through the air. As the flames zoomed toward him, searing heat chafed his face. He ducked low. Unable to watch the collision, he tightened his muscles and prayed for balance.
The sound came first, the now familiar whoosh of flames, then heat, scorching heat that sent a shock wave straight to his bones. He bit his lip. No screaming. Just … get … through it!
The whoosh faded. Coolness freshened his skin. He opened his eyes just as his board pounded down on snow-coated grass. Bending his knees, he absorbed the impact and continued hurtling down the slope.
With clear sailing ahead, Billy looked back. Ashley burst through the flames, then Walter a split second behind her. With twin swishes, they landed and followed his trail.
Ashley’s hair had blown loose, and one section was on fire. Since the burning ends flew behind her, she likely didn’t even know it. Needing to stay quiet, he couldn’t yell, and Walter couldn’t catch up, even if he was able to see the problem.
Leaning over, Billy scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at her. He missed the flaming hair but caught her attention. She bent her brow and mouthed, “What’s wrong?”
He jerked down his hood, pointed at his own hair, and formed the word, “Fire!” with an exaggerated alarm in his eyes.
An annoyed huff blew from her lips. She batted the flames away with her gloved hands, as if her hair catching fire was an everyday occurrence.
The terrain, a grass field speckled with tall pines and dead deciduous trees, flattened out and then rose in elevation. Soon, they came to a stop and unfastened their boards. The rocky ridge lay ahead, a short hike, and not too strenuous. The slope was fairly steep, but with only a little snow covering the ground, the rocky projections would make for an easy climb.
As they pushed silently against the incline, Billy looked up. The air rushing through the fiery wall at cloud level quickly transformed into white vapor and formed billowing clouds that joined into a thick dark blanket drifting away from the fire.
When they reached the top of the ridge, Billy peered into the bowl-shaped valley. Several hundred feet below, the river carved the floor into two halves and spilled out through a narrow divide at the southern end. On either side, trees filled the landscape. The evergreens seemed healthier here, perhaps a result of less snow and proximity to the surrounding wall’s warmth. Even the deciduous trees seemed alive. Although none carried any leaves, only a very few had fallen prey to rot and the domino tumbling that had plagued the higher elevations outside the wall.
Walter and Ashley joined him, one on each side. Ashley let her hair flow in the stiff breeze, only a few ends showing signs of the earlier scorching. “I don’t sense anything,” she whispered. “At least nothing as intelligent as Gabriel. Just a mass of senseless beasts, hungry, craving, violent. Zane was different. These feel more like a pack of wild dogs than anything.”
With the wind blowing the treetops, the shadows on the valley’s snow-covered floor shifted back and forth, creating a hypnotizing dance of black on white. It wasn’t hard to imagine those flat beasts lurking within the splotches of black.
Billy sat on the top of the ridge, set his feet on the valley side, and strapped into his snowboard again. Of course, these boards weren’t as fancy as those on Earth. With leather straps, unvarnished boot braces, and no steel on the edge, they looked rough and primitive, but a special wax for the base made them tough and fast. When they first discovered it, Walter joked about bottling the wax and selling it to the snowboarders on Earth, but as the months and years passed, his jokes about what he would do at home diminished. He had settled into life here as if he would never return home.
As soon as all three were ready, Billy touched Ashley’s back and whispered, “Your turn to lead.”
She nodded and pushed off. Walter followed, and Billy trailed. On the valley slope, the new alignment made the most sense. Ashley would probe for Gabriel’s presence and steer toward him, while Billy would watch for shadow people. Even if Ashley slid right over them, they likely wouldn’t be able to react in time to hurt her, so Billy and Walter would be the ones to quell any uprising.
All three zoomed down the steep wall. Pointed rocks jutted out here and there, but they were easy enough to see in the treeless span. Ashley rode her board expertly, digging in for sharp turns and dipping and rising while riding over bumps and ridges. With her cloak flapping around a sword at her belt and her hair flowing back, she looked like a snowboarding elf straight out of a Tolkien story.
As the slope began to level out, she straightened and looked left toward the river, her stare fixed on something, though nothing seemed apparent in that direction other than the water tumbling from the top of the valley wall.
Digging in again, she turned that way. Now that they were near the floor, trees dotted the area, and shadows waved back and forth on the snow. Ashley glided past a tree and across the first shadow without harm and stopped in front of a tall pine. With her eyes wide and her mouth open, she slowly swiveled her head, like an antennae searching for a signal.
In a spray of snow, Walter and Billy slid to a stop next to her, listening. The waterfall roared in the distance, more of a background hum than a dominating thunder. Wind buzzed through the trees. A hawk let out a shrill call and flew from the highest branch of a pine to a perch at the top of a nearby deadwood tree.
Finally, without breathing a word, she took off again, this time slowly as she wound past trees and rocks on her way to the river. Billy kept glancing at the ground. Still no sign of life. Maybe the shadow people congregated in the denser woods during the day.
When they arrived at the beach, Ashley unfastened her straps, kicked out of her board, and marched across the sand. Billy and Walter did the same. Unable to figure out what Ashley was doing, they gave each other a shrug and hurried to catch up.
As soon as they reached the edge of the swiftly flowing water, Ashley allowed her voice to rise above a whisper. “I sensed something in the direction of the waterfall, but there were too many trees that way, so I thought we’d come down here and walk back upstream.”
“Good thinking,” Billy said, glad to uncork his throat.
Walter hustled back, retrieved the snowboards, and quietly set them next to the river. Ashley began a slow march, her head turning from side to side. Every ten paces or so, she stopped and listened, then continued, but since each step brought them closer to the waterfall, all other sounds surrendered to the tumult ahead.
When they drew close enough to feel the spray, she halted and turned in a full circle twice, her brow bent in confusion.
“What’s up?” Walter asked.
She pointed at the ground. “I sense a powerful presence, right here, right now.”
Billy searched the area. No shadows. Just sand and small patches of snow. He looked at Ashley and Walter in turn and gave each a nod. They were definitely on the same wavelength. Gabriel was here in his light energy form. Leaving Hades had caused him to lose his physical body.
Ashley withdrew her ion box from her cloak’s inner pocket and opened a lid on top. “Gabriel, if you’re here, would you please enter this box? I’m not sure how small you can squeeze yourself, but this indicates the presence of light energy, and it will allow us to carry you out of here.”
Holding the box in her palm at chest level, she waited. After a few seconds, a glow emanated from the mirrors on each side.
Walter pumped a fist. “We got him!”
Smiling broadly, Ashley spoke into the opening. “Hello, dear brother. The circumstances could be better, but I’m glad to be with you again. I’m going to close you in. It’s the only way to keep you safe when we jump through the wall of fire.”
She began pushing the lid down but stopped. Her brow furrowed deeply. “What? I don’t understand.”
Billy looked at Walter. Obviously she was talking to Gabriel. Her ability to pick up words had been increasing all the time.
Ashley glanced back and forth between Walter and Billy. “If you stay in Second Eden, you’ll just be light energy.” Between every response, she paused, listening while the box’s glow pulsed, as if energized by Gabriel’s words. “Theory? What theory? … So how would you find the way? There was no trace of Shiloh. … I see. Did you hear that Acacia went with her? … But how would Flint know? He’s stuck behind the wall. … Oh. So we’re not the only ones using the river that way. … Who?”
Her eyes grew wide as she riveted her gaze on Billy. “Gabriel’s been listening in on Flint’s conversations with Goliath. Apparently someone is getting messages through the wall, but they haven’t said who’s doing it. Flint and Goliath talked about what happened to Shiloh and Acacia, so Gabriel wants us to get him out from behind the wall so he can find them.”
“But how?” Billy felt a twinge in his belly. Was it danger? He gave the sky and ground a quick scan but saw nothing. “There’s no portal out there for him to go through.”
“Not that we know of, but in his energy form he can sense a portal, and maybe he’ll be able to go through it.”
Billy nodded. That would be worth a try. He might even be able to locate a way to find Bonnie and Sapphira. “Sounds good. So let’s pay my mom a visit and let her know what’s going on, and then we’ll—”
“Incoming!” Walter grabbed his sword and pointed it toward the sky. “Two dragons!”