Eye of the Oracle

by Bryan Davis

  A gust of snowy wind slapped her face and sent her tumbling into a drift. Biting cold stung her body like a swarm of bees plunging icicle stingers into her exposed flesh. Exhausted, she lay on her stomach, half buried and peeking out into the darkness of the city as streetlamp after streetlamp winked out under the burden of failing power lines.

  Yet a solitary light glittered at the top of the hill, growing brighter by the second. It looked like a beacon sending out a warning to passing shipmasters or a lantern carried by a lost traveler seeking shelter in the storm. As it drew closer and closer, the light transformed into the shape of a girl. From the bottom of her bare feet to the top of her head, she glowed, as if sunshine leaked out through every pore. Gentle ivory flames rippled along her hands and forearms.

  She knelt next to Bonnie and laid a warm hand on her cheek. The girl’s hair, already white from the falling snow, glittered in the firelight. “Bonnie,” she said softly, “can you get up?”

  Bonnie’s teeth chattered so hard, she couldn’t answer. She pushed her stiff arms against the snow, and with the help of the girl, rose to her feet, barely able to feel anything in the blistering cold.

  The girl waved her hand in a wide circle over her head. A towering flame burst from her palm, and a wall of fire cascaded around them, surrounding them in a cocoon of warmth.

  “There’s no portal here,” the girl explained, “so I’d have to make an even bigger firestorm to send us to another dimension.”

  Bonnie rubbed her eyes. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

  “Oh.” The girl laughed. “How stupid of me. Of course you don’t know who I am.”

  “You look kind of familiar.” As her vision cleared, Bonnie focused on the girl. Her hair wasn’t covered with snow; it was actually white, and her eyes sparkled with an unearthly blue radiance. “Are you an angel? Did you come to take me to heaven?”

  As the girl laughed again, the fiery cocoon trembled. “My name is Sapphira, and I have come to escort you to safety.” She took Bonnie’s hand, and, as they walked, the cocoon of fire moved with them. “It’s a good thing I found you. You would have frozen to death before too much longer.”

  “Thank you,” Bonnie said, her teeth chattering. “The storm’s so bad . . . I couldn’t even see . . . the street signs. . . . I’m glad . . . you found me.”

  “Well, once I saw Gabriel, I knew you would be around somewhere.”

  Bonnie glanced around at the wall of flames. “Gabriel’s here?”

  “Oh, yes,” Sapphira said, her arm still waving above her. “He never leaves you.”

  Bonnie smiled for a moment but let it melt away. “Oh. . . . I see.”

  “You see what?”

  Bonnie’s chattering teeth slowed, and she drooped her head. “He couldn’t be with my mother . . . to keep her from dying.”

  “She died?” Sapphira raised her hand to her mouth. “Oh, I’m so sorry!”

  As tears filled her eyes, Bonnie sniffed and cried out, “I’m so confused, I don’t know what to do! I thought maybe you were an angel, and you were going to take me to my mother!”

  Sapphira draped her arm around Bonnie’s shoulders. “I’m not an angel, Bonnie, but Jehovah-Shammah sent me to guide you through the storm.”

  “Jehovah-Shammah?” Bonnie sniffed again and wiped a tear away from her cheek. “That’s what I sometimes call God, too!”

  “Jehovah really is always with us, and he’ll help us through this storm. Just keep your eyes straight ahead and we’ll eventually get to the place he wants us to go.”

  “Okay.” Bonnie glanced at Sapphira’s bare feet and matched her pace. “I’m glad you know where we’re going.”

  “Oh, I have no idea how to get to your agency, but Gabriel does. I can see through the gaps in the flames, and I’m following him.”

  Bonnie laid a hand on top of her head. “Maybe this is all a bad dream. Maybe I’ll wake up, and Mama will be there.”

  “If that’s what Jehovah wants you to think, then so be it. He will teach you what you need to know at the proper time.” Sapphira lowered her arm, and the wall of fire began to fade. “Gabriel has stopped. We must be at the agency.”

  “Already? That was fast.”

  As the wall of flames vanished, the steps leading to the building slowly came into view. Sapphira nodded at the office window. “I see a candle through the window. It looks like someone’s still working.”

  “That’s the office I’m supposed to go to,” Bonnie said. “It must be a miracle.”

  “I think you’ll be seeing a lot more miracles, Bonnie, but it might be best to keep Gabriel and me a secret.”

  Bonnie shook her head and sighed. “Nobody would believe me if I told them.”

  “Probably not. At least not yet.” Sapphira raised her hand again. “I will be watching you. Don’t ever forget what you wrote in your journal. Jehovah-Shammah will rise to your aid.” The wall of fire reappeared, brighter and more vigorous than ever, and swallowed Sapphira in its spinning vortex. In a splash of sparks, she disappeared.

  Bonnie stared at the spot where Sapphira once stood. The vision of her blue eyes and white hair already seemed to be a fleeting memory, an impossible dream. She trudged up the stairs and pounded her fist on the door. Seconds later, a woman flung it open, her eyes wide. “Bonnie? Bonnie Conner?”

  The brisk wind brought a new chill to Bonnie’s bare arms, and her teeth chattered again. “Yes.”

  The woman guided Bonnie through the doorway. “I’m Mrs. Lewis. Hurry inside where it’s warm! We don’t want anyone to see your wings.”

  Bonnie shuffled across the anteroom’s warm carpet, rubbing her arms. Mrs. Lewis stopped and placed a hand on each of Bonnie’s shoulders. “Your being here can only mean bad news. Is your mother . . . dead?”

  Bonnie nodded. New tears welled in her eyes.

  “I’m so sorry!” Mrs. Lewis embraced her for a moment, but Bonnie was too cold to hug her in return. “Come into my office,” she continued. “We have a lot of work to do. Is it safe to go to your house?”

  “I don’t think so.” Bonnie entered the candlelit office and sat in a chair. “When Mama died, I heard a noise and ran out.”

  Mrs. Lewis picked up her telephone and punched in a number. “I’ll arrange to get the essentials from your room. Do you need anything besides your backpack and some clothes?”

  “I’d like my journal.” As the tears trickled down her cheeks, Bonnie’s voice cracked. “It’s . . . it’s all I really need.”

  Chapter 11

  Dragons in our Midst

  Sapphira basked in the warmth of the portal’s fire as it spun dancing arcs of orange across her view of Bonnie. The foster care agency faded away, and, seconds later, the familiar surroundings of her home reappeared the enormous museum, hers and Acacia’s bedding, and stacks of books waiting to be read for the hundredth time.

  She stepped out of the swirling column of brilliant white light, the dimensional portal that once led to the snake-infested swamp around Morgan’s island, and turned toward it. As dozens of white eddies twirled independently within the larger vortex, she lifted one in her palm and gently guided it out of the column, staring at it in wonder. What were these amazing portals made out of, and what did the loss of color mean? Could she now travel wherever she pleased and return to this spot?

  She stepped back from the column and whispered to it. “Expand, please.” The portal slowly widened into her viewing screen, and the sound of a train clacking across steel rails filled the chamber. Light flooded her view, and vague shadows congealed into shapes cushioned seats lining the inside of a railcar, a uniformed steward checking paperwork on a clipboard, and a girl with blonde-streaked hair stuffing a bag into an overhead bin.

  Bonnie slid into a window seat, leaning forward to make room for her backpack. She pulled the hem of her thick sweatshirt down over the waistband of her jeans and settled her head against the window. As she bounced in
time with the train’s rhythmic clatter, she gazed at the scenery that graced the beautiful state of Montana.

  During a stop at a small depot just outside of Missoula, Bonnie watched each person who climbed aboard her car. Whenever a female entered, she brushed off the seat next to her, yet, no one took her up on her silent invitation. No one even looked her way.

  Finally, a girl Bonnie’s age walked in with her head bent low. Her gaze brushed quickly past Bonnie, and she sat in the window seat across the aisle. After fumbling with the zipper of a duffle bag, the girl opened it just far enough to reveal a colorful blanket, a Tigger blanket. She pulled out a book and zipped her bag back up.

  Bonnie moved into the aisle seat and leaned across. “Carly?” she whispered.

  The girl jerked her head around. Her eyes grew larger, and a beaming smile spread across her face. “Bonnie?”

  Bonnie jumped into the seat next to Carly’s and hugged her friend close. Neither one laughed or squealed. They just held each other quietly for nearly a minute.

  Carly sniffed and gazed at Bonnie through teary eyes. “Bonnie, I’ve thought about you every day for four years. I’ve never had another friend like you, and when I found out I had to move to Pittsburgh, I thought I’d never see you again.”

  “I thought about you a lot, too.” Bonnie pulled a pack of tissues from her pocket and gave it to Carly. “Why do you have to go to Pittsburgh?”

  Carly pulled the last tissue out of the pack and dabbed her eyes. “Well, my parents have been fighting for years, so they decided to ”

  “No.” Bonnie laid a hand on Carly’s shoulder. “Don’t tell me any more.”

  “Why not?” Carly pinched the empty tissue pack and dangled it in front of Bonnie. “They said it happens all the time.”

  Bonnie took the plastic and crinkled it into a wad. “I . . . I don’t want to believe it happens all the time. I want to believe that maybe someday I’ll find . . .” She stopped and pressed her tightened fist over her lips.

  “It’s okay,” Carly said, laying her hand on Bonnie’s. “I understand.”

  Bonnie lowered her hand and smiled weakly. “Let’s talk about something else.”

  “Okay. How about where you’re going?”

  “Me?” Bonnie cleared her throat, and her face reddened. “My first stop is Charleston, West Virginia.” Her voice slowed and cracked. “My mother died . . . so I have to . . .”

  Carly gasped and covered her mouth. “Oh, Bonnie! I’m so sorry!” She rubbed Bonnie’s arm tenderly. “You don’t have to talk about it.”

  Bonnie gave her a trembling smile. “Thank you.” After a few seconds, she reached into the bin above her seat and withdrew a spiral journal from her duffle bag. As she sat back down, she flipped through some of the dog-eared pages near the front. “Tell you what. I’ll show you some of the prayers I prayed for you.”

  Carly craned her neck to get a closer look. “You prayed for me?”

  “See here?” Bonnie pointed at the top of a page. “I prayed that we’d see each other someday, and now look what happened.”

  “God answers prayers for little things like that?”

  Bonnie leaned against Carly. “Friends getting back together is not a little thing. I wasn’t allowed to write to you before, but now I can, so we’ll write to each other and be pen pals for life.”

  As the girls hugged again, Sapphira stepped farther away from the screen and turned toward Acacia’s bed. The top blanket was still folded back for her eventual homecoming.

  She let out a long sigh. Maybe Bonnie was right. Maybe praying for Acacia to come home would be the answer. She had returned once before, even after she had given her up for dead. Maybe it could happen again. And what about Paili? Could she somehow be brought back from the dead, too? And she could never forget Elam. If only they could reunite, maybe she could finally tell him what she had been thinking for thousands of years.

  She sat down in front of the screen and hugged her knees close to her chest. The train scene zipped by, and, as the images accelerated, the details melted away. Days in the land of the living passed as only minutes ticked away in Sapphira’s chamber. With another promise to write to each other, Bonnie and Carly went their separate ways. Bonnie arrived in Charleston, West Virginia, and transferred from foster home to foster home until she moved to Castlewood. There, she met a young man named Billy Bannister, the son of Jared, who was once the great dragon, Clefspeare, still alive centuries after his transformation by Merlin.

  Adventure after adventure swept before Sapphira’s eyes. The viewport displayed an animated montage of highlights that followed the lives of Bonnie, Billy, a wise gentleman named Professor Charles Hamilton, and a funny, yet heroic young man named Walter Foley, as they battled Devin, Palin, and Morgan.

  Bonnie soon met Ashley Stalworth, the daughter of Makaidos and Thigocia. With the help of Ashley’s technological genius, Billy and Bonnie rescued Barlow, Edward, and the other loyal knights from the candlestone, and the destruction of that prison allowed Merlin to escape, as well. Edward reclaimed the name of Edmund, finally honoring his father with his heroic efforts in a great battle against Devin that followed the candlestone’s demise.

  Then, guided back to England by Professor Hamilton, Billy and Bonnie ventured into the portal in Patrick’s ancient chamber. Bonnie found Shiloh in the sixth circle of Hades, where she had lived for forty years without aging a day. Shiloh survived because the seed Sapphira had planted sprouted and produced a fruit every morning, keeping her from starving. During her rescue, the spirit of Clefspeare was cast into the abyss and absorbed into Dragons’ Rest through the Great Key, the gem in her pendant, causing it to change from white to red again.

  Billy and Bonnie reunited Shiloh with her father, Patrick, though their efforts brought about the release of Samyaza and his demonic followers. In the seventh circle, Billy discovered the bones of the dragons who had turned human, those who were murdered by Devin after their transformation. He revived them, restoring their dragon bodies, and they all burst out of Hades to battle Samyaza.

  When the viewport revealed Billy as the new dragon king, the rapid succession of scenes finally slowed. He and Bonnie prepared to enter Dragons’ Rest through the gem in Shiloh’s pendant. Professor Hamilton held Excalibur, making ready to slash its disintegrating beam through the two dimensional travelers so they could enter the rubellite.

  Sapphira stood and drew close to the screen. She hovered her fingers over the images, awed by the miraculous way everything had fallen into place. The prophecy the Eye of the Oracle revealed to Makaidos so long ago had finally come to pass. Now it was time for an oracle of fire to open the portal and allow the king entry into the domain of dead dragons.

  While focusing her mind on the pendant’s gem, Sapphira laid her hand on the screen. “Collapse!” she ordered. The screen rolled up into a column. She jumped in and grabbed a stream of swirling light. Instantly, every image around her shattered, and a new scene took shape, empty crystalline walls flushed with scarlet hues. In front of her, veiled in red by a glassy screen, Professor Hamilton pulled back the sword. She gulped. Obviously the portal had transported her inside the gem, just as she had hoped, but what should she do now?

  “Hurry, Sapphira!”

  Sapphira spun around. A man holding a foot-tall hourglass stood in the midst of a red fog, but even the dense mist couldn’t hide his identity. She clasped her hands and smiled. “Master Mer ”

  “Ignite your fire,” Merlin shouted, “and command the portal to open!”

  Sapphira raised her arms. “Give me light!” A raging flame sprouted in her palm and swallowed her hand with fire. “How do I command it to open?”

  Merlin pointed at the red glass leading to the outer world. “Lay your hand on the wall of the rubellite and shout, ‘Ephphatha.’ Give it all you’ve got.”

  Sapphira pressed her palm on the glass. Just as Professor Hamilton began to swing the blade, she shouted as l
oud as she could, “Ephphatha!”

  The flames spread out in a wide circle, fading the red glass to pink, then to white. Professor Hamilton sliced the beam through Billy and Bonnie, and the sword’s shaft of light wrapped around their bodies. The two teenagers dissolved into sparkling silhouettes that meshed together and swirled toward the screen like a silvery ribbon.

  Sapphira pulled back her hand. The white hole continued to widen, and the energy swirls poured through.

  Breathing a sigh, Merlin set his hourglass on the gem’s floor. “You did it!”

  Sapphira whispered to the fire. “That’s enough.” When the flames died away, she laid her hand on her chest. “Whew! That was close!”

  Still recognizable in their energy form, Billy and Bonnie stood in the midst of the red gem, blinking rapidly as though they couldn’t see anything.

  Merlin nodded at Sapphira. “Excuse me for a moment.” He reached for Billy’s hand and laid a ring in his palm. The ring dissolved into the boy’s sparks. “Take this,” Merlin said, “you will need it later.” The prophet leaned closer and whispered something else to Billy, but Sapphira couldn’t hear his muffled words.

  Billy and Bonnie passed through another screen on the opposite side of their entry point and disappeared.

  Merlin wiped his brow. “The dragon messiah has now entered Dragons’ Rest.”

  Sapphira pointed at each side of the gem. “So the way they came in leads to the land of the living, and the way they left leads to Dragons’ Rest?”

  “Your powers of observation are right on the mark!” Merlin bowed. “I am glad to finally meet you formally, Sapphira Adi.”

  Sapphira dipped her knee. “And I’m glad to finally meet you, Master Merlin.”