“I wanted you guys to sweat it out for a minute,” she laughed. “Deal.”
It was the brightest room Vero had ever seen. The walls were stark white, as was the floor, ceiling, and every bench and table. The angels’ earthly clothing provided the only color in the place. The enormous rotunda was filled with scrolls from floor to ceiling. Vero got a crick in his neck as he looked up at the shelves of scrolls that stretched as far as his eye could see. It was vast, endless, and yet, surprisingly bland.
“I’ve heard the library is so boring looking because you’re here to learn and do research, so they don’t want anything to distract you,” Ada said.
“How are we supposed to get the scrolls down?” Pax asked. “I don’t see any staircases anywhere.”
“Fly up to the shelves?” Greer suggested.
Vero looked around. “To which one? How are we going to find a scroll on unicorns . . .”
Before Vero could even finish his question, he and the others’ jaws dropped as a scroll from a shelf above them, freed itself, and floated into the air. It continued its journey and landed in Vero’s hand.
“I’ve gotta say, that was way faster than the Internet,” Vero marveled.
The angels sat down at a table and rolled open the scroll. The parchment paper looked ancient. It was weathered and crinkled upon touch. But there was nothing written on the document. Disappointment swept over the angels.
“Is this some kind of joke?” Greer said angrily. “It’s blank!”
“Maybe it’s just written real faintly?” Pax leaned into the paper for a closer look. As he squinted his eyes, a tiny unicorn, no more than two inches from head to tail, suddenly sprang from the scroll. It was snow white with wings at its sides and a horn protruding from its head. Its long mane seemed to be blowing in a breeze. The angels watched, completely fascinated, as it flapped its tiny wings and then flew directly into Pax’s left ear! Pax screamed. His squeezed his eyes closed, banging his head with his hand as if the unicorn were a nasty bug. He quickly stood and jumped on one foot as if trying to get a water bubble out of his ear. A moment later, the unicorn shot out of his right ear. Pax slumped back down into the bench. But the miniature unicorn wasn’t done. It flew into Greer’s left ear next. After wreaking havoc inside her head and flying out the other ear, it did the same to Ada and finally Vero. When the unicorn flew out of Vero’s ear, it landed in the middle of the unraveled scroll, and the scroll rolled itself up, swallowing the unicorn within it. It then floated off the table and flew back to its proper place on the bookshelf. The angels looked at each other, too startled to speak, and still catching their breath. Finally, Greer broke the silence.
“Wow,” was all she could say.
4
TRACKING UNICORNS
Do you know how smart I would be in school if we had libraries like that on earth?” Greer asked excitedly as she walked out of the library, flanked by Ada, Pax, and Vero.
“Even my friend Tack would get straight As,” Vero commented.
The angels were amazed at how the library had worked. They didn’t even have to study or read about unicorns. The information had literally flown into their heads. Instant knowledge. They now knew everything there was to know about unicorns, except where to find a real one.
“According to what we now know about unicorns, they live near rivers,” Ada said, as she stopped walking and faced the others.
“And they only eat from the snowball bushes,” Vero added. “Oh, and they hide in daytime.”
“That doesn’t really help us much,” Greer said.
“Maybe it does.”
Everyone turned to Pax.
“What about the big river with the three waterfalls? Once when I flew over them, I remember seeing a whole field of nothing but white bushes below.”
Vero also remembered soaring over the waterfalls when he had first learned to fly in the Ether. They were a magnificent sight. One single river split off into three waterfalls placed at equilateral distance that formed a perfect triangle. They flowed into a pool, where souls bathed before they were presented to God. Uriel had rubbed water from the falls over Vero’s eyelids, and when he had opened them, Vero had been able to see the souls cleansing themselves in the pool.
“Anybody got anything better?” Greer asked. “Anybody?”
Vero shook his head.
“It’s as good a start as any,” Ada commented.
“Hey, guys,” Pax said in a low voice, nodding over his shoulder. “Look over there.”
The others turned and saw Eitan and his fellow jocks entering the library.
Greer gritted her teeth. “Let’s fly.”
She got down on one knee, her head bowed toward the ground as she closed her eyes. After a few seconds of complete concentration, Greer’s wings shot out her back, ripping her leather jacket and lifting her high into the air. Pax and Ada did the same and flew up to Greer. Only Vero hesitated. When he had first learned to fly, he had needed a running start to get airborne. Over time, he honed his flying skills, but he still lacked confidence.
“Sometime today!” Greer shouted down to Vero. “Or the super boys are going to beat us!”
Vero hunched over. He closed his eyes and pressed his fingertips to his temples and thought only of flying. He blocked everything else from his mind. He concentrated so hard, he began to shake. Suddenly, his shoulders jerked forward as his wings sprouted, tearing the flimsy fabric of his shirt. Then like a rocket, Vero shot into the air. It happened so fast, his eyes were still closed, and he wasn’t looking where he was going. He didn’t see the massive tree until he headbutted into a thick branch and found himself tangled like a wayward kite. Greer rolled her eyes.
“Guys, help,” Vero said, turning red. “My wings are stuck.”
Greer and the others flew down and landed gracefully on the tree’s branches. Greer manhandled Vero’s wings as she struggled to free them.
“That hurts!” Vero yelped.
“You know, it’s hard to believe you’re the same guy who defeated the maltures,” she said. “I’m wondering if that was just a fluke!”
Greer twisted the tip of Vero’s wing into an unnatural angle then yanked it free from a cluster of sharp branches.
“You don’t have to be so rough!” Vero winced.
“I don’t have time to be gentle,” Greer answered. “In case you forgot, every other angel in the school is already out looking for unicorns!” She knit her brow. “Wow, never thought I’d say a sentence like that.”
Vero stood on the edge of a branch and jumped off. His wings caught the wind, and he flapped high into the air.
“Wait up!” Greer called after him.
Greer, Ada, and Pax flew after Vero as he soared higher and higher. Vero looked below and took in the sights of the Ether. Verdant hills lush with flowers of every color imaginable. Sparkling crystal lakes. Snowcapped mountain peaks. Sailing clouds. Vero loved nothing more than the rush of the wind invigorating his face and rippling through his hair. It was a feeling of total freedom. When Vero flew, he knew he was truly a guardian angel. It was as if all his senses had come alive. As Vero and the others headed for the river, a low rumbling grew louder and louder until it filled their ears with a thunderous roar. Vero glanced down and saw the three waterfalls.
“There they are!” Pax called. “Land by the big river!”
Vero hated to leave the warm, peaceful skies of the Ether, but it was time to get serious and find the unicorn. It would be dark in a few hours. Vero dropped out of the great blue, retracting his wings a few seconds too early and hitting the ground hard. He stumbled and fell.
“Don’t worry, nobody saw,” Greer teased as she walked past him.
Vero looked over at her, embarrassed for the second time in just a few minutes.
Ada turned to Pax. “Okay, you brought us here, now where are those unicorns?”
“I swear this was the spot where I saw the snowball bushes,” Pax said, turning around.
; Vero looked out over the riverbank. Every tree, bush, and shrub was a vivid green — not a single snowball bush anywhere.
“I’m pretty sure this is where they were,” Pax maintained.
“Well, they’re not here, so get over it,” Greer told him.
“Finding the snowball bushes is a good idea,” Ada said. “Maybe we just landed in the wrong place.”
“Guys,” Greer said, “we’ve gotta figure this thing out or else it’s game over for us. Now what else do we know about unicorns that could help?”
“Noah thought they had such a free spirit that it would have been a sin to lock them up,” Pax said. “I suppose that’s why they hide from everyone.”
“That’s why I think they’d be hidden deep in the forests, afraid someone will harm them,” Ada reasoned.
“But there are no humans in the Ether to do that,” Greer pointed out.
“Yes, but maybe there are maltures and demons that would harm any of God’s creatures if they could, especially one so beautiful.”
“But the Ether is way too big,” Vero said. “We don’t have time to search all the woods for them.”
“Then let’s narrow it down,” Ada said. “And just because there aren’t any snowball bushes here, doesn’t mean Pax is wrong. They could have eaten them all and moved on, probably deeper into these woods. We can figure this out.”
“What do we know about unicorns?” Pax asked again.
“They’re smart,” Greer said. “They can communicate with humans telepathically. They’re shy.”
“They have eyes that seem to be full of stars,” Ada offered.
“And cloven hooves like a deer,” Vero said.
“Once a year, they journey to the site of the Garden of Eden,” Greer added.
“So,” Pax said, “we just need to find the entrance and wait.”
Greer gave Pax an incredulous look. “Are you insane? If we can’t find one stinking unicorn, how the heck would we ever find the Garden of Eden?”
“Over here!” Vero exclaimed suddenly. He was on his knees in a low muddy patch along the sloping riverbank, his sneakers sinking into the muck. “Tracks.” Vero pointed. “Cloven hooves.” The others crowded around to look and saw a trail of hooves in the mud. “They lead into the woods,” Vero added.
“Should we follow ’em?” asked Pax.
Greer squinted at the hoofprints. “How do we know they’re not from a deer? They kind of have the same hooves.”
Vero leaned down to study them closer. “These look a lot bigger than a deer.”
“Then let’s see where they lead,” Ada said.
Vero stood up. As he looked into the dark woods, a feeling of determination empowered him. “Let’s do it.”
The forest was dense and appeared to be very old. Its trees grew so closely together that it was difficult to tell which branches or roots belonged to which tree. A few scarce slivers of light streamed through the thick canopy of leaves. Spongy moss clung to the trunks of the trees and camouflaged entire rocks, and the underbrush was crowded with ferns and bushes, making it nearly impenetrable.
“Can anyone see tracks anymore?” Vero asked nervously as he breathed in the cool, wet air.
“Getting hard,” Greer said, kicking a fern from out of her path.
“It’s just too thick,” Ada sighed. “The tracks are gone.”
“Then forget the tracks,” Pax said. “We need to look for leaves they might have eaten or small branches they could have broken. Or sometimes deer rub their antlers against trees and strip away the bark. Maybe unicorns do the same with their horns.”
“Does anyone wonder why we’re the only ones in this forest?” Greer stopped walking and turned to the others. “Think about it. Tons of other fledglings are out tracking the same unicorns, so why haven’t we run into any of them? Maybe our idea isn’t so great. Maybe they know something that we don’t.” She threw up her hands. “Maybe we’re the idiots here.”
“And we’re losing our light,” Pax sighed. He sat down on a fallen log.
Vero looked up at the canopy. Hardly any light was streaming through the trees. It would soon be dark, and then they would be stuck in the forest unable to find their way out. But those tracks were still their best bet at finding a unicorn. They had nothing else to go on.
“I hate to mention this now,” Pax began, “but some say that Lucifer also has cloven hooves.”
“What?” asked Greer, fear spiking her voice. “I never heard that. Where’d you learn that?”
“When my mom read me Shakespeare’s Othello,” Pax said.
“He’s right,” Ada replied.
“Of course, you would know,” Greer eyed Ada. “You’ve probably read every Shakespeare play.”
“And his sonnets,” Ada added.
Greer rolled her eyes.
But then fear rose in Ada’s chest. “So does that mean — could these hoofprints be a trap?” Her voice grew high and squeaky.
Suddenly, Vero heard the distant sound of crunching leaves. His eyes darted around, looking for the source of the unsettling noise. At home, the sound of crackling autumn leaves was a sound of joy — jumping into a huge pile of newly raked leaves with friends. But here, the sound created only a feeling of dread. And the noise seemed to be growing.
“Anybody else hear that?” Vero asked nervously.
Ada, Pax, and Greer instantly hid behind him, using him as their shield.
“Get off, you guys!” Vero said angrily.
But the three would not release Vero. They pulled and tugged on him until he toppled over backward, leveling all of them like dominoes.
The last faint rays of light revealed a figure stepping out from the shadows of the trees. Vero squinted — it had two heads! Fear strangled his throat, and he couldn’t even scream. As the figure stepped closer, Vero’s arm instinctively rose to block his face.
“Glad to see you guys are taking this whole thing seriously,” the figure said to them.
That didn’t sound like the devil. Vero lowered his arm. He saw two heads, but they weren’t joined. The last of the light revealed that one belonged to Kane, the other to X. X was classically handsome, with high cheekbones and a chiseled nose. His chest and shoulders were extremely well developed for someone only sixteen. Kane had a roundish face with deep-set eyes and a strong jawline.
“What are you jerks doing here?” Greer asked as she tried to push everyone off her.
X held out his hand and effortlessly pulled Greer to her feet.
“Following you,” Kane answered. “We saw you coming out of the library and figured that maybe you knew how to find a unicorn better than us. We’ve got nothing.”
“So we’ve been trailing you,” X added.
“We’ll you’d have been smarter to follow the yellow brick road than us, ’cause we’ve got nothing either,” Greer snapped.
“But it is good to see you guys,” Vero told them.
X and Kane had been in the same class as Vero and the others. Vero had done his very first training with them, and they had taught him to fly. And when Vero needed help to battle the maltures, they were by his side.
“You too,” X said.
Greer cleared her throat. “Enough with the love fest.” She impatiently beckoned Kane and X closer. ”The four of us have all agreed to work together, so if by some miracle one of us stumbles upon a unicorn and is the first to touch his horn, we’ve all agreed to pick each other for the team.” Greer got up in their faces and fixed her eyes upon them. “Any problem with that?”
“No, none,” X said. “If I touch the horn, you’ll all be on my team.”
Greer looked to Kane who hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
“Okay, good,” Greer said. “Now whatever we’re going to do here, it needs to happen fast because we’re losing light.”
“No problem,” Kane said as he pulled a smart phone from his back pants pocket. He pressed a button in the middle of the screen, and the phone illuminat
ed like a flashlight.
“You have your own cell phone?” Vero asked, his voice full of envy.
“Yeah, don’t you?”
“No,” Vero said. “Everyone has one but me.” He turned to X. “Don’t you?”
“Um, in case you forgot, I’m in a wheelchair on earth,” X said. “As in . . . I can’t use my hands.”
Pax nodded. “I’m severely autistic so I don’t have one either.”
“I have no parents to buy me one,” Greer said.
Vero looked down. “Okay, now I feel like a big jerk.”
“I have one,” Ada chimed in. “Well, had. My little brother and I were fighting over it, and it fell into the toilet so my parents refused to get me another one.”
Vero was about to reply when Greer interrupted, waving her arms impatiently. “I thought we were here to look for unicorns, not discuss cell phone plans!”
“Guys, look!” Pax yelled.
Vero turned around. Pax parted a clump of ferns with his hand. “Shine the light over here!”
Kane pointed the phone toward the ground where Pax stood. The white light from the flashlight app illuminated a pair of hoof tracks in the muddy ground.
“Can I have that?” X nodded to Kane’s phone.
Kane handed X his phone.
“Follow me,” X instructed as he shone the light in front of his shoes.
X walked ahead, spreading the fern clusters apart with his feet. As he tracked the pattern of hooves, the other angels walked closely behind him. Before long, the underbrush of ferns gradually thinned out, and the hoofprints became much easier to follow. The group soon reached a clearing in the woods. The sky above was dark and filled with stars, and Vero looked up at them as the group continued to carefully step through the big clearing. After several minutes, Greer suddenly stopped and turned around in a circle, surveying the landscape. A look of frustration came over her, and she let out an ear-shattering scream. Everyone turned around to see Greer pointing to the area around her.
“What?” Ada asked. “What is it?”
“Look at the ferns! Can’t you see?” Greer kicked the fern closest to her.
Pillars of Fire Page 4