The angels eyed one another. They had no clue what she was talking about.
“We’ve been walking in a circle!” Greer yelled.
Vero scanned the area and saw a circular path of crushed ferns. Greer was right.
“We’re doomed,” Pax said.
Tired, Vero laid down on a soft piece of ground.
“Not a bad idea,” Ada said, and she lay down next to him.
Feeling defeated, the others joined them on the spongy, moss-covered ground. Exhaustion overtook them as they lay on their backs looking up at the sky. “The stars are so much brighter here than on earth,” Pax said.
“I guess that’s because the Ether is closer to them,” Ada surmised. “The Big Dipper is so much easier to see.”
X pointed. “And there’s Gemini.”
“Orion’s next to it,” Pax added, pushing up his glasses.
“I think I’m gonna fly out of here and go back,” Greer said. “I’m tired, and I’m starving.”
Suddenly, Vero bolted up. He stared at the sky for a moment, and then he turned to Greer with a huge smile. “That’s too bad,” he said. “Because you’ll miss the unicorns.”
Greer’s eyes narrowed. The others quickly sat up. Vero pointed to the sky directly over them.
“That’s the constellation Monoceros — as in Monoceros the unicorn,” Vero said excitedly. “Remember, unicorns have deep blue eyes that seem to be full of stars. The unicorns hide up in the constellation during the day!”
“Really?” Greer said, her voice laced with sarcasm.
“No, it makes sense!” Vero insisted. “Just give it a few minutes. They’ll show up.”
“We don’t have the time for this,” Kane said, shaking his head. He looked to X for support.
X shrugged his broad shoulders, “We don’t have any thing else.”
Kane sighed, and then lay back on the ground. They waited and waited, watching the sky until their necks hurt. Nothing happened except that Greer fell asleep.
“Vero, you know what this is?” Ada said. “It’s like in Charlie Brown when Linus and Sally spend all night in the pumpkin patch. We’re gonna sit here the entire night and wait for the Great Pumpkin who’s never going to show up!”
“We’ve given it enough time, Vero,” X said, above Greer’s snoring.
Vero sighed. “Good grief.”
At that exact moment, the low-growing shrubs in the clearing began to change color. They turned from a healthy green to a lustrous white. Pax shook Greer awake. The angels watched in amazement as tiny white buds blossomed from the branches until they bloomed into flowers the size and shape of snowballs.
“I knew I wasn’t crazy. I told you I saw those bushes!” Pax said. “They must camouflage themselves in green when they’re not in bloom.”
Every bush transformed into a white so bright that the clearing seemed to glow. Vero tugged on X’s sleeve as he looked at the twinkling lights above. The stars in the Monoceros constellation moved farther apart from one another, creating a large opening in the heavens. Ada and Pax gasped as one by one, unicorns dropped out of the hole in the sky, flapping their wings in the night air. After a few minutes, they landed gracefully in the clearing and shook their beautiful manes, one of them quite close to the fledglings.
“I guess they come down at night when it’s safe to feed,” Vero stuttered in total awe.
Greer shook her head. “Holy cow,” she murmured.
“More like holy unicorn,” Pax corrected.
The creature that Vero had always thought to be only mythical now stood but a few feet away. It was more magnificent than he had ever imagined. The unicorn resembled a horse, only much larger, taller than the Clydesdale horses Vero once saw in a parade. Its coat and wings were milky white, and its eyes were the color of the midnight sky. A thick silky mane ran down its neck, and it had a thin, scraggly beard, resembling a goat’s. The hooves, Vero noticed, were indeed cloven. But what most mesmerized Vero was the horn that stood out straight from the middle of its forehead. The sharp, three-foot crystal horn exuded power. Awestruck and little bit frightened, the angels stared at the herd of unicorns as they grazed on the snowball bushes.
“So all we have to do is touch one of their horns?” Ada asked sheepishly as she gazed at the massive animals.
“Yeah,” Pax answered.
“Okay, I’ll try,” Kane said, and he moved toward the herd.
As Kane approached, several of the unicorns reared and flapped their wings. The wings created such a strong wind that it reminded Kane of the gusts created by moving helicopter blades. He stopped in his tracks. The unicorns whinnied so loudly everyone covered their ears.
“Maybe finding the unicorns was the easy part,” Greer said hesitantly.
“Is it enough that we found them?” Pax asked. “Or do we really need to touch the horn to get the extra grace?”
The unicorn that had landed closest to the fledglings trotted over to Vero and stood several feet away from him. It looked into Vero’s eyes and held his gaze. They stared at one another with great intensity.
“Are they having some sort of staring contest?” Greer asked.
“I think he’s speaking telepathically with him,” Kane answered.
Vero continued to look at the unicorn for a few moments longer. Then he nodded to the animal and stepped back. Vero turned to the others.
“His name is Aurora. And he says that he decides which one of us will touch his horn to get the blessing.”
“But how?” Ada wondered. ”He doesn’t know any of us.”
“He can feel it.”
“Since when did you learn to speak unicorn?” Ada asked.
“About two minutes ago,” Vero said, checking his watch.
Ada stared at Vero, remembering the last time Vero had made sense of a language when no one else could. They had been trapped in the underground caverns by the golems, the brainless, giant stone creatures. Only Vero had been able to read the strange symbols on the parchment papers that destroyed the creatures. Nobody else could even see the writing. Ada had realized then that Vero had more talents than she and the others, that there was something different and special about him. And watching him stand before the unicorn now only reinforced her belief.
“Everyone line up,” Vero instructed them. “We need to stand next to each other.”
Pax, X, Kane, Greer, and Ada lined up on either side of Vero. They stood before the mighty unicorn. The animal towered over them. The angels nervously waited as the unicorn paced before them like an army drill sergeant inspecting his troops.
Greer swelled with hope when Aurora paused before her and looked deep into her eyes. As she stared into the eyes of the unicorn, emotions welled up within her. She felt vulnerable, like she could not hide anything. Under the intensity of Aurora’s gaze, Greer began first to tremble, and then tears escaped her eyes. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced. She felt both intense shame and phenomenal joy at the same time.
“Thanks, Aurora,” Greer whispered.
Then the unicorn looked away and moved down the line from Ada and then to Pax. Vero was starting to feel very anxious as the beast began to study X. He so desperately wanted Aurora’s blessing, not because he thought he was special and deserved it more than anyone else, but because he felt he needed it. The archangel Michael had told Vero that so much more was expected of him, that his mission would be quite difficult, and Vero was afraid he would fail. He thought about the terrifying nurse, the strange chanting during the school picture, and he shivered. Maybe the extra strength and grace promised by the unicorn’s horn could help him succeed, could protect him. When the magnificent creature moved away from X and stood before him, Vero knew that the unicorn sensed his desperation.
But after a few seconds the unicorn took his eyes off Vero and turned to Kane.
“C’mon, Aurora, old-buddy! I’m right here,” Kane said out loud. He clearly wanted the blessing every bit as much as Vero. “C’mon.”
“Yes! Ka-ching!” Kane whooped.
Massive disappointment swept over Vero. His head sunk into his chest. After a moment, he looked at Kane “Congrats,” he barely managed to squeeze out between his lips.
“Thanks, dude.”
“Aurora wants you to place your right palm on the tip of his horn,” Vero said. A large lump had formed in his throat.
The unicorn snorted as Kane approached. He lowered his head even closer to the ground so Kane could reach his horn. Kane tentatively held up his hand, wary of the sharp point. He looked back to Vero and the others.
Vero nodded toward the unicorn. “He won’t hurt you.”
Kane stepped forward. He stood before the amazing beast, stretched out his arm, and placed a shaky hand on its horn. Upon touch, the clear crystal horn began to shine. Every color of the rainbow radiated from it, taking form and swirling toward Kane. The colorful rays spun a web around him, wrapping him in their warm hues. After a moment, the light unraveled itself and shot off like fireworks.
Deep in the surrounding forest, a pair of dark eyes, rimmed with hatred, watched as the brilliant lights ascended to the heavens.
5
THE HAIR
Aurora walked away from Kane and joined the other unicorns grazing on the snowball bushes. Kane felt disorientated and a bit off balance after receiving the blessing. He staggered toward the others.
“That was awesome,” he blurted.
“I wonder what type of grace you’ll get,” Ada said.
“Guess we’ll find out in the Trials,” Kane answered, putting a hand on X’s shoulder to regain his balance.
Suddenly, the herd stopped grazing and perked up their ears. Something had spooked them. In the distance, Vero heard the faint snapping of tree branches.
“What’s happening?” Vero urgently asked Aurora through his thoughts. “What is it?”
The unicorn did not answer him, his attention too focused on the commotion in the forest. The ground began to tremble as the sounds drew closer. The brightness of the snowball bushes dimmed and camouflaged to a dark shade of green. If not for the light from the moon, the clearing would have plunged into total darkness.
Pax pointed to the dense cluster of trees behind them, while digging his nails into Vero’s arm. “Look up at the trees!” he yelled.
Vero spun around and saw the distant tops of trees toppling over. Tree after tree fell in a line heading straight for them, but Vero couldn’t tell what was knocking them over. The herd reared up, flapping their wings furiously as they lifted off the ground in a rush of wind. Vero shielded his eyes with his hand as he watched the unicorns fly higher and higher. After a few seconds, the stars of the Monoceros constellation broke apart and formed an opening. The unicorns flew towards it. Vero heard a whinny and realized that Aurora was still standing in the clearing. He approached Vero and stared hard into his eyes.
“You must flee the forest!” the unicorn mentally spoke to Vero. “Quickly, to the air!”
“Why? What is it?” Vero asked.
“She will devour you all!” the unicorn said. “Fly now!” Aurora was prancing nervously as the rumble of falling trees grew closer.
“He wants us to fly now!” Vero shouted to the others.
Vero watched as the other fledglings sprouted their wings and jumped skyward. It sounded as if a freight train was nearly upon them. Aurora spread his wings and leapt into the night.
“Vero, come on!” X screamed from the sky as the panicked Vero crouched down and willed his wings to open.
“I’m trying!” Vero yelled. He tried to concentrate, but it was no good. He was too nervous and distracted.
A line of trees fell on top of one another causing a chain reaction into the clearing. The very top of one hit Vero, knocking him to the ground and pinning one of his legs. Vero froze with fear, as he watched what appeared to be a serpentine rope of hair as thick as a pillar slithering toward him. But he had no time to wonder what it was. Crawling on his elbows, Vero quickly tried to inch his way out of the tangled branches. The tip of the hair serpent had no head or eyes, yet somehow it was acutely aware of him. It advanced with amazing speed and wrapped itself around his free ankle.
“Help me!” Vero yelled as he tried to kick his foot free of the hair.
Aurora swooped down from the sky, diving close to Vero’s upper body yet trying to keep his distance from the hair. The unicorn hovered over him, his wings wildly beating.
“Grab my tail!” he conveyed to Vero. “Take it now!”
Vero grabbed at the silky white tail hanging before him and caught a clump of it in his fist. The unicorn pulled Vero out from under the branches, lifting him high into the air. But the hair serpent still would not let go of Vero. As the other fledglings screamed in terror, Vero felt as if the tug-of-war would rip his foot from his leg. Aurora ferociously flicked his tail. The force was strong enough to cause the black hair to release Vero’s foot, but Vero was unable to keep his grip on Aurora’s tail and fell into the night air below. He landed with a dull thud on a soft bed of ferns.
“Vero! Look out!” X yelled. “It’s coming back!”
The hair serpent rose up, looking very much like a provoked snake about to strike. Vero kneeled, willing his wings to open.
“Vero, you grow those wings now or I’ll kill you myself!” Greer yelled.
Just as Vero sprouted his wings, Aurora circled back down and once again offered his tail. The hair stuck, but Vero flew the few yards up to Aurora’s tail and grabbed hold. Faster than he could ever fly on his own, Vero and the unicorn shot straight up toward the stars, the other angels furiously batting their wings to catch them. Soon, they were far above the danger of the forest.
Aurora turned his elegant head to Vero.
“This is as far as I can take you,” he said telepathically.
Vero nodded to him, releasing his tail. As the unicorn and Vero slowly flapped their wings, hovering in place, they looked each other in the eye. “Aurora, you saved me from that thing.”
“I am glad to have helped, and that you are safe, fledgling. You are far too important to all of us,” Aurora said.
“What was it?” Vero asked, a haunted look on his face.
“Pure evil.”
Vero gasped.
“Be safe, my friend.”
And with that, Aurora turned and flew up to the constellation. The unicorn’s words filled Vero with confusion. What did he mean by pure evil? And did he mean to say he knew Vero was important? If that was true, why had he chosen to give the blessing to Kane?
The other angels were panting when they finally caught up to where Vero was hovering. Spellbound, they watched as the majestic unicorn slipped safely into the stars and disappeared.
“Pretty awesome,” Greer said.
Pax turned to Vero. “Did Aurora tell you what that creepy hair creature was?”
“Pure evil.”
Light rose in the Ether. Flowers of every color turned their sleepy heads toward the golden rays as butterflies woke and opened their wings. Lush fields of grass swayed in a soft breeze. Pairs of animals grazed peacefully in the morning light. And in the middle of the marble stage of the large amphitheater, Kane stood grinning broadly while a packed audience of fledglings cheered. In a seat down in front, sat Vero next to Pax. Vero clapped his hands for Kane and did his very best to be happy for him, but the taste of disappointment was still strong in his mouth.
“We were all kind of surprised Aurora didn’t pick you,” Pax said to Vero.
Vero tried to look indifferent, but he couldn’t help but agree with Pax. The unicorn’s selection hadn’t seemed fair. After all, he was the one who figured out that the unicorns were hiding in the constellation. Were it not for h
im, Kane and the others would have flown away and never even seen them.
“I don’t know,” Vero said, “Aurora took his time in choosing, and in the end he was sure it should go to Kane.” Vero shrugged and hoped Pax would change the conversation.
Uriel walked onto the stage flanked by Raziel and Raphael. Vero watched as Raziel patted Kane on the back with a congratulatory smile. Then Raziel’s eyes found Vero in the audience. Vero had always felt that Raziel didn’t like him, and Raziel’s smug expression seemed to confirm this. He had no idea what he had done to earn Raziel’s animosity.
Uriel put up his hands to quiet the crowd. “Kane has won the challenge and will be the first one to represent the guardians in the Angel Trials,” Uriel announced. “And as winner, he will select the five others who will make up his flight and compete alongside him.”
Raphael turned to Kane. “Have you made your choice?”
Kane nodded. “X is my first pick,” he stated.
X stood as the audience broke out into applause. He walked up onto the stage and took his place next to Kane.
“Greer, Pax, and Ada,” Kane called.
As they stood and approached the stage, Vero’s heart began to pound. He wondered why Kane hadn’t called his name with the rest of them. He hoped Kane was pausing for dramatic effect. But as he watched Kane eyeing the muscular Eitan sitting in the front row, Vero realized Kane had no intention of selecting him. The thought also occurred to Greer. She crossed in front of Kane.
“We had a deal!” she said, glaring into his eyes. “You promised to pick Vero.”
“You guys had a deal. I didn’t really agree to it,” Kane said.
“Why wouldn’t you pick Vero?” Greer snapped. “He’s the one who figured out where the unicorns were.”
“But he also nearly got himself killed when he didn’t get off the ground in time,” Kane told her. “He put all of us in danger, and he could do it again. Danger seems to follow him wherever he goes! And Uriel agrees. I told him all about the hair monster!”
“You’re a jerk!” Greer shouted.
Pillars of Fire Page 5