“After him!” X shouted.
The angels raced after the soul. But when the fledglings looked ahead, the landscape had completely changed. Skyscrapers lined the horizon. A big city lay in front of them.
Man, thought Vero. Dreams are weird.
The soul dropped into a busy street filled with passing cars, trucks, and pedestrians, and quickly disappeared into the crowded sidewalk. The angels landed on the curb, their eyes scanning for any sign of the soul.
Pax stood on his toes to see over the crowd. “How the heck does a dolphin flick somebody into the middle of rush-hour traffic?” he asked.
“Trust me,” Greer said. “I’ve had weirder dreams. Once I dreamt that I was half ballerina and half police dog . . .” Greer stopped, realizing that everyone was looking at her. “Never mind.”
“Come on, let’s find him,” Kane said, putting the fort-i-fire back into his pocket.
The angels looked in every direction. Vero checked the windows of a passing bus. Greer and Ada flew above the crowd to get a bird’s-eye view. Then the angels heard X yell. “The subway entrance!” They followed his pointing finger just in time to see the soul disappear underground down a narrow staircase.
The angels’ wings disappeared as they struggled to make their way through the throng of people all pushing toward the entrance. As Vero and the others ran down the steps, they saw bars from the floor to the ceiling blocking the entrance to the platform. The only way through was a revolving metal turnstile that was also barred from floor to ceiling. The soul pushed through the turnstile and made its way over to the platform.
“Through the turnstile!” Greer yelled.
As Greer pushed through, the turnstile came to an abrupt stop, causing Greer to bang her head on its metal spokes. Inches from her face stood a donkey.
“Hello,” the donkey said.
Greer screamed. The others slammed into her from behind, causing her to hit her head on the turnstile yet again.
“Would you dopes watch out?” Greer shouted, rubbing her head.
“Well, move it or we’ll lose the soul!” Vero yelled.
“I can’t!” Greer said as she looked down and saw the donkey’s hoof wedged between the floor and the bottom spoke of the turnstile.
“Why not?” Vero asked.
“It’s just too bizarre.” Greer’s voice quavered.
“What is?”
“Hello, Vero,” the donkey brayed.
Vero’s eyes went wide.
“Yeah, now you see,” Greer nodded.
Ada peered over Greer’s shoulder. “Greer, you’ve been through the unspeakables of the Leviathan. A talking donkey should be no big deal.”
The donkey snorted. “Perhaps not a big deal, but I think I’m rather unique,” it replied.
“Look, we’re in a hurry so we need you to move your hoof,” Kane told the donkey. “And everyone behind us also needs . . .” Kane looked around. The crowd of people had disappeared. The subway station was suddenly deserted except for the soul waiting on the platform.
“Everybody’s in such a hurry these days,” the donkey heehawed. “Nobody takes the time to get to know one another.”
“How did you know my name?” Vero asked.
“I know all the angels. I see them all.”
“Look, move now or else we’ll . . .” Kane began.
“Beat me?”
“Well, um,” Kane stammered. “I didn’t exactly say that.”
“But you want to. I know,” the donkey said. “It’s the curse of us donkeys. Our stubbornness brings out the worst in others. I endured many beatings from my master.”
“Who was your master?” Pax asked, suspiciously.
“Balaam the sorcerer.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Pax said, studying the donkey with keen interest.
“That train is coming any minute,” X said. “Everyone push!”
The angels pushed against the turnstile with all their strength, but the donkey’s hoof held firmly. They were no match for it.
“Man you’re stubborn,” X said looking the donkey squarely in the eyes.
“Please,” Ada pleaded. “You have to let us through.”
“Balaam did not heed my advice,” the donkey replied. “And so you are the same. Everyone thinks I’m nothing but a dumb animal.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Vero chuckled. Kane pulled the fort-i-fire from his pocket and pushed his way to the front. “Maybe I can throw it from here,” he said.
Kane shoved his hand through the turnstile spokes and pulled his arm back, aiming at the soul whose back was turned to them.
“It won’t work!” Ada said, grabbing Kane’s shoulder. “You’re too far away!”
“Guys, maybe we should listen to the donkey,” Pax said. Balaam didn’t and it almost got him killed.”
“Okay, fine . . . who is Balaam, Pax?” Kane asked. He turned his head toward the tunnel as the fledglings heard the train approaching in the distance.
“He was a sorcerer who went to curse the Israelites, but while the donkey was carrying him, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him three times to get him to stop. The donkey could see the angel and stopped, but Balaam just thought the donkey was being stubborn so he beat it three times — ”
“Savagely,” the donkey interrupted.
“Savagely,” Pax added, eyeing the donkey. “Finally the angel showed himself to Balaam and gave the donkey the gift of language. And then Balaam realized that the donkey had only been trying to save his life.”
The donkey gave the angels an I-told-you-so look.
Vero felt desperate. “Then let us through,” he said. “We are angels sent here to help that soul. It may be a matter of life and death.”
The donkey still did not move. “It might be, but it would be your life, not that soul’s. You are all in that soul’s dream, and a dreamer can’t die in their own dream. But you are just visitors . . . you could die in its dream, no problem.”
The whoosh of the approaching train grew louder. Its headlights lit up the platform. The train pulled into sight and came to a stop. Panic came into Kane’s eyes as the train’s doors opened.
“Just let me through! I only need to get close enough!” Kane shook the turnstile as the soul floated onto the train. The moment the doors began to close, the platform erupted into a ball of light so intense, the angels had to shield their eyes — the light of a fort-i-fire! After the flash of light cleared, the angels glimpsed the train pull out of the station. Vero did a double take as he looked through the windows of the last car. Were those hyenas looking back at him?
“You missed it!” X shouted to Kane.
“Wasn’t me,” Kane said, and he turned his hand to the angels, exposing the fort-i-fire still in it.
The angels looked confused. Then Dumah walked along the platform toward them, carrying his scepter.
“Look,” Ada nodded toward Dumah. “It was his fort-i-fire.”
Kane turned on the donkey. “So you let him on the platform and not us?” he yelled.
“And how did that work out for him?” the donkey shot back.
Greer peered at Dumah through the metal bars. “You missed, didn’t you?” she said to him.
He nodded.
“So now the second trial is over for you?”
Dumah nodded again.
“Sorry,” Greer said.
Dumah tapped the bottom of his scepter to the ground and vanished.
“The competition just got a little less,” Kane said.
Ada noticed the worried look on Vero’s face. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Did anyone else see hyenas in the last car?”
The donkey loudly brayed, startling the angels.
“What? What is it?” Vero asked.
The donkey shook his big head. “Oh, the hyenas are bad. That’s why I had to stop you. They’re bad, very bad.”
X looked frightened. “Yeah, and now the soul’s alone on that sub
way train with them!” He glanced down the tunnel. “You should have stopped the soul instead of us!”
“Now you’re calling me stupid?”
“Yeah, I am,” X said.
The donkey looked hurt. “I am so underappreciated.” He moved his hoof from the turnstile. “Go ahead. Go where you want.”
Kane glanced at the donkey and shoved his way onto the platform. “Hey, thanks for nothing, Eeyore.”
The angels watched as the donkey turned and slowly walked down the platform with his tail swinging from side to side. Vero noticed Greer looked sad as she watched the donkey leave.
“What?” Vero asked.
Greer shook her head. “He’s a strange creature, but I think he was trying to help us,” she said.
Vero looked back at the donkey and shrugged. “I guess, but come on, we’ve gotta hurry and go after that train.”
“Do you think it’s safe?” Greer asked.
“Probably not, but we don’t exactly have a choice.”
16
RIDDLE OF THE IMP
Vero and the others flew down the long, winding subway tunnel. Fortunately, overhead lights illuminated the train tracks, so the angels had no problem navigating through them.
“Anybody see or hear the train up ahead?” Pax asked.
“Not me,” X answered.
“Nope,” Vero said.
“What if it just disappeared and we’re chasing it for nothing?” Kane asked.
“We’re going the right way,” Greer said as she flew in front of the others. “I still feel a connection with the soul. And because this tunnel still exists, it means the soul is still dreaming about it. We need to keep going.”
As they continued to fly down the tunnel, the black stone walls came to an abrupt end along with the train tracks. The landscape changed, yet again. The fledglings saw and heard a raging river below them. A massive wooden bridge directly in front of them connected the opposing banks. Suddenly, from the air in front of Vero, Greer was gone. It happened so fast that one moment she was there, and the next, she wasn’t. There wasn’t even time to hear her scream. Then to his left Vero saw something the size of a small kid clasped around X’s legs. In a split second, X was pulled from the sky. And then Vero felt a tug on his own legs. He looked down to see an intensely ugly face smiling up at him, hugging his legs. Vero tried to kick himself free, but the creature would not let go. He pulled Vero to a patch of grass under the bridge and in a matter of seconds, tied his hands to a pillar. The creature instantly sprang back into the air. He could not fly, but he could jump amazing heights. Vero turned and saw Greer and X also sitting with their backs against the pillar, hands bound.
“What the heck was that?” Vero asked.
Before Greer could answer, the creature returned with Pax and tied him up with the others. Soon all the fledglings were sitting against the pillar with their hands tied behind their backs. The creature turned to his captives, and Vero finally got a good look at him. He was short — probably the height of a five-year-old — and stumpy but very thick and muscular. His nose hung like a half-filled water balloon. His ears were the size of saucers, and his lips drooped below his chin. His skin was of a greenish hue and hairy. And to make matters worse, he was humpbacked.
“That guy didn’t get a break in the looks department,” X said in a low voice to Greer.
“No one crosses my bridge for free!” the creature shouted over the noise of the roaring river. He turned and warmed his hands over a campfire.
“Sorry, we didn’t know it was your bridge,” Kane answered. “But we don’t have to walk over it. We can just fly over it and not bother you.”
The creature snarled at Kane. “The only way to the other side is over my bridge!”
Vero turned his head to X. “What the heck is it?” he asked in a low voice.
“Isn’t it obvious?” X whispered. “A hideous creature living under a bridge? Didn’t you ever read The Three Billy Goats Gruff ?”
“A troll?”
In a flash, the troll’s face was square with Vero’s. Vero jerked his head back, hitting the pillar.
“A troll, you say?”
Vero winced as its horrible breath sprayed in his face. He caught the musk of fish and skunk.
“You think I’m a hideous, vile troll?”
Vero shrugged. “I don’t know. But to be honest, you could really use a breath mint.”
“I am no such thing. I am the most handsome of all beings,” the creature snarled, revealing only four teeth — two on the bottom and two on the top. Each was sharpened to a point like an arrowhead and entirely black.
Vero raised his eyebrows to Greer. She looked equally confused.
“I am an imp.”
Pax closed his eyes and concentrated. “An imp is an evil spirit, a lesser-degree demon,” Pax told Vero mind-to-mind. “On earth, they are known as trolls. Obviously, he’s never seen his reflection.”
“I am actually the most kindhearted, gentle creature known, but my bridge is my only source of income. You must pay a price in order to cross it.” He had to speak loudly in order to be heard above the river.
“What do you want?” Kane asked the imp.
“Our women?” Pax guessed.
Greer and Ada shot Pax the nastiest looks possible.
“Don’t insult me with such an offer,” the imp spat. “I have no need for such vile creatures.”
Despite their grim situation, Vero chuckled.
Greer wriggled with fury in her binds. “We’re vile? You need to take a look in a mirror, buddy,” she said to the imp.
“Just tell us what you want,” Kane said.
“Maybe I’m simply enjoying your company. Perhaps that’s all I desire,” the imp said. “And maybe if you got to know me, you’d see I’m actually a very good guy.”
“This guy is totally whacked,” Greer said under her breath.
“Perhaps if you could solve my riddle, I’d allow you to pass.”
“You’ll let us go?” Ada asked. “Free and clear?”
“Free and clear.” The imp got in Ada’s face. “But if you don’t solve it, you will stay here chained to this pillar forever.” He smiled maliciously.
The angels looked at one another, uncertain how to respond.
“How can we stay here forever if we’re in someone’s dream?” X muttered to the others.
Vero shrugged. Kane shook his head, also confused. The imp sat cross-legged on the dirt before them. He didn’t wait for them to agree.
“A king had three sons. He was very old in age and needed to choose his successor. He said to his sons, ‘My children, I am old and will soon die. One of you must become the next king, only I don’t know which son to choose.’ So the king decided that before the sun set that day, each son would go out and prove himself deserving of the throne. Whoever proved himself most worthy would become king,” the imp said.
A fly buzzed around his head. With lightning speed, the imp caught it in his hand and shoved the fly into his mouth. Ada looked like she was going to throw up. The imp belched then continued.
“The three sons set out into the kingdom that morning and returned to their father as the sun was setting. They lined up before their father’s throne. ‘And what have you done to prove yourself worthy of the throne?’ the king asked his eldest son. The son opened a bag at his father’s feet and thousands of gold coins spilled out, covering the king’s shoes. ‘I have spent the day collecting new taxes to honor you with,’ the eldest son said.
“The king turned to the middle son. ‘And what have you done to prove you deserve the crown?’ The middle son laid three heads at his father’s feet. ‘I have spent the day finding traitors and beheading them to honor you with,’ he answered.”
The imp dug his hand into the dirt and pulled out a fat worm. He opened his mouth and dropped the worm into it and chewed. Ada turned her head and gagged as worm juice dripped down the imp’s chin.
“ ‘And what have you d
one to prove yourself worthy of the throne?’ the king asked his youngest son. He approached his father, holding out his hands. They were empty. ‘I am sorry, but I have nothing to honor you with. I set out this morning with my brothers, but as I walked down the lane, I came across an old woman who begged me to come to the fields, for her old husband had taken ill. When I arrived there, I found the old man lying in the field under the oppressive sun. He told me he had to reap the field and sell his crops at market before sunset or else the tax collectors would take his land. I carried the old man to his home, gave him water, then harvested his crops. I sold his crops at the market before the tax collector arrived.’ The king eyed his son. ‘I am sorry, Father, I am most ashamed and unworthy of the throne for I have nothing to honor you with.’ ”
The imp stood up.
“Now which son did the king choose?” He raised one eyebrow, chuckled, and walked a short distance away from the fledglings.
“Guys, it’s definitely the last son,” Vero said in a low voice to the others. “Do you agree?”
“I don’t know, Vero,” Pax said. “I’m not sure he sees things the way we do.”
X tried unsuccessfully to scratch an itch on his head with his shoulder. “Well, the last son was motivated by goodness, and this imp claims he’s actually a good guy,” he said.
Greer huffed. “Yeah, most good guys tie their guests to pillars!”
“I agree with Vero,” Ada said. “We’re angels. I say we choose goodness. Pax?”
Pax shrugged, “I guess. We’ve got a one-third chance of being right.”
“Greer?” Ada asked.
“Fine. But if I wind up stuck to this pillar for all eternity next to the bunch of you, I promise I will never shut up about it.”
“Then we’ve decided,” Kane said.
“We have our answer,” Vero shouted to the imp.
“Yes?” the imp said, moving closer to them.
“Because he showed true kindness and compassion by putting the needs of others before his own,” Vero said, “the youngest son demonstrated the true qualities of a good king. Therefore, the king chose the youngest son because, like you, he was a good guy.” Vero held his breath as he waited for their captor’s response.
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