“Get them!” Greer shouted.
“With what?” Vero yelled. “I need a sword!”
Ada threw her last stone and missed. Pax flew to the ground and quickly picked up a few more rocks. But as he flew back into the air, a hyena caught his foot in its mouth, slamming him to the sand. His glasses flew off his face upon impact. “Help!” Pax screamed.
The others watched in horror as Pax tried to kick the hyena’s head from his foot. But the hyena was too powerful. It also began to drag Pax toward the den in the hill. As the hyena moved under him, and Vero saw the fear in Pax’s face, a steely resolve came over him. He flew at the hyena, grabbed it by its neck, and yanked. Momentarily free, Pax quickly flew away. The hyena bucked from Vero’s grasp, knocking him from the air, and leapt on Vero’s chest. Its front paws pushed deep into Vero, ripping his T-shirt. Vero struggled underneath its weight, but he could not get up. As the hyena lunged for Vero’s jugular, Vero felt the weight of the hyena lift off him. Out of the corner of his eye, Ariel’s massive paw swiped the hyena, knocking it to the ground. It lay unmoving. Vero sat up and saw four bloody scratch marks across the hyena’s body.
Without hesitation, Ariel turned and bounded after the other two hyenas where they were still pulling X toward the den. She pounced on them, and the startled hyenas released X and retreated. X got to his feet, holding his injured arm as Ariel continued to attack the snarling hyenas.
After a few moments’ time, both of X’s hyenas lay motionless on the ground. Ariel turned to the fledglings.
“Ariel, behind you!” Ada shouted.
The remaining hyena jumped on Ariel’s back and sunk its teeth into her spine. She reared up and flicked it off her back, slamming it against a rock with such force, it slumped to the ground. Looking totally unfazed, Ariel walked over to X and placed her paws on his broken wing and bleeding arm. His wounds began to heal themselves.
“Thank you,” X said breathlessly. “You’re an amazing fighter.”
“Everybody knows lions and hyenas are natural enemies,” Ariel replied.
Vero looked down and saw Pax’s glasses lying on the ground. “Here,” he said to Pax as he handed him the glasses.
“Thanks,” Pax said.
“The soul is in the hyenas’ den,” Greer said confidently.
Kane looked at the den and smiled at the others. “Let’s win this thing,” he said as he pulled out his fort-i-fire.
X stepped in front of him, blocking his way. “Ariel gets the first throw,” X said. “She saved us. She deserves it.”
“Saved you and Vero, not me,” Kane said. He walked around X.
X grabbed Kane’s shoulder and spun him around. “We would have never gotten past the hyenas without Ariel.”
Kane looked to his fellow fledglings. No one spoke, but it was clear they all agreed with X. Kane held X’s gaze for a moment then put the fort-i-fire back into his pocket. “Go,” he said to Ariel. “You take the first shot.”
Ariel bowed her head to him then headed to the den. The others all followed her, except for Kane. Ada walked back to him. “You did the right thing,” she said to him.
“Maybe, but I can’t bear to watch someone else win.”
The others walked over to the entrance in the hill. But rather than excitement, with each step, they all felt a sense of dread.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Pax said.
“Me too,” X said. “Like there’s something really evil in that den.”
“The soul’s in there too,” Greer said. “I feel it.”
They stood before the opening. Vero, Greer, and Ariel stooped over to peer inside. They saw the soul right away. It looked dim and dormant, hugged by a black carpet.
Greer nodded. “That’s it,” she whispered.
As they observed the soul, they noticed that the black carpet seemed to be gently stroking and caressing its head, almost as if it were comforting the soul.
“That’s really weird,” Vero whispered, not wanting to disturb the soul.
“What hasn’t been weird about this dream?” Greer murmured back.
Vero nodded to Ariel. “Now’s your best chance.”
Ariel turned her paw upward and a fort-i-fire materialized inside it. But as she drew her paw back, the end of the blanket shot toward the angels with lightning speed and wrapped itself around her paw. The fort-i-fire fell to the ground and exploded like a bomb.
Vero gasped. “It’s that thing that tried to grab us with the unicorn!” he shouted.
Just as quickly as it coiled itself, the blanket unwound from around Ariel’s paw and went back to stroking the soul’s head. Vero ran from the den, and Greer, X, and Ariel followed.
“What happened?” Ada asked.
“That hair rope creature stopped Ariel from throwing it,” Vero said, trying to catch his breath. “The fort-i-fire fell to the ground.”
A smile formed at the corners of Kane’s lips, “She missed?”
“Forget the Trials,” Vero said angrily. “We need to get out of here!”
A ball of light appeared outside the opening. It was a fort-i-fire. Kane’s mouth dropped.
“It’s Melchor!” Kane yelled as he pulled the fort-i-fire from his pants’ pocket. “He’s gonna throw it!”
Melchor’s fort-i-fire drew back for the throw.
“No!” Kane yelled, and he threw his fort-i-fire straight toward Melchor’s. A loud bang rang out as the two fort-i-fires collided in midair and exploded like fireworks. The sleeping soul woke up with a start, and the angels were gone.
18
MICHAEL
The fledglings sat up and found themselves on the amphitheater’s stage before an audience of angels. Ariel, Dumah, and the silhouette that was Melchor also sat on the stage. Gabriel towered over them. Her expression told Vero that she was not happy.
“All of you have failed your second trial,” she said sternly. “But the biggest loser is the soul who so desperately needed the strength of the fort-i-fire and now will not receive it.”
Vero lowered his head.
“You were so caught up in the competition you lost sight of what was most important.” Gabriel’s eyes rested on Kane. “Injuring humans is not what angels are about.”
Kane opened his mouth to protest, but Greer kicked his leg and shook her head. Kane shut his mouth.
“There is to be one final trial, and I hope during it, you remember who you are,” Gabriel said, her voice crystal clear, yet not loud. “The second trial is now completed.”
Gabriel walked off the stage. Vero stood up and chased after her. “Gabriel!”
Gabriel stopped and turned around.
“This soul, the one we failed,” Vero said. “What will happen to him now?”
“This soul, as we told you, is under great spiritual attack,” Gabriel said. “The attacks will intensify, and the soul may not be able to withstand them.”
“Will you send other angels to complete what we couldn’t?”
“Only if God wills it.”
Vero lay on his bedroom floor clutching the phone receiver in his hand. He heard a recording coming through the line. “Does your house need repairs? If so, we’ll be in your neighborhood . . .” Vero hit the “off” button. He yawned as he stood and looked at his alarm clock. It was two minutes to midnight, and he still had school tomorrow. Vero looked down at his feet — his new sneakers were now all muddy. Somehow Uriel had gotten his sneakers back. He crawled into his bed and fell into a deep sleep.
The next thing Vero became aware of was a pair of hands was on his shoulder, shaking him awake. He rolled over and saw his mother sitting on the edge of his bed, smiling down at him.
“Get up, Vero,” Nora said. “This is the second time I’ve been in here. Why are you so tired?”
Sorry, Mom. Rough night battling an imp, a pack of hyenas . . . Vero thought.
Nora nudged Vero again. As she brushed his hair away from his forehead and looked lovingly at him, a real sadness came ove
r Vero, remembering the events of the previous evening. He sat up. “Mom, I’m sorry about your party. We should have put more effort into it because you really do everything for us. I feel like such a jerk.”
“Thank you,” she said, smiling at him. “That really means a lot.”
“And even though I don’t always act like it, I thank God you were the one who found me in the hospital that night.”
Tears came to Nora’s eyes. She hugged Vero tightly. “Now that was the greatest present you could have ever given me.”
The telephone rang. Vero nervously glanced at it, afraid to pick it up, afraid to get electrocuted once again. Nora let go of Vero and answered the phone. “Hello?”
Vero breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yes, he’s right here,” Nora said into the phone, then cupped the mouthpiece. “It’s a girl . . . Ada?”
Vero was surprised, not because Ada had his number — they had spoken on the phone in the past — but rather, what was so urgent? Didn’t he just leave her?
Nora handed the phone to Vero then stood to leave. “I’ll give you your privacy,” she smiled, before shutting the door behind her.
“Ada, what’s wrong?” Vero spoke quietly into the phone.
“I was hoping you knew something?” she said.
“No, I got back and went straight to bed.”
“I lingered at little bit, and I overheard Uriel and the others talking about the hair monster. That’s twice it’s attacked us. They were really upset.”
“What did they say about it?”
“I couldn’t make out much, but they’re worried. Uriel said it was time for Michael. That has to be Michael the archangel. It has to be serious when they’re talking about bringing in the most powerful angel.”
Vero was the only one of the fledglings who had ever met Michael. The mightiest of God’s warriors had rescued him from Abaddon. Vero knew firsthand how formidable Michael could be.
“What was that creature? Did they say?” Vero asked.
“No.”
“I guess we’ll just have to wait until they call us back,” Vero said.
“Ada, get your butt in the car!” a boy’s voice yelled through the phone. “Dad’s driving us to school early!”
“I’m on the phone!” Ada shouted so loudly that Vero had to hold the phone away from his ear.
Vero knew Ada had four brothers. He had met them at her Bat Mitzvah. It seemed like their favorite pastime was tormenting her.
“Now!” the boy shouted.
“All right, shut up!” Ada screamed then spoke into the phone. “Those hyenas were nothing compared to four brothers.”
Vero chuckled.
“Bye, Vero. Call me if you find out anything.” Ada hung up.
Dressed for school, Vero sat at the kitchen table eating a plate of scrambled eggs as Mom diced up a banana, making a fruit salad. Dad drank a cup of coffee while reading the newspaper. Vero sniffed — something was burning! He looked over and saw smoke coming out of the toaster. He quickly picked up a butter knife from the table and ran to the toaster.
“No! Don’t — !” Nora screamed as Vero stuck the knife into the toaster, attempting to get the burning slice of toast.
For the second time in twelve hours, his hair shot straight up as electric current tore through him. Vero fell to the kitchen floor, still clutching the knife.
The gym at C.A.N.D.L.E. didn’t look all that much different from Vero’s school gym. It was a huge empty space with racks of swords lining the walls. The only difference was the floor. It was bouncy, like a trampoline. Vero saw the other fledglings bouncing over to him.
“Long time no talk,” Ada smiled to Vero.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been called back so fast,” Vero said.
Pax nodded. “Something’s up.”
The double doors to the gym blew open, and a rush of wind accompanied by an intensely bright light nearly knocked over the fledglings. The wind calmed a moment later, and the light vanished. Vero smiled as an enormous angel stood over them. It was Michael the archangel. At ten feet tall and muscular with striking, rugged features, Michael looked completely invincible. The angels cowered in his presence, except for Vero. Despite the intimidating presence, he knew Michael to be kind and compassionate.
“Hello, Vero.”
“Hello, Michael,” Vero said, looking into his riveting violet eyes.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your classmates?” Michael asked Vero.
“Oh, sorry,” Vero said. “Everybody, this is Michael . . . the archangel.”
The fledglings looked at him in awe. Even the normally nonplussed Greer stared at Michael, her mouth half-agape. It turned out that Vero didn’t need to bother with names. Michael nodded to each of the other fledglings as he went down the line.
“Greer, nice roundhouse on that hyena.”
Greer blushed and bit her nail.
“Pax, it was good thinking under pressure with the stones, but we’ll need to work on your aim. You should have hit a few hyenas.”
Pax blushed and nodded his head.
“Ada, your bravery, intelligence, and knowledge of the Torah are equally impressive. X, you endured great pain from the hyenas. Don’t let that go to waste. Offer it up, and pray that you learn from that experience to become a fierce warrior.” Michael paused for a moment as he continued to eye X.
X nodded. Michael turned to Vero.
“Vero, your courage and defense of X was admirable . . . but a root ball?” he teased. He turned up Vero’s hand. “And now this? A butter knife?” Vero’s face flushed. He quickly stashed the knife in his back pocket and shrugged.
Michael walked over to Kane and stood before him. He placed his hand on Kane’s shoulder. “Your blessings and talents are great. But you need to concentrate on things that matter most, instead of your own personal gains.”
Kane lowered his eyes in shame. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have wasted the fort-i-fire. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Remember that for the final trial.”
Kane nodded.
“I know you’re wondering why you were called back so quickly,” Michael said. “You are here for sword training.”
Kane smiled ear to ear.
“It can no longer wait. Had Ariel not been there, none of you would have survived the hyenas.”
“I almost wound up in the choir of angels,” X said.
“That’s not the worst thing that can happen to you,” Michael said seriously as he picked up a sword from the rack and tossed it to X. “All of you, get a sword.”
The others pulled swords from the rack.
“The enemy is very strong so you must be stronger,” Michael said. “This is a crucial time, and you all must be ready.” Michael flicked the tip of the sword to Ada’s face. Caught off guard, she stepped back and fell on the trampoline floor.
“Ada, a warrior steps back for no one,” Michael sternly said. “Once you show fear, your opponent has the advantage.” Ada nodded. Michael held his hand to her, and pulled her to her feet.
Michael thrust his sword at X who quickly deflected the blow with his blade. Michael swiped at him a second time, and X managed to repel that one, too. But when Michael came at him a third time, a door blew shut, X turned his head to the sound, and Michael’s sword tip rested on his neck. X gulped.
“Never let anything distract you, X! Be it a closing door, hyenas, or worse.” Michael lowered his sword.
Michael then held up his sword to Kane, and Kane raised his own to meet it. Their swords crossed to form an X before they each stepped back to spar. Kane was impressive and quick on his feet, meeting every one of Michael’s thrusts. Vero felt a pang of jealousy as he watched Kane’s prowess. As Michael thrust forward, Kane’s wings shot out, and he rolled into the air, landing on his feet behind Michael with his sword drawn. Michael spun around swiftly and smiled.
“Well done, Kane,” Michael said as he lowered his sword.
“
Thank you,” Kane said. “But these are only training swords. When Vero fought the maltures, he grew one out of his hand . . .”
“Yes, at the very moment his ward on earth had prayed, God granted his prayer.”
“So we can only get our swords when someone prays for it?”
“No, each of you has the power to will it, just as you will your wings to sprout. With practice, the ability will come.”
“But how did Vero do it?” Greer asked.
“When the maltures attacked Vero, he was so desperate for a weapon. His desire along with his ward’s prayer made the sword a reality.”
“So there’s a beast in here,” Greer said as she looked at her palm, “just waiting to get out?”
Michael nodded.
“Would have been nice to know when foster dad number five locked me in a closet for days!” Greer said.
“We are never to use our swords against humans,” Michael said sternly. “God will handle the humans in His own way. Only He knows their hearts.”
“Sorry,” Greer said, lowering her head.
Michael tipped her chin up. “To grow your sword, you need to clear your mind of other thoughts, visualize it, and it will happen.” Michael turned to the others. “Try it.”
The fledglings closed their eyes. Each tried to concentrate as hard as he or she could. But nothing happened.
“Envision yourself as a strong warrior, feel God’s strength inside of each and every one of you,” Michael said in a coaxing voice. “Picture yourself strong against the enemy.”
Suddenly, an image of the old hag came into Vero’s mind and stared him straight in the eyes. Although her dark hair covered most of her face, Vero looked right back into the black, hollow eyes. She gave him a smile, keeping her lips tightly pursed together. There was something truly horrible about the vision, and it made Vero terribly uneasy. And then she let out a loud hiss, exposing a mouth full of rotten fangs and a six-inch forked tongue. At that very moment, a sword sprung forth from Vero’s hand with a sound like the ring of a sword being pulled from its sheath. At the sound of the sword, the hag’s image instantly vanished from Vero’s mind, and he opened his eyes. Just as quickly as it had appeared, his sword disappeared back into Vero’s palm. He stumbled backward several paces until his back hit the wall, and he slid to the trampoline floor. Michael walked over to Vero as the others gathered around.
Pillars of Fire Page 18