by Jerel Law
“Hey,” a voice came from behind. He turned to find Eliza walking up behind him and attempting to smile.
“Hey, Eliza,” he said.
“You look like you have a lot on your mind,” she offered. He knew it was her way of breaking the ice, letting him know she wasn’t mad at him anymore. He felt his shoulders relax a little, and he exhaled softly.
“Yeah, I guess I do,” he said, and proceeded to tell her about his conversation with their parents in the Angelic Vortex a little while ago. “Mom didn’t look very good at all,” he said, unwilling to sugarcoat it. And then he blurted out, “And I’m sorry, Eliza, about putting you all in so much danger. I—”
“I know,” she interrupted. Then she did something very un-Eliza-like. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she hugged him tightly. “I forgive you. And mainly, you’ve just been trying to do the right thing. It just hasn’t worked out all that well.”
Jonah smiled at his sister. “Yet,” he said, causing her to roll her eyes.
“I’m worried about Mom,” she finally said, still holding him tightly. He didn’t know what to say but didn’t push her away.
She stepped away from him and patted him on the shoulder. “Well, just do me a favor and don’t get yourself hurt anymore out there today, okay?”
Precisely at ten o’clock, Camilla and the messenger angels appeared with a flash.
“Today is your final exam, and it will play out a little differently than the others,” Camilla said. “As you know, these exams are to test your skills as quarterlings. It is not to be seen as a contest to create rivalry among you.” As she said this, she glared at Jonah, and then Frederick. “That said, today’s contest involves everyone. It will demand that you utilize all of your abilities. What is more, you will be called upon to rely on Elohim. Yes, your trust in Him will be tested, challenged, and stretched. Now, if we don’t leave immediately, we are going to be late. Shall we?”
When Jonah landed, he found himself on the outcropping of a mountain, sitting high over a beach lapped by clear blue water. A few sailboats traveled lazily in the distance. The warmth of the sun felt good, and the cool breeze blowing against his face even better.
He looked around and realized he was entirely alone.
THE FINAL STAGE
Wow,” Jonah said as he took a few minutes to check out his new surroundings and get adjusted. It wasn’t simply a mountain he was on, but a ridge that curved around and around far off in the distance, and all the way back to him again. The ridge formed a circle, which looked almost perfectly round. He had been on top of mountains before, but never one quite like this.
On the outer edge of the mountain, the rugged, rocky terrain at the top gradually gave way to lush green vegetation, and then a sandy beach. Crystal blue waves lapped against it.
The interior of the circled ridge was similar. A steep, rocky hill going down, in some places almost vertical, connecting with low-lying brush, and then thicker green vegetation, like a rain forest.
“Welcome to Hawaii!” a booming voice called out, though Jonah couldn’t see him. It was Nathaniel. “We’re standing on the edge of a crater formed by a volcano long ago. Gorgeous, isn’t it?”
A crater, Jonah thought. That was why the ridge formed a perfect circle. He looked closely now, along the highest point of the crater that was even with him. He could make out people spaced out along the edge all the way around. They were each about the same distance from one another.
So that’s where everyone else ended up. Camilla was right. We’re all going to compete against one another this time.
His eyes were suddenly drawn upward as a platform materialized above him, like the one he’d seen in the first competition. Glancing to his right and left, he saw that there were other platforms in the distance, forming in front of the other quarterlings.
A giant head appeared in front of him. Jonah couldn’t help but think it looked like a head on a platter. It belonged to Nathaniel.
“It’s a beautiful setting, isn’t it, friends? We decided you deserved your own special venue for this final test: the battle simulation. We’re on a stunning crater on an equally gorgeous Hawaiian island. But don’t let the scenery fool you,” he said. His giant eyes looked down toward the crater’s center. “In between here and there, a whole host of challenges awaits you. In this final part of your examinations, as you likely have noticed, you will all be competing against one another. Every skill you have will be tested. Each of you possesses unique skills, and the ability lies within you to complete this task. Even the smallest of you have an equal chance, based on the course laid out in front of you.”
Jonah looked down in front of him but saw no course laid out. No track to follow. Just rocks, and then a lush forest beyond.
“Look carefully now at the center of the rain forest below,” Nathaniel said. As he said this, a flag was being raised, higher and higher, so that it came into full view. It was enormous, with every stripe of a rainbow on it, and in the middle, a set of white angel wings. “The flag that is being raised is your destination. The goal is simple—get to that flag as fast as you can. Any way you can. There will be obstacles in your way, specifically designed with you in mind. They are to test your strength, courage, perseverance, and faith in Elohim. I cannot tell you what you are about to face. What I can say is that the challenge will be just as difficult spiritually and mentally as it will be physically.”
The smile had drained from Nathaniel’s face now, and he looked entirely serious.
“Now, according to your test scores so far, Frederick is at the top of your class, followed by Eliza and Jonah. But this is your biggest test, and it carries the most weight. Do well, and any one of you could steal the top spot!”
This should be piece of cake compared to that behemoth last night, Jonah thought, looking down the mountainside and plotting the best route to take to get to the forest and then to the flag. He knew, though, that it wouldn’t be as easy as running down a hill and through the woods. His heart rate began to quicken as he thought about the prospect of facing the unknown obstacles that Nathaniel spoke of.
“And one more thing,” Nathaniel’s voice boomed again. “Today, a special surprise. You each have visitors here to cheer you on.”
Jonah heard the cheers before he saw their images appear on the platform. A picture materialized of a group of people seated on a small set of bleachers around the flag. A close-up of his parents flashed in front of him, and he imagined that Eliza and Jeremiah were seeing the same image. His dad waved wildly and smiled at them.
“Mom!” he said, even though he knew she couldn’t hear him.
She had made it and was waving, but looked weak and pale. She managed a smile, but it appeared to take a lot of effort even for that. He was reminded again how sick she looked, but he tried to force that out of his mind for the time being.
After the image of his parents, a quick shot of each of the quarterlings popped into view. When they came up, each one waved, gave a thumbs-up, or nodded at the screen. When it was Jonah’s turn, he gave a small wave of his hand.
“Okay, quarterlings,” Nathaniel said, his head reappearing. “On your mark, get set . . .” Jonah wondered if his parents would be able to watch him on a screen of their own.
“Go!”
The platform, along with Nathaniel’s head, disappeared. Jonah looked at the flag again, getting his bearings, and then began down the steep embankment in front of him.
The slope was so severe in some places that he had to zigzag to make his way down safely. Back and forth, back and forth. He came to a place with a face of sheer rock, straight down for at least twenty feet.
“Angel strength, I hope you’re still with me,” he said and lowered himself, face forward, down onto the rock. His fingers found a crack in the rock, and his feet were pressed into two dimples.
He took a deep breath and began his descent down the cliff face slowly.
“Just one finger hold at a time, Jonah,�
� he muttered to himself.
His fingers found another crack, and he lowered himself down again. Six inches at a time, he made his way down the rock face, all along wondering if he was moving too slowly and who might be ahead of him now. In his mind, anyway, Frederick was already ahead of him.
As Jonah distracted himself with this thought, his feet slipped, and he found himself dangling over a group of craggy rocks below with two fingers from each hand stuffed into cracks. His feet frantically searched for holds along the rock as his fingers quickly grew weaker. Even his angel strength had limits, and this was certainly going to test them.
He gathered himself and pulled his right hand out so that for the briefest second he was holding himself up by two fingers alone. Quickly, though, he found another handhold farther down, pulling his other hand out. He found rest for one of his feet and took a few seconds to catch his breath.
Jonah navigated the rest of the face without too much trouble, and soon found himself working his way around the craggy rocks on the floor of the crater.
A stretch of rough but relatively flat terrain opened up in front of him, about the length of a football field between him and the beginning of the rain forest. He guessed it was double that from there to the flagpole. And he was determined to be the first quarterling to arrive.
Jonah was about to call on his winged feet to sprint ahead, when a shadow passed over him. Then another and another. He looked up to see at least half a dozen angels—disguised as the Fallen, of course—diving toward him. He didn’t panic. He’d been in this situation before, and he reminded himself that they weren’t real.
Finding his arrows, he crouched down behind a rock and began firing. He connected with the closest two attackers. Another angel fired at him, and he leaned back just in time to watch the arrow blast into the sand.
That was close, he said to himself as he knelt behind the rock, his back toward the approaching angels. With another arrow in his hand, he turned in one motion, locked in on the nearest angel, and released. The arrow was true to its mark.
Easy as a LeBron James fast-break dunk.
The remaining two angels soared upward, out of range. He glanced toward the forest and decided his best bet was to make a break for the trees. Summoning his sandals of speed, he bolted in that direction.
Halfway there, he felt a sudden stinging sensation in his shoulder.
“Ow!” he said, hitting the ground as he clutched at his arm. The way it felt, he expected to see an arrow sticking all the way through his shoulder. But there was nothing there. It only felt as if there were.
He held his shoulder and stood back up, continuing to run, but looking backward at the pursuing angels. One of them was poised to fire again, and he bore down toward the trees, hunching his back down.
“Agh!” Again, a similar pain shot through his right leg, the arrow connecting with the back of his knee. He dropped to the ground and instinctively held his leg. Drawing his hand back, though, he saw there was no blood. His jeans weren’t even ripped. He only felt the pain of the arrow, not the arrow itself.
“It’s not there, Jonah,” he repeated to himself over and over. “It’s not there; it’s just in your head. The pain’s not real.” But it sure felt real.
The angels made a dive at him, missed, and moved beyond, climbing back up. They would definitely be back for another pass. Jonah forced himself off the ground and half limped, half ran toward the trees once again.
He knew they were turning above him in the sky, but he stayed focused on the green brush just ahead. When he was almost there, he visualized another arrow piercing him in the back, and he dove as hard as he could. Falling into a patch of thick grass that covered his head and the rest of him, he felt an arrow whiz past his ear and hit the ground just ahead.
Army-crawling forward, he pulled himself toward the trees and into the brush, suddenly thick around him. There was a canopy above, and he assumed that, unless the angels pursued him, he was safe for the time being.
Jonah stood up, working the pain out of his knee by pressing his hands on it for a few seconds. He did the same on his shoulder, which seemed to help a little. But he also knew that part of this challenge, like Nathaniel said, was about dealing with physical pain. The image of Frederick running athletically toward the flag played across the screen in his mind again, and he pushed the pain away.
“Hopefully he has his own set of fallen angels to deal with over there,” he muttered.
Jonah hurried through the brush and trees, and at first, he felt as if he were making good time. But it was growing thicker with every step, until it was like a series of heavy curtains that he found himself pushing back and stepping through. All around him was the brush of this jungle, and he was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic.
Turning around, he realized he was closed in on every side. He spun around to try to figure out where he was, but immediately wished he hadn’t. Because now he was questioning which way he had been headed in the first place.
“Which way is the flagpole?” He mumbled the question, realizing that every direction looked the same. Making his best guess, he moved forward, pressing his body against the thick grass, forcing the thought out of his mind that he may be going the wrong way.
Jonah had also begun to lose track of time. The more he pushed himself though, the more he felt like hours were passing by. It was light, but only barely, the sun unable to break through the thick trees above. Sweat rolled down his cheeks, and he periodically wiped his face on his sleeve. Had it been five minutes? Thirty? Two hours? He was losing track of things, and with each step and no sign of the end of the jungle, something dark and lonely increased its grip on him.
Just when he thought he couldn’t move another foot forward, the brush in front of him began to grow lighter. He took a few more steps, and it was thinner still, until suddenly, he spilled out into a clearing.
It was brighter here, the sun peeking through a little more, and the ground was damp and covered with all kinds of plants and grasses. Just ahead, he heard the sound of falling water. He moved forward, toward a low waterfall pouring into a pool. It extended into a creek winding through the rain forest.
Jonah stopped quickly, realizing there was someone with his back turned to him, crouching down in front of the pool. The person didn’t seem to notice him, or at least pretended not to. There were no wings on his back, but Jonah felt his heart rate quicken, and he pulled his angelblade out as he approached.
“You aren’t going to use that on me, are you?” the man said without turning around. “Come look at these fish. They really are amazing.”
Jonah recognized his voice before he saw his face. “You again?”
He moved up beside the man he had walked with on the beach, the one who had been surfing. He felt his own arm, remembering the feelings of peace that had washed over him when the man touched him.
The man turned, greeting Jonah with a smile. Jonah looked down into the pool, teeming with large fish, orange, white, and black. “Koi?”
“Gorgeous, aren’t they?” the man said, holding his hand down. The fish swarmed around his hand, which just touched the water. He was feeding them something.
Jonah pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “I . . . uh . . . have to get going. But you know that, right?”
He stood up now, beside Jonah. “Don’t worry,” he said, his clear eyes studying him. “You’re not losing any time in the race right now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Let’s just say that time works a little differently in this part of the competition,” the man said. “But I won’t keep you long. I just want to remind you of what I said a while back.”
Jonah eyed him. “Back on the beach?”
“Yeah,” the man said, throwing his remaining handful of food to the fish, which almost jumped out of the water to get it. “You remember, right?”
Jonah thought for a second. “You said that I need to be prepared for anything. I think
your words were that ‘dark days are coming,’ and that I need to remember to trust Elohim no matter what.”
He nodded at Jonah, the smile fading just a little. “Yes,” he said. “Good. I’m glad you didn’t forget our conversation. There are some things that are going to happen, and happen soon, that will test you in some ways that you haven’t been tested before. Some things you are afraid of.”
“What’s going to happen?” Jonah asked. “You can tell me, can’t you? I would be better prepared if I knew.”
He smiled again, patting him on the shoulder. Jonah winced when he touched his shoulder, but realized that it no longer hurt from the arrow shot. Nor did his knee. “There are some things that Elohim will reveal only when He wants to. If they haven’t been shown to you, then in His best judgment He has decided not to.”
Jonah was struggling to understand everything. He felt safe just being with this man, but he didn’t like the idea that something was coming. He already knew this, though. He’d felt it ever since their last meeting on the beach.
“It time to go now,” the man said, turning Jonah around to face the brush again. “I believe it’s that way.”
“Who are you?” Jonah asked as he turned back toward the test.
“I think you already know,” said the man, and then he vanished from view completely.
Jonah shook his head in wonder. But then his mind clicked back in step with the competition, and he wondered if it was true that he really hadn’t lost time. Where were the others in the race now? He had no idea how long he’d been in this jungle. Dreams of a victory march to the flagpole were fading fast.
But at least he knew what direction he was supposed to go now.
THE JUNGLE COMES ALIVE
Jonah moved forward, but his mind was stuck back in the interaction with the man. He felt the peace flow from him again and heard his words, trying to hang on to them and to do what he said. To trust.