Louisa took Julia’s hand and reached for Peter. The three of them stood hand-in-hand, facing the others.
“Something has happened to us,” Louisa said. “We have been … away. It is an adventure you may not believe, but we will tell it to you if you wish. We journeyed to another world, though your ears reject my words, I know. Nevertheless, it is true. Peter and Julia are heroes there. Deliverers. Chosen of the Lord of Hosts. And I …” She sighed. “For a time, I was chosen too, as a healer. Here in this room, I have brought healing to Julia and Peter, but my heart tells me I will no longer have this power. I think the Lord of Hosts let me have it once more to bring you to your senses.”
Stepmother turned to Father. “She’s off her nut, Oliver.”
“No,” Peter said with a nod. “It’s true. It was … incredible.”
Julia nodded as well. “Unbelievable, in fact.”
“There is a song we learned there,” Louisa said. “I knew the tune here, but I didn’t grasp the words until we went away. It had power in that world. They were the words of a prophecy. But I think they have meaning here, as well.”
She cleared her throat, and Peter thought she was going to sing it. But she spoke instead.
“The song told of two that had to become one, united, for there to be power. When we left here — only days ago to you, but months for us — our two families were kilometers apart, though we lived under the same roof. I was with Mother and Bertram and Stepfather against Peter and Julia. They were the enemy. But the Lord of Hosts showed me that He can bring two together, not in conflict but as a new union that is stronger than either part alone.”
She smiled at her mother. “I think I have one final act of healing to do before I can go back to being just a schoolgirl again. I think I have to heal our families and make them one.”
Peter looked at Louisa in wonder. Had this been the little tattletale who had once told Julia that no one had ever loved her? When he’d stood there waiting for Father’s beating, he’d never once thought Stepmother could be changed. He thought he would receive the whipping and then decide whether to leave home. But if the Lord of Hosts could so completely change Louisa, was anyone — even Stepmother — beyond His reach?
“Mother,” Louisa said, “the Lord of Hosts wants to exchange your heart of stone for one of flesh. Bertram, I see the fine man you can become if you will learn the ways of the Lord. And Stepfather — no, Father, I see in Peter and Julia the courage and nobility that you put there, that still lies within you.”
At those words, unexpectedly, Father burst into tears. “I’m so, so sorry!” He buried his face in his hands and sobbed like he hadn’t since Mother’s funeral.
And just like that, the mood in the home shifted.
Louisa went and sat in her mother’s lap. Bertram joined them, looking unsure and like a normal boy. He sat next to Louisa, and Louisa whispered something into his ear. The look on his face when he pulled away was priceless. He was going to turn out all right. Louisa would see to that.
Julia took Peter’s hand and pulled him toward Father. Peter resisted at first. Then hope at seeing his old, loving father return overwhelmed him, and he knelt beside him.
Julia crawled into Father’s lap and wiped his tears. Father looked at her timidly, then cupped her face in his hands. He looked at Peter and grasped his shoulder, and in his gaze was something new and kind. Something like admiration.
“Daddy,” Julia said.
Father’s voice caught as he tried to answer, so he just hummed, “Mmm?”
“When we were … away … I found this piece of jewelry, or machinery, about so-big.” She held out her hands. “We called it the talisman. In it was a little hole in the shape of a six-sided star. The talisman wouldn’t work if the star pendant wasn’t in it. Then I found the pendant, and Peter and I brought it together with the talisman. We slid that star right into the talisman, and wonderful things happened.”
A thrill rushed over Peter. He hadn’t seen where Julia was headed with this until now. “It’s like you and us,” he said. “Father, the talisman was broken without the pendant. And the little star pendant was only nice to look at by itself. But when you put the pendant together in its place in the talisman, there was magic.”
Father wept again, but in a happy way.
“I think that now,” Julia said, “with Louisa’s healing and our return, the Lord of Hosts wants to make something wonderful happen with us too. With all of us.”
The six of them rocked quietly together, until Stepmother began to hum a little tune. Peter, Julia, and Louisa looked at each other sharply.
“Mother,” Louisa said. “What is that tune?”
“I don’t really know, darling,” she said. “It came to me just now. I think I used to know it long ago.”
Louisa smiled at Peter and Julia. “Would you like to learn the words?”
“Yes, I think I would. Do you know them?”
The three heroes of Aedyn smiled. And sang.
The two come together; the two become one;
With union comes power, control over all,
Flooded by light, the shadow outdone,
The host shall return; the darkness shall fall.
About the Authors
Alister McGrath is one of the most respected Christian theologans of this century. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Dr. McGrath currently serves as Professor of Theology, Ministry and Education, and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture at King’s College, London.
Bartek Nowakowski is an awardwinning artist and producer of short films and a graduate of the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. He is currently working for Relic Entertainment creating game art and cinematics.
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Other Books by Alister McGrath
The Aedyn Chronicles
Chosen Ones
Alister McGrath
The land of Aedyn is a paradise beyond all imagining. But when this paradise falls, strangers from another world must be called to fight for the truth.
Peter and Julia never suspected that a trip to their grandparents’ home in Oxford would contain anything out of the ordinary. But that was before Julia stumbled upon a mysterious garden that shone on moonless nights. It was no accident that she fell into the pool, pulling her brother along with her, but now they’re lost in a strange new world and they don’t know whom they can trust. Should they believe the mysterious, hooded lords? The ancient monk who appears only when least expected? Or the silent slaves who have a dark secret of their own?
In a world inhabited by strange beasts and magical whisperings, two children called from another world will have to discover who they truly are, fighting desperate battles within themselves before they can lead the great revolution.
Available in stores and online!
The Aedyn Chronicles
Flight of the Outcasts
Alister McGrath
It has been almost a year since Peter and Julia first visited the land of Aedyn and, faced with the harsh reality of their father’s remarriage and two new horrible stepsiblings, they’re beginning to wonder if it was all a dream. As they run away from home one evening, they fall into a half-frozen river and find themselves back in Aedyn — but this time they’ve accidentally brought along their stepsister Louisa!
Aedyn is deserted; the people taken captive and forced to work as slaves at the foot of a volcano on a distant island. As Peter and Julia wonder what has happened to their beloved country, a giant falcon appears and takes them to this island, the very place from which the Lord of Hosts saved his people centuries ago. The three children must find a way to save the prisoners and bring them back to Aedyn, but the earth is trembling and the volcano is starting to smoke. They’re running out of time.
Available in stores and online!
ZONDERVAN
Darkness Shall Fall
Copyright © 2011 by Alister M
cGrath
Illustrations © 2011 by Wojciech Nowakowski, Bartosz Nowakowski, and Marta Nowakowska
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