“You are right,” said Layla, “We can’t drop our guard, we need to be smart and need to choose wisely.”
“This is it!” shouted Trinity, “I know this one. It’s one of my favourite verses, Isaiah 40:31 ‘…soar on wings like eagles.’ We need to get high, and if we can get a lift from an eagle, we could get to the throne in no time.”
Layla stopped and ran back to the window. The three girls looked at each other breathing hard, then peered through the window into a dimly lit room.
“Yes!” said Samantha, “I don’t think there is any point going on and trying to find a window that seems more ‘right.’ I feel that if we pass this one up, there may not be a chance of getting back to it, even if we wanted to. I wonder if we can take this verse literally. Anyway, we’ve been out here long enough. Do we all agree?” Each nodded.
“Then let’s go in,” said Layla. Just as Layla was about to hoist herself up onto the ledge, Samantha spotted a demon perched on a rocky outcrop a few yards away, staring at them angrily.
“Demon!” alerted Samantha as she pointed toward the creature.
As quick as a flash Layla drew out her bow, loaded it, aimed and released the string, all within moments. The arrow shot from the bow and pierced the demon through the chest.
“Didn’t see that coming did he?!” said Layla in an aggressive tone.
“Ouch! Wouldn’t want to be your enemy!” said Trinity with a smile, becoming more and more impressed by the confidence and skill that her friends were displaying. The three girls had begun to notice how quickly they had been growing in faith, demonstrating the qualities you would expect of daughters of a great king. It was an awakening within, a transition from girlhood to womanhood, a transition from being led, to being entrusted with the responsibility of governing themselves, and eventually an entire realm.
“OK girls, we need to focus. You ready to go in? Yes?”
The other two nodded.
“Then let’s go!”
28.
Eagles
(Mission Girls)
Layla was the first to climb onto the window sill. The room was cool and smelt of sweet rosewood. She dropped down over the other side of the ledge and onto a wooden panelled floor. The other two followed. The panelling over the floor was stepped out in a diagonal pattern that covered the entire surface. In the middle of the floor was a large rectangular Persian-style rug. Various intricate patterns of purple, crimson, gold and sapphire blue tessellated across it. The girls looked around wide-eyed, unsure of what they should be looking for or what they would find. The room seemed empty apart from the rug in the middle of the floor and carved wooden statues of eagles stationed around the edges of the chamber. The eagles were about ten feet high with their heads almost reaching the ceiling. With wings folded in and heads held high, the gaze of each was set in towards the centre of the room.
“Not much happening in this room,” said Trinity
“No, apart from these freaky statues, there doesn’t seem to be anything else here,” said Layla.
“We need to keep moving,” Samantha said, looking for an exit.
The girls proceeded towards a door on the opposite side of the room. As they crossed onto the rug, they heard breath released from behind them and felt it blow through their hair. All three spun around in fright to see one of the eagles coming to life and ruffling its feathers. Having been awakened from an age-long sleep, it stretched out its enormous wings, then settled itself and stared at the three with its eagle eyes. With no offered expression, it locked its gaze onto the three girls and blinked. There was no escape from this powerful creature. Portions of scripture flashed into Layla’s mind. She thought of the places in the Bible that spoke of eagles such as Psalm 103, Ezekiel, Revelation, and others. The mention of eagles in these places of the Bible portrayed them in a favourable and helpful disposition to the purposes of God.
Layla was the first to speak, “Will you help us?”
The eagle blinked again and continued to stare at the three. Suddenly it stepped out from its place against the wall, startling the girls. It took a couple of steps closer, then opened its beak and breathed over them. It had happened so quickly that they all just stood motionless for a moment. The breath from the beast felt warm and energizing. Layla felt a tingling sensation all over her body.
‘What is happening to me? I feel like I’m wearing waves of energy, kinda like those shimmering heatwaves that rise off the asphalt when you’re looking at a road on a hot day. But it’s all around me.’
The feeling intensified and seemed to soak into her skin.
‘Something is happening to me. I feel like I’m in a cocoon, wrapped in brilliant liquid light, about to be rebirthed into something majestic.’
She was lifted into the air a little, drawn up with the breath of the eagle. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and felt a small explosion come from within her chest like a burst of power as she landed gently on the ground. The burst of energy felt like it had blasted away the cocoon from around her, her old clothing and skin being discarded and revealing new life underneath.
The dreamy state of the experience contrasted sharply with the drop to the ground and left her wondering, ‘How did I fall so gracefully?’ Her newly inherited wings had splayed out to cushion the landing. She looked across the room, Trinity and Samantha were getting their wings too.
“I have wings?!” she said to herself in amazement, “How sweet is this!” The three stared at each other with huge smiles.
Just then the door burst open. The girls spun to face the door. Swords materialized in Trinity and Samantha’s hands, and Layla had her bow at the ready. They had lost all sense of time being caught up in their experience. A wave of relief flooded them when the saw Shar, Seraph and Trillion hurry into the room.
“How did you find us?” asked Layla.
“I’ve been assigned to you, Layla, I always know where you are,” replied Shar. “This is the advantage that we have. Now I also see that you have another advantage too,” as he motioned towards Layla’s wings. We can no longer go on foot anyway; the enemy has set roadblocks in various places. But we now have the element of surprise as they will not suspect that you have wings. It will now be an all-out race to the throne. We must be swift.”
The six of them turned and exited the room through the window that the girls had entered. They stepped back out into the open, back on to the path, high up the cliff face.
“Now,” said Shar, “We don’t have much time. You will be safer in the air than standing on this ledge, but you will need to have faith, especially for your initial jump. Faith will keep you in the air, just as faith kept Peter walking on water. These wings will take you where you want to go as long as you maintain your confidence in God during flight.”
“Don’t worry,” Shar assured them, “The longer you are airborne, the easier it gets… just don’t over-think it,” Shar added. He had been growing very fond of his human companions. He was also confident in their abilities. God had chosen them for this mission after all.
“I’m ready,” said Samantha, “Ready to take a leap of faith. Let’s finish this!” The others nodded.
Samantha set her gaze resolutely to the horizon, ‘I’m not waiting! Got to do this now, before I over think this and get freaked out.’
With that, she ran and jumped with arms stretched out in front of her. As an extension of her body and spirit, her wings spread wide. All fears and reservations remained on the solid ground behind her. The wind tossed her hair backward as she embraced the open expanse.
“It’s incredible!” she yelled. Testing her control, she lifted her left arm a little and lowered her right arm; her wings followed and arced her back around toward the cliff. Trinity took courage and also jumped with her arms spread wide. As she drew her hands to her sides, her wings followed suit, resulting in a graceful dive. Feeling exhilarated, she spread her arms to catch an updraft and rose again, level with the others. Layla, who was enjoying watch
ing her friends and just about to jump, turned and smiled at Shar. Just then an arrow struck the ground beside her startling her, then another to the left and before she could leap, a third pierced her wing, causing it to crumble away and turn to dust.
“Go!” Shar shouted at Seraph and Trillion, “Get the other two girls to the throne!” The angels launched into the air to join Trinity and Samantha.
“We must go now,” Seraph called to the girls, “Our mission depends on it. Shar will look after Layla.”
The four flew away from the cliff, out of range of the arrows. Demons peeled off the cliff in pursuit.
“We must get high,” called Seraph, “We can outfly them. Speed is on our side.”
The girls focused their attention on gaining altitude and found that they had impressive speed. They left the trailing demons in the dust, yelling and cursing. A few arrows were shot in a vain attempt, only to fall short and plummet toward the ground far below, much to the demons’ dismay.
Seraph and Trillion flew on, with the girls in between them. They continued to climb, clearing the top of the cliff. The scene that met their eyes was awesome and horrifying. There below them was a large plain occupied by the enemy. Hundreds, if not thousands of demons populated it, standing in military formations. The land had crisscrossed walkways dividing the troops indicating divisions and ranks. Some units appeared motionless, while others were engaged in a lot more movement. At various places on the plain, the ordered patterns were disrupted and scattered outwards.
“Demons are not very good at holding formation,” called Trillion, “They fight and snap at each other. Most of them haven’t seen us yet, and most of them won’t see us until it is too late because they get so consumed by their offences and arguments.”
The demons’ preoccupation comforted Trinity. They had the element of surprise and also had Shar and Trillion at their side helping them. What could go wrong?
“God, look after Layla,” Trinity prayed, “Protect her and show her what to do.”
Then, as if prompted, Trinity said, “Lord, give the boys success. We are now down to the wire. Hook them up with what they need.”
As she said this, a stream of silver ejected from each of her hands. The streams shot ahead of her, intertwining into a single cord that disappeared into the distance in the direction of Razor Peak.
29.
Strike
(Mission Boys)
Caden sat staring out over the landscape, thinking. Tristan was the first to speak, “Hey remember what the angel said at our commissioning. He said when the time comes you would know that to do.”
“Yeah, I was thinking about that too. But, to be honest, I don’t know what to do.”
Just then, the boys heard voices above them getting closer to the edge. One of the demons coughed and spluttered, “Arggg, I hate this cough, what are you looking at?!”
“Oh shut up, I’m in charge of this assignment, you’re just here to back me up.”
“Yeah, whatever, just keep looking.”
‘What are they looking for?’ thought Caden, ‘I hope not us. We’ve got no chance if they know we are coming.’
Just then, lightning struck a metal structure on the top of a building situated on the edge of Central Park, downtown. The crack reverberated around the surrounding mountains, and the flash left a bright spot in Caden’s vision for a few seconds.
“Ha, close enough!” called the demon, “Not long now. Let’s go report it.”
Arguing between the demons started up again as their voices trailed off into the distance.
The bright spot in Caden’s vision was fading.
He waited a few more seconds until it was quiet above and then whispered to Tristan, “OK, that helps. I’ve noticed that the lightning strikes are becoming more frequent, yet the cloud cover seems to have been constant throughout our time here. It’s not getting stormier.”
“The strikes have been getting closer to us too,” Tristan responded.
“So, the strikes must be a part of the answer because we know that the Elemental Stone and the atmosphere of the city are linked.”
“If they’ve been getting closer and more frequent, it must be some sort of countdown. Remember how the angel talked about the atmosphere setting a clock. It makes sense that if the strikes are getting closer and more frequent, that a countdown could be culminated by a final strike, perhaps on the Elemental Stone itself. If that is the case, we must finish our assignment before that last strike,” said Tristan
“OK, well, if it is a countdown, like an atmospheric clock, then we should be able to work out a pattern as to when a strike will happen next,” suggested Caden.
“Great thought. How about this…” said Tristan, thinking out loud, “Perhaps we can time it so that we make our move when we get a really close strike. The blinding light may help to conceal us, gaining us an extra couple of seconds to make the dash for it. Might be wishful thinking though.” Tristan paused as another idea emerged in his mind, “Or what if we could even harness a strike.” He followed the new train of thought. Tristan didn’t realize, but his thought processes were beginning to be led by the Holy Spirit. He was gaining the mind of Christ for the task at hand.
“If we had some wire, we could tie a strand of wire to one of your arrows and use your crossbow to shoot it over the enemy horde. It would need to land behind them so that the length of wire falls right through the masses. We could then take the other end of the wire and attach it to another arrow to shoot into the sky. If the lightning struck the skyward arrow, the lightning would trace through the wire and be conducted right through the middle of the enemy.”
“Wow! That could work. We just need some wire, good timing, and a great shot,” said Caden.
“Let’s just pray for some wire. If it comes, then it would help to confirm that the plan may actually work.”
Just then lightning struck even closer. Tristan quickly commenced his stopwatch. ‘Time runs differently here,’ he thought. He remembered the angel talked about time in this realm taking less than on the surface.”
“Let’s pray! Lord Jesus, your word says that you will supply all of our needs. Please now provide us with wire that we can use to create a diversion to help us get to the stone and complete our mission.”
Just then, Trinity’s prayer arrived, a silver thread in the sky, flying towards them from the north-east, the direction of Grace Falls. In no time, the silver streak was suddenly in front of them. The boys jumped out of the way so as not to be hit. It hit the ledge between them, and then the thread traced a circle on the ground, creating a coil. As the length of thread came to an end, the boys found themselves looking at the very thing for which they had prayed. Caden picked it up. It was metallic like wire but very soft and flexible like string.
“I like it!” said Caden.
Lightning struck again, and Tristan glanced down at his watch,
“That is eight minutes exactly since the last strike.”
Caden took an end of the wire and started to work on the arrows. He selected two arrows and tied the wire to the feather end of the first, and then with the other end of the wire did the same to the second. Caden took the time to make sure that his knots were secure and that they wouldn’t get tangled in the mechanics of the crossbow when he fired them. Another strike.
Tristan looked at his watch, “That strike hit exactly four minutes since the previous hit. If the period between strikes halves each time, we have less than two minutes to make this happen. We are very close to the end. It is now or never.”
Above them, they could hear the increasing cacophony of noise from the enemy increasing, shouts, screeches, metal on metal, and the ground trembling with many footsteps. Feeling the tension building, Caden loaded his bow with the first arrow and peered over the ledge again. He could see the enemy becoming increasingly restless, pounding each other on the chest and knocking shields together, hyping themselves up for a fight. He lifted the arrow into place, raised the crossbo
w, breathed in deeply, focusing on a target beyond the army of demons, exhaled and pulled the trigger. The arrow whistled high over the crowd and disappeared unnoticed on the other side, somewhere behind the chaotic enemy masses. The arc of wire, created by the trajectory of the arrow, started to fall to the ground and alight on the enemy below. Caden loaded the other arrow while Tristan commenced a countdown from 15 seconds.
“I’ll shoot at 3 seconds to give the arrow time to fly; then we need to jump.”
“6, 5, 4, 3...”
The arrow launched into the air, but as Caden released it, he felt the string twang back in an awkward direction.
“Oh no!” cried Caden. The arrow had half the power behind it that Caden had anticipated. The misfire caused it to shoot out at an angle instead of straight up, way too close to the cliff and nowhere near the highest point in the vicinity. The shot signalled ‘mission over.’ Caden and Tristan helplessly watched as the arrow curved over on its descent toward the ground, taking their wire with it. The boys felt sick and sensed the sentence of ‘fail’ in their hearts.
City Appointed_Winning a City for God Page 14