On the surface, Gabriella was immediately alerted. She was a prophet and an intercessor and was out for dinner with her friends. As she sat at the table surrounded by conversation, a picture of an arrow flashed in her mind. The image flashed again. It was such a strong impression that she immediately excused herself from the table, got up, and proceeded towards the toilets, praying under her breath as she walked. Gabriella was one of the particular ones that the Holy Spirit called on when immediate assistance was needed. It wasn’t so much that she was more special to God than others, rather, she had learned obedience; therefore God could trust her with the promptings that he released. When God required the human intervention of faith, he often used Gabriella. She would do what he asked immediately.
“Arrow fly,” she prayed, “Arrow fly!” There was nothing else that she could pray. All she saw was a golden arrow, back-dropped by a dark sky.
“Arrow fly!” she commanded, and then she blew.
Her breath immediately translated into the spirit realm. Caden and Tristan looked out over the edge of the cliff, staring down at the descending arrow. Just then, a blast of air thundered up the cliff face. The massive updraft roared in the ears of the boys, causing them to scrunch their eyes up tightly. They were lifted up and thrown into the back of the ledge that they were on. Stunned, the boys opened their eyes in time to see the arrow hurtle past them, and within a second it was high up above them.
Strike!
There was a deafening crack. Lightning struck the airborne arrow which shattered into tiny blazing fragments. The blinding explosion illuminated the surrounding cloud cover. Electricity shot along the wire that was momentarily suspended in the sky. The blinding electrical energy raced down the wire toward the earth. As the electric current hit the ledge, there was a huge flash where the remainder of the coil was lying. Then there was another flash, as the light traced up the remaining wire and over the ledge. A huge uproar erupted above them.
“Go, go, go!” yelled Caden.
The boys jumped up, flung themselves over the top of the cliff and made a wild dash for the stone.
A wide scorch mark trailed along the ground and into the crowd. It branched off in many directions as the electricity was conducted through weapons and armour. The demons were dropping like flies as the electricity tore through them. There was smoke, fire, bodies lying on the ground, shouting and absolute chaos. Many of the enemy soldiers were rolling around, groaning, holding injured and charred parts of their body. The plan seemed to have worked so far.
The boys had already covered most of the distance to the Elemental Stone before the first of the enemy spotted them. A demon let out a loud roar as it pointed towards the boys, alerting others. The demons’ focus shifted, and they launched themselves at the boys, determined to take them out before they reached the stone. Some demons fell as they ran, too badly burnt and injured to continue, others continued to hobble but a couple who had avoided the strike, fully mobile, with fury in their eyes, raced at the boys ready for battle. Just metres from reaching the stone, a demon made it into the path of the pair. Caden raised his crossbow and slammed it down hard on the head of the beast. The impact cracked the helmet it was wearing, and it fell to the ground.
The boys pushed their bodies to move as fast as they could. Tristan felt a surge of adrenaline racing through the muscles of his legs. His steps turned into strides, covering as much ground as possible with every bound. He swung his arms as he ran as if reaching for the stone. The synapses in his brain were firing with such intensity that the whole scene seemed to slow down and he could process all the information that was entering through his eye-gate. He glanced at the closest demon and was amazed that he could pick out the finest detail. Drool from its teeth splayed out into droplets around its ferocious head. The battle-scarred armour that hung from bone and muscle jolted with each stride as the monster furiously rushed nearer. All around were the sounds of shouts, screeches, metal on metal, and the thud of footsteps and bodies slamming into each other.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw an angel locked in combat with two demons, ‘That’s one from the roof!’ he thought, ‘They are buying us time.’
The Elemental Stone was almost within reach. Two steps before the stone, the boys looked into each other’s dirty faces, wide-eyed, but full of determination. Both boys raised an outstretched arm and slapped a hand onto the stone at the same time. At that moment a ring of amber light shot out from the Elemental Stone, flattening the entire enemy horde. The boys were knocked off their feet and thrown backward. Tristan felt winded as he fell hard to the ground. Caden had the presence of mind to twist his body around to avoid landing flat on his back. He hit the ground on his side and skidded across the gravel. The impact of the amber light erased the enemy from the field of battle.
As the boys opened their eyes and lifted themselves up, they found themselves to be the only ones left on the top of Razor Peak. The ground was littered with bits and pieces of armour and weapons, but no bodies could be seen amongst the debris. With a tremendous feeling of relief, they turned to look at the stone and noticed it change. The dark patches from within were draining out of it and seeping away into the ground.
The internal substance of the stone continued to exude energy and life and the atmosphere around it was changing. Clouds above the Elemental Stone began to part and the sky cleared. The boys looked at each other smiling. Relief flooded over them as the realisation of having achieved their mission dawned on them.
They noticed the clasp that held the Elemental Stone in place was changing colour. It was becoming more like the colour of the stone itself. Then a sudden trail of red rock shot along the ground. It became a glassy pathway of ruby that ran along the surface and over the cliff face. A brilliant trail of red could be seen shooting towards the centre of the city. The bright ribbon continued due east, but skirted around obstacles such as buildings and traced through roads and over grassy reserves. A wall of dazzling red light followed the path across the city like a silk curtain hanging in the sky. The boys had secured the Stone and re-established the red axis.
30.
Vault
(Mission Liberty)
As Liberty sat, she noticed a mist dropping down into the room through the grates in the ceiling above. She edged back and continued to look to see what would happen.
The mist hung in drifts down the walls like smoky fingers reaching to the floor below. As the haze covered the two figures who were guarding the door, the one on the left keeled over and slumped onto the paved stonework. The one on the right jumped up to its feet startled. It took a couple of steps, then fell face first heavily onto the stone. The mist continued to drift down and seep into the floor beneath. Within minutes the mist was gone just as silently as it had come.
‘Someone’s praying for me!’ Liberty recognized the divine intervention on her behalf. The prayer support prompted her to pray for the others.
“I pray for Samantha, Trinity, and Layla. Protect them. Help them to get to the throne and bring them success.” As she prayed for the girls, two beams of laser light shot up from either side of her like spinning helicopter blades and vanished into the skies above.
“That’s for you,” she said with a smile. She was pleased to have seen her prayer take form.
Liberty emerged from her hiding place and stood, surveying the scene before her. The two lifeless figures remained motionless on the floor. A glow from the grates above illuminated the millions of dust particles in the room which danced and flickered in the light. The particles gently swirled about, stirred by the gentle breeze which chilled her face as she looked toward the grates. Liberty stepped over the demon that lay lifelessly face-down in the middle of the floor. Its cloak had disturbed the dusty surface which left evidence of the impact as the creature had hit the ground. Streaks on the floor radiated outwards from the collision. She stepped quickly across the room and stopped at the large door in front of her. Glancing at the ground behind her, she also noti
ced impressions from the soles of her boots tracing her footsteps through the dust to the door. With both hands, she gripped the wheel at the centre of the door and tried desperately to move it. With the tops of her knuckles whitening, she used all the strength she could muster to generate some movement. Finally, with a cracking sound, like a seal breaking, the wheel reluctantly turned a few degrees. After a short rest, she tried again. It was freer this time, and the door began to slide open. She opened it enough to be able to peer through. There seemed to be no movement inside so she continued to push it open and slipped into the vault. As she stepped into the room, she saw about a dozen demons lying on the floor just like the two outside.
‘They must have been knocked out by the same mist. God, you know how long I need to be here. Please don’t let them wake up.’
She was feeling terribly uneasy standing helplessly in the middle of a room littered with unconscious or hopefully dead demons. She looked down at her locator which indicated she was in the right place to find the keys.
“They should be here,” she whispered to herself.
The vault had shelves and shelves of ancient books, star charts, maps and all kinds of instruments that seemed divinely inspired. In the centre of the opposite wall was a map that reminded Liberty of Riverdale. It looked similar to a plan view of Riverdale, but there seemed to be other roads running through buildings, and a massive building in the heart of the city. Then she recognized that the map was showing underground as well as surface detail. In the centre of the map was a hand-drawn ‘X’ with the two words ‘altar’ and ‘keys.’ The word ‘keys’ had a couple of underlines.
‘The large building must be where the altar is. An enormous building underground!’ she thought.
She scanned the map to find the library, where she thought she was and saw that there was quite some distance between her and the ‘X’ on the altar.
As she looked over various objects in the room, her eyes came to rest on a giant slab of stone crafted into a table, on which was laid out a huge collection of keys.
‘This is what I’ve come for,’ she thought. ‘How on earth am I to find the keys to the city in the midst of all these?’
The keys were of all shapes and sizes. Some looked old, rusted and worn. Others looked like metallic circuit boards, cut to fit a slot in a computer. There were others that were like cut glass, with lines and shapes engraved into them. She reached out her hand to begin to sift through the mass. As she did so her locator started to hum. She moved her hand across the keys again, more slowly this time. The hum increased or decreased in volume in response to her movements. Reasoning that the locator had not only led her to the vault but would also show her the exact keys, she started to explore the collection on the table by sweeping her hand slowly over them. She returned her hand to where the hum was loudest and picked up a collection of keys. Most were shaped in a rectangle, slightly larger than a credit card. As she sifted through the keys, it dawned on her that she had no idea what the keys to the altar looked like; they were all so different.
“God show me,” she said picking up key after key. Her locator continued to hum. As she looked at her locator again, she remembered the buttons on the side. She pressed the button that had produced the dim light, casting soft highlights and shadows over the table. As the light fell over the keys, two keys that were next to each other responded to the light as if a chemical reaction had taken place. Their edges glowed, and so did the detailing engraved into them.
“These are the ones!” she said with confidence as she lifted them from their place in amongst the collection.
“Useful after all,” she said to her locator as she patted the button which had turned on the light. Grateful for completing that part of her mission, she relaxed a little and inspected some of the other keys. She picked one up that looked like a giant microchip which reflected the light along its edges. Another looked well-worn like an ancient artefact from some long-forgotten civilization. As she picked up and inspected other keys that caught her attention, she heard footsteps just on the other side of the door that she had entered. Liberty dove under the table and quickly bagged all the keys she had in her hands.
She felt a presence enter the room, an uncomfortable presence. Unable to see what it was from her vantage point, she moved her head a little to get a better look. All she could see was light from the other side of the table. Liberty’s heart was racing. She was hardly breathing, trying to be as quiet as possible. Her leg started to get a cramp from being crouched under the table. The pain in her leg got worse as the seconds ticked by, so she adjusted her position. As she moved, her foot bumped the desk. The sound of the grind of the table leg on the stone floor made her heart jump. Her hopes of remaining unseen suddenly dashed as a large set of keys fell from the table and clattered to the stone paving. Immediately she leaped out of her hiding place with sword drawn and lunged toward the other end of the room.
“Stop!” said a voice behind her. The voice did not sound angry or alarmed; rather the voice sounded like it could have come from one of the angels that she had already met.
Liberty spun around, poised to defend herself but a glorious radiance filled her eyes. There stood a beautiful angel. Sparks emitted from his presence like miniature stars being formed and then fading into the shadows. Witnessing the entire lifecycle of stars being born and then dying within a matter seconds was captivating to watch. Surely this creature was a mighty angel, designed for significant assignments.
“Well done!” he said, “You have the keys, you have completed your quest.”
“Have I?” said Liberty bewildered, “Don’t I have to return these keys to the altar to realign the mission of this city?”
“Certainly.” The angel paused and considered her. “That must be done and shall be done. I will carry these myself and return them to the altar. Your part of the mission was to retrieve the keys, and you have displayed courage, skill, and faith. Well done. The other two teams are just about to complete, so we must return these keys quickly, and I can do this in an instant. You may come with me if you like.”
Liberty breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you for coming. I’m so glad that the other teams are doing so well.”
She reached into her bag to hand over the keys, but as she did, she felt uneasy. ‘This isn’t quite right,’ she thought. She remembered the words of the angel who commissioned her, “This task is for you, and you alone must return the keys to their rightful place.” A little panic started to rise within her. She moved her hand to the side pocket of her bag and drew out the two keys that were in the pocket, then slowly walked over to the angel and gave them to him. The angel stepped back. The stars that she had been admiring began to die off quickly around him.
“Thank you,” he said, “I shall now return these to where they belong.”
The angel smiled, but it didn’t bring her any comfort. ‘I don’t like that smile anymore,’ thought Liberty, ‘I’m in danger!’ The angel started to turn dark. The growing state of panic caused her cheeks to feel flushed, and a band of worried tightness spread across her forehead. A verse flashed through her mind, ‘Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.’ She lifted her eyes, again to meet his eyes and in a moment of full realization of who she was looking at, she then turned and fled in horror. A door at the opposite end of the room was ahead of her. Glancing backward, she saw that the angel wasn’t moving and wasn’t chasing her, but his hand stretched out in her direction. A dark power swirled around his arm. ‘He’s about to hit me with darkness!’ she thought.
“Oh God help me!” she cried out. Adrenaline surged through her limbs, but her mind was moving quicker than her body. “Move!” she commanded her legs, but they seemed to be moving in slow motion. Everything appeared to slow down as she realized that she had a minimal chance of escape. With all of her energy, she burst through the door and out of the vault.
“Quick, in here!” resounded the voice of Falcon. Liberty felt a firm grip embrace her
arm and yanked her sideways. As her body jerked to the left, a sickening darkness blew past her face and devoured a wall beside her. She stared at the gaping hole aghast as Falcon dragged her into a room off the passageway. The hole dripped with slimy emptiness. It looked like a portal into the blackness of hell… and it probably was.
31.
The Throne
(Mission Girls)
The girls were still high in the sky. As they looked down, they could see a river that ran through the middle of the ranks like an iridescent ribbon of light blue silk, dividing the plain into two. Originating from a powerful spring at the rear of the army, it cut a channel the entire length of the plain and over the edge of Grace Falls. Not far from the place where the water cascaded over the cliff was a wide stone bridge that spanned the river. The sturdy cobbled bridge looked like it had been set in place long ago. The worn blocks of stone that had been weathered by the ages were fitted together to create the archway over the waters. Two stone pillars stood at each end of the bridge, draped with ropes and flags flapping in the breeze. The banners were dark, embroidered with strange symbols.
City Appointed_Winning a City for God Page 15