“El Elyon, if it is Your will for me to save these children and stop this war before it truly begins, then I pray that You would help me to find these monsters and destroy them.”
No answer came, but even in the absence of confirmation of my expected actions I knew what I wasn’t going to do. I wasn’t leaving this place until I did have an answer as to how to overcome the enemy. To leave now would be to go to war without the weapons I needed to ensure victory.
*****
I still sat on the boulder staring out into the darkness. I could hear the dim sound of the voices of those gathered about the fire in the distance.
By now, they all must surely think I was insane. I hadn’t left the spot of my earlier prayer for many hours now.
At some point one of the recruits had come and gotten my horse. About an hour ago they had made a small fire. Before darkness had descended though, I had noticed the deployment of several night guards. That was good. At least one of them was learning to take initiative.
Hopefully they didn’t lose all respect for me sitting out here alone in the dark, an action that was endangering all of us as we still were in enemy territory.
I was mildly shocked that Susori had not come to visit me yet. Susori, it was a strange and yet beautiful name. Memories of the last several days flooded through me and I was gripped by the raw need to leave this self-imposed spot of isolation and go and find her in the dark and make love with her again.
Groaning I dug my hands into my eyes and stayed where I was.
An hour went by and then another and another. It was a fight to stay awake. I kept looking off to the East in hopes of seeing the first hint of dawn, but so far all was still blackness.
I felt his presence then, all of a sudden. I lunged forward at where I thought he was and I was rewarded with the feel of cloth and a bodily form. We both hit the ground.
“Let go!” Urtholan said sharply.
“Not until you tell me what I need to know!” I grunted back, as I exerted all my force against the cloak covered Malachim.
“You know I could kill you, right?” Urtholan asked.
“Aren’t you my guardian? Or was that a lie?” I stormed back in reply.
The cloaked individual I wrestled with on the ground freed an elbow and smashed it viciously back into my side. Grunting with the pain of the blow I changed my hold and body slammed Urtholan into a stone slab. It seemed to have no effect on him.
This was crazy, to be wrestling with one of El Elyon’s Malachim! But Kuri had once told me a story of such an occurrence happening so I knew it was possible to achieve a favorable result out of this night.
Urtholan’s head smashed back into me and I saw stars in the darkness. I almost let go, but one fist remained gripped fast in Urtholan’s cloak. It was all I could do to manage to hold on as punches and kicks of a much greater power than my own rained down upon me with deadening impact.
I managed to jerk him forward against me with my grasp on his cloak and I punched him as hard as I could. Having said that, it was hard to manage any kind of an attack as every one of my ribs felt broken.
He broke off from hitting me and my incoming swing met with empty air before then slamming into a rock. I felt the bones in my hand snap and I cried out in agony. I fell backward and the desire to let go and nurse my busted up hand was a palpable emotion to be warred against.
I was drug forward across the ground for a distance of several feet, the pain of which was excruciating, as I jostled over the rough terrain of rocks beneath me. I was on the verge of blacking out when Urtholan finally stopped dragging me.
“Let go Benaiah.”
“No,” I gritted out into the dust.
“Why?”
“Because I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“But I choose not to!”
There was silence for a moment.
“What is it that you want to know?”
“How do I defeat the Gargons?”
“I don’t think that is a question that needs asked.”
My mind fuzzy with pain I asked in confusion, “What?”
“The question, Benaiah, is what won’t be held back from you now?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Things are different now, because of your insistence on receiving the promises of El Elyon. To those who ask of El Elyon, even shall they receive their desire of Him.”
“Receive what?”
There was no answer and suddenly I gripped hold of nothing. I lay there in the dirt, completely spent, and for a moment I was at a loss as to what, if anything, I had achieved out of this fight.
My hand hurt and gingerly I felt at it. It wasn’t broken!
That was strange as I could’ve sworn that it had been. Wheezing slightly I got up to my knees and felt at my ribs. Not broken. Not possible and yet reality.
I’d wrestled with a Malachim. I shouldn’t be alive, yet I was. Not only alive but mended of my injuries. I flexed the fingers of my hand that had been broken, but now didn’t even hurt. With every passing moment I felt better and better.
Soft fingers were suddenly feeling at my face as Susori’s voice rang out with concern, “Who was that? How are you even alive?”
There was enough grey light of early dawn to see by now and I stared into Susori’s face etched tight with concern. “You saw the fight?”
“Yes, I’ve been in the rocks watching for hours!” she said in a shaken tone and then sounding even more shaken she said, “Your beard…… it has white hair in it!”
I hadn’t really heard what she’d just said as my mind was too consumed with what she’d said at first. “Hours?” I asked uncertainly. To me the fight had only lasted but a few minutes.
“Yes! You’ve been fighting with an invisible being for hours and now your beard has white hair in it! You should be dead and you’re not! This isn’t possible! None of what I’ve seen is possible! How did you hold on to that which can’t be seen? I…….I don’t understand! I’m scared by this! It’s impossible!”
Smiling I cupped her face with both of my hands, “Susori, with El Elyon all things are possible. Even saving the children and rescuing your kingdom from destruction. El Elyon cares. He doesn’t just care about Kingdomer’s, but He has a heart for the lost. I tell you now that it was no accident that I was brought to your brother's palace just as it’s no accident that I’m here with you now, the other half of my soul. You have but to see and you too will believe, even as I do, in El Elyon.”
Tears touched my hands in abandon as she shook her head and she said, “I still don’t understand!”
In a tone of comfort I said, “It’s all right, you will, I promise. Do you believe me?”
Slowly her head nodded yes in the enclosure of my hands. My desires of earlier, coupled with the joy of still being alive, returned with full force and I found myself kissing her with all the passion that I felt for her. She responded to my kiss with equal abandon, which only drove our shared passion for each other higher.
Pulling back and huffing for breath I said, “Susori…….I……”
“I want the same!” she breathed out as her lips were back on mine cutting off any need for further words. Her hands gripped hold of my shoulders and she pushed.
“Ouch!” I said, clutching at my head that had just bounced off a rock.
“Sorry! I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” Susori said breathlessly, as she leaned down over me to kiss me again.
I couldn’t help it, I started laughing.
In the early light of dawn I caught both the indignation and humor portrayed across her face above me, “What is it that you find so funny, master?”
“Not much actually,” I said, still chuckling.
“Why the laughter then?”
“I’m happy. It’s sort of a new experience for me.”
A look came into her eyes then that both captivated me and stole my breath at the same time. Smiling slowly, even as a tear made its way d
own her cheek she said, “I will make it my job in life to see that this joy you have never lessens. Benaiah I……… I’m just so glad you’re alive!”
“Me too!” I said, before pulling her face down to mine.
Chapter Fourteen
Divine Empowerment
As we rode along I debated endlessly with myself over what I should name my stallion. I mumbled countless ideas to myself, but to no avail.
“Should I be concerned that my husband talks to himself? Susori asked with a playful tone to her voice.
I explained my predicament and she laughed out softly, “But he already has a name.”
“He does! Well, what is it?”
“Phalon.”
“Phalon. What does it mean?”
“First to the fight and the last to leave.”
“Really!” I exclaimed.
She nodded, but there was a slight tilt to the side of her mouth that hinted at mirth. I was being had again!
“That’s not what it means! Out with it. Be truthful now!”
She smiled and shrugged, “It sounded good.”
I gave her a stern look and she rolled her eyes and said, “Phalon means, ‘point of the spear.’”
Now that, I had to admit, was quite anti-climatic.
“Depending on the interpretation it can also mean, ‘the point of no return.’”
I nodded. That fit better. In a way that described the current situation. Just up ahead of us lay the border of the northernmost nation of Ayenathurim, the Kingdom of Martz.
Little was known of it, even by Susori. It was said to be sparsely populated with virtually no regimented order to it. It was also where the headwaters of the Gargon River were located. The little that the Cronians had been able to discern as to where the monsters hid the children was that they went north, far north. The name of the river we headed for now suggested the area was known for its share of monsters in the earlier days of antiquity. It wasn’t much of a lead, but it was something.
*****
As we rode through the sparse high country of Martz, I wished fervently that Susori was not along on this mission. Things might not end well and if we met with significant force our chances were slim at best. It wasn’t to be helped though.
Twenty miles into the Kingdom of Martz, I called the order to make camp on a rocky promontory that looked like it could be defended. There would be no fire tonight.
A night without a fire at this altitude was not an easy thing to suffer through. As hard as I tried to produce extra heat and shelter from the chill wind that blew across these high plateaus at night, I couldn’t manage to get Susori warm enough to stop shaking.
My arms already wrapped tightly around her, I whispered into her ear, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing,” she chattered back to me.
“Don’t lie.”
“I can handle it,” she insisted.
“I know you can, but I’m still sorry.”
She pressed her cold nose into my forearm and I heard her mumble out, “How I have been blessed to have been given to a man that worries so much about my comfort. You are so unlike the men of my people, even my brother. To them, women are nothing but a pleasurable diversion and a source of children and yet I sense respect for me in every action of yours. How is it that you are so different?”
“I had a good teacher,” I said simply.
I tried to hold her a little closer if possible, but she was as close as she could get. She was wrapped up in my blanket, but it was still obvious to me what a delight of feminine craftsmanship she was. “I wish……”
She turned her head to me slightly, “You wish what?”
“I wish it was warmer and that there was nothing between us and nowhere to go tomorrow.”
I felt her smile against my arm and say, “There will be other days for that, my love.”
I hoped so. I wasn’t really sure what would happen tomorrow. I held her a little closer.
*****
The rocks rose up impressively to either side. Soon we wouldn’t be able to take the horses any further and we would have to go on by foot.
I knew we were at the right place as I’d never seen so many bones before. The ground was literally covered with them. It was sickening to hear the steady crunch of bones, now brittle with age and weakened by the elements, being pulverized under the hooves of our horses.
Darkness had been allowed to rein in this forgotten corner of the world for far too long!
The deeper we went into the canyon the more it seemed as if we were immersing ourselves in a vat of black dye as the spirit of the place was so oppressive. I dismounted and was followed by the others.
The recruits were all visibly shaken by our surroundings. Who wouldn’t be?
They were getting quite the training exercise this time out. So was I for that matter.
I looked from the group to the steep gorge before us that got steadily narrower. The Gargons knew we were here. I could just sense it. I could sense a lot more things than I used to.
Turning to the group I asked them directly, “Which of you know that, if you were to die right now, El Elyon would allow your spirit to enter Shamayim?”
Slowly at first, but then quickening with speed, five of the group of 15 men raised their hands.
I nodded, appreciating the honesty of all of them. “Okay, you five over here,” I said, motioning off to my right.
The five moved to my right as assigned by me and I addressed all of them again by asking, “Now which of all of you thinks we have a chance of overcoming the enemy today? Those of you who feel that’s possible I want you to move into a group over here on my left.”
I waited patiently, but none of the young men moved. I nodded after a moment and said, “There is both a unifying factor apparent in all of you and a division. You all believe defeat is certain and yet only five of you believe you’re destined for life after this brief existence we share is over. There’s a big problem here. What do you think it is?”
One man in the larger group asked by way of answering, “That we’re not all ready to die?”
“That is a problem, but not the main one. Anyone else?”
Silence dragged out for a moment, then one of the scouts I had harangued harshly for his ineptitude on the job spoke up hesitantly, “That we’re not confident that El Elyon’s power is greater than the evil before us.”
“That’s it! That’s the problem. While continued life isn’t guaranteed to any of us, eternity is guaranteed to those of us who have chosen to believe as the Holy Scrolls have taught, but all that aside, what happens now is how we are defined in our mortal existences on this planet. None of us possesses any special ability to overcome forces greater than our own strength. Five of you are ready to die, but none of you are ready to live in a spirit of power and the freedom that comes with it! No one wants to die and yet the only faith you are all exhibiting is that you will die if we take one step further. We are deep in enemy territory far darker than I believe any of us have ever experienced. Who here wants to approach this situation outside of a spirit of fear?”
Instantly all of them raised their hands plus one. My gaze shifted to Susori who had timidly lifted her hand as well.
“All right, come here everyone.”
They all drew close to me. I stooped down and picked up a rock and asked, “Who made this?”
“El Elyon,” several of them said.
I nodded. Then I drew my sword free and held it up to the sky and asked, “The metals used to forge this blade, who put them in the hills and deep places of Ayenathurim to be found and made thus into this creation of man?”
“El Elyon!” they all responded confidently.
I nodded, “I could go on and on and say that about everything around us and I’d get the same answer wouldn’t I?
They all nodded affirmatively.
“Now, can one of you tell me of the existence of something that El Elyon did not create?”
With sur
prise on their faces they, to a man, looked toward the forbidding gorge ahead of us.
“That’s right. The Creator didn’t make the Gargons did He?”
“No sir!” the recruits responded firmly.
“So then, who do you believe is the stronger force to be reckoned with in this gorge right now, monsters without hope of a resurrection or living spirits such as ours who find our right and position of authority in the Master who formed and spoke into existence all that we see around us?” I had them now and I pressed forward all the way, “In the Holy Scrolls it was us humans, created in the image of El Elyon, that were given the right of dominion over this world! Those monsters laying in wait over there are usurpers of our promise! They have no right to be here! They gain power only through fear and we lose authority through our lack of knowledge of what El Elyon crafted within us from the beginning! Who here wants to start over?”
They all pressed closer as I knelt down. They followed suit and I did what I had become increasingly known for, I prayed. “El Elyon, I pray that you would make us men and this woman grounded in the authority that you gifted to our kind in the beginning of this world. You have not been overwhelmed. You have not been surpassed, but You have been largely forgotten along with Your most excellent ways. I pray that would change in the hearts of all of us gathered here. Craft in us the Spirit of power You promised was ours for the asking when You gave Your words to us, recorded down in the Holy Scrolls, by which You told us that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that has come out of Your mouth! Take far from us the self-imposed ignorance of our generations of neglectful thoughts and open in each of us a will to be in Your will alone and no other. Make us conform to Your words and give us the gifts that You’ve held in store for those who would simply ask for them. Out of a contrite and humble heart we kneel here, dependent on You and You alone to do what we could never do on our own, for in You all things are possible! We give You the glory, the honor, and all the praise for the victory we are about to claim through the power of Your Name, El Elyon! Amen.”
“Amen!” echoed out strongly from all those gathered.
I stood up and pointed with my sword up the gorge as the Spirit of El Elyon, that I so willingly gave myself over to, swelled within me the ability to do far greater than I had ever done before, “To victory!”
“To victory!” echoed out behind me.
I spent no more time on them, but began to run up the gorge. The very atmosphere of this place had changed within a microcosm of time. Where before there was darkness, now there was the light that we introduced to it by the unfettered desire of our hearts to overcome that which is evil.