Joan, her eyes as bright as her body, locked her stare on Lauren. “I see your victim. She has residue, but she is not a statue yet.”
Lauren pointed at herself. “Me?”
“Of course, you.” As Joan marched her way, the Second Edeners parted to make room, apparently nervous about her fiery form. She halted within two steps of Lauren and looked her in the eye. “Did you not notice your feet of clay?”
As warmth from Joan’s fire spread across Lauren’s face, she glanced down. Dried mud caked her feet and legs. How could that have happened? She tried to lift a foot, but it wouldn’t budge. “What’s going on?”
Joan offered a courteous smile. “Such is the result when visitors trade words with Abaddon.” She drew her sword and batted at the mud with the flat of her blade, loosening it.
“Thank you.” Lauren lifted her feet in turn. The mud flaked off and fell to the stone floor.
Sir Barlow gave Joan a formal bow. “I am Sir Winston Barlow, formerly Lord of Hinkling Manor, and I am at your service.”
“And I am The Maid, probably better known to you as Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans.” She bowed her head. “I have heard stories of your remarkable courage, and I am glad to finally meet you.”
Zohar bowed as well. “I am Zohar, though I have no last name or office. I was birthed as a plant and uprooted by Joran, son of Methuselah.”
“You have eyes like sapphires.” Joan ran a hand through his white hair, sending flames from her fingers that danced across his head. “And your alabaster locks give me reason to believe that you are an Oracle of Fire, one of body as well as of spirit. You must be kin to Sapphira and Acacia.”
“So I have been told.” Zohar’s cheeks turned red. “I hope that I do honor to that legacy.”
Tamara drew back behind Barlow, apparently hoping she wouldn’t have to introduce herself.
Lauren gave Joan a nod. “I am Lauren Bannister, daughter of Billy and Bonnie Bannister. Have you heard of them?”
Joan let out a friendly laugh. “My dear Lauren, I lived here with Bonnie for four years. She became an Oracle of Fire in spirit, and I trained her to be a stellar sword maiden.” She grasped Lauren’s arm. Lauren flinched at first, but the flames radiated only luxurious warmth, no scorching heat at all. “You, however, are not an Oracle of Fire.”
“Am I supposed to be one?” Lauren looked at Joan’s grip. Her fingers were stronger than they appeared. “I don’t even know much about what an Oracle of Fire is.”
Joan stared for a long moment. A thin halo of fire surrounded her blue irises. “You have your mother’s clarity of vision but not her maturity in faith. If Abaddon calls on me to train you, I will have to equip you with a sword and shield of a different sort, weapons your mother already had at your age.”
“Train me? Are you Abaddon’s partner or something?”
“Or something?” Joan laughed. “That is an apt description. We are neither partners nor friends. Ours is a relationship of tolerable cooperation, though he holds the key to my escape from this place.”
“Escape? How do—”
“Enough talk for now.” Joan pushed her sword back into its scabbard. “I will lead you and these refugees to a safe place.”
“Safe? Safe from what?”
Joan eyed Abaddon. “Let us just say that a certain dragon is unpredictable. If you stay here in this chamber, you will become either a statue of stone or one of fire, and I care not to guess which state is worse.”
“Then let’s go.” Lauren shook off more dried mud. It seemed that Abaddon had a statue of stone in mind.
“Come along.” Joan pivoted and marched away, her flames growing as she headed for the corridor.
After gesturing for Barlow to follow, Lauren took a little girl’s hand and walked in Joan’s retreating light. To the rear, Barlow, Tamara, and Zohar herded the others. As before, everyone stayed quiet. One woman picked up a birthing plant, but Abaddon waved a wing. “Leave those here. I have need of them.” She set it down and scurried to join the others, her flashing companion zipping along at her ear.
When Lauren passed by Abaddon, he turned the hourglass over. “Every second the sand slides through, your sibling suffers. The period preceding the prophesied peril precipitates.”
Lauren halted, her cheeks hot. “Is Matt in trouble?”
As the others paused behind her, Abaddon narrowed his eyes and whispered, “Almost assuredly.”
“How can I help him?” She let go of the girl’s hand. “Can I help him?”
Abaddon’s lips pursed, as if enjoying the drama. “The future is open. The only events that you cannot control are those God has ordained without condition. I merely provide practically perfect predictions premised on the present.”
“Stop the alliteration!” Lauren shouted. “This is too important for riddles!” Breathing rapid gasps, she glared at him. “Tell me plainly. What can I do to help Matt?”
“It depends on your decisions … ahem … your choices.”
“What choices?” Her heart pounded in her throat. “What do I have to do?”
“I know you have seen one of these.” He rolled a green egg across the table. “I suggest we talk alone.”
When she caught it, she cradled it in her hands. “Barlow,” she said, looking at him through the corner of her eye, “please follow Joan with the others. I’ll catch up in a minute.”
“If you please, Miss. Your mother charged me with looking after you. I cannot leave you alone in the company of this … well … noble, yet frightening creature.”
Lauren looked at Abaddon. “May he stay?”
A sparkle gleamed in the dragon’s eye. “Very well, but he must avoid interjecting his, shall we say, intellectually invigorating idioms.”
Barlow gave a quick bow. “As you wish. I will stand off to the side while you converse.”
While Tamara and Zohar continued guiding the Second Edeners, Lauren glared at Abaddon over the egg. “Is showing me this some sort of trick to keep me in your chamber?”
“If a trick, then it worked, did it not?” Abaddon laughed. “But it is not a trick. I want to offer you an option. You know what this ovulum held.”
“Zohar and Mendallah.” Lauren glanced at her legs. So far, no mud had collected. “Where is Mendallah?”
“She recently perished in a tragic fiery event, and she is now here in my lair. She is a statue outside, a large and noble statue. She is safe, so you need not worry about her. I can revive her from that status at any time.”
Lauren took a deep breath. Staying calm was the only way to spar with this dragon. “Okay, so what are my choices?”
“You may remain here in complete safety, though not as a statue. You will rest and recreate with the citizens of Second Eden in comfort, and I will send Joan to your world. I assume you have heard of her prowess in battle.”
Lauren rolled the egg back toward him. “Maybe the greatest leader the world has ever known. She led an army when she was only a teenager, and being female made it that much harder. It was a miracle, really.”
“Correct.” Abaddon caught the egg and set it upright. “Since she is a superior general, she would be able to lead the righteous remnant to victory over the forces of evil.”
“And Matt?”
“Matt, being a courageous warrior, would not count his own life precious as he battled to protect the innocent. He would perish early on, so his suffering would end quickly.”
She glanced at the hourglass. The sand seemed to drain more slowly than before. “If I go instead of Joan, will we conquer the forces of evil?”
“It is possible, but doubtful. You are not the leader Joan is.”
She spread out her hands. “But there is a chance, I mean, the outcome isn’t set in stone. The future hasn’t happened yet.”
“The future is rarely set in stone. Even Joan’s victory in your place is merely a high probability, though it is virtually guaranteed. As Si
r Barlow might say, ‘It is money in the bank.’”
“And my chance of helping us win? I mean, I know I’m no general like Joan, but if I go instead, what are our odds of winning?”
“Perhaps you have heard another idiom about a snowball’s chance in—”
“Never mind!” Lauren glared at him. Her scales tingled like mad. She glanced at her feet again. Still no mud.
“Yet,” Abaddon continued, “your chance of keeping Matt alive is better than excellent. You two as a team would survive, though the war would likely be lost. Perhaps you would even be prisoners, commiserating with each other while in chains, but at least you would have your lives.”
She set her hand on the table. It trembled. For the first time in her life, her own glow became visible. She quickly covered it with her other hand. “Why can’t Joan and I both go?”
“I never said you could not. I offered you safety so that you could be in comfort while another goes in your place.”
She pounded her fist. “I don’t care about comfort! Just tell me what our chances are if we both go.”
Abaddon looked toward the high ceiling for a moment before letting out a long hmmm. “Joan would triumph, and you would likely suffer a horrible death.”
“And Matt?”
“He would be Joan’s second-in-command and share in her glorious victory. They would give you a heroine’s funeral, and the righteous remnant would bless your name forever, in the same way they do Joan’s now. They would compose songs about the girl who glows in the dark, the maiden whose light continues in their minds whenever they have to endure dark days.”
Lauren firmed her lips, trying not to cry. “How do you know?” Her voice pitched high in spite of her efforts. “These are all just probabilities, right? I mean, you’re just guessing based on what you know, and your knowledge can’t be perfect.”
“You are correct. Although I am the angel of the abyss, and I have seen the scenes of seventy centuries, I could be contradicted by consequence, but errors are extremely …” He snorted a cloud of gray smoke. “I apologize for the alliteration. I meant to say that I am rarely wrong.”
Lauren glanced at the corridor. Joan’s light had almost faded away. “If I decide that we both are to go, should I run and retrieve … I mean get her now?” She looked at the shutters—solid wood. It was impossible to tell if the gas had dispersed. “And should we go back through your window to the museum room?”
He rolled the egg toward her again. “Take this. It will glow in the dark. Go with Sir Barlow, find Joan, and return here to me without him. We will discuss a new set of options.”
Chapter 15
FALLEN COMPANIONS
Matt ran with his mother in his arms, puffing through his mask as the incline steepened. The lava wouldn’t follow at this elevation, but the poisonous fumes might. Mom had already fallen unconscious, and her sapped energy didn’t allow her body to fight for breath. Only a few shallow wheezes passed through her mask, and even those labored breaths increased her danger. These masks couldn’t possibly keep all the poison out. If they didn’t find clearer air soon, she would die.
He slowed for a moment and rewrapped her collapsed wings around her body. Every uneven step loosened them, making them flap in his face. The clawed ends sometimes dug in, but he had to ignore the pain and get Mom to safety. For the time being, nothing else mattered.
When they reached the top of a ridge, Valiant signaled a halt. Still wearing his own mask, he scanned the sky. “I see no dragons. They must have joined Listener and the men at the enclave in the hills.”
“Then we keep going.” Matt took a step, but Valiant held him back.
“You need to rest.”
“If I don’t find clear air—”
“If you don’t rest, your lungs will explode. No man can carry her that far.” He nodded at Matt’s belt. “Restore her energy, and she can fly.”
Matt glanced at the gun, still swirling with light, about half the amount it had before. “I don’t think it will work. She said the energy in the gun is tied to her. She doesn’t lose it until it’s used on someone else. Besides, she wouldn’t like it. She wants to save it for other people.”
“Her heart is as big as all of Second Eden, and again I say that your heart is a reflection of hers. You are her son indeed.” Valiant held out his arms. “I would be honored if you would allow me to carry her for a while.”
“Sure.” Matt transferred her to Valiant and pushed the gun behind her belt. “I guess she’d better keep it.” He rotated his sore shoulders. The cloak added extra weight, but it was too valuable to leave behind. “And thanks for taking her.”
A breeze kicked up and carried the smoke toward the valley to the east. The Second Eden moon shone brightly, illuminating the landscape more than the moon on Earth ever could. It looked like daytime during a storm rather than late evening. To the northeast, Mount Elijah stood quietly. Barely a puff of smoke emerged, and the lava on its slopes had dried and darkened, though it still glowed with a dull reddish hue.
Matt lowered his mask, leaving it tied around his neck, and took in a deep breath. Although still tinged with a stinging bite, the air was a lot easier to breathe. “Strange. Everything’s settling. It’s almost like the volcano chased everyone away, and now it’s not angry anymore.”
“It is a strange mountain, indeed.” Valiant gazed that way. “It is said that eruptions are caused by a human falling into the crater. From what you told me, dozens of men fell in. That surely explains the reason for such a violent explosion.”
“You think so? I thought the reason was all the energy that got poured in by the lasers and by the fire that opened the portal. That’s a lot more logical than a …” Matt averted his eyes. He was being as insensitive as sandpaper.
“A superstition?” Valiant smiled, and his companion hovering near his chin flashed as if amused. “I have no doubt that the energy contributed to the magnitude of the eruption, but I am confident that the humans who burned within were the primary cause. Mount Elijah reacts with furious wrath when it is used to execute a human.”
“But when it erupts, it hurts more humans. That doesn’t make sense.”
“Your point is well taken. I assume there is an explanation, but I never learned what it is.” Valiant nodded at his arms. “I think your mother is waking up.”
“Mom?” Matt laid a hand on her forehead. “How are you feeling?”
She opened her eyes, fumbled for her mask, and pulled it down. “Let me stand, please.”
Valiant lowered her to her feet and helped her balance. While she took several deep breaths, Matt held her arm. “I guess the clearer air revived you.”
“Maybe, but it’s more likely because the dream ended.”
“Dream?”
“I was being told what to do next.” She turned toward the valley, blinking. “The smoke is settling in the Valley of Shadows.”
Matt studied the lower elevations. The valley into which he and Semiramis had fallen was now filled with swirling smoke, like a cauldron of boiling gray stew. If Eagle hadn’t found Cheer by now, they wouldn’t survive for long. “Well, you can’t go there, if that’s what you mean.”
“That is what I mean. While I was sitting in the garden with my wings wrapped around me, I was asking God for a dream that would provide guidance. A hologram formed in front of my eyes. Even though it was dark under my wings, I could see everything in full color. I saw a young black man, a woman, and a girl standing at the entrance to a cave. Since the figures were small, and since they were covering their faces with big leaves, at first I recognized only the woman, Semiramis. I also dreamed while I was being carried, and I saw them again, this time closer up but only from the rear, as if I were standing behind them. That’s when I recognized Eagle.”
“And the girl had to be Cheer,” Matt added. “It all makes sense. Eagle found both of them.”
Mom tapped her chin. “The puzzling thing is that
they seemed content to be together. If Semiramis kidnapped Cheer, why would that be?”
“Semiramis made up a wild excuse, something clever that would fool—” Matt glanced at Valiant, then looked away. “What I mean is—”
“If you are suggesting that my son might be taken in by a lie,” Valiant said, touching Matt’s shoulder, “you will not offend me. As far as I know, he has never heard one uttered, and if Semiramis is well practiced in the art of deception, Eagle might yield. It is difficult to train a warrior against such weapons when they are not readily available for sparring.”
“Good point.” Matt swiveled back to his mother. “We need to go and help him.”
“We?” Mom slid her hand into Matt’s. “If you’re volunteering …”
“In a heartbeat. Try to keep me away.”
“I will come as well.” Valiant crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you notice anything else? Dangers? Enemies?”
As she nodded, she stretched out her wings. “They were all coughing, even through the leaves, so the fumes were obviously a problem. I assumed they were thinking about entering the cave, but they seemed hesitant.”
“The shadow people prey first on little girls,” Valiant said, “so Eagle is likely being careful for Cheer’s sake. Their numbers have been greatly diminished, but they are still formidable, and the cave is a refuge for them during times of trouble.”
“Didn’t Grackle go back to help Eagle?” Matt asked. “Why don’t they just fly out to escape?”
“That is an excellent question.” Valiant scanned the dim landscape. “Since Eagle found Cheer, he would try to leave with Grackle as quickly as possible.”
Mom shook her head. “I didn’t see a dragon in my dream.”
Valiant shifted his gaze to the sky. “Listener sent Grackle to help Eagle, because he has more courage than does Albatross, but since he is older, he could have succumbed more easily to the fumes. Karrick and Albatross helped the men carry supplies to our enclave in the hills where Elam and I have hidden many weapons in case of an invasion, and they were told to hurry back to aid us, so we should see them soon.”