Last of the Nephilim Page 13

  “Did Enoch say what kind?”

  “Indeed. There is one act that I have spoken against ever since the first child came to this world in the birthing garden. My people always speak the truth. If we believe that true words will hurt someone’s heart or endanger a life, we will remain silent rather than invent a falsehood. If a lie should ever proceed from the lips of one of my people, the great evil will come through the chasm. That’s why I told you earlier that if a lie occurs, the damage would already have been done.”

  Elam raised a finger. “So you do have a forbidden fruit.”

  “In a way, yes, but ours is different. Adam and Eve fell together, suffered together, and laid the foundation for their children to follow. If one of my people were to lie, it is important to ensure that he or she suffers alone.”

  “Wouldn’t the corruption spread to everyone else? Lies have a way of giving birth to more lies.”

  “I’m sure you have seen corruption spreading like a disease,” Abraham said, “but it isn’t really like an infection. No one becomes corrupt because of the sins of another. They cannot catch it by mere exposure or by birth. All people choose for themselves.” Abraham stopped again, his voice fading as he stared into the marsh. “That’s why my people have two safeguards. I told you about the companions, and the people also have me to look to for guidance. Since I am the founder of the realm, and my people are na”ve about the ways of wickedness and inexperienced in dealing with the forces of evil, they often ask me for counsel when they have to venture into the regions occupied by the altered tribes or if one of the fiends violates our borders.”

  Elam slowed his pace for a moment to let Dikaios and Acacia catch up. “Are you two doing okay?”

  “All is well,” Dikaios said. “Please continue. I find your conversation intriguing.”

  Acacia, her fair face glowing in the light of the moon, nodded. “I’m tired, but I’m listening. Don’t get too far ahead, though. I can barely hear you.”

  Abraham slowed his pace. “Do we have eavesdroppers?” he asked, showing a weary smile.

  “The best kind.” Elam stepped up to Abraham’s side again, risking a slightly louder tone. “So if something happened to you, your people would be without an experienced leader.”

  “Experienced? You could say that. I witnessed many great evils while in your world, and Enoch helps me from yet another realm, so, yes, my people’s reliance on me is heavy, and I take great risk every time I leave the village. Even now, I feel anxious at being gone for so long. Still, I have learned to rely on Valiant.” He held up a pair of fingers. “There are two communities. Mine is called Founders’ Village, and Valiant is the leader of Peace Village. He is a wise man and my best warrior. If something were to happen to me, my people know to look to him for counsel.”

  Elam held up his hand, halting Dikaios. When the horse caught up, Elam whispered. “I heard something. Did you?”

  Dikaios bobbed his head. “I think so, but ask the Oracle. She has a better vantage point.”

  Looking up at Acacia, Elam set his hand to his ear, hoping to signal his question.

  She leaned over, keeping her voice whisper quiet. “I see moving reeds, but there is a wind.”

  Dropping to a crouch, Abraham waved his hands at them. “Stay low.”

  Elam wrapped his arms around Acacia’s waist and hoisted her down. While they squatted near Abraham, Dikaios settled to the cold ground, now hard sand once again.

  Something zinged through the air. A thud sprang up from the ground nearby. Another zing. Then a splash.

  “Arrows!” Abraham waved a hand again, signaling everyone to get lower.

  More zings. More thuds and splashes. Abraham fell to his seat, an arrow protruding from his lower leg. He bit his fist to stifle a grunt.

  Elam braced Abraham’s back. Acacia looked on, her blue eyes wide in the moonlight.

  The arrows ceased. More rustling sounded. Suddenly a man broke through the thicket, his arms raised, showing that he had no weapon. Then, pressing a finger to his lips, he crouched with them.

  Elam stared at the man’s wide white eyes. Greevelow! What was he doing here?

  Greevelow grasped the arrow’s shaft and broke it off, leaving a few inches protruding from Abraham’s leg. The snap of wood made him stop in mid motion and perk up his head.

  Elam listened with him. No sound but the never-ending rush of water.

  Apparently satisfied, Greevelow bent close to Abraham. “Must flee. Attack comes.”

  “Why did they stop?” Elam asked.

  “Arrows found you.” He reached into the thicket and withdrew a long wooden shaft with a barbed metal end. “Spears kill you.”

  Angel folded the bag and held it close to her face with both arms. She took in the aroma, a combination of leather and charred bones. Yet, there was something more, a familiar smell. She pressed her nose against it and took a long sniff, then raised her head and exhaled slowly. Yes, it was Dragon, her long lost Adam. Even three years after his death, this skin still carried his manly scent.

  He had used it many times to cover his pillow, preferring the feel of leather under his head rather than the sheets she had spun and sewn from tufts of marlyn fur. It had taken her weeks to capture enough of the speedy rodents, but their soft coats made it worth the trouble for most of the villagers.

  Smiling, she hugged it to her chest. Oh, if only those days could return! Running in the rabbit fields, laughing and playing with the children, teaching Candle how to build a rabbit trap, comforting Listener during her nights of torment and pain.

  She sighed. Yes, those lovely nights, having him near as she drifted off to sleep, hearing his contented breaths after a hard day’s work. What bliss that would be! No more cold, lonely nights, no more drying tears of children bereft of his strong, masculine presence.

  She lowered her head and shuffled away from the garden. It wasn’t to be. The Father of Lights had so decided, so it was up to her to be content and—

  “Angel?”

  She spun around. Dragon’s voice? She closed her eyes and shook her head. No. It couldn’t be. She was just exhausted. She was imagining things.

  “Angel? I am over here.”

  She gasped. It was his voice! She crept back toward the garden. “Dragon? Is that you?”

  “Yes, my love. I have returned.”

  A dark silhouette walked along a row in the garden, coming toward her with an outstretched arm. “A miracle of the scattered bones. You have been praying for my return for these three years, and your faith has been rewarded. Timothy held my companion when he died, so when his bones were spread over this soil, the birthing garden was able to regenerate my life.” He stopped at the edge of the grass. “I have missed you, my love.”

  Her heart pounding, Angel ran toward him, but he held up a hand. “Come no closer.”

  She stopped, panting, her lips trembling. “But why? I don’t understand.” She reached out her hands. “My arms ache for you.”

  “If you touch me now, all will be lost. I cannot set foot out of this garden until my resurrection is complete.”

  “What is left to resurrect? I see your head, your chest, your arms and legs. Even your feet make impressions in the earth, so you are not a spirit.”

  “I walk in the valley of dead souls, and the lord of that valley told me that the scattering has opened a door to this world. Yet, I can come only when it is dark. Since the moon’s glow is ebbing, I am safe, but if I were exposed to the light of day, I would evaporate, and if we made contact, I would be forced completely into your world and would remain in this vaporous state forever.”

  Angel’s entire body quaked. Her knees knocked together as she tried to keep her balance. “What … what must we do to complete the resurrection?”

  “What you were planning to do. Find Father Abraham, the warrior chief, and the Oracle. Bring them here.”

  She clasped her hands. “Yes! Yes, of course! They will be glad to know that you are back. They will�
��”

  “No!” He lifted a hand again. “You must not tell them that I am in this state. They will not believe you. Only bring them here. The little girl who sang will sing again to bless the garden in the presence of the Oracle.” He spread out his hands over the garden’s soil. “She will invoke the name of Makaidos, king of the dragons, in order to resurrect him from these bones. But you must get her to change the name and ask for me instead.”

  “Change Makaidos to Dragon?”

  “To maintain the meter of the poem, she should say, ‘the dragon.’”

  “I see,” she said, nodding. “Three syllables.”

  “Correct. It is a very simple task.”

  “How will I convince Paili to make the change? Resurrecting Makaidos is the very mission she and the Oracle have come to accomplish.”

  “This will only delay the return of the great Makaidos. He can be resurrected at the next eclipse cycle. I have spoken to him in the valley of souls, and I assure you that he agrees with this plan. But you must get the participants here before the second moon comes back into phase, or it will be too late.”

  “Second moon?” Angel tilted her head toward the sky. “It rises the night after next.”

  Dragon lifted two fingers. “So you have today, for it is now early morning, and tomorrow, as long as the girl can sing before midnight, for that is when Phoenix rises.”

  Angel extended two fingers of her own and stared at them. Two days would be plenty of time to find Father Abraham and the others, but what could she say to cause Paili to change her song without revealing Dragon’s plan?

  Edging even closer to him, Angel gazed into his lovely eyes. Now she could smell him again, that wonderful aroma she had so longed for on many lonely nights.

  With her eyes half closed, she pursed her lips and spoke in the playful singsong voice she had often used at romantic moments. “It will be much easier if I could tell them that my handsome Adam will come home to me if they change the name.”

  His face remained stoic. “As I said, they will not believe you, so you should tell them that while Father Abraham was gone, you peered into Enoch’s Ghost. Tell them Enoch himself commanded the girl to change the name to ‘the dragon’ instead of ‘Makaidos.’ Since Makaidos was the king of the dragons, that label is appropriate.”

  Angel’s mouth dropped open. “Tell them I looked into Enoch’s Ghost? Why?”

  “Simple enough. You were seeking their whereabouts in order to aid your search.”

  Her companion buzzed into her line of sight, flashing red. Such a statement would not be true! You cannot do this!

  Dragon chuckled. “I can easily guess what your companion is saying, and she is right, of course; the statement would not be true. But it will be true by the time you speak it if you peer into Enoch’s Ghost and ask for help in locating Father Abraham.”

  The companion flashed again. Do not plan to speak what is not yet true. Let the passage of time prove events before you implant them prematurely in your mind.

  Angel stepped to the side to look past the companion. “I can see how consulting Enoch’s Ghost will become true, but how do you know Enoch will tell me to change Paili’s song?”

  “I cannot guess what Enoch will tell you, but no harm will come if you say that he gave you my instructions.”

  The companion rushed back and forth, its light blinking wildly. This man has no companion and speaks from a pit of despair, so he is influenced by his sorrows. Whether or not immediate harm comes is not your deciding factor. Saying something that is not true is a violation of our law. That should be enough to keep you from falsehood.

  Angel knitted her brow, searching for a floating companion around Dragon’s head. There was no sign of one. “You are asking me to speak a … a lie!”

  He set a hand over his heart. “I have learned much in the valley of souls. Although Father Abraham is a wise and noble teacher, there is much that he doesn’t know. While truth is the best choice in almost every case, telling a lie is an option in desperate times. Our enemies are willing to deceive us, so we would not be wise to ignore a powerful weapon.”

  “But Father Abraham and the others are our friends, not our enemies. Why would you want me to lie to them?”

  “No doubt, they are our friends. But a lie is not only a weapon; it is a shield to protect life. If one of the shadow people trespassed into our home at night and demanded to know where Candle and Listener slept, would you tell him they were sleeping peacefully in their room?”

  She clenched a fist. “Of course not. I would not speak a word to the fiend.”

  “Then he would merely search for them and eventually find them. Yet, if you told him they were visiting a friend in another village, he would slither away and accost you no more. Such is the power of a well-placed lie.”

  Once again the companion flashed. Trust in the Father of Lights. Falsehoods are the path to darkness. If you—

  “Would you please silence your companion?” Dragon said, his voice spiking. “We cannot discuss this if it continues to interrupt.”

  Angel wrapped her fingers around her companion and, swallowing hard, placed it in the pocket of her pantaloons. As she held her hand over the opening, it pushed and prodded her leg, but after a few seconds, it became still.

  “I …” Angel swallowed again, but the lump in her throat wouldn’t go away. “I will look into Enoch’s Ghost, but I do not know if the prophet will speak to me.”

  “If he doesn’t speak, then you should search for Father Abraham without his help. You were going to do that anyway.” Dragon sighed and reached out his hand. His fingers passed by her cheek, an inch away, stroking the air tenderly. “I apologize for being so adamant, my love, but this is a critical hour. We cannot allow emotions to blind us. We cannot allow allegiance to unexplainable rules to erect obstacles to our reunion.”

  As she drank in Dragon’s dark eyes, Angel’s heart thrummed. How could she possibly question her Adam, her protector, her love? Since Makaidos would eventually be resurrected, surely it was the right thing to do. Father Abraham would understand, at least eventually. Once Dragon came back, he could explain everything, just as he did tonight. All would be well.

  She licked her lips, dry and cracked. “I … I’d better go now. When Pegasus sets, it will be harder to search the highlands.”

  He smiled. “Yes, my love, and Flint’s Marsh, as well.”

  “Flint’s Marsh?” She cocked her head. “Do you mean Adam’s Marsh?”

  “Yes. Of course. I was merely referring to the fact that Flint now controls that area.”

  “But would Father go there? Would he risk facing Flint’s arrows?”

  “Ask Enoch.” He turned toward the twin fir trees at the edge of the field and angled his head upward. “If he doesn’t speak, I recommend flying over the marsh. Following the river is the easiest route from the Valley of Shadows, and Flint sleeps without knowledge of Father Abraham’s journey, so that would be a good guess. If you go there first, you can search all of Flint’s territory before dawn.”

  “In the darkness? Without Pegasus, it will be like looking for a raven hiding in the Shadowlands.”

  “You are witty, my love.” He turned back to her, smiling. “Watch for Acacia’s fire. Eventually they will need light and warmth.”

  “How do you know about Acacia? I just learned of her gifts—”

  “Shhhh …” He raised a finger and hovered it over her lips. “I learned much in the valley of souls.” He then pointed toward the village. “Go now. The sooner you complete your journey, the sooner we can be in each other’s arms.”

  Angel turned and hurried away, glancing back every few seconds to see if Dragon watched. He was there, his handsome form waiting patiently, but when she neared the bordering forest, darkness veiled his body.

  She focused straight ahead, ignoring her desire to search for him again. With little moonlight now, she could easily trip on protruding roots, so it was better to pay attention to what she
was doing.

  As she approached Cliffside, still standing guard at the boundary, she pressed her hands together and hurried on. Her prayer posture would let him know that she was on a mission and couldn’t afford the time to stand around and chat. With a smile and a nod, she breezed by him and hurried into the deserted street. Father Abraham’s home would be the third one on the right, the adobe hut with the thatched roof and a red dragon painted on each side of the entrance.

  She set her hand on the door and pushed. Unlocked, of course. The shadow people feared his dwelling, and none of his own people would dare enter without his permission … She set a foot inside. … Until now.

  She pushed the door behind her, but not enough to close it fully, and crept to the back of the room, a combination bedroom and study with a table near the back wall that held Enoch’s Ghost. Its red glow provided the only light, but it was enough to guide her way. When she reached the table, she set her hands on the weathered wood and peered inside the ovulum, a clear crystal at least ten times the size of her companion.

  She pressed her hand over her pocket. My companion! She reached in and took it out, setting it on her palm as she tried to find its eyes. The red glow washed over the little egg. Its eyes blinked, then stayed open, looking at her.

  What’s wrong? she asked it in her mind.

  It blinked again but stayed silent.

  Angel flicked her head toward her shoulder. Go on, then. If you’re not going to talk, you can sit up there.

  The companion stayed on her palm, tipping slightly to the side.

  Too tired? She wrapped her hand around it and pushed it back into her pocket. Then rest there.