City Appointed_Winning a City for God Read online

  Many barriers were slamming closed in an attempt to trap her on the gangway. Up ahead a barricade fell, blocking her way, but an angel sliced the air in front of it, and she ran through and appeared on the other side.

  Demons were getting closer, but an angel blocked every lunge made by a demon. More angels appeared at the points along the gangway where others connected to the one that she was running on. Angels wielded swords holding back three or four demons at once. Liberty was running the gauntlet. More enemies were called to mount their attack on the girl who by now almost seemed smothered in darkness. The demons beneath her were in an uproar and as many pairs of eyes angrily watched her progress. The end was too far away.

  Suddenly an angel larger than the others appeared in front of her carrying a javelin similar to the one that the angel had on the rooftop where they were shown the vision within the vision. He threw it, and it split the realm in front of her. Two other angels pulled back the curtains of her current reality, and she dived through.

  This time, instead of being instantly translated to a place a few metres ahead of her, she found herself gliding through an open expanse that the atmospheric rupture had produced. She momentarily left the control room behind her and had entered an entirely different universe between her entry point and the exit point up ahead. All around her was silence. As Liberty glided through space, which had opened up around her, she saw countless stars. This in-between universe had millions of sparkling pinpoints of light set against a deep dark red backdrop.

  ‘It’s beautiful!’ she thought. It was the birthplace of a galaxy. The stars were suspended within clouds of gas, spanning light-years across the heavens. Silhouetted against the glowing clouds were dark spheres and disc-like objects that she assumed could be planets and worlds, hung in space, perhaps waiting to be inhabited. There wasn’t much time to admire her peaceful surroundings, or even make sense of what she was looking at because within seconds she was through and bracing herself to roll again on to the hard metal grate on the other side.

  As she came out of the place in-between, she found that she had landed a long way ahead, at the end of the gangway. The danger seemed to be behind her. She quickly gathered her thoughts and got her legs moving again. Liberty ran out of the control room and into another tunnel.

  A loud noise echoed around her as an angel slammed the door of the control room behind and stood guard. A dozen other angels appeared, to protect her from any demons that may try to force their entry through the door. Liberty quickly turned her head around to catch a glimpse of them. She then turned back and proceeded forward into the darkness ahead.

  24.

  Orb

  (Mission Girls)

  On the surface, Linda, whom Layla had met with the day before at the planning meeting for the crusade, was still at the church working late. Linda was the one who had requested a project manager to help in the lead up to the event. Layla was selected to take on the role, not only because she was a qualified Project Manager, but also she was the daughter of the evangelist who was coming to town.

  Linda looked over her papers again, triple checking that everything had been signed off.

  ‘Where’s that transport approval?’ she thought to herself as she shuffled through her papers. Her heart sunk. ‘I don’t have it!’ she thought in a mild state of panic. Trying to recount her steps, ‘I went to the meeting… and he never gave it to me! He said it needed another signature and he still hasn’t sent it through. If we get any resistance, I have no legal way of being able to proceed with the crusade!’

  She sat back and gave a deep sigh. Then it dawned on her. ‘Oh, yes,’ she thought, I took a photo of it on my phone when someone called him out of the office for a couple of minutes. He said I should read it over to make sure I was happy with it. There was only one space for a signature, and I’m sure that’s all I need.’ She pulled out her phone and swiped through the photos and sure enough it was there, able to be sent to her computer to be printed out.

  ‘Thank you, Holy Spirit for the inspired thought of taking a photo. Who knows what they do in those council offices! They said they would send it to me and they haven’t. Takes a woman to get things done around here!’ she thought. As relief flooded Linda, so did faith and that faith was released out into the night.

  Trinity stood in the middle of the multitude. Then, as if God had pushed her from behind, she took a step forward. The demon growled angrily. She could feel all the beings around her staring.

  ‘Perhaps if I don’t look at my foe,’ Trinity thought to herself, ‘it could be taken as a sign of strength. I don’t have the time for this anyway. I’ve got an assignment and if I have to fight, I will!’ She began to walk again. As she advanced, she encountered no opposition. Trinity could still feel eyes staring at her, but after a few more steps angels and demons slowly began to turn away, back to what they had been doing before the incident.

  Trinity continued to walk and passed under the archway, her heart still pounding. She could see no sign of her friends, but saw the stairs and headed for them.

  As she reached the foot of the stairs she heard the voice of Shar for the first time since entering the palace, “I can’t hold us much longer. Quick, up the stairs.”

  Already the cloak felt lighter. She couldn’t see the others anywhere. She bounded up the stairs hoping to find a safe corner to tuck herself away. Her veil flickered. Two other angels were walking down the stairs discussing a matter between themselves as Trinity and Shar ran past them up the stairs. They looked up and saw her. Trinity knew that she was now fully exposed, so she purposefully turned and looked into their eyes, hoping they would read her. Both angels nodded and turned from walking down the stairs to follow her with their swords drawn. Trinity was no longer cloaked, but she now had Shar plus the other two angels to help protect her.

  “Quick,” called Shar, “We need to get as high as we can before we are stopped.” They ran up two and three stairs at a time. The stairway curved around to the left. As they came around the corner, they met Samantha and Layla who were now also uncloaked. They looked like strong warriors, just as she did.

  As Trinity met them, Seraph and Trillion who were out in front called back to the girls, “Halt!”

  The two angels up ahead were wielding swords in each hand, barring the way of five demons who were coming down the stairs. Behind the girls, Shar and the other two angels were also blocking the way of a dozen demons who were now racing up the stairs in pursuit of the humans. The girls found themselves caught in the middle with nowhere to go.

  “We are going to need help,” called Shar. A demon from below drew out an axe with jagged edges and jumped up the stairs towards the defending angels. Shar leaped into the air and spun with out-stretched arms, clutching a sword in each hand. The first blade sliced through the air in a wide arc with the tip barely missing the demon who had attempted the attack, but in quick succession, the second blade swung around and decapitated his opponent.

  “Wait!” shouted another demon, “reinforcements will come, and then we will take them all out!”

  Unable to move up or down the girls were forced to play ‘the waiting game,’ poised in attack positions, with their defenders either side.

  Linda was in the midst of writing her last email of the evening to the Stadium Convener about the seating arrangements when a picture of Layla floated across the screen of her mind. Linda pushed the thought aside, wanting to get the email finished so that she could go home. It had been a long day. She had begun at 7.00am that morning and had only taken a 20-minute break in the middle of the day for lunch. Linda was getting a little flustered; there were so many elements to consider and organize to run a crusade of this scale. She had learned that nothing in an event ‘just’ happens. Every detail has to have her attention, or that aspect won’t be ready when the time comes. As Linda continued to write, Layla’s image came to her mind again, coupled by a prompting to pray. Linda, finding that she was now losing concentration glanced
over at her Bible which lay open on her desk. On the right-hand side of the left page about half way down, was a verse that she had highlighted in orange at about the same time last year.

  It read, ‘And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.’ Ephesians 6:18

  These prompts weren’t new to Linda; the Lord often asked her to pray for specific things at various times.

  “Fine!” she said out loud. She removed her glasses, rubbed her eyes and rested her head on her hands. “Lord, I pray for Layla right now, that you would bless her, and that you would help her with whatever she is in need of right now.”

  It was a short prayer, but prayed with sincerity and prayed with faith. That was enough. Her prayer set off a chain reaction in the spirit realm. Linda went back to typing her email and finished it within five minutes. She logged out and tipped the rest of her glass of water into the pot of her Marble Queen Pothos plant on her desk. Linda flicked off the light switch, set the alarm, closed the door and locked it. She walked across the carpark feeling satisfied with her day. Her headlights were the last to leave the carpark and drive out of the gates.

  The prayer she had prayed had risen from her in the form of a glowing orb. The orb was the package containing the substance of her prayer. Her angel was waiting to receive the prayer above her. The spherical prayer container floated into the angel’s hands. The angel inspected the orb and saw that it was enough to work with, given the urgency of the situation.

  Some prayers are not designed to get used immediately. Prayers are often collected with others until they reach critical mass and then are released. When answers like these are released, there is momentum behind them that brings more breakthroughs that are similar in nature. The cycle of faith releasing answers and answers releasing more faith, generates an environment that wins many battles.

  Linda had prayed a prayer purposed for immediate dispatch. The angel quickly slipped the orb into a small satchel slung over his shoulder. Wasting no time, he flew up into the night sky and glided into a slip-stream that immediately sent him hurtling towards Grace Falls. He arrived almost instantly. There was no time for eloquent entrances. He flew into the palace and over the heads of the crowded foyer, under the archway and into the hall. The angel alighted at the base of the stairway and began to run up the stairs. As he ascended, he reached his right hand into a fold in his robes and produced a small silver hammer. With his other hand, he drew out the orb. Up ahead he saw the backs of the demons.

  Shar saw him coming, saw the prayer container and the hammer and said in a commanding voice, “Get ready girls – follow my lead!”

  25.

  Tunnel

  (Mission Liberty)

  Liberty continued her journey. After some time her locator indicated that the tunnel she was walking through widened. Up ahead it looked lighter. She neared the place where it opened out. Edging forward slowly, she hoped that she wouldn’t see another enemy. Up ahead there was movement. She could hear the eerie echoes of pouring water, the flapping of wings and chattering voices. Liberty pressed her back against the wall ensuring that the shadows were concealing her. Slowly edging along the wall, her surroundings grew lighter. Liberty’s forward shoulder felt an alcove, recessed into the wall, as she neared the opening. She slid into the recess and nestled herself into a position giving her a good vantage point from which she could survey what was beyond the opening.

  She found herself at the entrance of a large vault. She was about fifteen feet from a watery surface below. The ceiling above was about the same distance from her. Her entrance wasn’t the only one. There were five or six other circular tunnel openings into the vault like the one she was standing in. They were half way up the walls between the water and the ceiling. There were also other smaller drains lower down with water pouring out. It was impossible to see how deep the water was because it looked so dark and murky. A few feet below her was a drain that also poured water into the chamber. Around the perimeter of the vault was a ledge that acted as a walkway all the way around to the other side. She might have considered this walkway as the path to take, had the chamber been quiet and empty. But this was not the case at all.

  Apart from the structure of the chamber itself, it was the activity within the midst of it that arrested her attention. There were dozens of enemies flying and swooping. Some perched on the ledge and others found clefts in the roof from which to hang. They all seemed to maintain their altitude, not getting too close to the surface of the water below. She saw two demons enter the room via one of the drain openings. One of them passed a package to another, who then took it and flew off. The demon who had taken the bundle was escorted by another and disappeared into one of the other tunnels on the other side of the chamber.

  ‘Looks like a gathering point, a place where exchanges happen. I wonder what the packages are?’ she thought.

  Another demon entered the vault holding a package loosely bundled in cloth and started to circle the room, ‘Perhaps in a holding pattern until its off-load arrives,’ she thought.

  As it circled close, above the background chatter of noise, she heard the demon mumbling to itself, “Keys, keys, it is always keys…” Its voice trailed off as it swooped around the room again.

  It drew near and continued to mumble, “More to give, more to try…” Just then another demon entered and looked around the room, searching for its contact. The demon holding the package flew towards it, thrust the bundle into the receiver’s chest and disappeared out of the chamber without so much as another word. The remaining demon inspected its acquisition, grunted, then disappeared up another drain.

  “Keys!” Liberty said, “Are they searching for the keys to the city? Has the enemy lost them?” directing her question to no-one in particular.

  Just then a waft of stale air blew past her, accompanied by a demon, who was using very the tunnel that she had been travelling through. She pressed herself further into the alcove. It flew past, unaware of her presence.

  ‘God, is there another way? I’m never going to get to the other side of this chamber unseen.’ As she was about to retreat, she smelled the same stale air and pressed herself against the wall. Another demon flew past just as the previous one had.

  ‘God, I’m stuck now. What do I do?’ No answer came. Knowing that she couldn’t stay there forever, she looked out again for possible ways that she could get through.

  As she looked out, her gaze was drawn down towards the water. She noticed a light patch in the middle of the water. Liberty hadn’t noticed it before. As she strained to see what it was, she saw that it extended from right beneath her to the far end of the chamber in a straight line. ‘A submerged walkway? Even if it is a walkway, it doesn’t help me. No way am I walking out in full view of all these demons,’ she thought. ‘I wonder why the demons are staying high.’

  As she looked along the walkway, her vision sharpened so that she was able to see more clearly. Liberty was intrigued by what she saw.

  Her lift in clarity revealed that, rather than a walkway, she was looking at a faint tube of light, like a tunnel, running along the surface of the water. She didn’t know why she hadn’t noticed it before, but it was quite evident now. Maybe her vision and understanding were heightening to see more detail of the spiritual realm in which she found herself. Liberty was in a situation that was forcing her to look deeper. There didn’t seem to be any other way. The tube looked more and more like a tunnel. Just then, she saw a flash of light shoot through it. She focused again, another flash of light shot through the tunnel. As she looked intently, focusing on the next flash, time slowed down, waiting for her to catch up. But it wasn’t just a flash; she saw wings and the outline of a figure. As it got a little further away, time sped up again, and it shot off into the distance.

  ‘This place is an interchange,’ she thought, ‘A place where demons make exchanges as they pass through and angels al
so glide through towards their destination, unnoticed by those hovering above. Demons swoop in, while angels shoot past.’

  The demons didn’t seem to notice the flashes. ‘I wonder why they can’t see it? I wonder if they even know that it is there? If I got down to the tunnel, could I travel through it myself undetected?’

  As she considered this, she remembered the portion of scripture from Isaiah 55:12, ‘be led forth in peace.’ That was it. She did feel at peace when she considered the idea.

  ‘How do I get down there? I can’t just miraculously drop five metres down. I can’t lower myself down, it would take too long, and they would see me.’

  Just then another demon glided past her and into the chamber, but it didn’t go too far before it arced back around and alighted on the edge of her tunnel, very close to where she was hiding. Its claws gripped the edge of the ledge. Its head cocked to one side as if listening to something. It then turned its head and slowly to look straight in her direction. It didn’t seem like the demon knew what it was looking at because the shadow was still dark enough to conceal Liberty. It advanced towards her, peering into the darkness, with its beady little eyes, slowly rocking its head from side to side.