City Appointed_Winning a City for God Page 13

  ‘Can it sense me?’ Previously Liberty may have panicked, but now, having encountered a lot of demons over the last few hours, and also killing some, she found that her whole body was calm. She could almost feel its breath on her face. She slowly reached her left hand down to take hold of her sword strapped to her right thigh and gently drew it out of its sheath. Her intention was to slash the demon back into the tunnel so that she didn’t draw attention to herself. Her arm tensed, then with all her might she thrust the blade across her body and sliced upwards through the demon with ease.

  Unfortunately, the top half of the demon fell out into the opening and splashed into the water below.

  ‘Move now!’ she heard the Holy Spirit say, as she rushed to the edge in full view, looked down and noticed a single pipe protruding from the wall just below her. She immediately sheathed her sword, spun with her back to the room and dropped onto the pipe below. The commotion behind her sent shivers up her spine. She spun around again and jumped from the pipe and landed within the tunnel of light, facing her enemies.

  But as her feet touched the base of the tube they suddenly slid out from under her, and she fell backward, landing softly on her back. Immediately her whole body shot forward. Time slowed for a moment as she focused on what was above her. She saw the demons hovering in slow motion. They were looking in her general direction but did not seem to focus their gaze directly upon her. ‘They can no longer see me,’ she thought. Then suddenly time returned, and the room was gone. She felt herself rapidly shooting through tunnels and vaults and chambers.

  She had discovered a slip stream that angels use to travel between points, like angel highways. Start points and intersections of the pathways are places where the kingdom of God has dominion. These are usually churches or places where people encounter God frequently. The moment she had dropped into the tunnel of light, she became completely immersed within it, invisible to the enemy. In that one moment, she was gone and found herself transported to another part of the city.

  The speed took her breath away.

  “Lord…” was all she could say as she was locked into a lying down position, with her hands at her sides. She was still on her first gasp of air. It was like being in shock, shooting down an unexpectedly fast hydro-slide. She forced her lungs to exhale and breathed in again in an attempt to gain control of her respiratory system. She found that her mind was able to catch up after a few seconds could process the high speeds. The rooms seemed to shoot past less quickly as her consciousness heightened. She continued on her journey to an unknown destination.

  Then, as if prompted, she remembered her locator. Liberty lifted her arm to see where her target was. By this time, she had gone a long way past where the keys were, and Liberty was now rapidly moving out of the city. Up ahead it looked like the stream split into two. In a split second, she elected to go right and rolled her body in that direction. She blasted into the tube of light on the right and was launched upwards faster than she had ever travelled before. She shot through layers of rock and stone and then erupted out of the ground, up into the air. Her eyes grew wide, gathering as much information as possible.

  As she travelled unbelievably fast, Liberty looked around and noticed other streams that looked like ribbons of light stretched across the sky. She scanned for one that would take her back down to where she wanted to go before she ended up in another hemisphere. There was a stream coming up fast on her left that intersected hers. She leaned hard left and managed the transition. Like lightning, she shot back down, through the atmosphere and plunged underground towards her goal. Her locator indicated that she was getting close.

  She passed through a large room that looked empty and immediately rolled completely out of the stream. The forces on her body suddenly slackened off, and she was sent skidding across the floor. She spread out her arms and legs to slow herself. Liberty pressed down hard with her heels and hands on to the gravelly concrete in an attempt to stop the slide, managing to reduce her speed and gently hit the wall at the far end of the room.

  Liberty sat up breathing hard, senses still heightened after her experience. She looked around, her mind buzzing from the ride. Her pulse was still racing as she found herself in ‘fight or flight’ mode. Her eyes flashed around the room, was she alone here? The room was empty. Liberty relaxed her concentration and started to giggle as a stress relief.

  “What was that?! I’ve just had the ride of my life.” She chuckled, “That was too awesome!”

  She sat for a while in the darkened room with her legs straight out in front of her, leaning back on her hands. Still smiling and then shaking her head, she thought, ‘Roller-coasters are going to feel very tame after that.’ Liberty let out a deep sigh, “God, I need a break.” There was no response. She knew she had to get up and so spent time refocusing, mentally preparing herself to move on.

  Her locator pointed her in the direction of some tunnels up ahead. As she neared them, she couldn’t figure out which of the three to take. Her locator pointed in their general direction. She chose the central one because it was the largest of the three and it felt more ‘right’ than the others.

  Liberty came to a point where the tunnel stopped and opened out into another chamber. She felt a breeze and looked up. There were metal grates above her on road-level that allowed dim light to enter and stripe the wall with shadows. Across the room was a huge round door with a wheel in the middle of it, that looked like it would open the door if she could get it to turn.

  Liberty was about to step out into the light, but then suddenly darted back into the shadow. She had just noticed two figures, one on each side of the door, sitting almost motionless, as if sleeping. They were shrouded in cloaks, but she could also see the glistening point of a spear protruding from each. They were guards. ‘How will I get past these two?’ she pondered.

  26.

  Elemental Stone

  (Mission Boys)

  “I can just see it!” About 100 paces away was the Elemental Stone. Caden couldn’t see it clearly because there were a lot of demons milling around obstructing his view. Both on the ground and also in the air, many demons were gathering within the vicinity of the sacred object.

  Just then, a gap opened up in the crowd, and Caden caught his first real glimpse. The Elemental Stone was mesmerizing. It looked like a giant ruby set in a golden clasp. The stone was a little taller than Caden himself and red in colour. It looked alive. A swirling liquid was furiously spinning within it. There was a rapid shifting of light and dark patches. The dark areas seemed to be the evidence of the enemy’s control, firstly spinning in one direction and then fiercely changing to another. It appeared that the substance within the stone was fighting to break out. It behaved like a whirlpool of energy spinning within its heart. Any standard particles would have been torn apart with the sudden altering of direction at that speed. Elements raged within the stone.

  The clasp looked to have grown out of the ground, and its golden branch-like arms wrapped themselves around the bottom half of the Elemental Stone, fixing it firmly to the clifftop.

  “It’s amazing,” exclaimed Caden in awe, “You gotta see this.”

  Tristan positioned himself to get a look at it. Side by side, they peered from their vantage point and found themselves transfixed by its appearance. As they gazed deeper into the stone, they could see eyes, many eyes. ‘These are the eyes of wisdom,’ thought Tristan to himself.

  “It’s alive,” he said, “It’s a living being like one of the four living creatures with eyes all over, which surround the Throne of God in the book of Revelation.”

  “We need to set it free,” said Caden, “But now that we are here, I don’t even know what we are supposed to do and how to do it! What do you reckon?”

  “Yeah, we will get nowhere near it with so many demons around. We will barely be able to take a few steps without being seen.”

  There was a silence between them as they settled back down into their shelter. The shelter was simply a
ledge, nestled under an overhang, but it gave the boys the cover that they needed. From there, Caden and Tristan could see all of Riverdale, set against the backdrop of a starry night. Tristan closed his eyes.

  After some time he said, “We need God to speak to us and show us what to do.” He paused thoughtfully, “What is the first verse from the Bible that comes to your mind?”

  Caden thought and said, “The first one for me is: ‘For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.’”

  “Good start,” said Tristan, “I was thinking of that one too. There were three of us, but now, even with two, like the verse says, I’m sure we can do whatever we need to do. Another verse comes to mind in Luke which says: ‘At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them.’ I get the feeling that we just need to put our hands on the stone. Maybe that is enough.”

  “Yep, sounds good to me. With no other leads at this stage, I’m happy for that to be the goal. But we are only going to get one shot at this. There is a host of demons between us and the stone. We need a plan!” Caden said.

  “Yep,” agreed Tristan. “We can’t just make a run for it. It’s too far for that. We need a diversion.”

  “One of us could create a diversion, while the other makes a run for it,” suggested Caden.

  “We could, but I feel like we both have to lay our hands on the Elemental Stone together.”

  Caden and Tristan sat, praying and thinking. ‘We need a strategy, but we also need to understand timing too because time is running out,’ pondered Tristan. ‘The right action at the wrong time could mean disaster, just as doing the wrong thing at the right time could also mean total failure. It isn’t just about us either because the other two teams are also relying on us. Even if they succeed, if we can’t get to the Elemental Stone we all fail. God help us to know your strategy.’ Tristan’s thoughts continued to tumble through his mind, ‘Our actions will either cut off or maintain the life-blood of our city. The golden thread of hope that has weaved through the streets since its conception must not be severed by us, through misinterpreted signs and misguided activity.’ Lightning struck again.

  ‘God show us what we need to do.’ Caden’s thoughts drifted, ‘I wonder how the others are doing. Oh yes, I need to pray.’ Liberty came to mind. ‘Lord I pray that you would help Liberty. Protect her. Help her to fulfil her task. Give her victory!’

  Just as he said the word ‘victory,’ he saw a mist rise from around him. The prayer haze was white and radiated from his head and shoulders. He saw it climb into the sky, disperse, and then fade into the night.

  27.

  Windows

  (Mission Girls)

  The angel stopped five steps away from the demons that were closest to him. They all spun around and saw the familiar sight of an orb.

  “No!” shouted a demon, “Don’t let him release it!” Unaffected by the demon protest, the angel held the prayer container in front of him and raised the hammer, poised to strike. Suddenly the hammer was shot from his grasp, hit by a dagger that a demon had thrown who rushed in from behind. The hammer was flung through the air and clanged against the wall, then clattered down the steps only to be picked up by another demon who was rapidly advancing up the stairs.

  Samantha flicked her eyes from the angel with the orb to look at Trillion, hoping to gain some comfort, expecting to see a confident expression, but his expression was stern and grave. Quickly glancing around looking for a sign of hope, she remembered a verse from Daniel, ‘… the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia.’

  ‘I’m actually here,’ she thought, ‘Caught in the crossfire of angelic warfare!’

  It was all on now. The entire palace was on alert. The cloaking had got them half way, but now the situation required an abrupt change in strategy. They braced themselves for battle.

  Layla, aware that more demons were advancing, thought to herself, ‘If I’m going to do something, I need to do it fast.’

  The orb and the hammer seemed to be of prime importance, though she didn’t know what they would do. ‘Perhaps they are a weapon of some sort,’ she thought. ‘God I need your help, what can I do?!’ Instantly a bow materialized in her hand with an arrow in the other. Even though she had never used a bow and arrow on the surface, she was a skilled marksman in this realm. Acting fast, she loaded the arrow and drew the string back in an instant. Layla aimed the point of the arrow at the demon who had picked up the hammer, and she released it into the air. It sailed straight through the demon, and out the other side. The arrow continued its trajectory and proceeded into another demon that was advancing up the stairs.

  Seraph seized the moment as Layla loaded a second arrow that had appeared in her hand. Drawing both of his swords Seraph jumped down the steps and sliced through a demon on each side of him. The one who had picked up the hammer now lay crumpled on the floor. Seraph stood over the beast and took possession of the hammer. Making eye contact with the angel who was still holding the orb, Seraph threw the hammer to him. The angel raised his hand, caught it, and in one movement brought it down onto the prayer package shattering it like glass. Its substance was released instantaneously like the air from a balloon when popped. The smoky substance dispersed like an explosion. The majority of it shot sideways, blowing a hole in the wall, large enough for the girls to escape. The rest of the prayer dispersed up and down the stairs, knocking the demons in the vicinity to the ground unconscious.

  “That’s your path,” shouted Shar as he pointed towards the hole that had been smashed through the wall. “Go!” Layla slung the bow over her back and jumped through the opening. Samantha and Trinity followed close behind. The angels did not follow. Some guarded the entrance while Shar, Seraph, and Trillion raced up the stairs towards the great courtyard where they knew the girls would need to cross if they were to get to the throne.

  The girls burst out of the opening and found themselves halfway up the cliff face of Grace Falls. It was a long way down. The river looked much smaller from their new vantage point. They had stepped out on to a terrace which was cantilevered out from the cliff. The girls raced along its gentle upward slope, following the contours of the cliff face. Up ahead Samantha saw that it continued under the waterfall. The girls made for the falls, hoping that the cascading water would help to conceal them from view. Trinity didn’t like being exposed on the face for all to see.

  The falls arched over the terrace, creating a tunnel of water and mist. As they entered the tunnel, the spray of the falls refreshed their faces. It was exhilarating having thousands of litres of water pouring over their heads. It was like being a surfer caught in the tube of a twenty-foot wave. The cascading water made a thunderous sound that filled the misty air around them. As they quickly progressed along the terrace under the falls, Layla started to get a little dizzy as she looked at the water rapidly descending to the river below. By this time, the sound of the water was almost deafening. The all-consuming roaring sound, coupled with a perpetually moving wall of thousands of litres of water was enough to make all of them struggle to maintain their focus.

  As they came out from under the waterfall, they started to pass a series of windows chiselled into the cliff face. These arch-shaped windows led to various rooms within the mountainside of Grace Falls.

  Trinity who was out in front called back, “We should choose one of these rooms to go into, rather than being exposed like this. They will spot us out here in no time.”

  “Should we just choose a window at random? At least it should buy us some time so that we can figure out which is the best way to the throne.”

  Each window had a frame of individually and uniquely crafted carvings. As they passed more and more windows, they noticed letters and numbers carved into the sills of each.

  “Hey, these are Bible references,” called out S
amantha.

  “Do you see any that you recognize?” Layla shouted back.

  Trinity looked closer and recognized one. “Matt 11:28, I have just read this recently, I think it is about, ‘rest for the weary.’”

  “Sounds good, but is it going to help us?”

  They continued to pass more and more windows.

  “2 Tim 3:17, is being equipped for every good work.”

  “Could be good, but I feel like we already have the equipping that we need.” Samantha then added, “We can’t just guess which window to go in, we need to have a reason. Faith always has a reason; it always has a purpose. We are on a quest and are advancing against an enemy that wants to kill us and destroy our city.”