City Appointed_Winning a City for God Read online

  As she looked, the dragon’s head turned and staring straight into her eyes it let out a screech. Suddenly she was drawn into within inches of the dragon’s face. She could see nothing but the head of the dragon. Its presence was like heatwaves diffusing the edges of her vision, but directly in front of her, she saw every horrifying detail, magnified and way too close. Its thick bumpy skin shimmered as heat radiated through its scales. She felt caught in its claws. Her forehead went cold and breathing shallowed as she stared full in to its face. Then suddenly she was drawn back to the place where she had been standing at the end of the alley. It was as if she had been given an alternate viewpoint for a moment. The proximity jump, initiated either by the dragon or by an ability of hers that she didn’t understand yet, made her heart almost jump out of her chest and physically knocked her to the ground. She scrambled to get up. Two demons slid off the dragon’s back and commenced the pursuit.

  She turned and ran as fast as she could back up Banks Alley. With her wits still about her, she turned left taking a different route towards the library. She could hear the screeching echoing through the buildings. She didn’t want to look behind, but ran as fast as her legs could carry her. ‘Where do I go? Where do I hide? Help me, Jesus.’ All she could think was, ‘I must get underground; I don’t want to see that dragon ever again!’ She took a quick glance behind her, and to her horror, more demons had joined in the pursuit. There were five now chasing her, and she could see the head of the dragon rising from beyond the row of buildings. She let out a half scream - half cry, and felt that her legs might buckle under the pressure. She was almost running too fast for her legs to catch up.

  With tears streaming from her face she called out desperately, ‘Help me, Jesus.’

  A soft, warm word came into her mind, ‘I’m here.’

  ‘Help me God!’ she repeated.

  ‘You can do this.’

  ‘Save me!’

  ‘To the café.’

  The words came clearly. Liberty obeyed.

  15.

  Ascent

  (Mission Boys)

  Back on the roof, the boys prepared to set off. Two of the angels who had been standing watch at the perimeter of the building broke off from the formation and followed the boys from a distance.

  The companions were not complete strangers to each other. Tristan and Caden went to the same church. It was a large church, and the two of them were involved in different leadership teams. Caden had only been at the church for a year but was already a key member of the worship team. Tristan had been attending the church for some years and spent much of his time investing in the youth that he was leading. The two of them had a few conversations and laughs over the year, and were pleased to see each other on the rooftop. Even though Jack and Tristan had met for the first time at the briefing on the roof, Caden and Jack were already acquaintances through the unfolding of the previous night’s events in the park.

  The boys hurried down over a dozen flights of stairs, eventually reaching ground level. They looked toward their goal and considered their next move. The streets were empty.

  “The enemy must be gathered elsewhere. Perhaps getting a briefing before the attack,” suggested Caden.

  “Could be,” said Jack, “Anyway, that’s not our concern. Our assignment is to get to that Elemental Stone as soon as we can.”

  “Have you done this before Jack?” asked Tristan, “I was curious as to why the angel specifically spoke to you about leading us to the foot of the mountains.”

  “Not quite like this. Let’s just say that I have a fair idea where demons could be hiding in the city. You will have to lead with the climbing aspect of the mission though. That’s new to me.”

  “I’ve climbed some of the faces before, though never to the summit. But that’s not going to do us much good if we don’t have climbing gear.”

  “I’m sure the Lord will provide. He wouldn’t send us unequipped,” Caden responded. Surely such an important detail hadn’t been overlooked by the commissioning angel, “Anyway, I’m glad we don’t have to lug heavy ropes and clips around the city. Though there better be some climbing gear is waiting for us when we get there or we aren’t going to get very far.”

  The three hurried their way through the city. There wasn’t much demon activity around. Their path seemed to be clear. As the three passed by Taylor’s Book Store, they were unaware of a presence that had caught sight of them as they hurried down the narrow street towards the mountains.

  “Got you!” a demon chuckled to itself. The insect-like demon scuttled into a nearby building to report the sighting. It found a messenger, a large Blackbird with oily feathers, very quick and efficient in its delivery of messages and assignments.

  “We have them,” Scrathe said to the bird, “Clear the way for the hopefuls. They must be heading toward ‘The Darkness.’ It will be more efficient and clean to attack while the three are on the cliff face, rather than in the city with options and places to run.”

  “Understood,” said the bird in a high-pitched gravelly voice, “Even if they could make it up to the top to reach The Darkness, there is nothing they can do now. The transformation is almost complete, all that disgusting elemental rubbish will soon be forgotten, and even the angels will call it what we have called it all along.”

  “It’s just a matter of time,” said Scrathe, “once its transformation is complete and the stone turns dark, we will initiate our attack. We have our man. Drake is running for mayor. If we get him in, he will bring order. This strategy is what we have been so painstakingly outworking. Our man Drake will help us to run all the Christians out of town, and the rest who won’t leave will convert. Once we have Riverdale, we can set up at least two or three new highways for the Master!”

  “Just up ahead is where our climb begins towards Razor Peak,” Tristan informed the other two as they were getting close.

  A realm away, back on the surface, Tristan’s dad Max was getting ready for bed. He opened his Bible, as was his custom during the evenings. He liked to close out the day by reading something from the Proverbs or the Psalms and then pray for various people as the Holy Spirit directed. He opened the Word and began reading Proverbs 31. Almost immediately verse two caught his attention.

  ‘Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb! Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers!’

  Max would pray for his family each night anyway, but at that moment he lifted up a special prayer for his son, as directed by the Holy Spirit. “I pray for Tristan tonight Lord; I pray that you would answer his prayers, provide for his needs and wants. Lead him on your path, to the mountain tops of your presence. In Jesus name, Amen.” At the moment he said ‘Amen,’ three sparks shot out from Max’s hands like fireworks, unseen by Max, but visible to the spirit realm. The sparks quickly rose into the sky like flares and arched over the landscape far below and tore through the clouds towards Razor Peak. As the prayer sparks descended towards the boys, two flying demons who were patrolling the skies rushed towards the sparks in an attempt to stop them or at least slow them down. But their deflectors had little impact on the simple, but powerful prayer that Max had prayed. In a blaze of light, the sparks smashed the deflectors from the hands of the demons. Both demons were smacked away in opposite directions and helplessly flung through the air. The trajectory of the prayer did not shift in the slightest due to the fact that Max prayed regularly with faith and confidence. The demons would think twice before attempting to intercept another prayer spark from Max.

  As the sparks descended towards the boys, each spark stretched into a beam of liquid light that morphed into specific answers to prayer. The first beam to hit its mark and spiralled around Tristan’s arm and waist. The second streaked down over Caden’s shoulder and back, and the third splayed out over Jack’s back and down his side.

  The boys, unaware of the incoming prayer, arrived at the base of the cliffs. Climbing ropes materialized over Tristan’s shoulder. A harness appeared around his waist with c
arabiners and pegs clipped on to it.

  “Nice,” said Tristan admiring the newly acquired gear. Then a crossbow materialized over Caden’s shoulder along with a quiver full of arrows. Each arrow had a different tip, each for a different purpose. The third spark that had splayed out over Jack’s back morphed into a light shield that strapped itself to him, along with a sword secured to his side.

  “I guess we are equipped with everything we need,” said Caden smiling, feeling much more confident and even looking forward to getting locked into battle, especially with the angels present to cover their backs, though he hadn’t seen them for a while now. ‘I wonder where those angels have got to that started to follow us,’ he thought. He realized that he hadn’t seen them since leaving the building. ‘I hope they aren’t too far away.’

  From the base, the cliffs looked dauntingly high. It didn’t help being unable to see the top due to heavy cloud cover. Or perhaps it did help being unable to see how far they would have to go. Tristan examined the first rock face.

  “It’s going to be a long climb,” he said, “but not very technical. There seem to be plenty of hand holds, at least as far as I can see.”

  There were a couple of tricky parts that he would have to work out once he got to them.

  “You see those two ledges cut into the cliff, way up there over to the right?” he pointed out. “Well, our best course is to make our way to that first one, and from there head for that one higher up,” he said highlighting the ledges that would serve as rest areas for them. Tristan had never climbed to the top of Razor Peak before, not even half way, but he didn’t mention that to the others.

  He began the free-climb so that he could secure pegs and ropes for Caden and Jack to follow. It was slow going, and Tristan felt less confident now that he clung to the face and falling was a real possibility. He reached his left hand high and felt a decent sized hand-hold. ‘Great!’ thought Tristan as he pulled himself up inspecting the hold, ‘A crack in the rock, perfect for the first anchor.’ He hammered in the anchor. Chink, chink, chink went the hammer as he drove the metal peg into the hard stone.

  “OK, it’s set for you to follow. I’ll continue up to secure the next anchor,” called Tristan.

  After some minutes, Tristan glanced down. Now twenty metres up, he had secured five anchors. “Are you guys doing OK?” he called down.

  After a pause, “Doing OK,” came the response.

  “Keep working it. I’m about half way to the first ledge that we can rest.”

  There were no more responses from Caden who was using all his strength to grasp handhold after handhold. Jack was trailing him and was also conserving energy, focused on the climb.

  Quarter of an hour later they were all up breathing hard on the ledge. After a brief rest, the boys continued their next ascent.

  Tristan was now about thirty metres from the ground. As he took a break to gaze over the city, he noticed for the first time some dark shapes silhouetted against the grey sky circling some distance away from the cliff face. ‘What are those?’ he thought to himself, ‘Oh no, I think those are the enemy.’ He felt his heart sink. ‘How long have they been there?’ he wondered, ‘I hope they haven’t seen us. Wishful thinking,’ he told himself, ‘They would have to be blind not to see us.’

  16.

  Slide

  (Mission Girls)

  The girls were the last to leave the rooftop. They broke away from the fellowship and proceeded north toward Grace Falls.

  They walked carefully but quickly along The Parade, one of the main roads leading out of the city. Within the centre strip, separating the inbound and outbound traffic, grew a line of palm trees which cast intricate shadows across the sidewalk helping to conceal the girls. ‘But it makes enemies hard to see too,’ thought Layla, feeling uncomfortable with the lack of visual clarity ahead.

  As they neared the outskirts of the Central Business District, The Parade split off into two highways with ‘Fountain Square’ between them. The square was surrounded by buildings and had a large stone fountain in the middle of it. The girls opted to take the longer route around the edge of the square, rather than choosing the more obvious but exposed route through the centre of the square. Beyond the square lay the regional park which covered over ten square kilometres and within the park, amongst the trees, protruded Grace Falls.

  They got to the tree line with no apparent difficulties. Ahead of them, they had the challenge of picking their way through trees and open country without being seen. No demons had appeared so far, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t any there, so the girls remained cautious. Leaving the familiar geometric landscape of the city behind them, the girls began their journey through the wooded wilderness of the regional park. The atmosphere was damp amongst the trees. Dew had settled on the leaves and was beading on their armour. It felt uncomfortably humid inside their clothing, but it was cold enough outside for them to see their own breath as they trudged through the heavy undergrowth. Now and then a tree would creak as if warning them to turn back and the periodic empty rustling of leaves in the breeze made them feel very much alone. ‘I don’t like this,’ thought Trinity, ‘I’d rather be back on the rooftop within the safety of those surrounding angels.

  “Down now!” said Samantha in a sharp hushed tone, reaching out to her friends to drag them to the ground. They all immediately crouched. “Look, over there,” she said pointing towards a ridge in the distance surrounded by tall trees. They could see dark shapes hovering over the ridge. The hooded creatures were a far enough away in the distance for the girls to feel confident that they were still safe. As they looked, the demons seemed to be gliding in circles around each other.

  “What are they doing?” asked Layla.

  “I have no idea, but they are spooking me out. Let’s keep moving as quickly and quietly as we can.” A sudden chill brushed through the leaves around them. The girls walked on, keeping to the left of a line of bushes which obstructed their enemy from being able to see them. Trinity led the way. The row of bushes ran along the edge of a steep bank that dropped off to their left. Up ahead, the tree line drew closer to the verge, narrowing the area of ground that they could walk along. As Trinity took her next step, the earth under her feet gave way and she started slipping down the bank, taking rocks and loose branches with her, starting a small landslide. Samantha and Layla looked down at their friend as she was sliding away. The sound of falling rocks and snapping branches gave their position away. The figures turned in the direction of the girls, letting out a unified screech. The three dark shapes immediately started gliding towards them with terrifying speed. The figures that were once a long way off in the distance were closing in on them fast. They could never outrun these creatures.

  Layla grabbed Samantha’s sleeve and pulled her down the bank after Trinity.

  “Go now!” said Layla with urgency as they slid. Covered in dirt and soil, the two girls dropped down off the end of the bank onto a clearing beside a stream below. Trinity lay beside them holding her ankle with an expression of pain on her face. Layla and Samantha got up either side of their friend and grabbed a shoulder each. Placing their arms under hers, they pulled her out of sight, to the foot of the bank.

  “Trinity, are you OK? The demons are here!” said Layla.

  “I don’t know,” said Trinity with gritted teeth, “I might be able to walk. Where are they?”

  “Above us,” said Samantha, “We need to get out of here now, they are coming to investigate the slip.”

  “Can you get up?” asked Layla

  “Have to. Get me up and let’s go!” said Trinity.

  Supported on each side, the girls raised Trinity to her feet. Trinity groaned as she tried to put weight on her foot.

  “Come on, move, don’t worry about me,” said Trinity.

  The three friends edged their way along the base of the bank, over the leafy undergrowth.

  Layla looked up to where she had been and caught a glimpse of a dark figure
descending the bank. “They’re coming,” she said alarmed, “but they seem to be going straight down the slip instead of tracking across in our direction. I don’t think they’ve seen us yet.”

  “We’ll never outrun them if they do. Quick, over there.” The gorge curved around to the right. An overhanging tree with exposed roots created a cave that could serve as a hiding place. Layla and Samantha dragged Trinity into the alcove, and they all pressed themselves together against the bank breathing heavily. They waited for what seemed like endless minutes. They heard nothing and saw nothing. The three girls, breathing hard waited in crouched positions daring not to make a sound. Trinity was clasping her ankle with her eyes scrunched up trying to control the pain.

  “What should we do?” whispered Trinity finally.

  “One of us could take a look.”

  Just as Samantha moved to look, she saw a black-cloaked figure shoot off through the bushes in the direction of Grace Falls. Samantha held her breath again and quickly pushed herself back as far as she could into the alcove. Its speed made the girls feel very aware of their own limitations and their lack of ability to escape from the unearthly creature. A second hooded creature rushed off through the trees in a slightly different direction ahead of them. ‘What about the third?’ thought Layla. The girls waited. Just then the third dark, ghostly figure blew past them at a slower pace along the edge of the bank. They waited. Layla lifted her thoughts to God, ‘Lord protect us.’ All was quiet apart from the wind in the leaves.