“Come, I have something for you.”
She breathed in and as she breathed out, she sat next to Him on the very top of the metal structure. Yet she was still vaguely aware of Elden’s arms around her. This must be a vision.
“Give Me your hand.”
Fear constricted her throat, but she met His eyes and they sparkled with delight as if He was sitting on secrets that He was about to start sharing. There was no trace of punishment that she was expecting.
“I’m sorry...”
“Shh! Give Me your hand.” He held out his and it was easy to slip hers into it. “My Evazee. You’ve been through so much. You think all of it has bent you out of shape so much that you no longer fit into My heart.”
His hand was warm. The tears that slid down her cheeks were the hot tears of shame.
“There’s something that belongs to you. Stay right here, I’ll be back.” He sauntered over to where Shasta sat hunched over the controls of all that was happening down below. He waved his hand in front of Shasta’s nose, but Shasta carried on as if completely unaware of Him. Jesus leaned over the man and frowned at what Shasta was labouring over. Jesus rolled His eyes and shook His head. With a shrug He leaned forward and plucked Evazee’s amulet from Shasta’s top pocket. He bounced it on his palm and patted Shasta on the head. Shasta went right on sweating over what was happening below, apparently oblivious.
Jesus jogged back to Evazee and sat cross-legged in front of her. He held out a hand, and she slipped hers back into His without hesitation.
“My Evazee. My heart is not small or brittle. My heart has room for you, no matter how bent out of shape you think you are. Take what is yours.” He placed the amulet back in her open palms.
A sliver of fear shot through her. Shasta would use this to gain control over her again. She was done with all that. “But getting this back didn’t help me before. Why would it work now?”
“Only I can restore things that have been stolen. That’s my job.” His hands folded around hers, warm as the sun. “Here, let’s finish this.” He drew breath and breathed over their hands.
Evazee felt the amulet crack, shatter. It dissipated to nothing between her fingers, but the warmth of His breath on her skin remained.
Jesus grinned at her, kissed her hands, and drew her to her feet. He slipped one hand to the back of her neck and placed a thumb of the other at the base of her throat. Her skin tingled under his touch. “My girl. Mine. None of this was ever taken from you, you know. You just believed that it had been. Now get down there. There’s work to be done.”
~*~
Evazee’s eyes shot open. She was still held tight in Elden’s arms. The mess below was getting worse. A fog of serum hung thick in the air. Evazee’s mind flew back to Sam and their tonic. She’d seen the serum-tonic sizzle and evaporate at a few drops of healing stream water. They needed healing stream rain. That’s all it would take to sort this mess out. Yet there was simply no healing stream in the desert. She waited for the hopelessness to roll over her, but warmth still lingered on her fingers. Nothing seemed different. And yet nothing was the same.
It was time to engage Heaven.
~*~
Voices. No, only one. You can save your friends. Stop resisting me.
It echoed and came back at him over and over.
Save your friends. Stop resisting.
Kai felt Shasta’s mind bend towards him like a piercing spotlight, searching hungrily. It was coming closer, only a matter of time until it locked onto him. He stopped running and stood, wondering what he’d been running for. Thinking through the sludge in his brain was virtually impossible.
Standing there, he felt greasy approval. His heart rate slowed right down. Maybe if he stayed quiet, the tension in his skull would unravel and he’d be able to think. He couldn’t figure out what he was meant to be doing. And why?
Like some weird throwback, he began to stumble onwards. The light over the rise flickered and smouldered. A compelling curiosity burned inside of him. If he could just see the light, it would all make sense.
A bright flash split the air in front of him and he halted, blinded.
“Boy, what are you doing? It’s not your time!” It was Evazee, as bright as the first day he’d met her in the desert. “You can’t give in to this! He has no real hold of you. He thinks he does, but he doesn’t. You belong to One much greater.”
“Zee? What are you doing?”
“I get it now! The serum is neutralized by Healing Stream water.”
The imprint at the base of her throat was back, it gleamed in the darkness. This was the shiny girl he remembered. Radiant and free. It made his heart ache.
Her words washed over him like a stream of living water. They made his skin tingle, but they couldn’t get through the thick layer of muck bogging him down. He’d worked on an engine with Phil once and his hands had been dirty like this. The water couldn’t budge it.
“But we’re in the desert.”
“Tau is here. He is dancing circles around Shasta.” Evazee laughed and the sound filled his mind with light.
A thick wave of darkness rolled in to oppose the swelling light, and Kai felt his head might splinter in pieces. “But the amulets...”
“Give them to Tau. He is the only one who can give back what has been stolen. He says whoever believes in Him will have rivers of living water flowing from within them.”
“What? I don’t get it.” His mind was a breath away from breaking.
In a flash as blinding as her arrival, Evazee was gone.
~*~
Fog rolled in thick around Kai. He couldn’t see more than a meter away from himself. Evazee’s words trickled through his muddled brain, slowly at first.
Whoever believes in Him ...
Kai stopped running and stood. Him. Tau. I believe.
Streams of living water ...
Healing stream water?
Will flow from within him.
A spark of hope popped in his belly. It gave him enough courage to turn around. His friends were lost in the fog, cut off and alone.
He couldn’t save himself, but he could help them. He started running. Evazee’s words built in his belly, an uncontainable force ready to explode. He yelled as he ran, “Guys, can you hear me?” Silence.
There had to be a way to get through to them. Wait. There was that army-thing that Runt had done. It was a long shot but it might work. He sucked air into his lungs and sing-songed so loud, his throat hurt. “We’ve been lied to and misled.”
A breathless moment of silence, then a few voices echoed.
We’ve been lied to and misled.
“Shasta kind of wants us dead.”
Shasta kind of wants us dead. More voices joined.
“But he forgot to factor in...”
But he forgot to factor in...
“Tau slash Jesus is the King.”
Tau slash Jesus is the King.
The cadence fit in with the rhythm of his feet. Not exactly the deepest lyrics he’d ever come up with, but it was getting through. The call and response of an army on the move.
“Sound of...”
Sound of...
“Freedom...”
Freedom.
“Sound of...”
Sound of...
“Healing...”
Healing.
“Let me hear you say YEBO!”
YEBO!
Each response grew louder. More kids were hearing and responding.
“To me, to me. Rally to me.” Kai belted it out so loud, his voice cracked. He’d reached the top of a rise and began to shout. “For Tau and for His kingdom.” His voice rang out clear and true, echoing through the space.
The response around him swelled.
For Tau and for His kingdom.
~*~
Something smacked into the side of Evazee’s head and she fell. One moment she’d been praying for Kai, the next she found herself flat on her back staring up at Shasta.
Elden sat doubled over, blood on his hands.
“So my pet, you are causing problems for me.” Shasta loomed over her, tall and imposing.
Evazee waited for the whirlpool slide that always sucked her sideways around him. Nothing. She pushed herself up onto her elbows. “What you’re doing is wrong.”
“You’re lecturing me on right and wrong?”
There was an edge to his voice that pricked a warning all across Evazee’s scalp. “You have no rights over me. I don’t belong to you.”
“Oh, we’ll see about that.” He chuckled as he stepped closer, slow and deliberate.
“Hey, mister, leave my friend alone.” It was Runt. She had somehow found her way out of the pit and now stood glaring at Shasta with a cat under each arm.
Fear spiked through Evazee. If anything should happen to Runt...
“Oh look, it’s the runt. Smallest little reject of the bunch.” Shasta examined the small girl as one would watch an ant before squishing it.
The dome caught Evazee’s eye. With Shasta’s attention elsewhere, his influence had slipped. Kai was rallying them. Not at the cost of Runt’s life. Please, Jesus.
Elden staggered to his feet. Blood streamed down the side of his face. “Leave the girl alone. She’s not yours.”
Shasta sneered at him, “Oh, look, the boy of shifting loyalties. Here’s an ancient proverb for you...those who straddle both sides will find themselves split in half.”
Elden laughed, a deep hearty chuckle. “Look again, I was never yours. Nothing in me ever belonged to you.”
Shasta tilted his head, studying Elden sideways. “Hmm. Do you think I didn’t know that you were thoroughly sold out to the other side? You thought you were so clever, but it backfired, you know. It’s a pity. You could have been great.” He drew his hand back, and his palm spiked with electricity. The writhing snakes were back.
Runt threw herself at Shasta and bounced off him, barely budging him. She caught herself and held her two kittens right up in his face. “My cats want to meet you.”
Shasta gaped, taken aback. Fury filled his features, and he drew himself up tall.
Evazee got up to throw herself between them, but before she could move, Shasta jerked forward with an enormous sneeze.
~*~
Kai stood alone on a hilltop with his eyes shut, his mind focussed on Tau.
If you believe in Me, rivers of Living Water will flow from within you.
I believe. He opened his mouth and started to sing words he didn’t understand. They left his mouth and flew through the air, dancing in and around and through the serum that had been sucking the life out of his friends.
He kept singing. His voice swelled and grew, a living thing full of light and life. Words flew through the air like flaming arrows, landing deep in the hearts of kids tied up in black hopelessness. Burning through coils of deadly lies. Shattering the darkness of oppression.
He imagined Tau standing with him like a flaming tower of goodness.
One by one, they started to come.
~*~
Elden saw his opportunity. He flew at Shasta and punched hard. The man fell back, knocked his head on a chair, and toppled to the ground in a heap.
“Evazee, quick! The equipment!”
Evazee ran to the control table Shasta had been working at. She picked up a jug of water and upturned it over the laptop. The screen turned funky and went black. The dome flickered and shut down.
Kai’s voice rang out clear and strong over the noise and confusion.
Evazee stood on the rim and picked up the tune of the song and sang too. She sang from a heart bursting with gratitude. Warmth and light. She sensed Jesus before she saw Him. He stood next to her, studying the crowd below with a tenderness that took her breath away.
Runt ran up and slipped in under his arm. He kissed her forehead, took the two cats from her and balanced them on His chest. They purred and rubbed against His chin, making Him laugh. “Here, these are yours. Well done for listening when I asked you to bring them with.”
Runt giggled. “Yeah, they all thought I was nuts. But I knew.”
Elden slid in next to Evazee, staring at the glowing man with wide eyes. His face was a mess of blood from the wound on his forehead, but his eyes sparkled. He pointed to the pit, “Look! I think they’re ready.”
There was a crowd around Kai, eyes closed, faces upturned.
Evazee searched the crowd for her friends. She found them one by one, until only Bree remained unaccounted for. “Where’s Bree?”
Evazee followed Elden’s finger and found Bree, arms huddled around her knees at Kai’s feet, leaning on his leg. She studied her hands, tracing the smooth skin of the one that had been damaged. With a sigh she leaned back and slipped an arm around Kai’s leg. Kai’s hand dropped and his fingers curled around a lock of her hair. The look on her face was something that Evazee had never seen there before. Contentment.
~*~
Kai watched the multitude press in close with their eyes shut. One by one, he watched their faces change, and he knew that Tau was weaving in between, shattering the amulets that held them captive.
He waited for Zulu, Zap, and Ruaan to be done and gathered them close.
“We need to go neutralize the serum. I know exactly where to go. Come on.”
32
Kai sat on the edge of the couch in the office at the OS with a cup of coffee turning cold on the table next to him.
Elden sat opposite, looking like a war victim with his head wound bandaged tight, while Runt played with her cats on the mat.
“So are you telling me that you were never truly on their side?”
Evazee patted Elden’s leg, and her voiced dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “He knows Jesus and everything. I saw it with my own eyes.”
Elden grinned at her, then his smile withered. “I know it looked like I was working for the other side. But who do you think kept reprogramming the Naviband every time you came back? Who kept giving you security access? I’m sure you didn’t think it would be that easy to waltz in and out of a facility with such high-level security. Why do you think I let them mark Evazee? You were right about the amulets. The only way to take them out was to bring their owners in. So really it all worked out brilliantly. Should I go on?”
Bree sat in silence next to Kai, staring at her brother. Every now and then she’d shake her head but actual words were beyond her.
“And what do they call you again?” Kai’s brain might have exploded from all the info he was taking in.
“A Seeker. We work undercover. We aid and assist wherever we’re needed. Then you get Water Workers, and they are all about healing and restoring. You know some of them actually. Beaver and Shrimp?” He waited for Kai to nod before carrying on. “Liberation Crew...the Stone City rebels are Liberation Crew through and through. They lead rescue missions to free the marked ones out of the most dangerous situations. All of us are Spirit Walkers working towards the same goal. There are a bunch of different areas you can specialize in depending on your gifting.”
“And there are some people who want to talk to us about becoming Spirit Walkers too?” Kai frowned deeply.
“They’ve been following you all over. The first time they tried to make contact was at TrisTessa’s art gallery. They saw you go in, but there was no way she was giving them any information on you. She chased them away with her paintbrush swinging.”
Kai sat up in shock. “I remember that day. She made me paint with her. I was terrible, but she made my clumsy attempt at art look good. She shuffled me out of there when they arrived.”
“There’ve been other occasions too, but you just kept slipping from their grasp. Don’t tell them I told you, but they’ve already got some tasks lined up. Getting rid of all the serum produced at the factory, that’s way up on the priority list. Part of that is helping your dads adjust to their new mission. They are feeling very lost right now.” Elden shot a quick glance at Bree, but she was boring hole
s in her hands with her eyes as she rubbed her palms together, tracing her fingertips over the healed skin.
“Fetching all Zulu’s boys back from the testing arch and training them. Also, the priests of Zulu’s village are ready for a visit.”
Kai laughed, “Are you nuts? They would string me up and feed me to their worms.”
Elden looked puzzled. “Worms? I don’t know about worms, but I know the priests are ready now.”
Bree clasped her hands together and eyed her brother from across the room as if listening to a stranger talk. “You could have told me, you know. All I wanted to do was rescue you from being indoctrinated, sucked deeper into that whole mess, but you just stubbornly ignored me. I was worried sick.” She shuffled a bit closer to Kai, close enough that he felt the warmth of her leg next to his. It was a feeling he could get used to.
Elden tried to glare at it her but failed. “And you should have listened to me. How many times did I tell you to go home? You are at least as stubborn as I am!” He shook his head with a laugh. “And yet that stubbornness and love is exactly why you’d make an excellent Spirit Walker. You two should think about it.”
Kai curled a lock of Bree’s hair around his finger, winding it tight before letting it slip off with a bounce. “What do you think, Bree? Should we do this?”
“Well, I’m only just getting to know Him. But you? I’ve watched you work with Tau. All the titles and tasks, it’s all just a technicality. You’re already doing the job. He calls, you answer.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing though. I’m like a kid with crayons, messing up the master artist’s canvas.”
Evazee laughed. “We’ve been through so much, but you still don’t get it. All you have to do is be you. That’s enough. He does the rest. Ask me, I know.”
“Like my painting with TrisTessa.”
“Exactly like that.” Evazee sat next to Elden with her eyes shining and her imprint sparkling between her collar bones. She was glowing much like the first time she’d slapped him in the desert.
Bree stared at Evazee as if she were an oasis in the desert. A slow smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “You should listen to her, Kai. The girl speaks sense. Between you and Tau, you’ve got this down to a fine art.”
Cadence Page 24
