by Bryan Davis
With renewed strength, he sprinted down a village street, now crowded with people as they made ready for their defense. Women and children rushed toward the western side carrying towels and basins. Ashley and Dr. Conner marched together, Ashley holding a basket of medical supplies with both arms and Dr. Conner lugging a cot under each arm.
When Billy reached the path to the northeast, he ran past the border of the village and bolted up the rampart’s steps, nearly colliding with Walter and Elam. “Sorry I’m late,” Billy said, breathless.
Elam looked through the spyglass toward the northeast but said nothing. Blood on his uniform and a deep scratch across his chin proved that he had just come from the battle.
Walter whispered, “Did you resurrect Makaidos?”
“No. It’s a long story, but—”
“Save it. We’re here because the Vacants on the northern front seem to be trying to draw us away, so Elam wanted to check out the path to Adam’s Marsh.”
“A diversion?”
“That’s what we’re guessing. Maybe you should take Excalibur to the northern front and show those Vacants a little diversion of your own. Valiant’s troops and the dragons are handling it, but if you could sweep through the Vacants with that roasting beam, the battle would be over in a heartbeat.”
Still looking through the spyglass, Elam raised his hand. “No. Wait.”
Walter leaned on the parapet and peered into the dim landscape. “What do you see?”
Elam kept the spyglass trained, moving it slowly for several seconds before answering. “A dragon is flying away from us, and he seems to be heading for a dark mass in the distance.” He handed the tube to Walter and pointed at a draconic silhouette sinking toward the ground beyond their trap area. “Do you recognize it?”
Walter guided the spyglass. “It’s hard to tell, but I think it’s red, so it’s got to be—”
“Goliath,” Billy said. “I just had a scrap with him out in the garden.”
Elam narrowed his eyes. “Goliath was in the garden? What happened?”
“He wanted the fruit of the weed.”
Elam pounded his fist on the parapet. “I knew it! They were growing something they wanted to use in the war.”
“Whew!” Walter patted Billy on the back. “Good thing you were there. I guess you sent him off with his tail on fire, right?”
“Well, not exactly. You see—”
“Elam!”
The new voice was loud and joyful. All three turned. Rapid footsteps clopped up the stairs, and Candle burst into the moonlight’s glow. “The Vacants retreated,” he said, breathing heavily. “The battle on the northern front is over.”
Walter interlocked wrists with Candle. “Great work! We have them on the run.”
“I don’t think so,” Billy said.
Elam looked at him. “Why not?”
“It’s the timing.” Billy walked to the parapet and looked out at the field. “Ask yourself. If it was a diversion, why didn’t Flint’s troops attack from the northeast? They didn’t even send the shadow people. With the dragons distracted, the conditions were ideal. My guess is that they lured the dragons to the north, so Goliath thought it would be safe to get the plant’s fruit. They didn’t know we have Sorentine now.”
“So what happened out there?” Walter asked. “You’re dancing around the bottom line.”
“Well, it’s a long story.” Billy tapped his knuckles on the parapet’s stone top. “You see, we never called for Makaidos.”
“You decided it wasn’t the proper night?” Elam asked.
Billy shook his head. “No. It’s the night after eclipse. You see, there’s this song Sorentine used to sing—”
“Hello, Elam. Hello, Walter.”
Every head turned toward the voice. Bonnie climbed the stairs, slowly and with deliberate footfalls. Dressed in the village’s orange and red uniform, a sword at her hip, and her hair tied back, she halted at the top and took a soldier’s stance. “What are my orders?”
Billy tried to smile, but she looked so radiant he could barely keep his jaw from dropping open. “Elam,” he said, working hard not to squeak, “I’d like for you to meet Bonnie Silver.”
“It’s a pleasure, my lady.” Elam offered a formal bow. “I’m glad to finally meet you.”
Bonnie bowed in return. “The pleasure is mine, son of Shem, grandson of Noah. It is truly an honor to serve under your command.” She then leaned close to Billy and whispered, “Have you told him about you-know-who yet?”
Billy shook his head. Bonnie’s impish grin indicated that she wanted to have some fun with Elam. He wasn’t about to spoil it.
“You’ve learned a lot about me.” Elam brushed his hand across the dragon on his tunic. “You’re dressed as a warrior. Do you intend to fight?”
With a lightning-fast move, she withdrew her sword and set the tip near Elam’s chin. Flashing a wide grin, she said, “Only in your service, my liege.”
Elam touched the end with his finger. “I get your point.”
She slid the sword back to its scabbard. “Since my point is well taken, may I ask the warrior chief if the current crisis is under control?”
“It seems to be. For the moment, at least.”
“Then come with me.” She reached for Elam’s hand. “An old woman has begged me to request an audience with you on her behalf.”
Elam allowed her to lead him down the stairs. “An old woman? A lot of the women here are well over a hundred, but no one looks that old.”
Nudging Walter, Billy whispered. “Come on. This is going to be very cool.”
As they followed, Candle trailing the group, Walter laid his arm around Billy’s shoulders. “You’re as cool as a snowball. You haven’t seen Bonnie in four years, but you’re acting like she’s one of the guys.”
“Hey, Mr. Engaged Man, I have no idea what to do. Should I just go ahead and ask her to marry me?”
Walter pointed at him. “Perfect. But don’t build a snowman. It’s not cold enough, and, besides, you should be original.”
“Thanks for the advice. But just thinking about asking her to marry me makes my knees knock together.”
“Good. It ought to.” Walter gave him a light punch on the arm but said nothing more.
Still holding Elam’s hand, Bonnie led him southwest down the street leading toward the village’s central circle. To the left, a fountain gushed sparkling water several feet into the air. Normally they kept the pressure low at night by blocking the feeding stream, and in the daytime the children would romp in its spray. But ever since the stream froze, they had to chop the ice to get any flow at all. Apparently the rising temperatures had thawed the blockage, and no one had bothered to dam it up.
Bonnie pulled Elam onto the dead grass and closer to the fountain. “This is the place,” she said.
When she released his hand, he fidgeted and pressed his fingers together, more like a little boy than a centuries-old warrior. “So . . .” He cleared his throat to arrest his high pitch. “Where is this old woman?”
Smiling, Bonnie just stepped away and pointed at the fountain.
Veiled by the spray, Sapphira stood with her hands folded over the hilt of a sword, the tip resting on the ground. Dressed in the village’s orange and red, her hair as white as hailstones, and her face aglow in a fiery corona, she looked like a radiant angel.
She stepped through the mist and stopped three paces from Elam, her hair and cheeks sprinkled with tiny droplets that glittered in the moonlight. A tear dripping from one eye, she lifted a hand and wiggled her fingers.
Elam’s jaw dropped. His arms trembled. He took one step toward her, but his other foot seemed anchored to the ground. He, too, wiggled his fingers, his voice barely more than a whisper. “Sapphira.”
She walked another step and stopped again. Her eyes followed a moth as it flitted across the space between them. “It’s good to see you again,” she said with an air of nonchalance. “It’s been a very long time.�
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“A long time,” he repeated. He seemed distant, as if lost in a dream.
Billy winked at Bonnie. She covered a wide grin with her hand.
“So, I was wondering …” A coy smile spread across Sapphira’s face as she stepped within reach. “I asked for this audience, because I was wondering if there’s a place in your army for a five-thousand-year-old woman.”
Elam mouthed the words, “five thousand,” but no sound came out. His chest heaved through rapid breaths. Finally, he leaped toward her, gathered her into his arms, and twirled. Her sword clattered to the grass, and her petite legs, covered by the uniform’s green trousers, swung out as she and Elam laughed and cried.
Stopping the wild ride, he laid a hand behind her silvery hair and pressed her cheek close to his chest. “Oh, my dearest Sapphira, how I have longed for this day!” As he caressed her hair with his cheek, sobs shook his entire body.
Sapphira wept with him. As her own body trembled, she stroked his arm. “Elam, before we go out to battle, I have something to tell you.”
He pushed her gently away and lowered himself to one knee. “Please tell me, and then I have a question to ask you.”
“Elam,” she said softly as she caressed his cheek. “Elam, I lo—”
“Warrior chief!” Valiant ran toward them from the direction of the rampart. “The enemy is advancing from the northeast. We must activate the trap immediately.”
Elam raised his hand. “No! I have waited for this moment for thousands of years, and I will not delay it again. I’m not moving until my Sapphira has said what she must say.”
Walter gave the spyglass to Billy. “Take your time, Elam. Candle and I will make sure the trap’s ready to go.”
Valiant bowed his head, a grave expression on his face. “I will see you on the battlefield.” Then with a twinkle in his eye, he added, “Or perhaps floating above the battlefield.”
When Walter, Candle, and Valiant departed, their footsteps faded in the distance. Only the gentle sound of spraying water filled the nighttime air.
Elam, still resting on one knee, looked into Sapphira’s eyes. “Now, what did you want to tell me?”
Still trembling, she twirled a lock of his hair around her finger. “Thousands of years ago I threw morsels of food on the floor for a little mouse I named Qatan. The food disappeared, so I knew he had to be around somewhere. Little did I know that a lost and lonely boy was pushing his hand through that mouse hole and gathering the tidbits just to keep from starving. When I learned about that boy, I fed him stew from my own hand, and he licked my fingers clean.”
She lifted a hand and wiggled her fingers again. Elam did the same. Then, they joined their hands together and intertwined their fingers. “Now the boy has become a man, a general, a warrior chief, and he has a war to wage, a battle to win, so I will curtail my speech and say only one more thing.”
As she took a deep breath, she met his gaze. A single tear coursed down her cheek and dangled from her chin. “Elam …” Her lips quivered as she steadied her voice. “Elam, I love you.”
Elam caught the tear on his finger and touched a tear on his own face, blending them into one. He suspended the droplet from his finger and spoke in a near whisper. “Sapphira, I love you more than my words could ever say, yet I will attempt to put my thoughts into a simple pledge. As our tears are bound together as one, so our lives will become one, impossible to differentiate and impossible to separate.” He pulled their clasped hands close to his lips. “What I’m saying is … will you marry me?”
Sapphira’s tears flowed. As tiny firelets ran across her snowy hair, she nodded. “Yes, Elam. Yes, I will marry you.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. “This belonged to Makaidos. It’s the only one I have, so I hope it will serve this purpose.”
She extended her finger and let him slide it on. As he straightened, she lifted her hand and gazed at the rubellite, now as white as a pearl. “I will wear the ring of my great friend, the king of dragons, with gladness.”
He pulled her close, and the two wept together again.
Billy felt Bonnie’s hand slide into his. As he gripped it, he shifted his gaze absently toward the rampart. What did her touch mean? Did she want him to propose, too? Yes, they were old enough now, and the prophecy was still intact, but was it the right time?
He turned toward her. She was already looking at him, her eyes probing. He studied her expression, searching for a clue. After clearing his throat, he whispered, “We have some things to talk about, too.”
“I know.” She gave him a tender smile. “We have a war to win. Let’s talk when everything settles down.”
“That sounds good to me.”
Elam touched Billy’s shoulder. “Shall we go?”
Billy checked Excalibur’s position at his hip. “I’m ready.”
“I’m ready, too,” Bonnie said, drawing her sword again.
“As am I.” Sapphira picked up her sword from the ground, slid it into a hip scabbard, and tossed back her fiery hair with a shake of her head. “I’m going with my warrior chief.”
The foursome marched toward the northeast field. Billy walked between Bonnie and Sapphira, turning his head from side to side to speak to both. “We’ll have to maintain silence in a few seconds, so I’d better tell you a few things. Walter, Sir Barlow, and Valiant will be out in a field waiting for the shadow people to crawl out over some netting we spread on the ground. Our trio will be stationed at intervals. Valiant will be the farthest out, Walter next, and Barlow the closest to the village. When the shadow people attack each of our warriors, we’ll know how far along the net they’ve come. You see, these creatures are flat like shadows, and they creep along the ground, but they can reach up and drag you down. When they swarm, they can smother you in a hurry.”
“So, basically,” Bonnie said, “our warriors are acting as bait.”
“Exactly. But they’ll be bait that fights back.”
“Now that’s courage,” Sapphira said. “Just waiting for the enemy to jump on you.”
Billy nodded. “It’s courage, but it’s also strategy. We want to make sure we trap as many in the net as we can. If we can get some to mass at each point, we’ll probably get most of them when we heat up the net.”
“Will it hurt our warriors?” Bonnie asked.
“A few burns, maybe, but not enough to leave scars. We tested it on some volunteers, and Ashley declared it safe.”
“Ashley?” Bonnie’s eyes lit up. “Where is she?”
“At the hospital with your father, getting ready for casualties.”
Bonnie grabbed his arm. “So my father is here!”
“I should’ve told you earlier, but, yeah, he’s here. I’ll tell you more later. It’s time to be quiet.”
Smiling broadly, Bonnie gave Billy’s arm a hearty shake. Billy smiled back at her. As they left the village lights, her face grew dim, but the glow in her eyes remained. Billy bathed in that glow. Seeing her happy was like being in heaven.
When they reached a grassy field on the northeast side of the village, Billy crouched in the darkness and pulled Bonnie down with him. He glanced at Sapphira. She and Elam had stooped as well.
As Billy’s eyes adjusted to the moonlit area, more bodies took shape. Dozens of crouching villagers lined up to his left and right, swords and shields ready. Dikaios and Ember stood behind a bushy evergreen. Ember was saddled, but Dikaios had chosen against taking one. His long mane made it easy for a rider to hang on. Although Ember’s sorrel coat helped her blend in with the shadows, Dikaios’s white body made him stand out, forcing him to stay in his hiding place, at least for now.
Sir Barlow stood at his position on the net about twenty paces in front of the rest of the villagers. Barely visible another twenty paces beyond him, Walter walked slowly from side to side. If not for his movement, he would have been invisible in the darkness.
Billy tried to see past Walter. Pegasus provided enough light to re
veal dim outlines, but any one of several phantom shadows could have been Valiant. Standing completely still was his way—a tower of strength, immovable.
Valiant’s companion stayed dark. Either the villagers knew to keep their crystals hidden in their hair, or the companions knew not to flash in these dangerous situations. Either way, no blinking lights would betray their presence.
As Billy waited, only his own heartbeat and Bonnie’s gentle breathing interrupted the deathly silence. Somewhere out there, a crawling horde of vicious life stealers drew close. Unable to resist the scent of a village victim, they would reach out and attack Valiant, maybe before he could detect their approach.
Still, the miserable wretches would likely squeal, first for joy when they found a victim, and again in agony when Valiant sliced their skinny black arms and legs from their bodies. That would signal the beginning of the battle.
Walter stopped pacing. Now he, too, blended into the darkness. Bonnie held her breath. Even Billy’s heart seemed to stop beating. In the growing warmth, the silence felt heavy, oppressive.
A squeal sounded, high-pitched and feverish. Another echoed, and then a third. In the distance, a tall shadow swung an object. More squeals erupted, some fearful and truncated. Valiant, the greatest swordsman among the villagers, was now at work. In just a few seconds, Walter would try to bait them with—
“Hey, you low-life vermin!” Walter shouted. “Come over here and pick on someone closer to your own stunted size!”
Billy whispered to Bonnie. “They should be distracted enough now. It’s time to inch closer, but I’m the only one who’s supposed to draw his sword. It would be too noisy for everyone to do it.”
He rose to his feet and slowly withdrew Excalibur, careful to soften the sound. As he and every villager in their line crept toward the net, Walter shouted again, swinging his sword. “Eat steel!”
Now within a few feet of the net, Billy could see the battle clearly. Valiant fought the dark beasts as he staggered toward the village. With so many shadow people hanging on, it looked like he wore a cape of living blackness.
