The_ORDER_of_SHADDAI
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Gideon started to protest again, but Rommil’s fist smashed him across the face and all went black.
Daylight flooded into the tunnel near the end. Ethan, Seth, and Levi had followed the brown rat all the way to the outside of the castle. Smoke rose above the treetops nearly a half mile away. “That must be the castle back there,� Ethan said.
Levi sat on a nearby rock and examined himself. “This is without a doubt the worst shape I’ve ever been in.�
Ethan wrinkled his nose at the captain. “Yeah, the fresh air really brings out your stench, Levi. You and Seth should take the advice of our new friend over there.�
They watched the brown rat wading into a nearby stream. Where the river became white-water, he entered and held tight to the rocks, allowing the water to cleanse his thick coat of its filth.
“Our new friend?� Levi asked incredulously. “He’s a big, nasty rat.�
The rat exited the stream and shook his lean frame free of excess water, then began grooming his coat.
Seth smiled at Levi. “I’d say he’s a fair bit cleaner than you at the moment.�
“Well, you’re no better, Seth.�
Seth walked toward the stream. “Then I second the rat’s wisdom.�
Ethan smiled as he watched the rat cleaning himself. “He’ll need a name.�
“What on earth for?� Levi asked, bewildered.
“He helped us,� Ethan said defensively. “Not to mention saving your life.�
Levi relented a bit.
“And I think he can help us find Gideon. He may have been captured.�
The rat wandered back to Ethan’s side. He placed his hand gently on the rat’s head, still a bit concerned by the beast’s size. It stood slightly taller than any of them.
“What is your name?� Ethan asked.
Levi rolled his eyes. “Oh boy.�
Ethan ignored him. The rat responded in thought. Ethan tried to decipher it, but only grasped feelings. “I can’t figure out what he’s telling me.�
Seth splashed in the river, allowing the water to clean away the sewage and filth they’d been traveling through.
Ethan tried again. “Would you mind if we gave you a name?�
The rat responded with eager feelings of joy.
“How about Dung?� Levi said from his rocky perch.
Ethan shot him a defensive look.
“What? We found him in a dung heap, after all.�
Ethan smirked, hoping to turn it around on Levi. “Sounds good to me. What about you?� he said to the rat. Surprisingly, he found the rat amiable to the name.
He turned back to Levi. “Good job, Captain, he likes it. Now, go wash up or Dung and I are going to push you in the river.� To this sentiment, the rat rose up with an eager look in his black eyes.
His pounding skull invaded Gideon’s slumber. He roused, slowly at first, then remembering what had happened, he leapt to his feet. Chains held him fast to a steel plate mounted to the wall. He turned and yanked against them again and again, but could not break free. He pulled to the point of wringing blood from his wrists and ankles—no use.
Gideon examined the bars of his cage. Iron bars on three sides. He noticed the floor. It was uneasy—tilting slightly. They have me on a ship. He heard footsteps coming down the corridor beyond the wooden door before his cell. A key slid into the lock on the other side—tumblers slid into place.
Jericho stood in the corner of the lone prison cell, amused. The priest of Shaddai had roused by now from his fist-induced slumber. He pulled against his chains several times, straining his wrists and ankles against the manacles to the point of blood. Most amusing.
Footsteps fell on the wooden floor outside the room. The priest reacted. Jericho watched as the guard came in to find the priest apparently still unconscious. Not a particularly clever ruse. Nevertheless, the guard inspected the man for a moment, then decided it safe to open the cell door in order to place a tray of food inside the door.
It wasn’t a wise move, but Jericho and the guard both knew that Gideon’s chains would not allow him to even reach the tray. Once the door was closed, the tray could be kicked across to the prisoner. But something had caught the guard’s eye.
Jericho moved to see what had seized the man’s attention. On the floor, partially spilled, lay a pouch of gold and silver coinage. Jericho had not noticed it lying there next to Gideon’s knee before.
The guard turned to look around, then at Gideon, wanting to be sure the man was really unconscious. He greedily inched closer to the money bag. Jericho puzzled a moment too long, then realized—bait!
Before he could do anything to warn the guard, the priest sprang at him, seized him in a silent embrace and snapped his neck. Jericho decided, curiously, to watch more of the priest in action.
Gideon took the keys, but none fit the locks on his manacles. Next he took the guard’s sword. He placed the point inside a chain link, then used his palm to drive the pommel down. Four times for four links he did this and freed himself in seconds. The priest took the weapon, keys, and his pouch of coins and crossed the room to the door. He paused, looked in Jericho’s direction, then shook off his suspicion and entered the corridor beyond.
Jericho passed through the door, following the priest along his route. He’s quite clever, Jericho thought. More what I would have expected in a choice of Deliverer. Perhaps this priest could actually do as we hope.
Gideon walked cautiously down the narrow corridor of the ship. He blew out the wall-mounted lanterns as he came to them, then proceeded, using the darkness to his advantage. Jericho followed, intrigued.
The priest ascended the stairway, only pausing before he came on deck to spy out his odds. Apparently, he hadn’t been overly concerned by the amount of men he had to face. He surged forward onto the main deck.
Jericho rose through the deck until he had an excellent vantage point of the ensuing skirmish. The priest tore through men as though assailed by no more than a troop of goose down pillows. He spotted Macedon off the port bow and ran for the rail, intending to leap from the ship and make a swim for it.
Jericho deftly moved to intercept, permeating the physical world just enough to bar the man’s efforts to leave. Gideon hit an invisible barrier and toppled backward to the deck. He stood, baffled, then tried again unsuccessfully. A look of semi-comprehension washed over his face. He ducked back, fighting more men across the deck toward the other side. He jumped more cautiously and slammed into another of Jericho’s barriers. He landed back on his feet this time, then switched tactics completely.
Jericho watched him run around the soldiers, taking down more as necessary. The priest climbed quickly to the poop deck. What is he doing now?
The priest assaulted the guard at Rommil’s quarters and plowed through the door. Jericho rushed after him. When he entered the room, he found the priest just inside the door pointing his sword at General Rommil. The Wraith General sat across the cabin behind his oak writing desk in a leather chair. He smoked on a long pipe, smiling at Gideon.
“I must say, priest, that took longer than expected. I was told you warriors of Shaddai were supposed to be the best.�
Gideon said nothing. Smart, Jericho thought. Maintain your focus—don’t let the enemy turn you from your goal. Half the battle takes place in the mind. He realized the priest might strike any moment. No need to waste a good warrior like Rommil while he was still so useful.
Jericho made himself visible to Rommil. The general seemed to barely take notice, as if he’d expected the demon was there all the time.
“Tell me, priest, have you ever fought a demon?� Rommil asked coolly.
<
br /> “I’ve killed a few.�
Jericho smiled at the young man’s ignorance. He’s posturing…perfect.
Rommil smiled and stood behind his desk. “So, will you kill me, then?�
Gideon gripped the weapon tighter. Soldiers gathered at the door to Rommil’s quarters. They shouted to their general for admittance.
“Stand down!� Rommil hollered to them.
“I’ll spare your life, General, once you have the barrier removed from around the ship.�
Rommil laughed heartily. “I didn’t place the barrier around the ship, you fool! You don’t realize the situation you’re in, obviously.�
“I won’t ask again, General.�
“Then strike, priest. I’m unarmed.�
Gideon had now come up against the wall. His bluff had been called.
Jericho watched and waited. The priest stood there, considering for the briefest moment, then he lunged for General Rommil. Jericho intercepted the priest with one invisible swipe of his forearm. Gideon sailed across the room, landing in a bookcase.
The_ORDER_of_SHADDAI
The entire lot tumbled to the ground around him. Gideon recovered lightning quick, blade ready, searching the half-light within the general’s cabin. Jericho waited.
The priest leaped again, trying to place his sword between his body and any invisible entity in the room. Jericho seized Gideon’s sword arm, then used it to swing him around the room. The demon battered him into every piece of furniture available until Gideon could barely manage to get to his knees. He remained on the floor of the cabin, gasping for breath, blood pouring from his nose and many lacerations across his body.
The demon left him there to wallow in self pity and discouraged defeat. Rommil’s deep voice boomed throughout the cabin with laughter. “Ah, priest, you don’t fail to amuse do you? Perhaps if you serve no other purpose for Lord Mordred, he might allow you to live as a jester in his court.�
Gideon barely managed to catch his breath. It felt like several of his ribs had been broken during the demonic attack. He’d never seen it coming and there was no way to fight back. He had been defeated.
Rommil passed by and removed the chair Gideon had used to bar the door. The soldiers came in after him. “Gather up our friend and bring him onto the main deck,� Rommil said. He walked through them into the sunshine.
The soldiers hoisted Gideon to his feet. He winced at the pain coursing through his torso. The breath came only in gentle inhales and exhales. Gideon staggered between the guards holding him up. They led him, following the general, out onto the main deck.
The sunshine made him feel a little better. The cabin had seemed nearly cold enough to see one’s breath suspended in the air. But hopelessness knocked out any small joy that remained.
Rommil stood at the railing. “Come over here, priest. I assumed you would want to see this.�
Rommil’s men pulled him to the rail beside the general. On the beach, a large fire burned with some of Rommil’s soldiers next to it. They also had a silver chest with them. Gideon perked up pitifully.
“I see you recognize the chest,� Rommil crowed. “The same one you and the boy brought with you from your pathetic Order of Shaddai.�
General Rommil raised his hand to the men on shore. They were nearly two hundreds yards away from the beach on Rommil’s sleuth, the Razor. As soon as they received the signal, his men smashed the lock from the front of the chest and opened it. Several of them began pulling scrolls from the chest, shredding them, then tossing the remains into the bonfire.
Gideon’s last vestiges of strength left him. How could it have happened? Their mission a failure, himself captured, and only the Lord knew what had happened to Ethan.
“Surely you realize your God will not save you this time,� Rommil said. “Your mission of mercy to Macedon is a miserable failure, young man. We sail for Nod where you will stand before Lord Mordred at his palace. You may live to regret your rebellion to my master.�
Gideon watched the strips of scroll reduced to ashes in the fire. They rode the thermals into the air, then drifted down the beach. He had not protected the Word of Shaddai, nor Ethan, Shaddai’s Deliverer. Sorrow pummeled his soul like a wave of the sea. “Why not simply kill me now?�
Rommil laughed. “How perfectly cowardly of you. But there will be no taking the easy way out of this, priest. You will stand before my master. He alone will decide your fate.�
The sails on the sleuth billowed and caught the wind under the direction of Rommil’s crew. Gideon closed his eyes to the spiritual carnage taking place on the beach. Whatever happened to him now, he deserved it for his failure to Shaddai.
HOPE REMAINS
Ethan, Levi, and Seth remained behind the dunes, watching as General Rommil’s men broke away the lock securing the scroll chest where it sat next to a large fire roaring on the beach.
“They’re shredding the scrolls,� Ethan hissed through clenched teeth. He couldn’t take it any longer. He tried to surge forward from the protection of the dunes. Levi and Seth caught him and held him back.
“No!� Levi urged him. “You can’t.�
Ethan pulled against them, but he didn’t have the strength to break free from their grip. He still couldn’t realm shift either. Instead he had to sit and watch the soldiers destroy the Word of Shaddai meant for Macedon’s people. Tears began to stream down his cheeks in anger.
Seth tried to reason with him. “Ethan, Levi is right. You can’t just march out there for Rommil to see you.�
Ethan slumped down behind the sand dune with them. “But they’re burning the scrolls—the Word of Shaddai, Seth—burned like so much garbage.�
Seth considered it.
Levi watched The Razor through a small spyglass. “I believe I see Gideon aboard that ship. Rommil’s men have him. He looks pretty beaten up, but there’s no chance of getting to him right now.�
“At least we know he’s still alive,� Seth said, hoping it would improve Ethan’s outlook.
“I’ve failed, Seth,� he said. “I was charged to guard those scrolls with my life, and now the real hope of Macedon has been reduced to ash before my eyes.�
“We had better get busy working out some way to follow The Razor,� Levi said. “It will take a fast ship to even hope of keeping up with her.�
Seth clapped Ethan on the shoulder. “I think I need to show you something before we go.�
Seth got up under the cover of the dunes and walked back into the underbrush. “Come on, men. I believe we can find a ship to suit us on the other side of the island. And maybe, just maybe, I can restore your faith in Shaddai.�
The group walked for miles. Even Dung the rat came along, though it was unclear to everyone, but Ethan, why the beast bothered with them. Levi kept a suspicious eye on the giant rodent the entire way across the island.
Seth led them through the jungle, until they were deposited inside a small village at the edge of an ancient lava flow. Ethan wondered if the entire island was perhaps the product of some old volcano pushing its way through the surface of the Azure Sea, long ago.
The villagers gave cautious stares, until they noticed Seth leading them. Evidently, he was well known to them, which piqued Ethan’s curiosity all the more. Some of the people called the blind priest’s name, to which he obliged them with courteous waves and shouts. By voice alone, Seth apparently identified them all correctly.
Ethan also noticed that no one appeared to be threatened by Dung the rat. Where was he? The giant rodent had disappeared from their ranks. He scoured the tree
line and found Dung hiding beyond the edge of the village away from the people. Ethan tried to coax him forward, but Dung apparently wanted to remain hidden from view. Perhaps, he doesn’t want to alarm the people, or maybe he just knows something I don’t.
Ethan carried on after Seth. The blind priest brought them to a particular thatched hut, among many, and knocked. Someone peeked from behind the door. Then, seeing Seth, they opened the door wide. A stocky man with bushy black hair stepped out and embraced Seth in a bear hug.
“Whoa, Bombil, you’ll break me if you don’t stop,� Seth said.
Bombil gave an inquisitive look at Seth’s two companions. Ethan and Levi looked like street urchins in their tattered, stained garments. The reek of sewage and lizard dung still wafted off Levi’s clothes—fire being the only way they could be purged of the foul funk now.
“What have you brought us, Seth?� Bombil asked.
“This is Captain Levi Bonifast. And may I present Ethan, priest of Shaddai and the promised Deliverer.�
Bombil was clearly stunned by the revelation. He looked back at Seth as if the blind priest might be playing a prank on him. “Truly, Seth?�
Seth smiled, even though he couldn’t see the expression on Bombil’s face. “I understand your doubts, my friend. I too found it difficult to believe the prophecy had come true. However, if we could get out of the street and into some suitable clothing, then perhaps Ethan would be willing to enlighten us to the journey that brings him to Macedon.�
Ethan felt as though he were on the spot now. “I, uhm, I guess I could do that. But we mustn’t delay too long in chasing down the ship with Gideon onboard.�
Bombil stepped aside in the doorway, beckoning for the others to come inside his home. His wife and two sons were seated at a small table inside with only four chairs.