Eighth Fire

by Curtis, Gene

  Several counselors walked up and stood behind Shana. Mark asked, “How many prophecies are there?”

  “Quite a few; most have already been fulfilled.”

  “May I look at your reader?”

  “Sure.” She handed the device to Mark and continued, “But I doubt that you’ll understand them. Prophecies usually can’t be linked to an event until after the event has happened. On the other hand, a foretelling has enough information to identify an event before it happens and permits intervention if necessary. That oath was a bit unusual and I thought I remembered it from prophecy class.”

  LeOmi asked, “That reader has all the prophecies in it?”

  Shana nodded, “Foretellings too, and they’re updated daily as long as you’re near a node, like a Wi-Fi hotspot or a phone tower.”

  LeOmi handed a piece of paper toward Shana. “I came across this just recently. I think it was intentionally left for me.”

  Shana took the paper and looked it over. She pointed to the reader Mark was holding and he handed it back. After a moment Shana compared the paper with what she had on the screen and then began to read, “In the last days I shall bring forth my staves; even the staff called Beauty and the staff called Bands, and they that bear them shall hearken to my voice. My shepherds shall witness against the seven headed beast and his followers, to all peoples who dwell in the seven mountains, and all peoples that dwell in the seven seas.” She handed the paper back to LeOmi and said, “Identical, except for the words mountains and continents. You say this was left for you?”

  “I think Henry left it; it was on the back of the Wheel of Time.”

  “Any dreams about it?”

  LeOmi nodded, but didn’t volunteer anything further.

  Shana smiled, “We’ll talk later. Okay, Mark what’ll you have?”

  The other counselors stepped from behind Shana and went to their charges.

  Shana returned and sat the orders in front of her students, walked to beside Jamal and put her hand on his shoulder, “Good news...I think. Mrs. Iglesias, head of the cooking department, has agreed in concept to let you establish a practice kitchen for sophomore students and have it open to the public. Meals are for homework grade points only. As payment, each patron will be required to fill out a survey that rates their dining experience according to several criteria. The only monetary compensation allowed is tips which have to be completely voluntary and they can neither be solicited nor mentioned in any way.

  “The second part of her conditions is that all material: facilities, foods, fixtures, frills, fittings, fluff and other ancillary stuffs, have to be supplied by the students. Nothing is to be supplied by the school. No exceptions.

  “Are you still interested?”

  Jamal looked flabbergasted. “How in the world can I do that?”

  Nick countered, “It’s not an ‘I’ problem; it’s a ‘we’ problem.”

  Mark said, “If you’re thinking the material is a problem, don’t worry about it. I can cover that without batting an eye.”

  Chenoa added, “It’s just Saturdays right? I’m willing to volunteer after flags practice and matches as wait staff, dishwasher or whatever is needed until you get it going.”

  James and Cap’n Ben chorused, “Me too.”

  Even the newcomers wanted to help out and offered to volunteer.

  Nick said, “Looks like most of the major bases are covered.”

  Mark said, “We need a location; just say yes or no and we’ll go from there.”

  “The Council of Elders has agreed to lease the picnic area in the recreation section in the middle of the mountain for this purpose,” Shana informed them, “and you can build on the site.”

  Jamal sat his coffee down and said, “This is all too much to take in. Can I think about it for a while?”

  Mark said, “I don’t have to think about it. I know it’s a good idea. How much is the lease?”

  “An ounce of gold per month; that includes utilities.”

  Nick asked, “What are the building restrictions?”

  Shana said, “Single story, style complementary to the other buildings around the picnic area and I think there’s a fifty thousand square foot size limit. The Council of Elders has to approve the plans.”

  Nick looked at Mark, “I want a piece of this. Partners?”

  Mark smiled and reached across Jamal to shake Nick’s hand. “Fifty-fifty, expense and profit?”

  LeOmi said, “Hey, not so fast, maybe some of us want a piece of it too.”

  Salina said, “I’d like to have a piece of it. You could incorporate it and sell shares of stock.”

  Shana said, “Sole proprietorships only, but a sole proprietor can have backers and investors.”

  Mark said, “Hey, this is getting way too complicated. Shana, can you bring me a lease agreement for five years? I’ll lease it and we can figure out investors and stuff later.”

  Shana said, “Five years is the standard term. The Council sent a lease agreement for Jamal to look over if he was still interested.” She produced the agreement and handed it to Mark.

  Jamal said, “I’m still interested, but I don’t have the means to do it.”

  Nick said to Jamal, “The means are covered. It’s just a matter of doing it. I can draw up the plans tonight if you’ll sit down with me and discuss what’s needed.”

  Mark said, “We can get a crew started on building it Monday morning if the plans are approved. If everything goes well it could be open by next Saturday.”

  Cap’n Ben said, “It’ll need a name. How about Jamal’s Table?”

  Chenoa said, “How about Jamal’s Kitchen?”

  Jamal’s mouth spread into a grin, “I like that.” His head began nodding, “I like that a lot. Jamal’s Kitchen. Yeah!”

  Mark missed his prediction by a day. Jamal had wanted to get the plans just right for the kitchen: six cooking stations all capable of preparing any one dish at any one station along with ergonomic considerations and efficient cleanup as priorities. Nick had been patient and as much as he had wanted to give up at a couple of points, he stuck with helping his friend.

  The group skipped that Saturday’s flags match since Emerald Tribe wasn’t playing in order to help Jamal set up for the first day the kitchen would be open. It didn’t help that Mrs. Iglesias was there taking notes on everything that was happening.

  Jamal pointed to one of the other chefs, another sophomore wearing a chef’s cap with yellow trim. “This is a big day for us. Make sure you have everything you could possibly need. If you don’t have something tell me. And make sure that what you’re prepared to cook is on the menu boards.” He raised his voice and called around, “That goes for all chefs; double check the menu boards to make sure what you plan to prepare is listed.”

  The menu boards were several chalkboards placed around the picnic area at locations visible from every one of the ten dozen tables. It didn’t make sense to have printed menus done until they established what meals were the most popular. As much as Jamal worried and tried to cover all the bases, no one was prepared for what happened that night.

  Not long after sunset the picnic area was inundated with people. Jamal heard from many customers that the opening had been dream cast and announced at today’s flags match. Counselors pitched in to help since not many people were in The Oasis.

  The huge freezers and refrigerators were absolutely empty by 9:30 p.m. Jamal asked Mark, “Can you have the wait staff tell everyone waiting that we’re completely out of food? I need to sit down for a little bit or I’d do it myself.” When Mark returned Jamal was slumped on the floor leaning against his lower oven sound asleep. The other chefs were all similarly positioned and just as asleep. Mrs. Iglesias walked in behind Mark, jotted some notes on her clipboard, pulled out a camera and took pictures of the sleeping sextet. As she was turning to leave she said, “They did well.”

  “I know. I had one of Jamal’s hamburgers with sweet potato fries. It was so good I left him a te
n dollar tip.”

  The next Saturday Jamal only supervised the new set of six chefs. The roster of chef rotations had filled in quickly with positions of chef and alternates being claimed for the next year. Word had evidently spread as people were starting to arrive an hour early, among whom was Jamal’s grandfather, from Ethiopia.

  As he approached the group seated at a table he said, “Look at you my boy. You are the head chef at your own place at The Seventh Mountain no less. I am so proud! I tried to see you last week, but there were so many people, and you were so busy.”

  Before his grandfather could finish Jamal was to him and they embraced. “Grandfather, it is so good to see you but how did you know?”

  “You are my grandson, a part of my family. It’s my purpose to know. Besides, news of a place with good free food spreads fast. I hope you are better prepared for tonight.”

  “Don’t worry. All the freezers and refrigerators are over packed. I don’t plan on running out of food again.”

  “That is good. Now, I have a brief bit of business with your friend before the mad rush starts.”

  The elder Mr. Terfa walked toward Mark. He knelt to one knee, drew his sword and laid it on the ground before him. As he did so most of the others that had arrived early did the same. Mr. Terfa bowed his head and said, “I choose: my sword, my skills and my life serve you and your quest to defeat the son of evil.” The others, more than a hundred in all said the same thing discordantly.

  Mark leaned toward Salina, “Can you make a list of everyone here: name, tribe, mountain, that sort of thing?

  Salina removed some paper from Aaron’s Grasp. Across the top of the paper she wrote: Name (print please), Tribe, Mountain.

  Mark took a medium size cardboard box out of Aaron’s Grasp and wondered if there would be enough. He’d only ordered a gross of them to start with because that was all Fairystone Park could supply on such short notice. He handed out a stone cross pendant with chain after each person wrote down their information. There were seven left when they finished.

  Mark stepped up on the table to address the group. “All of you are here because you felt compelled to make an oath to me, but the way I see it is you are devoting yourself to a quest that the One True God has lain before you. You made your oath to Him to serve me in this quest. The pendant I gave you will be our seal, our signet, and our emblem. Let it remind us of our bond in this quest and to each other.

  “I do not know where this quest will lead. It is not a quest to be taken lightly, but it is a quest I know I must lead. Many of us will likely be killed before it is over. If you have any doubt about your oath then come and scratch your name off the list.”

  Mark paused. Not a soul moved.

  “I’ll be at Jamal’s Kitchen every Saturday night when I can. If there is urgent news then I’ll dream cast. Sleep with your pendants on.”

  That night Mark called his close friends into his dream. After everyone had greeted him and taken a seat at the picnic table outside of his dream version of Jamal’s Kitchen he began, “This quest thing to stand against Benrah is developing a lot faster than I had thought it would. To tell you the truth, I’m a bit overwhelmed and I have no idea about what we should be doing. I know that doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in my ability to lead—”

  Nick interrupted, “We’re not following you because you’re a natural leader or anything. The One True God chose you to lead and he chose us to follow. We’re not following you; we’re following who He chose. It’s as simple as that.”

  Chenoa added, “Besides, you don’t lead by telling people to do this or that; you lead by example. You inspire people.”

  “I don’t want this to go to your head,” LeOmi leaned forward on her elbows. “You have even inspired me. Face it, you’re a wimp; and if a wimp can face the things that you have and survive, how can I not face those same things? How can I not be by your side?”

  Mark felt his eyes welling, “But I have no idea about what’s next, other than another one of Jamal’s hamburgers. They were incredibly good.”

  Everyone chuckled and Jamal said, “The secret is using a sprinkle of celery salt on the beef and the cheeses are—”

  James said, “Jamal, your hamburgers are unbelievably good, but he was just breaking the emotional tension.”

  “I know,” answered Jamal. “I was just trying to help. Besides, cooking is my passion. Nothing brings people together like a good meal.”

  Mark resumed, “I called you all into this dream so I could get some idea on what direction we should be going in. The only thing I can think of is we need to identify Benrah, figure out where he is and what he’s doing.”

  James said, “I thought you already knew. Slone is Benrah. His name is an anagram for ‘son of evil’.”

  Cap’n Ben sounded incredulous, “That’s not possible. Benrah was supposed to have been born seven years ago according to the prophecies about him. Slone’s way too old and, are you kidding, Benrah at The Seventh Mountain? Give me a break.”

  “That is interesting about his name, but I have to agree with Cap’n Ben.” Chenoa turned toward Mark. “I also think we should be trying to figure out who he is and what he’s doing.”

  Mark shook his head, “That sounds right in my head, but deep down I just don’t know. I just pray that God will give me direction. I don’t want to mess this up from the get-go.”

  A figure started walking toward them from the direction of the kitchen. The person had a golden glow about him and was pushing a serving cart laden with full plates, pitchers of drinks and tumblers. As he got nearer he called, “Hi, Mark.”

  Everyone looked at Mark and someone whispered, “Who’s that?”

  Mark glanced around to see who had asked and they were all staring at him. He turned back to the newcomer as he pushed the cart up to the table.

  The man said, “Mark will tell you who I am, but in the meantime I’ve got eight hamburgers here, two each of pimento cheese, bleu cheese, extremely sharp cheddar sauce and Romano-Asian peppercorn sauce; all very good. Help yourselves, and there’s lemonade, sweet tea and Ethiopian coffee.”

  Everyone sat in silence still staring at Mark. He took the hint. “Everyone, this is Archangel Raphael. Mrs. Shadowitz believes he’s a bit of a prankster. He told me something that helped a lot in the cave, but what he told me has to be kept secret, so please don’t ask about it. I don’t think he’s a prankster.” He turned to Raphael, “Why are you here?”

  “What do you mean, why are you here? You just asked God for help so He sent me and here I am.”

  “You’re here to tell us what we should be doing?”

  “The burgers are getting cold. You all might want to get one before they do.” He sat the plates and drinks on the table and then sat down himself. He pulled a Romano-Asian peppercorn one over to himself, said, “Thank you, Father. It’s been a long time,” and took a big bite. After everyone was reseated he said, “Mark, you know I can’t just say right out, ‘do this or don’t do that’. What I can do is tell you that one of you here, now, knows what needs to be done next. Your heart may want to rebel against this because you believe other things are more urgent. If you don’t now, you soon will. Harken to God’s voice when He speaks to you and when He speaks to your friends. Do this and you will stay on the right path.”

  He turned to Jamal, “Excellent recipes my man. It’s been a very long time since I’ve had anything to eat that was this good. In fact, it’s been a very long time since I’ve had anything to eat at all. You see, we don’t eat except in dreams.” He chuckled. “Now don’t go around telling everyone that your burgers are food for angels. In fact, don’t tell anyone. That goes for all of you. This meeting is to remain a secret. The only time you can even discuss the things here tonight is between yourselves in a closed dream meeting like this one. Everyone nod your understanding.”

  Everyone did.

  “Very good then. Mark, let me hold the staff.”

  Mark handed him the staff.


  “As Joel can attest, the power of the staff only lends itself to Mark’s touch. And yes, the staff has powers beyond opening the doors in the labyrinths. These powers Mark will discover in due course. Only he can wield these powers, however, the staff conceals other things.” He handed the bottom of the staff toward Mark. “Remove it.”

  “But you said to keep it secret.”

  “I told you to keep it secret, and you have. I’m the one making the decision to show them. I know you can trust these few with all you know and all you will discover. They have all agreed to keep everything seen here secret.”

  Mark pulled the sword from the bottom of the staff and held it so everyone could see it.

  Raphael continued, “This sword will cleave anything it touches by using no more force than the weight of a gnat. It will work in anyone’s hand once he has it, but Mark is the only one that can draw it from the staff.

  “Over the course of the next few years some of the rest of you will recover things from the past that is critical to this quest. Each of you will serve your destiny with distinction. Trust each other and you’ll do well.”

  James asked, “Is Slone Benrah?”

  Raphael shook his head slightly, “You will discover the truth of Benrah in due course. Everyone will. Be patient.”

  “I’ve been ordered by the Council of Elders to keep something secret.”

  “Ah, yes Nick, you have, and you should, so I’ll tell. What he’s referring to is his discovery of a working model time machine. His engineering team is working on creating a full scale one now.”