Zephan and the Vision

by Chris Wright

  Suddenly Nadia stood up and clapped her hands. 'Well,' she called as everyone turned to listen, 'I think we're all doing pretty well. If the King's Son comes this way again -- and perhaps he never will -- I know he'll be pleased with the things we can do. He certainly won't blame us for anything.'

  Sadly, everyone agreed. The companions of Diabolus were here, and we had to do something quickly to spoil their plans.

  Talora looked at me in alarm. 'Why have Nadia and her friends given up sending messages to the Lord God? Tell me, Zephan. Can't they understand he still loves them?'

  'This castle's in a sad state,' I said. 'Let's see if we can talk some sense into Nadia and her friends.'

  The only way to join them was to make ourselves visible. Making ourselves visible and invisible is something only angels can do, so there's no point in me telling you how it's done. Not that becoming visible did much good, for no matter how hard we pleaded with them to call out to the Lord God for help, Nadia and her friends took no notice. However, they knew something was different about us, even though I'm sure they couldn't see our wings.

  As we walked about wearing the bright and dazzling white of Heaven, everyone laughed and pointed at us. We had to expose the showmen for the frauds and deceivers they were.

  That was when the rain came.

  CHAPTER 35

  A Fresh Attack

  The massive storm clouds, which had been racing in from the west since we left Castle Max, finally arrived in their fullest force. Because it never rains on Eltor, I hadn't seen such wet weather for thousands of years, and Talora looked so startled that I decided she'd never, ever seen rain before -- certainly not torrential rain like this. The clouds lit up inside with fierce lightning while the rain lashed everything in sight.

  We clung together tightly as thunder crashed all around us. Angels are waterproof in normal circumstances, but these heavy windswept raindrops stung our faces. I raised my wings and folded them over my head like an umbrella, but the rain came through regardless.

  Nadia and her friends screamed and ran back to their castles to avoid getting soaked by the deluge. Nadia slammed her door shut and we could hear her bolting it. The showmen's tents were awash, and as the stakes holding them securely upright gave way, they began to slide down the hill. First slowly, then faster and faster until they were swept out of sight. Well, some good was coming of this storm. I wondered if the Lord God had sent it for this very reason.

  Talora found us an overhanging rock we could use for shelter. We would have flown a distance beyond the storm, but the rain had soaked our wings, making flight decidedly dangerous in a windy situation like this. So we settled down in our makeshift refuge and waited for morning. I kept wondering if the slugs and sweets and other things were gone for good -- along with the showmen.

  The rain must have stopped overnight, but we didn't notice. We were soaked and exhausted, and slept until the sun was already climbing high in a blue sky. The dark clouds were just distant shapes on the horizon, and the birds had returned to their lively twittering. Our wings had dried out during the night, and we felt warm and rested.

  The first thing we saw was that the creatures were still alive, and had been busy during the night rebuilding their shacks round the back of Castle Nadia. It was what you on Earth call springtime, and the sun felt warm and life-giving.

  The door of one of the shacks was partly open, and we could hear whispering inside. 'Very soon now the army of Diabolus will be here. Every day he watches to see ...'

  Talora pulled me back as a shadow angel darted out of the door and looked around sharply.

  'Lord God, make us invisible to his eyes,' Talora whispered.

  The shadow angel muttered something angrily to himself before going back inside, pulling the door tightly shut. He sensed, for sure, that we were around.

  'What can we do?' I asked urgently. 'These shacks are going to be securely finished soon. If only Nadia would raise her flag and show everyone she still belongs to the King's Son. I'm sure it would help.'

  'Nadia and her friends must send another message to the King,' Talora said firmly. 'They simply must!'

  'But they've already done that. We saw them. They've sent lots of messages.'

  'True,' Talora agreed. 'But if they were deep down sorry, surely they would have waited longer to get an answer.'

  I sat with Talora for the rest of the day, hoping Nadia or her friends would reappear. Angels don't wear watches, but when darkness fell I knew we were unlikely to see anyone from the nearby castles until the next morning.

  'Please, can I talk to you?'

  The voice from behind made us jump with fright. A girl stood there in the darkness. The only way we could see her was by the light from her shimmering robe

  'You're Love-God,' I said, remembering how she had spoilt the party for Self-Pleasing.

  Love-God smiled, and obviously recognised us from that time as well. 'You must have seen how the companions of Diabolus are building again at the back of Castle Nadia,' she said, with a worried look on her face. 'I have to find Nadia and her friends and warn them.'

  'Do they still have the Swords that the King's Son gave them?' Talora asked.

  Love-God sighed. 'They do, but the blades have grown ever so dull and rusty. I'm going to tell them that they can still use their Swords to seek out and destroy all that's wrong in their lives. While I'm doing that, I'd like you check what's happening on Shadow Hill.'

  Even though it was dark, I agreed to take Talora with me and see what we could find. Did Love-God know we were angels? Possibly not, although with that shimmering robe she clearly wasn't an ordinary person either.

  We waited until Love-God was out of sight, and then flew high above Castle Nadia before drifting silently towards Shadow Hill. When I say silently, I mean we let our wings rise and fall gently, using the air currents to maintain a good height without needing to flap too enthusiastically.

  The moon gave just enough light to guide us as we approached the Shadowed Wood. Talora caught hold of my foot. 'Down there,' she whispered. 'I saw a brief flicker of a flame. Just for a moment.'

  As our eyes took in the gloomy landscape, we started to see occasional flares of light on the ground. People seemed to be moving around, concealing their flaming torches from anyone above. I knew immediately what was down there -- an army using their shields to hide from the Lord God's angels!

  There was only one thing to do, and that meant risking being seen and captured. With our wings spread out high above our heads we dropped as silently as we could to the ground close to the camp. Then we did what good spies should do: we made our way towards the enemy, to watch and listen -- while trying not to be caught again.

  CHAPTER 36

  The Army of Doubters

  'They're very close,' I reported to Love-God early the next morning. 'They're an army calling themselves the Doubters. I reckon there could be as many as two hundred of them. Do you remember someone called Won't-Believe? We've discovered that he has someone called All-Except-Me helping him, and they could all be here within the hour.'

  Love-God said she had found Nadia, who didn't want to be told about any danger. So Love-God called a meeting with her special friends. I was glad to see she now considered Choosing a friend, which indicated to me that he was seeing sense at last.

  'The Doubters are coming,' Love-God told them. 'All-Except-Me is with them, and we all know what that means.'

  'What do you think we should do?' Choosing asked, sounding surprisingly calm.

  'I suggest Nadia sends another message to the Lord God, pleading for help,' Love-God said.

  Choosing shook his head. 'He didn't reply to her pleas last time. Nadia is afraid she's hurt him too much. She doubts he will come again with love and forgiveness.'

  Love-God clapped her hands. 'Choosing, you are wrong. We must encourage Nadia to keep asking. The last thing she needs now is to be caught by the army of doubters.'

  A cry went up from the valley below the
castle. Nadia's special friends -- the friends who had also decided to come to the King's Son earlier but had since rejected him -- had been making their way to see her. Now they ran towards us in panic, shouting that they'd seen soldiers approaching from Shadow Hill.

  When she heard the noise, Nadia hurried to the top of her castle and looked down in alarm from the battlements surrounding the flat roof. Choosing ordered her to come back down and let him enter Castle Nadia with Love-God. Once safely inside, we could hear them helping Nadia set the iron bars and bolts firmly in place. Then they began to run up the stairs.

  'You must go to the Holy Spirit in his secret room,' Choosing told Nadia, sounding out of breath. I don't think he liked being rushed into making a decision. Or maybe it was the long flight of steps that made him sound exhausted. 'Ask the Holy Spirit to help you write a new message to the King.'

  I know all this because I'd flown to one of the open windows with Talora. We weren't being nosy -- but the King's Son had told us to keep an eye on Nadia. If Choosing had a fault it would be that he changed his mind too often -- but better Choosing than Unchanging, and this was certainly one of his better decisions.

  Nadia knocked hard on the door of the secret room where the Holy Spirit had come to live. 'I need help,' she called, and burst into tears.

  'You have hurt and grieved the King's Son,' the reply came as the door opened.

  'I know,' Nadia sobbed, going in slowly and kneeling down. 'Please tell me what I have to do.'

  'You have the Word of the Lord God in writing,' the Holy Spirit told her. 'Search it, and you will find the Way.'

  And that was all. This answer was obviously not what Nadia expected. Indeed, Choosing also began to cry, and the two sat in despair outside the room.

  I noticed that Love-God was smiling. 'It seems to me,' she told Nadia, 'that the answer contains more help than you think. The King's Son calls himself the Way in his Holy Book, so it will be through him that you must be rescued.'

  Nadia stopped crying, but still seemed puzzled.

  'Love-God is right,' Choosing said, wiping his eyes. 'Ask the Lord God for forgiveness once more. And this time you must wait for the answer. The Creator God has seen your tears. Tell him that you understand his Son is the Way -- the only Way to get forgiveness.'

  Before Nadia could do anything, her friends shouted up with news that the troops of Diabolus were retreating back towards the Shadowed Wood. When Nadia told them she was writing another letter they laughed, and said this wasn't the right time for sending messages. The army of Doubters had been driven off with no one being wounded -- what more could anyone want?

  'Let's go and finish them off tonight,' everyone shouted. 'We can earn our forgiveness by winning the battle.'

  The prospect of overcoming the Doubters excited Nadia so much that she told Love-God and Choosing that she'd write her letter when she got back.

  * * *

  As darkness fell, Nadia and her friends were still jumping up and down in anticipation.

  'Come on, it's time to go and destroy Diabolus and his army of Doubters!' Nadia's friends called from the foot of her castle, where they had gathered for their anticipated easy victory.

  'Destroy Diabolus and his army of Doubters!' a cry went up from all around.

  'Yes,' Nadia called, 'we'll go and finish them off now!'

  I saw Talora shiver in fright. 'They mustn't go,' she gasped. 'How can they fight that evil army in the dark all by themselves? Shadow Hill belongs to Diabolus.'

  I shook my head in despair. No one was wearing the armour the King's Son had given them -- all they had were their rusty Swords that they hardly ever used. Diabolus was drawing Nadia and her friends into a deadly trap.

  CHAPTER 37

  The Ambush

  Excited, expectant voices filled the night. Unfortunately, we had no way of stopping Nadia and her friends from launching their doomed assault on the army of Doubters. I held Talora by the arm as we saw Won't-Believe and All-Except-Me emerging from the Shadowed Wood on horseback with a group of shadow angels, making their way towards Castle Nadia.

  Seeing them coming stealthily, like foxes, Nadia ordered Choosing to bring three creatures called Addiction, Self and Immorality from their shacks round the back of her castle. Then, in full view of Won't-Believe, she plunged her Sword through each of them in turn.

  'Are you watching?' Nadia called into the darkness. 'So will perish all your evil companions!'

  Won't-Believe watched for a moment, then in anger turned his horse round and rode back toward the Shadowed Wood.

  'They're on the run!' Nadia shouted. 'Let's go after them!'

  I knew something that Nadia obviously didn't -- the troops of Diabolus are extremely cunning. I'd already seen the army of at least two hundred Doubters hiding in the Shadowed Wood. They went under names like Salvation Doubters, Free Forgiveness Doubters, Resurrection Doubters, Heaven Doubters, Bible Doubters, Miracle Doubters and many more -- and they had All-Except-Me giving them their orders.

  Nadia let Choosing go in front, but of course without the army of the King's Son for support, she and her friends would be easy prey.

  'Look at their Swords,' Talora said breathlessly, as we hurried to keep up. 'They're in terrible condition.'

  I knew that All-Except-Me was being crafty. He was making his troops appear to be retreating in fear to the shelter of the wood, while Nadia and her friends chased after them eagerly with their rusty Swords held high.

  Then Won't-Believe gave the signal for the drummer to beat his drum.

  Furiously.

  Boom and boom and boom and boom.

  At this signal, the army of Doubters leapt from their hiding places in the Shadowed Wood with dreadful, terrible cries.

  Choosing immediately held up his hands in surrender. He could see that he had been tricked. All around we could hear the cries of Nadia's friends as they fell to the weapons of the Doubters.

  I noticed an orange light reflected from the damp tree trunks. I turned round to see Castle Nadia on fire, flames leaping into the night sky.

  The drum of the army of Doubters beat louder and louder, the sound filling Nadia's friends with despair. Boom and boom and boom and boom. They tried to stop their ears with their fingers to keep out the noise as they fought the mighty army of Diabolus, using their own strength as their only weapon.

  CHAPTER 38

  All-Except-Me

  By the early morning light sifting through the sickly trees, we could see Nadia and her friends lying motionless on the ground where they'd fallen to the Doubters' weapons.

  'Zephan, they are all dead,' Talora whispered, as tears welled up in her eyes.

  But she was wrong. As the sun rose higher, Nadia's friends began to move, standing up slowly and painfully. Nadia stayed where she had fallen in the battle. It was a sorry group that limped and crawled back to Castle Nadia. The army of Doubters had gone, but Nadia's friends said they were terrified they'd be back soon.

  That was when we caught sight of the King's Son, standing over Nadia. He lifted her in his arms and carried her tenderly to her fire-blackened castle. Her friends cried out in joy when they saw Nadia was alive, and began to clap. Although we'd not seen him, the King's Son must have been watching over Nadia and her friends all night long.

  The King's Son placed Nadia gently on the grass outside her castle door. 'Nadia,' he said, 'you are very precious to me. Did you think you could fight my enemies by yourself?'

  Nadia said nothing. In shame she stood up, head hung low, and crept into her castle. In the scorched doorway she paused. 'I cannot answer the King's Son,' she told her friends.

  'Look at the state of your castle, Nadia,' one girl said. 'Perhaps the King's Son could restore it for you.'

  Nadia shook her head sadly. 'I'd like him to, but I don't have the courage to ask him.'

  The castle was still standing, in spite of the devastating fire that one of the unpleasant creatures must have started. Nadia went in and shut and bolte
d the door that still looked strong enough to resist further attack. And there she stayed, all alone.

  Was she comfortable? I doubt it, but she lived in her castle as best she could. As the weeks turned into months, brambles and nettles grew around the walls, thorns climbing higher and higher until they prevented the sunlight from penetrating even the highest windows. It seemed a desolate place now. But some of Nadia's old friends said they thought it a fine castle, and laughed as they passed by.

  Conscience had been badly wounded, and spent every day sitting on the castle doorstep alone and forlorn. Understanding crawled into a tunnel under the walls and slowly began to lose his eyesight. Choosing hid under the bushes day and night, afraid the shadow angels were coming back.

  Talora and I flew over Castle Nadia from time to time, unseen by Nadia and her friends. Only the secret room of the Spirit was untouched by the decay that had spread throughout the rest of the once- splendid building.

  I want to make it clear that we weren't wasting our time while all this was going on. When Max called to the King's Son for help -- and he did this every day -- the King's Son often sent us to give him a hand, although Max was never able to see us again. I don't know if he guessed we were there, but he always gave thanks to the King's Son for help. He never thanked us personally -- which may sound ungrateful, but it's exactly how it should be.

  Talora sat with me by Castle Nadia one night after we'd returned from helping Max knock down a newly built shack behind his castle, and she began to cry openly. 'Tell me, Zephan, why does Nadia not ask the Holy Spirit to send another message to the King? She did it before the castle was ruined, but now all she and her special friends do is sit nursing their wounds, feeling sorry for themselves.'

  I had no answer to that.

  CHAPTER 39

  The Letter

  One night there was great panic. All-Except-Me appeared with a troop of shadow angels swarming all over the place, trying to smash Castle Nadia to the ground. Love-God called to Conscience and Choosing to join Nadia and fight boldly to help her resist the attack.

  By dawn the skirmish was over. All-Except-Me and his troops had withdrawn, defeated. Even in its sorry state, the army of Doubters had come to realise that while the Holy Spirit lived there, Castle Nadia was secure. Choosing, however, had been severely wounded in the fighting, and for a time I was afraid he would die.