by Summer Lee
Today, the view was incredible. Farms were evenly spaced, with neatly painted homes. Straight roads divided the homes evenly. Every crossroad had a rock-lined circle. Cows and horses grazed in green pastures.
The trip was still too short for Sam as they ended up on the bank of the Danube River, where he and Saeem had boarded Itai’s yacht earlier.
“How did you know to come to this exact point?” he questioned her.
Achava smiled. “Whenever I’m touching someone while performing the Soul Merge, I can sense where they have been before. Is this where you and Saeem were?”
“Exactly. Actually, you are at the exact spot,” Sam said, surprised. He smiled as well. “The great thing about the Soul Merge is that we don’t have to be separated by thousands of miles anymore.”
He looked around to see if he would get lucky and spot the yacht again, even though he knew his odds were greater of winning the lottery.
Achava held the Sword of Peter up to the river and concentrated. What she was concentrating on, Sam had no idea, but he looked out in the direction the sword pointed.
“There!” Achava uttered with excitement.
Sam looked out on the river and saw something shimmering over the water. It was as if it materialized before them both. The shimmering object started to take a large spectral form, until it was recognizable as a transparent version of Itai’s yacht.
Achava struggled with the sword as it vibrated in her grasp. “Is that Itai’s ship?”
“I believe so.” Sam nodded. “That looks like it for sure. I hope that yacht hasn’t sunk recently.”
She laughed. “No worries. Place your hand on mine, Samuel Godfrey,” she said. “We will then be taken aboard the vessel together.”
He reached his hand out to hers. Calling him by his full name sounded intimidating. He closed his eyes just to be safe.
Sam and Achava disappeared once again. It was easier this time, and should be each time they traveled that way. No trembling and no nausea. Also, Sam noticed that Achava didn’t have to hold her breath anymore. She had truly mastered the Soul Merge, along with her emotions. Thanks to Saeem.
They both appeared in the closet-sized stall that Sam had seen before. The toilet had been removed. Achava winked at him and laughed at her success. “I am in tune with both my Father in Heaven and the sword now. Our amazing destiny awaits.”
Sam rubbed the back of his head. “If we have too many more destinies, we may need to keep a journal. I should be writing all of this down.”
Sam saw that Achava had found her bravado again, as she opened the door to the lower deck without hesitation. Sam looked both directions from the small room, before exiting. Achava handed him the Sword of Peter.
“Aren’t you going to need this if we come across some Sentinels?” He queried.
Her smiled faded. “This sword must only be used on a person if it is in protection of an innocent, or of something sacred to God. If it is used for anything but those things I mentioned, then something bad will happen to the person wielding it—like death.”
“Good to know,” he responded. “I’ll be cautious.”
They could feel the yacht swaying back and forth in the river. It was almost as if there was a storm of some sort at sea. Sam was thrown into the wall opposite him as Achava struggled to gain her balance.
Sam recovered in time to see her navigate her way up the steps to the upper deck. As she opened the hatch, water splashed down the stairs.
Sam held tightly onto the railing as he tried to go up the stairs without slipping on the wet steps. Achava was already outside. He could see dark skies through the opening. It was not raining. That must have been one heck of a storm, he thought.
Sam fought the beginning effects of sea sickness that he was feeling in his stomach. Holding tightly to the Sword of Peter, he made it to the top of the stairs and looked out onto the deck. What he saw almost made him lose his lunch.
Up above his head darkness swirled in the sky. The yacht was tipped on its side, circling the outside of what appeared to be a huge whirlpool. Achava stood perfectly balanced as she faced several Sentinels. Sam couldn’t see any sign of Itai though.
He decided to stay right where he was to avoid getting in the way and possibly losing the sword. Plus, the sight of the yacht leaning over an infinite abyss of swirling water didn’t raise his confidence. A strong wind blew Achava’s hair. He saw her muscles tighten. What a gorgeous woman, he thought.
The Sentinels lined up and took a defensive stance. Achava bent slightly in the knees. “Not today, Sentinels!” Achava shouted over the roar of the wind. The yacht began to swirl faster, descending into the whirlpool. Achava took the offensive position, as she did a spinning kick into the head of one of the female warriors. She then took a brief moment to maintain her balance as the yacht rode out the whirlpool and descended further.
To Sam, it was like watching a movie with the best special effects. The fact that the scene before him was real made it even better. Of course, there was the whole life and death thing as well. His adrenaline was high.
Achava slid toward the outer side of the yacht. Without missing a beat, she grabbed on to the railing and used her momentum to swing herself back toward the remaining Sentinels. She bent her knees and slammed into the next female warrior, kicking hard. One of her adversaries crouched low and tried to swipe Achava’s feet out from under her. Achava leaped into the air, which seemed to be the desired effect from the Sentinel. She probably hoped Achava would lose her balance and be swept overboard. She wasn’t.
Instead, she twisted her body in the air—the way a gymnast would to avoid falling. Sam’s eyes widened as he watched the woman that he cared for so deeply perform an act that would put most world athletes to shame. She looked at him proudly.
His admiration for her included her being the protector of Israel and the descent of a Biblical icon. He admired her fearlessness and her ability to fight back from depressing doubt. She was every woman to him. It would be easy for any man to fall for his Achava. My Achava, he thought.
He wondered if he would ever be able to match her expectations. He thought about her speaking sternly to him, and wondered if she missed something important. He basically called Achava shallow, by saying that she couldn’t accept him the way he was.
Maybe that’s why she wanted to be with him. She once told him that he was so different than anyone she had ever met. He smiled as he watched her dispatch the last Sentinel. She then held on to the railing and looked into the abyss. She turned her head briefly toward him with a smile on her face. She motioned for him to come to her. “You will never get another chance to experience something like this, Samuel!”
He liked the fact that at least she called him by only his first name when she felt intimate. He wasn’t sure about risking life and limb, only to risk life and limb again, in the battle with Itai and the Antiquarians, but she may have a point. He fought back the fear.
He could have sworn that she said something similar in their last adventure they had together with Professor Salinger. He had thought he would never get another chance to experience something like that. But he did get another chance. There would probably be even another as well. He didn’t want to depress himself by thinking about it. If he wanted to be with Achava, he had to take a lot of risks. He realized that’s how they would be spending their date nights together. Fighting some crazy would-be ruler or king or looking for some kind of artifact that he never knew, and refused to believe, existed.
Still the curiosity of experiencing a yacht being sucked into a whirlpool would be something he could remember for the rest of his life. That is if he had anymore life to live. He slowly made his way onto the deck and immediately slid toward Achava. He hit the railing and flipped over the edge. Achava grabbed his arm as he dangled over the side of the yacht, screaming for his life.
“Quit squirming, Samuel Godfrey,” she yelled, as she pulled him back onto the yacht with one hand. He trembled as she k
ept one arm wrapped around him. She stood behind him and locked her legs through the railing to ensure that neither one of them would fall overboard.
She then looked over his shoulder as she laughed like a woman who saw Niagara Falls for the first time. “What an amazing picture,” she said excitedly.
Sam leaned his head back as close to her as he could get. His breathing became more rapid as he saw the darkness in the center of the whirlpool. The yacht descended as she whispered in his ear, “I have you, Samuel. You can relax.”
He felt the same adrenaline rush that he did when he was in Israel the first time. His fear was slowly replaced with excitement. He shouted and held his arms out, like a child would do in a roller coaster. Achava immediately pulled his arms back down with one hand. “Don’t make my job harder, Sam!”
She called me Sam again. The tension was over.
He thought she was going to kiss him. Instead, she pressed her body against his to make sure he didn’t fly out of her grasp. He became quite dizzy as the yacht swirled faster, descending into the darkest part of the whirlpool.
Then everything went black.
Chapter the Twenty-second
ACHAVA OPENED HER EYES first.
She and the still unconscious Sam were in an underground and possibly underwater cavern. It was about 100-feet wide, high, and deep, like a box. There was no sign of the yacht, nor did she see any waterways where they could have entered. The walls were black with golden specks throughout. It looked man-made. As her eyes cleared, she saw that there was a small opening above her head just big enough to fit a normal sized person through. It was carved with uneven lines. Definitely man-made. There was a small amount of natural light coming from the golden specks in the wall, so it was easy to see everything around her now. The air was thick, but breathable.
The Sword of Peter was nowhere in sight.
She heard Sam cough a few times as he woke up. “Achava, are you here?”
“Yes, dear.”
He looked around. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know.”
He stared at the walls and ceiling. “Do you think this is man-made?”
She nodded. “Yes, I do.”
Sam looked quickly in all directions. “Where’s the yacht? Where’s the water? How’d we get here?”
“I share the same curiosities, Sam,” she answered, calmly. “I’m sure we will find out the answers together. We must proceed carefully. I am still trying to figure out how we are able to breathe and where the sword is.”
“The sword?”
“Yes. It’s gone.” She stood up and squeezed the water out of her hair. “I can’t figure this out at all.”
Sam buried his head in his hands. “Oh, boy,” he said, with a defeated tone. “All of that trouble and we lost the sword.” He stood up and shook the water out of his pants legs.
She looked toward the opening. “This expedition does not lack excitement, Sam.”
“Yeah,” he replied, while checking his pocket to see if he still had his inhaler. He did. “I hope this thing still works.” He shook it a couple of times and used it.
“Are you injured?”
Sam looked down at his body as he felt his chest. “I think I’m okay.”
“Good,” she replied.
“How about you?”
“I’m fine. Let’s get out of here.” She looked at the opening in the cavern ceiling. “I believe our biggest challenge is getting to that opening. We have no time to lose. We must hurry if we want to save the artifacts.”
“I don’t care about the artifacts. This undertaking is filled with enough adventure for me, adventure that I never dreamed possible. I never...”
She did not appear to listen. “Let’s find our way out here now.”
Jumping, she clasped the edge of the opening. Holding Sam by the collar, she jumped through the hole. They were out of the holding tank. “Follow me. Let’s get out of here.”
“I was just saying that I’ve never heard of anything like this before,” he responded, as he followed her into whatever awaited them on the other side of the cavern opening.
***
Holding Sam’s hand firmly, Achava entered a hallway of sorts. The walls were still the black rock with the golden specks. The hallway branched out into two larger rooms—one to the left and one to the right. Making her choice, she chose the hallway was filled with alcoves about waist high. Each was about four feet wide and two feet deep. There appeared to be a strong, clear glass covering the alcove openings. It looked like they had been turned into a kind of display cases, because there were small bronze plaques in front of each alcove. Sam walked slowly up to one of the empty ones and read the plaque. The Fleece of Gideon.
Achava joined Sam at the alcove and saw the plaque. Her eyes widened. “They plan to steal Gideon’s Fleece.”
“What is that?”
She said, “Judges 6:36-37 says, ‘So Gideon said to God, If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said… look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”’ She turned to Sam. “The Antiquarians are going after the treasured fleece as well.”
“Are going after the fleece, yes,” said a voice behind her. “Haha.” Achava and Sam turned to see Itai standing at the entrance to one of the larger rooms. His smile was creepy and could be described as sinister. Achava knew there was no good in that man.
He also had the cuff of his long ceremonial robe wrapped around the Sword of Peter to prevent his skin from touching it. There was power in that sword, because so many holy men had handled it.
“You have no right!” Achava exclaimed in disgust. “You seek artifacts that have been hidden for centuries to appease your own greed!”
Itai laughed, as several Sentinels appeared behind him and at the opposite end of the hallway. “Greed? Is it greedy to want to preserve Biblical history? Mankind is not fit to even be in the presence of such history.”
“And you are?” Achava continued. “Where is it written that you are the caretaker of my Lord’s history? I don’t recall seeing your name in any version of the Bible, Itai.”
“It is the responsibility of the Antiquarians to interpret the Bible and follow God’s orders,” he said, with contempt in his voice.
Achava walked slowly toward Itai. “Who is in charge of the Antiquarians? Isn’t it you? Of course it is. How many people are responsible for making a powerful decision? If what you say is how you interpret the Bible, then we must not be reading the same book.”
“Your sarcasm is living proof that you are becoming more human, Achava. My girls and I are so far above humanity.”
“That does not give you wisdom.” Achava tried to contain her anger. “Christ came for all humans, Itai. He even became one to sacrifice Himself for our sins. My becoming human is exactly what I should have done all along. Jesus was a humble, meek man and expects the same from us. It took someone special to truly do that. So I humbly follow him.” She looked at Sam lovingly. He smiled back and winked.
Her eyes then diverted to another empty alcove behind him. She read the plaque. The Crown of Christ.
“Blasphemer!” she cried as she ran toward Itai, her fists doubled. The Sentinels stepped in front of Itai, blocking her. Achava rushed into the wall of warriors with a blood lust. She fought hard to get to Itai, but more Sentinels arrived. They ended up overpowering her.
Achava disappeared underneath a sea of warriors, gasping for breath. “Help me, Sam.”
She watched Sam slowly back up, looking for something he could use to help her out. “I see nothing and I see no way out,” he said.
Achava feared death.
Chapter the Twenty-third
SAM PANICKED as he backed into the second wave of Sentinels. He wondered what Achava would do in that situation and then realized that she was unsuccessful in taking on that many Sentinels hersel
f.
He looked over at her seemingly unconscious body being carried by those who defeated her, into the larger room, behind Itai.
Itai had a smile of victory. “You can do nothing, little man. The only hope you had is now being secured in one of the main treasure chambers. I will not even ask you to give up, because you are not worthy to even answer. You have already given up, just by being here.” Itai looked at his warriors and said, “Take him!”
Sam felt several hands attempting to secure him. At the same time he saw Itai turn his back on them and go into the room where Achava was held prisoner.
He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, as he grabbed the first hand he could grasp. He then flipped the warrior over his shoulder. He grabbed another hand and turned himself toward her, pulling her toward is waiting knee. He kneed her hard in the gut.
The remaining warriors got into a defensive stance. All glared at him the same way, ready to fight.
Sam was quite angry now. He was angry with the Sentinels, who had destroyed part of his house and captured Achava. He was angry with Itai who was no better than those villains on television who always got caught because of their ego. He was angry at Achava for treating him like he didn’t matter, even though he knew she was finally getting in touch with her human side. He was angry that Saeem went out the way he did, without offering more help. He was angry with Professor Salinger for leaving him to figure things out for himself. He was mostly angry with himself for having a pity party, and acting like a child when Achava needed him most. It was time to put childish behavior behind him.
He stood back as if letting the warriors attack him. The next two came at him from both sides. In the past, he had tried too hard to remember his Jeet Kune Do training. He now decided to just let himself go and fight by instinct. He wouldn’t forget that training again.
He emptied his mind of negative thoughts and allowed himself to become like water, as he was instructed in his class to do. He couldn’t believe how calm he was when he punched one opponent just below the rib cage while effortlessly avoiding an attack from the side. He decided he needed more room to be able to fight the remaining five Sentinels, so he rushed past them into the adjacent larger room. He froze in surprise as he noticed there was a large plaque on the ground in the room and nothing else.
