The lantern’s flame bent and twisted with every word, as if portraying the passion Enoch felt as he sang.
A path of light will lead the way,
A path the tree will soon ignite,
A path of sorrows, pain, and death,
A path to guide the mourning knight.
Sapphira bends, but will she break?
Depends on Elam’s safe return.
For if he fails to bring the ark,
Her life is chaff and soon will burn.
When the last note died away, Elam folded his hands and sighed. “That was beautiful. And I thought Merlin sang it well.”
With his head angled downward, Enoch glanced at Elam and gave him a sad sort of smile. “You are too kind.”
Elam pressed his thumbs together. “The part I didn’t understand at all was the path. What’s that about?”
“Ever since Acacia arrived,” Enoch said, “she has ministered to another realm through a portal that she maintains, but a time will soon come when she must illuminate that path for a tragic, but necessary, reason. And I suspect that you will be present to witness it.” He opened the old book to a page near the end. “You may show him the chosen one, Acacia.”
Acacia’s countenance fell, and her solemn voice matched her sudden change in mood. “Your wish is my will, Father Enoch.” As she rubbed her hands together over the book, a column of fire arose from the pages. She separated her hands, allowing the column to rise between her palms, and as she continued to draw her hands apart, the fire spread out into a thin oval. The flames scattered to the rim of the oval, revealing a face within the ring, a girl with a scaly pattern in her skin, the same girl who appeared in her prayer hologram. While keeping her hands in place at the sides of the oval, Acacia’s eyes glistened with tears.
“Acacia has spoken to this girl,” Enoch said to Elam, “and they both know what they must do to create your path into this other world where you will enter as its warrior chief. You will learn about your new role there soon enough, so I think I will tell you no more about that for now.”
Acacia brought her hands together, compressing the image until it vanished. The flames dwindled and fell back into the page in a puff of smoke.
As Enoch closed the book, Elam drew an oval on the table with his finger. The girl seemed so forlorn, like a lost soul searching for help. But he couldn’t dwell on it, not with Enoch stonewalling that topic. There were too many questions still remaining. “What about taking Acacia back to Earth?” he asked.
Enoch slid the book to the side. “As you have apparently guessed, Acacia is the tree that bears the ark of God, and Paili is that ark, but I perceive that we have run out of time for questions, so the answers to all other questions and riddles will have to wait until your first mission is complete.”
“My first mission?”
“A great danger threatens this realm.” Enoch nodded toward the gated garden painted on the opposite wall. “Beyond that shield, Mardon is in the process of pulling down the gates of Heaven in order to ascend to the throne of God as a mediator. If we don’t stop him, he could very well succeed in dissolving the barrier between Heaven and Earth.”
“Merlin told me about that.” Elam folded his hands on the table. “I’ve been thinking about it ever since. How can any man endanger God?” As the lantern’s flame flashed brighter, he raised a clenched fist. “Why doesn’t God just crush him?”
Enoch waved a hand of dismissal. “God is in no danger. It is the created order that is threatened. If Mardon succeeds, God is quite capable of cleaning up the mess, but since Mardon is using the physical universe as it was created, God prefers to battle his enemy by employing his faithful servants. In other words, he wishes to use one part of his creation to save the rest.” He set his finger on the book. “The girl Acacia showed you will provide a weapon we can use to fight against Mardon, and you will be an integral part of the battle.”
As Elam uncurled his fingers, the lantern’s flame settled. “What do you want me to do?”
“You must go back through the shield to the Bridgelands where you will find Dikaios and your other traveling partner. Once there, you must gather soldiers, ten wandering souls who wish