to prove their worth, and bring them to the shield. When you return, Acacia and I will meet you, and I will give you further instructions.”
“You want ten souls?” Elam asked, opening both hands to display his fingers. “Exactly ten?”
Enoch nodded. “Why do you act so surprised?”
“It’s just that I already know where to find them. There are ten gentlemen who are hoping to get into Heaven, but they got lost somehow.”
Enoch raised a finger and pressed it against his temple. “Take care that your enthusiasm does not overwhelm your discernment. We can hope for the deliverance of others, but the final barrier between them and this altar ultimately dwells in their own minds. And if they have died on Earth, their fate has already been decided.”
Elam processed Enoch’s mysterious comment but decided not to ask its meaning. The task at hand was too pressing. “So, do I go now? That storm was already getting close when I was last out there.”
Enoch pointed at the mural. “Simply walk through it, and you will be on your way.”
Elam took Acacia’s hand and kissed it, then Paili’s. “God willing, I will return.” He rose and walked right into the wall. For a moment, the brilliant light blinded him again, but it faded away as the familiar Bridgelands reappeared.
Naamah stood next to Dikaios, her hair wrapping around her neck as the winds whipped across her face. She ran forward and hugged Elam. “I thought you might not come for me. When Enoch sent me away, I feared that I had been rejected from our father’s house.”
“He didn’t tell me why exactly,” Elam said, patting Naamah’s back, “but I think it’s because of Paili. She’s still alive as a little girl, so her memories of how you treated her in the mines would probably scare her if she saw you again.”
“I see.” Naamah backed away and folded her hands in front of her. “My past sins are still a chain around my neck.”
“Give it time,” Elam said. “She’s a special case.”
Naamah bowed her head. “As much as she needs.”
“Dikaios!” Elam shouted through the breeze. “We have to go back to the Skotos Woods. Enoch wants me to collect ten wanderers and bring them here.”
The horse plodded to his side. “I can carry you and Naamah, but the ten will have to find other transport.”
Elam set his hand above his eyes and scanned the horizon. “What’s available around here? Can we find a carriage of some kind? More horses?”
“I know of other horses, but it would take hours to get to their grazing lands.”
“Hours,” Elam repeated. “We don’t have hours.” He stared at the gathering clouds. The stiff breeze dried out his eyes, and weariness flooded his bones, but he couldn’t rest, not now, not when the storm was about to strike.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted movement in the field. A line of ragged men marched across the grasslands, Zane leading them. The last man in the procession grasped the shoulder of the man in front of him. As they closed in, they picked up their pace.
“Do you see what I see?” Elam asked Dikaios.
“Indeed. It seems that our nomadic soldiers have wandered right into our troop.”
Elam crossed his arms over his chest. “But I told them to build a fire and wait. Could it have gone out so soon?”
“I suspect they built no fire at all,” Dikaios said. “They have come a very long way, so they would have had to begin their journey as soon as we left the forest.”
Naamah moved behind Elam and peeked around his side. “I think I recognize one of them. The last man in the line could be one of the men who tried to take advantage of me.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Elam shielded his eyes again. “He’s hanging on to the guy in front of him like he’s blind.”
When they came within earshot, Zane shouted gleefully, “We made it!”
As they drew closer, Naamah squeezed Elam’s arm. “He is one of my attackers,” she whispered. “I am sure of it! His name is Dawson.”
All ten men quickly gathered around, the last one still grasping his guide. “You were difficult to follow,” Zane continued, “but the horse’s distinctive prints always put us back on your trail. When we reached a rockier path, we lost track, but I saw the lady in red waving for us to ascend a ridge. When we arrived, she was gone, but from that vantage point we could see you standing here.”