your Adam’s presence to your children. It is our only hope to bring Dragon back to the living.”
“But will it ever happen?” Angel pulled back and gazed into Abraham’s eyes. “The others in my village fear to raise their laments above a whisper, but you know the separated companions have been little more than painful reminders. I have hung on to this hope for almost three years, but no one has yet returned from the dead, at least none that I can remember.”
Abraham clasped her shoulders. “We await the prophecy. I cannot promise that even that will bring back our fallen warriors, but until then, you have the reminder of your Adam’s love.”
Closing her eyes, Angel shook her head. “A reminder will not teach Candle how to sharpen an axe or build a home, nor will it provide Listener the peace and joy of a masculine presence.” Opening her eyes again, she continued, her voice breaking. “In the evenings, it will not play sparkles during twin moons … or sing hymns in the firelight. On the coldest nights it will not wrap me in strong arms and keep me warm.” She laid her cheek on his shoulder and wept bitterly.
Abraham patted her on the back and glanced at Timothy. “My people know so little heartache, when it comes, it devastates them. The loss of a beloved mate she slept beside every night for over one hundred years nearly killed her, and now the loss of his symbolic presence will likely tear her apart as well.”
Wiping a tear from his own eye, Timothy nodded. “I don’t know why, but I share her pain. It’s like I’ve lost someone close, too, but I have no idea who it is.”
“Perhaps we can soon find the answers you seek, but for now” Abraham jerked his head toward the trees on the other side of the river. “I saw something.”
Timothy pointed. “There! Something dark. A moving shadow.”
Angel wrung the club with her fingers and tromped into the flowing water. “An altered one!”
Just as Timothy jumped in the shallows to stop her, the companion zoomed in front of her eyes and flashed red.
Angel halted. As she stood knee-deep in the icy water, she sagged her shoulders. “You’re right. It is foolish to take the lead when the Prophet is here.”
Abraham waded in and took her club. “We will go together.” As he scanned the churning river, an ice boulder tumbled through the current and smashed into an underwater stone, cleaving it in two. The broken halves rushed downstream, spinning in separate eddies.
“We had better ride the dragons across,” Abraham said.
They waded back and remounted the dragons. With his wings beating the misty air, Albatross bounded to a large stone protruding from the river, then leaped again to the opposite shore. Grackle flew gracefully across, spanning the hundred-foot-wide river without a break. Abraham leaped down, pulled Enoch’s Ghost from the bag, and strode into the woods, followed by Timothy and Angel.
With the sun well behind the ridge and the tree canopy blocking ambient light, the landscape grew darker as they penetrated the forest’s boundary. After handing Timothy the club, Abraham cradled the ovulum in his hands. As it began to glow scarlet, he peered into the glass. “We have company,” he said. “Four … no … five of the shadow people.”
“Will they attack?” Timothy asked.
“Only by stealth or if they perceive they have a strong advantage. They are cowards by nature, and few will come out of hiding unless their numbers are far greater than those of their enemies.” He pulled the ovulum closer. “Aha! Our search has been blessed. I see the murderer!”
“How can you tell?” Timothy tried to look into the ovulum. “I don’t see anything.”
“He carries the evidence. It shines against his blackness.”
Timothy raised the club. “What do we do?”
“Here. Take the ovulum.” Abraham handed it to Timothy, then charged ahead and dove on the ground, his arms grasping at the forest’s failing shadows. Rising to his knees, he wrestled a dark form and dashed it against the leafy floor.
“Help!” Angel fell to the ground. Two black hands latched on to her ankle and dragged her toward a thicket. She grasped a loose root and kicked against the arms, but her tightened fingers slid down the bark, stripping it bare.
Setting down the ovulum, Timothy lunged headfirst into the fray and slid into Angel’s attackers. He yanked their arms away from her while beating their heads with the club. The two assailants seemed rubbery in