his torso. “I’m so glad to see you!”
Merlin embraced both of them in his long arms. “In a few moments, Billy will lead the faithful dragons out of Dragons’ Rest and into this rubellite.” He pulled back and pointed at Sapphira and Gabriel. “You two have been chosen to bear witness to a covenant the dragons must make in order to pass through to the other side. As they enter, Gabriel will try to identify his father. If Makaidos doesn’t come, Gabriel will enter Dragons’ Rest and search for him there. But he will have to make haste. According to Enoch, that dimension’s annihilation will be swift and complete.”
Sapphira stepped up to the glass leading to Dragons’ Rest and peered inside. “So you don’t know who’s in there?”
“Only a few that I recognized from the outside. My window to their world is quite limited.”
“Should we do anything while we’re waiting?” Gabriel asked.
“No.” Merlin picked up the hourglass and gazed at the trickling sand. “Time is passing far more quickly in Dragons’ Rest than it is in here, so Billy will finish his work shortly.”
Gabriel huffed on the glass and wiped it with his sleeve. “Is that him coming this way?”
Merlin waved them back. “I must speak to him alone. Ponder what you have heard, and I will return in a few moments.”
Sapphira and Gabriel strolled to the glass wall on the other side of the gem, the barrier that separated them from the land of the living. Sapphira leaned against it and nodded toward the opposite wall, now veiled by a curtain of red mist. “Did someone tell you to look for your father in Dragons’ Rest?”
“Yes. Merlin says he’s not in heaven, hell, or any of the circles of seven.” Gabriel shrugged. “We couldn’t think of anywhere else to look.”
Sapphira rubbed his arm tenderly. “If he’s in there, he’ll follow Billy. Don’t worry about that.”
“You’re probably right.” Gabriel’s wings lifted and stretched out. “But if I don’t see him, I’m going in. I’m not taking any chances.”
Sweeping his arms back and forth, Merlin parted the curtain of fog. With his head bowed low, he pointed at the Dragons’ Rest screen. “Behold. The messiah comes in the arms of the virgin.”
Sapphira dashed through the fog and peered through the glass. Veiled by the crimson barrier, Bonnie shuffled toward the gem, carrying Billy in her arms.
Gabriel joined her at the screen. “Did someone kill him?”
“I’m afraid so.” Merlin wiped a tear from his withered cheek. “He knew this fate was possible, yet he went there willingly to save the dragons from doom.”
“If he’s a messiah” Sapphira paused through a throat cramp “will he rise from the dead?”
Merlin pointed at the world of the living through the other screen. “It depends on two teenagers out there who are doing everything in their power to battle against death. I think you will meet Ashley and Walter soon enough, but theirs is a story that must wait.”
As Bonnie drew closer, Sapphira stepped back from the glass. “Can we do anything to help?”
“Exactly what God has called us to do, what he has spent centuries preparing us to do. It is time for the two of you to create a covenant veil and complete the Great Key.”
“How do we do that?” Gabriel asked.
Merlin pressed his hand on Sapphira’s shoulder. “You stand here.” He pulled Gabriel parallel to the glass wall, separating him several paces from Sapphira. “And you stand here.” He raised both hands. “Lift up a hand toward each other, and as witnesses to this covenant, you will shout the vow all dragons must believe in order to pass through to the other side.”
“Vow?” Sapphira wrinkled her forehead. “What vow?”
“The name you so recently learned. The name that imbedded the fire within your soul. Then Gabriel will answer with the same words.”
Sapphira and Gabriel lifted their hands. A stream of flames shot from Sapphira’s fingers to Gabriel’s, creating a fiery arc.
Bonnie, her glittering silhouette carrying Billy’s, passed through the Dragons’ Rest screen and shuffled into the foggy chamber. Red sparks dripped from Billy’s side and splashed on the gem’s floor. She paused and looked around, as if lost.
“Now, Sapphira! Now!”
Sapphira took in a deep breath and shouted, “Jehovah-Yasha!”
“Jehovah-Yasha!” Gabriel echoed.
The shouts pushed the mist inward, producing two scarlet sound waves that collided under the center of the arc. At the point of impact, tongues of fire stretched out in all directions and licked up the fog. When every trace of mist disappeared, a wall