Makaidos. The entire world would do it, because character and integrity are not as important to them as acceptance from the masses or as comforting as the false security they receive from not examining their lives.” Noah leaned back and sighed. “I know this all too well. My sons and I worked like slaves on a boat for a hundred years while people laughed at us and mocked us. Just as I prophesied concerning you, I was obsessed with obeying a heavenly voice that no one else heard. I saved the future of the planet, but in the process I lost one of my sons. I do not regret the years of coercing my sons to build that monstrosity of a boat. Though even their eyes at times seemed to question my sanity, I have been completely vindicated.” He shook his head again, and a tear coursed down his weathered cheek. “But being proven right does not lessen the pain of my loss, for it seems that, in spite of all my efforts, my ark did not keep my own son from drowning.”
Makaidos guided a wing tip over Noah’s shoulder. “A father cannot be held responsible for the sins of his son. I have heard you say this yourself.”
“Responsible?” Noah shook his head. “No. . . . . But am I completely innocent just because he has free will? Seeds of rebellion cannot grow unnoticed, and I ignored them.” He ran his wrinkled hands through his wispy hair, tears again filling his eyes. “Did zeal for God blind me to the rebellion of my own son? Should I have rebuked him every time he rolled his eyes, every time he grumbled when a parade of people passed by mocking us, calling us fools for wasting our lives on building an ark?” He reached for Makaidos’s neck and stroked it lovingly. “Emzara died in sorrow believing Ham was lost forever. Will I go down to Sheol with the same misery haunting me? Is there any hope that a son might turn his heart back to God when he has rejected a salvation he has seen with his own eyes?”
Noah wrapped his arms around Makaidos’s neck and wept, his age-spotted head bobbing up and down under the force of his sobs.
Makaidos hovered a clawed hand over Noah’s back, hesitating to caress the dear old gentleman. Could he really comfort him with such a tough, scaly appendage? Could any dragon truly sympathize with a human? Who could know the heart of a human except for another human?
Makaidos pulled his foreleg back. “I understand,” he said softly. “Perhaps I can restore the hearts of my fellow dragons to the Maker and his purpose for us.”
Noah lowered his arms and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “I believe you will, for a messiah is coming, God in flesh, who will rescue mankind. And in the same way, yet another messiah, a human in scales from the fruit of your own body will come to rescue dragonkind.”
Makaidos shook his head. “Master Noah, you speak in puzzles. I do not understand your words.”
“Nor do I,” Noah replied, patting Makaidos’s neck. “Not completely. God’s ways are still mysterious to me, even after all these years.”
Makaidos twitched his ears, unsure of how to continue. “In any case, losing your son is a great tragedy, and I hope to prevent this calamity with my daughter and avoid the pain you are suffering.”
“Yet tragedies surround you, my friend. They lurk at the very entrance to your cave, but you do not feel the danger they threaten.”
“Danger, Master Noah?”
“Yes. Japheth told me that you asked about the dragon in Nimrod’s employ.”
“I did. Please continue.”
“Our scouts have seen Roxil and some of your sons with this dragon on more than one occasion.”
Makaidos spoke through clenched teeth. “Continue.”
“That dragon is Arramos, your father.”
“Arramos?” Makaidos staggered backwards but caught himself before he fell. “Are you sure?”
“Arramos was a good friend of mine, so I asked Shem and Japheth to show him to me. We went to the city disguised as peddlers, and I saw him there myself.”
“But how is that possible? He died! . . . Didn’t he? The flood killed every breathing creature.”
“God told me that it did.” Noah firmed his chin and nodded. “So it must have.”
“Then how do you explain the appearance of my father?”
“Until I get further revelation, I cannot explain it. I have to simply trust God that Arramos died. How is he alive? I do not know. After all