The Dragon's Descent (16 page)

“I've heard that before,” Vero said.

“At that moment, King Solomon knew that all his riches, his temple, and his kingdom would not last forever—that Israel would be divided into two. That only God was everlasting. So Solomon repented. And in his wisdom, he realized that the book was too powerful for men and it had to be returned. He sent his oldest and most trusted captain, Benaiah, to return the book.”

“So it didn't perish in the temple fire . . .” Vero said, thinking out loud.

“He understood that the book's power was too much for any man to handle. Once man had settled in the world outside the garden, it needed to be returned to its origin.”

“Where, Rahab?” Vero asked. “Where does it need to be returned to?”

“To the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, of course,” Rahab said. “In the middle.”

“In the garden of Eden?” Kane asked.

“Yes, and Solomon would have known the location of the garden, and directed Benaiah where to voyage in order to find it. Of course, Solomon—with his wisdom and knowledge—helped Benaiah plan the trip, and take every precaution to ensure the secrecy of the mission. Benaiah traveled by land and by boat. Even back then, there were trade routes from the Middle East to the Orient.”

“The entrance to the garden is in the Orient?” Vero asked, feeling his pulse quicken. “You mean somewhere in Asia?”

“Well, that is where Benaiah traveled, yes. But even though old Benaiah followed Solomon's directions to the letter, ultimately he was not able to find the entrance to the garden. Instead, he hid it as best he could . . . and to his credit, he must have done a very good job. My guess is that Solomon may have told Benaiah of another place to hide it, were he unable to find the garden. Somewhere very close to the entrance of Eden.”

“Where?” Vero asked, his breathing becoming faster.

“The answer to that died with Benaiah. Not even the angels know where, not even Michael.” He grimaced.

“But how do you know all this?” Greer asked Rahab.

“Remember, I found the book once myself . . . My fish tell me all sorts of things.” He snorted. “And crabs are the best sorts of gossips. That was my ‘gift.' ”

Suddenly, right before their eyes, the chain yanked Rahab straight down. As his body hit the water's surface, Vero and the others watched as his wings morphed into scaly fins. The chain tugged him under the surface and he disappeared from sight.

“What a complicated guy,” Ada said.

“No kidding. I'd hate to be his therapist,” Greer said.

11

SRI PADA

W
ith the storm gone, Vero, Ada, Greer, and Kane flew back to the rock cave, where Pax and X waited for their return.

“Thank God you're all okay! So tell us what happened!” Pax called.

“Did you find Rahab?” X asked anxiously.

“Yeah, we found him. And he's stinkin' crazy!” Greer volunteered.

“What do you mean?” said Pax.

“We'll tell you all about it on the flight back,” Vero said, eager to leave the cave. “X, we're going to have to take turns carrying you.”

As the fledglings flew back to C.A.N.D.L.E., they regularly shuffled X between them while filling X and Pax in on what Rahab had said. As they landed on the steps of the school, Greer and Kane let go of X.

“Thanks for the lift,” X said to them as he stumbled onto the stairs.

“What's next?” Greer asked Vero.

“I don't know.” Vero stared into the wall.

Pax chimed in. “I think it's obvious. The entrance to the garden and the location of the book are near one another, so we search for both and see which one turns up first.”

The fledglings heard the sound of a massive door closing shut. They turned and saw Uriel walking down the stairs with Raziel.

“What's the latest?” Uriel asked them.

“We found Rahab,” Kane said.

“Charming, isn't he?” Uriel said.

“Yeah, and his pets,” X groaned, putting a hand to his shoulder.

“It will heal when you return to earth,” Uriel told X.

“What did he tell you?” Raziel asked eagerly. “What did Rahab say?”

“That the book isn't a book. It's a blue gemstone, a sapphire.” Vero said. “Is that true?”

Raziel looked at Vero, as if trying to recall. After a few moments, he shook his head. “I don't remember,” he said with sadness in his voice.

“Anything else?” Uriel asked.

“That it is somewhat near the entrance to the garden of Eden, which is where it needs to be returned,” Vero said.

“The garden?” Uriel mused.

“Raziel said Solomon's trusted captain, Benaiah, tried to return it, but fell short. He hid it somewhere near the entrance,” Ada said. “Uriel, you were in the garden—do you have any idea where it is?”

Uriel shook his head. “Like Raziel, the memory of it was taken from me when I failed and gave the serpent access to the garden.”

“Oh, sorry,” Ada said.

“But I do know there is an entrance, a portal to the garden, from the earth,” Uriel told the group. “When Adam and Eve were expelled, they traveled through it.”

“So the garden isn't on earth?” Greer asked.

“The garden is partitioned off in the Ether.”

“But the only way to get access is from earth?” Vero asked, wanting to be sure he understood.

Uriel nodded. “Yes. There is an entrance somewhere, that much I know.”

Vero and the others mulled that over for a moment.

“This is just like in the Trials, when we had to find the portal to Jacob's Ladder!” X suggested.

“Yes,” Uriel said, smiling at the connection.

“Might the library have a scroll on the garden?” Ada asked.

Uriel shook his head.

“No scrolls at all?” Vero asked.

“Not on the garden.”

“I'm starting to get real discouraged here. In the whole entire world, I'm supposed to find a small gemstone—oh, and a portal to the garden of Eden?” Vero said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oh yeah, while fighting off maltures at the same time.”

“You were attacked again?” Uriel asked with keen interest.

“In a hospital elevator with my friend, Tack.”

Uriel looked to Raziel with concern.

“And Tack saw them too.”

“Them?” Uriel asked, seemingly more surprised that there had been two than the fact that Tack had seen them.

“It was weird. One rushed us in the elevator, and while I was fighting with her another one showed up,” Vero said. “I thought they would both be going after me, but instead the second one actually took out the first malture. It basically saved me.”

Uriel looked to Raziel. They were communicating mind to mind.

“The first one must have acted too soon. That's why the second one was sent,” Raziel said.

“I don't get it,” Vero said.

“At this point, they don't want to harm you. They've figured out that you are the key to finding the book,” Uriel said. “So they need you, but Vero, you're not safe.”

“Because the moment you discover the book's location, they will come after you. They are watching you more closely than ever,” Raziel said in an almost threatening tone. “Trust no one . . .”

Vero locked eyes with his fellow fledglings. Only Kane dropped his gaze.

“Even yourself,” Raziel said with utmost seriousness.

“What do you mean?” Vero looked panicked.

“I remember nothing about the book except for the feeling it gave me. With access to that much knowledge, you become in danger of feeling like God.”

Vero lay on the ground of his front yard. He felt something heavy pressing on his chest. He opened his eyes—the ladder pinned him to the ground. As his senses returned to him, he looked around. No one had seen him fall. He lifted
the ladder and squirmed out from underneath it, then lay on the ground next to it. He stared up into the sky, taking a moment to readjust. Everything was going too fast. The pressure was on, and he had no clue where the garden could be. Because the entrance to the garden lay on earth, Uriel had suggested he must return, as the answers would have to be found on earth rather than in the Ether. But Vero wasn't so sure.

“Taking a break?”

Vero heard his father's voice. He looked over and saw his dad standing over him. Dennis got down on the ground.

“Not a bad idea,” Dennis said.

He lay on his back next to Vero, looking up to the sky.

“I miss being up there in the clouds,” Dennis said.

“What?” Vero said, alarmed.

“When I flew for the Navy.”

“Oh.” Vero sighed, relieved his dad wasn't about to reveal that he, too, was an angel.

“When you're up there, everything else down below no longer seems so important. You know, we get so caught up in our little lives down here that sometimes we can't see beyond that. Up there, everything just sort of feels right, quiet.”

“Yeah, the best feeling is when you're just about to break through the clouds and you can almost feel the wind blowing right through your body . . .”

Vero realized his dad was staring at him.

“Oh, well, you know, I can imagine,” Vero backpedaled.

“I never told anyone, but on one of my flights, I saw a ‘pilot's halo.' Do you know what that is?”

“No.”

“When you fly over a cloud deck, and you see a rainbow halo around the shadow of the plane. Some people also call it a ‘glory.' There's an old story that says when you see it, it means an angel is flying with you.”

“Really?” Vero asked, intrigued.

“Yeah,” Dennis said. “Of course scientists will tell you the halos are formed by water vapors in the air refracting the light that bounces off the clouds. But no one has ever been able to replicate the phenomena in a lab.”

“What do you think?” Vero turned his head to his father.

“All I know is that whenever I flew . . . I never felt alone.”

Vero smiled.

“Back in the mid-1980s, several cosmonauts on a Soviet space station were doing their routine assignments when a strange orange gas suddenly surrounded the station followed by an intense bright light.”

“A bright light?” Vero thought aloud.

“Yes,” Dennis said. “Right after their eyes adjusted, all the cosmonauts reported seeing seven tall figures with large wings and halos over their heads surrounding the station.”

“Angels?”

“I think so. They reported it to the ground control team, who dismissed their sightings by saying it was a mass delusion brought on by the stress and fatigue of prolonged space flight. But eleven days later, a fresh crew of another three cosmonauts joined the first crew, and right after they arrived, they, too, saw the bright light and the seven beings with wings. They were reported as saying that the beings' wingspan were the size of a 747. And because the second
crew had just gotten there, they could no longer blame the sightings on fatigue.”

“So what happened?”

“Weeks later when they all got safely back to earth, they put the cosmonauts through a battery of physical and psychological tests. They all passed with flying colors.”

“So do you believe them . . . that they saw angels?”

“Vero, before you can even think about becoming an astronaut, they make sure you're of sound mind. So, yes, I think they saw angels. Maybe it's not a scientific explanation, but isn't it comforting to think about?”