The Children of Eternity (18 page)

The others followed Jonathon’s lead, bowing before Lilly. She giggled slightly. They all seemed so noble, so brave. How could she possibly have asked for three braver or nobler knights?

Jonathon was doing his best to exude an air of total confidence, yet he quivered slightly. Lilly’s life—maybe even her eternity—was in his hands. Could he really do all that he claimed he could do? Right now he wasn’t so sure.

Lilly stepped away from the group. “Father, into Your hands I place my life and my eternity.”

“Amen,” said Christopher. “You can do it. We’ll see you in a few hours.”

“Sure will,” said Jerry.

Lilly only nodded. She raised her hand and a mist filled with sparkling stars materialized before her. A moment later she stepped into the mists and vanished.

For a few seconds, silence ruled the meadow. Jonathon was next to create a field of blue sparkling mists. “We’re off to the Ion Desert,” he proclaimed, “latitude thirty-four degrees, fifteen minutes, twelve seconds north; longitude one hundred seventeen degrees, fifty-two minutes, eleven seconds west.”

The three boys picked up a large stack of weapons and stepped into the glowing mists and faded away.

Bud and Gladys grasped each other’s hands and their weapons. It was time. Gladys raised her hand to form the third corridor that would lead her and her husband to the City of Sarel. The wheels of their plan had been set into motion.

Darkness was falling as the young girl in the blue dress and long cape was dragged into the main audience chamber deep within the Hall of Angels in the City of Sarel. With a demon holding her roughly by each arm, and another following closely behind, she was brought before the demon commander.

The audience chamber was composed wholly of white marble and was larger than most rooms within the Hall of Angels, measuring about 30 by 50 feet. The 12-foot-high ceiling was supported by very plain marble columns spaced about ten feet apart along the left and right walls of the chamber. Indirect illumination of the chamber came from behind a cove line that ran the entire way around the chamber about a foot from the ceiling. Along the back of the chamber a set of heavy, blue drapes ran from just below the cove line to nearly the floor.

The only piece of furniture within the room was a high-backed chair, the color of polished brass, which was placed about five feet in front of the drapes. Here the demon commander sat, his icy stare trained upon the pretty girl who had been dragged before him.

The bat-winged commander was an undeniably handsome being with dark eyes and even darker hair. He was clean shaven and wore a long, purple robe fringed with gold. Upon the second finger of his right hand was a ruby ring that glowed from its depths. “And who do we have here?” he asked.

“This human tried to gain entrance into the hall, my lord,” said one of the demons walking behind the others. “She demanded that we release her sister or face the consequences.”

“Did she now?” asked the commander, rising to his feet. “And who is this sister of yours, young human?”

“Her name is Christa Carter,” said the girl.

“I know that name,” said the commander, placing a finger to his forehead. “Yes, she was captured but four days ago. We determined that she was a spy for the human resistance.”

“This one may well be one too,” noted the demon guard. “She had on her person a dagger…and this.” In one hand the demon held a very nasty looking dagger, while in the other hand he held a particle pistol.

“My, my,” said the commander, “aren’t you the bold one? Things do not look good for you, my dear. What did you propose to do with that weapon?”

“Nothing,” said the girl, “so long as you released my sister.”

The guards chuckled in a guttural tone.

The commander took several steps toward the girl. “You know what I think? I think you’re a member of the resistance too…and not a very intelligent one. Where did you get that weapon?”

“A friend gave it to me,” she said.

Her response was quickly followed by a hard twist of her arm from one of her demon escorts, which caused her to wince in pain.

“You’ll have to do better than that,” said the commander, a slight yet devious smile coming to his face. “What is your name, child?”

The girl looked into the demon’s eyes. There was not so much as a trace of fear in her almond eyes. “My name is Lihua Hue, but most people just call me Lilly.”

“A pretty name for a pretty girl,” said the demon commander, stepping before her. He placed his hand under her chin. “If you’d like to remain pretty, you will answer my questions completely and honestly. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” replied Lilly, her eyes locked with those of the commander.

“Where are you from?” asked the commander.

“I was born on Earth, in the nation of North Korea,” she said. I died about seven years ago, and the Father brought me here.”

“Very good beginnings,” said the commander. “Now, let us continue. Who do you work for?”

“I work for the Father,” said Lilly. “He sent me here.”

The commander pulled back the hood of Lilly’s cloak and grabbed her dark hair. He pulled her head back roughly. “You’ll need to do better than that, little wench. We know that you work for the human resistance. I need to know who sent you. Was it Washington? Kepler? Who?”

“It was the Father,” replied Lilly, struggling with the demons that still held her. “And I have a message for you, Kemrick. You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. So here are the words of the Father: ‘Before the sun rises on another day you shall be brought down by the very people you have persecuted. In that instant you shall know that the words of the Lord are true.’”

The demon commander flew into a rage. He struck Lilly across the face with his hand. His ring cut deep into her lip, causing blood to flow. Yet Lilly neither cried nor whimpered. She quickly made eye contact with him once more.

“Time answers all questions, Kemrick, and it will reveal the truth of my words,” she said, her voice intense and certain.

The commander reached back once more, yet stayed his hand this time. “I think it is time that you were reunited with your sister,” he said, anger lingering in his voice. “You shall endure that thing that she endures; and come tomorrow’s sunset, you shall join her in a journey to a place where you can be more adequately punished, a place where you will come to know the real meaning of agony.” He looked toward the demon guards. “Take her away!”

Lilly was dragged from the audience chambers and down the hallway beyond. All the while Lilly observed every detail, every turn, and every side chamber. She was taken down a long, winding stairway, deeper and deeper into the great monolithic structure that was the Hall of Angels.

“What you experience tonight will be but a taste of your future, little wench,” said the one demon. “In Hell you will discover the true meaning of hopelessness.”

Lilly’s mind reached out in search of Jonathon, yet she couldn’t find him. Was it the field of force that surrounded this place, or was he simply too far away to contact? Right now she wasn’t sure.

It was several minutes before she reached the lowest level of the Hall of Angels. Here she heard the sound of weeping, praying, and even praising of the Father as she was led past one small cell after another, each cut off from the corridor by black, metal bars. In each it was the same story. Human men, women, and even children had been shackled hand and foot to the walls, three per cell. She could feel the sense of helplessness, even hopelessness here. Could she really help these people?

“No, your fate shall not be as merciful as theirs,” snarled one of the demons, who had suddenly taken on the pale, wrinkled facial features of an incredibly old man.

Lilly realized that the demon had done this to frighten her. She did her best to ignore the creature.

At last they came to a series of short corridors on either side of the main corridor. Stone steps led down to heavy, metal doors with what appeared to be a small window on each. Yet each window was shuttered by a metal slide that prevented Lilly from getting a glimpse of what lay beyond. These too were cells; that much was clear. Yet it wasn’t sorrowful lamentations that arose from the chambers to her left, but cries and screams of pain.

The demon stopped and turned Lilly to the left. As Lilly turned, she saw another demon in the corridor. She recognized this one: it was Zurel, the demon that Jonathon had spoken to. Yes, she was certain of it. For a moment she caught his gaze, but just for a moment. He turned around and walked the other way.

“This is the one,” said the demon on Lilly’s left, leading her down the stairway to one of the metal doors. “We’re going to reunite you with your sister. In fact, we’ll allow you to share her fate…and have some quality time together.”

The demon pushed the metal slide on the door aside and forced Lilly’s face up to the opening. Within she saw a stone room that was maybe 12 feet on a side. It was a foul-smelling place illuminated by a single torch mounted to the back wall. Within this grim chamber were five humans, three men and two women. Their wrists were shackled firmly to the wall, forcing their arms wide apart. Their ankles too were shackled to the wall, forcing them to stand with their legs spread wide. A heavy black metal band held them at the waist, rendering them unable to move.

And on the floor were large rats—dozens of them—with unnaturally large, sharp teeth. They tore into their helpless victims in a feeding frenzy, reducing their bare feet to little more than ragged hunks of stringy red meat. Some of the rats had even climbed up onto their prey to feast upon their legs and flanks. All the while the victim’s bodies regenerated, creating new meat for their eternally voracious tormentors.

Lilly turned away in disgust, but the demon pushed her back to the window. “Take a good look,” he said in a loud, sneering voice. “There is your sister. Before the night is over she’ll tell us all she knows. Perhaps watching the same thing happen to you will loosen up her tongue.”

“This shouldn’t be happening here,” said Lilly. She tried not to cry, yet the tears began to flow.

“Why?” asked the demon, “because there are no rats such as these in Heaven? Of course there aren’t. These are imports straight out of the master’s kingdom. But we needed them. Our little pets will keep you company until we transport the lot of you to Hell tomorrow evening. Then we shall really get creative.”

The other demon unbolted the door and roughly pushed Lilly into the room. As the demons entered, the rats immediately scattered in fear, fleeing into a series of holes and crevices on the far wall, leaving their victims gasping and crying in fear.

“Well, have any of you had enough?” asked the demon. “Would any of you care to give us the information we require? Who knows…if you cooperate, we may see fit to release you.”

The bloodied and disheveled victims looked up at the demon with weary eyes. Yet no one seemed in the mood to cooperate.

“Our suffering is but for the moment,” said one of the men near the back wall, the one who seemed to have gotten the worst of it. “But our reward for our sacrifice will be eternal.”

“I wouldn’t know about that,” hissed the demon. “Who knows…once we transport you to Hell, God may even forget about you. You may end up stuck there with all of the other sinners.”

“Not likely,” said a woman. Lilly recognized her as Christa.

“We shall see,” said the demon, leading Lilly toward an empty set of restraints beside Christa. “We thought that you might like to spend some time with your little sister. She came looking for you. We thought it was only fair that the two of you be reunited. Still…it doesn’t have to be this way. If you tell us all about your mission, we may spare her the torments that you have endured.”