Bryan Davis - Eye of the Oracle

Patrick tensed his muscles and swung the sword the rest of the way. The beam sizzled through Gabriel, and he dissolved into a column of sparks.

Elam barked a low whisper. “Now, Sapphira!”

Sapphira waved the cross in a broad circle over her head. A wall of flames began edging downward from her hand, wide enough to envelop herself, Elam, and Gabriel’s field of sparks. The rubellite pendant floated in midair and absorbed Gabriel’s energy along with a stream of flames from the wall.

“Elam!” Sapphira shouted. “What’s happening to Gabriel?”

“I don’t know! Maybe he’ll be okay on the other side!”

Sapphira peeked through the vortex of flames. The fiery stream rushing into the rubellite suddenly reversed and spewed out in a lightning streak of dazzling crimson. The cross’s wall of fire shattered into a million jagged pieces and crumbled away.

When the pieces from the fiery vortex cleared from view, Sapphira dropped to her knees, exhausted. Lifting her head slowly, she peeked up at the surrounding shadows. Two human figures stood next to her, alive and well. One unfurled a set of beautiful dragon wings.

Sapphira leaped up and hugged Gabriel. “You’re alive!”

“I guess I am,” Gabriel said, patting his torso. “What happened?”

Elam clapped Gabriel on the shoulder. “Merlin told me that Excalibur’s beam doesn’t necessarily kill; it just changes physical matter into light energy. I was hoping Sapphira could bring you through to this dimension, but I didn’t know you would be physical again. Looks like it worked better than I expected.”

“Your plan was brilliant!” Sapphira tucked her cross into her waistband and hugged Elam. “It’s so good to be with you again!”

“Brilliant, yes, but did we fulfill the prophecy?” Gabriel slashed his finger across his throat. “Will Morgan believe that I’m dead?”

“I think she will.” Elam caressed Sapphira’s cheek and pulled away. “It looked like you dissolved before everything disappeared.”

“I guess we can hope so.” Gabriel kicked at the ferns at his feet. “So where in the world are we?”

Elam crouched and peered down a narrow path that wound through the forest. “We’re probably in another dimension, but I’m not sure which one. I’ve never seen this place before.”

Sapphira plucked a fern leaflet and twirled it in her fingers as she studied the landscape nothing but tall trees and dense undergrowth as far as the eye could see. “I was in a place like this, but I don’t think I’ve been to this exact spot.”

Gabriel grabbed a thick vine hanging over his head and pulled it down to eye level. “The trees look sort of like the ones I saw through the portal window at the back of Patrick’s mansion.”

“So,” Elam said, scratching the ground with a stick, “if the window leads to this dimension, Sapphira can find where it comes out here and get us to Patrick’s house. Then we’ll sneak back to the idols.” He looked up at Sapphira. “What do you think?”

“It’s better than popping right into Devin’s clutches.” Sapphira dropped her leaflet and picked up a long stick. “We’d better hurry. If Morgan’s not convinced that Gabriel’s dead, then Patrick and Paili are both in trouble.”

“Wait! What’s this?” Elam pushed his stick under a chain and picked up a dangling pendant. A dim glow emanated from the gem in the center. “Looks like the rubellite came through with us.”

“Super! I was worried Morgan would find it.” Gabriel took the chain and draped it around his neck. “Any idea why it’s lit up?”

Elam and Sapphira both shook their heads.

Gabriel peered at the gem for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, which way do we go?”

Sapphira pointed her stick at a massive trunk. “If we’re still near the idols, then in the world of the living, the mansion would be over there, past that big tree, so I’ll head in that direction.”

Gabriel beat his wings and leaped into the air. “I’ll check out what’s ahead.” He zipped up through the trees, deftly avoiding every branch. Soon, he was circling high above.

Sapphira strode ahead, slashing ferns with her stick and hopping over protruding roots. Now that she had stepped out of the portal, her vision had faded to normal, so she kept her gaze on the ground and studied the passing leaflets and tufts of thick-bladed grass, hoping to see them suddenly magnify.

After guessing the approximate location of the mansion’s portal room, she marched through the jungle-like undergrowth. She counted fifty paces, then, shifting a few feet to the side, she marched right back. Dodging tree trunks and ducking under low-hanging vines, she kept watch for a change in her vision or a plunge in her mood.

Elam scurried in front, tossing aside sticks and warning her of stones and roots. He suddenly halted. “Look at this!” he called, picking up a long white rod. “It’s a bone of some kind!” He leaped ahead and stooped. “A whole skeleton!”

Sapphira raced toward Elam and crouched at his side. As she laid her hand on the bony remains of an unfortunate human, her vision clarified. The eye sockets in the skull widened, and its gaping mouth seemed to pour out a silent scream.

A gust of wind and a flapping sound announced Gabriel’s return. He settled to the ground next to Sapphira. “What did you find?”

“A skeleton.” She dropped her stick and fingered the tattered clothing that still clung to the ivory ribs. “We’re at the portal. Maybe this poor guy was trying to get through it somehow.”

“Let’s get out of here.” Elam straightened and swiveled his head from side to side. “This place is spookier than any dimension I’ve ever been in.”

Sapphira stood with him and pulled out her cross. “Gather together.”

Gabriel extended a wing and draped it around Elam and Sapphira. “Okay. Let’s see what happens.”

Sapphira lit the cross and circled it over her head. The familiar cylinder of flames encircled them, and the forest scene vanished. Seconds later, Sapphira fell through a flexible wall of thick material and tumbled to a hard floor. After dousing the cross, she grasped the material and pulled herself up, drawing it to the side as she rose. “A curtain,” she whispered.

“The portal covering,” a hoarse voice replied.

Sapphira searched for the source of the voice. Darkness obscured a human figure nearby. She raised the cross again and commanded light. A gentle flame rippled across the wood, illuminating Elam’s reddened cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He cleared his throat. “Gabriel’s not here. He must not have made it through.”

“How can that be? The fire surrounded all of us.” Sapphira raised the cross higher. “More light, please.” Instantly, a new surge of flames brightened the room. Just beyond Elam, an eerie profile glittered, like crystals reflecting sunlight. The silhouette of a winged boy moved, more like a shining ghost than a living human.

Sapphira clapped her hand over her mouth and spoke between her fingers. “Gabriel!”

Elam pivoted. “Where?”

Sapphira crept toward Gabriel’s sparkling frame. He extended his hands as if trying to communicate, but no sound emanated from his radiant face.

She moved the cross closer to his body. “Look. He’s trying to say something.”

Elam spread out his arms. “Where? I don’t see anything.”

She reached out and touched one of Gabriel’s glowing hands. “He’s right here. I guess my vision is sharper than yours.”

Elam laid his hand on top of Sapphira’s. “He must still be disintegrated in this dimension.”