The Dragon's Descent (15 page)

“Airplanes can,” Kane said, looking up. “If we get high enough, we can fly above it, then drop down into the eye. Where I come from, we have to deal with monsoons all the time.”

“That's just nuts,” X said, as the winds picked up speed. “But if we're going to do it, we have to go now or we won't be able to get airborne.”

“Go for it!” Kane yelled in a rallying cry.

The angels' wings shot out in unison.

“We'll fly in a V formation,” Vero said. “Everyone hold hands and don't lose anyone!”

X tried to lift off. His injured wing dangled from his back.

“I can't fly!” X yelled, frustrated. “Go without me. I'll wait out the storm in this cavern.”

“Pax, stay with him!” Vero shouted over the winds.

“No, I'll be okay!” X yelled as sprays of water hit his face.

“If there's any trouble, Pax can communicate with me mentally!” Vero said.

X didn't argue further. The storm was nearly upon them, leaving no time for debate. Vero, Ada, Kane, and Greer shot like missiles straight into the dark, heavy clouds. They rose higher and higher, but were still not able to get above the storm due to the pelting wind and freezing rain.

“Keep going!” Vero shouted as they tossed around inside the tempest.

They flew even higher. Finally, patches of light broke up the dark, stormy clouds. The rains and winds gradually
subsided. Upward they flew, and moments later each broke out above the billowing thunderclouds. They were now safely above the storm, where it was surprisingly sunny, dry, and calm.

“Hey, this is nice,” Greer said, raising her head toward the warm light shining on her.

“Stop going up,” Kane said. “We need to fly straight ahead and find the eye.”

The angels glided across the calm skies. Vero was amazed how peaceful their flight was in contrast to the turbulent storm directly below. After flying for a few miles, Vero saw a circular, well-defined eye up ahead. He estimated it to be about a mile in diameter. It looked exactly like the images he had seen of hurricanes taken from space stations—a donut hole surrounded by clouds swirling counterclockwise. It was dangerous, surreal, and beautiful all at the same time.

“We have to be sure to drop down exactly in the eye,” Kane said, pointing to their target. “The eye is surrounded by the eye wall. That's the most dangerous part of the hurricane. It's a dense wall of thunderstorms. You don't want to go there.”

“Let's go single file. Everybody grab someone's ankles!” Vero said. “I'll lead!”

Greer grabbed on to Vero's ankles. Ada held on to Greer's, and Kane completed the chain. Vero narrowed his eyes, carefully zeroing in on the hole that was the eye.

“Aim dead center!” Kane shouted.

Vero gave him the thumbs-up sign, lowered his head, and nosedived toward the opening. With the others holding on to him, Vero landed smack in the center of the eye.
It was mostly calm weather inside—a light wind and clear skies. But surrounding Vero and the others were the towering, symmetric eye walls. It reminded Vero of the tornado booth he and Clover had once stepped into at the science museum—a cylinder-shaped glass booth that simulated a mild version of a real tornado.

“Can we let go?” Ada shouted.

“Yes,” Vero said.

Ada took her hands off Greer's legs and Kane and Greer also let go. The group hovered in the center of the eye, careful not to fly close to the edges.

“We're here, so where is he?” Greer asked, looking around. “Rahab, come out, come out, wherever you are!”

Vero scanned the swirling eye walls. Stormy weather was all around him. Looking up through the cylinder eye, he saw blue sky. Looking down, he saw blue water.

A deep, gravelly voice cut through the howling winds. “You killed my pet.”

The fledglings' heads darted around. The huge, weathered face of a middle-aged man broke through the eye wall so smoothly, it was like he was made of the thunderclouds. His skin was leathery, as if he had spent his entire existence in the blazing sun. The man was completely bald, and a scar ran across his forehead. But his brown beard was so long and bushy, Vero thought a family of birds could build their nest in there, and this guy would never even notice.

But what was most shocking was the empty eye socket. And in the remaining eye, there was no twinkle—it was as cold as the water in the deepest depths of the ocean. Vero then realized that they had found Rahab.

“By pet, you mean the leopard?” Vero asked.

“Yes,” Rahab answered, exposing teeth coated with algae.

“Ada did it!” Greer said, pushing Ada forward toward Rahab. Ada quickly retreated.

“Sorry about that,” Ada said. “But it was trying to kill us.”

“Who are you?” Rahab yelled as he moved farther out of the storm, exposing more of his body, as well as a long, greenish robe covered in barnacles, which covered his feet.

Vero noticed Rahab had a barrel-like chest, and gigantic wings that were not white but blue. As Rahab hovered, it became clear those wings were whipping up the winds around them.

“Why are you bothering me?” he shouted.

“We want to talk to you.” Vero wrinkled his nose. Rahab reeked of fish. “We're guardians in training.”

“You can have all the training you want, but it won't save you,” Rahab snarled.

Vero and Ada exchanged puzzled glances.

“Why should I talk to you?” Rahab said.

“Because we just braved your hurricane and were almost eaten by your
pets
!” Greer snapped. “You owe us a little courtesy!”

“I owe you nothing!” Rahab spat.

“Please,” Vero said. “We need to know about the Book of Raziel.”

Rahab's face twisted with anger at the mention of the book. He began to thrash and kick. His feet came into view, and Vero saw that both ankles were shackled to a long, thick iron chain that stretched down into the water below. The angel tried to grab Vero, but the chains kept
Vero just out of his grasp. Rahab swiped and clawed at Vero with vicious fervor, and then calmed, putting his head in his hands.

“I'm sorry,” Rahab said through his fingers.

Vero looked at him with empathy. “What happened to you?” he asked. “Why are you here?”

“I rebelled.”

Ada's eyes went wide.

“During the Great War, I decided to leave God, but at the last moment I changed my mind,” Rahab said. “This is my punishment.”

Rahab spread his arms toward the winds surrounding him. Vero noticed Kane watched Rahab with keen interest.

“You didn't become a demon?” Kane asked.

Rahab shook his head. “I'm stuck here making weather . . .” He lifted his foot, exposing the heavy chains. “I do whatever He asks of me, in the hopes that one day He'll free me.”

Rahab's contrite face suddenly turned irate once more, and he screamed, “I found the book for Him. I returned it. Did as I was told, but He didn't free me!”

“How were you able to find the book at the bottom of the ocean?” Vero asked.

“Beginner's luck.” Rahab laughed.

“No, there's more,” Vero said. “Please. It's my mission to find it . . .”

“We'll tell them you helped us,” Ada said. “We'll tell Michael.”

Rahab's head whipped around to face Ada. “You'll tell Michael?”

“Yes, and Uriel and Raziel, all of them.” Ada nodded.

“We swear,” Kane said.

Rahab looked Kane in the eyes. “You, I don't trust.”

“I'm telling the truth,” Kane said, a pleading tone in his voice.

“I may only have one eye, but it sees more than a hundred eyes together.”

Kane looked uncomfortable.

“He's telling the truth.” Vero nodded to Kane.

“You need to trust us,” Greer said.

“Why? Go away, all of you!” Rahab yelled.

“You're right. You don't know if we're telling the truth or not,” Vero said. “But you have nothing to lose. If we don't tell Michael, nothing here will change for you. But if we do tell Michael, you just might have everything to gain.”

Once again, anger rose like a geyser in Rahab. His face turned furious.

“Why you?” he screamed at Vero. Seaweed flew into Vero's eyes. “Why not me? I found the book once for Him. I returned it as I was told! Why not me?!”

“This guy is totally nuts,” Greer said in a low voice to Ada.

“I don't know why it's me anymore than you know why it's not you!” Vero roared, unable to hold back his own geyser of emotion. “But like you, I do as I am told!”

Rahab's face seemed to soften. “Like I said, this one eye sees more than most. Despite all the coral reefs, rocks, as well as caves and plants and endless miles, I was able to find the book on the ocean's floor because He gave me the vision to see things that no one else can.”

Vero looked at him, feeling a connection forming.

“You have it too, don't you?” Rahab said softly.

Vero nodded, recalling how, near the beginning of his training, he was the only one able to read the mysterious writing on the golems' parchments. No one else could even see a single letter.

“It's not a book like you think. There are no pages or a bound cover.”

Kane looked to him, more curious than ever.

“It's the most beautiful gem you've ever seen.”

“A gem? Not a . . .” Vero couldn't finish his sentence. High-pitched, ear-splitting shrieks caused him to shudder. A shadow overhead clouded his vision, blotting out the clear blue sky above. Rahab began to beat his wings faster in an attempt to sustain the storm.

“Dreadful bird!” Rahab shouted, his wings beating furiously.

Ada linked hands with Greer to steady them both as the winds intensified around them. Everything went dark.

“What's going on?” Kane yelled, his words echoing in the winds.

And then the winds died down as light broke through from above and the rains turned to sprinkles. Rahab looked defeated.

“They send that bird just to vex me,” Rahab said bitterly.

“Who sends it?” Vero asked.

“The Virtues,” Rahab said. “They can command the weather.”

Vero knew all about the Virtues. He had competed against them in the Angel Trials. They were invisible angels who were extremely smart and could see the future. He just hadn't known that they also had power over the weather.

“Was that bird the Ziz?” Ada asked.

“Yes! The foul creature,” Rahab said.

“What's the Ziz?” Kane asked, stuttering with fear.

“A bird as large as the Leviathan,” Ada said. “Its wingspan can block out entire storms.”

“Obviously,” Greer said, looking up at the now clear skies.

Vero turned to Rahab. “You said the book was a gem. What kind of gem? What does it look like? Do you have any idea where it could be?”

Rahab began shaking and his eyes darted around wildly. “I have to leave!”

Vero looked at the shackles around the angel's ankles.
Where is he going?
Vero wondered. Rahab grabbed Vero by the front of his shirt and shook him. “It's so dark down there! Tell Michael to release me! Tell him!”

“I will,” Vero yelled. “But you have to tell me everything about the book first!”

Rahab let go of Vero. The storm had mostly dissipated.

“It is blue . . . the most beautiful ocean-blue sapphire. About the size of a sand crab,” Rahab said, pinching his fingers as if imagining he was holding the precious stone.

“When I found it, I returned it to Adam. But it didn't even belong to him. It needs to go back to where it came from. Others have tried. Others have gotten close, but no one has succeeded.”

“Solomon had it last,” Ada said.

“Is that what you think?” Rahab scoffed.

“Didn't he?” Ada asked, twirling her hair nervously.

“Wise old Solomon was even wiser than you know . . .”

Vero moved closer, anxious to hear Rahab's every word.

“Haven't you ever heard of Solomon's ring? Also known as the ‘Seal of Solomon' . . .?”

Vero shook his head.

“Of course,” Ada said. “It was also called the Seal of Solomon. What about it?”

“Why am I wasting my time with such ignorant creatures?” Rahab spat.

“Because we have access to Michael,” Vero said forcefully.

Rahab's face twitched with anger, but then he took a deep breath. “Everyone knows that Solomon was wise, and God did give him the gift of wisdom, which served him better than you know in the end,” Rahab said. “But in addition to wisdom, Solomon had great knowledge that came from the book, which he wore on his finger. Solomon's ring held the Book of Raziel.”

“Did Solomon know?” Kane asked.

“Of course,” Rahab said. “In addition to God's great gift of wisdom, the book would have provided him with immense worldly knowledge.”

“Besides being able to design and build his temple, it was said that Solomon was able to control demons and speak with animals,” Ada added.

“Correct, fledgling,” Rahab said, scowling at Ada. “This fledgling is not as stupid as the rest of you . . .” His gaze extended to the others. “I might have even liked her, if she were not such a cold-blooded killer!”

“I said I was sorry. He was going to kill Greer . . . It was self-defense. Now please, tell us about the ring if you want us to speak for you,” Ada said.

Rahab considered her words, and composed himself again. “Over time, Solomon began to feel superior to all those he ruled . . . He felt he was practically a god himself,
and he fell into sin. There has always been a saying about the ring he wore—that it could make a sad man happy and a happy man sad. But it was through the wisdom God gave him that Solomon finally understood the saying. For when he looked into the book upon his finger, he read the words, ‘This too shall pass.' ”