The Children of Eternity (15 page)

Even as the last of the guests departed, those living within this home went to work. Their main goal would be to build as many of the weapons as possible. Gladys was the most prolific at building the rifles. She could materialize eighteen of them on a good day. Jerry was nearly as good at 16, while Jonathon managed to produce 8.

The others did their best to learn Heaven’s most difficult trade. Although a relative newcomer to the trade, Grampa Bud was able to make very good housings and mechanical parts for the weapons, and Christopher and Lilly took up the job of assembling the materialized parts.

As the days passed, they added new efficiencies to the process. Grampa Bud spoke of Henry Ford’s production line, in which each person on the line became an expert at one or two particular things. By implementing these improvements, their production nearly doubled.

More people skilled in the art of materialization joined the effort, and within three days eight people were working on the assembly line. They worked long hours with little sleep, and within another week had produced nearly 1,200 functioning weapons. And as the number of weapons increased, so did the number of people skilled in their use.

The weapons were distributed to the people of the nearby towns of Phillipsburg and Newtown. The people formed an effective militia, well-trained in the use of the new weapons. Sentries were posted to scan the skies for approaching demons, even as a defense plan was devised. If the demons came again, the people would be ready.

Yet no matter how long the day had been, the four children of Heaven met each morning and evening to talk and pray. They learned how to be a team and how to most efficiently use their gifts.

Occasionally, demon patrols passed by the house, yet the four always assumed the role of quiet and peaceful children of God. Of course Jonathon never missed the opportunity to charm their demonic occupiers. The Jedi mind trick, as Christopher called it, was becoming ever more effective.

Another week passed uneventfully. God seemed to have hidden the children beneath His wings, yet that was all about to change. It was a warm afternoon as Lilly sat in a small clearing amid the forests not far from the mansion. She was meditating when she felt the dark presence. She turned to see three winged demons in black leather armor standing not far away. She rose to her feet to face them.

“Isn’t this the pretty one?” said one of the demons to the others. “I wonder if she is one of those who have been plotting against us.”

The others laughed in a low guttural tone. It was clear that part of their intention was to scare her. They seemed a bit surprised when it didn’t work.

“Perhaps we should take her with us for questioning,” suggested another.

“Perhaps we could do more than that to her,” said the third, as a fourth and a fifth demon joined the group.

Lilly remained motionless as she spoke. “Tubor, is your soul not dark enough already without threatening a child of God?”

The first demon seemed surprised. “How is it that you know my name?”

“By the same means that I know the names of Cenaka and Verkon,” said Lilly. “Leave me in peace.”

“I asked you a question, girl!” objected Tubor, taking a step forward as he drew his sword.

“I think we should treat this little wench as we would one of her condemned sisters in Hell,” said Cenaka.

“What would you do, Cenaka?” asked Lilly, taking one bold step forward. “Would you shackle me to a black altar and let the birds have their way with me, consuming me again and again throughout all eternity? That is the ordeal that you enjoy watching the most, isn’t it? You particularly like to do women that way, don’t you? There is a sickness within your soul, Cenaka. You think that being the cause of eternal pain to others somehow justifies you. It doesn’t.”

“How dare you speak to me in such a manner?” demanded Cenaka.

“I dare because I am your master, not the other way around,” replied Lilly. “If you are truly to become the servants of God once more, you must also learn to serve the sons and daughters of God. If you cannot do this, then you have no place in Heaven.”

“I think this one needs to learn some manners,” said Verkon, who took a step forward.

The flapping of even more wings spoke the arrival of a sixth and seventh demon. Still, Lilly seemed unaffected. She turned about to find herself in the middle of a shrinking circle of what was now nine demons.

“I think we need to take her back for questioning,” said one of the newly arrived demons. “We need to see what will make her squeal.”

Lilly weighed her options. Could she really take on nine demons alone? “The strength of the wolf is the pack,” she said.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” growled Cenaka. “You’re supposed to be a sheep and we are the wolves.”

“I disagree,” said a voice to Cenaka’s right.

The demon turned to see Christopher standing there. “Move along, boy,” he warned. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“If it involves my sister, it involves me,” said Christopher, taking several steps forward. “You need to issue an apology to her and leave,” he continued, his voice totally without emotion. “As she told you, we are the masters here, not you.”

“Who are you to make demands of us?” asked another demon, approaching the youth.

“A child of God,” replied Christopher, giving the demon an icy cold stare. “This isn’t Hell, and we are not damned souls. You have far exceeded your mandate.”

“And how would you know about our mandate?” asked yet another demon.

“The Father told him—He told all of us,” said Jerry, stepping from the forest about 30 feet from Christopher. In his hands he held a particle rifle. A second later, its capacitor powered up with a hum that all of the demons could hear. “The strength of the pack is the wolf.”

“You are one of them,” accused another demon. “You are members of the human resistance. We may do with you as we please.”

Another five demons swept in, landing near the edge of the clearing. Then three more joined them. They were ready for battle.

“If you are familiar with that weapon, then you know what it can do,” said Christopher, in a loud enough voice for all to hear. “If you leave right now, you may live to fight another day.”

“I see only one with a weapon,” said Verkon, turning to Christopher. “I advise you to surrender.”

“I don’t need a weapon like that,” announced Christopher. “I am quite able to reduce you to dust where you stand, and it won’t be the first time I did it to one of your kind—far from it. Now leave, but only after you have apologized to my sister.”

“It is just the three of you against all of us,” said Verkon. “You are in no position to make demands.”

“I think you’d better make that four,” said Jonathon, stepping into the field from a blue mist that had suddenly appeared. “Still, all of this is pointless.” He walked up to a nearby demon who had already drawn his weapon. “My friend, you don’t want to do this; your master gave strict orders not to harm any humans unless they were aiding the angels. These children were doing no such thing. They are innocent. Please believe me, we’re your friends.”

The demon hesitated and then nodded. “This boy is right,” he said. “We are overstepping our authority and you know it, Cenaka. These children have done nothing wrong. Do we want to bring down the wrath of the master upon us? We need to apologize to this child and leave.”

“You’re mad, Hadron!” accused Cenaka. “I am the ranking minion here, and you shall do as I say.”

“You do not outrank the master,” argued Hadron, pointing his sword in the direction of Cenaka. “I will not allow you to hurt these children.”

The tension was building, Christopher could feel it. This would be their first test—that was only too clear. But were they ready?

“Enough!” growled Verkon, looking about at the children. “I’ll take this little wench in for questioning myself—and you will not interfere.”

As Verkon advanced toward Lilly, Jerry took aim at him with his particle rifle. Two other demons also approached Lilly. A line had been crossed.

What happened next was totally unexpected. Lilly waved her arms at the demon, who was now only five feet in front of her, and he was thrown as if by a giant hand through the air. He was tossed forcefully into another demon some 30 feet away.

Then Cenaka advanced toward Lilly, only to be engulfed within an explosive fireball that erupted from the tip of another demon’s sword. That demon in turn was run through by a third demon, even as a blast from Jerry’s particle rifle fired into the crowd, hitting and practically disintegrating one of the two demons approaching Lilly from the rear.

Jonathon drew out a particle pistol hidden beneath his long, flowing cloak and took out two other demons in rapid succession. Their boiling blood and shattered flesh was scattered for a radius of 20 feet. Yet even as he took the second shot, a fireball launched from another demon’s sword was on its way toward him. But it never got there. It seemed to be deflected by a transparent shield of force that had materialized a mere ten feet in front of him. Jonathon looked to see Lilly making some sort of gesture in his direction.

Out of the corner of his eye, Christopher saw a demon running toward Jerry, his sword drawn. With only a second to act, Christopher stretched out his hand. The demon flashed into a glowing ball of fire and then into dust, all before reaching Jerry.

To Christopher, the whole battle seemed to be moving in slow motion, but in reality it couldn’t have lasted more than 20 or 30 seconds. In the end, only two of the demons managed to survive. They leapt into the sky to get away. Jerry took a shot at one, yet it was a clean miss. Jonathon got a bead on the other, but the shot was too long. He holstered his weapon.

The four friends walked toward each other amid the field of blood. They embraced.

“I was afraid that I was done for,” admitted Lilly, a tear coming to her eye.

“Not possible,” said Jonathon, in his typically confident voice. “The strength of the wolf is the pack.”

“And the strength of the pack is the wolf,” said Christopher.

“We really did it,” said Jerry. “We were a team. I think we’re ready.”

“We had better be,” observed Christopher. “Those demons will surely report what happened here…and they probably know where we live. Next time, we will face even more of them.”

“Bring them on,” said Jonathon. “We will be ready for them.”

“Yes, we will,” confirmed Lilly. “This was the test the Father told me about, and we passed it. Our time has come.”

The four made their way back to the house, gating the distance rather than walking. They emerged from the starry mists in front of the mansion. Grampa Bud was standing right before them, a particle rifle in his hand.

“I heard the sound of weapon fire coming from the forest,” he said. “I was heading out to investigate.”

“Grampa, there’s been trouble,” announced Jonathon, and he quickly filled in his great-grandfather on the events that had just transpired.

By now, Grandma Gladys was also there. She too held a particle rifle in her hand.

“We knew that this day would come,” said Grampa. “We’ll need to contact the militia in Phillipsburg and Newtown.”

“We’ll fight at your side,” said Grandma.

Within minutes, the community was on high alert. About 20 armed men and women joined the family at the mansion. They watched the skies for the rest of the day, yet no demons were sighted. The vigil ran through the night and into the next day, but still no demons made their appearance.

During their regular morning gathering around the dining room table, Lilly spoke of a strange revelation. “I had a dream last night,” she began. “I was standing in a dimly lit room with walls of rock on three sides and a wall of thick, metal bars on the other. It was some sort of cell, I think. It was barren, totally without furniture. There was a girl about my age there and two young women—each had been shackled by their wrists and ankles to one of the walls. I think it was to prevent them from gating out. Their clothing was dirty and torn, and they themselves seemed in a terrible state. I think they may actually have been tortured.

“One of the women spoke to me and asked for my help. She said that her name was Christa Carter, and that she had vital information for General George Washington. She pleaded for me to free her and the others from their demon captors. She said hundreds of them are trapped in a horrible dungeon that the demons have fashioned right here in Heaven. The demons even threatened to transport her and those around her to Hell where they could be more properly interrogated and punished…out of the view of the Father.”