“How do we do that?” Gabriel asked.
Merlin pressed his hand on Sapphira’s shoulder. “You stand here.” He pulled Gabriel parallel to the glass wall, separating him several paces from Sapphira. “And you stand here.” He raised both hands. “Lift up a hand toward each other, and as witnesses to this covenant, you will shout the vow all dragons must believe in order to pass through to the other side.”
“Vow?” Sapphira wrinkled her forehead. “What vow?”
“The name you so recently learned. The name that imbedded the fire within your soul. Then Gabriel will answer with the same words.”
Sapphira and Gabriel lifted their hands. A stream of flames shot from Sapphira’s fingers to Gabriel’s, creating a fiery arc.
Bonnie, her glittering silhouette carrying Billy’s, passed through the Dragons’ Rest screen and shuffled into the foggy chamber. Red sparks dripped from Billy’s side and splashed on the gem’s floor. She paused and looked around, as if lost.
“Now, Sapphira! Now!”
Sapphira took in a deep breath and shouted, “Jehovah-Yasha!”
“Jehovah-Yasha!” Gabriel echoed.
The shouts pushed the mist inward, producing two scarlet sound waves that collided under the center of the arc. At the point of impact, tongues of fire stretched out in all directions and licked up the fog. When every trace of mist disappeared, a wall of red light congealed between Gabriel and Sapphira and pulsed like a beating heart.
Bonnie’s face suddenly brightened, and she walked through the shimmering wall and out of the rubellite.
“Stay steady!” Merlin said. “Here come the dragons!”
Another human entered and instantly transformed into a mass of sparkling energy. As he passed by Sapphira, his bright blue eyes met hers.
“Hilidan!” She smiled so widely her cheeks hurt. When Hilidan pierced the throbbing veil, his energy field melded into it and passed through on the other side in the shape of a dragon, shining more brightly than ever. Then, with a sizzle and a pop, he penetrated the screen to the world of the living and disappeared.
Several more figures passed by, and Sapphira called out the names of the ones she recognized Zera, Shachar, and Clirkus but they didn’t seem to hear her as they penetrated the covenant veil.
When the parade of escapees came to an end, and the last sparkling form exited through the screen, Merlin sighed. “It is finished. You can lower your hands now.”
Gabriel and Sapphira rested their arms, but the arc of fire remained suspended in the air. The covenant veil continued to pulse, radiating a steady beam of light toward the living world. The gem’s interior, now clear of fog, seemed to glow with a light of its own as if the walls had been brushed with a million glowing crystals.
“My father didn’t come through.” Gabriel slumped his shoulders. “I’m sure of it.”
Sapphira peered through the gem’s entry into Dragons’ Rest. Inside, a solitary man stood on a stage that faced dozens of rows of chairs. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and paced in front of the screen.
“Could that be Makaidos?” Sapphira asked.
Gabriel cupped his hands around his eyes and peered in. “Dad’s not that tall, and his jaw is more rounded.”
“Roxil didn’t come through, either.” She clutched Gabriel’s sleeve. “We need to find both of them.”
“We?” Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t think you should go. If that place is going to blow up ”
“Enough talk.” Merlin waved both hands at the screen. “You may both go, but you must hurry. And remember, Roxil cannot leave through this passage unless she believes the covenant you declared.”
Sapphira turned to the translucent veil. As it continued to throb, somehow it seemed inviting yet forbidding at the same time. “Isn’t there any other way?”
“For a dragon to gain eternal salvation?” Merlin shook his head emphatically. “No.”
Sapphira laid her hand on the glass, and her fingers passed right through. “Are you going to stay here and wait for us?”
“I must attend to a very important matter in the world of the living. You see, Morgan has yet to reap the harvest of destruction she has sown for thousands of years. I am going to send her to her final resting place. Then, since the gateway to Dragons’ Rest has been torn open, I will rescue my wife, and we will ascend into heaven together.” Merlin passed through the covenant veil and disappeared.
Tears welling in her eyes, Sapphira backed through the barrier and whispered, “I didn’t even get to say good-bye.”
Gabriel followed her. “Me, either. He seemed to be in a hurry.”
When she emerged on the other side, a cool wood floor greeted her bare feet. “Is this a theatre?” she whispered.
“I think so. I’ve only been to a couple of movies, though, and it’s been a long time, so I’m not sure.”
“Same here. People looked at me funny. Blind girls don’t go to movies very often.”
“Or boys who refuse to take off their backpacks.” Gabriel nodded toward the side of the stage. “There’s that tall guy we saw. He’s talking to two old ladies. Let’s scoot.”
“Shouldn’t we warn them?”
“Since they’re here, they’ve probably already been told.” Gabriel took her hand. “If this place is going to get nuked, we’d better hustle.”
“I guess you’re right.” Sapphira’s foot nudged something that slid across the floor.
“What’s this?” Gabriel asked, stooping. “A knife?”
Sapphira rubbed her finger along the wooden hilt. A hint of dark blood stained the rough stone blade. “I’ve seen it before. I think it’s Morgan’s.”
He slid it between his belt and trousers. “It might come in handy.”
As he led the way down the stage steps, Sapphira noticed his back, his wingless back. “Gabriel! Your wings! They’re gone!”
Gabriel never broke stride. “Yeah. Dimensional travel rocks. Maybe they’ll show up at baggage claim.”
After they exited the theatre and ran out to the village streets, Gabriel stopped and swung his head from side to side. “Any idea where to go?”
“Probably the town square. I’ve been to a reflection of this place in the sixth circle, so I know it pretty well.” She nodded toward a clock tower that rose above the tops of the other buildings. “It’s that way.”
Gabriel marched toward the tower. “I’ll recognize my father, but do you know what Roxil looks like?”
“I know what she used to look like, but we can ask around for Jasmine. That’s her name here.”
The ground trembled. A window in a nearby feed store shattered, and a crack split the road between Gabriel and Sapphira. Gabriel leaped over the widening rift and grabbed Sapphira’s arm. “Hurry!”
Running side by side, they followed dusty cobblestones that led to a broader road and then to a city square. In the central garden, a statue of a man riding a horse stood watch over an array of colorful flowers, and a rope lay over his outstretched arm with a hangman’s noose dangling underneath. Several people milled about, and a woman knelt next to a body lying on the road.
Gabriel let go of Sapphira. “I guess they didn’t feel the quake here.”
She ran up to the corpse the body of a petite female. A gash in the front of her dress revealed a gaping wound in her bosom. Sapphira gulped. “Naamah!”
The kneeling woman stood and faced them. Her stern, angular features hadn’t changed in the slightest. “So, you have come to bring our destruction, have you?”
When Gabriel joined them, Sapphira latched on to his wrist and squeaked. “It’s good to see you again. . uh. . Jasmine.”
Jasmine glared at Gabriel. “You’re not an oracle of fire, are you? The prophecy said that there would be two oracles, not one.”
Gabriel pointed at her. “Listen, Roxil, or Jasmine, or whatever your name is now, I may not be an oracle of fire, and I don’t know about any prophecy, but this place is about to blow, and I need to find my. . I mean, your father.”
The ground shook again. Two more windows cracked, and a chimney toppled, spilling broken bricks down an angled roof. Sapphira stooped to keep her balance, and Jasmine dropped to her knees. The people in the streets scrambled in every direction.