Opening her right hand while pointing at the white door, Lydia questioned, “A cloud…, a cloud is in that room?”

  “Surely, there is one inside, and it will come alive as soon as you enter the room. This cloud will blink twice. The first time will serve to remind you to be concentrated on your quest. If the whirlpool cloud twinkles for the second time, you will only have twelve seconds to jump inside of it. If you do not, it will vanish, leaving you trapped in the room for a while.”

  “Coming from an angel who lives eternally,” thought Lydia, “‘a while,’ as he said, could be a very long time.”

  “How come?” interrogated Silas, shaking his head.

  The angel looked at him directly, fixing his gaze on Silas’ eyes and said, “Silas, there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Inside that room, your concentration should be focused on finding the scroll. As such, you should not let your senses be distracted by anything else in that room. The whirlpool aims to help you maintain your attention on the scroll you are seeking.”

  Silas was not convinced that he could find a way out of that room for himself and his sister. He questioned the angel, “What will happen to us if we do not find the scroll?”

  “Have faith! You have the Shield of Faith right there, strapped to your left hand,” he said, looking at the shield that was vibrant and seemed alive. “Practice using it. Your faith will grow and you will overcome doubt and uncertainty.”

  “Where will the whirlpool cloud take us?” inquired Lydia who wanted to ask about this before Silas intervened.

  The angel responded, “To your next destination.”

  Trying to make amends for his display of disbelief, Silas asked the angel who was ready to leave, “Before you go, will you give us your name?”

  “It is not necessary that you know my name. I am not seeking my glory, but the glory of the One who sent me, the Lord of Hosts. Keep His name in mind and work for His glory. I am a mere messenger and helper. Worship Him and give Him all the glory. Thank Him and lift Him up. You do not need my name.”

  Taking three steps back, the angel turned the blade of his sword down and held the grip against his breastplate. This sight was striking as the white pommel of the sword contrasted with his golden armor. As he was about to vanish, he said, “When you study the Word, remember this, ‘A Text without a Context is a mere Pretext.’” With a whooshing sound, he vanished.

  CHAPTER 13

  The Ancient Scroll

  “Do you think he is really gone?” wondered Lydia. “If we summon him, maybe he will come again?”

  Silas was not sure of that. He thought that since the angel had just left mere moments ago, he would not be back again right away. Besides, they had something to do in the room behind the white door. So, he answered, “I don’t think he is coming back right away. Let’s go Lydia; a search awaits us.”

  Still apprehensive, Silas and Lydia did not know what to expect once they were inside. Would they find a huge staircase again, or would there be other angels? Perhaps a man just like Remnar would be there waiting for them, or maybe even Remnar himself. Oh, maybe it would be a woman this time? A lot of questions came into their minds, and Lydia realized that she had not specifically asked the angel about what they would find in there.

  “Come to think of it,” she thought, “he did not talk much about the specifics of the room, but rather about the necessity to remain concentrated on the objective which is the scroll. Ah, we’ll see.”

  Walking in front of her, Silas approached the white door. As he got closer to the door, he instinctively put his sword back into its scabbard to free up his right hand in order to turn the door handle. Immediately, his shield shrank to the size of a hand. Silas opened his palm, and the shrunken shield slid onto his forehand and stayed on the armor. “How convenient!” he thought. Turning to Lydia with a bit of excitement, he showed her his finding. “Look Lydia, the shield can shrink at will, leaving my hand free for work!”

  “Ah wow! This armor is wonderful! The Lord of Hosts has equipped us with the right tool to do his will,” she added, watching her shield do the same thing after she put her sword away. Silas reached for the door, but stopped before turning the handle. At that moment, Lydia comforted her brother and said, “No worries Silas, open it.”

  He turned the handle and pushed the door. The door did not slide open, for a change; it opened inwards like a regular door, and did not clash on the adjacent wall. First thing they saw, in the far distance, was the hovering cloud, just as the angel told them. It was glowing, appeared flat and was standing vertically with a gently active whirlpool on its surface. It was emitting blue rays and was positioned at the other end of the room which was illuminated only by a few wall flaming torches. These torches were lit in a meandering pattern across the sinuous corridor and across the path that led to it.

  The second thing that caught their attention was the amount of treasures heaped against the walls; they went as far as the eye could see, and well beyond the whirlpool cloud. There were gold coins, treasure chests and jewel encrusted daggers. There were also drinking cups with precious stones set in them, numerous golden candle holders and a vast amount of rare beaded necklaces and bracelets.

  The walls were glowing from the brightness of the multi-colored lights beaming off of all the treasures and jewels. Bright blue stones sent out blue rays in many directions, while purple shafts of light were mixing with the set. Closed treasure chests where half hidden in mounds of golden coins, while other ones were completely opened and exposed showing off all their contents. It was a sight of an extreme rarity. The golden warriors could also feel a cold breeze, but could not figure out where it was coming from. Oddly, a smell of fresh roses was floating in the air, contrasting with the vast amount of wealth assembled in the place.

  “Oh!” interjected Silas, “look at all of this,” pointing at the treasures. “We are supposed to look for the scroll in this?” he added, stepping into the room and followed by Lydia.

  “Indeed!” replied Lydia, still under shock of the sight. “Where do we start?” she asked, as she closed the white door behind them.

  “We can start by looking in the chests that are closed,” proposed Silas.

  “There are urns over there; it could be in one of them,” noticed Lydia, as she walked toward a set of three orange clay urns that looked very old.

  “I don’t think so,” objected Silas; “help me go through the treasure chests instead, as they look nice enough to contain any ancient scroll.”

  “The chests have only coins and jewels in them, Silas. Look at the ones that are already open. I think it’s obvious,” Lydia responded, shaking her head as she stared at her brother.

  “Well, you cannot be sure of that. Help me anyway,” opposed Silas.

  “As you wish, Silas, as you wish,” she responded unconvinced.

  They started seeking out the numerous closed chests and opened them one by one to see their contents. Every time a chest was opened, it revealed wondrous treasures. Sometimes, there were more golden coins than rare stones, and sometimes, it was the opposite. Some of the chests had necklaces in them, while others carried bracelets ornamented with jewels or a rare beauty. Opening a coffer here, a looking through a chest there, they went forward on the path, leaving the white door far behind. After a period of opening the treasure chests, the teenagers started to feel joyful. Seeing chest after chest filled with jewels that were shiny and sparkling to the eye was becoming a thrill for the twins. Little by little, jewel case after jewel case, treasure chest after treasure chest, their attention started to drift away from the very reason they were in that mystical place.

  Suddenly, a cold wind picked up and gusted in the direction of the whirlpool cloud. When the wind passed them and finally reached the hovering formation, the whirlpool cloud vanished for a moment and then reappeared, blinking as such for the first time. As soon as it disappeared, all the lights that were lit along the walls and the path suddenly turned off. The room became dark and cold, then the lights came back on. During that brief time, Silas and Lydia could not see a thing. Even though it only lasted a few seconds, the short time the darkness persisted completely halted the stupor into which the golden warriors had fallen. They rapidly realized that they were wasting precious time looking into those alluring treasure filled chests.

  As they understood this, Lydia quickly stood up taking a step back from these chests, as if they were corrupted.

  “The chests are poisoning our minds Silas!” she shouted. “Stay away from them!”

  “You are right, Lydia! It’s not in them,” acknowledged Silas, standing up as well.

  Lydia’s face lit up, as she started looking around frantically.

  Silas asked, “Do you know where the scroll is? Is that it? Do you?”

  Before she could formulate an answer, Lydia’s eyes caught the three urns she had previously seen when they entered the room. She started to run back to them, which were far from the hovering cloud and near the white door.

  “The scroll is in the urns!” she shouted back to her brother “And we passed them already.” As the distance increased between them, while Lydia was running back, Silas paused for a moment and stood still, wondering whether his sister could be right.

  “The urns are the only pieces that do not belong here,” he thought, “Everything else is related to the treasure.” “That must be it…” he murmured. “The scroll is in one of the urns!” he shouted to his sister, agreeing with her deduction, as he rushed back to the urns following his sister. While he was getting closer to the urns, he noticed the gentle smell of fresh roses emanating from them. When he got there, Lydia who had already reached the three urns, was removing her hand from the first one, with a disappointed look on her face.

  “This one is empty…” she whispered. “I will verify the second one,” she said with deep hope in her voice.

  “And I, the last one,” indicated Silas, catching his breath.

  Both had their hands inside one of the urns, circling in the emptiness of the clay structure. In the middle of the urns, their hands did not touch a thing, so they pushed their hands in further. Lydia was the first to touch the bottom of the urn and with the same disappointed look on her face, she murmured, “There is nothing in this one either.”

  Silas was silent and his face became grave. His hand had touched something. It felt under his fingers like a fine and delicate lamb’s skin, spooled-up into a roll with a space in its middle. He cautiously removed his hand from inside the urn, holding the precious piece of parchment: they had found the ancient scroll. Staring at it, they could not help but notice how the rolled parchment scroll was well knotted with a golden ribbon.

  Lydia’s mood instantly changed as she celebrated the discovery. Silas, on the other hand, was chastened. As he held the precious scroll, written on inside and out, he genuinely regretted having wasted time looking through the chests. Lydia tried to bring some comfort to him. “Don’t be distressed Silas; we found it, and it is now in your hand!” He remained contrite even though he was holding the divine document.

  In an attempt to change his mood, Lydia said, “Open it so we can see what’s inside. The discovery might change your penitent mood…”

  As she was pronouncing those words, a cold wind picked up and flurried in the direction of the whirlpool cloud. They felt the chill coming from the wind and remembered that it had happened before and the cloud blinked as a result.

  “Oh, no… time’s up! Let’s go, let’s run to the whirlpool!” urged Lydia.

  As they began running, the wind reached the hovering formation which blinked shortly. Silas looked up and said, “The whirlpool cloud just blinked again,” said Silas as he choked, puffing for air.

  “Second … and last time,” wheezed Lydia, panting.

  They both knew they had only twelve seconds left before the whirlpool cloud would vanish, leaving them trapped in the dark hallway of this curious mountain. They realized that they had only one option: hurry up and plunge into the hovering blue cloud as soon as possible.

  To help her, Silas grasped the left hand of his sister, while he held tight the ancient scroll they’ve found.

  Suddenly, a strong wind started to blow from behind them. The wind was picking up speed. Soon, it surrounded them.

  As they jumped to enter the cloud, time and motion froze. Suspended in the air, they encountered a holy presence and recognized the Alpha and the Omega who comforted them by telling that He was with them. When time unfroze, their motion led them through the whirlpool cloud which closed immediately.

  CHAPTER 14

  Home Sweet Home

  Year: AD 1212

  Silas and Lydia landed on their feet and remained still as the whirlpool cloud whooshed and vanished away behind them. The ground was covered with warm granular sand, and a fresh eastern wind was blowing gently on their faces. In front of them and on their sides were clay colored sand dunes that looked familiar. A peaceful and constant rumbling sound reached their ears indicating a nearby town. Silas looked at his arms and legs and noticed he no longer had the armor on. He wore instead a long purple robe with long sleeves that covered up to half of his arms. A golden linen belt was solidly knotted on his left side. At his feet, a pair of leather sandals were firmly but comfortably tightened.

  Similarly, Lydia did not have her armor on either. Instead, she was wearing a fine blue dress with a delicate linen belt on her waist, knotted on the left side. Her leather sandals were knitted, and the straps were nicely knotted right above her ankles. A series of white arrows was embroidered on the golden bands covering the edges of her dress.

  Something was different about Silas and Lydia. It seemed that they had more maturity, and they looked serene. Silas had a beard and moustache on his face, and Lydia’s hair was a bit longer and was gathered behind her neck in a ponytail style.

  “What do you remember Silas?” inquired Lydia.

  Silas smiled and replied to his sister, “I remember most of the training, except for what happened after the angel said that we will forget from a time onwards,” looking up to the skies.

  “And you Lydia, what do you remember?” he continued.

  “The same thing too, but I recall that the angel said that we will remember most of the training excluding a specific period.”

  “I remember more the scriptures and the time spent learning them than anything else.”

  “You are right. It is the most important thing anyways,” concluded Lydia.

  A few steps down from the sandy hill where the whirlpool cloud had just disappeared, they saw two grey horses standing up. When the siblings saw them, both horses whinnied at the same time; it was as if they were calling Silas and his sister. The twins approached the horses which seemed gentle. Lydia noticed that they did not have stars on their forehead as the previous majestic white horses did. The mounts bowed down allowing Silas and Lydia to climb onto their backs.

  Gently and peacefully, they climbed up the nearby sandy hill and reached the top. From up there, their sight set on the town they had figured was there, and they recognized the seaside community where they grew up: Lystra. A smile light up their serene faces.

  They paused for a short instant before dashing down the sandy hill. The wind was in their backs as they descended from the dune. As their horses trotted side by side in a silence that was interrupted only by the ricocheting hoofs on the ground, the wind was playing with the sand, lifting it up a foot high and letting it down in minuscule whirlwind formations. As Silas and Lydia were gently rocked by the trotting horses’ motion, they were gazing ahead and fixating on the horizon. Sitting on the horses, they appeared taller, and the delightful charm that emanated from them could inspire respect in anyone seeing them.

  They galloped on and soon reached the beaten path that led in and out of the prosperous town. Before long, people started to notice them as they looked noble and important on the horses. The serious look on their faces caused some inhabitants to fear them even though they still had a slight smile. As they passed slowly through the town’s streets, nobody recognized them. People just carried on with their occupations; no mob formed behind them. As Silas and Lydia got closer to their home, they began to feel a bit of excitement growing deep inside. They turned around a corner and reached their street, the same street, in the same neighborhood, where they spent their childhood and teenage years until their unexpected departure.

  As they rounded the bend and started to feel the deeper excitement of being home, Nabas, who was about to pass the gate to enter the house, saw both silhouettes on the horses from the corner of his right eye. He stopped to further observe the two distinguished people who just turned onto the street. As he was looking attentively at the man and woman on the horses that were trotting unhurriedly toward him, Nabas felt that they were somehow familiar. Would it be possible that these two people are the youngsters who left the familial home a while back?

  “Peace be onto you Nabas,” shouted Silas, as they approached him with a big smile.

  As she was just a few steps away from Nabas, Lydia dismounted, opened her arms and hugged the master of their house’s servants, whom she has known since she was a toddler.

  “Lydia? Silas?” questioned Nabas, hardly believing his eyes.

  “Is it really you? Both of you have changed so much!” The chief steward of the house’s servants hugged Lydia firmly and added, “It’s been so long!” When Silas got off the horse, Nabas embraced him lengthily.

  “How do you do, Nabas?” inquired Silas, hardly containing his pleasure for seeing their beloved chief steward.

  Smiling while looking at both intermittently, Nabas said, “The Lord of Hosts is keeping me well, and you both seem fine!”

 

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