Seal of the King (15 page)

Just then a man walked in rubbing
the sleep from his eyes, “Aurora! I thought I heard voices.” Aurora and David both stood. Aurora gave the man a warm hug.

“Miles, it’s wonderful to see you. I hope we didn’t wake you.”  Aurora
said, “This is David.”

David reached out to shake Miles’ hand, Miles looked at him confused. “O
H… I’m sorry. Where I come from we shake hands as a greeting.” He pulled his hand back “It’s a pleasure to meet you Miles.”

"Thank you young man,"
Miles said then he gave his wife a sideways glance. She nodded, and smiled, and with a cheery voice he added, “It’s a pleasure to meet you too. A friend of Aurora’s is a friend of ours. Please sit.”

“Aurora was just about to tell me everything that happened to her since we last saw her
. “With a tone of encouragement she added “including how she met David here.”

Miles said with a smile “sounds like my timing is perfect, breakfast
, and a good story.”

David smiled encouragingly at Aurora to tell the story. She took a deep breath
, and said, “I guess I should start at the beginning then. Jasmine do you remember me telling you about the boy I’ve seen my whole life, and watched grow into a man?”

Jasmine
said, “Of course dear. You used to talk about him all the time when you were younger and...” She froze in midsentence.

“This is him, David is the man I’ve seen my whole life
, and he’s watched me in the same way.”

Jasmine
, finding her voice, said, “That’s incredible. But how did you find him? Where does he come from?”

Aurora reaching over to take David’s hand for strength
, and to reaffirm their bond continued, “As you may recall, my last mission was to retrieve the scroll from the temple. The team I was traveling with made it there without incident, and after retrieving the scroll headed back. On our way, we were alerted to a supply convoy for the Dark One’s forces. While heading to disrupt the convoy, we accidentally ran into a larger force of the Tartaros Guard. During the fighting, I became separated from the others.”

“Yes we heard about that from them when they returned.” Miles
said.

With a hint of excitement in her voice
, Aurora asked “oh! Then they’re alright?”

“We lost Akron
, and Elan.” Miles replied sadly. “They said the fighting was fierce, and we feared we’d lost you too. I’m sure, there was nothing more you could have done.”

Aurora looked down
, and said, “I understand, we were caught totally by surprise. It was a miracle that any of us survived.”

Jasmine spoke kindly “you can’t save everyone Aurora. Remember that. Now
, go on and tell us the rest.”

Aurora nodded sadly
, and then taking a small breath said, “Once I was separated, I was under siege from a group of soldiers, and had no choice, but to escape. I doubled back trying to find the others, but couldn’t, and since they were hunting me still, I had to move on. I didn’t want to take a chance on leading them here, so I headed for the high country near the plain of Azura. I evaded them for a long time, but they were relentless, and they were gaining on me. A few days ago they caught up to me, and I was leading them into the crags at the western end of the plain. I was hoping I could lose them once I made it over the top inside the gorge. I was desperate as they were right behind me. They had even managed to get some catapults in close, and were sending fire rocks and arrows at me.”

Jasmine, br
ought food to the table said, “Oh dear it’s a miracle you escaped. How did you ever manage to get away?” She continued serving everyone then sat to join them.

Chewing quickly
, Aurora swallowed her bite of bread. “That’s when David showed up. He appeared out of thin air, and knocked me out of the way of a fire rock that surely would have killed me. But when he did the two of us somehow passed through a hole in the world and landed in his world.” Aurora paused to allow them to consider what she had just said.

“What do you mean his world?” Jasmine asked.

Aurora looked to David for help, and he said, “I don’t know much. But the way it was explained to us is that our two worlds exist in the same place, and time. An invisible divide separates them, which is narrower in places. Our two worlds, work in unison to help maintain the balance between dark and light, good and evil. It was one of those narrow spots where we were able to cross over.”

Miles
and Jasmine sat fixed in rapt attention waiting for Aurora to continue. “Once back in his world David took me to his home and cared for me. While we were there we discovered his home was protected by “Seals”, and thought that his father may be a servant. That night David, staring into a seal, while I slept, had a vision.” Miles and Jasmine looked impressed but said nothing. “The next day we went to rescue his father, who was held captive by demons. And after we got him home, David called his aunt, who assembled a council of servants to meet with us. They told us many things, and we learned that David and I are the ones referred to by the Prophecy.”

Jasmine gasped
, and Miles looked grim saying, “are you sure?”

Aurora
said, “Yes we’re sure. The scroll I retrieved was a copy of ‘the prophecy’, and the council knew it too. After that, we made our way back and came here.”

Jasmine put her hand on Aurora’s
and giving her a warm smile said, “oh child. We always knew you were meant for extraordinary things. I only wish….” Her voice trailed off as her eyes began to fill with tears.

Aurora giving her a look of confidence
and determination said, “Jasmine, you have always been so kind to me, but you mustn’t be afraid. I know we face a terrible challenge, but together, and with the help of our Savior nothing’s impossible. If it’s His will that we’re all delivered, then it will be so. If it’s His will, that David and I do not return, then we’ll stand tall and faithful to Him, to the very end.”

David looked at her with a smile of
admiration; even with the prospect of such a daunting task his heart rose, knowing that someone such as this would be by his side. In fact if not for her he thought his courage might fail. Without realizing it, he had reached out his hand cupping the side of her face. His heart rose as she broke into a smile of contentment leaning her head into his hand, and looking affectionately into his eyes.

Jasmine, a tear running down her face
said, “To see you happy even under the weight of such responsibility. Oh, how I wish you had a simpler life. I’ve always feared something would happen to you before you ever found someone who cared about you so much.”

Miles stood
, and said, “You two should get some rest after travelling all night. I must go immediately to alert the council so that we can assemble today. Clearly time isn’t on our side so we must act quickly.”

David stood
, and said, “Thank you, is there anything I can do?”

“No, just get some rest. It sounds
as if you’ll have more than enough to do, and you’ll need to be ready.” Miles answered. The two men shared a nod of agreement. Miles walked around to his wife and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”

Jasmine stood
, and said, “We’d better get the two of you somewhere to sleep. Come. We have an empty room in the back.”

Jasmine led them out of the kitchen
and quietly to the back of the house. She opened the door to a small room with a bed, table, and basin. Then she said, “Aurora has stayed here many times, the children are still asleep, and our room is a mess, so I hope you won’t mind. The bed is rather small.”

David turned to her
, and said, “It’s more than enough, thank you. We slept in the woods last night.” He smiled then added “remember that I said I would never dishonor her in any way. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

Aurora said sternly
, “You will not! You can lie next to me on the bed.”

Jasmine patted David on the chest gently
, and smiled as if to say she wasn’t worried about it anymore, and said, “I wouldn’t argue with her dear as she can be very stubborn.”

David laughed “No doubt.”

Aurora said, “All right you two. We aren’t going to get any sleep if you stand there picking on me all morning”

Jasmine gave a small wave of her hand
and shut the door. Aurora and David set down their coats and packs, pulled off their boots, and lay down on the bed. It was small, but Aurora lying on her side pulled David’s arm tight around her wanting him as close as possible. Lost in the warmth of his embrace she was asleep in moments.

David lying still feeling her rise
and fall with each peaceful breath, considered what was ahead of them. He realized that he truly had no idea what to expect. Wondering to himself would their mission take days, weeks, months or more? No, he thought everyone had said time was short. Events were culminating to an inevitable showdown that could not be avoided. The only question is what would happen along the way, and would he be ready.

Holding her in his arms was bliss he had never known. He could have let himself feel cheated that it had taken so long to get here, to meet her
and that there was a distinct chance it would be over too soon. But he would not give in to that temptation. He was given a precious gift, and he was not going to waste a minute of the time they had together thinking about what might not be. He was going to savor every moment they spent together. He breathed her in, and let the scent of her fill his nostrils, the fragrance of the soap she used long since gone. She smelled like the fresh outdoors on a fall day full of life. Lying there with her soft hair against his cheek, he drifted off to sleep.

David woke to the sounds of voices in the house. The room was bright with sunlight
, and he thought it had to be afternoon. Gently slipping his arm out from under Aurora, she stirred slightly. He pulled a blanket over her and went out into the hallway. Making his way to the kitchen he found Jasmine, Miles, and two other men sitting at the table deep in discussion.

“Hello, I hope I’m not interrupting.” David said cheerfully.

Jasmine quickly got to her feet and said, "No, no please come, and sit down with us. This is Aaron the leader of our council, this is Edwin one of our council members, and a longtime friend.”

"It's good to meet you both,"
David said.

“It’s good to meet you too, we have been praying for help in this accursed war. Things have gotten worse for many years now
, and we fear we can’t stand much longer.” Aaron said.

“Yes, one more season may be our last.” Edwin added
grimly.

David sat there a moment feeling the intensity of their gazes.
Once more he was reminded of the enormity of the situation. Who did they think he was, he had no military training, and he was not a seasoned warrior; why did they think he could do what they had been unable to accomplish after so many years?

“I have to be honest with you. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. I have no idea if I can succeed where so many others have failed. I’m just a farmer, I’m not a warrior
; I only found out about your struggle a few days ago. I must admit I’m afraid that I might fail.” David said solemnly.

Aaron looked at him thoughtfully
, and said, “All those things you said may be true, and yet here you are. Most men given the choice would not have come. You were chosen for a reason, it is not for us to question the will of our Lord. Only to follow it, and trust in him.”

“I can’t argue with that
, but I can make you a promise. Regardless of the outcome, I’ll see it through to the end. I too put my faith, and trust in the Lord, and that’s all I need to know. In the meantime, I would appreciate anything you can tell me that may help.” David said with confidence.

“That’s all we could ask
, and of course we’ll try to help you in any way we can.” Aaron said.

“
Can you please tell me where the Dark One is? And how I can get there?” David asked. “As I’ve pondered over the prophecy, I believe there’s only one conclusion I can draw. I have to face him, and somehow when that happens, the events will unfold as they are meant to, and if I make the right choices then we will prevail.”

“Unfortunately I don’t see any other way either.” Aaron said. “He dwells in the heart of Tartaros
, an evil and dangerous place. The journey there will be extremely difficult. You could travel around his forces through desolate lands and mountains, but it will take you months to arrive, or you can attempt the most direct route, which will take you a few weeks. The direct route is through lands he already controls, and they are swarming with his armies. I would not suggest it, but we have reason to believe that he will be most vulnerable at the winter solstice.”

David spoke half to himself “The winter solstice is just over a month away.”

Aaron said, “Yes it is. This year there are certain alignments that are taking place at the winter solstice, and we believe that may give you an advantage.”

Aaron went on to explain how certain celestial bodies were positioned
, and that it coincided with the North Star’s position as it did over 2000 years ago when Christ was born. He also discussed genealogical cycles, and numeric patterns that suggested a confluence of events pointing to that date. David was listening politely, but it was far too much information for him to absorb, or make sense of. So he was satisfied to accept the conclusion that this was the deadline. Which made sense, everyone had told him that time was short, and in his heart he knew they didn’t have months to travel.