The Diamond Arrow (2)

Time: AD 1212

Location: Lystra and surrounding area

ART TO YOUR LEFT! WATCH out, Silas!” Lydia’s voice echoed through the seemingly quiet forest.

Instinctively, Silas twisted his abdominal core to the left and leaned back. The hissing sound coming from the flying dart grew louder as it drew close to him. His heart leaped, and his blood ran cold. He saw a dark arrow head, its hollow body and fletching swiftly flying by his chest, barely missing his left shoulder. The heat from the hazy dart brushed Silas’ chest causing a sudden rush through his veins. The projectile continued straight and landed on a nearby tree. As soon as the dart pierced it, multiple bumps appeared on the bark. The tree began to decay.

In his motion escaping the dart, Silas fell down on the leaves that covered the forest path. He rolled back. As he spun, he crouched down by a nearby bush, both hands on the ground. He scrutinized the direction the hazy dart came from but saw no one. He looked to the right and then to the left; however, there was nothing to see except the Heb Nabir Forest’s trees and the mysterious path running across them. Curious, he glanced back at the tree that was hit by the strange projectile. What he saw made his jaw go slack.

The dart had sunk deeper into the tree; by then its trunk was already half decimated. A thought came to his mind: That could have been you! He considered that possibility and got afraid. The golden armor vanished off of him.

He did not pay attention to Lydia, who started running toward him as soon as she saw that he had landed on the ground. Silas lifted up his head and squinted at the full moon; it was the night of the red moon.

“The armor,” he whispered, “I’ll call back the armor”. While his heart was surrounded with distress and his eyes were peeking at the decaying tree, Silas called the armor.

However, for the first time in three years, the armor did not appear on him when he summoned it. The absence of the armor sank him deeper in his fright, and he grew quite concerned. He felt vulnerable without his armor, in that unknown forest, facing what seemed to be an invisible enemy. A peculiar rumbling resounded in the somber clouds that were suspended over the dark forest.

At that moment, Lydia reached him and stopped abruptly. Perceiving fear etched on his face, she asked, “What’s wrong, Silas?”

“I can’t get the armor on!” he admitted, glancing up. “Maybe it has to do with this red moon?”

“How’s that possible?” she asked. “A simple red moon would somehow cause this? It’s very unlikely.”

Before Silas could reply, the twins heard a hissing sound of another hazy dart fast approaching. This time, Silas got a visual of the dart that was aiming at him. Spontaneously, he jumped up, rolled in the air and landed squarely on his feet. Lydia leaped behind the nearest bush.

Standing tall, he noticed that the second dart had pierced the ground on the exact spot where he was crouching. The dead leaves on the ground began to wither, and the decaying area expanded. As if that was not enough, Silas heard from behind him the loud splintering of the putrefying tree. In what seemed like one swift movement, it loudly fell upon nearby bushes. Silas watched the leaves as they seemingly flew upwards from whence they came. He was visibly shocked at what was happening. However, he whispered quietly, “Alpha and Omega help me.”

“Enough! In the name of Jesus!” shouted Lydia, visibly annoyed.

Surprised at his sister’s reaction, Silas looked at her.

Faithfully, she roared, “I wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore I put on the full armor of the Lord of Hosts”. As she uttered the last word, the sparkling golden armor appeared on Lydia instantly. The timing was impeccable as another hissing sound, a third one, was slicing through the air at that moment.

Holding firmly the Shield of Faith strapped onto her left forearm, Lydia hurried towards her brother. She extended her left forearm, and, as she was covering the chest of her brother, she quickly shouted, “Take up the Shield of Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the Evil One!”

Right then, the third hazy dart crashed on the shield in a sparkle and exploded without a trace.

Just then, thick clouds increasingly blanketed the lunar orb. The glow of the red moon that was already meek dimmed even more and reduced visibility.

Everything became uncertain and started to fade away. Soon it was a blur, and the image completely vanished. Lying on her bed, Riya, Silas and Lydia’s mother opened her eyes vividly and realized that she had just had a vision.

Right beside her, an angel of the Lord of Hosts was hovering. Riya did not see him; she could not see him, as he did not leave the spiritual realm. In his left hand, he held a golden bowl with purple stripes. The bowl was empty. Smiling, the angel was glad. He had accomplished his task victoriously. He could go back to heaven and confirm what was already known there: the mission was a success. Spreading his wings, he withdrew from the room, and, airborne, he wavered above the house. He did not fly back to heaven right away, but he waited, satisfied.

Earlier that day, in the heavenly realm, an archangel went to that angel. “You are summoned to the throne,” he told him.

“To the throne?” the angel replied.

“Yes. You are going in a mission.”

“A mission?” he repeated joyfully.