This is a continuation of the story An Angel of Light
When Tori’s eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the temple, she noted two flickering oil lamps. There were no windows, only the door they just entered, and another arched doorway on the opposite side of the room. The arched doorway was draped with a dark curtain. On the walls around the strange doorway were carvings of stars, moons, and other symbols that Tori had never seen before. There were no furnishings of any kind. The room appeared to be any entryway.
“This temple was built centuries ago,” the old man explained. “It holds many mysteries. Secrets that most people know nothing about.”
Tori listened to the old man with a bit of suspicion.
“What kind of secrets?” Aran blurted out.
“Ancient secrets,” the old man continued. “Would you like to know more?”
“I would,” said Aran.
“I don’t know if we should,” Tori tried to dampen her friend’s eagerness.
The old man pointed to the mysterious doorway. “Behind this curtain you will discover many new things.”
“He’s right,” Guang spoke up. “It’s how I learned to guide my crossbow arrows wherever I wanted them to go, even around tree trunks. Come with me and I’ll show you.”
The whole thing did not sit right with Tori. It seemed to go against her Christian beliefs.
Aran coaxed her along. “I’m sure it will be fine.”
Tori’s curiosity got the better of her, so she followed Guang and Aran through the curtain. There she found the walls covered with something like shelves in neat rows from floor to ceiling. They were carved of decorative wood. Resting on the shelves were glowing spheres. They were about the size of a person’s head, and each one different from the others. Some were shades of blue, others red, orange, or purple. Some of the globes swirled with more than one color, like a clear marble.
Tori leaned forward to read the writings on the golden plaques that were fastened to the shelves beneath each mysterious orbs.
“What are these?”
“Each one contains a special power.” Guang explained. “This one labeled ‘past’ will give you power to see things in the past. That one labeled ‘future’ will show you events that haven’t yet happened. ‘Strength’ will give you super-human strength, ‘persuasion’ will give you the power to convince people of your point of view.
Tori paused after reading one of the plaques. “What does this one labeled ‘Fortune’ do?”
“That one brings you wealth,” Guang explained.
“How do they work?” Aran reached for a sparking silver sphere.
“Be careful. I wouldn’t touch that unless you know what you’re doing,” Guang cautioned.
Aran pulled his hand away. He scanned the shelves until he found what appeared to be an empty shelf, “This one’s missing.”
“No, read the plaque.”
“Invisibility?” Aran turned to Guang. “What’s that?”
“It’s just what is says. It’s the power to make yourself invisible to others.”
“Really? Can I try it?”
“You can’t just try these powers. Once you take one you have it for good.”
“How may powers do you have?” Tori asked.
“I have two.”
“Why don’t you take all of them?” Tori continued.
“They take time to master, sometimes years. Taking many powers at once would be dangerous.”
Aran continued to stare at the “empty shelf.
“Can I take invisibility?” Aran asked.
“Sure, if that’s the one you want.”
“Being invisible will be great. I can spy on my friends, listen to what they say, and they won’t even know I’m there.”
A wave of uneasiness swept over Tori when she learned how Aran planned to use the power. She also heard a voice in her head telling her this was not part of the Christian faith.
“Take the sphere in your hands,” Guang instructed Aran.
“What sphere? I don’t see it.”
“You can’t see it, but you will feel it.”
Aran reached out and took hold of the invisible sphere.
“Now repeat after me,” said Guang. “By the spirit of this temple, power of the sphere come into me now.”
“By the spirit of this temple…”
“No!” Tori shouted. “This is wrong.”
She grabbed Aran’s arm with all she strength and pulled him toward the curtain. Aran lost his grip on the sphere, and it hit the floor with a dull thud. Dragging her friend along, Tori rushed for the exit.
“You must not leave yet,” The old man growled. His voice was no longer calm and friendly.
By now Aran came to his senses, he ran alongside of Tori out into the street. Tori squinted at the bright daylight. She paused to get her bearings, and then turned toward the mountain trail. By now Guang was in the street as well. He shouted, “stop them!”
At the top of the trail that led down to the forest two men waited, ready to stop the escaping children.
“We’re trapped,” Aran cried.
“This way,” Just as the men were about to ponce on the pair, Tori took a sharp right turn. She skidded off the mountaintop and dropped over the side. She felt herself in freefall until she landed hard on the trail below. Somehow, she managed to keep herself from going over the side of the trail, but Aran was not as lucky. He tumbled past Tori and off the edge of the steep trail.
“Help!” Aran hung by his fingertips. His feet dangled over the treetops below.
“Give me your hand,” Tori gripped her friends wrist and lifted with all her might.
She managed to save Aran from falling to his death, but they were not out of danger. The two guards raced down the trail toward them.
“Let’s go,” Tori led the way down. She worried that more guards might come up the trail and trap her and Aran, but her luck held out. When she reached the jungle trail, the men were not far behind. They ran at full speed down the twisting trail with the guard not far behind.
“We need to get off the main trail,” Tori cried between gulps of air.
“Were should we go?”
“Just follow me.” After rounding a curve Tori found what she was looking for, a break in the dense jungle. It may have been an old overgrown trail. She took a hard turn and Aran did the same. After a dozen paces, she stopped, crouched down and motioned for Aran to do the same. Together they waited until their pursuers continued down the main trail.
“What do we do now?” Aran whispered.
“I don’t know, but at least those guards are off our tail.” She motioned her friend forward. “We need to keep moving.”
After several minutes of fighting their way through the thick vegetation of the old trail, Tori suddenly cried out, “AHH!”
She found herself hanging upside down by her foot. She twisted and wiggled to get herself out of the snare trap that she had tripped, but it was no use.
“Hold still,” Aran commanded. He then used his weight against to trap to lower his friend down. Once on the ground she was able to wiggle her foot out of the snare.
“Are you okay?” asked Aran.
“I’m fine, but the guards might have heard me scream. We’d better get out of here.”
The two friends pressed forward. Eventually they came across a stream.
“This stream is flowing out of the mountains. That’s the direction we want to go, I think.”
“We don’t know for sure that it flows the right way. It could take use farther from home.”
“What choice do we have?” Tori asked.
Aran shrugged his shoulders, “Lead the way.”
At first, the going was easy. The stream gently wound its way through the forest. But after a while the trek became more difficult. The stream picked up speed. Tori struggled to keep her footing against the swift current that rushed over slippery rock. However, the exhausted pair pressed onward.
Late in the afternoon when the sun hung just over the horizon Tori began to worry. She had no idea where she was, and if she would ever find her way home. She shuttered at the thought of spending the night in the jungle. A few minutes later a new sound caught Tori’s attention.
“Do you hear that?” Tori paused to listen.
“It sounds like a waterfall.”
Tori continued sloshing her way downstream until she paused at the top of the waterfall. She looked at her friend with a wide grin, “Does this look familiar?”
“It sure does,” Aran gazed down at the pool below, where they had been that morning.
“We made it.”
Now on familiar ground the two friends hiked down the trail toward home. As the setting sun lit the sky brilliant shades of red and orange, Tori’s and Aran’s village came into view. They were home.
***
What did Tori and Aran plan to do at the beginning of the story?
What did they think of Guang when they saw his trick?
If you were there, what would you have thought?
What do you think the trap in the story stands for?
Why do you think we, as Christians, fall into sin without noticing it?
Read Psalm 124: 7 – 8
Thank God that he is able to rescue us from sin.