Final Kingdom (17 page)

Suddenly the blare of a trumpet smote the morning air, and a cry went up from thousands of throats. “The Tower! Down with the Tower! Down with the Dark Lord!” And Josh led his people forward.

Goél's troops attacked the walls, and some fell from the arrows that flew from overhead. On pressed the others toward the gate. They were met with flashing swords, and once again the air was filled with the shouts of rage and the cries of the wounded and the dying.

Josh fought until he thought his sword arm would fall off from weariness. More than once he felt the swords of his enemies, but he paid no heed. He was crying, “On for Goél! On for Wash!
Remember Abbey! Remember our loyal Jake!”

His cries were taken up, and the portal was taken. The survivors of Goél's forces swarmed through.

He saw Goél stride to the center of the courtyard and engage the Dark Lord in a fierce duel. It was darkness against light, good against evil, love against hate. The two fought furiously, the shining raiment of Goél contrasting vividly with the ebony robes of the Dark Lord.

“Whatever you say about the Dark Lord, he's strong,” Reb said with reluctant admiration, as their enemy fought desperately against Goél's flashing sword.

But it was useless. Suddenly Goél struck his enemy's sword and sent it wheeling through the air. Instantly Goél put his blade to the throat of his adversary.

Silence fell, and then the soldiers of the Dark Lord
began throwing down their weapons and begging for mercy.

As the victory cry went up, Josh felt blood seeping inside his armor and knew that he had been wounded worse than he'd thought. But he whispered hoarsely, “We've won.”

He looked around and saw Sarah lying still amid a ring of the fallen enemy. He staggered to her, lifted her head. She was smiling, and her eyes were closed as if she were asleep, but he saw that she was not asleep. And then Josh felt a touch. He looked up to see Goél standing over him.

“Come, my brave warrior, you must see this.”

“But Sarah—”

“Come with me first.”

Josh staggered to his feet. He could barely stand, but Goél's strong hand helped him.

“You saw the beginning,” Goél said gently, “and now you must see the end, my brave Joshua.”

Josh would have fallen, except that Goél swept the boy up in his arms. “Come into the tower,” he cried to his followers. “Bring the Dark Lord.”

Josh could not see what was happening. His head felt light. He could sense, though, that they were going down many steps and through a tunnel. At last he was set on his feet.

“Stand here, my boy,” Goél said. “It will soon be over.”

Josh leaned against the stone wall, then slumped to the ground, holding his bloody side. And then he saw a large opening in the floor.

The Dark Lord stood in front of it. His face was twisted with fear, and he began to cry for mercy.

The voice of Goél cut like a knife. “You have shown no mercy. Now you will know none.”

Goél seized the Dark Lord in his mighty grasp. Despite Josh's dimming sight, he saw the brief final struggle between the two. Then the Dark Lord was cast into the pit and some machinery whirred. A massive lid swung through the air and clamped down.

“Lock it! Lock it forever!” Goél cried, and Josh saw soldiers tightening the mighty door into place with huge bolts.

Then Josh felt himself losing consciousness. Hands touched him—he sensed they were Goél's hands—and he opened his eyes with great effort. He tried to speak but could not.

He heard the voice of Goél say, “My faithful Joshua. Great is your courage!”

And then Josh Adams heard no more. Darkness swept over him, and his last thought was,
I wish I could've said good-bye to Sarah.

S
omewhere a bird was singing.

Josh had never heard this particular bird before, but he knew its song was the sweetest sound that he had ever heard come from a bird's throat. For a long time he lay quietly, his eyes closed, pleasure flowing through him as the song came through the air, entered his ears, and went down deep into his heart. It was a song of love, of loyalty, and of goodness. Josh felt that he could have listened to it forever.

When the song faded away, Josh was aware of warm sunshine on his face. It was as if he had been asleep after a tiring day and was now waking up refreshed and touched in every inch of his body by a feeling of well-being and ease.

He opened his eyes just a fraction and saw the green leaves of the tree shading him from the sun overhead. The tree itself seemed to give off a pleasant scent. Looking again, he saw the branches were filled with fruit, but it was a fruit he did not recognize, and he thought,
If that fruit tastes as good as it smells, it'll be the best I ever ate.

He became aware then of the soft grass that lay underneath him. He opened his eyes wider, then sat up suddenly and looked around. He found himself surrounded by grass so green that it almost hurt his eyes. It reminded him of pictures he had once seen of Ireland,
where the greenery seemed beyond belief. The earth itself was soft, and he felt its warmth.

Rising to his feet, Josh was conscious of a tremendous sense of health and strength. He wanted to run and shout. As his eyes swept the trees and the grass, the blue sky and the white clouds that floated across it like huge puffs of cotton, he felt as he never had before in his life.

He noticed he was wearing a garment of light blue silk, and he somehow remembered that he had been terribly wounded in the side. Pulling up his shirt, he looked but saw no sign of a scar. He was puzzled.

He began to walk and saw other trees bearing different fruits. He picked one, a firm red globe, not an apple but perfectly round. When he tasted it, the juice flowed down his throat, cool and sweet and yet tangy. It was the best juice he had ever tasted. Farther along was a bush filled with bright purple berries, sweeter than ripe blackberries. They had their own special taste that was a delight to the tongue and a fragrance that was a delight to smell.

As he walked, Josh sensed that things had changed. He suddenly remembered a battle, one that seemed to have happened long ago. And then memory came back to him more sharply. The faces of friends floated up before him. Sarah and Abbey. He saw them as clearly as if they stood before him in their girlish beauty. He thought of other friends—Wash and Jake, Dave and Reb. He could not tell if he had been thinking of them for a long time or only briefly. Indeed, he had no idea if he had been wandering in this beautiful forest for only a few moments or for weeks, or months, or even years. Something seemed to have happened to time.

“There is my Joshua!”

Josh stopped and looked up, then joy filled him.
“Goél!” he cried and ran to meet him. He ran easily over the grass, almost floating. There was no effort at all to the moving. He dropped to his knees before Goél and felt hands on his head. Then he felt himself being lifted up, and Goél's gray eyes were upon him.

“Come,” Goél said, “I have much to say to you.” He was wearing a white robe that glowed like sunshine, and he looked different somehow.

They began to walk together, and as Goél talked, Josh was moved to both joy and grief. Strangely mingled, memories came back of times he had walked with Goél before. Once Josh began to speak of an occasion when he had failed Goél, and shame touched him briefly, like a feather brushing over his soul.

“Those times are part of you and of me,” Goél said simply, “but you have been faithful, and now we will remember the good.”

Josh had another thought, and though he did not speak it aloud, he saw Goél smile.

“Do you have questions, my son?”

“Where
is
this place?”

“It is the place you have always longed for.”

“It's not like Nuworld. It looks different. Everything is brighter.”

“It is the
real
world, Joshua. Oldworld and Nuworld have passed away. They had their time, but now we are here.”

The two walked for a long time—or for a short time. Whatever it was, it was a period when Josh seemed to soak in the very presence of Goél.

“Look ahead,” Goél said. “There are some you know.”

Josh looked, and suddenly joy overflowed. “Sarah!” he cried. He ran forward, and there she was—and yet it was not the Sarah he remembered!

The last time he had seen her, he recalled vaguely, she had been lying on the earth, bloodstained and cold. Now her eyes were bright, her cheeks glowed with health, and her lips were red as she smiled at him.

She reached out and took his hands. “Josh!” she said. “We meet again.”

“Sarah, are you all right?”

She laughed merrily. “Why would I not be all right?”

“I don't know,” Josh said. “I'm a little confused.”

Then suddenly they all were there, Jake and Wash and Abbey and Dave and Reb. The air was filled with the sound of their delighted cries, and Wash—who now seemed somehow bigger than he had been—said, “I told you I'd see you again, and here I am.”

“Yes, you did, Wash.” Josh hugged the boy impulsively and then stepped back. “All of you, you look . . . you look like you're . . . well, like you're filled with light.”

Light did seem to be emanating from all of them, and Josh was suddenly aware that probably he looked different in their sight.

Goél was watching with a smile.

Sarah turned to him and said, “I feel at home here, Goél.”

“Yes, it's your real home. The one you always longed for, Sarah.”

Reb was stamping the ground happily. “This is my real country.”

“Come, children, it is time for our first meal together.”

No one would ever forget that meal—but then did they ever forget
anything
from that moment on?

They ate food that seemed to melt in their mouths, they drank wine that cheered but did not intoxicate, they laughed, and slowly the memories flooded back. It
was strange that they could remember the hard times without grief. They could remember sorrows that had been keen but were now no longer painful. They talked and talked and talked.

Goél was sitting at the head of the table, and there was a cup in front of him. He smiled and said, “I drink to the health of the Seven Sleepers.” He drank and passed the silver cup to Josh, who was sitting at his right hand. Josh drank, and the cup went around the table. Finally, it came full circle to Reb, who sat at Goél's left, and Josh thought they all looked full and satisfied and happy.

“Now it is time to begin,” Goél said.

Faraway cliffs rose high into the air, higher than any cliffs the Sleepers had ever seen. They looked at a mountain that kept going up and up and up until it pierced the sky.

“Where are we going, Goél?” Josh asked.

“It is time for you to begin your quest.”

“Our
quest?
But—I thought that was over!”

Goél laughed, and it was a happy laugh. His white teeth flashed. “That was training. Now our real work begins. Are you ready for it, my children?”

Josh Adams remembered the first time he had seen Goél. He had asked Josh that same question. He looked at Sarah and saw that she was thinking of the same thing. Somehow, amazingly, he was in her mind and she in his. They were both thinking of the times of danger and toil and learning, and they were also thinking,
It's not over.

Sarah thought, It will never be over, will it?

Josh, without opening his lips, responded,
No, it never will.

As they moved toward the mountain, they were
joined by a multitude of old friends and Nuworld creatures.

Josh saw his father and mother, and he greeted them with love. He saw Moonwise the centaur, except that now he seemed to be a golden horse with silver hair. He began to recognize still others and somehow knew that all Goél's people were here, hurrying with him toward the great mountain.

“Onward!” Goél cried. “Are you ready, my children?”

Josh Adams answered for them all. “Yes! This is better than anything, isn't it?”

Sarah turned to look into his eyes, and she smiled. “Yes, it is. Now, Josh, we can really begin to live!”

The procession flowed joyously up the mountain as Goél led them into a shining new world.

The Seven Sleepers had begun their final and everlasting quest!

Go with Josh and his friends as they are sent by Goél, their spiritual leader, on dangerous and challenging voyages to conquer the forces of darkness in the new world. Ages 10-14. The books in
The Seven Sleepers Series
includes: