Author: Davis, Bryan
Date: 2012-05-03
Publisher: Bryan Davis

Maiden Flight

By Bryan Davis

“Lost” Chapter from Eye of the Oracle

This fits between chapters 8 and 9 of book #3 in Eye of the Oracle

Eye of the Oracle is volume #1 in the Oracles of Fire series. Following is a list of the current books in this story world and the best reading order.

Series - Dragons in our Midst

#1 - Raising Dragons

#2 - The Candlestone

#3 - Circles of Seven

#4 - Tears of a Dragon

Series - Oracles of Fire

#1 - Eye of the Oracle

#2 - Enoch’s Ghost

#3 - Last of the Nephilim

#4 - The Bones of Makaidos

Series - Children of the Bard

#1 - Song of the Ovulum

#2 - From the Mouth of Elijah (July 2012)

#3 - Untitled, not yet published

#4 - Untitled, not yet published

If you are interested in learning more about books by best-selling author Bryan Davis, check out his website at – http://www.daviscrossing.com.

Cover art by Yuin-Lai Serene Chia - http://renahikari.deviantart.com/

Copyright 2012 by Bryan Davis

ORACLES OF FIRE is a registered trademark of AMG Publishers

Maiden Flight

Gabriel floated a few inches off the carpet in Bonnie’s bedroom. His electrostatic body illuminated his ten-year-old charge, providing a good view. She slept on her side with her face toward the wall, her wings limp, one draping her body and the other hanging over the side of the bed. As she breathed, the tip of the wing dragged the floor, making a slight brushing sound, a harmony of sorts to the whistling from her nose.

Gabriel’s own respirations made his glow brighten and dim across the details in the room. An oversized backpack lay at the foot of Bonnie’s bed along with a pile of neatly folded clothes—jeans, long-sleeved shirt, pull-over sweater, knee socks, and gym shoes. A calendar hung on the wall next to a child-sized school desk. A bright red circle framed today’s date with six arrows pointing at it, though no label indicated why. This would be a special Saturday in her life, her first real test flight with her blossoming wings. Before she went to bed, she had meticulously planned the details to the minute, including setting her alarm so she could rise at three in the morning to get started.

Sighing, Gabriel read a digital clock on a table next to Bonnie’s bed. It flashed “12:00” again and again. A power surge during the night had reset electronic devices throughout the house, and now her plans might be ruined. Complete darkness on this new-moon night gave her the best opportunity to try her wings without the risk of being seen, and the next new-moon Saturday morning wouldn’t come for a long time. Her mother had said that weekday mornings wouldn’t be allowed for reasons she wouldn’t say, at least not to Bonnie.

Gabriel looked at the bedroom door. So many conversations that Bonnie never heard went on beyond that barrier, especially her father’s laments about having a freak for a daughter followed by her mother’s quick shushing sounds that begged him not to hurt Bonnie’s feelings. Yet, those “secret” words couldn’t escape the ears of an invisible guardian angel of sorts, an equally freakish disembodied young man with dragon wings.

Shaking his head, Gabriel refocused on Bonnie. As her guardian, protecting her from demonic attacks was fulfilling, but how could he do anything more than silently pray and weep when her father’s bitter words seeped past that door? And his poorly hidden animosity toward a daughter with dragon wings gave Bonnie’s mother reason for scheduling test flights on Saturdays. Since Bonnie’s father rose early on weekdays, avoiding him then would be difficult, at least until Bonnie was old and skilled enough to go on flying excursions without supervision. And supervision had been crucial lately, though Bonnie’s mother likely had no idea about the evil beings that stalked this little girl. Up until lately, protecting her had been easy, routine, almost boring, but that had changed during the past two weeks.

As if on cue, a hissing voice interrupted the silence. “I see the maiden. She is asleep, vulnerable. She will be ours.”

Gabriel turned toward the window. Two grotesque faces appeared, belonging to the same demons who had been spying on Bonnie. Bolting upright, Gabriel turned his energy on full power and shot his arm toward the beasts. His electricity surged through the glass and smacked their faces. They jumped back and disappeared, their squeals fading as they retreated.

Now pulsing with energy, Gabriel zipped to the window and looked out. In the distance, a pair of dark-winged creatures with humanlike bodies flew over a forest toward the distant highlands. As always, the people below probably could neither see nor hear the creatures, but if they ever pierced the boundary between the spiritual and physical realms, they could become visible if they so chose, and their physical hands could throttle and kill a human.

Gabriel resurrected a memory—a walk with Bonnie and her mother. A demon choked the life out of a drunk in an alley, though no one could see the strangling fingers wrapped around the poor man’s throat. By the time Gabriel could get to the man, the demon had fled, the evil deed already done.

As Gabriel floated back toward Bonnie, he let his energy ebb. In his invisible world, real angels, both good and fallen, regularly came into view. Still, the good angels were scarce in places, explaining why demons were able to attack certain people. Why some were left to fend for themselves remained a mystery.

So why had God chosen him as Bonnie’s protector? Gabriel shrugged. Did it really matter? The job was his, and he would do everything in his power to keep those terrors far away from little Bonnie Conner.

Gabriel eyed the clock, still flashing with the wrong time. If only there was a way to keep her special Saturday from being ruined. She was so excited about the coming adventure, she didn’t get to sleep until almost midnight, so she needed the alarm clock to wake up.

He let his gaze follow the clock’s power cord to the wall. Maybe there was a way after all.

Crouching, he floated closer to the table and stretched his radiant arm until his fingers penetrated the clock’s casing. The digits brightened and stopped flashing. He shook his head. That wasn’t the right place. There had to be a way to trigger the alarm. As he ran his finger along the circuits, a buzzing sensation shot through his arm and into his body, sending jolts of pain up and down his spine. This happened every time he came into contact with electrical current, but it would be worth it if he could just—

Beep … Beep … Beep.

Gabriel jerked his finger away and let his body go limp. Bonnie leaped out of bed. Without even a glance at the time, she slapped the alarm button and began unfastening the Velcro at the back of her nightgown to allow her wings a gap.

Gabriel averted his eyes and looked at the backpack. Normally when she changed clothes he would just float out through a crack in the doorway, but contact with electricity always brought temporary paralysis. By the time she was ready, he would probably be mobile again.

When the backpack slid out of sight, Gabriel turned. Now dressed, Bonnie opened her bedroom door and, guided by the glow of a hallway nightlight, tiptoed away. Forcing his stiffened body to move, Gabriel floated into the hallway and hovered next to the bathroom until Bonnie emerged to the sound of a flushing toilet. After padding softly to a bedroom at the end of the corridor, she pushed the door open and whispered, “Mama?”

“Just a minute,” came the soft reply.

“A nightmare?” a man said.

“I’ll find out. You can go back to sleep. It’s Saturday.”

“Good.” Bed covers rustled. “I’m exhausted.”

A moment later, Irene Conner walked out carrying an armful of clothes and closed the door behind her. She bent over and kissed Bonnie’s forehead. “Are you excited?”

Hugging her backpack, Bonnie bounced on her toes, making her wings jostle. “Let’s hurry. I want to practice as much as I can.”

“Okay, okay.” Irene ran a hand through Bonnie’s mussed hair. “Braid your hair and find something to eat while I get dressed.”

As soon as Irene disappeared into the bathroom, Bonnie half walked and half ran toward the kitchen while fishing two rubber bands from her backpack. Gabriel followed, moving better now as the electrical shock wore off. At least it was a minor exposure. A higher voltage jolt would have incapacitated him for hours.

Once in the kitchen, Bonnie grabbed a box of fruit-filled cereal bars from a drawer, put them into a backpack pocket, and tossed the pack onto a table in the breakfast nook. With her wings fluttering nervously, she began braiding one side of her hair, her head tilted in a cute pose.

By the time she finished a braid on each side, Irene walked into the kitchen, yawning. Dressed in corduroys, a flannel shirt, and hiking boots, she looked ready for a cross-country march, if only she could shake off the drowsiness.

“I have breakfast for both of us,” Bonnie said, patting her backpack. “Let’s go!”

Irene pointed at Bonnie’s gym shoes. “You can’t wear those. We’re hiking up a mountain.”

“I put my boots in the car last night.” Bonnie scooped up her backpack and scampered toward the front door, pulling the straps over her shoulders as she hurried. Her nimble wings caught hold of the material and helped her hands squeeze wings into place inside. When she reached the door, she zipped up her pack. “Ready,” she said, looking back with a smile.

“Hold your horses, girl. I’m coming.” Irene plucked a set of keys from a wall rack and hustled to catch up. Gabriel hovered alongside her, now back to normal. When she opened the door, she and Bonnie scooted outside, and Gabriel flowed out in their wake just before the door closed.

After everyone climbed into the family’s extended-cab pickup truck, Gabriel sat in the seat behind Bonnie’s. While the two chatted, he looked out the window. One of the demons flew about a hundred feet above, out of reach of an energy bolt. Why would he even try to follow? After a dozen attempts, he should have known that Bonnie’s guardian was deadly accurate with an energy blast. He would just get fried, as usual, and then scoot away squealing like an angry pig. Yet, if he brought his equally ugly friend with him, nailing both at once might be a lot harder.

Settling back, Gabriel glanced at the hiking boots sitting next to him. So far, Bonnie had forgotten to put them on. Maybe she would remember by the time they arrived. The mountain’s rough terrain required thick soles and waterproof material.

After driving to a scenic overlook on a private farm road, Irene stopped the truck near the precipice. With clouds hanging only a few feet overhead and obscuring the sky, the headlights provided the only light source for miles, perfect for dragon girl’s secret maiden flight. Still, darkness meant danger. Although in recent weeks she had glided several times from this point down to ledge after ledge below to be picked up by her mother at the bottom level, this attempt to actually ascend meant the potential for a painful fall, and finding her in the rough wilderness would be difficult even in moonlit conditions.

Irene and Bonnie opened their doors and hopped out. Gabriel again glanced at the boots. If she didn’t remember them soon, he would have to get her attention somehow, maybe by setting off the truck’s alarm, but even that might not highlight the lack of boots.

As they walked toward the ledge, Bonnie stripped off her backpack, releasing her wings. Flashing a wide grin, she stood at the edge of the precipice, a fifty-foot drop to the first ledge, and hugged her backpack. “I’m ready!” She flapped her wings, lifting her body a few inches of fthe ground. “Can I fly now?”

“Communications check first.” Irene pulled a walkie-talkie from her belt, pressed a button, and spoke into it. “Can you hear me?”

Bonnie settled to the ground and snapped her own unit from her belt up to her lips. “Loud and clear. Pilot ready.”

“Okay. You’re cleared for takeoff. Don’t forget to stay within fifty feet of the ground. If you start falling, go back to glide mode so you’ll land safely.”

“I won’t forget.”

Gabriel floated toward the truck’s hood. If only Irene would remember the boots, he wouldn’t have to risk another shock.

After they reattached their walkie-talkies, Irene laid a hand on Bonnie’s head and looked to the dark sky. “Dearest Father, please watch over my sweet daughter. Send an angel to fly with her, and bring her safely back to my arms, whether by air or on foot …” She swung toward the truck. “Your boots!”

“Oh. Sorry.” Frowning, Bonnie clomped toward the truck, grabbed her boots, and began changing. Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief. One potential danger averted. But what else might happen to this adventurous girl? Time would tell.

Soon, Bonnie was again standing at the precipice, a smile on her face as she beat her wings. Gabriel crawled onto her back and held on. His weightless body wouldn’t hinder her endurance or her beating wings.

Irene reached for Bonnie’s backpack. “Want me to take it?”

“I might need it.” Bonnie hugged it closer, her eyebrows lifted high. “If I can’t get back and have to land somewhere far away, the sun might be up by then. Someone might see me.”

“Good point.” Irene gazed at the horizon. “We’ll probably have some light pretty soon, so you’d better get going.”

“See you in a few minutes.” Beating her wings, Bonnie leaped off the edge. After dropping for a split second, she leveled out and flew over the first stair step below. Gasping, she cried out, “I’m doing it! I’m doing it!”

Irene called from the ledge. “Remember the drop off to the next level. Circle back when you get there, or you’ll be too high.”

“Right!” As Bonnie bent into a turn, a gust tossed her to the side, but she quickly adjusted. A cloud followed the breeze and engulfed her in thick fog. Beating her wings furiously, she shouted, “Mama! I can’t see you!”

“Bonnie! Follow my voice!”

Bonnie looked up. Gabriel did the same. It seemed that Irene’s voice came from a higher level, but that couldn’t be. Bonnie hadn’t dropped more than a couple of feet. The fog must have created a sound baffle of some kind.

Angling her wings, Bonnie flew higher. “Mama! Keep talking!”

Irene’s voice grew distant, her words indecipherable.

Still ascending while holding the backpack with one hand, Bonnie grabbed her walkie-talkie with the other, but it slipped from her dampened grip and plunged out of sight. She gasped, then cried out, “Mama! Can you hear me?”

A buffeting breeze slapped her words away and caught her wings, sending her lurching to the side. Beating her wings desperately, she righted herself, surged upward, and broke through the cloudbank into clear air. Starlight and a vague hint of sunrise illuminated the pre-dawn sky. A winged creature approached from the orange-and-purple hue coloring the horizon.

Gabriel studied the silhouette—dark, sleek, and fast. It split into two, then three, then four. A chorus of hisses formed into words. “The winged maiden! Let us capture and torture her. She will cry for mercy, to be sure, but to Lucifer, not to her God. Then death will be her only escape.”

“Bonnie!” Gabriel shouted. “Look behind you! You have to get away!” His words did no good, as usual.

Looking down, Bonnie flew in circles and shouted for her mother to no avail.

Calling for all his energy reserves, he brightened his body, hoping to scare the demons away, but if they had already passed into the physical realm, they wouldn’t see him. And with no source of electricity around, there was no way to gather real energy to counter them, especially a foursome.

The demons closed in, their jaws snapping. With that noise and their beating wings, Bonnie had to notice soon.

Finally, she looked back. Crying out, she zoomed forward, away from her launch site. Gasping as she flew, whispered words escaped with her frantic breaths. “Oh, God! Oh, God, help me! I’m so tired. Make those … those things go away.”

The demons drew closer and closer, along with their hissing voices. “Is it not strange that no angels are protecting her? I do not even see the dragon boy who guards her.”

“We cannot see him while in this state, but he might not have been able to follow. She is ours. Let us take her.”

With a flurry of wing beats, the demons closed the gap. One reached out with a sinewy hand. Its pointed fingernails clawed Bonnie’s wing, but she snatched it away before it could catch hold.

She dropped into the clouds and leveled out. Thick mist and darkness veiled everything. Her frantic whispers continued. “I can’t see them, but can they still see me? If I try to find Mama, they might hurt her. I have to get away. I have to find help.”

After another drop, she fell into clear air. With dawn breaking, the sun’s early rays cast light over a fog-shrouded farm. Two tractors sat motionless in separate fields, their engines rumbling as if getting ready to plow. A woman climbed into the driver’s seat of one of the tractors and put it in gear, while a man stood next to the other, sipping from a cup. A pickup truck sat next to an electrical pole, one of several poles standing in a line that separated the two fields.

Still clutching her backpack, Bonnie flew in a wide orbit over the fields, apparently wondering if she should dive down for help and reveal her secret. Her wings faltering, she no longer had much of a choice. She descended slowly, edging toward a stand of trees. Gabriel silently nodded. Maybe Bonnie could hide there and avoid both the demons and the farming couple.

With a hiss, the demons dropped from the clouds. One swiped at Bonnie, catching a braid in its claw. Her head jerked backwards. Her wings flailed. Screaming, she shook her head violently until she broke free.

Gabriel shot out his arm, grabbed the demon’s wrist, and sent a jolt, but it seemed not to notice. Since it was physical, only physical energy would have an effect.

As Bonnie’s wings continued faltering, she descended toward the pickup, now unable to make it to the trees. The man ran toward her, obviously alerted by her scream, gray hair protruding from a cap.

All four demons gave chase. The electrical wires drew near. As Bonnie’s descent sharpened, a transformer attached to the nearest pole came into view. When she passed by, Gabriel leaped for the transformer, rammed his arm into it, and shot out his other arm toward the demons, forking his energy into four bolts from his fingers.

Electricity surged through his limbs and zapped the demons. Their bodies and wings erupted in flames. Screaming, they spun and flew away, their voices still audible as they hissed a profanity-laced tirade about an invisible angel protecting the maiden after all.

Gabriel stiffened, tumbled from the transformer, and fell to the ground. As he writhed in pain, he searched for Bonnie, able only to watch.

Gasping for breath, she landed in a muddy puddle several paces from Gabriel. Her boots provided good traction, allowing her to run out her momentum without slipping. She threw on her backpack and stuffed her wings into place. While she zipped the pocket, the elderly farmer hobbled up and dropped to one knee in front of her. He laid a hand on her cheek. “Are you all right, young lady?”

Tears flowed as she pulled up a strap. “Something …” Sobs throttled her voice. “Something was … was chasing me. … Four of them.” She looked back. “I think they’re gone now.”

The farmer leaned to the side to see behind her. “I could’ve sworn I saw some huge birds flying this way. Were they chasing you?”

She nodded.

“Eagles? Owls?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Probably not. They looked bigger than that.” He touched her backpack. “Were you floating down on a hang glider of some kind? It was too dark to tell.”

“Don’t ask me questions!” Bonnie threw her arms around him. “Please! Just take me home!”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, sweetheart.” He patted her shoulder. “My wife saw what happened, and she’s running here from the other field like nobody’s business. She’ll be here in a minute, and we’ll both take you home right away.”

He grasped Bonnie’s hand tenderly, and they walked together toward the pickup truck. As they passed Gabriel, he caught hold of Bonnie’s pant leg and hung on, letting his body drag. The electrical surge had paralyzed nearly every joint. It would probably take hours to recover.

The farmer opened the passenger side door and guided Bonnie into the middle of the front bench. Once she curled into the seat, her face toward the door, Gabriel crawled up and leaned his forehead against hers. In her rush, she hadn’t fully zipped up her backpack, and part of a wing protruded. Maybe in the dimness of the truck’s cab, no one would notice. In any case, there was no way to warn her.

As they rested, the farmer’s voice filtered in from outside. “Lillian, put that rake down. Whatever those things were, they’re gone now.”

Bonnie wept. Her body heaved in spasmodic sobs. “Now I’ll never … get to fly. … Mama will think it’s … it’s too dangerous. … And she’d be right. … Why didn’t an angel protect me … like Mama prayed?”

Summoning his strength, Gabriel whispered, hoping by some miracle his words would penetrate her mind, even if she couldn’t hear them audibly. “I protected you, dearest one. If not for God sending me, those demons would have caught you. God will always be with you, just as your favorite song says.”

Bonnie’s sobs eased. Her brow lifting, she looked out the windshield, her expression far away.

“What are you thinking, sweet girl?” Gabriel caressed her cheek, though she likely couldn’t feel it. “I wish we could talk again, like the first time we met after your first day at school. But it happened only once and maybe never again. I wish I could tell you … well … how much you mean to me.”

“God had to be there,” Bonnie whispered. “He must have been with me all the time.” She took in a deep breath and began singing softly. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”

New energy pouring in, Gabriel sang with her. “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”

A woman’s voice drew closer. “I swear, Harold, she was flying. She had wings, I tell you. Some kind of freakish—”

“Shhh! She’ll hear you.”

The doors opened on both sides. Harold jumped into the driver’s seat, while Lillian scooted in on the passenger’s side, sliding right into Gabriel.

Gabriel shrank his body and climbed up onto Bonnie’s back. As he continued whispering the song, Bonnie did as well. “If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”

“I think she’s singing,” Harold said.

“She is singing.” Lillian ran a hand across one of Bonnie’s braids. “What are you singing, dear?”

“A psalm,” Bonnie whispered. “It’s from the Bible.”

Harold chuckled. “So much for her being … well, you know the word you used.”

“I’m sorry. I got carried away.” Lillian reached over Bonnie and clasped Harold’s shoulder. “If only you had seen it as clearly as I did.”

“I saw quite a bit, but I’m keeping it to myself for now.” Harold started the engine and started driving, angling his head to look into the sky. “Based on what I saw, I’ll be glad to get away from here until the sun is good and high.”

As Lillian pulled her arm back, her hand brushed against Bonnie’s exposed wing. She jerked her fingers to her lap but kept her stare on the protruding mainstay. Harold, too, glanced at it as he drove across the bumpy farm road. Letting out a long shushing sound, he refocused straight ahead. “We’ll talk about it later. I would rather die than give this little girl another second of grief.”

“I agree.” Lillian set a finger under Bonnie’s chin. “What’s your name, dear?”

Bonnie looked up at her, her eyes wide and wet. “Bonnie. Bonnie Conner.”

“Well, then, Miss Conner,” Lillian said in a lively tone. “If you’ll give us directions, we’ll make sure you get home safely.”

“Thank you.” Bonnie’s voice stayed soft and low. “I would like that.”

As they drove, Gabriel let his body drift down to Bonnie’s lap. She would be all right. These two kindly farmers would see to that. But what about future flights? Would the demons leave her alone? Would he always be able to find a source of electricity in time? Maybe the shocking punishment he delivered would be enough to keep them away. And once Bonnie told her mother about the harrowing escape, maybe the next flight wouldn’t come for weeks, if at all.

Gabriel sighed. It seemed that the only constant truth about this guardian angel business was that he had to be ready for anything. With Bonnie’s adventurous spirit, she was bound to face many dangers for years to come.

Excerpt from Bonnie’s Journal

Written Eight Months After Marrying Billy Bannister

Dear God,

I received a letter from the farmer today, the one Yereq “borrowed” vegetables from while I waited in the mining tunnels. Our deal was, in exchange for produce, I would write to him regularly, since he was alone, his wife having died a few years back. So we have corresponded ever since.

Anyway, in the newest letter, he mentioned his late wife’s name—Lillian! Until today, I hadn’t attached his name—Harold—to the farming couple who helped me when I was ten years old. He has to be the same farmer!

I’m so happy to be reacquainted with that kind man! Billy has already agreed that we can go on a road trip and visit him, in spite of my condition. I’m sure he’s seen the news about the woman with dragon wings, so he’ll be shocked to learn that I’m that woman. I can hardly wait to see the look in his eyes when I tell him that I didn’t have a hang glider that day, that I was testing my dragon wings when four demons tried to catch me.

Yet, now that I think about it, maybe he won’t be so surprised. It should have been obvious that I didn’t have a hang glider in my backpack. Maybe he knows more than I suspect. Anyway, it will be wonderful to tell him about my experiences since that day. He couldn’t have known back then that his and Lillian’s loving rescue would keep me on a path that held many wondrous adventures, including some that saved the entire world from destruction.

I hope to make that trip soon. Now that I am pregnant with twins, we won’t have time to travel for much longer. After the visit, I will write about it in the journal, unless being busy with newborns or some other big change keeps me away from pen and paper.

Until then, may all who read this journal entry learn of your everlasting, protective love. You are always there, Jehovah Shammah, even when we can’t see you or your protective angels.

Love,

Bonnie Bannister