Where All My Hope Is

A Chorus of Trumpets

Immanuel lifted me to my feet and suddenly the battle was back. But the noises were replaced by silence. It was like watching a video with the mute setting on. I shuddered as the warriors in black surrounded the tiny white army. Immanuel put his arm around my shoulder and said, "Listen."

I did, and what I heard made my heart skip. A trumpet sounded and I spun around. Behind the large army of black was a sheet of warriors and chariots. They were made of fire! They were crouching, waiting for something. I glanced up at Immanuel and realized He was staring at the new army as well. He opened his mouth and declared, "Go, for Adonai delivers!"

The horses attached to the chariots reared up and rushed towards the battle. I watched in delight as one by one the fire warriors joined up with the little army. In less than two minutes the whole shadow army was gone. They had all run away. The small army started jumping for joy, they were praising Adonai with all of their might. I felt like singing along with them. But the room faded to black again and I was staring face to face with Immanuel. He smiled. "Do you see now?"

I started laughing with joy, "Yes! I did, it was awesome!"

He took me by the hand and led me to a pedestal with a crown on it. "Even though darkness seems to reign, the light is always there." He looked straight at me. "Remember that for your own battles Fae."

I studied the crown before me. It was extravagantly adorned with jewels of many colors. "Why is this crown on the pedestal?" I asked.

He pointed to a carving of question marks at the pedestal's base. "It is not time for the light to establish its rule. No one except Adoni Himself knows when that time will come."

I stared at him. "What do we do in the meantime?"

Immanuel smiled. "What did I tell you in the other rooms?"

I found myself taken aback. "You- nevermind," I paused. "You said that what was lost must be found." Immanuel nodded at me and I continued, "You then said that something has been stifled and needs to be set free." He nodded again. "But I don't understand what that means."

His eyes softened, "You will understand in time, but for the moment," He held out his hands and I saw deep holes in His palms, "know that you are mine and I will always be with you. Something is coming that will try to break you, but if you and your friends stand firm, then," He paused and gestured towards the crown, "you will see the Kingdom of Adonai come."

I nodded my head, still confused by his words but somehow still at peace. Suddenly a sickening feeling came upon me when I remembered our circumstances. "How will we get out of jail?"

The man was already fading from view, or maybe I was the one disappearing. "I'm sending someone. All you have to do is be still." His words calmed my busy mind. Suddenly my side got cold, and something else was poking me. I squirmed to get rid of these annoyances and soon found that world gone.

***

I shot out of my sleeping spot, breathing heavily. I quickly scrambled to my feet and clutched one of the cool jail bars, to calm my racing heart. "What just happened?" I thought to myself. The world around me was spinning. What was real and what was fake?

"Can't you sleep?" someone asked.

I spun around to see Asher crouched in the back corner of the cell. "No, I had a dream." I then said softly, "A very real dream."

Asher's eyes lit up. "I had a dream too."

I felt my heart stop. "You did? What was it about?"

Asher's eyes revealed a type of boldness that almost seemed foreign to me. "It was- it was-" he paused as he flung his hands around. "I can't even describe it. But I saw Him."

I sat down next to Asher. "Who?"

He started smiling, another trait that I hadn't seen on his face before. Something had definitely happened. "It was Him! Adonai's son!"

All I could do was stare in disbelief. "Is it possible that two people can see him at the same time?" I started rambling off excitedly, "Did you see the book and the fire dove too?"

For a moment, Asher appeared confused. "No, in my dream I saw pictures of my family flashing before my eyes like a bullet train. It was painful, and it left me feeling nothing but darkness. But then, Adoni's Son picked me up and showed me His love. My mom had taught me about His love before but this was the first time I experienced it. It was beautiful!" He turned to look at me. "What did you see?"

I quickly relayed through every detail and finished with, "So we need to find something and we need to free something."

"If you look around, we need freedom ourselves," a sleepy voice spoke up. I spun around to see Ezra wipe the grogginess away from his eyes.

Asher ran over to his brother and started shaking him. "Did you have a dream?"

Ezra stared blankly at his brother. "No, and can you stop shaking me?"

Asher looked hurt, like his brother had just cut him with a knife. I stepped in. "Ezra calm down! He just meant that both of us had really strange, but wonderful dreams where we saw Adoni's Son. We just were wondering if you had one too."

Ezra's amber colored eyes flickered with interest, "Not that I can recall. I didn't really sleep much though. I was just trying to figure out a way to get us out of here."

I smiled. "Adoni's son said to be still and He would send us someone."

Ezra flopped back onto his side. "Well, He better send one fast. Who knows when or what your dad is going to do with us."