The Pillar Of Nebuwah

A Prayer From The Heart

It snarled at me , showing it's sharp yellow teeth , waiting to knaw me and chew my flesh. I could only notice the six beads on its forehead and arms and it's bright yellow eyes which glared back at me.

The moon was hidden under the clouds and there was no form of light in the dark. Jason , John , Christopher and Daniel were blindly waving their swords in hopes to hit the Nerezza in some way or the other but they were unsuccessful.

The Nerezza seemed to be comfortable in the dark , because every attack which ever took place , was at night. It seemed to follow us everywhere and know when exactly to attack.

The nerezzas would never attack us during the day or when we were in the presence of people or in a populated area. The loathsome creatures were always in packs and refused to even attack one at a time.

Jason looked around and found me without a weapon. "Esther ! Take the girls ! Run ! We'll hold them off ! Go !" He cried as he thrashed his sword everywhere just to hit the Nerezza.

I nodded and took off with Jenifer and Silvia following me. I had no idea where I was going but I did know that I was fleeing from the Nerezzas which was a coward thing to do.

I could see no sign of a ruined city let alone a castle. I began to get worried when I saw no sign of either of the boys. My mind started panicking and all it imagine was of them being destroyed by their own weakness.

"Oh Great Amen help us , we are in need. Protect us from evil let us not be tempted to our own destruction by our weakness of the flesh. Forgive us if we ever did offend you and save us from evil." I said , as I closed my eyes and joined my hands. For the first time , the prayer came from the heart , all my life I was taught all my prayers by heart and I would just repeat them without any emotion or meaning but for once the prayer came from heart and from my being.

I opened my eyes to find , Silvia also praying with her eyes closed. Jenifer on the other hand just looked up and me and gave me a smile, to reassure me but it wasn't helping. I felt my heart thudding loudly and my hands and forehead sweating.

I looked back at the road from where I cane hoping to see any of the boys , that's when I saw a light. A silhouette of a man with a stick lit with fire who was followed by two others.

I ran up to find the silhouette to be Jason , Daniel John and Christopher behind him. The relief that flooded me when I saw the four of them was unexplainable.

"Jason !" I cried as I ran up and hugged him so tight that I presume , I almost choked him. He laughed and hugged me back after handing the burning stick to Dan.

I then turned to John who was sweating and had a small slash on his forehead. I hugged him tightly and broke into tears. I honestly have no idea why I did that but at that moment of panic and fear , I couldn't be bothered about showing my rarely seen tears.

"Shh. We're here , don't worry." John said hugging me hard in reassurance.

"I thought, you were gone and I was so scared and worried. I - I just ......" I began as I wiped my eyes. I laughed at my own sudden brakedown .

"How did you get past the Nerezzas ?" I asked gazing at the wooden stick blazing with fire in Dan's hand.

"We almost thought we had no hope but then Maura's son came to our rescue , he's a traveller it looks like. He was with his friends who carried a couple of burning sticks with them and the Nerezzas fled from there !" Jason explained with a smile showing off his dimple.

"Oh heaven bless Him !" I said with a broad smile of relief. I smiled at them as they walked with me to Silvia and Jenifer.

* * *

"Do you think we should camp out here ?" Silvia asked stretching her hands a little. She smiled at Dan and then looked at me but I held a straight face and disagreed her suggestion.

"We can't. It's been two weeks since we've been on our journey and to be honest I really don't think King Jacob would wait longer. He wants his son back and I vowed that I would bring him home. If , heaven forbid, King Jacob thinks that we made a false promise , he'll turn the whole 8th Union against us which he already has and might even wage war on us." I said with worry as I recalled the existing problems other than one created by Frostina herself.

Through the journey I had almost forgotten my problems and only thought of getting the prophecy and bringing back Prince James. I hadn't even considered the idea of what I must do after that. At this point heart was loaded with worry and anxiety which I pushed away to concentrate on my existing problems.

"We need to get this prophecy back." Jason said as we walked ahead while the others followed suit.

* * *

"It's pretty cold here." Jason said rubbing his hands.

"I do hope to get to the ruin as soon as possible." I replied voicing my thoughts.

"I wonder how far it is or did we take the wrong way ?" Jason said looking up at the sky for the North pole for direction.

"The man who told us the way was a traveller wasn't he ? So he can't be wrong." I reasoned.

"I can't believe our luck. I mean who would have thought that a man who have us directions would cone to our rescue too." Jason laughed and I grinned back. I recalled the moment when I closed my eyes to pray with my heart for the first time. For once at that point I didn't feel as though I was doing something wierd or bizzare. It just felt right to close my eyes and pray.

Thank you for bringing them back to us. Lead our way and guide us to the ruin without any further obstacles , I whispered as I looked up at the sky to thank Amen for rescuing us.

"Hey look !" Jason said as he walked ahead of us to light the way. I ran upto him to see two half broken pillars covered with ivy.

"It's Galeg ." I breathed as I stared at the ancient ruined city that lay before me.