Chronicles of Flames

Twenty-four🔥

The six intercessors on the altar worshipped God and celebrated the victory till the early hours of dawn, then they settled on the chairs to rest their weary bodies.
Pastor and Mrs Layson had retired to the office. Deborah was sprawled on the altar, sleeping. Matthew and Jeremiah stayed together, discussing in whispered tones for a while before they too drifted off to sleep.

Ella stayed close to Rouge. She couldn't sleep. Even though she was exhausted and felt like a train ran her over, the events of last night kept replaying in her mind.
It was really mind-blowing and she was almost tempted to settle for the thought that it had all been a dream, a figment of her imagination. 

She worried about Rouge who was still knocked out cold. The poor girl had been shivering and had run a fever all night long, but looking at her now as the sweat broke through her forehead, it seemed that she was out of danger.

So, what next now? Ella wondered.
The physical world seemed so fickle in comparison to the dangerous battle that had raged in the spiritual realm. It was a pity that so many people were oblivious to it. She knew it was all a matter of time. From the little knowledge she had garnered during her days in darkness about Lucifer, the Evil Master below, she was sure that although these principalities over Ivory had been dispatched, the Evil Master would hasten to send an even stronger battalion of demonic forces to try to reclaim Ivory.

She stood, and went outside, behind the church building, to the cliff. It was looking so beautiful that it would have been undeniable that a bloody battle had happened at the very spot.

A soft zephyr flowed and blew up her hair as she stood, taking it all in.
The sun rose slowly like a bridegroom from his chambers. The water was as still as glass, reflecting the sky and the sun.
The mountains in the distance was only puffing whiffs of ash and smoke. That was the only sign that what had happened overnight was real.

She crossed her legs and sat on the grass. She breathed in and out to steady her shaky emotions. She wanted to cry, shout, jump and stare into space for no reason.

"Thank you, my Redeemer," she whispered emotionally.

She faintly felt his smile of approval over her, like that of a proud father.

That name—Jesus—had done more in her lifetime than any other thing. She only wished her mother was here to see the turnaround in her life.

'Oh Mom! You didn't die in vain. Jesus saved me too.'
She sighed heavily and wiped a stray tear.

"Hey! What's eating at you?" a voice coming from behind her said softly.

Matthew.

She quickly wiped the tear with her dirty sleeve, becoming more self-conscious as her heart thudded. He sat beside her and stared out the water too.

She didn't speak. She didn't know what to say. So they just sat there together watching the beautiful sunrise in silence. Some few minutes later, Matthew decided to speak.

"You know, Ella," he started. Ella turned to face him, studying his profile. His chiselled jaw and brown eyes had an ethereal aura as it was flooded by the morning light.
"I had lots of questions as to why God sent me back here. I struggled with him for a long time before eventually obeying and when I got here and saw that the state of things hadn't improved at all, I felt there was nothing for me here and God had just sent me to a hellhole."

Ella understood the feeling quite alright. When she had confronted her father, she knew she was walking straight to hell. Again in the prison, she felt abandoned and hopeless. Now, she was free. The battle was over. She had forgiven Mr D, something she didn't imagine would happen in a million years.
She wondered what must have happened to him. He'd find out soon that they had escaped and he was most probably already aware of the defeat of his masters.