The Hand of God [The Open Novella Contest | Ambassador Pick]

Chapter 9. The Battle

As they began their walk along the road that would take them to the center of the Garden, the three humans were struck by the beauty of the place, surpassing anything they had ever seen, even the beautiful landscape they encountered on the way there.

The road led them through majestic trees, so large and wide that they stood on high, tunneling them from the sun. These trees had beautiful leaves and some tasty fruits. Some of them they knew, others looked different, unique.

They went on for a long time and, tired, decided to take a short break. They took some fruit from the nearest trees and drank from the stream recover some of their strength. The river was clear and they could see the white stones on its bed. In the midst of them, they saw several precious little gems that gleamed in the sunlight. They were of various colors and were slowly being pushed down the stream.

"We can't be long." He said as he bent down to drink some of the water. It was cool and refreshing, and unlike anything he'd ever had.

After Rachel and Sarah also drank, the three continued to walk while eating the fruits. These were also different from everything they had tasted, and had a soft, delicate taste.

This experience, however short it was, made Isaac think how he didn't believe the Bible, but he was there, living all that. Worse, he was angry, for if all that was written in the Holy Book had really happened, then many injustices had happened in the history of mankind. Rachel must have been thinking the same thing, because soon she said:

"And to think that Eden really exists. Have you ever thought how it makes no sense for a god to create us, to put us here in the Garden, to put Lucifer in here also to make us sin, and then to be angry with us and drive us out, condemning us to suffering and despair?" Isaac agreed with her, but Sarah was silent. Like Cauan, she still didn't know how to interpret everything that had happened in the last days. Rachel continued: "I mean, the guy is omniscient! He knew all this would happen, and he still blamed us. We pay for his whims."

Before she could continue, Isaac raised his hand, and they all stopped. Farther on, the tree-lined corridor seemed to run out, and they could already see the road end in a great clearing. They then turned aside from the path, into the forest, and approached carefully.

Arriving at the edge of the clearing, they realized that all the beauty they had seen so far was only a rehearsal of the divine. There, in front of them, was the true perfection. A beautiful grassy field stretched for hundreds of yards, surrounded by the same majestic trees that accompanied the road that had led them there. Near the center, a lake of transparent waters had the surface so unshakable that it looked more like a mirror. From it, came four streams, which wound in different directions, carrying nutrients and riches for all of Eden.

Small bridges adorned with delicate, colorful flowers linked the areas separated by these streams. One of these areas was larger than the others, and was actually in the center of the clearing. There they could see two trees of unparalleled beauty. A lower one formed, with its ten identical branches and many leaves, a perfect circumference, and from it didn't hang any fruit. But from the other, many hung. Fruits of various colors and sizes. Much larger than the other, it was divided into countless branches, each in its own way, each leaf in a different format.

In the center of the clearing were also the Nine, gathered, again in a circle, around the larger tree. Jeqon, still holding his strange object, approached and lifted it, bringing it closer to the lower branches of the tree.

At this moment Isaac realized that this was not an orb, but one of the fruits, which was now brought back to its origin. But he didn't have time to think more than that, for as soon as the orb of Jeqon touched the tree, what appeared to be a hurricane came around him, causing the air to rotate with force and swiftness and push all that was around him. The trees continued in their places, but the three humans were thrown away, slamming the trees behind them.