Eye of the Oracle

chapter 8

A PRAYER FOR DRAGONS

Makaidos stood on his haunches and gazed at the horizon. Even from so many miles away, he could see Nimrod’s Tower looming over the land, like a fist with a rigid finger pointed heavenward. Black smoke rose all around its base, the fires of belching kilns mixing with the foul gases of bubbling tar pits.

“Brick upon brick” he snorted a spray of steam “evil is growing in the city faster than I thought possible.”

“A monument to the pride of men,” Thigocia grumbled as she lay at her mate’s side. “They are supposed to be scattering and filling the earth, but obviously even Noah has no influence over them any longer.”

Makaidos sighed. “True. Most of the sons of Adam are not worthy of our service to them, but the faithful remnant still give me hope.”

“We must keep praying as Noah taught us.” Thigocia laid her head on the ground. “Your father would want you to keep your eyes on the Maker.”

“The Maker is the god of men,” Makaidos said, “and we are but dust of the earth, coarse pegs in a cosmic game. Why should the ever-living one care about those destined to return to dust?”

“Nonsense! What kind of talk is that from the king of the dragons?”

“Sensible talk. Down-to-earth talk. But it matters little. I am content to be his lowly peg.” He bowed his head, letting his snout dip so close to the ground, his hot breath scattered the sandy soil.

Thigocia’s tail moved to his brow and stroked it gently. “Are you really content, my love?”

Makaidos lifted his head and, unable to resist Thigocia’s probing stare, gazed into her deep red eyes. Her powerful mind seemed to penetrate his own, as though she could read his every thought. “Perhaps not. My joy has burned like dry brush.”

Thigocia sighed and looped her tail around his. “When our new one is born, you will feel joy again.”

“How can I feel joy?” Makaidos pulled his tail away. “Goliath had no reason to turn against Noah. His actions defy all logic. By refusing to serve even the faithful humans, he has turned against us as well.”

“You and I know that, but Goliath acts on instinct, on what he feels inside. The people of Shinar have given him reason to despise mankind, have they not? The true followers of Noah are so few now, look where they are forced to live. Rats in caves. That’s what they have become.”

Makaidos couldn’t answer. He just lifted his chin and gazed at the sky. A smaller dragon glided down, sunlight filtering through her honey-colored wings. She landed gracefully in front of Makaidos and Thigocia and bowed her head to each of them. “Father. Mother. Greetings.”

Thigocia touched the young dragon’s face with the tip of her wing. “Welcome home, Roxil.”

Makaidos curled his neck around his daughter’s and winked at Thigocia. “Perhaps joy comes in many packages.”

Roxil backed away. “Packages? What are you talking about?”

“A private joke between your mother and me,” Makaidos said, smiling. “How was your patrol last night?”

“All was quiet. No incidents.” Roxil tilted her head. “Why?”

“I was curious. I felt a twinge of danger around midnight. Something in the direction of Noah’s dwellings. Do you remember seeing anything unusual at that time?”

Roxil’s tail twitched and tapped the ground nervously. “Actually, I was talking to Goliath for a little while.”

“While in flight?”

Roxil half closed her eyes. “No.”

Makaidos thrashed the ground with his tail. “You left your patrol without relief?”

Roxil lowered her head and glared at him. “Just for a few minutes. The human village can survive for a half hour without us guarding it like winged mama bears!”

“You know they count on us for protection. Noah’s people are in constant danger from Nimrod’s raiders.”

“You think I care nothing for the humans?” Plumes of smoke rose from Roxil’s snout. “I will have you know that I uncovered trouble brewing in the city. Nimrod has marshaled a police force to capture more laborers for the tower construction. A dragon is his chief enforcer, one I have never seen.”

Thigocia rose to her haunches. “Never seen? How can that be? You know every dragon in existence.”

Roxil pawed the ground, sketching a crude dragon’s body in the sand. “He is Father’s size, redder, with longer spines at the end of his tail.”

Makaidos locked gazes with Thigocia. “No one in our brood bears such features,” he said.

Roxil scratched away her sketch. “I know what I saw.”

Makaidos stretched out his wings. “I think I should visit Nimrod’s Tower to see who this dragon is and what is afoot. The stories of corruption are too heart-wrenching to believe.”

“I wish I could come with you,” Thigocia said.

“And I, as well.” Makaidos eyed the smoke rising around the tower. “If Nimrod’s soldiers give me trouble, I could use a warrior at my side.”

Roxil thumped her tail. “I will go with you, Father. I am not tired, and I am ready for battle.”

“Nimrod’s men are too dangerous.” Thigocia extended a wing toward Roxil. “She is not skilled enough to fight them.”

Roxil turned to her father. Her eyes flamed, but she stayed silent.

“I think a certain daughter needs an extra mission to atone for her mistake last night.” Makaidos raised a wing over his daughter’s neck. “A reconnaissance mission is an important part of her training, and I will be able to judge if the danger is too great.”

“She has never been in battle,” Thigocia countered. “The first sign of danger could be a hurled spear, and she might never see it coming.”

Makaidos lifted his other wing and rested it on his mate’s back. “If you had avoided battles because you had never been in one, my dear, you would never have become a warrior.”

“My own past has returned to haunt me.” Thigocia laid her head down again. “Would tears help me win the argument? After all, I am a pregnant mother.”

Roxil let out a laugh but quickly stifled it.

Makaidos curled his neck with Thigocia’s and whispered, “Dry your tears. I will take care of her. We will stay at Shem’s grottoes for the night and enter the city at dawn. Surveying the tower before the soldiers roll out of bed will be the best way to avoid a conflict.”

Makaidos nodded at Roxil, giving her a firm, commander’s glare. “Make ready, warrior.” A smile almost broke through, but he managed to squelch it.

Roxil vaulted into the air, beating her wings as she soared upward. She bent her neck toward the earth, shouting, “What are you waiting for? An invitation?”

Makaidos shook his head at Thigocia. “Your daughter is as funny as a spear in the belly.”

Thigocia sighed. “I know. She learned her jokes from you.”

Makaidos smiled and winked, then launched himself into the air. After trumpeting a shrill note, he shouted, “You’re a pretty good flyer for a female.”

Roxil spun a one-eighty, zoomed back to her father, and looped again to fly at his side. “For a female? Do you think you can catch me, my dear old father?”

Makaidos beat his wings and surged ahead. “I already did!”

Father and daughter soared across the skies, practicing dives and sharp turns as they raced toward a village built in the cliffs of a mountain range. When they drew near, Makaidos glided down to a wide ledge that skirted the mountain about halfway up its face. Shem and Japheth ran out to meet them in full battle gear, sheathed swords on their belts and oval shields resting at their hips. “Thank you for answering the call,” Shem said.

“The call?” Makaidos repeated. “What call?”

“A prayer for calling dragons,” Japheth explained. “Our father prayed for you to come and join us in battle. Apparently, you heeded God’s call without even realizing it.” He nodded at Roxil. “And two dragons arrived when we only requested one.”

Makaidos dipped his head. “Your faith is strong, as I would expect from a son of Noah.”

Shem and Japheth looked at each other, both men shifting uneasily. “I wish that all of Noah’s sons would believe his words,” Shem said, “but our brother is one of the reasons for the great evil that festers in the city. It seems that he gave Chereb to his grandson Nimrod, and now Nimrod is practically invincible, at least to pedestrian forces like ours. We endured his taxes and his robbers, but last night a kidnapper stole my granddaughter, probably for the Luna temple.” He tightened his grip on his sword. “I’ve already lost a son to him. I will not lose another soul!”

“I understand,” Makaidos said, gazing out over the plane, “better than you know.” He surveyed the tower as it rose in the center of the vast city. “So you need an attack from the air, and you called for our help.”

“Yes.” Japheth stooped and assembled a pile of rocks, then used his hands to illustrate flying maneuvers. “But if you swoop low and attack his troops on the ground, he can strike you from the tower. Since Chereb shoots out flames, you won’t be able to get anywhere near him.”

Makaidos eyed Japheth’s hands as they circled his rock pile. “So our first target is the tower itself.”

“That was our thought,” Shem said. “While you’re distracting their main army, we’ll bring our troops and crash the northern gate. My granddaughter should be easy to find, but my son has been missing for so long we might have to destroy the entire city to root out his captors.”

Roxil raised a foreleg and swiped the air. “Can two dragons knock down such a large building?”

“Not likely,” Makaidos said, “but if we call your brothers, I think we can destroy it in a firestorm.”

Roxil’s ears twitched. “Like the firestorm you told me about in the battles against the Watchers?”

“Yes. I was too young to participate, but I watched my father carefully.” Makaidos nudged her flank. “Fetch your brothers and meet me back here.”

“With pleasure, Father. I know they will be ready to kill the human cockroaches.” Roxil beat her wings and launched into the sky.

When she disappeared into a passing thunderhead, Makaidos turned back to Shem and Japheth. “My daughter tells me of a dragon in Nimrod’s forces. What do you know about him?”

Japheth rose to his feet and clapped the dirt from his hands. “I was spying on their army yesterday, and I saw him.”

“Did you recognize him?”

“I know exactly who he is, though it seems impossible.” Japheth glanced at his brother, who gave him a quick shake of his head.

Makaidos snorted a stream of dancing sparks. “It is not wise to try a dragon’s patience. Tell me!”

Shem cleared his throat and nodded toward the cave behind him. “I think you had better speak to my father about this. He can explain what’s going on far better than I can.”

Without waiting for a response, Japheth ran toward the cave. “I’ll tell him you’re coming,” he called back.

Shem swept his arm toward the gaping arch in the cliff. “Our home is blessed by your visit.”

Makaidos dipped his head. “I am the one who is receiving the blessing.”

“I must, however, beg your leave.” Shem pointed at a dry riverbed at the base of the cliff. Hundreds of men milled about near a cluster of scrub trees. “Our troops are assembling in the valley, and they would charge into battle this very hour if I let them, so I have to calm their passions until your family arrives.”

“I understand. Anger is a great motivator, but it is a poor general.”

While Shem marched down a sloping path, Makaidos shuffled along the ledge and entered the dim cave, turning on his eyebeams to compensate for the depleted light. After curving around a bend and passing through a lower corridor, he followed a flicker in the distance. Finally, his twin beams fell upon Noah, sitting cross-legged on a mat and leaning back against the cave wall. With a lantern at his side, Japheth was reading from a scroll, while his father nodded his aged head. Then, when he noticed Makaidos, Japheth rolled up the scroll and handed it to his father. With a quick bow, he excused himself from the cave.

Noah lifted his gaze toward Makaidos and smiled. “How long has it been since we’ve talked, my friend?”

Makaidos lay on his belly and sighed. “Too long, Master Noah. I’m afraid that my zeal to serve your tribe has been my poor excuse to neglect our friendship.”

Noah raised a gnarled finger. “Still, I have kept my eye on you and your family. As my sons report on your activities, I am able to pray for you and each of your offspring by name.”

“And I have returned your kindness by guarding your offspring. Shem and Japheth and their families do honor to your name. You have every reason to be proud of them. You are a father among fathers.”

Noah averted his eyes. Shining tears formed in each one. “You honor me too highly. You know that one of my sons has brought this new evil into the world, and I was unable to stop him.”

“Ham would not listen to your wise counsel. That was not your fault.”

“Wasn’t it?” Noah shook his head slowly. “How many times have I asked myself that question? What did I do wrong? What could I have changed to steer him toward faith and righteousness?” He clutched his vest with both hands as if to rend it, but his arms fell weakly into his lap. “After all these years, I have even lost the strength to grieve.”

“You have nothing to be ashamed of. You told Ham the truth.”

“You’re a good friend, always willing to console the bereft.” Noah shook a finger at Makaidos. “But you would do well to remember your own words, for a time is coming when you will need them more than I.”

“A time of grief, Master Noah? Are you prophesying doom?”

“Merely an observation. Japheth has given me details of his conversations with two of your sons and your eldest daughter, and he and I are both greatly concerned about where their hearts lie.”

“Their hearts?”

Noah tapped a finger on his temple. “Actually, their wills. Their allegiances. What is the driving force that motivates their actions?”

“It is supposed to be service to the Maker, who has assigned us to help those still faithful to you. That is why Nimrod’s armies have not overrun you already. We have kept the perimeter free of his invaders.”

“Free of the squadrons, yes, but not free of the smaller kidnapping bands. I assume you know who was guarding us during the first of those raids.”

Makaidos dipped his head toward the floor. “That was my fault. Roxil was too young and inexperienced. I should not have assigned her that task. She is much more qualified now.”

“That was the most tragic night for Shem, to be sure. Losing his firstborn son brought him grief beyond description. But there were other nights, other raids.”

Makaidos bent his brow. “Are you implying, Master Noah, that I have been complicit with the invaders?”

Noah waved his hand rapidly. “Not you, my friend. I do wish, however, for you to ask yourself this question. You have patrolled our perimeter yourself, as has your mate, hundreds if not thousands of times. How many of those nights have we suffered a breach?”

“There have been none, but we are more experienced. We have battled evil forces for centuries.”

“It is not your experience that keeps our homes safe, Makaidos.” Noah stood and laid a hand on the dragon’s chest. “It is your heart, your passion. You believe in what you are doing. You feel your love for humankind in your blood; you taste it in the air; you dream about it at night; you wake up with passion spilling from the very fire in your breath, for this righteous obsession has enflamed your heart with unquenchable desire to fulfill your vision. But, although you have taught your brood to follow in your footsteps from the time they were younglings, they only go through the motions. Obedient and willing, yes, but they likely don’t feel it burning in their souls.”

“But they are supposed to feel it,” Makaidos countered. “We dragons are made to serve humans. There is no other choice.”

“True, but don’t make the mistake of projecting your own passion on them. Just because they seem to be following, don’t assume that their hearts burn with your vision for love and service.” Noah sat back down and opened the scroll, angling it toward the lantern. “For I fear that their loyalty could easily be turned.”

Makaidos stretched his neck toward the scroll, but not so far as to read it uninvited. “You are implying that there is something I need to know.”

“Yes. May I read a summary of a conversation between my son and your daughter?”

Makaidos nodded. “Please do.”

Noah’s eyes shifted back and forth, scanning the text. “Here it is. Shem had just summoned Roxil to the ledge after her night’s patrol.” He cleared his throat and began reading. “The she-dragon seemed distracted, nervous. I asked her about the movements of Nimrod’s troops, but she said they had camped quietly all night near the riverbank. I then mentioned that our own scouts had seen a pair of Nimrod’s bowmen stealing through the thickets near Enoch’s grove and asked if she had seen them. She grew irritated, seemingly insulted that I would imply that she had been derelict in her duties. She just flew away without another word. That’s when I decided to go from home to home and check on our people and property.”

Noah rolled up the journal. “That was this morning, Makaidos. We lost a girl in that raid, so we summoned a council of war. I insisted, though many were skeptical, that we call for your help. I knew you would come, but now that Roxil has arrived with you, there will be great concern among our troops.”

Heat surged across Makaidos’s scales. “Roxil will fight for our cause valiantly. I will see to that.”

“Oh, I believe she will, as long as you are with her. My concern is for what she is doing when you are absent.”

“Speak frankly, Master Noah. Do not hold back your thoughts.”

“I will, my friend, but first I must give you some warning about what you are going to face, and this is a prophetic word. In the coming days and decades, you will suffer greatly, and you will suffer alone. With the exception of your dear mate and perhaps an offspring or two, everyone you love and cherish will turn against you. They will claim that no one else agrees with you, so you couldn’t possibly be right. They will call you arrogant, tyrannical, and even mad. They will say that you are so obsessed with your insane version of truth, that you have abandoned all reason, that you have forsaken logic and clear thinking, that you have given up on those you love because of your neurotic fixation on a divine light that no one else can see.”

Makaidos lifted his brow. “Why would loved ones do this to me or anyone else? They know my character. They have seen my integrity.”

“Not just your loved ones, Makaidos. The entire world would do it, because character and integrity are not as important to them as acceptance from the masses or as comforting as the false security they receive from not examining their lives.” Noah leaned back and sighed. “I know this all too well. My sons and I worked like slaves on a boat for a hundred years while people laughed at us and mocked us. Just as I prophesied concerning you, I was obsessed with obeying a heavenly voice that no one else heard. I saved the future of the planet, but in the process I lost one of my sons. I do not regret the years of coercing my sons to build that monstrosity of a boat. Though even their eyes at times seemed to question my sanity, I have been completely vindicated.” He shook his head again, and a tear coursed down his weathered cheek. “But being proven right does not lessen the pain of my loss, for it seems that, in spite of all my efforts, my ark did not keep my own son from drowning.”

Makaidos guided a wing tip over Noah’s shoulder. “A father cannot be held responsible for the sins of his son. I have heard you say this yourself.”

“Responsible?” Noah shook his head. “No. . . . . But am I completely innocent just because he has free will? Seeds of rebellion cannot grow unnoticed, and I ignored them.” He ran his wrinkled hands through his wispy hair, tears again filling his eyes. “Did zeal for God blind me to the rebellion of my own son? Should I have rebuked him every time he rolled his eyes, every time he grumbled when a parade of people passed by mocking us, calling us fools for wasting our lives on building an ark?” He reached for Makaidos’s neck and stroked it lovingly. “Emzara died in sorrow believing Ham was lost forever. Will I go down to Sheol with the same misery haunting me? Is there any hope that a son might turn his heart back to God when he has rejected a salvation he has seen with his own eyes?”

Noah wrapped his arms around Makaidos’s neck and wept, his age-spotted head bobbing up and down under the force of his sobs.

Makaidos hovered a clawed hand over Noah’s back, hesitating to caress the dear old gentleman. Could he really comfort him with such a tough, scaly appendage? Could any dragon truly sympathize with a human? Who could know the heart of a human except for another human?

Makaidos pulled his foreleg back. “I understand,” he said softly. “Perhaps I can restore the hearts of my fellow dragons to the Maker and his purpose for us.”

Noah lowered his arms and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “I believe you will, for a messiah is coming, God in flesh, who will rescue mankind. And in the same way, yet another messiah, a human in scales from the fruit of your own body will come to rescue dragonkind.”

Makaidos shook his head. “Master Noah, you speak in puzzles. I do not understand your words.”

“Nor do I,” Noah replied, patting Makaidos’s neck. “Not completely. God’s ways are still mysterious to me, even after all these years.”

Makaidos twitched his ears, unsure of how to continue. “In any case, losing your son is a great tragedy, and I hope to prevent this calamity with my daughter and avoid the pain you are suffering.”

“Yet tragedies surround you, my friend. They lurk at the very entrance to your cave, but you do not feel the danger they threaten.”

“Danger, Master Noah?”

“Yes. Japheth told me that you asked about the dragon in Nimrod’s employ.”

“I did. Please continue.”

“Our scouts have seen Roxil and some of your sons with this dragon on more than one occasion.”

Makaidos spoke through clenched teeth. “Continue.”

“That dragon is Arramos, your father.”

“Arramos?” Makaidos staggered backwards but caught himself before he fell. “Are you sure?”

“Arramos was a good friend of mine, so I asked Shem and Japheth to show him to me. We went to the city disguised as peddlers, and I saw him there myself.”

“But how is that possible? He died! . . . Didn’t he? The flood killed every breathing creature.”

“God told me that it did.” Noah firmed his chin and nodded. “So it must have.”

“Then how do you explain the appearance of my father?”

“Until I get further revelation, I cannot explain it. I have to simply trust God that Arramos died. How is he alive? I do not know. After all I went through with the ark, I have learned a valuable lesson. Evidence that contradicts the word of God, even evidence I see with my own eyes, eventually falls and crumbles.”

“But should we not revere evidence when ”

“Shhh!” Noah lifted the lantern and blew out the flame. Since they were so far back in the recesses of the cave, the chamber fell into complete darkness. “Keep your eyebeams off for a moment, Makaidos, and tell me. If I were not speaking to you, what would evidence tell you? Am I here in this cave with you?”

“I know you are here. I just saw you.”

“Current evidence!” Noah snapped. “Immediate evidence!”

“If not for your voice, I would conclude that you are not here.”

Noah’s tone softened again. “Yet you believe because of what you have learned in the past, what you saw in the light.”

“That is exactly why I believe.”

“Good.” The lantern flashed back on, its wick blazing as Noah pinched a flint stone in his fingers. The glow highlighted every deep crevice in the old man’s withered cheeks. He lifted the lantern and stood face-to-face with Makaidos, letting the orange flames sway between them. “What you have learned in the light, my friend, never doubt when it is dark.”

Makaidos stared at the flame. The tongue of fire seemed to try to speak, as if it were a real tongue, carrying on its undulating glow the truth that only light can bring. After a few seconds, he bowed and backed away. “I will remember, Master Noah.”