In Search of Others

(Continued from Like No Other Courage)

Who can say how long the fight lasted? I stood my place on the Dark Plain swinging the sword as best I could. Arrows flew out of nowhere, some flaming. They couldn't penetrate my armor, but broke or glanced off, deflected. Yet I had no one to slay. I saw no foe. I swung anyway, lancing the air with joy as best I could.

I saw another warrior who'd fallen not far from me. His light was dim and he lay on the ground as if mortally wounded. The distance was not great. I ran to him. He looked up at me as I approached.

"Brother," he said weakly, "how can we win?"

"Rise up," I commanded. "Rise up and shine. You must rise up."

"I don't see how--"

"It doesn't matter. Listen. Can you hear it? Can you hear the song?"

"What song? I don't hear it."

"The joyous song...the song of praise, can you hear it? Rise up and shine. You must believe! Don't lie down. Don't quit. Our call is to fight. You must have faith. Wield your sword. Rise up, man."

I put my shield-bearing hand under his shoulder to help him up, but just as he gained his feet, he took a blow in his gut. He crumpled in front of me.

I sliced the air with my sword, yelling, "No! Get away!" I heard a scream. "Be gone from me! I am God's child! The victory belongs to Him!"

Whatever it was, it left; but the man at my heels lay lifeless. His light had gone out completely. His sword faded in the dust and the armor he'd worn fell away from his body. He was dead.

I looked out across the plain. In the distance I saw many warriors fighting the unseen foe. Some were falling; but some stood valiently. We were spread so thin, I thought, so far from each other. "Why must we fight alone? O God!" I cried out. "Why must we fight alone? We are so far apart! How can we sustain the fight in this way?"

Then I was hit by a hard blow from behind. It took me to the ground in a daze. I saw light in my mind's eye. I tried to shake it off. I struggled to gain my feet, but I was too dizzy and fell prostrate, my head turned to the side. Through half-open eyes, I saw feet standing by my face, feet with clawed toes. My eyesight faded into listless black.

I awoke lying on soft green grass. It felt cool to my face. I found my hands and pushed myself up. I was sitting in a garden, a beautiful garden like none I had ever seen. My sword lay beside me and I was still wearing the armor. I picked the blade up and rose to my feet. With the shield on my arm, I put my free hand to the back of my helmet and felt a dent in the metal plate.

I looked about the garden: unspeakably beautiful, serene and peaceful beyond description. I saw flowers of a hundred kind amidst rich, lush foliage intricately arranged. Trees of all sorts grew everywhere but not too thick. I drew a deep, rich breath of clean, refreshing air. I was not dead but incredibly alive. I remembered the fight, however.

I looked to the ground for the fallen warrior but could not see him. It didn't matter. I found nothing about which to be alarmed. Beams of sunlight sprayed through the canopy of leaves and bows of evergreen. I heard a song, too, in the air. It was the same song I'd heard before, but with many more voices singing words I did not understand. But they were surely the most joyous, precious expressions of worship I'd ever heard. There must have been a thousand voices singing praises in harmonious melodies of the sweetest kind. Yet I saw no one, just the beautiful garden.

Suddenly I felt dizzy again. I could not keep my eyes focused. I laid down on the grass unable to stay awake and fell asleep. When I awoke I lay again on the Dark Plain next to the man who had died. My sword was still in my hand and my head hurt, but I was awake. Yet I saw the vivid memory of the garden.

I sat up instantly, gathering my feet beneath me in a crouch. I brought my sword to bear and held the shield just below my eyes as I looked out across the flat ground of war. I turned in a full circle, but nothing came at me.

"I understand, Lord." I said to the air. "I understand this temporal place." I stood up with renewed strength. Courage came flooding back into me like hot blood. "I understand, Lord. Let joy shine in me. I know where I'm going and oh, what joy awaits me there! Don't ever let me forget what I saw."

I started walking, then soon broke into an easy run moving swiftly across the Plain of Darkness in search of others I might help.
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