The Sixth Jewel of Earth

By James W. Greenhalge

“It’s not like anybody’s gonna see a real unicorn,” offered the stranger lamely as he turned and made for the exit.
A real unicorn? The traveler watched the man depart. He once saw the world and the future in the same way. Unicorns, dragons, faith—they were all unreal. He was left alone again in his study carrel at the back of the library.
“But what if you really did see a unicorn?”

The Sixth Jewel of Earth follows the exploits of the traveler, a twenty-first-century man mysteriously equipped with a marvelous ancient pendant whose capabilities he does not understand, companions he does not fully appreciate, and with an open-ended mission he does not see any hope of accomplishing and an intractable enemy obsessed with his failure. Now befriended by a unicorn, could this journey become any more surreal? But it is real—all of it! It is his future and yours!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728309583

James W. Greenhalge

Even as a boy, your author has always had trouble staying fixed at one moment in time. While an overly active imagination is charming in a young child, a mature adult should behave better. Your author's interests flow easily from one topic to another…past, present and future. Fascination with the scientific method, the reality of faith, and a study of the law leads smoothly into the imagination of science fiction. A love of History and human culture compete with a sense of the mystical and the magical. His friends and family will be overjoyed about the re-publishing of this book; now, someone else can listen to his flights of fancy! A traveler at heart, your author is comfortable at home or on the road, in foreign countries or in a local coffee shop. A college graduate, an Army officer, an orator and Christian church leader, a college professor, a licensed attorney, and a prolific writer! And he loves computer-generated games! When some grounding in this reality is required, he is a private practice attorney in Grand Junction, Colorado. His loving wife, Mary, has traveled with him for more than forty-six years, and their son is also married, and has given them a wonderful daughter-in-law and three marvelous grandchildren, and a grand-dog. "If we begin with the premise that there is a design to this universe," says the author, "the truth of its construction is just waiting to be discovered. Life is a journey of discovery, and we are all travelers. I hope you can see yourself in the pages of this book. It was written with you in mind!"

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

He took a long and satisfying sip of coffee from his cup, savoring the smell, the warmth, and the rich flavor. What comfort he drew from the experience! There was nothing like a good cup of coffee! To someone who really enjoyed the taste of coffee, they would understand his contented smile. But if they had never traveled this particular road of coffee drinking for themselves, then the importance of this experience would mean nothing to them. Very much like his time spent traveling for the King he mused absently, scanning the many notes scribbled across the lined yellow sheets before him on the tabletop. Who would believe it? The truth of our traveling through life, like experiencing the pleasures of coffee, awaited personal discovery. Just as Yad’el, his strong and stoic angelic companion from the previous adventures, had said so many times before, You direct the course of your own journey. It seemed almost too simplistic to be true.

So how can I tell anyone about what I have seen and experienced while traveling for the King? He shook his head, rubbing weary eyes. The search prompt on his computer monitor blinked patiently, awaiting some new direction to his electronic traveling. He stared at it, knowing that he could go virtually anywhere on the Internet for his own personal voyage of discovery. He directed his electronic traveling, but apart from his recent missions for the King, every other exploration lacked purpose or lasting significance. He could either waste his time, or he could invest himself in pursuing something far more significant than his own purposes. Life itself was that way. Why are we traveling? Where are we going? What will we find when we get there?

Cool, dude! said an unfamiliar voice nearby. You into unicorns?

The Traveler startled from his meditation, looking up at the young man pawing through the stack of books at his secluded study carrel. Perhaps eighteen years old, he was alert and very curious. The study carrels nearby were empty of patrons.

Yes, unicorns! admitted the Traveler, suddenly embarrassed to be discovered researching this peculiar subject. A grown man chasing after his childhood fantasies! He sat upright in the chair and began collecting his papers.

Like ‘My Little Ponies,’ man, or the mythological thing? The friendly and inquisitive intruder picked up an ancient volume on medieval bestiaries from the Traveler’s stack and thumbed through it.

More like looking for historical references to the genuine animal, responded the Traveler sharply, taking the book from the man’s hands. He returned it to its place in the stack before him.

You’re goin’ back to following the paper trail, eh? The young man swept his long brown hair back from his eyes with one hand and gestured to the pile of books before him with the other. Everybody is into electronic searching, nowadays.

Yes, well…the electronic trail has been edited and restated by others, complained the Traveler. Someone has already done the research for you and hidden the truth behind their own preconceptions and personal agenda. You only read what someone wants you to find there. He had found all the modern references to My Little Ponies, The Last Unicorn, Barbie’s unicorn friend, the modern slang applications describing casual sexual relationships, the medieval references to a Christlike woodland creature, and even the magical world of Harry Potter. He had searched through modern mythology and poetic license, ancient heraldry, and even Freudian psychoanalysis. He had seen unicorns described as horned horses, unicorns who were like robots, unicorns who were dismissed as the product of an overactive imagination, and even unicorns described as a symbol of masculine insecurity. The problem was…they were all wrong about unicorns.

Right on! Right on! affirmed the intruder conspiratorially. The ‘Man’ controls the electronic word and, by doing that, he controls our minds! Leaning forward he asked quietly, "What are you really looking for?"

Really? The Traveler grimaced, finding himself sucked into an unwanted conversation with a nosy conspiracy theorist. He began to dismiss the young man as irrelevant to his traveling but then reconsidered. He had asked himself the same question. What had his traveling for the King shown him about life? There truly was a diabolical conspiracy altering human reality—far more pervasive and sinister than anyone modernly imagined. Sliding quietly and deliberately into obscurity, the eternal enemy of mankind was rewriting human history to their evil ends. They were systematically eliminating all belief in a supreme God, the afterlife, angels and demons, a sovereign plan to history, true prophecy…and unicorns. What would any sensible person think of him if they knew what he had recently experienced in his traveling? A life spent serving the unseen King of another reality? Befriended by a supernatural unicorn? He glanced up at the anxious face.

"I am really looking for the meaning of life, answered the Traveler honestly. Somehow, it all ties together!"

That profound goal took the intruder by surprise. The young man took a step backward. "And unicorns have something to do with that?"

The Traveler looked up into those questioning brown eyes of the seeker standing before him and pointedly asked, Did you know that a lion and unicorn are pictured together holding up the coat of arms of England in their official heraldry? It’s been that way for hundreds of years.

Yeah, I’ve seen that, admitted the young man, his curiosity peaked. So, what?

Why a lion? Why a unicorn? Neither animal ever existed in England, according to most historians.

Symbolism, I guess, ventured the man.

Symbols are very powerful things, agreed the Traveler. The lion might represent ferocity, male dominance, and martial prowess. He hesitated, wondering how wise it was to engage this stranger in his research. Yet it felt so good to talk with someone…anyone…about his work. But why a unicorn?

The man exhaled, giving the concept some serious thought. Pouting a bit, he ventured another guess. Innocence?

Hardly a royal virtue, then or now, smirked the Traveler. Yes, innocence, and he recalled those passionate blue eyes and the unicorn’s unyielding love for him, but there is so much more to them than innocence. He pulled one heavy book from the stack, rebalanced the tottering pile, then opened the chosen volume to a marker he had placed there. He tapped on the picture, pointing to an example of British heraldry.

Notice the lion wears a crown atop its head—regal and rampant, fully in charge—while the unicorn’s crown is down about its throat like a choke harness and its body is in chains.

The young man stared at the picture for a long moment and shook his head, clearly puzzled by the strange symbolism he had never noticed before.

Supposedly the unicorn is symbolic of a conquered Scotland, once seen as brave, wild and magical, yet now harnessed and yoked by force to serve the British Empire, explained the Traveler, summarizing the accepted historical explanation. No longer royal in its own right, the brave, wild and magical properties of the unicorn are now chained to serve science and temporal power. The Traveler stared at the picture, pained by the implications. Broken and subservient—no longer free, he added quietly.

What about the movie Braveheart and Freedom! answered the young man, brandishing an imaginary sword in defiance of tyranny. That movie was all about Scotland, wasn’t it?"

Yes, but William Wallace died fighting for Scottish freedom in 1305 A.D., over seven hundred years ago. At the time, he was believed to have been a…brave, wild and magical…kind of guy. Yet after fighting twenty-six wars over seven hundred years trying to secure their independence from England, Scotland in the year 2014 finally rejected the idea of freedom from the British empire once they were given the opportunity to vote on it. The Traveler sighed. The principles of freedom and independence were no longer worth fighting for; the unicorn had finally accepted its harness and chains.

Whoa, all that in an old symbol, huh? But so what? The man shrugged his shoulders. Nobody believes in unicorns anymore.

Then why have symbols at all? snapped back the Traveler, his anger suddenly rising. Why is it still pictured in chains? Why does the unicorn constantly resurface in literature, advertising, and popular entertainment? Why has everything about them been distorted and falsified in the retelling? That original symbol of the unicorn was very meaningful seven hundred years ago, but now it represents nothing? What has happened to the unicorn?

Right! concluded the puzzled young man, now withdrawing from the conversation and the man’s obvious obsession about this strange subject. It has sure gotten some bad press, man. You’re right about that! He looked for an exit. I gotta go!

And now nobody believes in dragons either…and they are mentioned repeatedly in the Bible.

Dragons? repeated the intruder with a wry smile. That’s just all old religion, man, designed to scare the masses into submission.

The apostle John places them in the future…your future, snapped the Traveler, pointing at the young man. He picked up a Bible and waved it at him. Dragons at the end of time! And we don’t even believe in them anymore! How is that possible?

Some unseen person several book racks away ‘shushed’ them, demanding silence. The Traveler lowered his voice.

You want a conspiracy theory? he whispered passionately. I’ll give you a conspiracy theory. Someone, terribly evil, is intentionally and deliberately distorting our human belief system in the present moment to make all future Biblical prophecy seem wildly implausible or downright impossible. They know it’s all true—every word of it—and it was originally meant to warn us of the coming judgment, but they are systematically attacking our belief in the plan.

Unicorns? Dragons? Future prophecy? repeated the young man incredulously. You’re a little confused, guy. Unicorns and dragons are just ancient mythology, and the future…well, it hasn’t been written yet!

The Traveler stared in shock at the man’s lack of understanding. "That’s just it! That is the great lie! The future has been written…by the very finger of God…on the walls of human history! It will happen! There could be no accurate prophetic predictions of the future without it already existing in the mind of God."

Everybody tries to predict the future, the younger man countered, but nobody really knows for sure! There is a lot of strange symbolism at the end of that book.

Strange, yes, but only because we do not understand the symbolism. The apostle John knew the truth of it. He was exiled to an island and shown the future there when he wrote that Revelation. Even though he was clearly a time-traveler, he was compelled to use First Century words and images to describe Twenty-First Century reality. The angel who journeyed with him knew the truth of it—he showed it to him. And God knows the truth! The Traveler suddenly felt deflated and sank back into his chair. The man fidgeting before him was shaking his head in disbelief. The Traveler continued.

There is a certain and ominous future awaiting all of us…and we are rolling toward it at breakneck speed. He dropped his gaze to take in the gathered books and notes on the desktop. We no longer believe in unicorns or dragons…and nobody seems to care!

"It’s not like anybody’s gonna see a real unicorn," offered the stranger lamely as he turned and made for the exit.

A real unicorn? The Traveler watched the man depart. He once saw the world and the future in the same way. Unicorns, dragons, faith—they were all unreal. He was left alone again in his study carrel at the back of the library. The busy and uncaring world was passing by outside the closed windows.

"But what if you really did see a unicorn?"

CHAPTER 2

What if you touched him? The Traveler whispered to himself. Smelled him? Listened to him? What if the unicorn saved your life? Would that be any more incredible than believing some ancient Biblical prophecy predicting the future?

"Seeing is believing! said someone close behind him. Isn’t that the conventional human wisdom?"

The surprising voice startled the Traveler from his reverie. But this time he smiled warmly. What would that skeptical, departing young man see now if he suddenly returned? Perhaps not a unicorn, but something equally amazing. Latris, one of his two faithful supernatural companions, came forward, pulled up a chair and straddled it, leaning forward on the back support, facing the Traveler. He was young and yet ageless, handsome and somehow familiar, twenty or twenty thousand years old. He acknowledged the Traveler with a broad smile.

"But seeing does not always produce believing in humans, does it? the companion continued making his point. Sometimes seeing only produces limitations, prejudices, intellectual blinders establishing doctrines for what ‘is’ and defining what is ‘not.’ If you haven’t seen it with your own eyes, then it is simply not true. The world could be flat until someone proves it is round! Latris gestured toward the exit and the departing seeker. Despite that man’s personal philosophy of being very liberal and open-minded, he wears spiritual blinders to keep his perspective focused squarely on what lies immediately ahead of him. He would sooner believe in aliens visiting the earth or the Bermuda triangle than Biblical prophecy."

Then why am I being shown these things?

"Seeing is not nearly so important as hearing the truth, asserted his supernatural companion confidently. Seeing can be deceiving, while faith comes from hearing and it is faith that opens the door to belief in the plan. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen. Latris looked again in the direction of the man. Without faith, your words are just an odd experience to him, the ramblings of another conspiracy theorist in the library of human thought. You could actually show him a unicorn, and he would be dazzled momentarily, but unless he were willing to hear the truth about unicorns, it would only be a passing amusement. In fact, he would probably be disappointed that the unicorn you produced was not more like the human mythology believed about them. You were certainly disappointed when you first met the unicorn!"

Only at first, admitted the Traveler, recalling his shock and surprising disappointment at their meeting near the end of his last adventure. The unicorn was much smaller than he imagined and more like a deer in body, while its head and mane were more horselike. In truth, it was the spiraling ivory horn and penetrating blue eyes that made him appear so supernatural.

It just wasn’t what I expected. I’m not sure what I expected really, but once I listened to its story, the unicorn became very real to me.

Latris nodded. "When Jesus first walked among men, He wasn’t what they expected either. A ‘brave, wild and magical’ kind of guy! He showed them many beautiful and honest things about the Kingdom, remaining innocent and pure in an adulterous and perverse generation, modeling how to walk before His Father. Like a truthful mirror, He also showed them their compromises and their rebellious animal nature. But for so many humans, seeing Him was not believing in Him. They killed Him, rather than face that honest mirror."

The Traveler dropped his gaze to his chest and clasped his hands together in his lap. Latris waited patiently. Slowly, the man raised his hands to caress the magnificent pendant hanging about his neck. The central blue sapphire was large and translucent, drawing him into its unfathomable depths. Surrounding it were five brilliantly colored stones and two empty sockets. They were all centered on three overlapping white-golden discs. The perimeter of each disc was engraved with unknown words in two foreign languages, but the pendant did not translate them for him. It hung expectantly about his neck on a thick, white-golden chain. The pendant was simply magnificent! But only he and the supernaturals knew it was even there. He could touch it, feel it, caress it, even tell others about it, yet could not show the evidence to another mortal human being. Here was undeniable proof of another reality…like unicorns, dragons and his supernatural companions…but all still invisible without faith.

Are unicorns from heaven? he asked quietly. How much did he not know about them…or his mysterious companions?

Not exactly, began Latris, pushing away a fictionalized novel lying on the desktop featuring a very horselike unicorn on the cover. It is a problem in your human semantics again. Your definitions for all three keywords in your question are faulty, so your conclusions drawn from the answer will also be very misleading. By ‘unicorn,’ do you mean all unicorns or just the one you already met? When you say ‘from,’ do you mean their original point of origin or their most recent habitation? And ‘heaven’? Well, that is a serious problem because your concept of heaven falls so far short of reality.

The Traveler grimaced. So often it seemed his companions responded to his sincere questions with more riddles. He was tired of riddles.

No riddles this time! Latris smiled sympathetically, understanding the man’s frustration. Unicorns were originally designed for existence in a perfect world which could be characterized as a garden in certain classical literature. He pointed to the Bible on the desktop. "But then again, so were your ancestors!"

Waiting a moment for that irony to settle in, he continued.

"However, that garden was built on a dimensional plane touching both of our realities, so if we broadened your definition of heaven to include all sovereign reality as the King sees it, then unicorns were at one time ‘from’ heaven as you suggest. But the majority of unicorns in the Garden remained loyal to their human royalty and followed them into exile at the Fall, leaving heaven and the Garden behind. Those unicorns, apart from the special one you encountered in ancient Ireland on the last adventure, are indeed exiled from that highest heaven now. The gate for mortal beings is closed!"

The one I met…he was different?

He was…original, explained his companion. He existed before the plans for the Garden. He cannot be exiled from anywhere.

But the rest of them can be? The Traveler rubbed his weary temples, trying to understand the subtle truth of his companion’s supernatural explanation. Not by their own fault, but from some misplaced loyalty to the Garden humanity? So…they are more heavenlike than earthlike?

Latris frowned. He knew the man was trying, but this restatement of his original question had even more semantic problems. Unicorns did not have an ‘earthlike’ counterpart awaiting them when they left the garden. Therefore, the temptation to compromise with other earthlike animals was far more manageable for them, unlike the Garden humanity, who found they did have an evolved, humanlike animal counterpart awaiting them when they emerged from the garden. The Sons of God, those sharing in His breath of life from their Garden heritage, saw the daughters of earthlike men to their liking and…well, you know the rest of that story.

The rise of the Nephilim! confirmed the Traveler, nodding his head and recalling his earlier experiences combatting the enhanced hybrid humanity. But do I know the rest of that story? He rose upright in his chair. The church teaches that it was demons interbreeding with humanity that produced the Nephilim. Yet the demons are like you…were once like you…and the unicorns are more like you now. Raimey, at least that is what I called him, had no sex at all! Neither male nor female! How do they reproduce?

Raimey? You humans are always naming things, quipped Latris, recalling another fond memory from the Garden. Adam did that, too. And whatever he named the animals, that became their name." It is another part of your natural creativity allowed by the Creator. After a moment’s thought, considering again how much humanity was created in the image and likeness of God, he returned to the Traveler’s question. Sexual reproduction was part of the world created in the first chapter of Genesis. "Be fruitful and multiply, remember? Animals designed exclusively for the Garden existence in the second chapter of Genesis needed no such equipment. They were individually created, just like Adam and Eve.

Individually created? Just like you? whispered the Traveler reverentially, suddenly awestruck by the unicorn’s similarity to angels, and the incredible and magnificent work of creation sitting casually before him.

Latris smiled, deflecting the man’s admiration. Our purposes are much broader than the Garden existence, but we were also individually created, yes!

Are unicorns immortal then, like you are?

Here the companion hesitated, trying to be honest with the Traveler and yet not misleading. The man before him had such a linear view of existence—conception, birth, life, death, the afterlife—it was to be expected from a mortal perspective, but there was so much more to creation than this linear belief system.

While in this fallen world, they are mortal, in the sense that they live and die, for it is appointed that all flesh lives and dies, but their natural lifespan approaches eternity. They will live here as long as they are needed.

As long as the King needs them here? speculated the Traveler.

No, corrected his companion solemnly, "only as long as the human race has need of them here."

But we don’t even believe in them anymore!

Yes, I know, confirmed Latris grimly, and it pains them deeply. Dominion, for humanity, has become synonymous with exploitation, entrustment replaced by entitlement. The natural order of things is being ignored, just another possession to be used and discarded by selfish, greedy and short-sighted humanity. The unicorns are right to mistrust you. The entire animal kingdom suffers from your mismanagement of this world.

"It is our world!"

No Traveler, it has always been the King’s world, Latris stated flatly. "In Him, all things were created." All things! Your kind was only given dominion here derived from the King’s superior title, appointed stewards of the King’s trust on earth. The enemy is compromising your birthright. These usurpers have cheated, and lied, and cajoled, and muscled their way into power and now they claim this world as their own. Possession is nine-tenths of the law! You are being evicted by them from this world, as surely as the unicorns were evicted by your kind. You are just as endangered a species as they are!

The Traveler bowed his head in genuine sorrow. "I cannot hope to fight the rebellion, Latris. You were there, in Emperor Constantine’s palace seventeen hundred years ago, when Ba’yel offered me the role of ‘Abomination of Desolation’ in the end times. The very man of destruction opposed to the will of God! The leader of all rebellious humanity! It is the violent, selfish minotaur and the sin of Jeroboam all over again. I know the truth, yet I am still so tempted by the lie. And I am supposed to be one of His trusted disciples, a pendant bearer. I am worse than Judas Iscariot. He only betrayed Him to ruthless men. Latris, I am one of those ruthless men."

"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force, repeated Latris recalling the Preacher’s own words. He leaned back in his chair, drawing himself stiffly erect and losing all appearance of informality. Jesus once sent you to the baths at the Temple for ritual cleansing. You saw your animal heritage reflected in the murky waters of the mikvah, that lusty stallion who resists being bridled with any restraint upon his freedom of choice. Was that diagnosis true and accurate then?"

The Traveler raised his gaze to look up into his companion’s unblinking, resolute eyes and nodded slowly.

And that selfish, lusty stallion…has he been completely excised from your life by these travels?

No! The Traveler dropped his focus and shook his head sadly. Honestly, those reckless, sensual impulses were still a part of him, try as he might to leave them behind. On his good days, he followed the King well enough, but that selfish, rebellious stallion was always ready to bolt from his stall. It was a daily struggle to choose the King’s path over the carnal alternatives. Ba’yel knew it, saw the weakness within him, and had tempted him with rebellion. And he had listened. Why? He was so unworthy! He had actually considered betraying his beloved Ishi and was filled with despair and self-loathing. A strong and compassionate hand was placed on his left shoulder.

"Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of sin and death?"

The Traveler looked up at his other companion, Yad’el, now standing beside him, tall, clean and resolute. The angel smiled down at him compassionately. The Traveler shook his head, not recognizing the Biblical reference.

The apostle Paul found the answer to that very question, continued Latris sitting before him, after a lifetime of murder, corruption, and rebellion. Not the wretched man that he once was, but the wretched man that remained in need of a savior. Have you?

How can it be that simple?

Yad’el squeezed his shoulder confidently. "Simple in concept, but perplexing and demanding in reality. It requires an unwavering commitment to the truth and unshakable obedience to the King. You must first see yourself as truly wretched, without hope from any other human philosophy. You must grasp the need for deliverance from this condemned distortion of reality. The end of all flesh, apart from redemption, is rebellion and death. He paused, waiting for recognition in the man’s eyes. You are all faced with becoming the Abomination of Desolation if you reject Him."

And then you must believe Someone is willing and capable of redeeming you from this righteous condemnation, added Latris emphatically from across the table.

The Traveler closed his eyes and saw Ishi’s face again. Slowly, a tear coursed down his cheek. This time He saw Him as the loving Shepherd, ready to pour out His own life in dreadful pain and suffering to save His one beloved sheep. Not all of humanity, not even all those chosen ones who would also be saved along with him, but Ishi was willing to carry my cross, recalled the Traveler. My deserved cross!

Ishi was willing and capable of redeeming me…and my rebellion put Him there on the cross.

It was the willing sacrifice, Traveler—the price of redemption, affirmed Yad’el. He loves you!

You were correct when you told that young man the future had been written by the very finger of God on the walls of humanity, continued Latris, gesturing to the Bible on the desktop. "You are now walking it out to reach that future point of revelation, the great white throne of judgment, shown to the apostle John. Remember the vision of the time flower? The layers, ripples, and shockwaves from every action and reaction, every decision and event in human history extending forward into the future? You are individually, and corporately, important to the King’s plan for eternity. Your Ishi was not simply waxing lyrical when He said not a sparrow falls apart from His Father’s will."

Sparrows still fall, though! Doesn’t that make Him responsible for all the pain and suffering in this world? asked the Traveler weakly.

On His original timeline in the Garden, there was no pain and suffering in the plan, answered Yad’el firmly. The pain and suffering came with the fallen timeline. Humanity is more responsible for the pain and suffering than He is.

But He has the ability to change it all.

So do you! You choose the course of your traveling, exhorted Latris. What could the human race accomplish if they truly submitted themselves to the King’s plan? Imagine a world governed by the King Himself and administrated by His faithful bondservants. A millennial kingdom? It would be a return to the Garden relationship.

Would there be a place in that future garden for unicorns?

Latris smiled sympathetically at the man’s obvious pain and longing for his absent friend. Your human race would be at a serious disadvantage facing the end of days without their supernatural assistance.

Raimey said the same thing to me once, recalled the Traveler fondly. But there was a sense of sadness…a mistrust…between us. His kind is disappearing…because of us. We cannot be trusted.

Interestingly, Jesus never trusted Himself to humans either. Obedience to His Father’s will was more important than friendships, culture, family ties or bloodlines. His Father’s will must be done…at any cost.

Are they one and the same…this special unicorn and Jesus? The Traveler picked up his notepad and showed Latris the timeline he was creating. Originally, unicorns were seen as an archetype of Christ—natural, innocent, and without guile, mysterious and powerful, yet vulnerable and incomplete. Our depiction of them has so utterly changed over time that they bear little resemblance to the original vision.

Latris nodded, again choosing his next words very carefully. There certainly are many parallels in their stories. He smiled, using the Traveler’s own words. It is all a question of time and understanding…and perception. Symbols are very powerful things.

"That is not a direct answer to my question," huffed the Traveler recognizing his own words. Latris picked up the Bible and began leafing through the pages, searching for a specific passage.

Mankind levels mountains and raises valleys for the building of their roads, drills tunnels through obstacles, and makes straight their path. Why?

It is more efficient than going around, answered the Traveler.

But the route had to be discovered first and surveyed, asserted his companion wisely, a Pathfinder sent ahead to mark the way and leave directions to those who might wish to follow after him.

This lesson is supposed to be answering my questions? asked the man skeptically.

Latris found his place and began reading. And I will lead the blind by a way they did not know, in paths they do not know I will guide them, I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them undone.

Blind, ignorant and lame? Are you talking about me?

Latris lovingly closed the book and replaced it on the desktop. The very air around him began to vibrate with expectancy, and a transportation portal was forming beside them.

On the contrary, he said. It might have described you once upon a time, but you are being remade into something new by these journeys. A pathfinder of sorts, a guide to rebuilding ancient pathways, a teacher of principles upon which to live. The Counselor changed your name and your…job description. What was it?

Seer, traveler, and teller of the tale, whispered the Traveler, dropping his gaze again to the pendant hanging about his neck. Make straight the way of the Lord for those who might follow.

Your Ishi, the original Pathfinder, has clearly identified the road home, agreed Latris. And generation after generation of subsequent pioneers have forged a trail deeper into the wilderness of this human reality, following after that first Pathfinder. Now you work on the same road, and some of those who read these words will come after you.

Where does this road lead? asked the Traveler, looking up at his faithful companion and beyond him to the opening transportation portal.

Back to the future, answered Yad’el with a smile, pulling the man’s chair away from the table, just as you said. The future has, indeed, been written and it will arrive just exactly as planned. Back to the beginning, back to walking with the Creator in His garden. Back to innocence and wholeness. The road leads home!

Dropping the notepad on the desktop, the Traveler stood and joined his companions, walking boldly into that future.

CHAPTER 3

Suddenly gone were the library, the books and his scattered pages of research. Instead, they were instantly surrounded by a delightful open field with verdant, green grasses and bright wildflowers in abundance. The sun shown brightly overhead. The air was fresh and invigorating. A flock of wooly, white sheep grazed contentedly nearby, scattered like little patches of cloud across a green sky. Unseen birds could be heard calling to each other from nearby hedges bordering the meadow. To their left, a few miles away, glimpses of a modern highway could be seen winding through the hills. Traffic noise could barely be heard as the drivers raced off to their destinations elsewhere, oblivious to the unusual trio of companions making their way across the open pasture. A dark and languid river meandered through the broad valley off to their right. Beyond it, a small city nestled against the surrounding hills. Though the buildings were old in architectural styling, there were power lines overhead and telephone lines, too. Modern times then, but still very old world. Northern European, perhaps?

Where are we? When are we? asked the Traveler. Yad’el glanced at him, ready with his traditional ‘asked and answered’ response, but just smiled and began walking northward across the pasture. The Traveler looked hopefully to his other companion for help.

The future, responded Latris pleasantly, gesturing for the man to follow after the first companion. That is what you requested, isn’t it?

Well, yes, but this is not very far into the future. He glanced up, noticing the sky becoming more overcast, with heavy clouds threatening rain. "And this certainly isn’t my future. I don’t even recognize this place."

What makes the future yours? asked Latris.

That enigmatic response silenced the Traveler for a long moment as he considered yet another riddle. The future! There was his own foreseeable future and the less predictable future of the world he was familiar with, and then the unseen future of the larger world he knew nothing about. Was there something else? The wind was picking up, and he noticed they were still wearing the same clothes from the library. That was unusual, like traveling through time zones, changing places, but not times? His sneakers and pant legs were getting wet from the dew-laden grass.

Have we moved laterally—out of the library and into the world—to a different place at the same moment in time?

Very good, evaluated Yad’el ahead of him, without turning back. How can the same moment in two different places be part of your personal future?

Normally he would have been frustrated by these compounded riddles, but he knew there was a deeper meaning to this traveling. His companions wasted no effort, spent no time on fruitless wandering. They were relentlessly goal-oriented. He mulled over that question.

While each day or each moment might appear trivial or irrelevant to any human traveler, collectively the events of their life inevitably took them to their own personal future. If you believed in a God of the universe, a plan for every person within it, and a willingness to direct the path of the listening traveler, then every day and every moment was a step closer to home. Could you trust in that kind of divine omniscience and provision?

"This is still about my future?"

You choose the course of your traveling, affirmed Latris beside him.

My immediate future is moving forward at one place in time, where I can see it, while events that indirectly affect my future are moving forward here, as well?

Both companions stopped and turned to consider the man.

What? exclaimed the Traveler, surprised by their sudden attention.

You really are improving at this, Traveler, said Yad’el earnestly. It is…gratifying.

It comes from keeping good company. The Traveler smiled self-consciously. Will I get to see the unicorn here?

Not likely, that is not the purpose of this lesson, confirmed Latris. Yad’el walked on, leading them up a steep, grassy knoll. The two of them fell in behind him. Do you remember the time flower vision?

How could he forget it? At the very mention of the time flower, the wondrous vision exploded into his thoughts again with colors so vibrant they were almost painful to behold. The leading edges of light, like petals of a flower, radiated outward from each decision point along the central stem of his direction of travel through this temporal reality. As the chain of events unfolded, the colors flowing upward became golden, downward they became ocher and black. Before him, the path ahead was striped with blues and greens, streamers of liquid gold arched overhead, while magmalike threads of angry orange bubbled beneath. He moved forward, as all humanity moved forward through time, with the angelic and demonic forces responding and contesting the inevitable future of every human decision. It was glorious, and breathtaking, and humbling. He nodded.

Every decision you make in life has repercussions—some foreseen, some anticipated, some unexpected—but the ripples from those decisions expand outward and begin affecting others. New decisions are made, and another flower blooms. Latris spread his hands like expanding petals of a delicate blossom. With the effects of linear time, decisions made in the past have an impact on the course of the future. Your decision to forego breakfast this morning is leaving you hungry now.

Cause and effect, summarized the Traveler, noticing his stomach growling. This is all part of the scientific method, not some article of faith.

Yes, in linear time, but do you see that others could make decisions that affect you? The unknown driver who runs a red light and endangers you. Their decisions and your consequences! The three of them were nearing the crest of the knoll, and the grass was growing slippery, making the footing more treacherous. Their conversation lagged while they labored up the last few steps of the rise. A warm, light mist had begun to fall.

That would still be linear, although unforeseen by you! Now, consider the timeless effects of decisions being made by others in the distant past, perhaps totally unknown to you in the present moment. The ripples expand outward in four dimensions—left, right, up and down, and then forward through time. You could be shackled and imprisoned by words uttered centuries ago by people you have never even met. You could be affected by their sins that you never knew existed.

How is that fair?

Fair? repeated Yad’el walking ahead of them. Who said anything about fair? It is the cold, unyielding truth of your linear reality. Your life, as you see it, is not fair.

They reached the top of the knoll and beheld an entirely different scene. An ancient medieval castle, now lying in ruins, sat atop a grassy hill immediately before them, with a cluster of modern stone houses located to the left of it hugging the base of the hill. Tumbled blocks adorned the shoulders of the hill around it like a tattered garment. There was only one intact doorway remaining with a corner and two partial stone walls. The rest of the fortress was left to the imagination. The knoll they had just climbed was not a natural feature either, but a weathered and overgrown right of way for some abandoned road or railway that had once run from the highway on their left into the town on their right.

You are the time traveler, answered Yad’el quietly. Finding the justice in these generational curses is part of your mission. It is your personal and family heritage.

What? I don’t know anything about this place.

His companion gestured to the town before them.

"That is the town of Garstang, a pleasant little northern English border town content to rest in the slower rhythms of history. The river is called the Wyre. And the highway is called the M6. It will deliver you to Scotland in a matter of minutes. And that is your family castle," he concluded confidently.

The Traveler took it all in, but it was like seeing a Renaissance painting for the first time. You could admire the scenery, the style and the choice of colors, but they did not tell you the complete story. An interpreter was needed, one who knew the history of the scene.

Suddenly, the Traveler could feel linear history slipping away from him. He was standing in the present moment, but the petals of the time flower were becoming visible to him, like fiber optic strands of light representing highways running forward and backward through time.

I didn’t know we had a family castle!

In the present moment, you don’t, interpreted Latris, though it is still referred to by your family name. The land and the ruins are owned by someone else now. The right to the hereditary title once associated with it has been lost to obscurity because it no longer means anything. Forgotten symbolism! But the actions of these ancient people ripple forward into time to reach you here.

Their actions? I don’t understand, admitted the Traveler.

The most elementary example would be human genetics, pursued Latris. The gene pool that created who you are today came through this valley in the distant past. The moral code and social mores of the white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant world were also passed on to you, as well. Your knowledge of the English language is a direct result of decisions made by your distant ancestors to remain living in an English-speaking culture. You made none of those decisions yourself, yet here you are.

And those are merely the historical consequences, added Yad’el, his vision and attitude remote, as though he were watching the flow of the time flower rather than the present moment. What of the spiritual inheritance from these decisions?

I am affected by their spiritual decisions, too?

The concept is very Biblical and has been used by both sides in their ongoing warfare over time, confirmed his stoic guardian. Blessings and curses! Yad’el thought for a moment and continued, You shall not make for yourself an idol. You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me; but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Seeing that the Traveler did not recognize the first quotation, he added, No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord….

That is all Old Testament, right?

Yad’el shook his head grimly. God has not changed. He again thought for a moment and then quoted a passage from the New Testament, "For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purposes, by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be fulfilled." The Revelation to John! Your future!

These difficult concepts of a contaminated past through no fault of his own, a predetermined future authored by the Creator of the universe long before he was personally created, and the generational effects upon him of spiritual decisions made by others he did not even know, were all so disorienting and frightening. Nothing in his limited, religious training had ever even approached these subjects. The Traveler was shaken by the idea of the ‘forever’ war reaching into his own life and his own perceptions of the ‘real’ world. Yad’el nodded in stern affirmation of the truthfulness of these revelations and moved out again, heading directly for the castle.

"Only be strong and courageous, Traveler," commanded Yad’el, as he walked away. It was the same admonition given to Joshua at the gates of Jericho, just before the mighty warrior led the Chosen people into the Promised Land. Latris waited patiently beside the man.

Strong and courageous? questioned the man. How can I be strong and courageous against things that cannot be seen? He turned to Latris for an answer.

People must be strong and courageous against cancer, a generational curse often inherited from ancestors, offered his second companion. That is merely human genetics. Not only did you inherit the color of your eyes, but you also inherited astigmatism and a tendency to near-sightedness. On a spiritual level, you were born into captivity to original sin. Remember one of the harsh lessons taught by the Ascendancy—the inevitable black marble rolling to the bottom of your saucer! You must be strong and courageous to face these simple facts. It is not fair, or even predictable, but it is your ‘reality.’ He also started down the embankment following after Yad’el, leaving the Traveler alone with his thoughts.

Strong and courageous? In all his traveling, he had faced every manner of evil from irritating imps to malicious gargoyles, from irate humans to irrational dragons, when both strength and courage had been in short supply. Now he must face timeless curses and divine judgments that he was only indirectly connected to, used by both sides in their ‘forever’ war over humanity? Did the church, science, or modern medicine know about any of this? What were the weapons of this spiritual warfare? Certainly, carnal weapons would be ineffective against spiritual adversaries and even modern medicine would have its limitations in this battle against curses. He struggled to see the fairness of such generational blessings and curses, straining to see the time flower in operation.

Pacing along the raised escarpment, he studied the small city on the far side of the valley. Were people living there right now genetically related to him? Were they good people or bad people? Which was he? Perhaps all of his ancestry had moved on from here, leaving this time and place to others. History was so fluid. There was a timeless perspective that he must understand, seeing the time flower expanding through multiple dimensions.

He closed his eyes and tried to envision his path through life to this moment in time. It was as though he was forcing his way backward through the jungle of his own decisions and the influences of others upon him. He was tracing his life back to his conception, the two independent blue strands of color representing his parents coming together to create his unique timeline, another distinct strand of blue moving forward into the future—yet that event happened on another continent decades ago, and before that, he had no timeline here or there. His parents’ two separate strands of color then ran backward through their lives to their own conception, still on another continent a hundred years in the past. His grandparents, his great-grandparents—back to people he did not even know. Generation after generation of human pairings traced backward in time until one intersection was here, now centuries in the distant past. And before that? Hundreds more such pairings were going back into the forgotten recesses of history to the very beginning of the human race. This wasn’t science fiction or some tenet of religious doctrine—it was simply the truth for every human being on the planet!

And one of these unknown pairings had created a castle in northern England and placed the family name upon it. He opened his eyes and regarded the ruined castle again. It was a more enduring sentinel than mere mortal human lives, a fixed point in human history. He had no idea how old it was, but the pile of stones called by his family name had resisted the ebb and flow of humanity through this valley for centuries. True, it was in ruins today and would eventually disappear as all things mortal eventually fade away, but for a time it had survived much longer than the lives of its founders. This castle was an anchor in human history, a part of his personal timeline. His particular branch of the family had left here centuries ago and eventually immigrated to the New World. Was the castle existing then as a testimonial to their passing, or was it already in ruins? Would any historical document accurately record their passing through here? He doubted it!

But there was an indelible spiritual record—the time flower—and there was Someone with a timeless perspective to interpret it. Not a sparrow falls apart from the King’s knowledge! And we were worth so much more than many sparrows! These were profound lessons learned in his long journey here to this point in time. The King of Creation would be overseeing human history and diligently recording those many couplings that culminated in the gene pool that produced him. He knows my name! Another hard-won lesson. Confident that there were answers to his many questions, and a loving Creator behind it all, the man followed after his two companions toward the castle.

The Traveler slipped and slid down the grassy escarpment, now slickened by the gentle rain. He was soaked to the skin and growing colder. His companions were well ahead of him, but still in plain view and headed directly toward the castle. He considered calling out to them, but that was unnecessary. He would catch up. The low ground between them was marshy, slowing his progress, and his shoes grew leaden with water. In his haste, he slipped several times, dropping to his hands and knees in the tall grass. The occasional pile of sheep manure only added to the slippery nature of his passage. The weather was closing in, deadening the sound of the traffic until it could no longer be heard above the wind. Heavy clouds crept down from the nearby highlands. The power lines and street lights disappeared into the grayness. In a matter of minutes, he could no longer see the small city of Garstang or the River Wyre.

Coming to a three-strand, barbed wire fence, he held down the uppermost wire and threw his right leg across, trying to spare his pants from a snag. In the dampness and cold, he lost his grip, and the wire rebounded into his left hand, lacerating his bare palm. Blood began to flow. Shocked by the surprising pain in his hand, he lost his concentration and his balance. His right foot reaching the ground on the far side shot out from beneath him, flipping him over the fence onto his back and leaving his left pant leg snagged on the fence above his head. Another steel barb raked the inside of his left leg. Flushed with anger, he struggled violently to find some leverage to extricate himself, but the ground beneath him was slimy and muddy. Thrashing around only worsened the tear in his pant leg and he remained entangled. The mighty time warrior, the King’s own gallant knight, done in by a simple barbed wire fence!

He needed to calm down and laugh at his predicament. HHHe sincerely hoped his companions were still walking away from him, oblivious to this latest ordeal faced by the King’s ambassador. Slowly, he pulled the uppermost strand of the wire toward him with one hand and freed his leg with the other. Exhausted by the effort, he lay on his back for a moment, feeling the gentle rain falling on his face, wondering if anyone in his ancestry was having second thoughts about acknowledging this particular family member.

Pulling himself out from underneath the fence, he gingerly stood up, brushed himself off as best he could, and began the slippery task of finishing the climb up the grassy hill to the castle. The sheep, now on the far side of the fence, were eying him suspiciously but at least none of them were laughing aloud. He was wet and filthy, and nearly exhausted when he made the final few feet over grass and jumbled stones. His companions were waiting for him at the wall.

A rough passage? asked Yad’el without a trace of sarcasm.

You might say that, grimaced the Traveler, squeezing his lacerated hand tightly shut. Bright red blood mixed with rainwater dripped to the ground. Why are we here?

To draw a line in the sand, explained his companion, crossing his arms. To bring down the walls of an ancient fortress. You have been adopted into the King’s household. You wear His colors and His name. You are a prince of the Kingdom.

The Traveler smirked, gesturing to his filthy clothing, torn pants, and bleeding leg. You’re making fun of me?

I would never do that, denied Yad’el earnestly.

But this fortress is already in ruins. And I am not Joshua.

Are you thinking as a linear man, or as the timeless traveler? asked Latris beside him. Are you seeing the world the way the King sees it? As the Traveler listened to his companions, his thinking steadied. He was standing in the gateway to a castle, an ancient castle, a stronghold connected to his family legacy. He studied the gray stones. What had happened here that still affected him in the present moment? In his mind’s eye, he began to envision the stones coming back together, stacking themselves. The walls rose again, the towers returned, the stronghold materialized out of the distant past.

Something happened here that complicates my entry into the Promised Land. A curse was placed upon my family, upon me, from the ancient past. This is so…horrible. How do you fight against the past?

You begin with fighting for the future, instructed Yad’el. His rigid military bearing and complete confidence in the King was encouraging. But still, the Traveler shook his head.

How do you fight for the future?

The weapons of your warfare are not carnal, warrior. "They are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses."

And I already have such a weapon? asked the Traveler. With his right hand, he reached up to take hold of the pendant hanging about his neck. Untouched by the filth of his recent tumble, the jewels blazed with inner fire. The central blue stone was emblematic of the King’s colors, bringing the others to a focus. The red ruby was Wisdom, giving him the King’s perspective. The orange citrine was Knowledge, seeing the plan in operation. The violet amethyst—Believing in the Plan. The green emerald—Choosing Life. The true, blue diamond of Right Standing before the King. Did they collectively give him something he had never had before? Was there some synergistic weapon created by their proximity to each other? Were there unknown capabilities of this amazing pendant?

The world, the flesh and the devil would teach you that you are a helpless victim of time and events, added Latris. To be, or not to be: that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows…and barbed wire fences…of outrageous fortune or take arms against them, and by opposing end them?

"That’s not Biblical," responded the man.

No! Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act III, Scene I, another young prince dealing with generational curses at his family castle, confirmed his companion with a wry smile. Your own traveling, up to this point in time, has shown you the defensive capabilities of your journey. The King fights for you, Traveler! That remains true, at every point in time! But you are also being equipped to fight for the King! His enemies are powerful, heavily entrenched, and have a five thousand year head-start distorting your history. But take arms against them, and by opposing, end them! It is a daunting mission!

It sounds impossible.

Latris smiled. With man, it would not be possible, but with God all things are possible.

I am so weak, and ignorant…and clumsy. He held up his lacerated hand as evidence.

Hence the need for strength and courage.

Latris gestured to the gathering darkness beyond the tumbled walls of the castle. No longer hearing the traffic, nor seeing the city—time slipped away.

There once was a time when the children of Israel were huddled in their crude homes and shelters in ancient Egypt, helpless and terrified of the grim, rapidly approaching future. Their past was slavery to the world. In the present moment, they were weak, helpless and hopeless. But the God of Creation was fighting for them, sending curses upon their enemies, eventually dispatching His spirit of death among their human oppressors. It was a frightening time. As if to underscore the companion’s description, a rumble of thunder echoed across the valley, and there was wailing on the rising wind. The Traveler shivered.

But, even then, the offensive had begun, continued Latris solemnly. No longer merely helpless victims, forces were at work to transform the Chosen people into more than conquerors. There must still be atonement, breaking the shackles of the past so that the future generation would not know slavery again.

The Traveler blinked back tears. He thought of Nathan, his only begotten son, heir to this same perplexing family legacy. If he did not intercept this curse with his own life, right now, it would pass on to his son, as surely as the genetics passed on to Nathan from his union with Amanda.

What must I do? asked the man, finding new strength and courage.

"The Chosen people were instructed to sacrifice an innocent and spotless lamb to their God, then spread its blood on the doorposts and lintels of their habitations. When the angel of death would see the sacrificial blood placed there, ‘the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.’"

The Traveler looked anxiously at the sheep grazing innocently in the adjacent pasture. You are not suggesting that I ….

"Truths spiritually apprised—not linear thinking," affirmed Yad’el.

The Traveler licked his lips and concentrated on the facts assembled before him. By their obedience in the present moment, accepting the sacrifice of the Lamb, they were drawing a line in the sand, forever associating themselves with the King and His purposes. But what about the blessings and curses you mentioned? You said both sides employed them?

Yad’el nodded grimly.

The Traveler’s newfound courage was already waning. He feared the enemy, but he had a greater dread of being aligned against the King and His purposes. It was He who sent the angel of death into ancient Egypt. It was He who visited the sins of the fathers on the children. It was He who cursed the Ammonites and Moabites to the tenth generation. Was this symbolic atonement by a spiritual lamb in the present moment sufficient to protect Nathan and the future against the sins of the past? His own past? His own heredity?

There will be decisions and consequences, for that generation of Chosen people, for every generation of believers since then, for you and your posterity. But the King can be trusted, Traveler. Latris placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. He sees the time flower in all its permutations. Ten generations later, after cursing the Moabites, a Moabite woman would indeed enter the assembly of the Chosen people and be grafted into the very lineage of Jesus Himself. Redemption by a redeemer kinsman. The Lord can be trusted with the future…and the past.

What must I do in the present?

Obedience!

The Traveler sighed deeply. Was there a hidden answer here? He concentrated, trying to appraise the situation spiritually. A symbolic sacrifice was needed to draw a line between the past and the future. The sand was time itself. Yad’el was not being allegorical; he was providing clues to the answer. The Traveler smiled at him hopefully, but his guardian remained stern and unmoved. No more clues! The Traveler held up his bleeding, open palm.

I am not an innocent and spotless lamb.

Yad’el huffed in disagreement and recalled another verse from the Word. For we are the sheep of your pasture and the flock of your right hand.

Remember, you are grafted into the vine, added Latris. "For I am the vine, and you are the branches." "The blood of the spotless and innocent Lamb of God is