The Seven Seals Excerpt

Excerpt from The Seven Seals:

Bleak, dismal, brooding. The atmosphere of Earth knew it was under siege. A depressing, slate gray sky stretched as far as the eye could see, blanketing cities, deserts, oceans. Clouds collected together in such mass that it seemed impossible no rain fell from their swollen bellies. Evelyn sensed the dampness on the air every time she breathed.

The stark difference between this and the sunny landscape of Eden threatened to put a blight on the soul, as if the accumulation emitted a sinister pulse that wrecked all internal peace.

Muddy and soaked from a prior downpour, the terrain sucked at the soles of her boots. Random puddles were obstacles she avoided for now.

Philae, Egypt felt like a tropical rainforest. The Nile pushed against the banks, threatening to overspill across the sandscape surrounding it. In some parts it probably had crested, flooding flatlands or cities or whatever lie in its treacherous path.

The Temple of Isis was still deserted; no people crossed the rising water to the island's shores. And why should they? If the Nile kept rising it would flood the newly named Philae and threaten the Temple with another water burial. No one in their right mind wanted to be on these small islands right now. None except the four Templars and three sisters set on their mission.

Humanity at large had no idea that the gateway to Eden lie through the door in the majestic pylons, that it was the safest place anyone could be.

“Ashrael's right. We need a plane. Do we call Father Valanzano and have him send one or do we go from private strip to private strip here, hoping to find someone to fly us out?” Dragar asked. Father Valanzano was the Templar's liaison to the Church.

Ashrael might have given Rhett the compass, but Dragar took control with experienced ease once they were outside the gate.

Standing between the long colonnades, the group stopped to consider it.

“I say cover our asses. Call Father Valanzano, have him send something—and they will have something because they're prepared for situations like this—and we'll look for a private airport in the meantime. Use the phone while we've got a chance to. If they go out, we'll have no choice but to fly ourselves,” Rhett said.

“We have to have a pilot--” Alexandra started to speak but Dracht interrupted her.

“Dad knows how to fly. Not a commercial plane, but we don't need that anyway.”

“I can fly something small. If it's already out of the hangar, if we can fuel it up, and if we can find keys.” Dragar led them on, bypassing the pool of blood from the Servant of the Fallen.