Jack Staples and the Ring of Time by Mark Batterson Read Free Book Online Page B

trousers.” Arthur’s voice became higher by the second as he rambled on.
    Quickly pushing Arthur out of his mind, Jack stared at a large number of cracked brown pages scattered across Mrs. Dumphry’s desk. The papers looked haphazard, overlapping one another and covering most of the surface, leaving only the edges bare. It seemed to Jack as if this had been done purposefully, though he couldn’t imagine why. Even though every page was a separate piece, they were linked in a way he didn’t understand. Covering the pages was a strange picture.
    “It can’t be,” he said, though he was speaking to himself.
    “That’s what I’m saying,” Arthur said. “You’d think she’d at least speak like a proper girl. And can you believe she carries a sling? A sling for goodness sake! And, I ask you, what kind of girl goes about climbing trees like that?”
    Jack didn’t hear a word Arthur was saying; he was much too engrossed in the pages. The longer he looked, the more sure he was that it wasn’t a picture; it was a map of some sort. Great mountain ranges had been drawn, crossing several pages. Yet where the pages overlapped one another, the mountains seemed to rise upward, almost as if they came off the actual pages.
    It reminded Jack of the pop-out book he’d seen at Mr. Hamilton’s bookstore last summer. When he’d opened the book, the characters inside had quite literally popped out, though they had been made of paper. Yet that book was nothing like what he was seeing now. The mountains linking the pages looked real. He was sure he could see snow falling on their peaks! As the mountains carried on into the middle of the pages, they once again became normal drawings.
    Surrounding the mountains were large bodies of water. And where the pages overlapped, waves crashed, sending sprays into the air. Jack’s jaw dropped. The water was the color of … he didn’t know. He’d never seen anything like it. It wasn’t just one color—there were hundreds of them, and Jack couldn’t have named a single one. He began to laugh. The colors were dancing with one another as they spun in intricate patterns.
    When Arthur heard him laugh, he glanced back in irritation. “Well, I don’t think it’s funny at all,” he said. “She could have killed you with that stone!”
    Jack ignored his friend. He scanned the map and began to grin. It was so beautiful! The longer he looked, the giddier he felt. He placed his hands on the desk, leaning in to get a closer look. As he leaned in, Jack had a vision. Whether it was in his head or he was watching it play out in the center of the map, he couldn’t tell, but a scene began to flash before him.
    There was a being made entirely of light. It was brighter than the sun and standing on the topmost peak of an enormous mountain. Whoever or whatever this being was, it was far too bright for Jack’s eyes. Even when he squeezed them shut, he could still see the blinding light. As he tried to turn away, the being’s voice boomed inside his head.
    “I WILL ASCEND THE UTMOST HEIGHTS OF SIYYON.” It was the most beautiful voice Jack had ever heard—every word sounded like a magnificent symphony.
    “I AM BELIAL, THE LORD OF HARMONY. EVEN THE GREATEST DRAKEONS TREMBLE IN MY SIGHT. THE STARS BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP ME!”
    The voice was so bewitching, so melodic, it took his breath away. Although the voice was echoing inside his head, Jack was sure the being wasn’t talking to him.
    “IF I RISE UP, THEY WILL FOLLOW. IF I MOVE NOW, I WILL UNSEAT THE AUTHOR HIMSELF!”
    Although he didn’t understand what they meant, Jack knew the words were wrong. Whoever Belial was, he had to feel it too. It was like the time Jack lied to his mother about eating the apple pie. When he told her he hadn’t done it, he’d felt the words as they left his mouth. He’d known they were wrong before they formed on his tongue. Whoever was speaking, his words were like that. Except these words made Jack feel infinitely