A Hero's Heart. Joseph David Hightower

voice in the village. The one that stopped the attack. Why is your appearance so very different from the last time we met?” Heru asked.

      Yeshua reached down and once again pulled Heru to his feet as he replied, “The last time, you only needed a comforter and healer. This time you needed a savior and deliverer. You see Heru, I AM anything and everything that have ever needed and everything that you will ever need, I AM the I AM! There is nothing that you will ever need that I will not be able to provide for you. If you are in trouble, I AM your deliverer, if you need to be rescued, I AM your savior, if you need to be comforted, I AM your comforter, and the list can and does go on for eternity. I love you Heru and I will always be here for you if you need me. You have asked me into your heart and it is there that I will be. I can hear your every need even before you know that you have the need, so I AM always ready with the answer.”

      As Yeshua finished speaking, Heru could feel himself being pulled back into his dreams, and upon waking, he knew that he could face whatever the new day would bring.

      Chapter 10

      Lord Hanabashita’s dreams were equally disturbing. While being much the same as Heru’s, Lord Hanabashita found himself in the warm late afternoon sunshine on his way back into the village. As he drew closer, he noticed that the villagers were not at work busy with the daily tasks of the village. The hair began to stand on end the further into the village he got, for it was then that he noticed the Lotus blossoms hung from every door. He felt himself freeze from the inside out as he heard the eerie laughter of his great grandfather. He rushed into the heart of the village and as he rounded the last corner, the sounds of mourners filled his ears. He looked with a soul-ripping dread at the funeral procession in front of him. He began shouting at the villagers, but none could hear him because they had no ears, no eyes, they had only sharp fangs where their mouths had once been. They grabbed Lord Hanabashita and threw him into the coffin. He landed on top of his own body, a rotting almost unrecognizable image of himself. Half of his face was gone and yet he could speak, but it was not his own voice that he heard, instead it was the voices of his ancestors. “Why have you disrespected us this way? Did we not warn you of what would happen if you missed even one nightly offering?”

      “I do not know what disrespect you speak of, I have always completed the nightly offerings without fail!” Hanabashita replied in a trembling voice. “Tell me what you speak of! So, that I may be able to correct the problem.”

      “Last night, you left the sacrifice to your son, did you not?

      “Yes, that is correct, I did leave it to my son, it was his 19^th birthday and I felt it was his time to begin the tradition of honoring the ancestors.”

      “While that is an honorable intention, your son was not ready for the task! He did not honor the ancestors, he insulted them! He failed you and he failed us, something must be done to correct this grave mistake immediately or you will die!”

      “What is it that I must do to appease the ancestors and correct the mistake of my young son?” asked Lord Hanabashita.

      The rotting corpse turned his half face away and appeared to be communicating with some unseen beings. He looked back at Hanabashita and replied in a quiet, but deadly voice, “You must kill your son as an offering to the ancestors.”

      “No, that cannot be! There has to be some other way, a different task, a different offering, please do not make me kill my only son!” pleaded Hanabashita.

      “It is your blood, your son, or your wife, it must be one of you that must die in order for the ancestors to be appeased and peace to once again reign in the Lotus Village. Do not disrespect them further with more questions and arguments, you have the instructions, follow them! Now wake up and do as you’re told!”

      Lord Hanabashita came slowly awake, and sitting up in his bed, he bowed his head and began to weep for the tasks that he must perform next. He willed the sun not to rise for as soon as it did, it would be time for him to make the choice of killing either himself, his son or his beloved wife. He prayed for the night to last, but even that prayer went unheeded, for outside of his window he could see the beginning of a new day.

      As the sun rose higher and higher over the village, the Red Armor started his retreat. He threw out the chains that bound fear, dread, and torment into three small bottles, and with a last venomous laugh they all vanished into the air leaving only a faint black cloud and the strong pungent smell sulfur behind.

      Chapter 11

      That morning, both Hanabashita men awoke with two very different emotions. One was fearless and refreshed while the other was weighted down and exhausted. Lord Hanabashita summoned his son to the meeting house. As each made their way there they each took time to reflect on the previous night’s dream.

      Heru walked to the meeting house unafraid, knowing that Yeshua was with him and that he could face his father without fear or condemnation. Lord Hanabashita, however, walked to the meeting house with fear in his heart. He looked toward the sky and the dark clouds that were hanging low over the ancestral mountain, those clouds seemed to have dark piercing eyes that followed Hanabashita. The smell of Lotus blossoms hung heavy in the air.

      Lord Hanabashita tried to put off the meeting with his son for as long as possible. He did this by conducting village business first and refused to be interrupted. This gave Heru’s mother time to walk around the house and pray for the meeting that was about to happen between Heru and his father. When Lord Hanabashita was finally finished with the village business, he summoned for Heru to come in, as Heru entered the room, a deadly silence filled the space. Father and son stood staring into each other’s eyes, both searching for the right words to say, yet coming up empty. Shadows floated against the outer walls, and sat in the corners, observing the conflict with glee.

      “My son, is there anything that you would like to tell your father, good or bad?” asked Lord Hanabashita.

      “Yes Father, I do have some news, both good and bad. Last night when I went up to the ancestral mountain to perform the nightly offering, I fell asleep before placing the offerings on the alter. When I awoke, the offerings had been scattered all over the mountain and down into the village, I am so sorry for disappointing you father. I beg for your forgiveness.” Heru finished as he fell to his knees in front of his father.

      Lord Hanabashita rose and turned his back on his son and walked to the back of the room where he removed an ancient ceremonial beheading blade. “Are you telling me that you did the one thing that would jeopardize what I have worked my entire life for?” he asked Heru in a voice filled a combination of remorse and bitter anger.

      All the while in a darkened corner of the room an unearthly red light ascended from the floor and out of the shadows stepped two of hells most hideous creatures. Both were red with sharp talons at the end of their arms instead of fingers and each had six legs with venomous talons on their feet that stuck out like razor blades. They were bound together with chains that bore each of their names, one was hatred and the other was bitter anger. They sat as if at a dinner table waiting for the meal begin. They were fed by the emotions coming from Heru’s father, the angrier and more hate filled he became, the stronger and larger they grew.

      Lord Hanabashita slowly approached his son, blade in hand, ready to perform the task assigned to him by the ancestors. He lifted the blade high into the air just as Heru lifted his head, with only moments to spare he rolled out causing the blade to miss his head by only a couple of centimeters. He instinctively grabbed for the other blade to defend himself, and the fierce battle began, each trying to best the other, the swords swung together with increasing strength and speed causing a shower of sparks to fall around their feet. The creatures continued to feed on the energy radiating from the battle. Continually growing stronger and bigger with each moment, each thrust of the sword. They grew to the point of fusing together into one gigantic monstrous demonic creature. The two creatures let out a deafening scream that neither Hanabashita could hear. With the chains still holding them, the name now read MURDER. The demon opened its mouth and a poisonous green gas started to fill the room and both Heru and his father began to breathe in the toxic fumes. Heru gave his father a hard