Prologue

Town Meeting—The Mission

A REVERENT SILENCE DEFINED THE heavenly room as the participants tooktheir places.This was a new team. A new set of chosen travelers gathered for a desperate series of battles. A mission with the highest stakes. Orlon rose to his full height and took his place at the front of the room. The walls shimmered with gold and sparkling stone. The brightest possible light streamed through the windows. No one seemed to notice.

Angels were accustomed to the light.Orlon stared at the faces before him. He could feel their concerns, their questions, their curiosity. Each of the twenty angels gathered here had been hand-picked, carefully selected for this team because together they possessed something rare and beautiful: a discernment that set them apart.