Lyrics
From the opening strains of “Riding the Crescendo” to the final bow, the audience was transfixed by an upward spiral of sound that seemed like it would burst through the ceiling and soar into the night sky. The rave reviews following the performance sent ripples throughout the music world that brought world leaders, dignitaries, elites, and the “who’s who” in the music world, there to catch one of the other performances scheduled for each remaining night of the event. Seats for the final night’s performance became highly coveted and could only be procured for a premium price. For Darien, the remainder of the week became a blur of interviews, photo ops, handshakes and autographs. Each evening‘s applause was longer and more enthusiastic than the previous night. Darien was indeed “riding the crescendo”. The cloaked messenger from the first night, as well as the riddle, was practically forgotten.
On the next to last night of the convention, after the evening’s performance, Darien was riding in a limo back to his hotel room. Tired from all of the fanfare of the week he began to nod off. While sitting at an intersection, just as he was about to dose, he happened to glance across the street to catch sight of the cloaked messenger standing on the curb. He immediately snapped awake just as a bus passed in front of the figure. On the side of the bus was an advertisement for a small air freight company called Eagle Air. Once the bus had passed, the messenger was gone. Darien, remembering the riddle, reached into his pocket and pulled it out. “Go underground to find the attic. Two days west of the Eagle’s nest, fly by night…” Darien’s heart began to race. Was the Eagle’s Nest referring to the Eagle Air terminal at the airport? Was this riddle instructing him to disappear by going underground and board a cargo flight somewhere to the west? What about this attic? Once again, in his thoughts, he dismissed this as some kind of ploy by Sabothian Wolfe to sabotage his career just as it was taking off. To pull a disappearing act just as his dreams were being realized would amount to career suicide. Or would it? When he got back to the hotel, the concierge flagged him down to give him a message that someone left for him. He read it inside of the elevator. It said “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." John 12;24. "You must leave tonight. Tell no one. History hangs in the balance”.