“JUST TAKE IT NICE AND SLOW, GENERAL.”
Forka snorted at Jeb Masters. “Have you ever known me to take anything slow?” He grinned and gave his mare a light kick with his remaining leg. Jeb and his daughter, Melisa, had helped Brent Fields learn to ride with only one arm. Forka knew if anyone could help him become mobile on horseback despite having only one leg, Jeb would be the one to do it.
Forka concentrated on his riding. He had thought his thigh muscles were strong enough, but he hadn’t realized how much he depended on his feet in the stirrups to give him the confidence to do more than walk the mare. He had to learn to rely on his thigh muscles to keep him in the saddle. Forka smiled as No Name’s foal read his subtle signals to turn around. She’s as smart as her Momma.
“Brad stopped by earlier. Said to remind you about dinner tonight,” Jeb shouted.
Forka nodded and flashed a grin to Jeb over his shoulder before digging his heel into the mare’s side. She took off smoothly, muscles bunching beneath her glistening red coat. Forka wheeled her around and shouted at her to run like the wind. He came to a stop in front of the fence where Jeb sat, chuckling to himself.
“Feel better now?”
“Much.” Forka swung his stump around and jumped down, landing easily on one leg. He handed the reins to Jeb and grabbed his crutches from against the fence. As always, when he fitted the wooden crutches under his arms feelings of self-pity washed over him, threatening to drown out the joy and expectation of dinner with friends.
Brad and Kaelin lived on a farm on the outskirts of the Jhinn encampment. By the time Forka arrived at the tiny wooden house, his arms were sore but he welcomed the pain. It reminded him he was alive.
The front door opened and a skinny girl of two ran at him at full speed, her jet-black hair flying behind her like a cape. She leapt into his arms and buried her face in his neck.
“Unca Forka! You have dinner?”
Forka juggled the wriggling girl and his crutches. “Of course. Did you think I would miss our weekly meal together?”
“Nah.” She gave him one last squeeze before he set her down. She ran ahead, shouting to her parents through the still-open door.
Brad met Forka at the door and shook his hand. “Good to see you, General.”
Forka sighed. He had tried for the last several years to break everyone of the habit of calling him “Sir” and “General” but it was as though the townfolk and the Protectors were being deliberately uncooperative.
Kaelin was in the kitchen, her pregnant belly swelling against her simple cotton dress.
“What are you doing on your feet? I thought Sawbones ordered you to take it easy,” Forka said.
Kaelin snorted. “The way that man carries on you’d think this was the first time I had given birth to twins. I feel fine.” She patted his cheek as she bustled past, setting a tall mug of ale on the table. She turned to her husband. “Will you call the kids for dinner?”
Brad shouted and the twins, Saemus and Keera, ran into the room. Forka smiled at the pair, so like their mother but with their father’s temperament. Kaelin gave each of them a kiss on their heads, rubbing her belly as she watched them fill their plates with food.
“Is your brother coming for the big day?” Forka asked.
Kaelin smiled. “He wouldn’t miss it. Keera can’t make it as she is about to bring her second child into the world.”
“Have you picked out names yet?”
Kaelin nodded. “Since we named the first twins after people special to me, we decided to name the next set after Brad’s parents, Pete and Vicky.” She beamed at her husband.
“Are you certain they will be a boy and girl again?” Forka asked.
“Sawbones thinks so. I have other ways of knowing.” Kaelin winked.
Brad groaned. “I tried to talk her out of using her power to find out the sex of the children. I thought it would be more fun for it to be a surprise.”
“I just couldn’t help it.”
“Well, as long as they are happy and healthy, that’s all that matters,” Brad said.
After the meal, the adults retired to the back porch. Brad and Forka lit their pipes, ignoring the snort of disgust from Kaelin.
“I still can’t believe how it all turned out,” Kaelin said as she stared at the stars.
Brad grabbed her hand and kissed it gently. “All that matters is that it did.”
“That’s true, but don’t you ever want to know if this is what the prophecy had in mind all along?”
Brad shrugged. “Not really. I have you and our children. Worrying about how we got here doesn’t change anything.”
“You’re impossible. What do you think?” Kaelin turned to Forka.
“I don’t know. Robert preaches that God had a grand plan and that He saw to it that it succeeded, despite losing our friends along the way. Did it happen the way the prophecy said it was supposed to? Who can say?”
Kaelin rocked in her chair, rubbing her swollen belly. “I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Jon...” She wiped at her cheeks.
Brad took both of her hands in his. “We don’t have to wonder ‘what if’. He saved us all. We’re alive and we get to live the rest of our lives together.”
Kaelin grabbed him around the neck and held on like she was afraid he would disappear. She pulled back and kissed him deeply, pouring her love into that kiss. “You’re right, of course. I suppose in the end, it really doesn’t matter how we got here. We’re just lucky this is where we ended up.”
***
“Gwen! You get in here this instant!” Keera shouted.
“Leave her be. She’s fighting dragons.” Sloan reached around her to place his hands over her belly.
Keera laid her head back against his chest. “Her dinner will get cold.”
“We can heat it up again.”
“You let her get away with too much.”
“I just like having this time alone with you. It won’t be too much longer until we have another little one in the house.” Sloan nuzzled her neck.
Keera giggled. “It’s going to be months yet. Kaelin’s the one due any day now.”
“I spoke to Saemus earlier today. He’s still trying to fit the events to the prophecy.”
“I don’t see why he even bothers. The Mekans are gone and life is back to normal. Why keep thinking about it?”
“He’s been thinking about the line that says ‘Only the Chosen can save us’. He thinks that there are multiple ways that line can be interpreted.”
Keera turned to face Sloan, curiosity overriding her desire to watch her daughter play. “What does he say?”
“The Chosen is the same when dealing with all of us together. Or only one of us.”
“So you mean Saemus thinks that the prophecy only meant for Jon to save us? What about the marks we all have that match the planet symbols on the portal? Was that a mistake?”
Sloan shrugged. “I never said I agree with him.”
“Well, I think it’s ridiculous. If Saemus is right, all of the other Chosen were never actually Chosen. I can’t accept that.”
“There’s another thing that supports Saemus’ theory. Remember the part that said something about the Chosen infiltrating the enemy? That could mean Jon taking over their collective minds.”
“So what does Mr. Head of the Mystics think about the rest of it? What about the part about needing help? I think he’s trying to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense. Maybe we won because we refused to stop fighting. Maybe the prophecy was supposed to mean something different but when the girl from Earth was killed, it changed things. If everything turned out like the prophecy said, why were the Gentran prophets unable to write more prophecy?”
Sloan held up his hands. “I see your point. There are as many questions as there are answers. But I still can’t help but wonder if things really turned out as they were supposed to, or if it was just random chance that Jon figured out how to beat them.”
Keera hugged her husband close. She had been wondering the same things, visions of what could have happened and what she wished had happened keeping her awake at night. What if Jon hadn’t saved them all? What if he had lost the battle to controll the machines and the Mekans had continued to destroy Astra? What if the prophecy had been less cryptic and they had figured out how to beat the machines before Gwen had been killed? Or even Tess? Or before Volgon and Kromin had been laid to waste? She pulled back to look into her husband’s green eyes. “Let’s just be thankful that we are still alive and able to watch our children grow old.”
Sloan kissed her on the end of the nose. “I think that’s a great idea. By the way, we’re having company for dinner.” He pointed to the window.
Keera smiled when she saw Feeror, Moylir, and the clone walking up the road. Her heart hurt for her friends, whose worlds had been destroyed by the machines, but she was thankful for the new lives they had been able to create for themselves. Moylir was engaged to be married. The statuesque woman glowed when she spoke of the man she was going to wed. Feeror wore the token taken from his mate, Gwen, and refused to even look at another woman. For most of the year, the clone resided in Vis Relissa with Saemus and helped to train future Mystics.
She smiled at her friends as they joined her daughter in her imaginary games. Whatever the reason for all of us surviving, thank you good Spirits. Thank you.