A Warrior's Journey (34 page)

She smiled softly at him, “I know, thank you
Larc for everything!”

“It’s been my pleasure.”

A few moments went past and then Evette
asked, “Can I have my own horse?”

“Why yes you may, but only if you wear pants
when you ride it!”

Evette burst out laughing and Larc stole a
moment and looked at her, while she was unguarded and laughing. He
thought that it would be fair of him to say that he felt a
physical, spiritual, emotional whatever you wanted to call it ache
inside himself to see her laugh, to smile, and just love life in
general and be there every moment of the way with her.

“Larc you’re staring at me strangely.” She
said half smiling.

He refocused his eyes and smiled, “Sorry I
got blinded there for a moment by the sun and I couldn’t think of a
better thing to do than keep looking into your eyes.”

She smiled deeply, her eyes sparkling, and
held out her hand and he took it as they sat there watching space
go by.

It was early morning. The sun hadn’t even
made it up over the mountains yet and the wind was chilly. None of
which seemed to register to Roric, as he stood by the railing of
his cliffside terrace bare-chested, as he gazed out toward the
northern sea. Waiting and praying and hoping.

Krista stirred in the big bed within the
room missing the warmth of her husband beside her. She sat up and
saw him through the glass doors standing forlornly alone, as he
waited for his sons to come home.

She knew that he wished desperately to have
gone on the mission with them, but it was for the best that he
hadn’t. The situation would have fallen apart without him here in
the Valley Lands to manage it.

Today felt different somehow though, enough
for her to risk touching the cold floor with her feet and suffering
the pain of it. She hurriedly found her slippers and put them on
and then she turned back to the bed and pulled off a large throw
and wrapped it around herself.

It still wasn’t enough, but it would have to
do. With teeth slightly chattering she opened the glass door and
stepped out onto the cold terrace and shuffled over to stand in
front of her husband and pushed back against him, and action that
demanded that he put his arms around her.

He chuckled, as he did the requested action
hinted at, “A couple more minutes out here and you’ll turn blue
dear.”

She didn’t doubt it, but she was staying
with him all the same. She did not like to see him look so lonely
or perhaps hopeless, as he had been before she had come out
here.

She looked up at him, “Today’s going to be
different, you watch and see!”

“How do you know?”

“Why woman’s intuition of course!”

“Oh I see.” Roric said resting his chin on
top of her head appreciating her more than she could ever know.

Suddenly the morning brightened, but it
wasn’t from the sun that hadn’t quite made its way up over the
mountains yet. A shimmering column of green and gold reached out of
the heavens and disappeared into the sea beyond their view.

“They’re back!” Roric exploded, as Krista’s
eyes closed as she whispered fervently, “Thank you Creator!”

Roric raced for the doorway off of the
terrace but then stopped and turned back to Krista to bottled up
inside to say what he needed to.

Laughing she said, “Go! I’ll get everything
ready.” And like a flash he was gone running down the halls. She
could hear him yelling for Rolf at the top of his lungs to get his
horse saddled. Knowing Rolf he was probably already done saddling
his horse.

Krista hadn’t had the heart to tell her
husband what she feared that was in heart was true. Not all of her
sons had returned. But she did not feel loss with the premonition
so she would wait to see what the matter of the story was before
she allowed herself to mourn.

The space vessel shook and quivered as it
plunged down through the last few miles of air and into the ocean
depths. I let my hands fall away from the control panel my work
done. Now it was up to Torren to do his thing.

Slowly the vessel pulled out of its steep
dive and our speed dramatically decreased and within moments we
were on an even keel and headed for the bay and the last hurdle
before us. The rocks that barred the bay.

The time came soon enough as the rocks
loomed close and Torren began to thread his way through the maze
ever following the green lines path. Heaven forbid it turn red.

Torren seem to remember where the worst
crosscurrents were because he kept us on course remarkably well. It
was almost hard to believe it was over, when we passed the last
rock formation and the autopilot took back over directing us down
and up the long shoot to the ship’s dock.

As the vessel clicked into place and the
engines powered down we all turned and looked at Ileyano when he
spoke, “It’s good to be home at last!”

He appeared to be fully back with us and
even smiled at our disbelieving visual inspection of him. It would
seem that a miracle had occurred in our midst, while we had been
living through another.

Larc opened the hatch and one by one we made
our way up and out of the space vessel and down its side to the
dock beside it.

Abby’s form lit up in front of us and Evette
half screamed and jumped back against Larc.

Abby held a hand to her face and said, “Oh
I’m so sorry dear! The others are used to me just appearing out of
nowhere. I’m sorry for the fright I caused you. Tell me what is
your name?”

“Evette.” Evette said softly still not sure
of the figure in front of her.

“Trenall” Larc intoned behind her.

Abby took in the possessive way Larc’s hands
rested on Evette’s shoulders and smiled.

Opening her arms wide Abby said, “Evette
Trenall let me be the first to welcome you to the lands of our
ancestors formerly from the land of Perth, on the world you know as
Earth.”

As her words were being spoke the walls
around us shimmered into an epic panorama of the mountains and the
valleys and the streams and the forests of my home. Even the
ceiling of the room appeared as if it were the blue sky
overhead.

The feeling was as if one was on horseback
riding through the land itself at great speed, it was so
believable. Evette gasped aloud at the sights all around her.

I had not known that Abby could do that, but
then there was a lot that Abby could do that we hadn’t seen yet.
The scenes faded and the room went back to its normal setting.

Abby still smiling said, “There waiting for
you on top. Enjoy the view as there’s nothing quite like seeing for
yourself for the first time or coming home after a long absence to
the haven of our ancestors. Thank you all for your heroic efforts
and for a job well done!”

We all started to walk past her towards the
lift, all of us eager to see what we had just glimpsed for
ourselves once more or in Evette’s case for the first time.

I stopped beside Abby and said, “Impressive
show! It’s almost as if you’d seen it for yourself.”

Abby’s smile went away and seeming to look
through me she said softly, “I did a long time ago.”

And then she was gone and I was left to
wonder at what she had meant by her last statement. I put my
curiosity to rest as I was as eager as the rest to step foot on the
surface of my world once more.

As we stood on the lift and were taken up
towards the surface Evette broke the silence by saying, “Your
ancestors must not have been big believers on safety protocols!”
She said indicating the sides of the channel around the lift that
we were passing by rapidly.

I tried not to pay attention to that myself.
Reaching the surface, the big stone walls began to retreat and
there stood my father. I walked up to him and his arms came around
me and almost threatened to squeeze the life out of me.

It felt so good to feel his strength once
more. It was so good to be home! Reluctantly my father set me back
a little.

“It’s so good to see you son!”

“And you father! Father Talaric didn’t come
back with us. He’s not dead! He said that the Creator had some
purpose for him on Earth yet and that he couldn’t come back until
it was completed. He’s changed father!”

Roric nodded, as he came to grips with the
news his son had told him, “It may sound strange to some but what
you’ve told me of Talaric is in some ways better than having him
standing here. I know he’s alive and better yet he’s making himself
right with the Creator, and Lord willingly he’ll find his way home
someday I pray.”

Father let go of me and swallowed Larc up in
a bear hug too and I heard him say into Larc’s ear, “I knew you
could do it! Well done son!”

Larc had always been like a son in my
father’s eyes and Larc had viewed him as both the friend and father
figure that he had been cheated of as a boy. Drawing back from Larc
I saw Father begin to regard Evette, who had huddled closer to
Larc.

“And who is this exceptionally fine flower
of beauty beside you Larc?”

At his words Evette’s face blushed
profusely.

Larc stepped aside and introduced her, “This
is Evette. She is my lady, of which I could never have asked the
Creator for more than what He has given me in her. She has
something to give you.”

Evette stepped forward her face completely
red now and handed Roric the big black book she held. Roric took it
reverently from her and held it a moment in his hands.

“Without her we wouldn’t have found it much
less escaped Earth with it.” Larc said.

Roric nodded his head slowly and then handed
the Bible out to me, “I believe this is your blood on the Holy
Scriptures. You should be the one to carry it out to our
people.”

“Father...” With tears slipping out of my
eyes I said, “There’s more than just my blood on it!”

He looked back at me with unshed tears in
his own eyes, “I know. They would want you to carry it though.”

I took the Holy Scriptures back and held
them as reverently as he had. Father turned back to Evette and held
out his hand for her to take.

Evette looked at the scarred powerful hand
before her and then up at its owner’s kind eyes. She had never felt
so much of an overwhelming presence of an individual before, as she
did now standing before this man.

God moved powerfully in and around this man
and she felt special and a little afraid to be so near him. She
reached her hand out and put it in his and his closed gently on
hers and then he led her around the wall they had stepped out of to
the land side of the shrine.

Her breath left her, as she took in the
stunning vista of the great white snowy mountains in the distance,
and all that lay in between. The crystalline sparkle of clear
glacial water falling hundreds of feet to crash down into the
majestic forested slopes at the bases of the mountains was a sight
to behold.

The rich diverse texture of the forests
giving way to the grasslands of the valley bottoms let off a color
so green that she had never seen a range of hues that could equal
in intensity.

“It’s so beautiful!”

“Yes it is.” Roric said.

“Son go down among the men and let them
touch the words of the Creator, even as soon they will be able to
read it and learn more fully from the Creator of life Himself.”

I walked down the steps feeling a little
embarrassed of myself, as I walked down the measured lines of
mounted warriors. Battle hardened warriors of the line to new
recruits leaned out of their saddles to touch the book I held up,
many of them crying like babies.

They of their families were the first in
countless generations to have the joy and the honor of knowing the
words of the Creator for themselves.

Words that generations had yearned to read
and had died to preserve fragments, living and dying by faith for
what they had only had the barest evidence of. Those generations of
faith and perseverance were being rewarded at long last.

Evette glanced up at Roric, who still held
her hand and said, “You’re a wise father to elevate your son in the
eyes of your men.”

Roric glanced down at her and smiled and
then glanced over at Larc, “I would have rewarded Larc too, but God
already did more there than I could hope to equal.”

Evette colored up again as Larc grinned big.
Roric leaned down and whispered into Evette’s ear so that only she
could hear.

“God has already shown me on what high
regard He holds you Evette. Welcome to the lands of my people. Rest
in the haven of the strength of my people and know that I love you
as a father and will guard your well-being jealously, as if you
were of my own blood!”

Evette half sobbed, at the whispered words
and then turned and launched her arms around Roric’s neck and
hugged him with all of her strength.

When she felt him hug her in return she felt
what it was like for the first time in her life to be in a father’s
embrace and know a father’s protective and caring love.

Drawing back she said tearfully, “Thank
you!”

“Think nothing of it. But I do need to get
you home as there is someone who will want to meet her first
daughter in-law very much.”

Riding once more on a horse was a relief,
after the mechanized transports of Earth. Relentless seemed pleased
to have me back in the saddle as well. We made good time and were
entering the town of Ta’arny before I knew it, as if we were the
victors of some great battle.

I was glad at the joy the people showed over
having the complete collection of the words of the Creator again,
but the adulation of those of us who had survived to bring the word
back to them, made me feel defensive and yearn to be away from
them.