A Warrior's Journey (37 page)

Evette’s eyes drifted from the struggling
fish to Larc’s muscular backside in front of her. She bit her lip,
she shouldn’t. But she just couldn’t help herself.

She dropped the pole and Larc yelled out,
“What did you do that for?”

Before he could straighten up she put one
foot on his backside and pushed hard. He was already off balance
and had no way of stopping his forward plunge into the pond.

Spewing and sputtering he surged to his feet
in the pond. Then the dripping warrior made his way menacingly
toward shore and her, but she held her ground. Larc came to stand
so close to her that a couple of drips fell onto her.

“That is going to cost you!”

“Oh, what?”

“A kiss at the least!”

“Okay.” Evette said and leaned up to kiss
his cheek.

A look of sharp disappointment crossed
Larc’s face.

“That wasn’t exactly what I meant, but...”
His words were cut off as Evette leaned up and kissed him
deeply.

Drawing back she asked, “How was that?”

He had a somewhat dazed look on his face,
but managed to get out, “That was good! I can live with that!”

Evette brought her arms up around Larc’s
neck and pressed in against him, “I’d rather that you have all of
me. Can you live with that?”

The shocked expression in Larc’s eyes
deepened, “We don’t have to hurry this Evette. You can take your
time. I’m not in.....”

His words were cut off again as Evette
kissed him deeply again.

Leaning back a little she gazed up at him,
as she leaned against him completely relaxed, “What are you trying
to do? Let the fish off the hook?”

Larc shook his head, “No, no I don’t want to
do that!”

Smiling like Eve must have at Adam then
Evette said “Then shut up and kiss me!”

And he did.

Two years later.

Roric stared out over the valley from his
cliffside terrace at peace with life. Life couldn’t be any better
than it was right now. There were still some issues, but nothing
big.

In the two years since the words of the
Creator had been brought to the people of his world a great revival
had begun. Starting first in the Valley Lands it had swept out from
there into the Southern Settlements and surprisingly the Attorgron
Forests.

The cities of the Plains of Zoar proved more
resistant though and had clung to their dark faith rather than see
the light of the Creator’s grace revealed in their lives.

It was a great time to be alive that was for
sure. The preaching of the Creator’s words had seemed to release
the floodgates of heaven’s mercies upon the people of this world.
There had been more miracles done by the Creator than could ever be
attempted to be counted. It was an age of grace that they had
stepped into.

The Spirit of the Creator was like a mighty
river that flowed and washed all across the land, knowing no
boundaries other than those erected in man’s own heart. His own
family with the exception of Talaric was blessed by the events
taking place in their world as any could be.

Zarsha and Captain Jansa were expecting
their second child. Evette and Larc were so happy with each other
that it could be sickening at times to be around them. They were
expecting their first born in the fall. Gavin had laid down the
hammer and picked up the Holy Scriptures.

The Creator was using him mightily to reach
those who were lost. He had just come back from his second
mission’s trip from the Attorgron forest. As always his twin
brother Zevin had been there to keep him safe.

Zevin hadn’t stopped in his progression in
anything either and he continued to amaze both Roric and his mother
all the time. Sansa had married a fellow doctor colleague just a
little over two months ago and they seemed to be happy in their own
way. Ella’nara had grown in beauty and poise.

The addition of some self-control from the
wanton mischief of her earlier years had been a welcome relief. She
was without a question a genius.

She had learned everything there limited
schooling could offer by the age of ten and had been inventing her
own knowledge the past four years. Krista as always was by his side
through it all.

It was all simply amazing!

“Yes, the Creator’s handiwork is always
amazing!”

The voice from the past shattered Roric’s
calm. He slowly turned his head and saw the angel, who had spoken
to him the night before the battle at Kingdom Pass. He had said he
would be back and now here he was.

Seeing the angel brought back the memory
that something was to be required of him by the Creator. Roric was
a jumble of mixed emotions. He wanted to please God and do anything
that was requested of him, but he couldn’t help but be gripped with
fear of what might be asked of him.

Everything had been going so well!

Why couldn’t it continue like that? Enough
of that! As the Creator was his master so he would be obedient to
his Heavenly Father’s bidding at all times regardless of the
personal cost!

“Why have you come?” Roric asked
resolutely.

The angel stared at him from kind eyes for a
moment and then turned his head and as if on cue Krista appeared
with a tray with three cups on it.

The angel turned back to Roric, “Shall we
have a seat?” He asked gesturing towards a round table with three
chairs around it.

After the cups were served and the messenger
was seated first, Roric pulled out a chair for Krista and then sat
down beside her. After forcing themselves to take a drink out of
politeness they waited for what would come next with almost
breathless anticipation.

Krista’s hand reached out under the table
towards Roric. Roric took it and looked with concern at Krista, her
hand was trembling.

“Peace to both of you for you are both
highly favored by the Lord!” The angel spoke, as if sensing their
trepidation over his appearance.

“The Lord has instructed me to ask his
servants, who have proven themselves faithful yet again and again a
question.”

There was a long moment of silence and then
Krista asked, “What would the Creator ask of us?”

The angel spoke softly, “My Lord asks that
you both would trust Him with a little more.”

Gruffly Roric spoke even as tears began to
leave trails down Krista’s cheeks, “Who are we to deny our Lord
anything He asks of us? Speak it and we will do it!”

“The Lord has need of your youngest
daughter. The one called Ellanara.”

Tears making their way down Roric’s face now
he asked, “What is it that we are to do?”

The angel spoke for several minutes while
Roric and Krista listened. They agreed to do all that was asked of
them.

Finished the angel rose to leave, but Krista
cried out. “Wait before you go!”

The angel turned back to them. Krista
stepped forward a little, “Will the Creator of heaven and all
creation have pity for a mother’s need to know of her child’s
fate?”

The angel paused and then nodded.

As tears flowed with wild abandon down
Krista’s face she managed to get out, “All I want to know is will
she be happy?”

Krista dissolved into more tears and half
sobs and leaned back against Roric, who had come up behind her. The
angel returned to them and reaching down took both of Krista’s
hands and held them.

“Tell me Krista have you found happiness in
your life?”

Krista nodded her head vigorously and choked
out, “Oh yes!”

“Then know this as the Creator has been
faithful to reward you for your faithfulness with an overabundance
of joy in your life, know that a double portion has been reserved
for your children. Fear not for your children, for the Creator has
gone out before them and He guards them jealously, as rare jewels
without equal. Be at peace Krista your children are in the
Creator’s keeping. Your sons will rule nations, your oldest
daughter will go to her rest full of joyful years and your youngest
daughter will be a Queen over worlds, the wife of a warrior as
great as your husband in all respects.”

And then the angel was gone and Roric and
Krista were alone, with only the beating of their hearts sounding
loudly, as they considered the changes that lay ahead of them and
their family in the future.

Later that day Roric stepped into the
underground lab and as usual Abby appeared almost instantly. Her
open look of welcome changed as she saw the heaviness of Roric’s
face.

“What has happened master?”

Roric looked at her, “A lot! A lot has
happened.”

But he gave her no further clue as to
what.

“Abby I have a task that I will be needing
your assistance with.”

“Anything that I can do to help you master.
It is my sole purpose for being.”

“First however there’s something I need to
clear up and it concerns you Abby. Could you explain to me how it
is that you seem more human than you do technology?”

If a technological image could have cried he
would have seen it then, but all he saw was the barely masked pain
evidently clear all cross Abby’s features.

She began to talk softly, “That would be
because once I was fully human.”

Roric waited for further explanation and got
it.

“When this world was first being colonized
and the decision to abandon our technology was put forward it met
with much resistance.

There were those like your great ancestor
Tadias that thought the technology should only be abandoned for a
while not seeing anything inherently evil in having it. Others
wanted it completely gone. There were others who never wanted to
stop using it and it was these that your ancestors drove out of the
Valley lands.

There was another faction and while they
were much smaller than the other three factions they were still
very powerful. They wanted to destroy the technology completely and
build it back up from the ground floor.

They thought the existing technology was
flawed in some way and needed redone. They loosely allied
themselves with your ancestor’s faction and together they drove the
others out. But they betrayed their allies.

They had a darker goal in mind than the
bonds of brotherhood. They infiltrated the security parameters and
uploaded a technological disease that began to systematically
destroy the system from the inside out. Something had to be
done.

A desperate strategy was put forward and I
volunteered to do it. What was left of our technology was
downloaded into my brain. The disease’s progression was stopped
while in my brain. We’re not sure why, but the process of
transferring the technology into my body caused a bioelectric
melding of systems.

My body’s immune system weeded out the
disease and restored the pathways of the technology as best as it
could, but some knowledge was completely missing, while other areas
were damaged beyond repair.

The Holy Scriptures were one of the first
targets of the virus. Only fragments were left after the virus
erased most of it. Another thing not anticipated was the
restoration of the system back into the network. My body did not
survive the process.

That had been expected, but what was not
expected was that when the technology was transferred back over it
came with a conscious interface that hadn’t been there before. Me
or some copied version of me.

It was really a technological breakthrough,
but it was never indepthly studied to find out how or why it
happened. This facility was built to house the technology that was
recovered.

I’ve been here ever since assisting and
helping as I can those tasked as guardians, who have come to this
place.”

“You’ve made the ultimate sacrifice haven’t
you? I imagine in some ways you wish that you had died with your
body.” Roric asked softly.

“Yes that is true until recently. With
everything that has happened recently I’ve seen some meaning come
out of everything that took place so very long ago in the past. You
could say that I see a Divine plan emerging and I’m happy to be a
part of it. It makes the loneliness of this place bearable for the
first time in a very long time.”

Gruffly Roric said, “What if I was to tell
you Abby that you’re not going to be alone anymore down here. That
I’m giving you a companion, someone for you to teach and discover
new things with.”

Abby shook her head and vehemently stated,
“No! No! I would never want what I have suffered in the dark
loneliness of this place to be suffered by another!”

“Neither would I Abby, but it’s part of a
Divine plan that I have to trust and obey. Will you do this for me
Abby? Will you look after and teach my little girl everything you
know and work with her to discover more?”

Holding herself, as if in great pain Abby
breathed out, “Yes, you know I will.”

“I’ll bring her by in the morning then.”

Roric turned to go, but then turned back
briefly, “What is your whole name Abby?”

“Abberslolena.”

Roric looked at her wanting the rest and
grudgingly Abby relinquished her secret.

“Ta’lont. I was the youngest of Tadias
Ta’lont’s daughters.”

“Not was Abby, I prefer to think of you as
is. Good evening Abberslolena, I’ll see you in the morning.”

A few things about me