Crystal Doors #3: Sky Realm (No. 3) (27 page)

“Yup. To Elantya,” Vic said. “Dad thinks we should tell them that we’re going with Mom and Dad while they study an ancient culture in a place that’s so remote that we’ll be out of touch — maybe for years.”

Gwen smiled at the look of concern that Sharif still wore. She hugged him. “Don’t worry. We should only be gone a week or so.”

“And then?” Lyssandra wanted to know.

Vic kissed her cheek. “Then we’ll be back. We all have some pretty big responsibilities now, you know.”

Tiaret got to her feet and gave each of the cousins a hug. Holding her staff, she looked toward the horizon, while Piri, flickering pink, drifted in lazy circles around the friends. “Do you believe the battle we fought was the prophesied final battle?” the girl from Afirik asked. “I have already begun to write that chapter for the Great Epic.”

Lyssandra rested her head on Vic’s shoulder. “I do not believe so.”

“After all,” Vic said, “Azric’s still alive, isn’t he?”

Sharif smiled. “As my people say: Accept each small victory, for there will be other battles.”

A warm salty breeze ruffled Gwen’s blond hair as she stared across the ocean, with a sense of hope and excitement. “I think all of us still have a lot of adventures to come.”

About the Authors

REBECCA MOESTA (pronounced MESS-tuh) is the daughter of an English teacher/author/theologian, and a nurse — from whom she learned, respectively, her love of words and her love of books. Moesta, who holds an M.S. in Business Administration from Boston University, has worked in various aspects of editing, publishing, and writing for the past twenty years and has taught every grade from kindergarten through college.

Moesta is also the author or coauthor of more than thirty books, including
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Little Things,
and the award-winning
Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights
series, which she cowrote with husband and
New York Times
bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson. A self-described “gadgetologist,” Rebecca enjoys travel, visiting hot springs, and learning about (not to mention collecting) the latest advances in electronics.

KEVIN J. ANDERSON is the author of more than ninety books, including
Captain Nemo, The Martian War, Hidden Empire, Metal Swarm, The Last Days of Krypton,
and many popular
Star Wars
and
X-Files
novels, as well as bestselling prequels and sequels to
Dune,
cowritten with Frank Herbert’s son Brian. He has also written dozens of comics and graphic novels for Marvel, DC, Wildstorm, Dark Horse, and Topps. He has more than twenty million books in print in thirty languages. His work has appeared on numerous “Best of the Year” lists and has won a variety of awards. In 1998, he set the Guinness World Record for “Largest Single-Author Book Signing.”

The authors’ websites are

www.wordfire.com

www.myspace.com/rebeccamoesta

www.myspace.com/kevinjanderson