The Sapphiri

by R Gene Curtis

  I don’t know how to stop the inevitable now. It’s either me or them. I take a step back, and I’m with Bob, Ler, and Brit. I don’t know where Pearl is. Has she already fallen to the army?

  And then I realize that I’m running out of dust in the air. In only a matter of seconds, the air will be dustless and then all I will have is snow.

  The whirlwind and the barriers start to crack and knives start to hit us. I try to heal my friends, but the knives come too fast. A knife slices into my back. Warm blue blood seeps down my back and the pain momentarily overwhelms me. Is this what was supposed to happen? Is this how it all ends?

  Brit cuddles next to Ler, a knife in her bicep and blood running down her arm. His head is bowed, and he has a knife in his leg. Brit wants to go home. I want to go home. Can I take us home? I crouch down on the ground, into the huddle with my friends. I take Bob’s hand. He takes Ler’s hand and Ler takes Brit’s. I really don’t know where Pearl is.

  Home. Is it possible to go home? A knife hits my left thigh. Another wall shatters and crumbles. More knives fly overhead.

  I close my eyes and I let go of the crowds and the anger and the dust. I let go of the shouts and the hatred and the fear. I let go of the consciousness of everything and everyone around me. In one last attempt to save our lives, I focus on something else. I think of my mom. It’s years ago, and I’m sitting in Salt Lake City at a women’s professional soccer match with her. We’d been skiing all morning, taking advantage of an early snowstorm. Mom hands me a cup of hot chocolate as we sit down under the bright lights.

  Another knife hits my arm and I cry out. I could heal it, but I don’t let myself come back to the reality of the world around me. I keep my grip tight on Bob’s hand and force my concentration back to the soccer match. I was there. Mom was there. I feel home tug back at my two hearts. It’s small, but it’s a tug.

  I grab onto that tug and pull with all my might.

  Home. My world. I pull and its pull on me gets stronger. Blue light starts to seep through the snow. I pull with all the strength of both hearts beating in my chest. Blue light fills the air around us and the world spins. The army disappears and for one brief second, I’m alone in blue light with Brit and Ler and Bob.

  And then with a crack the blue light is gone, and we are crouched down in the middle of the soccer field in Salt Lake City, surrounded by women in uniform and a huge crowd. My clothes are soaked in blood. Red blood.

  I let go of my friends, and I collapse on the grass. We’re home. We’re safe.

  And I hurt. I close my eyes and let everything go black.

  30 Azureans

  Lydia

  The fall air is cool, but the dark-haired five-year-old boy isn’t affected by a little bit of cold air. He hurries, hand-over-hand, up the ladder and then rockets down the slide. At the bottom, his grin is one of pure triumph and joy.

  He looks at me for approval, and his bright blue eyes shine with pleasure when I smile back.

  My smile gets caught on unexpected tears, and I look away. I saw that look on his father’s face so many times.

  No, Karl’s memory hasn’t left me. Not yet. Not ever. The memories often come to me suddenly. This small boy I call Karl keeps his memory alive, too. I’m sure there’s some of me in him somewhere, but when I look at him, I only see Karl. His father.

  My phone buzzes and I take my eyes off my son as he rounds the playground to pick the next slide to conquer.

  It’s Bob.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi Lydia. We should have everyone out before the wedding tomorrow evening. Thanks for everything. Over and out.”

  “Bye,” I say, and I hang up the phone. It’s been an experience working with Bob over the past five years. He was completely determined to take me back to the Forgotten World for a long time. It really bothered him that the Sapphiri tried to kill everyone, and he wanted to get every last one off of Earth. But, I wasn’t going back. Besides, my son isn’t Sapphiri. Not really. His eyes are bright blue, as bright as Karl’s, but he’s at least half Azurean, and Karl wasn’t pureblood Sapphiri anyway. Bob finally decided to give up, and I guess now that he has every other Sapphiri out of this world, he won’t be bothering me anymore.

  He’ll be busy in the Forgotten World. He’s organized the Sapphiri into a group whose mantra is to protect the peace. Humble servants, or something like that.

  It took them a long time to get everyone out, of course. There was a lot of cleaning up to do. The virus Tara developed had to be destroyed, among other things. The Sapphiri ended up putting the virus into a rocket and blasted all of it into outer space. That was before they un-infiltrated the various government organizations. Virus and corruption gone, the Sapphiri are finally free to do what Bob believes they should have been doing all along.

  The Sapphiri left behind two tasks for me. The first is to keep the one-way portal Karl and I created a secret. It’s still there, in what was Tara’s apartment. We found out about it when the police came to investigate and ended up in the Forgotten World. After that, the Sapphiri acted pretty quickly. They rented the apartment and set up a fund to pay for the rent. The fund will never expire, but I know how to destroy the portal if things go south. The apartment is hooked up with all kinds of strange monitoring equipment, and I have plenty of Sapphiri funds at my disposal if I need to make an emergency flight to Pittsburgh and the Forgotten World. In fact, I have access to almost all of their money, which means I’m pretty set for life.

  The other task I have is to keep an eye on the portal in the soccer stadium in Utah. I just need to make sure no one wanders through it from the Forgotten World. Fortunately, that portal is a one-way portal as well, and so soccer games can happen without the players disappearing. The Sapphiri set up video equipment to monitor that portal, which means I’ll be notified if anyone shows up. It doesn’t seem too likely, as most of the people have moved out of the mountains now, but you never know.

  Part of me feels a little lonely and left behind. But my calling wasn’t in the Forgotten World. It’s here. It’s with Karl and with the girls I’m coaching. And as much as being the queen of the Forgotten World wasn’t my calling, it’s Pearl’s. She’s so happy. She speaks the language now, and she understands large societies and how to motivate large groups of people better than anyone I know. She’s made lasting change, with Quint’s help of course, and Somrusee’s. But mostly Pearl. The Forgotten World is a different place now.

  With Pearl running the show in the Forgotten World, I could go back. Sometimes I want to. I miss the feelings there. I miss the ability to heal others. I miss Mara and Dynd. I miss the incredible power I had. It would be fun to figure out what else I could do with Karl’s heart in me.

  But, I’m not going back. Without Karl there, the thought of the world seems hollow. And I have plenty to do here. I’m here, and I’m staying here. Little Karl is going to miss his Aunt Pearl’s wedding to Quint today. And unless he comes back to our world, Karl isn’t ever going to meet his grandpa.

  Little Karl squeals with delight, and I look over to see him step off another slide. Tears push against my eyes again, but I blink them away. He’s seen me cry too much already during his first five years. Brit and I worked together, made our way through college, and graduated a year and a half ago. Brit was sweet to wait that long to marry Ler, but she knew how much I needed her to get through school. I’ve never had a better friend than Brit. Now, she lives with her sweetheart, and a baby on the way, in a beautiful home near her mother in Waunakee.

  I’m still in Seattle, but I’m not alone. Next week soccer practices start, and I’ll have dozens of wild teenagers to keep me company every afternoon. My team was competitive last year, and this year I think we have a good chance at the district championship. All my seniors from last year’s team went to college. I have a few this year that are going to need some help to get there, but I’m up for the challenge. These girls need a strong coach, and that’s who I am. I’ll get them there.
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br />   Karl takes a breather from his conquests and runs over to throw his arms around my legs. I laugh and pat his head.

  “Are you having fun, sweetheart?”

  “I love you, Mommy,” he says, and then he’s gone again.

  He’s such a cute little boy—at least I think so. I love how his eyes sparkle, just like his father’s did, whenever something happens that he likes. Karl will never know his daddy, and I’m reluctant to tell him about the sacrifice his dad made to save his life. Everyone and everything from the Forgotten World is gone, and I want him to stay blissfully ignorant of everything that might have been. I’m hoping Karl, the combination of Azureans and Sapphiri, will live a normal, happy life here.

  A gust of wind makes me shiver, and I call out to Karl. He whines, but he comes. His small hand grasps mine as we walk across the playground back to the car.

  Being a mom is the best thing in the world. It beats defeating armies and fighting dictators. Not that it doesn’t have its challenges, because it does, but it’s great. I love it, and I’m glad I’m here.

  “Do you want to get ice cream on our way home?” I ask.

  Karl squeals with delight, and I smile—without the tears this time. I buckle Karl into his car seat. “Your daddy would be proud of how well you did on all those slides today,” I tell him.

  He beams at me. He doesn’t know he’s related to the lost queen of the Forgotten World. He doesn’t know he has power to heal and to destroy—that he and I are the last living Azureans.

  I sit down and turn the car on. My two heartbeats beat in my chest. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. I reach up and finger my blue flower tattoo.

  Maybe I will tell little Karl about his heritage someday. Maybe someday he’ll know that his mom wasn’t always wealthy. Maybe someday he’ll know I have access to the only portal left to the Forgotten World. Maybe someday he’ll think of me, off in the mountains fighting for freedom with snow blowing around me and people trying to kill me. Maybe someday he’ll know what a hero his father was, and what he gave so that little Karl could live. Maybe someday he’ll know how much I admire and still love his father.

  Maybe someday.

  But, for now, just seeing Karl smile at the thought of ice cream is enough. I’ll do anything for this little boy with glowing eyes. And every little smile and squeal will keep me going.

  I love him. He’s my life.

  This is where I belong.

  Acknowledgements

  Writing is an amazing journey that would be impossible without the influence of so many people over the course of generations. Although it’s impossible to know when my journey started, I want to express gratitud for a few notable people along the way. My 3rd great-grandmother Mary Ann was known for her love of reading, which she passed down to her son through countless hours of reading and teaching. That love was passed down through the generations until it got to me. On the other side of my family, my great-grandfather James moved his family next to the university so my grandfather could get a college education. I love these great ancestors, and I’m grateful for their sacrifices. They made it possible for me to grow up in a home where education and reading were always a priority.

  When I decided to write a novel, my dear wife thought I was crazy (and she was right). Still, she was supportive, even through countless drafts and long brainstorming rants. She has been my sharpest critic, and my greatest accomplishment has been writing something she wants to read. I’m also appreciative of my children’s enthusiasm. The time they spend writing and telling their own stories keeps me going on mine.

  And then there are all the other people who have encouraged, edited, and helped along the way. I want to thank my superstar beta readers. So many good thoughts! Working with the editing team at CookieLynn Publishing Services has been an incredible experience—thank you Allison and Jolene! Additionally, I could not have made it here without the inspiration, classes, and great people at the Storymakers Writer’s Conference.

  Finally, thank you for reading! I love that you would share these adventures with me. Thank you! Thank you!

  About Me

  I grew up reading all the time, but it wasn’t until I was caught up in the biggest snow storm of my life that I realized I wanted to write. Falling in love with my characters and seeing their stories unfold has been an adventure I wouldn’t trade for anything.

  I’m a father to six energetic children, and I do a lot of reading out loud to them, while the others, who are supposed to be in bed, sneak into the hallway to listen. When I’m not buried in a book, you will find me with my family: hiking in the mountains, working in the garden, or destroying the kitchen with a crazy science experiment.

  Sign up for my newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/750dcbc5dc77/rgenecurtis.

  And don’t forget to visit my website, https://rgenecurtis.com. Thanks for reading!