OTHERLANDER: A Long Way From Home
Page 17
Albright smiled and gazed up at Daniel. “Dr. Colson, it was my turn to follow you.”
Thomas looked on, feeling his heart might break at any moment.
Daniel muttered, “Albright, you’re going to be okay, hang in there, old friend.”
Albright smirked, “Old, why I’m twenty years your junior Doctor.”
He grimaced as a wave of pain passed over his features.
“Dr. Colson, it is time for me to go now.”
“No,” Thomas groaned.
“It’s okay, take your dad home and give your mom a hug for me. It’s my turn to go through the door. And I know someone is waiting for me.” His voice trailed off, and he breathed his last.
Daniel reached and pulling Thomas into an embrace, wept.
Finally, Thomas and his father stood, staring into the charred circle inside the stones. “It doesn’t look like Darcon made it,” Thomas said.
“No, he didn’t,” Daniel responded, shaking his head soberly.
“What happened?” asked Ellie.
“I believe he took a wrong turn,” Daniel muttered.
Chapter 103
It was a glorious morning. Thomas watched as the sun rose over the tops of the circle of monoliths. The fog of the early morning dissipated, but the air was still crisp and refreshing. He stood with his dad, Deacon, Ellie, and John, quietly at the graveside of Albright, which was covered with a heap of stones.
A host of others from the resistance had gathered respectfully, all crowded among the monoliths. After his father quoted Psalm Twenty-three, Ellie laid wildflowers at the head of the grave. Then she straightened looked at the sunrise and sang a haunting ballad in her ancient tongue. Thomas, for the rest of his life, thought it was one of the most beautiful moments he had ever known. He wanted to cry, to laugh, to jump and be still all at once. It was the beginning of understanding the essence of real joy: Deep contentment, knowing that even though suffering had come, he was all right. It was the beginning of understanding trust. He could trust his father. He could trust his friends. He could trust his God.
Thomas walked slowly over to Thorn. The dragon dipped his head to the boy. “Goodbye, Thorn,” Thomas said, as he hugged his giant friend’s neck.
Thorn rumbled his acknowledgment.
Ellie came, bent over, then kissed Thomas on the cheek.
The boy blushed and said, “Thank you.”
“No, Thomas. Thank you.”
Deacon extended his hand. “Farewell, Thomas.”
Thomas took Deacon’s hand. Then, surprising the man, the boy pulled him into a hug.
“I’m going to miss you.”
“As am I.”
Deacon stood and shook Daniel’s hand. “We fought Darcon physically for years. Clearly, what we needed was someone who could outsmart him.”
“Well, we can all be thankful he never got his hands on Loren’s pendant, or things would’ve turned out differently.”
Thomas looked at the pendant Loren gave him, and couldn’t help but be sad. He traced the circular pattern on the pendant, then brightened. “Yeah, Dad says I get to navigate on the way back.” He looked at his father with a big smile.
Chapter 104
Caroline placed a bouquet of freshly picked flowers on the grass, then stood and gazed up at Mairead Fhada’s ancient monoliths. She had hope. Caroline had too. That was the only way she could go on, waiting for the return of her husband and son.
She turned her back on the stones and walked out of the circle. But when she was only two steps outside it, thunder clapped, and Caroline’s back was buffeted by a blast of wind.
She turned back to the stones and froze in disbelief and joy as she saw Daniel and Thomas standing at the center of the stone circle.
Thomas shook his head, clearing it from vertigo… then he saw the most beautiful sight he had ever seen: His mother, running to him. He sprinted to her, and they embraced. They both were enwrapped by Daniel.
Looking up, Caroline gazed at her husband. “I knew you would come back.”
Daniel kissed his wife softly, then pulled both wife and son as close and tight as he could. He knew he would never leave them again. Thomas gazed up at his mother and father. “We’re home.”
“Yes, son,” Daniel agreed. “We are home.”
Epilogue
Searing pain, white-hot. It slowly receded. Was he dead? Was this hell? No.
Now Darcon could perceive he was resting on jagged rocks. They pushed into his shoulder blades. His skin and bones all ached; this convinced him he was alive.
Water lapped at his side. He sat up and peered into the mist. He was on gray crags, lapped at by an ocean. All was shrouded.
Then he remembered: He had been deceived. Robbed. His chance to return to his homeland was forever lost. His power over N’albion gone. His lips curled.
But then another vision struck him, of what he had glimpsed as he slammed through the door. Before crossing the threshold, in the mist of the time between times, he had seen a faint outline of the future: A figure, in a dragon rider's jacket, with sword drawn. Darcon could feel the cold steel impale him; he rubbed his abdomen in spite of himself.
As the dragon rider withdrew the sword and turned away, the motion made something swing free of his leather jacket. A pendant. The pendant!
A terrible resolve filled Darcon. He knew what he must do.
He would find a way back.
He would destroy the Pendant-Bearer.
He would kill Thomas, the Otherlander.
Through the Storm
Thomas, Deacon and Thorn will return in—
OTHERLANDER
Book 2
Through the Storm
“Yank go home!” The pitcher shouted. Thomas glared back and tightened his grip on the cricket bat as he stood in front of the wickets.
“Bowl him out, Arnie!” shouted one of the fielders. They all adjusted their positions, waiting for their captain to throw the ball.
Thomas remembered how he used to feel about this game: Frightened of the ball, unsure of the rules, the last kid to ever be picked to play on a team, he would have rather died than play cricket last year. But this was a whole new year. And he felt like a whole new Thomas.
Thomas’s search for his missing father, the brilliant professor of archaeology, Dr. Daniel Colson, forced him to grow up fast. Thomas had only been gone about a week in earth days. But he had lived a lifetime in N’albion. Somewhere beyond the mist. Somewhere on the other side of the storm. Catapulted through the portal that was the stone circle known in ancient Scotland as “Mairead Fhada” and to the local people now as “Long Meg and her Daughters,” Thomas landed in another place. A medieval world filled with noble warriors that rode dragons and their archenemies, the dark shadow warriors.
If he knew then what he knew now: the dangers he would experience, the terrifying battles he would endure, would he have gone? He had to believe that he would. What other choice was there? He thanked God that he found his father, and they both made it home safely to his mother. He could hardly consider what it would have been like to face his mother if he had come back empty-handed. He banished the thought from his head. God did answer his prayer and brought them both safely home.
And now there was something else that brought great joy to their house, his mother was pregnant. He was going to be a big brother. The baby was due around Christmas. Maybe that was what he was getting for Christmas. He couldn’t help but smile at that. England wasn’t so bad after all.
“What are you grinning about Thomas?” taunted the pitcher.
“This Yank is about to go home…run!”
Arnie rolled his eyes at the American baseball reference, then wound up, took three quick steps forward, leaped into the air, and hurled the ball. The ball took a bounce a few feet before reaching Thomas. Thomas swung with all his might. The bat connected with a crack and the ball streaked into the sky. The fielders scrambled for position moving further back, back, again as they follow
ed the arc of the ball until finally, they could go no farther, and bounced off the outfield fence. Their hearts sank as the ball dropped in the grass 10 feet on the other side. Thomas’s team cheered crazily and rushed Thomas, grabbed him and hoisted him onto their shoulders.
“That counts for six runs!” Harry complained, slamming his hat on the ground and sending up a cloud of dust.
Arnie watched as Thomas was carried off the field by his rejoicing team.
“Funny that.”
“What?” asked Harry picking up his hat in disgust.
“It’s like that Yank is a whole new Yank.”
Acknowledgments
It is with great joy that I finish this first novel. It has been a lengthy undertaking and not without its challenges. I did not do it alone. I must thank the many family and friends who listened to me go on and on about the story. Thank you for your patience and encouragement. Tim Mercer designed the cover and did a marvelous job. My son, Hayden, spent many Saturday mornings doing writing sessions with me and is a fantastic storyteller in his own right. And of course, my wife, Linda, my incredible companion, friend, and partner. I indeed married up! Thank you all!
T. Kevin Bryan
T. Kevin Bryan is an emerging author of Fantasy. Kevin lives in a little house in California with his wife and son and a Border Terrier named Sherlock.
Be sure and continue reading Thomas the Otherlander’s adventures in “Through the Storm” coming in 2020!
Find out more at tkevinbryan.com
Also by T. Kevin Bryan
OTHERLANDER Book 2
Through the Storm
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