“Gemynd doesn’t know?” Golath asked.
“I only just found out myself. I don’t understand it all myself, but somehow Toa is mine with Gemynd and Soman.”
Golath and Molly glanced at each other. “That might not be Gemynd’s favorite thing to hear.”
“Gemynd is still my husband and I have honored my vows to him,” Numa reassured them both. “Something beyond my current understanding will take place in the future, which will result in the birth of Toa. She is part me, part Gemynd, and part Soman. Then I bring her to the past to spend her first three years learning about life from Tatparo.”
Molly’s blank expression told Numa that she was no closer to understanding than she had been a moment ago.
“When you tell Toa the tales of her grandfather, feel free to expound on my heroics,” Golath said with a wistful smile.
“She is a special girl with Empyrean traits. I am certain she can come here to spend time with you.”
“On occasion, that would be wonderful,” Molly said. “But this is really no place for a child to spend a lot of time.”
Numa gasped as a brilliant idea came to mind. “I have given the Skalja payment to take back with me whatever I wish.” She rubbed her hands together and smiled. “Both of you will come back to Tolnick with me. We will all be together as a family once again.”
Neither Molly nor Golath returned her Joy. “It is a wonderful sentiment, daughter, but the essence of something cannot exist outside of Skalja without Lifeforce. When we died, we gave our Lifeforce back to the Deis. If we were to leave Skalja, even our essence would cease to be.”
Just at that moment, Numa felt a light tug at the knee of her breeches. She didn’t even have to look down to know the cause.
“Toa,” she squeaked, her voice choked with emotion as she knelt down.
Toa looked at Numa and smiled, lifting her arms in a silent invitation for Numa to pick her up.
“Toa,” Numa said again as she pulled her child into her arms, feeling her own Lifeforce surge and radiate Joy throughout all of Todor. “My daughter. My perfect daughter.”
Toa tipped her head back, her brows pulled together in confusion.
“I am your mother,” Numa said to her. She did not know how much a three could comprehend of multiple fathers and time travel, so she chose not to offer any further explanation just yet. Numa was certain that all Toa needed to know at that moment was that she was Numa’s daughter, and she was wholly and deeply loved.
Numa saw on Toa’s face the instant that she understood, and watched as her expression changed by degrees from one of confusion to one of Joy. “Mama,” the child whispered then smiled with her whole face.
In that moment, Numa saw the likeness of both Gemynd and Soman in her daughter’s face. Soman’s perfect mouth and Gemynd’s piercing eyes. “How did I never notice before?” Numa said to herself then bent over and kissed Toa on the forehead.
“You are her mother?” Tatparo asked, wonder widening his eyes as he walked towards them.
Numa looked up at him and reached a hand out for his. “Tatparo, I owe you my whole life and I will spend the rest of it showing my gratitude to you. Toa is my daughter. I gave birth to her in the future then brought her back in time to be raised by you. Since my decision to do so has not actually happened yet, I remembered none of it until the Deis showed me the Truth. She will one day rule Todor in perfect Oneness. You kept her safe and loved. Todor owes its future to you.”
Tatparo dropped to his knees and pressed his lips to the back of Numa’s hand. “I am honored beyond words that you chose me for such a paramount task,” he said then brushed Toa’s cheek with his other hand. “She is my sister and I will always keep her safe and loved.”
Numa bowed her head then pulled him with her as she stood, never releasing her hold on Toa.
“Mama,” Toa said, pressing her little fingers against Numa’s cheek.
Numa felt her eyes fill with tears and squeezed Toa even tighter. “I love you, my daughter.”
“I love you, Mama.”
Tatparo smiled at them both then cocked his head to one side. “Gemynd is her father?” he asked, glancing at Golath and Molly.
Numa sighed. How could she explain something she didn’t even understand herself? “Toa is a miracle,” she said, giving her best explanation. “Throughout the history of Todor, children have always only inherited the glinting powers of one parent or another. My beautiful daughter has the powers of all three races.”
Tatparo rubbed his jaw, nodding slowly. “This does not surprise me,” he said and Numa felt a tiny stab of envy for all that Tatparo already knew of Toa.
“I am so filled with Joy to be part of this moment,” Molly said and Numa sensed that she ached to hold her granddaughter.
While Numa could do nothing about that, she could at least make a formal introduction. “Toa, you have already met both Golath and Molly, but now you get to know that they are your grandparents. They are your family and they love you.”
Toa grinned again from ear to ear, but seemed to know there was no point in reaching out to them.
“What a blessing it would have been for Gemynd to share this moment too,” Golath said, his voice deep.
“I will find him,” Numa reassured him.
“Perhaps, because he is your husband, he should know about Toa before Soman does,” Molly suggested.
Numa hated the thought of keeping anything from Soman, especially news of his own child, but she had to agree that telling Gemynd first was the right thing to do. She looked at Tatparo, knowing he was clever enough to surmise that both Gemynd and Soman had something to do with fathering Toa. Would he be willing to keep such a secret?
“This is not my news to share,” he said. “Not that I understand any of it anyway.”
Numa smiled, then looked at Toa. She would never ask her child to lie or keep secrets. The Keepers of Aerie had kept secrets, secrets that always led to pain and separation. “I agree that, as my husband, Gemynd has a right to know first. But it was through his own choice that he is not here now. As queen of Todor, I will never make the choice to deceive.”
“Iturtians are flying,” Toa said, pointing into the air.
Numa looked up and saw figures moving through the air. “You’re right, those are Iturtians.” She turned to Golath. “Are Iturtians able to fly here?”
Golath shook his head, looking bemused. “Not that I have seen.”
“Actually, this is why Toa and I came looking for you,” Tatparo said. “We wanted you to see what the others have discovered. Come, see for yourself.”
Still holding Toa, Numa followed Tatparo around several garbage mounds until they came upon a flattened area roughly a quarter the size of Tolnick’s city square. A mix of living people and essences mingled in the square together.
As Numa watched them, she saw a young Zobanite walk over to a garbage mound on the periphery and move several objects from the pile with his mind.
“Iturtians flying and Zobanites performing psychmovement. I never even imagined such a thing was possible,” Golath said, still standing behind Numa.
“Last night I had the honor of performing a Unity ceremony with Chief Archigadh,” Tatparo explained to Golath, but Numa hung on his every word. She had not yet heard Tatparo’s version of the ceremony. “The purpose of it was to strengthen the Chief’s will, and really all that was required was that he gave me permission to enter his mind. It was unlike psychpersuasion. I did not take over his mind, in fact, I could not have if I’d wanted to. It was as though we were two minds occupying one body. We could communicate and there was a desire to work together. Because the purpose of the ceremony was to strengthen the Chief’s will, we just left it at that, but I have been wondering if we could have shared our glinting powers.”
“I see,” Golath said and smiled. “So you wanted to
test your idea here.”
“Actually, it was the essence of the ancient Keeper Clary who first suggested it. A group of us came upon him here in this clearing and he marveled at the sight of the Zobanites in our group, making comments about how he’d love to feel that strong once again, then he looked at some of the Iturtians and said he’d even settle for feeling young like them.”
“Are you telling me that Keeper Clary willingly allowed an Iturtian inside his mind?” Golath was wide-eyed with disbelief.
“His essence did anyway,” Tatparo replied. “But what happened next was truly fascinating. The Iturtian boy closed his eyes to enter Keeper Clary’s mind when all of a sudden, the old man’s essence got sucked right into the boy’s body. For a few moments, they were truly one. Through the boy’s mouth, Keeper Clary shouted his excitement and they began trying out each other’s glinting powers. Soon, a crowd of essences had gathered and they’ve been pairing up with the living ever since.”
“This is true Oneness,” Numa said, mystified by what she saw.
“It is only temporary, though, daughter.” Golath looked concerned. “The living cannot stay here indefinitely. And, as I’ve already explained, essences cease to exist outside of Skalja.”
“Still, I feel that I am witnessing a miracle.” Numa looked down at Toa in her arms. “The second one today.”
Numa looked back out at the crowd of people, searching for Soman among them. She looked up into the sky, but saw neither him nor Archigadh anywhere. “Tatparo, where is Soman?”
“I am sorry, I haven’t seen him since we walked through the gate.”
Just then the grey outline of a familiar-looking Iturtian approached Numa. “The last time I saw you, you were throwing bolts of lightning at me through your hands.”
“Hildegaard,” Numa said with a slight bow. Just as with Molly, Numa knew she had still harbored some anger towards Hildegaard not so long ago, but the Gate of Forgiveness had erased all of it. “I feel peace towards you.”
“And I towards you,” Hildegaard replied. “I see now that we were both doing what we thought to be the best thing. My feelings for Golath fueled a fire of vengeance. The choices I made were not for peace, but I did what I believed my heart wanted.”
“I understand,” Numa said and wondered if Archigadh and Soman had experienced the same level of forgiveness towards this woman who killed so many of their kin.
“Only moments ago, I integrated with a Zobanite soldier,” Hildegaard said. “Not only did I get to experience the Joy of flight, but I came to know the heart of a Zobanite. It’s true that I had forgiven all when I passed through the gate, but spending time in Unity with a Zobanite gave me a whole new level of understanding. I can see now that they were never the cruel, domineering people I had believed them to be.”
Numa chuckled at the idea of Zobanites being domineering. “They are a strong, proud people, and it is in their nature to be of service.”
Hildegaard agreed and smiled at Numa. “Had I been granted the gift of forgiveness before my death, I believe you and I could have been friends.”
“You were the first person I knew in Iturtia and you did treat me well,” Numa said.
“Is Gemynd here with you? I would like to speak with him as well.”
“No,” Numa said and gazed off across the clearing. “I don’t know where he is.”
As Numa absently looked at a garbage mound across the way, she saw the side of it open as though it was a door. Golden light spilled from the open doorway, momentarily filling the clearing with brilliant colors.
But the beauty was short-lived, for only a moment later, a swarm of cabali poured from the doorway in the mound. Thousands of them--stacked upon each other, crawling over one another--spewed forth from the inside of the hill and flowed into the area where Numa and the others stood.
Numa held Toa closer to her body and took a step behind Tatparo. “What are they doing?” she asked, noticing that were each emanating strange buzzing and clicking sounds.
“Be still,” Golath warned as he came to stand protectively in front of Numa. “Their duty is to bring the essences of things to the Skalja. They were there, lurking in the shadows, ready to escort me here when I died. I have seen them in small groups before, but never a swarm like this.”
“We must get you and Toa out of here,” Tatparo said.
Numa watched with wide eyes as the swarm of cabali continued to grow. Now she could see that they were licking, clawing and biting at each other, their energies escalating to a blind frenzy. She looked down at Toa and was torn between a need to get her to safety and a need to gather all of her people first.
“Give me your permission to send you and Toa to Tolnick,” she said to Tatparo, now having to shout over the noise of the cabali.
“I will not leave you in the midst of this,” he protested, just as she thought he would.
“Where is Soman?” Numa looked desperately all around her. “I cannot leave him behind!”
Then, from within the constant buzzing and clicking of the cabali, came a deafening wail of anguish. Numa covered Toa’s ears as the sound rattled the earth around them, sending clouds of grey ash into the air.
Every living person and essence that had been in the clearing instantly came together to form a protective wall around Numa and Toa. Numa pressed Toa’s face against her chest, covering the child’s eyes with her hand. She knew by that terrible sound that whatever was about to transpire was not something a child should ever witness.
Numa’s heart froze in her chest and her breath stilled as she saw the swarm of cabali pull Archigadh from the side of the mound. They moved over and around and under his body so quickly that they appeared as an army of giant spiders carrying prey.
“No!” Numa screamed, but before she could set Toa down and run to him, Tatparo threw himself over her body, pinning her to the ground.
Numa could still see the swarm between the legs of the people in front of her. She tried manifesting any way she could think of to stop them, but her powers did not seem to work.
“Archigadh!” she shouted and for an instant, she saw his eyes. They were filled with fear and pain.
A wretched tearing sound permeated the clearing, even louder than the buzzing and the screaming. From the glimpses she could see, Numa knew the cabali were ripping Archigadh’s great body into pieces. The instant they tore his head from his neck, she felt it and pinched her eyes closed.
When the screams stopped, the sounds of chewing and smacking came next. Numa swallowed to keep her stomach from lurching, but there was no way to ignore the fact that the repulsive beasts were eating Archigadh.
In a matter of moments, all the sounds stopped and silence filled the clearing.
Tatparo eased off of Numa, checking her and Toa to be sure they were unharmed. Numa sat up just in time to see the cabali disperse.
“Where is Soman?” Numa asked again. She was too filled with fear to let herself cry for Archigadh. “I need to know that he is safe.”
Then a single cabalus walked into the clearing, leading the essence of Chief Archigadh.
“Where is Soman? Where is my eldest son?” Archigadh asked, looking wildly around him. He was even more afraid than Numa.
Numa handed Toa to Tatparo and he reassured her with a look that said he would not let any harm come to the child. Then she walked to Archigadh’s side. “I have not seen him since we passed through the gate.” The look of terror on Archigadh’s face did nothing to quiet Numa’s own fears.
“We must find him, before they do. If Soman chooses to stay in the past as I did, the demons will devour him.”
“He did not choose to stay,” the cabalus hissed, Archigadh’s blood still dripping from his teeth. “He is there. Look.”
Numa looked to where the cabalus pointed. On the opposite side of the clearing, the side of another mound opened u
p and Soman stepped out, followed by Keeper Sam.
“Soman!” Numa shouted and ran across the clearing as fast as she could. She threw herself into his waiting arms and squeezed him tight. “I was so afraid.”
“I am still afraid,” Keeper Sam said. “These black creatures have been following us since Aerie and I fear their intentions. Now that we are reunited, let us find the Terrenes and get back to Tolnick at once.”
“I agree, Sam.” Numa stepped back and put her hand on Soman’s cheek, partly to offer him support and partly to keep him from looking across the clearing to see Archigadh’s essence. “But first I have something I must tell you. Your father is dead.”
Soman narrowed his eyes. “It’s not really that he’s dead, he just chose to stay in his perfect version of Zoban.”
Now Numa narrowed her eyes. “He mentioned that he chose to stay in the past. Is that what you mean?”
Soman nodded. “I suppose so. Wait, you’ve spoken to him since then?”
“Soman, I’m so sorry, but he was killed right here only moments ago. His essence is there at the other side of the clearing.”
Numa let go of Soman’s cheek and he looked across the clearing. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I thought I had already said goodbye.”
“I am so relieved to see you, lad,” Archigadh said as he crossed the clearing. “I felt that you were somehow in the past too, and I knew you would be killed if you chose to stay there.”
Soman sighed heavily. “Where is your body? I want to take it back to Zoban so we can send it to the Viyii with a grand celebration just as you’ve done for so many others.”
Numa’s heart ached and she took Soman’s hand. “There’s no body to take back,” she said before anyone else could answer. “I’m sure your father is already with the Viyii.”
Soman looked at the essence of Archigadh. “I saw you in your memory of Zoban. Though it saddened me to say goodbye, it brought me peace to know you’d spend the rest of your days in your splendid home.”
Unity: The Todor Trilogy, Book Three Page 20