by Bonnie Lamer
Garren speaks up for the first time since Tabitha’s whistle. Pointing a finger toward the doorway, he declares with a grin, “She just may be Xandra’s daughter, after all.” With that, he turns to his grimacing wife and tucks Isla’s hand in his. He urges her reluctant body off her stool and pulls her in the direction of the beach. Whether or not he really believes what he said, Garren wants to see the show.
I can’t blame him. I’m certain it’ll be a good one. I just hope the beach, and the house, survive.
Chapter 4
Xavion, Zyla, and Keelan are already pretty far down the beach when the rest of us make our way to the terrace. Xavion turns and waves, encouraging us to follow. Kallen, Kegan, Alita, and I head toward the steps, but the others aren’t quite as eager as we are it seems.
I’m surprised when Dad places a hand on my shoulder to stop my forward progress. “Are you sure about this?” I can see that he wants to believe what we’re saying about our children, but I’m his child. He wants to make sure I’m safe right now.
I smile up at him. “It’s fine, Dad. Really,” I add when it’s clear he’s not convinced.
Neither is my other father. Dagda steps closer and says in a low, deep voice that won’t carry across the beach, “If you insist on going through with this farce, you are to be on guard. I know the four of you are already convinced they are who they say they are, but do not act as foolish as this all sounds.” His eyes travel to the others on the terrace. “Everyone be ready to counter whatever magic they may throw our way.”
I open my mouth to tell him exactly what I think of his words, but Kallen gives a slight shake of his head. “Let the kids prove him wrong,” my husband insists.
He’s right. He and I can argue all day long, but our words won’t change a thing. The kids need to do this. Damn. I’m a parent for half an hour and already having to let my kids stand on their own. Wasn’t I supposed to get time to work up to these types of things?
Dagda and Isla lock eyes. I can tell they’re having a silent conversation about how stupid they believe we’re being. That’s okay. I know in my heart that whatever the kids are about to show us will convince them. There is one tiny thought niggling at the back of my mind, though. I really hope the twins didn’t inherit my tendency to make situations worse instead of better. A quick glance at my husband’s tight expression as he stares down the beach at our children tells me we’re of one mind on that subject. I’d be insulted if it wasn’t true. Still, Kallen reaches for my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. We both do our best to confidently lead the way down the beach, even if we may be heading toward total disaster magically.
About three hundred yards from the house, we finally catch up to Xavion, Zyla, and Keelan. Xavion comes over, lays his hand on my arm, and gestures to a spot further away. “We’re going to move down the beach a bit more, but this should be a good place for you guys to watch,” he tells us.
Behind me, I feel my biological father stiffen when Xavion makes physical contact with me. “A good place for a trap to spring,” Dagda mutters, and I turn to glare at him. He shrugs unapologetically. “You will soon see,” he insists.
“Dear, perhaps we should go into this with open minds,” Tana presses, annoyed with her husband’s obstinance. The only response she gets is a disgusted grunt.
My husband chooses to ignore Dagda and waves the kids on. “Go ahead,” he says to Xavion. “We will remain here.”
Xavion smiles in appreciation at his father. It’s obvious the two have had a good relationship over the years. Or will have a good relationship. I’m not sure what the correct time travel expression is here. But I wouldn’t expect anything less from my husband than a positive, healthy relationship with his son. I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about our lives as parents, but when I have, I’ve never doubted the fact that Kallen would be a good dad. His own father died when he was young. He felt that loss immensely during his childhood. He’ll make sure his own children feel the love and presence of their father every day.
Xavion joins his sister and cousin again. After a brief debate, the three of them continue another hundred yards down the beach. Obviously, they inherited some of Kallen’s caution and good sense. A fact I am not going to acknowledge to my husband because I don’t want to imply that they didn’t get any of those things from me.
Stopping at their designated spot, the three have another quick huddle before turning to face us once again. Zyla holds her hands out and nods encouragingly at the boys. Keelan readily slips his hand in hers, but I can’t help but notice the slight hesitation on her brother’s face before he quickly forces his expression into a blank page to mask his trepidation. Well, that ratcheted my tension level up about 100 notches. I can tell from the heavy sigh behind me that mine isn’t the only tension level on the rise. My biological father still has great eyesight and caught Xavion’s hesitation, as well. Still, my son does as his sister wishes and grasps Zyla’s hand tightly. I can’t help but wonder what he’s worried about, but I don’t voice that aloud. I won’t give Dagda the satisfaction.
Unfortunately, I don’t have to wonder for long. When Xavion and Keelan extend their hands and Zyla grasps them firmly, the amount of magic that rushes into the three of them is nothing less than terrifying. The tremor that suddenly rocks the beach is our first indication of impending disaster. So much for hoping they didn’t inherit my knack for making situations worse. The second indication of impending disaster is the burst of magic that shoots from my womb in response. Magic that curls around baby Keelan and sweeps him out of his father’s arms, plopping him into mine. I barely have to wrap my arms around him to hold him up. Then again, I probably don’t need to hold him up. The magic is doing all the work. It’s like he’s being glued to my body in an effort to get him closer to the two currently growing inside my womb. To make things even more interesting, because apparently this family just doesn’t know when to quit when it comes to interesting, baby Keelan is now glowing. Just like the three older kids down the beach are. And like I am. Not all of me, but there’s a distinct glow emanating from my womb.
Only four of us seem to notice what just happened on our side of the beach with me and the baby. The other three are staring at me agape. Everyone else in our party is staring in awe at a spot about a hundred yards away. The spot where there used to be a beach. Now, there’s something that somewhat resembles a picture of a black hole I once saw, only it looks more like something Dali or Escher may have created. This black hole isn’t an empty vacuum of space. A stream of gateways swim around inside it, swirling and changing shapes as they go.
Pain crashes through me. I may be powerful, but even I can’t serve as a conduit for this much magic. I try to hold it in, but a scream is wrenched from my throat as the magic tries to slice me in two like it’s doing to the earth beneath my feet. Suddenly, bodies are lunging toward me. Two to rescue their son, and one who wants to rescue me. The last thing I see before being sucked into the dark chasm the wild magic created is the look of surprise on the three children’s faces a hundred yards down the beach as they’re sucked backwards into their own black hole. I guess they misjudged the situation and how powerful their magic is. Yup. Definitely my kids.
I’m sucked in so fast that Kallen, Kegan, and Alita are not able to reach me in time to keep me from falling, even though Kallen was standing right next to me. I’ve already fallen too far for rescue and am plummeting into the depths at a terrifying rate. It’s not me I’m worried about though. I’m more concerned for Kallen, Kegan and Alita because they’ve jumped into this chasm headfirst in their desperation to save me and baby Keelan. Their landing may suck more than mine when we eventually hit bottom. On the other hand, there doesn’t seem to be a bottom for them to hit their heads on.
Pulling my own magic, I struggle to get it past the magic bouncing between the twins in my womb and the baby in my arms. I feel Kallen and Kegan doing the same thing. After what feels like an eternity, but is really only a few s
econds, we finally manage to wrap ourselves and Alita in protective bubbles, hoping to dampen the eventual landing. After all, we can’t really fall forever, right?
The rift above heals itself. Rapidly. Dagda’s angry voice follows us into the darkness as the earth crashes closed above us, preventing anyone else from following. Though I can feel them throwing their magic at the spot we disappeared in a desperate attempt to open the earth back up. “I knew this was a damn trap!” Dagda shouts at us through the final vestiges of light. I really hope his version of I told you so are not the last words we ever hear from him.
Especially since he’s wrong. This is not a trap. Just our first exposure to the power our children can wield. What basically amounts to my magic on steroids. As if parenting isn’t going to be hard enough. We’re going to have to deal with magical superkids. On the bright side, I bet there will be a lot less focus on my magical faux pas’ in the future.
Chapter 5
“Mom. Mom!” Zyla’s shrill voice penetrates the darkness of my descent. “Xavion, where are they? What happened?”
“I don’t know,” her brother says, worry straining his voice. But like his father always does, he’s trying to remain calm and in control. “I’m not even sure we all ended up in the same place.”
“I don’t understand how this happened!” Keelan exclaims. “We’ve never been sucked in before.”
“I assume you have never attempted whatever you were trying to show us while in such close proximity to your young selves.” There’s the real voice of reason. My husband. The one clutching my arm in a death grip that is not only going to leave a mark but has probably warped my humerus bone into a soup bowl. He finally caught up to me a few minutes ago. At least we’re together in this inky darkness, so I don’t mind the death grip. Besides, it’s not like I can reach out and hold onto him. My hands are a little full. I adjust baby Keelan so I have a better grip on him. I am not going to let him float off.
“Dad! Thank god you’re here!” Zyla shouts. “Where are you?”
“Maybe this will help,” another familiar voice says. A tiny glimmer of light tries to illuminate the area around us. It was a good try, but Kegan’s magic is quickly swallowed by the darkness, and the light fizzles out.
A stronger burst of light suddenly surrounds us. “You’re all here!” Zyla exclaims, her eyes flitting between me, Kallen, Kegan and Alita. “How?”
Despite our dire circumstances, I can’t help but smile. “They weren’t going to let me and Keelan go without a fight. They jumped in after us. The others would have, as well, but they weren’t quick enough.” I have no doubt that every last soul on the beach with us would have jumped into the chasm if they could have.
Keelan, the big one, grins at his parents. “You always say we need to have one another’s backs. That’s what family’s do.”
Kegan quirks an eyebrow. “I do?”
“Yeah, but only when Uncle Kallen isn’t around,” Keelan chuckles.
Kegan grins back. “That sounds more like me.” Yes, it does.
“Any idea where we are?” Kallen asks, ignoring his cousin. “What realm we are in?”
Xavion shakes his head. “No. Unfortunately, we could be anywhere in any universe. When we do what we were doing on the beach, we open passages to basically all the realms.”
That’s a horrifying thought. Especially if they’ve taken it upon themselves to go exploring. As we learned with the Pixies, there’s a reason that not all of the realms have been explored yet. So, now it’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. “Neither your father nor I ever told you that was a really bad idea and not to do that?” That doesn’t seem like us. Not at all.
All three kids avoid my eyes. Finally, Xavion admits, “We’ve never told you we could do it.”
My mouth falls open. “You’ve been doing that on your own? How did no one notice?!” My mind races to the possible reasons they’re here with the Council coming for them. Here in the past, not this particular place. Someone probably did notice. A whole council of them, in fact. Pinning my children with my best Mom glare, I grit out, “If we get back home, you’re never going to do it again, right?” It’s more of a statement than a question. A very firm statement that leaves no room for argument.
“Before we came, you told us that Grandpa Dagda would require a grand show of magic to believe who we are,” Zyla reasons. The guilt in her eyes tells me even she knows they went a little too grand in their effort.
I sigh loudly. I can’t help but sympathize with her. I’ve done the same thing myself. She’s so young. She can’t be expected to always know the right thing to do. If I weren’t hurtling through a dark, bottomless expanse, I’d pull her into a comforting hug. After all, future me probably should have been more specific about what constituted a grand show of magic when sending them back in time.
“What happens if you guys let go of each other’s hands?” Kegan asks speculatively, trying to change the subject to more important matters.
Before either Kallen or I can shout ‘bad idea!,’ Keelan shrugs and draws his hand away from Zyla’s. She tries to grab it back, but it’s too late. As soon as the contact between them is lost, the magic keeping us in this dark limbo disappears. Another passage opens below me, and the ground is coming at me so fast I barely have time to secure myself underneath baby Keelan. I’m so focused on that I lose some of my grip on my own magic.
We hit hard. So hard, Kallen loses his hold on my arm and bounces several feet away. I can’t tell if the loud crunching sound echoing around us is evidence of his bones breaking or mine. Probably both. Two more loud thuds and I know Kegan and Alita have landed, as well.
Our children, however, float gracefully to the ground. At least, two of them do. Xavion has a handful of Keelan’s shirt, which kept his cousin from falling face first after he let go of Zyla’s hand. As soon as his feet hit the earth, though, Xavion lets Keelan go and rushes to my side. Zyla runs to her father.
Smiling down at me, Xavion sighs in relief. “You’re okay.”
The pain racking my body begs to differ. I feel like I fell off a cliff. Onto a bed of nails. Then rolled off the bed of nails only to land on the working end of a battering ram. One currently in use. I’m fairly sure my body has been flattened, literally, and I’m lying here doing my best pancake impersonation. I bet I could win the ‘Best Breakfast Food Imitation’ competition. In fact, I hereby award myself the title. I am the Breakfast Food Imitator Queen. I wonder what color sash I should wear to the ceremony. Okay, not only is my body flat, I may also have a concussion.
“Keelan!” Alita shouts. She untangles herself from Kegan’s arms and drags her own battered body to mine. Scooping her son from my arms, she checks him over from head to toe. I already know that he’s fine. I didn’t have time to better pad my own fall, but I did adequately pad his. With my body, not magic.
“Anyone have any healing magic I could borrow?” Kegan moans.
I roll my head to the side to take in his battered form. I had a baby fall on me. Kegan had a full-grown Fairy fall on him. He made sure that his wife didn’t hit the ground directly. Alita may be willow thin, but still. Even her tiny frame would have greatly increased the force of impact.
Forcing my eyes to focus even more, I see that Kegan’s leg is twisted at an awkward Angel. Alita notices too. She lets out a gasp and tears form in her eyes. Baby Keelan in tow, she makes her way back to her husband and rests a comforting hand on his leg. Kegan winces in pain.
“Sure thing, Uncle Kegan,” Xavion calls. With a quick assurance that he’ll be back, my son leaves me and hurries to his uncle’s side.
I feel Xavion’s healing magic rush into Kegan. I can’t help but grimace at his youthful lack of finesse. That’s going to hurt worse than the broken leg Kegan suffered in the fall. But, lack of finesse or not, Xavion has obviously been taught how to completely heal Kegan’s leg. The latter grits his teeth and doesn’t say anything as his nephew’s magic tears through him in search of fractured bo
ne and torn tissue. In no time, Kegan’s leg is straight and on the mend. Xavion may lack a surgeon’s skilled touch, but he has more than enough magic to get the job done.
Still, I decide it best to heal myself and Kallen. Pulling my own magic, I focus on my broken ribs. From what I can tell, that’s my most pressing injury, and I’m surprised they didn’t puncture a lung. When my ribs are healed, I take care of the various contusions all along my backside and my concussion.
“Dad, your arm!” Zyla exclaims.
Self-healing complete, I turn to Kallen. His wrist is twisted in a way that I didn’t know was possible while still remaining attached to his hand and arm. Horrified, I know I’m the one who caused his injury by falling on him because it’s the hand that was holding onto me.