Northern Lights

by Debra Dunbar

  “But that one blew apart. Is it safe to use that framework again?” I asked.

  Both Brent and Kennedy looked unnerved at my words. “It blew apart?” the werewolf asked. “Like blew apart after you were through, or when you were in the middle of it?”

  “If it had exploded when we were in transit, we wouldn’t be here,” Rafi commented dryly. “But I was barely able to hold it together for the two of us to travel. It’s going to be tough to hold it for the nine of us. Still, I think we’re better off going back so I can reestablish what I did before. Judging from what Ahia told me and my efforts to get us here, I think any passageway is going to be somewhat unstable. I just need to do better; to modify what I did last time so it holds for us all to get through.”

  Was he pushing himself too far once again? I got the feeling that even rested and recharged, a stable gateway from here to home would take everything he had. But what was our alternative? We could hardly live out our lives here. None of the humans would want that, Brent and I wouldn’t want that, and I’m pretty sure Rafi didn’t either.

  “What do you think?” Brent asked Kennedy. I blinked, wondering who this woman was that she’d made such an impression on my Alpha for him to ask her counsel.

  “Ray needs healing. He’s in such pain, and we can’t keep asking him to keep going like this. Renee might be able to hold off, but having her ankle injured slows us down. I’d rather take the extra time and face whatever with a healthy group. We can ration the food. We’ve got water. We’ve got weaponry, two angels and a werewolf.” She smiled at Brent and reached out to take his hand. “For the first time in two days, I actually think we’re going to be all right.”

  Chapter 38

  Raphael

  I healed everyone. The older guy had the broken arm and nose, but he also had a heart issue I took care of along with some arthritis and scar tissue in his knee from an old injury. The mother had a bad sprain, but also a spot of cancer that I’m sure she was completely unaware of. The boys were just cuts and bruises, as was the teenage girl. The other woman — Kennedy —was missing her leg. I stared at her prosthetic, baffled. I’d recreated my own limbs or those of angels more times than I could count, but I’d never ‘healed’ this traumatic an injury in a human.

  She laughed. “Oh, the expression on your face!”

  “What happened? It happened prior to your travel through the rift, obviously, or you wouldn’t have an artificial leg.”

  “Car accident. I survived three tours in the Army only to nearly be taken out by a drunk driver. I’m lucky it was just my leg and not my life.” Her expression turned serious. “I’m fine. I’d far rather we get out of here than have my leg back. I can get around just fine. Save your energy for the gateway.”

  “You don’t believe any of this is real, do you?” I asked. The boys had been fascinated by my wings, following me around and peppering me with questions. Renee and Ray believed I was proof of the divine. I’m pretty sure Crystal wanted to date me. Actually, I think she wanted to do more than date me, which was a bit alarming.

  Kennedy sighed. “I don’t know what to think. This is all so unbelievable, like the plot of a big-budget fantasy movie. Rifts, and other worlds, werewolves and angels, raggedy bug-men with laser sticks. I might be in that weird twilight spot between life and death. I might be having drug-induced dreams or psychosis and I’ll wake up in the hospital in a body cast. I’m just gonna go with it and act like it’s all real because that’s the only thing I can do right now.”

  I liked this woman. And Brent clearly did too. It’s the only reason I wasn’t punching his face in for running off with Ahia to fill the collapsible plastic jug she’d brought in her backpack. They were down by the creek, kneeling down, their shoulders touching.

  “Are they together?” Kennedy waved toward the pair.

  “Over my dead body,” I muttered.

  She chuckled. “Good. And if it’s any consolation, I think angel beats werewolf in her eyes.”

  “And in your eyes?” I knew the answer, but just wanted to see if she’d admit it.

  She looked down at Brent, her gaze soft. “Werewolf beats angel. Werewolf beats everyone.”

  Ahia and Brent came back from the creek with her five-gallon jug full, as well as four smaller bottles. We passed around the vacuum-packed meals and Ahia realized that she hadn’t packed any silverware. Lunch was a messy affair, everyone laughing as they sucked cold stew and chicken dumplings through the metallic bags. Laughed. Joked. I could feel the relief coming off the humans, the renewed hope that they’d soon be home with their loved ones.

  I’d done a good thing. I never would have bothered to go after them if Ahia hadn’t been so adamant. I’m not heartless, I just was sure they were dead, that it would be impossible for me to recreate a passageway. It seemed that with Ahia, the impossible was achievable. Saving these people did something to me — it made me proud to be an angel. It made every exhausting effort worthwhile. It made risking my life to get them home worthwhile. I wasn’t just doing this to impress Ahia or out of love for her anymore, I was doing it because these people’s lives justified the risks I’d taken.

  All too soon lunch was over and we were heading back toward the smaller mountains. Brent had the large water jug. Renee was carrying Ahia’s backpack so the pair of us could take to the sky and scout ahead. The news that they’d been attacked last night sat heavy on me. Waving for Ahia to stay behind and fly closer to the rest of our party, I flew ahead, angling along the small mountain range to the highest point, about five miles from where the cave was. That’s when I saw them. The figures were on the desert side moving toward the small mountains. We wouldn’t meet up with them if they kept on their current heading, but we’d need to be quiet and forego a fire. With any luck, we could camp in the cave for a few days and give me a chance to recover my strength.

  I folded my wings behind me and sat out of sight, watching the group as they approached. When they came near enough to count I saw they matched the description of the raggedy, bug things that both Ahia and the others had encountered. Brent said he’d fought five at the camp. This was eight of them.

  I climbed down a bit so I wouldn’t be visible as I took flight, then I headed back to the others. We’d need to keep low, and we’d need to hurry. I wanted us to be up and over the mountains before these guys were close enough to see us. And I wanted us out of here as soon as I was able.

  Chapter 39

  Ahia

  We huddled together under the emergency blankets while Brent and Kennedy took turns keeping watch. He’d insisted that Rafi needed his sleep, that the pair of us were their best defense in case of attack as well as their ticket out of here. They needed us well-rested. I didn’t argue, and I was glad to be cuddled up with Rafi, his wings wrapped around me as I dozed.

  Kennedy stayed near the mouth of the cave, even when Brent was guarding us. I knew he’d taken his wolf form and was surprised not just that he’d revealed that side of himself to a tourist, but that he treated a human absolutely like an equal. He’d dated human women before, but they’d always been like China dolls to him — fragile objects to be pampered and protected. He treated Kennedy like a wolf, which made me wonder what exactly had happened those days they’d been here alone for him to recognize her not just as a bad-ass, but as an Alpha female.

  In the morning, Renee and I sorted through the food I’d brought, rationing it in case we needed to be here a whole week. I figured by day five, if we thought we’d need to stretch our supplies, we could cut our meals even further. Thus breakfast was a protein bar each and water. I was dying for a cup of coffee. And a shower. And Rafi’s pancakes. But I was sure the rest of the crew was wanting those things even more than I was. We spent our morning drawing a makeshift checkers board on the stone floor and using the kids’ change as game pieces.

  While everyone passed the time, cheerful and full of hope, I flew out on a scouting mission. Rafi had told me what he’d seen five miles down the
range, and I wanted to check and see where the troop of raggedy-men were now. Raphael had a fit at me going alone, but we needed him to rest, and I’d promised him I’d come right back if there was any trouble.

  I climbed to the top of the ridge above our cave, then flew with short, low hops along it, keeping alert for anything that moved, anything that looked out of place. I made it to the point where Rafi had seen the raggedy guys yesterday without seeing anything that made me pause. There were signs that the rock had been disturbed down below, where a logical pass through the mountains would be. I knew where they were most likely going, so I swooped down into the valley and flew close to the ground, weaving in and out of the trees. There was a trail of disturbed grasses. The body was gone from where Brent had skewered it with his claws. They’d been here, and they hadn’t found our group at the campsite. I dropped to the ground and walked around the edges of the place where Brent and the others had bedded down for the night, seeing the spot of red where Brent had bled before he’d healed, the blackened remains of their fire.

  Brent’s blood. Any shifter worth their salt would have gotten enough of a scent from that to track the group. Actually any decent shifter would have gotten enough scent from the campsite to track us. We weren’t particularly stealthy, and after a couple of days without bathing, we were a pretty fragrant group. A human could have probably tracked us at this point.

  The thought was chilling. I knew exactly the route we’d taken, but hesitated, knowing Rafi would kill me if he found out I’d followed these guys and put myself at risk.

  Oh well. I hadn’t seen them when I’d climbed up to the ridge above our cave, but that didn’t mean they weren’t somehow camouflaged in the valley, or that they hadn’t been camping for the day under the trees. I didn’t know if these guys were nocturnal or if they traveled during the day, but I sure as heck didn’t want them surprising our group and trapping us in the cave to pick off like fish in a barrel.

  But I could hardy fly around looking for them, and walking in a human form was inefficient, plus I’d clearly look out of place here. I had only seen the raggedy-men the one time, but that had been enough to grab their basic appearance. That might not be the best idea, though. If they caught me wandering around and spoke to me, they’d know right away I was an imposter. I didn’t know their language or culture. I’d be better off with a different form.

  Not sure what would work best, I shifted into a sparrow and took off, trying to keep to the tree canopy as best as I could. Tracing Brent’s route along the creek to where we’d met up, I headed along the route we’d taken yesterday and found the raggedy guys disturbingly close to the mountains, less than half a mile as the sparrow flies from our cave.

  I hovered out of sight, unable to understand anything they were saying or planning. They’d tracked us this far. It wasn’t a stretch to think they’d be able to find us in our cave. Would they wait for nightfall to attack? Would they call for reinforcements? Either way I needed to alert Rafi and the others. We needed to move, to stay one step ahead of these guys. Either that, or we needed to fight, and if we fought, we needed to make sure none of them survived to tell the tale of our presence.

  Chapter 40

  I had to fly a circuitous route to get over the mountain and back to the cave without being seen. Once there, I ran straight to Raphael.

  “We need to leave.”

  The pair of us had said the words at the same time. Rafi took my arm to the cave entrance and pointed. At first all I saw was the red sands of the desert, then I realized some of those sands appeared to be moving. It was the raggedy-men, their leathery skin blending in with their surroundings.

  More alarming, this meant we’d soon be trapped in between this group and the one just over the small mountain. Brent and Kennedy joined us and I told them all what I’d seen.

  “Where do we go?” We’d be clearly visible on the sand. It would be impossible for most of our group to climb along the mountain to further down the ridge. Going over the top had been tough enough, and now we’d be dropping down right into a camp of raggedy-men.

  “We’ll have to head down into the sand, then hug the edge of the rocks.” Brent said.

  “They’re tracking us,” Kennedy argued. “We can’t keep running and expect to stay ahead of them. They know this place better than we do, and they’re close to trapping us.”

  “I agree,” Rafi said. “We need to go. I need to open a gateway now and get us out of here.”

  I caught my breath. “You’re not ready.”

  His eyes met mine. “I’ll have to be ready. If I can hold it long enough to get the most vulnerable of our party through, then maybe we can fight these guys off and I can try again in a few days.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that, but I was coming to realize that this was the only solution where the humans had a chance of surviving. “What can we do to help you?”

  Rafi looked out into the desert. “I want to get as close to where we came in as possible. I know that will put us close to those raggedy guys, but I’ll have a better shot at getting the gateway right if we’re down there.”

  “We can hold them off,” Brent said. “Ahia can blast them with lightning. Kennedy can take the rifle, and I’ll take the pistol.”

  “That will work.” Rafi turned around to head back into the cave. “We need to leave now. Right now. Grab everything you can because we’re heading out.”

  There was a flurry of activity, and within minutes, we were climbing down onto the sand and running. If we’d been able to keep up the pace, we would have made it to where we’d found the purse before the raggedy-men were within shooting distance, but in less than a thousand feet we had to slow to a fast walk. Ray couldn’t handle the pace. Crystal didn’t have shoes for running any distance. We moved as quickly as we could, then halted at Rafi’s signal.

  “We’re not close enough,” I told him. I was worried — worried that he was going to kill himself trying to save everyone.

  “I’m worried if we go any further I’ll be dodging lasers as I’m trying to open the gateway,” he replied. “Put everyone on guard so I can concentrate. Have the humans ready to run through on my word.”

  The angel began to concentrate while I conveyed his orders. Kennedy loaded my rifle, while I took the pistol. Brent pulled the laser weapon he’d retrieved from the raggedy-man he’d killed, and tried to see if he could figure out how it worked.

  They’d seen us and they were running. I got ready. Rafi blurred into an aura of white and a gateway opened, red-orange with gold light. Then it winked out with a pop. With a deep breath, he tried again, and again, and again, each time unable to hold the gateway steady enough for travel.

  Laser shots filled the air. I positioned myself to cover Rafi and ensure nothing hit him and broke his concentration, then I opened fire. Kennedy had swapped with Brent and he knelt beside me, shooting with the rifle while she banged the laser stick on her palm and shook it in the air.

  The bullets were slowing the raggedy-men down, but not killing them. I heard Rafi’s muffled curse, and looked over to see another gate pop and fizzle. He looked like he was ready to fall over. His hands shook, his face was ghostly pale. And through his exhaustion, he kept trying.

  The raggedy-men were almost on us. I started aiming for their google-eyes, and was thrilled to see two go down. Brent’s shots felled two more. We were finally killing them, but it was taking too long. There were too many.

  Kennedy screamed and I saw a burst of laser-light coming from the opposite direction of the rest. It sliced one of the raggedy guys in half and I cheered. Between the three of us we were slowly holding our line steady.

  “Got it!” I looked over at Rafi’s shout and saw a flash of silver light. The gateway opened, orange and gold with a harmony it hadn’t had the other times. I shot Rafi a questioning glance, not wanting to doubt that he’d got the end location right, but worried about the difference in sound. I needed to concentrate on keeping these guys away from u
s. He knew what he was doing. And besides, pretty much anywhere he took us would be better than here. Heck, I’d take Hel at this point.

  “Go!” Kennedy shouted at Rafi’s signal. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ray vanish into the gateway, then Crystal, then Renee and the two boys. Brent motioned for Kennedy to leave, shooting as he backed toward the gateway. The woman waited for him, then with one last shot they were gone.

  I unloaded the last few bullets then ran for the gateway, only to stop when I saw Rafi’s face. He was struggling, and knew from one look that he was holding it open for me, that he’d not have the strength to hold it open once he got inside. He’d either die in there, or be left behind.

  And neither of those two scenarios was acceptable to me.

  “Ahia, go. Now. I’ll be right behind you,” he told me through clenched teeth. A laser shot ripped through my backpack. We were going to die here, or die in the rift, but I wasn’t leaving him behind.

  Another shot hit my leg and I stumbled. I felt Rafi’s hold slip and dove for him, slamming my spirit-self into his and abandoning my physical form.

  Together we can do this, I told him.

  Lasers seared across his back and I felt him merge completely with me, leaving his body behind. Just as we came together as one, we jumped, soaring through the tunnel. I saw a bright light, felt the slam of an explosion, felt an excruciating tearing at the edge of our joined selves. I screamed in pain and Rafi launched me forward and away from him.

  I was unraveling, then suddenly everything came together — particles, atoms, molecules — and I found myself rolling across the sidewalk outside of an all-night convenience store just down the street from where the tourist shop had been, naked. The sidewalk was horrible, with old gum and dried ketchup, and smears of grease, but I wanted to kiss it. Home. I was home. My spirit-being hurt like I’d been bounced around a rock-tumbler, but I was alive.