The Return To Erda Box Set

by Beca Lewis

  “And don’t start doing the sorry thing, either,” Aki said. “It was fine. We had it planned out who was doing what last night, and it will be your turn soon.”

  There wasn’t anything to say, although I still wanted to either be mad at myself or feel sorry for myself. I squashed the temptation to be distracted and turned my attention back to the group huddled around the fire.

  “This cave will remain our home base for the time being,” Niko said. “Ruta reported back that the trees have not seen the Raiders yet.

  “The trees were only vaguely aware of what Abbadon is doing. I understand that in the end, Ruta had to tell them who he is and where he is from. Trees understand time better than we do so they weren’t as surprised or confused as some other beings might be with the idea that we are from the future.

  “The trees have agreed to work with Ruta to pass the message to all the trees. For now just the trees. We don’t want to broadcast to Abbadon that we are here. The trees know how to be silent and keep information to themselves. From now on they are our prime sentinels. They will pass information through their network of roots which covers all of the Kingdom.

  “They will report directly to Ruta what they find, and in that way we might be able to stay out of sight of Abbadon’s forces while we build alliances with the beings that live here.”

  Looking around the room, Niko added, “We can’t think that we can march up to Abbadon’s Castle and capture him. Even as good as all of you are, it can’t be done. We’ve seen the kinds of minions and evil things Abbadon knows how to produce. Some of them may already be here. I don’t think any of us want to run into any version of the Shrieks or Deadsweep.”

  A shudder ran through me, and I felt sick. It hadn’t occurred to me that these things would exist now.

  Niko was still talking. “Even without those kinds of things, Abbadon is not alone. At this point in history, Abbadon is not working by himself. He has people and beings that work with and for him. Some of them because they are afraid not to, and others because they believe in his mission.”

  “How could they believe in his mission?” I asked. “He wants to destroy all living things which would include them, and their families at some point.”

  “Obviously that is not the mission that he is telling them about. We need to find out what he is teaching and promising. Which means we will have to become part of the communities that already exist here.

  “But first we have decided to rescue our mother.”

  “But not rescue our younger selves,” Aki added.

  “It’s a good choice,” Garth said as the rest of us sat in stunned silence.

  Garth and Anne had been quiet since the moment we arrived. Actually, they had always been quiet, taking in what people were saying but not adding much to the conversation. They were the most experienced dimension travelers in the Kingdom, and also the ones that had helped build the time-portal with Suzanne. But they had never shared what they thought about our team’s planning.

  All eyes swiveled to Garth. He and Anne looked as if they had lived in caves all their lives. Maybe no matter where they were they looked as if they were at home. It was probably a talent that they needed. They both wore their red hair short. I thought that perhaps it was easier to take care of when doing the kind of traveling that they did, and then I realized it might be something else.

  It made it easier to disguise Anne as a man. Instead of a brother and sister team, it would be two brothers. It had never occurred to me that traveling as a woman would be more dangerous. Probably because I always had a team with me.

  Anne looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back at her. It had finally dawned on me that she and I could be friends. Like real friends. Like sister friends. This time when she smiled at me her eyes lit up. Of course, she knew what I was thinking. I held up my pinky finger, and she did the same. It was a pinky promise.

  As discreet as we were trying to be, Ruta had seen. I thought that he might be mad at me for being distracted, but instead, he gave me one of his tiny smiles that only those that knew him well understood to be a smile. Otherwise, it looked more like a twitch. Gratitude for Ruta swelled up inside of me threatening to spill over.

  Then Pris pulled my hair, Beru wasn’t there to pinch my leg, and I turned back to listen to what Garth had to say.

  Abbadon Twenty-Two

  Garth had remained silent after his statement, and we all waited for him to continue. Garth looked a little surprised that he had spoken up, but he didn’t look any less sure of what he said.

  “Glad you think so, Garth,” Niko said, “But perhaps you would like to explain why you think this is a good idea.”

  Garth paused before continuing. “To clarify, I am still wondering about rescuing your mother, but I definitely agree that you two should not stop what is going to happen to your child self. In fact, Anne and I think that no one should rescue anyone who we know is still alive in the future.”

  “What if they’re dead in the future?” Ruta asked. Everyone knew why Ruta had stepped outside of his usual reluctance to say anything in a meeting. His village had been destroyed. His mother had died. My breath caught in my throat. He was asking for me, too.

  Garth took a deep breath and looked as if he wanted to sink into the floor. “It’s possible that it also would be too dangerous for the future.”

  Looking at both Ruta and me he added, “Are either of you two more than you might have been if your mothers had lived? If your village had not been destroyed, Ruta, would you be here with this team? Would you have found Beru?”

  The truth of what he said hit me like a sledgehammer. It was true. I wouldn’t be wearing my mother’s bracelet. I probably wouldn’t have met Ruta if his village was still there.

  “Wait,” I said. “If we stop Abbadon in this time frame aren’t we already rescuing all these people that we want to rescue? If Abbadon didn’t have time to destroy Ruta’s village, won’t our mothers be there when we get back?”

  “Yes, but you might not be there. We might not be there. Some, or all of us, might not make it back. Or we might be totally different people. However, we would have saved the Kingdom. Isn’t that what we signed up for? To save the Kingdom?”

  Seeing my face, Garth added more gently, “I know that the ramifications of what we are doing are not something we will know until it’s all over. But you did know the possibilities, didn’t you? And even if you didn’t, and now you do, would you choose anything different? Wouldn’t you still be here?”

  Garth looked around the cave and added, “Wouldn’t we all still be here? Isn’t that what we came for? Perhaps we will be stuck back here. Maybe if we get to step through the time-portal, we don’t come out the other side because we don’t exist in the future anymore after what we have done.

  “Maybe all of you didn’t fully realize what could happen until now. But even so, wouldn’t you all still be here?”

  No one moved. The only sound was the fire crackling in front of us.

  It was Zeid who broke the silence. “Yes, I would still choose to be here. And you’re right. Until you said all of that sitting here in this cave back in time, I hadn’t fully realized what could happen.

  “However, I think that you and Anne fully understood, and yet you came with us. You could have just helped set up the time-portals with Suzanne, and then taught us what we needed to know and stayed behind. Why did you two come even though you knew the risks better than the rest of us?”

  Garth looked at Anne and nodded for her to answer. “Because we may have set this in motion, and now we have to stop it.”

  *******

  If I thought that the cave had been silent before, I was wrong. This time I swear even the fire stopped making a sound. All the air whooshed out of the cave and then roared back in. Really roared. Like Earl, or Coro. And then Ear
l was there. Standing at the entrance, looking just as we had left him.

  Stunned we all stared. What was going on? If Earl could travel back in time why didn’t he tell us that? The idea that Anne and Garth had caused Abbadon to be a monster took second place in the order of questions that needed to be answered.

  Earl didn’t stay. Assuming that was Earl. We blinked, and he was gone, but not before we all heard the word, “No.”

  Since Professor Link wasn’t there to say anything I used his line, “Well, that was interesting…” and we all laughed again. Not quite as freely as the first time. But it was enough to get us all talking.

  It was Teddy who asked the question. “Was that Earl? Why was he here? What did he mean, when he said, ‘no?’”

  We all looked at each other as if one of us would know the answer, and we all ended up back at Anne.

  I wouldn’t have thought that her face could get any whiter, and yet there she was looking like a frozen porcelain doll. Garth didn’t look much better.

  Finally, Anne spoke. “I guess Earl didn’t like what I said.”

  “Well, that was pretty obvious. The not liking it part,” I responded trying not to sound as snarky as I felt. After all, I had just made a pinky promise with Anne to be friends.

  “‘No’ is pretty easy to understand. But how could that be Earl and why would he be so upset about what you said? Shouldn’t we all be upset that you might have started all these problems? Wait, that’s what Earl didn’t want us to believe right? He came back here to keep us from blaming you. I don’t get it …” I said finally running out of steam.

  Taking a deep breath, I added, “Seriously, I don’t get it. And I doubt anyone else does either. I’ll be quiet now and let you explain. You can, can’t you?” My voice had taken on a decidedly whiny tone.

  Niko spoke instead. “Let’s clarify what we need to know. This all started because you said you agreed with us not to rescue ourselves as children. And then not to rescue anyone that we know is still alive, or even dead, in the future.”

  Garth nodded, and Niko continued, “What about our mother? We assume she died because we never saw her again. But perhaps she survived it. Do you think it would be okay to rescue her if it is possible?”

  “Next, was that Earl? If no, who was it? If yes, how did he do that and why? And finally, and definitely not last, what do you mean when you said you two might have caused it? Start wherever you want to begin. Oh, and one more thing. Why would we listen to you?”

  “Other than the fact that Earl might have shown up to tell us about them?” I said.

  Niko nodded. “Point taken. Okay, go. One of you talk. Like now.”

  Abbadon Twenty-Three

  Anne started to answer, but then Pita raised his hand. Pita raising his hand was so weird, it stopped us all in our tracks.

  “I think I can answer a few of these questions,” Pita said. “In fact, I may be the only one who can, so may I speak?”

  Niko shook his head as if trying to clear it, but then gestured at Pita to continue. I thought back to when I had first seen the Ginete.

  Pita and his four brothers had met us all at the tavern in Dalry. At the time, their large heads and huge golden eyes made me think they looked like a cross between a dwarf and a lighthouse. Later, Pita and his brothers, in fact, all the Ginete had been instrumental in stopping Abbadon’s last few monsters.

  After I met them, I became curious about why the village seemed to respect the brothers and at the same time be a little afraid of them. I had never seen anything that would make me fearful of the Ginete. But on the other hand, I had no idea what their history was with the town.

  Other than being a cousin of the Whistle Pigs, I knew very little about the Ginete. It wasn’t totally my fault. Pita and his brothers were friendly, but also very private.

  Pita and his brothers had been the ones who had prepared the remembering ceremony for me before we went on our first mission together. It made sense that they could run a tradition like that only if they knew much more about the workings of Erda than met the eyes.

  When Teddy put his hand on Pita’s shoulder, I realized that it was possible that he knew what Pita was going to say. But it could have just been his way of telling him that no matter what he would be there for him. If I had been sitting close enough to Pita, I would have done the same thing.

  Aki got up and came back with more wood for the fire. Pita waited for her to return and then spoke. “I know why Anne and Garth are worried that they may have precipitated the beginnings of Abbadon’s reign of terror. I also know why the vision of Earl showed up.

  “My brothers and I were not alive in this time-period. But the story was carefully told to us, so when the right moment arrived, we would be able to repeat it. I didn’t know this was that time until just a few minutes ago, or I would have spoken up sooner.”

  “What do you mean the vision of Earl?” Aki asked. “Are you saying that wasn’t, Earl?”

  “Yes and no, or more accurately no and yes,” Pita answered. When Ruta snorted, Pita added, “I am not trying to be dense or confusing. It’s part of the story.”

  “Zut,” Niko said. “Then tell the ziffering story.”

  Niko swearing was unusual. He was usually unflappable. But we all understood.

  Pita held up his hand, closed his eyes halfway so we could only see the bottom of his eyes. I recognized that look. It was one where he was trying to think.

  “Okay. The story begins when the scenario Anne and Garth are referring to happened. The Earl from this time-period knew that one day they would blame themselves. So he programmed a holograph that would show up the minute one of them said what Anne said.

  “I had heard that Earl would only say the word ‘no.’ The reason is precisely what you think it would be. He didn’t want them to take the blame or responsibility for Abbadon’s evil.”

  “So it was your people that were there?” Anne whispered. “They saw what happened, and then told the story so people wouldn’t forget? And Earl programmed that hologram just for us?”

  Pita nodded, and Anne burst out into tears, covering her face and leaning forward until all we could see was the top of her head. Garth put his arm around his sister to comfort her, but we could see him fighting off his own tears.

  In a way, I was delighted to learn that it wasn’t actually Earl standing in the doorway of the cave because then I would have been a teeny, tiny, bit angry that he hadn’t told us he could travel in time. On the other hand, he hadn’t told us a lot of things. That thought made me snicker to myself. Who had?

  It felt as if every time I turned around someone else was telling us something else that we hadn’t known before. I wondered what other secrets still hadn’t been revealed.

  The Priscillas had been sitting on my lap while all of this was going on. Normally, they would have been flitting from person to person, trying to get close to the action. And if not that, they would be trying to liven things up. I glanced down at them, and La raised her head to look at me.

  I leaned over and whispered to them. “What’s going on? Are you three okay?”

  All three of them shook their heads, no. “Do you feel sick?”

  “No,” La whispered so that only I could hear. “Not in the way you mean. But yes in another way.”

  This time all three Priscillas nodded yes. “Is this another secret? Something you haven’t told before?”

  Another yes nod from all of them and then all three buried their faces in my lap and started to cry.

  I looked up to see Anne looking at me.

  “It’s not their fault. We asked the Priscillas not to tell.”

  “Not tell what?”

  “The story of what happened.”

  This time it was my turn for my face to turn white, but then I star
ted to feel a surge of anger that scared me. I knew what could happen if I didn’t control it. Lightning balls were not going to be a good thing inside a cave.

  “When did you make them promise?” I asked through clenched teeth at my new best friend who was rapidly becoming a past friend.

  “Back then, when it happened,” Anne answered.

  Abbadon Twenty-Four

  If the Priscillas had not been on my lap, I would have stood up and shot those lightning bolts, cave or no cave. Instead, I said in the calmest voice I could manage, “Start talking. And this better be good, or I’m voting that we leave you behind.”

  Niko gave me a look that scared the ziffer out of me before saying. “I don’t care how angry you are Miss Kara Beth, we never, ever, leave anyone behind. Including you in case you are in a fit of temper.”

  Turning from me, he addressed Garth and Anne, “On the other hand, you two have a lot of explaining to do. And before we go out into this world and start interacting with it, you better tell us the whole story, and don’t leave anything out.”

  Aki stood. “I agree. However, I think it would be wise to check our surroundings to be sure that we are still safe, and perhaps gather more wood for the fire, and eat something before we begin.”

  Then she turned to Garth and Anne and added, “But you two are staying here. I would like Kara to stay with you, but at the moment she isn’t your best friend, and everyone else has something to do, so we are going to have to trust that you will stay put.”

  After receiving a nod from the two of them, Aki assigned everyone else something to do, and then she dissolved away. I assumed she needed some time to herself.

  Ruta went to check with the trees. Pita and Teddy were still looking for signs of other Ginete and Whistle Pigs. Zeid and Niko said they were going to check the area for any changes that might have happened overnight and would bring some firewood back with them.