by M H Ryan
Lyra reached to the sky with one hand and whispered words I couldn’t understand. A breezed blew against us and rattled the trees. Soon, it grew in strength and I heard the monkeys starting to holler. They were loud at first but the sound became distant as if we were back in the tunnel.
The world around me shimmered and a bright light started from above us and soon engulfed everything around us, blinding me with its brilliance. At that moment, I felt Sherri and the other girls moving away from me but I grabbed for them and they grabbed for me. We locked together, even as a force tried to pull us apart. I couldn’t see the girls anymore, only feel them.
It was as if I were floating away, detached from the world, holding onto my women for dear life.
Then the light faded and I saw some shapes around me. The women… and then the ship! We were still on Luna. As the bright light dimmed, I saw the familiar trees and a pipe running through the forest.
Luna crashed to the ground and with it, us. We all fell down and onto each other but we quickly got back to our feet as we collectively realized where we were.
We were back home.
“Holy shit,” Cass said.
“We’re freaking back,” Aubrey said.
“It worked,” Eliza said.
“Sherri,” Benji said, pointing to the women in my arms. “We need to get her to the pool.”
I didn’t say anything but just ran with Sherri, jumping off the boat and nearly falling face-first before collecting my footing. The girls were right there with me as we ran about a hundred feet through the soft foliage and to the warm waters of the pool I had grown to love.
I stepped right into the water. The geyser must have blown recently as it felt as hot as a sauna and steamed.
“We got you, Sherri,” I said as I gently put her body underwater, making sure just her head stayed above.
“Is she going to be okay?” Benji asked, frantically shaking her hands up and down in worry.
“Is she going to make it?” Cass asked, nervously pacing in the water next to me.
I looked back to see Shaya carrying Lyra in her arms. Her limp body and lack of color made me think she was dead but then she moved her hand up a little as if to touch Shaya.
“Lyra, is this going to work?” I asked.
Lyra groaned incoherently and then her body shimmered into transparency for a moment and then solidified.
“What the fuck was that?” Aubrey asked.
“She died, or the tree just died,” Kara said. “I felt it.”
“Lyra’s gone or at least the Lyra we saw before,” Eliza said. “She can’t help us anymore.”
“Should I kill her then?” Shaya asked, holding a knife to her throat.
“No, but Carmen, put a bubble on her,” I said and returned my attention to Sherri. “Please, Sherri, can you hear me?”
Right then, a water cat jumped into the pull and swam right for Sherri and I.
“Moshe!” Benji said. “Girl, you’ve been eating.”
The cat swam to us and her size struck me. She had to be nearly twice as large as the last time I’d seen her.
“She’s sick, girl,” I said to our cat friend.
Moshe swam up to Sherri and licked the side of her face. Then she swam over to the girls who took turns holding and petting her.
For the next ten minutes, we said little and did little else than watch Sherri in my arms. The chickens also found their way to Eliza and us held one in her arm, absently stoking it.
Hanna walked around the pool and took great interest in the plumbing we had recently installed but hadn’t said much. She tapped her chin and I could tell she wanted to explore the island and see for herself if the wonders we told her about were real or not.
My attention stayed on Sherri, though. I couldn’t tell if she still had a fever or not and started to wonder if putting her in hot water was the best idea. The wound on her thigh had foam around it as if I had pour hydrogen peroxide on it. It looked red but maybe smaller than before. Then she opened her eyes.
“Jack?” Sherri said and the girls gasped.
I hugged her and kissed the side of her face.
“What happened? Are we back home?” Sherri asked, looking confused.
“We’re about as home as a beaver in a dam,” Emma said.
“How do you feel?” I asked, looking over her body.
“Freaking leg hurts, got a headache but I feel pretty good in your arms, Jack,” Sherri said and wrapped her arms around my neck.
I kissed her lightly, happy to have her awake and looking better.
“Lyra got us home and saved you,” I said, looking back at her, lying on the shore next to Molly.
“Oh, we got Molly back as well,” Sherri said. “Thank god and thanks, Lyra, even though I didn’t trust your ass from the start.”
“She hasn’t been conscious since we got here,” Shaya said, with a knife in hand. “I think we should kill her.”
“Probably should,” Sherri said with a smile. “But if she got us back here and saved my ass, we can call it even for ditching us in that cave.”
Shaya sighed. “She’s part of the seals. Very powerful. We should kill her while she is weak.”
A noise rustled through the forest and we all turned. Some of the girls gasped again as Du’Khupa came jogging toward us with his long blade in hand.
“Jack?” he asked, looking shocked to see us. “I was told you were here but I didn’t believe it. You are more powerful than I thought.” He kneeled and bowed his head.
“Okay, but what are you doing here, Du’Khupa?” I asked, keeping my hands on Sherri.
“As you asked. I have gathered all the forces from all the tribes. They are coming here, for you.” He bowed deeper.
“That’s not exactly what I had in mind,” I said, thinking I wanted to set the guy and his people free from me until he tried to kill himself.
“How many are we talking here, number-wise,” Hanna asked.
“Not sure if all will obey but a thousand or more,” Du’ Khupa said.
“A fucking army,” Aubrey said.
“Jack, there is one more thing you need to know. We found—” Du’Khupa started to say when a familiar horn blew, loud and clear.
The shock of the noise had us all spinning to the direction it came from, right where our camp was.
Sherri wrestled from my arms and got on her feet.
“That was a ship’s horn,” Benji said.
“Yes, it just landed offshore near your camp,” Du’Khupa said.
“And it sounded just like the one Mario used,” Aubrey said.
“Everyone, get their weapons off the raft, and we’ll spread out toward the noise,” I said and then leaned in toward Sherri. “You stay here, okay?”
“Please, Jack, I’m able-bodied. Now, let’s go see who’s tooting?” Sherri said, walking out of the water. Then stumbled back a bit and into my arms.
“You’re staying here,” I said firmly, and she nodded.
The girls moved swiftly toward the raft.
“Du’Khupa, how many do you have here now?” I asked.
“Only me and two others, Jack, but I will not let anything happen to any of you,” Du’Khupa said, rising to his feet and gripping his blade.
“Okay, thanks. Now, Shaya and Sherri, you two stay here and watch after Molly and Lyra,” I said.
“Yes, of course,” Shaya said and bowed to me.
“And don’t kill Lyra,” I said as I rushed to Luna and grabbed a spear and an ax.
Moshe ran with me, shaking some of the water from her fur and looking excited to be in the action with us.
We fanned out as we made our way toward camp. I spotted the house we built through the trees and slowed down as we all reached the clearing near the shoreline.
“Holy shit,” Hanna said, pointing toward the ocean.
A massive ship was anchored just off the shore, with the name Veronica painted across the side. This was the ship. The ship that had brought
us here.
A ramp from the ship reached our sandy shore. A woman stood on the ramp and looked down on us.
From this distance, it was easy to see her khaki shorts and white, button-up shirt. Victoria Brown, the captain of the Veronica, my former boss, stared at us from top of the ramp.
“Mom?” Eliza asked.
The End
About the Author
Author’s note:
Thank you so much for reading the fourth book in this incredibly fun series.
I’d also like to apologize for the amount of time it took to get this one out. I had a tough year, but things are good again, well, except the Coronavirus currently going through the population. Other than that, I am in a semi-quarantine state, and that means more writing! Book 5 is going to be epic, and we’ll finally get to see who the hell this king is and what’s his deal. Oh, and let’s not forget about Captain Victoria Brown entering the fray. Hell yeah. Can’t wait to write the shit out of book 5.
Hope all you lovely readers are safe out there and free of the Rona. If this book brought a little bit of joy in the weary world we’re in, please leave a kind review.
All the best,
M.H.Ryan