The Four Faces of Rath (CC/AU,ALL,TEEN)

[Island Breeze]

The Four Faces Of Rath



The Request

Chapter 70

LXX



Ta’lan hugged Rahn one last time then looked at Max and smiled.

“It would seem, Zan, that you have been a good friend to me… and to Rahn… in two dimensions. For that, I wish to thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Max said politely, returning the smile. “But it was nothing really. Rahn helped us, too… in the other dimension, I mean.”

Ta’lan nodded. “Still, you brought Rahn home again… in both dimensions. That is something that I cannot forget or allow to go unrewarded.”

“We don’t want any reward, Ta’lan,” Liz said, holding one hand up to stop her. “Seeing Rahn back home again and happy is enough reward for us.”

Everyone nodded, and several voiced their agreement. Ta’lan took a deep breath and sighed, glancing at her newly returned adopted “son” again… then she continued,

“My double in the other dimension that you were in suggested a proper reward, and I am inclined to agree with her.” Ta’lan held up her own hand to stop Liz before she could object again. “It is appropriate for several reasons. My double has already offered it to your doubles in her dimension… for their help. That is one reason. And I see from her note that my estranged mate, J’Shalo, has already taken an irreversible step that I can only repair now by also offering you the gift that my double suggested.”

Liz looked at Max, and Max shrugged. Ta’lan in the other dimension had invited all of them and their doubles to a big dinner at her house before they left. The doubles, who were from that dimension, had gone somewhere with Ta’lan later to receive their “gift,” but Max and the crew from the New Granolith had departed for their own dimension immediately after the dinner, and Ta’lan had given Max the note then, asking him to give it to her double in this dimension once he was back home again. The note was sealed, and Max had no idea what she had written in it, but he knew that it was to be some kind of reward. He had carried the message with him for the last seven months while they were lost somewhere in interdimensional limbo, finding dozens of Antars only to discover time and again that none of them was their own. In all honesty, Max had almost forgotten about the note. It hadn’t been high on his list of priorities lately. After the first month of being lost in the interdimensional chasm, Max had begun to seriously wonder whether or not they would ever see their own Antar again or even ever meet the Ta’lan of their own dimension.

“How did you meet J’Shalo,” Ta’lan asked.

Max looked at Michael and Michael looked at Rahn, who had no idea at all what they were talking about, since it had been the other Rahn who had helped them in the other dimension and this one knew nothing about what had happened to them there.

“Actually,” Michael said, “J’Shalo found us… on the New Granolith… a few days before we left earth to go to Antar there. Our doubles in that dimension had never heard of him before. He never came to Roswell with Tess there like he did in our dimension… the first time they ever saw him was when he showed up on the ship and tried to kill us all. But in our dimension, when we lived on earth, we knew him as Nasedo.”

“Yes… some of that was in the note that my double sent. Do you know why he wanted to kill you?”

Max nodded. “He wanted our ship… to get back to Antar. Apparently, Tess took his ship and left him stranded on earth a couple of years ago. Then he found out that Kivar had been killed by one of his enslaved enemies and that no one was in control on their Antar at the moment, so he thought that he could take over and seize power, but he needed a ship to get back. J’Shalo tried to get Rahn to help him fly the New Granolith. When Rahn refused and threatened to reveal him, Nasedo… J’Shalo I mean… turned into a Xiangar viper and bit Rahn, leaving him to die.”

Ta’lan winced. “And Rahn survived? How?”

“Liz’s double… in the other dimension,” Maria said proudly.

“Is she a shapeshifter?”

Maria shook her head.

“I don’t understand then. How could she help Rahn? The Xiangar viper’s poison is the deadliest substance known to the Ke’cjes in the whole universe. Only another Ke’cje might have been able to save him.”

“Rahn told her what to do to purge the poison from his brain.”

“But if she was not a shapeshifter, how could she have done that… and why didn’t J’Shalo try to kill her, too, when he incapacitated everyone else on the ship?”

“He did try. But she wasn’t affected by J’Shalo’s touch. Rahn had made an adjustment to Liz’s brain a few days before J’Shalo showed up.

Ta’lan looked surprised. “Why?”

“Rahn was trying to help her… to walk again. But because of the adjustment Rahn had already made to her brain, J’Shalo’s touch didn’t affect her like it did the rest of us. When J’Shalo touched the rest of us in our sleep, our brains went haywire. We would have all died within twenty-four hours. But Liz wasn’t affected, because her brain had been prepared already, by Rahn, in a way that wouldn’t harm her. She helped Rahn to eliminate the poison from his brain… and Rahn helped the rest of us…”

“By doing the correct alteration on all of you…”

Maria nodded.

Ta’lan ran her hand over her face and shook her head slowly. “If I ever catch J’Shalo again, I may bite him myself… as a viper, of course.”

Maria smiled and laughed. “In a way, your double did. We caught J’Shalo. Well, Jung-Jo, the pawgor, did. J’Shalo had turned into a hawk… a large bird… to try to escape, but Jung-Jo snatched him out of the air. Max and Michael put him in a cage, and Rahn gave him just enough poison of the Xiangar viper to take away his power to shift back.”

Ta’lan smiled. “Interesting! But eventually such a small dose of the poison would wear off.”

“He gets a tiny dose in every meal… to keep him that way. We took him back to your double in the other dimension, and she decided to leave him in the cage until he changes.”

“Ha!” Ta’lan laughed. “J’Shalo is in trouble then!”

“You don’t like him very much anymore, do you,” Maria asked.

Ta’lan sighed. “It isn’t as simple as that, Maria. J’Shalo was my mate. But that was a long time ago. He ran off and left the Ke’cje valley and everything we love here. No one knew where he went. J’Shalo cannot change. I still have some feelings for him, but I am realistic. He will not change. Too bad you didn’t bring my J’Shalo home. I might have enjoyed having him in a cage where he couldn’t run off and leave and not tell anyone or care about anyone he had left behind. A bird of prey would suit him. Besides, J’Shalo has caused a great deal of pain to many people besides me. He has no conscience… not like you do or I do. If he feels the need, he will simply kill you and then forget about it. He was never normal as a Ke’cje, and he gave outsiders a wrong impression of what the Ke’cjes are like. Fortunately, most of us stay in our valley where we are well-protected and happy. It doesn’t matter so much what outsiders think. But no… J’Shalo is not normal by any standards that I know of.”

“We figured that out already,” Michael said, “When we knew him on earth. He was supposed to be our protector, but he killed people… like stepping on a bug. That’s what he thought humans were basically. And the J’Shalo in the other dimension even tried to kill us.”

Ta’lan nodded. “Well, because of what he did to your brains and because of what Rahn there had to do after that, your brains have been permanently altered. Not in a big way… but in a very important way. It is because of this, ironically, that I am able to offer you the gift that my double has asked me to offer to you… Didn’t you tell me that Kyle was not with you in the other dimension?”

Liz nodded. “Not at first. Our Kyle did not meet J’Shalo. His double did… but not our Kyle… And Jeliya, his wife, wasn’t there either.”

Ta’lan reached over and touched Kyle on the temple and behind the ear at the same time then concentrated for a moment. Then she did the same to Jeliya.

“What did you do,” Kyle asked. “Did you change my brain?”

“Only a little… and for the better,” Ta’lan said with a smile, “Come!”

Ta’lan led the group out of her house and into her back yard, passing through some kind of door or portal on the back of the house that looked like a large, almost invisible membrane. She didn’t open it but rather simply passed through it. The others followed. Michael turned back and touched the membrane they had just walked through. It was solid now… and hard as steel. And it was smoky-colored from the outside. From the inside, it had been clear as air and had simply flowed around them as they walked through it… like passing through a cloud.

“How do you get back in,” Michael asked, tapping on the steel-hard doorway from the outside.

Ta’lan smiled. “When I am ready… it will let me in.”

Alex ran his hand over the door, too, then looked at Michael. “That’s solid, man.”

Michael nodded.

“If you look up in that direction,” Ta’lan said, pointing toward the east where the high mountains rose up around the Ke’cje valley, “You will see the T’chor Ja’nah. That’s a mountain range that reaches into the high east winds that flow above our valley. In that mountain, there are many excellent aeries… places that we, as Ke’cjes, treasure.”

“What’s an aerie,” Maria asked, looking at Liz.

“That’s like a high lookout point… or an eagle’s nest,” Liz said.

“Somehow I just knew you’d know that,” Maria laughed.

“It’s a good word,” Liz replied softly.

“For you it is,” Maria chuckled. “I would have just said a ‘ledge’ or a ‘nest.’”

Liz smiled.

“We will be going to the top of that mountain,” Ta’lan said. “Normally, I would just fly up there, but you cannot do that, so we must walk to the mountain. Then Rahn and I will have to carry each of you up one at a time by your arms to the top of the mountain. We must fly up. It is the only way. Is everyone here okay with that?”

“We could get there faster,” Liz offered cautiously, “With the portal.”

This time it was Ta’lan’s turn to be confused… “What portal?”

Liz held out her hand and called for the portal, and a mirror-like apparition suddenly materialized in front of her.

“This portal.”

Ta’lan touched the portal, and it rippled, like touching water… but it wasn’t water.

“What is this?”

“It’s a portal. It will take us anywhere we want to go… in this dimension. It won’t work in any other dimensions. I found that out.”

“Where does it come from,” Ta’lan asked, amazed.

“It’s actually one of four spheres that were given to me by Shaqor Niseel of the planet Xarius. But I don’t need to actually have the sphere in my possession to use it. I only need to call it.”

“Amazing,” Ta’lan said, clearly impressed. “How do you use it? Do you just step through… like my convex entry portal?”

“Follow me,” Liz said. “Portal, please take us to the top of that mountain to the east, the one called the ‘T’chor Ja’nah.’ We would like to see…” Liz smiled and glanced at Maria… “an aerie.”

Liz stepped into the portal, and, one by one, the others all followed. They stepped out on a high ledge overlooking the Ke’cje valley to a view that was breathtaking in beauty… and more than a little bit breathtaking in height.”

“Omigosh!” Maria exclaimed, glancing down at the valley far below. “That’s… awesome!” Quickly, she edged up next to Michael and lifted his arm and put it around herself… “Now’s your time to shine, Spaceboy. Keep me from falling off of here. I’m not an eagle, you know.”

Michael smiled. “I’ll hang on to ya, Ree. Don’t worry.”

Actually, the place where they were standing was more than merely a ledge. They were standing on the edge of it overlooking the valley, but behind them was a rather substantial small, grassy plain that ran about a hundred feet before butting up against the mountain. And in the side of the mountain, there was a cave. Other than for the fact that Maria couldn’t see any way a person could get up here unless they could fly or had a sphere like Liz’s, Maria thought that this would be a great secluded hideaway for her and Michael… their own private… aerie. Maria smiled as that thought flitted through her mind. But who was she kidding? The only way she would ever get back up here again would be if she begged Liz to let her use the sphere. Not that Liz would mind. Liz had always been very generous, letting any of them use the sphere of the portal. But sometimes Maria just wanted to keep her intentions private except to herself and Michael.

“If you hold your arms out at your sides,” Ta’lan said, “You can feel the wind flow under them. It feels like the wind will just lift you up.”

“I think I’ll keep my feet on the ground,” Maria said. “I don’t want to be lifted up unless I’ve got wings or something to get me back down safely.”

The others laughed, but inside, most of them had pretty much the same feeling.

Ta’lan smiled. “I don’t expect anyone to jump off of the cliff, but I want you to feel what I’m talking about.”

One by one, each one extended his or her arms out to the sides and faced into the wind.

“Now close your eyes and imagine that there are wings on your backs. Feel them growing out across the backs of your arms. Feel the wind under them lifting you up…”

Isabel opened her eyes suddenly. “Is that what this is all about,” she gasped, as she realized what Ta’lan’s intentions were. “You’re trying to teach us to… to shapeshift?”

Ta’lan just smiled.

“I don’t think we can do that… can we?” Alex asked, more curious than afraid.

Liz shook her head. “Our bodies aren’t capable of shapeshifting. That’s why when J’Shalo did what he did to our brains it almost killed us. He made our brains produce uncontrollable impulses to shapeshift, but our bodies weren’t able to… not successfully. It would have been fatal if Rahn hadn’t altered our brains to allow us to control the impulses.”

“Exactly,” Ta’lan said. “And now you can control them.”

Liz thought about it for a brief moment… “No… I mean, yes, we can control the impulses now, but our bodies haven’t, you know, adapted over thousands of millennia to allow us to shapeshift the way yours and Rahn’s have. I still don’t know where you get the extra mass from to grow in size or where the mass goes when you reduce your size down to the size of a… a roadrunner, like Rahn did in the other dimension. Our bodies simply can’t do that.”

“That is probably true, Liz,” Ta’lan agreed. “You have not had the many millennia to adapt the way we have. And your bodies probably cannot grow larger or smaller… at least not by any significant amount. But you can shapeshift. You can have wings. And you can fly.”

Liz looked at Ta’lan with a look of total incredulity written all over her face. The whole idea flew in the face of everything she knew about science… or physics… or the human body. But something inside her was telling her that Ta’lan knew what she was talking about. It wasn’t possible… but it was probably true. It was a contradiction that Liz, especially, found hard to reconcile in her mind.

“Bumblebees fly, don’t they, Liz?” Maria asked.

“Yeah.”

“And science says they shouldn’t be able to fly… aerodynamically.”

Liz looked momentarily thoughtful, then amused. “Maria! You WERE listening in science class!”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Well, maybe I learned a lot of things, Liz. I just don’t let any of it blind me to other truths.”

Liz laughed. “As crazy as that sounded, Maria, it made a whole lot of sense. Thanks, girlfriend!”

“Anytime.”

Liz turned back to Ta’lan. “You really think we could grow wings?”

Ta’lan nodded.

“Where would the extra mass come from?”

Ta’lan smiled. “From within you. In order to fly, Liz, two things have to happen. You have to have wings… and you have to be lighter. Fortunately, when we grow wings, the mass needed for the wings conveniently comes from elsewhere in the body, and that reduces our weight. It comes from bones, fat, and other tissues in the body that won’t need it temporarily. This makes us considerably lighter, inch for inch, because the wings are very big but not heavy. Birds have hollow bones, you know.”

“Okay, but… how can our bodies change shape? We have a fixed shape…”

Ta’lan shook her head. “Not so fixed as you may think… Your bodies are not so very different than ours, Liz. Your bodies are living things, not stones that cannot change. When you are born, you are a baby, but you grow… and change. The arteries and blood circulate antibodies and platelets and all kind of things to different parts of your body all the time. If you are wounded… you heal. You gain weight or lose it depending on how your body stores or uses fat. Your hair grows and has to be cut. Finger and toenails grow. In many ways, your bodies, just like ours, change from minute to minute and day to day. Is it so hard to believe that something more might be possible?”

Liz shook her head and stretched her arms out at her sides. Then… one by one… the others did the same. Ta’lan smiled…

“Close your eyes and feel the wind flow beneath your arms. Then imagine that you have wings above your arms, on your back, and feel the wind that is beneath your arms flow under the wings, too. Feel it under your arms first. That way you can transfer the sensation to the wings that you wish to create. Feel the lift.”

Liz concentrated. So did the others. Suddenly, there was a soft thud, and everyone opened their eyes. Kyle was lying on the ground on his left side. On his right shoulder blade, a small wing had started to grow.

“Kyle, what happened,” Maria exclaimed, as Jeliya ran to help him. “I think you were doing it!”

Kyle nodded, at a momentary loss for words. Then he found his voice again… “The wind flipped me over.”

“You are only beginning to learn,” Ta’lan said. “The wind beneath only one wing can do that if you are not expecting it.” Ta’lan reached out her hand to Kyle and he took it, standing back up and brushing himself off.

“Try again,” Ta’lan said.

Everyone stretched their arms out wide again. This time, they all felt an odd sensation… as though something was beginning to happen… or at least trying to happen… but it was a startled scream that broke their concentration again.

“ALEX!”

They all looked up to see Isabel, two perfect wings spread wide, rising slowly into the wind.

“Alex, get me down! I don’t know how to get down!”

“Give me your hand,” Alex yelled back, reaching up toward Isabel, who was hovering just above them.

“Move your wings forward and up a little,” Ta’lan said. “Reduce the lift. Just don’t reduce it all at once.”

Isabel did, and slowly, she settled back to the ground. Immediately, Alex tackled her.

“I’m on the ground, Alex. I don’t need it now,” Isabel said.

“But I do,” Alex replied. Isabel rolled her eyes and smiled then put her arms around Alex…

“You’re starting to grow wings, too, Alex! Did you know it?”

“I knew I felt something.”

“Omigosh! Look at Liz,” Maria exclaimed. “She’s… just like Isabel! She’s doing it!”

“So are you,” Liz said. “Have you looked at yourself, Ree? You look like a little Christmas tree cherub.”

Maria reached back and felt two small wings on her back. They were about half as long as her arms.

“Omigod! How did I do that? Will they get any bigger?”

“If you concentrate, they’ll get bigger,” Ta’lan said. “Your wings should be about four times as long as your arms, but when you become proficient at flying, you will adjust them to the length that works best for you.”

“This is so cool,” Maria exclaimed. “I’m a shapeshifter!”

Ta’lan raised her eyebrows a bit and nodded. “I guess that is true. You are part of our family now… you all are.”

“I think I can feel something on my back,” Michael said to Maria. “Do you see anything?”

Maria checked Michael’s back. He did have two very small wings beginning to appear.

“You’re doing it!”

Michael grinned and looked over at Max.

“Hey, what’s the hurry,” Max said defensively. “I’d rather get it right.”

“Yeah, sure you would, buddy,” Michael replied. “We know!”

“Well, I would,” Max said, feeling his shoulders for any possible trace of a wing.

“Don’t worry,” Liz said comfortingly, “You’ll do it, Max.”

“I’m not worried!” Max exclaimed. Then he lowered his voice just a bit. “I’m not worried. I’m just waiting to see what mistakes everybody else makes, so I don’t make them. I’m doing it the smart way. That’s all.”

“I know,” Liz said, nodding.

“I am!” Max insisted.

“We know,” Maria said.

Max closed his eyes again and concentrated.

Meanwhile, Maria and Michael’s wings had grown, but they both seemed to have stopped growing at about the length of their arms. Kyle, who was still struggling to get his other wing to come out, couldn’t help noticing… and commenting…

“Hey, Michael, if you guys are gonna stop there, I can use a couple more little angel cherubs for my tree come Christmas.”

“Very funny, Valenti! Yuk it up! I don’t see you flyin’ yet.”

“We don’t need longer wings, Kyle,” Maria said. “We’re hummingbirds.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Michael said. “We’re hummingbirds. What are you going to be, Kyle? One hand flapping in the wind?” Michael smiled.

“If I wanted to be,” Kyle replied feistily. “But I want big wings myself!”

“That’s good, Kyle… but I don’t think Isabel will give them to you. What would she fly with then?”

“C’mon guys,” Jeliya said, “Stop joking and concentrate on what you’re doing. It’s your wings you’re trying to grow, not your tongues.”

Kyle looked at Jeliya and smiled sheepishly. He noticed that Jeliya had some pretty impressive wings already… and she looked great. Kyle had to admit to himself that he liked what he saw… not just in the wings, but in Jeliya. She was hot.

“Truce, Michael?”

“Truce.”

Ta’lan had finished looking over Liz’s wings and was inspecting Isabel’s and Jeliya’s when suddenly Maria gasped again.

Everyone looked where Maria was pointing just in time to see a form fall off the ledge. It was Liz. Max leapt forward to grab her and disappeared over the edge, too.

“MAX!” Michael yelled, panicking. “Max, you don’t have wings! Aw crap…”

Michael leapt off the ledge behind Max.

“MICHAEL!” Maria gasped, realizing that Michael’s wings were not yet long enough to be anywhere near effective enough to fly, the hummingbird joke notwithstanding.

In the meantime, unaware of what was happening behind her, Liz had spread her wings out to their full length and was gliding out over the valley. Half way across the valley, she turned back toward the cliff and saw not one, not two, but three other pairs of wings in the distance coming towards her. And behind those was yet another. She thought that two of them might be Isabel and Jeliya. They were the only ones, besides herself, whose wings were fully-formed and ready to fly. But she had no idea who the third person could be… or the forth.

As she drew nearer, she realized, with some shock, that the one in the lead was neither Isabel nor Jeliya, but Max. And not far behind Max was Michael, flapping furiously but managing to stay aloft, since his wings had grown out another several feet in length. Not far behind Michael was Maria, also flapping furiously but beginning to slow into a more normal pattern as her wings grew out enough to support her. But Max! Liz couldn’t believe what she was seeing. He had had no wings at all… not even a hint… when she had jumped off the ledge. Liz didn’t know it, but Max had had no wings when he had leapt either. He did now, though… and so did Michael and Maria, who were coming up fast behind him. Not far behind them was Rahn, who had come to help if needed. Fortunately, it appeared that he would not be needed.

Max glided up beside Liz and took her hand…

“I thought you fell off the ledge…”

“I thought you had no wings.”

Max smiled. “Well, I couldn’t let you just fly away.”

At that moment, Michael caught up with them. His wings were almost full length now, and his flapping had slowed considerably, allowing him to rest his aching muscles a little and glide.

“Max, holy cheese, man! What were you thinking?”

“I had to save Liz.”

“It looked to me like you were the one who needed saving!”

“What do you mean? I told you I could do it when I was ready!”

“Yeah? Did you believe it, though? ‘Cause I sure didn’t!”

Max shrugged and grinned. “Maybe… a little bit. Okay, I had my doubts, but hey, I’m here now. What about you? I didn’t think you were ready yet.”

“Somebody had to save you, Max.”

As Michael spoke, Maria glided up beside him. He turned and looked, surprised to see her there…

“Maria! What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? Saving you!”

“Me? I don’t need saving. I’m saving Max.”

Liz started laughing.

“What’s so funny,” Maria asked.

“So many lifesavers and no one to save! Have any of you even looked at the gorgeous view down below us?”

Maria looked down and swallowed. “Omigosh! What am I doing?”

“Flying, I think,” Liz replied, still laughing.

“I don’t like heights, Liz! I never did.” Maria looked again at the valley and the river far below and swallowed. “It is beautiful, though.” She looked at her wings and felt the wind beneath them supporting her as she glided along almost effortlessly now. “I think… maybe… I could get used to this…”

Liz laughed again.

In the distance, two more sets of wings leapt from the ledge, then another, each one settling into a gentle glide like so many beautiful gliders in the morning sun. Michael smiled at Maria, and Maria reached out to take Michael’s hand, her left wing just behind his right wing, as they sailed together across the valley, turned, and then sailed back again toward the ledge they had leapt from. Releasing Michael’s hand, Maria flapped her wings several times, lifting herself above the ledge, then she settled lightly onto the ground on her feet. Because of her lighter weight, it had seemed almost too easy.

Right behind Maria, Michael settled onto the ledge, too, then turned around and looked again at the glistening wings gliding in the sunlight over the valley…

“Nice! I think I’m really going to like this!”

“I thought you would,” Ta’lan said with a smile. “There’s nothing as freeing or as joyous as flying.”

“Not much anyway,” Michael agreed, taking Maria into his arms and wrapping her in his wings.



tbc

[Island Breeze]

The Four Faces Of Rath



Four Faces, One Heart

Chapter 71

LXXI



Maria clung to Michael’s arm and smiled as they left the C’prysta, unquestionably the dressiest --and the most expensive-- place for a night out on Antar. The C’prysta had the best food of the galaxy’s best food. It was ten stars out of five and as gourmet as it was possible to get. But it was also a place to dance the night away and listen to great music performed live by Antar’s most popular bands and singers. Michael and Maria had been to the C’prysta a few times, but not very recently. The fact is… family restaurants like Var’nat’s Kires-Ryym and the CrashDown had become their eat-out locales du jour. Nowadays, “get-out-and-get-away” usually meant taking the kids out for a family outing; and there was no denying that Michael and Maria loved and cherished every family moment together. But tonight was a different kind of night. Tonight had been a real “GET-OUT-AND-GET-AWAY” night to cap off a really, really “GET-OUT-AND-GET-AWAY” day.

Maria breathed the night air in deeply, with great satisfaction, and leaned her head on Michael’s arm, lifting her eyes to look into his… “It’s been a long time since we got all dressed up like this, Michael… I’m glad we did this. It was a wonderful evening.”

Michael looked at Maria and smiled. Her eyes seemed to dance under the Antarian moonlight, and her face had a radiant glow.

“A great day deserves a great evening, Maria. I thought you’d like it.”

“I loved it!” Maria reached up to give Michael a kiss. Then she looked into his eyes and smiled… “I love YOU.”

“I love you, too,” Michael said, with immense sincerity. He remembered a time when those words had been very hard for him to say. Michael knew better than anyone how far he had come since coming to Antar… and how much farther still he had come since he and Max had brought Maria and Liz to Antar. The two years they had spent on Antar without Maria and Liz had had a profound effect on both of them. Michael never wanted to be without Maria again, and in some strange way, he felt that those three words were the key to making that wish come true.

“How were your Golden Sea pink-ringed shrimp?”

“The jarlagos-droozeen were great,” Maria sighed, “So was the Grelligo soup… and the Corvian brandy.”

“Oh, yeah, well, that… Corvian brandy’s like liquid gold. It should be good!” Michael looked at Maria and grinned. “But it WAS good, wasn’t it!”

“Worth every kyrin.”

Michael nodded. “You know, I don’t think I ever saw anyone fix grelliats like that. I really liked them.”

“I noticed…” Maria patted Michael on the stomach. “I’ll see if I can duplicate their recipe.”

“Really?”

Maria shrugged. “Yeah, why not! If they can do it, I can do it.”

Michael and Maria reached the end of the C’prysta’s arbored walkway and crossed over a small boardwalk bridge that led to the edge of the Golden Sea. There, they removed their shoes and continued walking along the beach under the full moons.

“Daneela Varel sang great, didn’t she, Michael?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah. I still think she sounds like Dido.”

Maria laughed then thought about it. “Yeah, I guess she does… kind of.”

“Max and I were talking about that once… a long time ago… when we went to save you and Liz after the earth was destroyed in the other timeline… about how she sounded like Dido. Daneela’s older now, but she still sounds great.”

“Yeah… she does,” Maria agreed, “I love the mellow, romantic edge she gives to her songs.”

Michael nodded. “And Var Juma… don’t you think Var Juma sounded like Ivy? Remember ‘Edge Of The Ocean?’”

Maria looked at the Golden Sea and looked back at Michael, smiling. “Any reason you’d think of that song right now, Michael? Edge Of The Ocean?”

Michael shrugged, playfully kicking a gentle wave that rushed up over his feet… “Coincidence.”

Maria smiled. “Yeah, I see the resemblance in the voices… and the styles. I loved the music, Michael… but you know what made tonight really special?”

“What?”

“You.”

Michael stopped and looked at Maria then wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. After several minutes, they resumed walking again, each with an arm around the other.

“You made it special for me, too, Maria. I even liked dancing with you.”

Maria giggled. “I know you don’t usually like to dance, Michael, but you did seem to be having a good time.”

“I was.”

“You sure it wasn’t the Corvian brandy?”

Michael laughed. “No… it was you… it was you. The brandy was good, but only you can make me dance.”

Maria giggled again then smiled. She knew that there was great truth in that simple statement.

As if to punctuate what he had said, Michael took Maria’s hands and began to dance with her on the beach, in the moonlight, as the gentle waves of the Golden Sea swished in and out over their bare feet. The rivulets of water flowing back out under their feet moved the sand beneath them, tickling Maria’s toes. She laughed… then she let herself go with the moment, enjoying the chance to truly lose herself with Michael… It was all so freeing! Together they spun and leapt, they swayed and dipped, they laughed… and completely let go… but mostly, they held each other tight, swayed to the music in their heads, and kissed as though there were no tomorrow…

And somewhere in the night, someone else watched…

“What do you think?”

“He looks like he’s enjoying himself.”

“I told you he’d be fine.”

“Well, I like to see things for myself, old man. No offense, but it’s how I’ve survived. And I want to make sure that he does, too. He’s kind of… you know… me… in a way.”

The old man smiled and nodded. “So… does this arrangement suit you, Rath?”

Rath sighed and nodded… “I’m grateful to you, Drax… and to the Noogies, too, for setting up a special timeline for Zan and Ava and me to live on in… I just don’t want to mess things up for him… for Michael… in his timeline. I mean, him being me and all.”

The Drax-ta-kiya looked at Durj’ori beside him and smiled, which was as close as he ever came to laughing.

“It’s Nogi’s… Nogi-K’ya,” Durj’ori said. “And you’re welcome. Michael altered your timeline when he was there. Granted, it was our fault, actually, but that’s not important now… Anyway, we had the option of putting it back like it was and leaving it that way or splitting off the altered line into a separate timeline. In view of the… fate that awaited you all in your original timeline, we thought you would not object to this arrangement.”

Rath shook his head and looked at Zan, and Zan shook his head in agreement… “Ava and I are happy… as long as it does not affect them in their time.”

Durj’ori smiled proudly. “You don’t know how many Nogi-K’ya worked on this without any rest for the last year to make sure that that would be the case… and to get it done while you are still alive. Your kind has such a desperately short lifespan.”

“It was shorter in the timeline Kivar was in,” Zan said.

“So now nobody gets knocked off by Kivar… ‘cause Kivar won’t be in our timeline?” Rath asked.

“It’s not as simple as that,” Durj’ori said. “What happened in the other timeline will still happen… but you were split off from that timeline right before it happens. In that timeline, you still die, but here you live on. And Michael and Max are still created from your DNA and Zan’s… from that timeline.”

“Don’t ask him to explain it further,” the Drax-ta-kiya said, “Neither you nor I will live long enough to hear the entire explanation.”

“Sadly, that is true,” Durj’ori agreed.

“This guy, Michael… Tell me about him,” Rath said, “I mean… I know he’s me… or he’s made from me… but he’s different, too… and yet, he’s not. I like him… He can be a serious warrior and protect his kingdom… like me… when he needs to be. But he has an artist’s soul…”

“Also like you, I have heard,” the Drax-ta-kiya said.

Rath shrugged slightly. “Not many know that. Only my closest friends… of which there are very few.”

“It’s not a crime, Rath.”

“It would make me look weak if it were widely known.”

“Like Michael?”

“No. I didn’t say that Michael was… I see what you mean. But Michael… it’s all in the package. It’s who he is.”

“Is that bad?”

Rath shook his head. “Michael is what he is… a warrior and an artist… a true and faithful friend… and… and something more. I can’t quite put my finger on it. When you look at me, you see a man of one face, at least outwardly. I am loyal and faithful and a warrior, too, but they are all seen through this one face… the face of the warrior. Michael is much more complex. He has three… maybe four… yes, four faces. And he has learned to separate and cultivate each of these… aspects… of his life… as something to be cherished. There is the warrior-protector, the creator or artist, the faithful and true friend, and something else… very important. I think… it is something about him and his lady, Maria… Even when he’s not with her… he still is. There is this… something… defining… between them.”

“Candy?”

Rath looked at the Drax-ta-kiya, and the old man smiled and held out his hand with something in it.

“What is that?”

“Something I obtained on the planet Michael grew up on. It’s called candy.”

Rath took one of the little pellets and looked at it. Then he tasted it. “It tastes like Xa’fa.”

“They call it chocolate,” the Drax-ta-kiya said. “I think it is the same thing.”

“What does the little symbol on it mean?”

The Drax-ta-kiya shook his head. “It is a W… or an M… depending on the way you hold it.”

“There’s only one problem with it,” Rath said, savoring and then swallowing the pellet. “It makes you want more.”

“It does, doesn’t it,” the Drax-ta-kiya agreed, putting another one into his own mouth then handing Rath several more. “It does indeed.”



--- Epilogue ---


As the sun’s first rays crept over the Golden Sea, Michael rolled over and looked at Maria lying beside him in the sand. The gentle waves moved in and out around them, and Maria smiled and put her arms around Michael and kissed him passionately.

“My mother warned me about guys like you, Michael Guerin.”

“I guess it’s a good thing she’s not here then, huh?”

Maria giggled. “Yeah. Or she might see me do this…” Maria kissed Michael on the lips gently… “or this…” She unbuttoned his shirt and ran her hand over his chest.

“The sun’s coming up,” Michael said, looking around worriedly. “People will be showing up at the beach soon.”

Maria put a pout on her lips, but even Michael could tell that it was feigned. Her eyes still danced with the memories of the past twenty-four hours.

Michael smiled and rolled over on top of Maria, wrapping her in his arms, then rolled over again with her on top of him.

“Now this is closer to what I had in mind,” Maria said, lifting her head and gazing into Michael’s eyes adoringly, as another wave swept up the beach underneath them, playing with Michael’s hair. Both Michael and Maria were thoroughly soaked, but neither of them seemed to care.

“Do you think Max and Liz went straight home after the C’prysta,” Maria asked.

Michael laughed. “I haven’t thought about it. I don’t know. They were still dancing when we left. They probably danced all night then went home.”

Maria nodded. “Mmm… yeah… probably. You’re a lot more fun.”

Michael laughed again. “Liz and Max might disagree with you there, Ree. But for the record, you could be right.”

“Of course I’m right. I picked you to live my life with, didn’t I?”

“Yeah… you got me… for better or for worse. You know, Maria, I was wondering… about this shapeshifting thing, you know… do you think we ought to mention it to the kids?”

“GOOD LORD, NO!” Maria exclaimed, then she began to laugh. “Zorel and Jayyd would badger us to death to change them so they could do it, too! That’s all I need is for Zorel and Jayyd to fly away whenever they want to! I mean… we’ve already got Kryys with his… ‘special gift’ popping in and out without warning. Maybe we could tell Zorel and Jayyd when they’re, oh, I don’t know, married and about thirty? Until then, let’s just keep this as our own little secret, okay? I’ve got a feeling Kryys knows already, but he’ll keep our secret… if we ask him to.”

Michael nodded. “That’s pretty much what I was thinking.

Michael stood up and brushed the sand off of his back and legs. Then he picked Maria up in his arms. She put both of her arms around Michael’s neck and gazed into his eyes dreamily. “Did I ever tell you I love you, Spaceboy?”

Michael smiled and nodded. “Let’s go home, Maria. The kids will be over at your mom’s till noon. I think there’s a hot bath at home with our names on it just calling to us.”

Maria grinned… and then nodded. “I hear it!”

“Oh, and Ree… in case you haven’t heard me say it recently, I love you, too.”

Michael carried Maria back to the little boardwalk bridge, where they found their shoes, right where they had left them. Then they walked across the bridge… and back to the everyday lives they knew and loved… together.

As the Antarian sun rose over the Golden Sea, it glinted off of a Fan-Ji IV hovercar quietly leaving the parking lot of the C’prysta… heading for the countryside.



***** The End

[Island Breeze]

Note: I know the change in chapter numbers is going to confuse people who were waiting for a chapter 80 and find only 71 chapters now. And anyone who was downloading or printing out the story has two options now. You can just keep all the extra chapters as part of the story and start at chapter 67 as though it were chapter 80. After all, those extra chapters are part of this story, too. I just didn't want to have them in The Night The Dreams Died and here, too. Or you can go back to the new chapters 63 to 66 and replace what you have with those then pick up the new chapters 67 to 71 (and omit 72-80). Either way... long version or short version. Same story. If anyone is reading just The Four Faces Of Rath, you might want to have those extra chapters as part of this story.

And on another matter, I have made a few little bitty changes in chapters 67, 68, and 70 of The Four Faces Of Rath and chapters 52 to 55 of The Night The Dreams Died to show that Kyle was with them at the end. You see, what happens when you write at 3 o'clock in the morning is that you have someone dancing MC Hammer in the sequel, when they're returning home, who you've said all along wasn't with them on the trip. So now when Kryys shows up right before they leave for home, he brings Kyle with him to look for the others, and when Kryys orbs out and goes back, he leaves Kyle with them (So he can dance MC Hammer with Max on the way back, of course) Anyway, that's in Sliding Into Antar.