Chapter Eight

 

Elise sliced the final loaf of bread and piled it onto a platter with the rest of the pieces. It was the middle of the afternoon and she was still working toward making sure that everyone was fed. There were too many of them to eat all at once when there only a few of them preparing food, but she hoped that if they were going to spend much longer on Penthos that they would be able to find a more efficient process. She was happy to help in whatever way she could, including preparing these meals with Lila as well as Eden, Zuri, and Zsilvia, some of the other women she had met that morning, but she would prefer if they were all able to eat at the same time. Somehow, she felt like it would make them stronger, tightening their connection and helping to create a more unified feeling among a group so splintered and varied.

Not for the first time that day she paused and listened as intently as she could. She was waiting to hear the drums, to know that the hybrid army was on its way and that soon the group would have to mobilize and leave the compound again. The thought was terrifying. She hadn’t seen Azra at all that day and she couldn’t bear the thought of him having to go into battle without having a chance to hold him again. Waking up without him beside her had been upsetting. The emptiness in the place where he had been lying felt hollow and she had instantly felt her stomach drop. As she walked around the compound, however, she had been reassured by everyone she asked that Azra was fine, that he was just getting himself ready for what was to come and talking through what had already happened with the warriors who had been here on Penthos while he was on Earth.

She had wanted to believe them and to go along with it, not allowing it to upset or discourage her. This was the life that she would be leading. If there was a battle to be fought, that would be his priority, and rightfully so. If that meant that he would barely sleep or that she would have to sacrifice seeing his face first thing in the morning, it was something she would have to be willing to do. At the same time, she felt the longing for him again and worried that they would forever be defined by the ways of a culture that she didn’t understand, and may never understand. She could only hope deep within her soul that she would be able to learn like the other women had. They all seemed so comfortable, so at ease among the other species and with their mates. None seemed as out of place as she felt, with the exception of Angela who had been introduced to her as the mate of Jem. That woman clung to her Denynso warrior and seemed somewhat timid about what was happening around her. Elise didn’t know how long she and Jem had been bonded, but it gave her some reassurance that she was not the only one who felt an overpowering love for a man she was still struggling to understand.

Suddenly she saw Azra approaching and Elise felt her heart soar. A smile broke across her lips and all of the fear that she had been feeling dissipated. Coming around the heavy pot that still hung above the fire, she walked toward him, her arms extended to embrace him. Azra held her for only a moment before stepping back and giving her a hard, insistent kiss as if confirming something to himself. He took both of her hands in his and stared into her face.

“Can you come with me for a minute?” he asked.

“Of course,” Elise said. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes,” Azra said. “At least…I hope it is.”

Elise looked up at him quizzically.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Just come with me,” he said.

He continued to hold both of her hands as he backed up a few steps, and then turned so that he walked along beside her. He led her across the courtyard and toward the buildings that had been quiet and still the night before. At first, she thought that he might be trying to steal a few more moments alone with her, and then she noticed a figure standing at the first building.

“What are we doing?” she asked.

“Just trust me,” he said.

They approached the building and she realized that the figure was Angela, the woman she had just been thinking about. Azra brought her up to Angela.

“Elise,” he said. “This is Angela.”

“I know,” Elise said, but Angela was already starting to speak.

“I’m from Earth,” she said. “Like you. Only I left several years ago. I was part of an archeological team assigned to uncovering more about an ancient culture, and I accidentally used a portal that no one knew was there to bring me into a different stream. I was in another place and time for years with only my friend Jacob. Then I met Jem. We remained together on his own planet for some time before he decided that he wanted to return to Uoria and his people.”

Elise felt a wave of confusion flow over her.

“His planet?” she asked. “I thought Jem was Denynso.”

“I am,” Jem said as he stepped around the corner of the building to join his mate in front of Elise. “I was born into the Denynso clan as a warrior. During a battle against the Klimnu, I was faced with a dangerous situation in which the only other option that I had was to sacrifice my life to eliminate the enemy and protect my kind and my home. I jumped literally into the unknown, but I didn’t die. Instead, I went through another portal and ended up on a distant planet. I had no way of knowing where I was or how to get back to Uoria, so I had to settle there. In the time that I spent there, I never encountered another occupant. Then I met two people, Galadriel and Vyker, and they eventually led me to Angela. We came back here to reunite with my kind.”

Elise nodded, feeling as though she were being to understand more. Azra took her hand again.

“Thank you, Jem, Angela,” he said and started guiding her to the next house.

Here stood the man who had been introduced to her as Rilex. He waved at her as she approached.

“This is Rilex,” Azra said.

She didn’t speak this time, but gave a single nod and continued to look at the man.

“I am from a very different time and place. I come from the same place as the man Vyker who Jem just told you about. We are an ancient race, one that you may never even have heard about. We are responsible for the care and protection of the stars. I went to Earth much as Jem and Angela traveled: accidentally through a portal. I was searching for something for my dearest friend, Vyker’s father, and I ended up on Earth many, many years ahead of my own time. I was alone there, unable to get back home, and all I could do was research and hope that someday I would be able to accomplish the goal that I had set for myself so long before. Then I met Galadriel. I could have returned to my time permanently, but I knew that I still had work to do. I went back to Earth and continued my research. That’s when Jem and Angela arrived and we joined the group in the laboratory. There I met Severine.”

Just as Jem had, Severine stepped out from around the side of the building and joined Rilex. He looped his arm around her affectionately and pulled her close to touch a kiss to the side of her head. As he had before, Azra introduced her to the woman.

“I was born on Earth, but I come from many other places. I am a hybrid, designed and created by Ryan to help him fulfill his goal of creating weaponized beings and the ultimate army against the Denynso and the Mikana. I am a combination of several species, but all I know is the breeding facilities where I grew up, and this planet. I was trained for war here after years of service in the nursery caring for and raising the babies who would one day become soldiers in Ryan’s experimental army. I was born for a specific, horrible purpose, but I knew that there was more for me. I asked Eden for help and with the help of her mate Pyra and more from her crew, they were able to save the breeding women, as well as me and some of the other hybrids from the program. That was when I met Rilex and soon after he gave me the name Severine. I hadn’t had one before. Now I represent The Others. We are at once nothing and everything, abominations,” she took a long breath, “and miracles. We have adopted the newborn son of one of the human women who was liberated from the program and intend to raise him together understanding everything that went into creating him, but also everything that he has the potential to be. Beneath the ground here on Penthos we encountered the Meldor. It was being held under torture and trained to kill. We’ve freed him as I was freed and will bring him with us as we continue to fight.”

Azra thanked them and guided Elise on again.

They reached a third house and she saw a Denynso warrior standing beside a beautiful woman with flowing silver hair.

“Bannack,” Azra said, gesturing toward the warrior.

“I’m a Denynso warrior,” Bannack said. “I was born on the compound as nearly all Denynso have been for generations. I had fought many battles by the time that I found Loralia living below the ground, but the one that I had to fight against myself simply to accept the love that she was offering me was likely the hardest thing that I have ever done. It was also the most wonderful.”

“Loralia,” Azra said.

“I, too, and a combination,” the woman said, “but not like Severine. I wasn’t created in a laboratory and was never intended to be a source of pain for anyone. In fact, I didn’t know that I was anything more than Irisa until very recently. I grew up beneath the ground in the Irisa realm that mirrored the beloved ground above. I’ve been alone most of my life. My entire family was killed by a vicious plague that burned through when I was younger. I was the only survivor and remained by myself until the Klimnu invaded my realm and began to attack the Denynso above. Soon there was a battle and the Denynso were victorious. I knew that I couldn’t remain hidden there on my own for the rest of my life. That was when I fell in love with Bannack. It took quite some time after that for me to embrace what had saved me from the ravages of that sickness and what set me apart from the other Irisa who I had known my entire life. Then I met my father.”

The winged man who Elise had spoken to the night before stepped around the building and stood next to Loralia.

“Azrael,” Azra said.

“I am Eteri,” the man said. “I fell in love with an Irisa woman when I was very young, but there was turmoil on Uoria then. Our planet was being ravaged and the Irisa were not safe. They were already suffering early signs of the plague that would destroy them and they knew that they needed some way to protect themselves. They moved beneath the ground into a realm that would guard them. The woman I loved had to go to protect herself, but also to protect the baby that she carried. We both hoped that soon we would be reunited, but I never saw her again. I lived for many years giving myself into battle so that I didn’t have to accept the pain. It was only recently that I learned my child had survived, and then I had the honor to meet her.”

Elise felt emotion tightening in her chest, but the confusion was still there. She turned to Azra, expecting him to lead her further, but he didn’t.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “What is this?”

Azra looked around him at the people who had introduced themselves to Elise and told them about their lives. Then he looked back at her. The orange of his eyes seemed deeper and more intense, and she felt her heart flutter.

“I know how important your career was to you,” he said. “It was a way for you to see the galaxy and experience new things and new people. It helped you to learn and kept you from feeling trapped. Now you have seen so much more of the galaxy than you ever would have through those leisure cruises. You have met species that you never would have encountered, and heard stories unlike anything any passenger could tell you. I can’t tell you that you have seen everything or that there isn’t more for you to experience, but I can promise you that, if you will allow me to, I will be there alongside you when you do.” Feeling breathless, Elise watched as Azra lowered himself to his knees in the sand in front of her. He took both of her hands in his again and kissed them both in turn. “I have given you a glimpse into the galaxy, now I’m asking you to give me an adventure far greater than anything that I have ever imagined. Will you marry me?”

Elise gasped and immediately felt tears streaming down her cheeks. She laughed through them and nodded, again not feeling as though she could come up with the words that she wanted to say to him.

“Yes,” she finally managed. “Yes. Of course, I will marry you.”

Azra jumped to his feet and swept her into his arms, capturing her mouth in a powerful kiss. She clung to him, feeling her body shaking against his. She could never have dreamed this. It was all too incredible, too truly breathtaking for her to accept as real. As if hearing her thoughts, her mate kissed her again, reassuring her that he was completely real and that this truly was happening.

“I’d like to wait to have the ceremony,” he said. “Just until everyone who is still on Uoria can get here. That way we can all be together.”

Elise buried her fingers into her future husband’s thick white hair and smiled at him.

“Of course,” she said. “Anything as long as I get to be your mate and your wife.”

“My everything,” Azra said. “Always.”

 

To be continued…

 

I hope you’re enjoying our Uoria saga. This adventure wouldn’t be possible without your support. More Uoria is on the way and all your questions will finally be answered in the final Uoria Series V. – Ruth Anne Scott