Chapter Twelve

Rain piloted the vehicle that Athan had given them and that they had left in the orchard through the gates to the human settlement and pulled it to a stop beside the wall. She had been relieved when she found that the vehicles were waiting for them upon arrival from Penthos, knowing that they were going to be vital not just for gathering everyone and everything that they would need from Uoria, but also once they returned to the desolate planet. Having these vehicles at their disposal meant that they could move much more quickly and easily, enabling them to fight more efficiently and get people and supplies where they needed to be without having to rely on walking.

She climbed out of the vehicle and looked around at the settlement that she hadn’t seen since she and Jonah returned for their own vehicle. It had been less than a month, but it felt like so much longer. In all of the chaos that she had been experiencing, the settlement seemed quiet and calm. She could still see the remnants of the horrific battle with the Covra, including the huge wall that had been instrumental in their final battle once the Denynso came. It was strange to see it standing there. She knew that it was like everything else that had been created by Loralia – a reflection. It was only there because the lovely, but unusual woman had used her compact to reflect it and it could only linger because of the belief of those who saw it. If they questioned it or didn’t believe that it was there, it would disappear. Despite knowing this, Rain could see that the wall was still there, solid and strong in the middle of the road. She knew that it was those pinnacle moments as they stood behind the wall and engaged in their final clash with the disturbing creatures that had implanted the humans with their eggs, knowing that the birth of the next generation would destroy them. There was utter disregard for their lives, but there was nothing that they could do. The arrival of the Denynso and then the human scientists had been the only thing that saved them. If they had arrived only shortly after they did, the entire settlement would have been lost forever.

That thought made her think of Lynx. It wasn’t just the lives of those who were being used as incubators that would have been lost had the warriors not arrived when they did. In the hundred years that she had been lying in the compound, locked in place by the toxins of the Covra, the planet had changed, the Denynso compound had shifted, and Lynx had been born. Though she had already lived for many decades by the time that he lived, they were connected from his first moment. It would take until he was an adult and stormed the human settlement with no idea what he was going to find to discover it, but from the minute that he was born, his heart was looking for her. She was his intended mate, the only woman who he would ever love and the person who would help him to fulfill his potential. He knew as soon as he found her and even though it was days upon days before he would even see her eyes or hear her voice, he cared for her and protected her, staying by her side until they finally discovered how they could release them from their lock and bring them back, saving most of them before the birth of the Covra young could destroy them.

If he hadn’t, all of the love that they had shared would have been lost.

The sound of children laughing in the distance brought Rain out of her thoughts and she felt herself smile. These were the children born in the fifteen years that passed between the Nyx 23 crew crashing on the surface of Uoria and the Covra locking them, children who, like she was, were more than one hundred years older than the youth on their faces told, and would likely never understand how truly extraordinary they really were. It had been a blessing that none of the children had been lost when the new generation of Covra began to hatch, though Rain knew in her heart that is was likely only because the Covra didn’t feel that it was worthwhile to put their eggs inside such small hosts, not thinking that their bodies would provide enough sustenance for their young at birth. Whatever the reason, they were all still alive. They had made it through the horrible ordeal and were back beneath the starlight, laughing as they played, seemingly carefree and without any lingering impact. They were blissfully resilient, and for that, Rain was grateful. She knew that many of the families had already decided that they were not going to leave their settlement on Uoria. Though they now had the means that they didn’t in the aftermath of the crash, they had lost their drive to return to Earth. That planet was a memory now and after the long years that they had spent on Uoria, the settlement that they had built together had become their home. This was where they learned more about their strength and capabilities than they had ever known. This was where they had overcome the despair and helplessness and took the remnants of their ship to create their new village. This was where many of them had found each other and fallen in love. This was where their children were born. Rain wondered how many of those people hadn’t told their children about their true origin. If they didn’t intend on leaving Uoria for Earth, there may be no reason to share with them the pain and darkness of the past and instead simply let them live their lives in peace and comfort.

Rain knew that much of that rested on the battle that awaited them on Penthos. If Ryan had his way, Uoria would soon be under his control and there would no longer be a way to protect those children or to keep them from knowing what really existed beyond Uoria. She couldn’t let that happen. She hadn’t been given a choice. When the ship crashed, she was stuck in place with the rest of the survivors. There was nothing that she could do but take one step after the next and try to piece together the life that eventually formed in the settlement. These children would have a choice. She could help to ensure that no matter what their parents chose, when they were adults, they would have the freedom to go where they wanted to go and live the way that they wanted to live.

Gathering the empty bags that she had brought with her, Rain started toward the center of the village. Evening had fallen quickly and the brighter the stars grew above her, the quieter the laughter of the children became as they ventured into their homes for the night. She was nearly to her former home when she saw two people step out onto the street ahead of her.

“Brandon!” she called. “Emmaline!”

The two turned toward her voice and were soon running to her.

“Rain!” Brandon exclaimed as he came close to her. “What’s going on? Where’s Jonah?”

“I can’t explain everything right now,” Rain said, “but I need your help. I need everyone who might be willing.”

“Does this have to do with why Creia and others from the compound are in the Mikana kingdom now?” Emmaline asked.

“Yes,” Rain said. “They’re preparing for the same thing. What we’ve been waiting for, for more than one hundred years. It’s time that we go back to Penthos and finish the fight that we started so long ago.”

Brandon and Emmaline exchanged glances, but she could see the look of steadfast determination already forming in their eyes and knew that they would be there with her when she left the settlement to return to the Mikana kingdom. She told them to gather whoever else they thought would help and to collect any supplies that they could get their hands on, then Rain continued on toward her house. She knew that she only had a few minutes, but she longed to see her bedroom one more time. She didn’t know when she would have the opportunity to see it again, or if she ever would, and wanted to have a few final moments in it to both collect the things still there that might be helpful, and to say goodbye.

The room felt somehow even more still and quiet than the rest of the settlement when she stepped inside. On Earth, it would have been unheard of to simply walk away from a house and have it remain untouched, but here in the settlement there was no other expectation. The rest of the group already had their own homes, each customized to their own needs and desires, and filled with the possessions that they were able to salvage from the crash, as well as what they had found, made, and repurposed from Uoria. There would be no reason for anyone to take over her house. Not yet. Perhaps when the children got older and were ready to separate from their parents, but for now it was sitting just as it had been the day that she last walked away from it.

Rain let her eyes scan around the room, saving the bed for last. That was where Lynx had first seen her, and where she had been when she first became aware of his presence in her life. It looked so benign now, its white covers pristine and crisp as if just waiting for her to climb inside and go to sleep. In her mind, though, that bed would always be a bitter reminder of the time that she spent locked away from reality, lying in place helplessly as the Covra eggs developed inside her. But that was also the first place where she had heard Lynx’s voice, coming to her through the emptiness. It had been the first place that she had felt the warmth of Lynx’s body and knew the depth of his heart.

She walked around the room and let her fingertips touch each of the possessions there. They all meant so much more to her now than they did. Even when she first settled into this home and filled it with these little mementos of the life that she had had before the ill-fated journey aboard the StarCity, they hadn’t carried the same incredible weight that they did now. Though Rain had been one of the first of the group to accept what was happening and encourage them to try to create a new home, part of her heart had always held onto the hope and belief that they wouldn’t actually live out the rest of their lives on this unknown planet. She didn’t talk about it, but that piece of her refused to admit that they didn’t have the ability to get back to Earth, or that this was the life that she was going to have, that one day it would be her body that they were submitting to the strange ground so far from everything that she had ever known and loved. It wasn’t fear or hopelessness. Instead, it was stubbornness, and through that stubbornness came the creation of the vehicle that she built with Jonah, and the strength to follow Lynx when they left the settlement.

The feeling of these items had changed. Now they were a link to the past rather than a hope for the future. These pieces were who she once was and reminders of not just the potential that was taken from her during that crash, but the life that was snatched from members of her crew at the crash and in the days and weeks following. In those fifteen years before the final invasion of the Covra, they had added many bodies to the cemetery. These were people who would truly never have the chance to see home again and whose family would never have the opportunity to grieve for them properly. This was final and concrete. Rain knew that she couldn’t allow them to be forgotten or dishonored. No matter what happened to the crew and where the remaining survivors decided to live out their lives, the people who had already been lost deserved justice, and it was up to her to make sure that they got it.

Hastily grabbing everything that she needed from the room, Rain ran back out into the settlement and the rapidly growing group of survivors who had taken up their own bags and weapons, and were ready to follow her.