Chapter Twenty-Two

Mhavrych couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He had heard the words that Aegeus was still alive, but it had been so many years, so long since he had seen him. His death had torn through the Universe and caused ripples that stretched farther than anyone knew. But now he was looking at him again, seeing him standing just a few yards away. A moment before he had witnessed the first moment that Aegeus and Ellora had seen each other again in all the years that they had been apart. Mhavrych felt honored to have seen that moment, an expression of love and devotion purer than any that he had ever seen.

The couple looked at each other for several long moments, seemingly lost in each other and unaware of anything that was happening outside of the small space around them. Then Aegeus’s eyes lifted to him and Mhavrych saw the flicker of recognition cross his face.

“Mhavrych!” he called, his voice happy and surprised.

Mhavrych started toward him, crossing the rocks as quickly as he could. Aegeus opened his arms to him as he approached and Mhavrych stepped into them, accepting the embrace happily. He pounded on Aegeus’s back affectionately, happier than he had felt in as long as he could remember. Seeing this man again was more than just knowing that a life hadn’t been lost. This was new hope.

“Mhavrych,” Aegeus said as they stepped back from the embrace. “This is my wife, Ellora.”

Mhavrych nodded.

“We’ve met,” he said.

Aegeus looked at him strangely and then looked at Ellora. She had her arm wrapped tightly around her husband’s waist as if she didn’t want to release him for fear that he would leave again.

“He saved my life,” Ellora told him.

Mhavrych wished that she hadn’t put it that way. He didn’t want to cause any more turmoil or stress for the man, and he knew that knowing that his wife had been in danger would do that.

“What happened?” Aegeus asked.

“It’s over now,” Ellora said, shaking her head as she pulled Aegeus a little closer. “There’s no need to talk about it. I’m fine. I’m right here.”

Aegeus turned toward her and wrapped both of his arms around her waist to draw her close.

“Yes, you are.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Mhavrych saw a figure approaching and turned to see Maxim coming toward them. He held his newborn daughter in his arms and was looking at his parents with happiness brightening his face. A faint trickle of blood was dried along the side of his face, a reminder of the brief but violent fight that they had experienced outside of the quarry. None of that seemed to matter to him now as he walked up to his parents and presented his daughter to Aegeus.

“Papa,” he said, “this is my daughter.”

Aegeus’s eyes grew misty and he held his hands out for the baby. The tiny child fit into his palms as Maxim lowered her into them and Aegeus drew her up close to his face. He kissed each of her plump cheeks and then looked at Ellora.

“Can you believe it?” he whispered.

Ellora shook her head, reaching to touch the baby’s head.

“She was quite a surprise tonight.”

“She was ready,” Aegeus said. “She knows that she has things to do.”

“She has a world to save.”

Aegeus looked up at Mhavrych and nodded.

“Was she born here?” Aegeus asked.

“She was,” Ellora said. “Just a little bit inside the tunnels.”

Aegeus looked at Maxim and Mhavrych could see by the look in his eyes that he understood the impact of the baby’s birth.

“Your daughter is the beginning,” Aegeus said. “She has begun something completely new. She is not just a blend, she is a new species.”

“She is the rightful ruler of this planet,” Mhavrych said.

This birth was so incredibly important. With just the merit of her first breath, this little baby had changed the world and now it was their responsibility more than ever to protect it for her.

“We should bring her back to Ivy,” Ellora said. “It looks like she’s getting hungry. And the new mother won’t want to be away from her for long.”

Mhavrych watched as Aegeus tucked the baby against his shoulder with one hand and reached down to hold his wife with the other and they started back across the quarry toward the entrance. They had taken a few steps when they noticed that there were two others standing with them. He saw the woman first, noticing immediately that she was not like the rest. This was a hybrid, one of Ryan’s experiments, yet they didn’t react to her. His eyes then moved to the man standing beside her and he felt his breath catch in his chest. It couldn’t be.

“Mama,” Maxim said, resting his hand on his mother’s back and gesturing toward the two. “These are two of our allies. This is Severine,” he gestured toward the hybrid woman who offered a smile, and then toward the man, “and this is her mate, Rilex.”

Mhavrych saw spots bursting in front of his eyes and suddenly felt slightly unsteady on his feet, but he couldn’t let it show. He kept his face expressionless and said nothing. Maxim turned to him and gestured at the two.

“Severine, Rilex, this is Mhavrych.”

Rilex looked at him and their eyes met. He knew. Mhavrych could see it in his eyes. But he said nothing, his expression seeming to relay the message that they were to stay silent for now. He nodded his acknowledgment to both of them and the entire group started toward the entrance to the quarry. Mhavrych hesitated, allowing all of them to go ahead of him before falling into step behind them so that he was the last to approach the entrance. He paused for a moment when he reached it and turned to look out over the desert. Everything was quiet, but Mhavrych knew that it wasn’t as peaceful as it seemed. Somewhere out there was the man who had attacked Maxim. He didn’t know if he was alive or dead, but it was only an indication of the presence of the forces. They hadn’t retreated. They weren’t hiding. They were there, and they were moving across the planet in patterns that their army didn’t yet understand. These weren’t the large-scale maneuvers of large segments of the army that they had anticipated. Instead, this showed that there were individual soldiers prowling the planet, ready to attack whenever they might have the chance.

Mhavrych stepped down into the tunnels and followed the sound of the muffled voices back toward the chamber where Ivy had given birth. He stepped inside cautiously, not wanting his presence to interfere with the reunion that was unfolding in front of him. He stood against the wall just inside the door, leaned back against the cool stone as he stared at Rilex, his mind churning as he tried to understand what he was seeing.

****

Ivy came out of her sleep peacefully. It was the first time that she had felt that way since being away from Maxim, and it was comforting to feel the relaxed, calm feeling as soon as she opened her eyes. Her hands immediately went to her belly, just as they always did when she woke up, but as soon as she felt that the full swell was gone, the reality settled in that she had delivered the baby, a beautiful little girl. She remembered the look on Maxim’s face when he first took the baby into his arms and gazed down at her. He hadn’t had much time to wrap his mind around the idea that Ivy was carrying his child. She had known for weeks before she told him, and then had the privilege of holding the baby within her, connecting with her, since she had left Penthos and went to Uoria. Maxim, though, had known only a short time, but the look on his face told her that he had never stopped thinking about the family that was just beginning.

She gently eased herself into a sitting position and looked around the quiet, empty chamber. She vaguely remembered Maxim and Ellora taking the baby out of the room with them so that she could rest, but now she wished that they were back. As if her thoughts had called out to them, Ivy heard voices approaching and a moment later Maxim and Ellora stepped back into the chamber. She noticed that neither was holding the baby and she felt a moment of panic before the doorway darkened again and a man she didn’t recognize came into sight. She could see the baby cradled in his arm, and when she looked closer she realized that he was holding Ellora’s hand.

“Ivy,” Maxim said, crossing the room quickly so that he could rest on his knees at her side.

“Hi,” she said softly, leaning forward to touch a kiss to his lips.

It felt incredible to be back near him, just to be able to reach forward and touch him. He took her hand before turning and gesturing toward the man.

“I’d like you to meet my father.”

Ivy felt her heart leap and a wash of unexpected emotion come over her. She had carried the hope that Aegeus was alive and dreamed of when the man she loved would be able to see his father again soon. Now he was not only there with them, but he was holding their child, cradling his first grandchild close to his heart as the precious little girl slept. Aegeus released Ellora’s hand and walked toward her. He lowered himself down so that he crouched beside Maxim and Ivy could immediately see the resemblance between her partner and his father.

“Hello, Ivy,” Aegeus said. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”

Ivy smiled and felt a joy-filled laugh bubble up in her throat.

“It is more wonderful to meet you,” she said.

“Your daughter is beautiful,” he told her. “I’m honored that I had the privilege of being able to meet her so soon after her birth.”

Ivy glanced at Maxim and gave a slight nod. There was a question that they wanted to ask Aegeus, a hope that Maxim had expressed to her when they were talking about the baby before she left to return to Uoria. He looked at his father.

“Papa, Ivy and I were hoping that you would do us the honor of naming her.”

Aegeus’s eyes snapped up from the baby’s face and Ivy could see the mix of surprise and sheer joy in them.

“Me?” he asked.

Ivy nodded.

“It would mean so much to us.”

Aegeus looked down at her daughter in his arms, adjusting his hold on her so that her head was rested in one palm as she sat nestled in the other. He lifted her so that he could look into her face.

“When I was on Earth, I didn’t have much chance to interact with anyone or see anything beyond the laboratory where I was imprisoned, especially anything beautiful. One day when I was being transferred between buildings, I saw something so beautiful that I had to ask what it was. I thought that I was going to get punished for speaking to the hybrid who was escorting me, but I had to know. It was unlike anything that I had seen before, but somehow it reminded me of home and made me feel more at peace. Rather than being angry or reporting me to the Valdicians for asking, the hybrid told me what it was that I was seeing. I want to name you, my beautiful granddaughter who will bring peace and salvation to a planet and to the Universe, after that creature that I saw, a creature that came to me in dreams even during my darkest hours. I will name you Dove.”