Daughter of Three Suns

Chapter 31

I settled Hope and Ward in my old home, letting them rest while I caught and prepared fish for our meal. While the fish baked, I gathered ripe berries, fruit, and fanio seeds. All our water gourds were filled with fresh water from the underground spring.

After our meal, Alice and Jasper disappeared into his lair, and we didn't see them until we woke and started preparing for our journey. They showed up in the doorway, packs on, and eager to begin. With Charles keeping watch above, the four of us, with our new sand cat companion, set out across the desert.

Alice set a punishing pace. Rest and eating breaks were cut short as she urged us on. I couldn't understand her insistence that we hurry. Hope and Ward plodded on. When they tired, I took their small packs, hoping to relieve the weariness they were beginning to feel. It soon became obvious that they needed a much longer rest.

"Alice, we have to stop. The children simply cannot keep up this pace, and I don't understand why you're pushing so hard. The closed portal isn't going anywhere."

My sister, shifted on her feet, then tilted her head. I had come to realize this was a sure sign she was communicating with Jasper. She nodded, then called Hope and Ward to her. "How about a ride?" she asked. Jasper crouched, and Alice helped both children onto his back. They seemed hesitant at first, but when he began walking, they both burst into laughter.

"Look, Mother, we're riding on Jasper's back," Hope called out.

"It's fun," Ward added.

Alice handed them each a water gourd and several appa. "Eat this when you get hungry." Then she turned to me. "Walk, Bella," she commanded. "And quickly."

I had planned for the trip from the sand cat's island to the rock columns to take three cycles. We were there by mid-meal on the second one. Jasper's long easy stride covered the distance while Alice and I jogged beside him. He didn't seem to tire, and Alice assured me that he barely felt the children on his back. There were times when he insisted that Alice join them. With the three of them on his back, Jasper would lengthen his stride into an easy lope, and I would have to run to keep up.

I'd forgotten how enjoyable running across the desert could be. My lungs breathed deeply of the dry air, my leg muscles stretched and strained, and my foot claws gripped the sand. It was as if I were on my journey again as I ran toward the doorway that had once beckoned so strongly.

And then we were there. The piles of rocks marking the way were still there. The standing stones looked the same, the carvings looked the same. Everything looked exactly the same as the last time I had been here, but everything in my world had changed. How could this place be so unchanging?

"What is this?" Hope asked, as she and Ward slid off Jasper's back.

I pulled off my pack and took out our mats, laying them out on the sand facing the large rock columns. I added the rest of our water and food. "Sit and eat," I told my children. "I have a story to tell you."

Alice and Jasper joined us, and Charles settled beside me. After I made sure he had water and dried fish and everyone else had food and water, I began my tale.

"This is the place Grandmother Spirit sent me after my Metanora. When I came here, the space between those tall rocks was glowing red, and other colors sparkled inside it. It was very beautiful."

"Like the circle below your neck, Mother?"

"Yes." I smiled at my son. "Just like my circle."

"We called it a doorway or portal because it was an opening to another world. When I stepped through it, it took me to another place. It wasn't a very nice place. There were some bad people there who were keeping women from this world as prisoners and wouldn't let them come back home. One of the prisoners was your Grandmother Esme. There were good people there, too, though. They were shapeshifters like Emmett and one of them was Esme's son. His name was Edward, and he was your father."

I took a long drink of water from my gourd, both to quench my thirst and gather my thoughts. My hand trembled when I set it down, but before I could begin again, Hope crawled over and settled herself between my crossed legs. She pulled my arms around her and leaned back against my chest.

"Was he your basherter?" she asked.

"Yes, my basherter, my mate, and the man I loved."

"Why isn't he here, Mother?" Ward scooted closer to my side. I freed one arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, hugging him against me.

"We were fighting the bad people, trying to get everyone back through the doorway from that world to this one. Esme and the women came through, then all the shapeshifters. Your father and I were the last ones. He had been hurt, and I was helping him get to the opening. A bad person tried to stop us and made me fall. Edward tried to catch me, but I fell through the open door, and it closed behind me, leaving your father in his world."

For a while, we sat silently, staring at the rocks in front of us. Memories of my time with Edward filled my mind. There was pain in those memories but also pleasure and happiness, too. For the first time, I let myself open up to all of them, remembering in detail each touch, each word, each caress. I found no tears there, only smiles.

"Did he look like Emmett?" Ward asked.

"He was big like Emmett, but he looked like you, son. His hair was the same color as yours, and his face had the same shape as yours."

"Were his feathers black like Charles," Hope asked with a glance toward her grandfather.

"No, they were golden like the sand and Mother Sun. The ribs and tips were dark brown and his beak was red like Grandmother."

"I bet he was a fierce basherter," Ward said. "I bet he could fly higher than anyone, and I bet his talons were long and sharp."

I chuckled at my son's description. "Your father was a good man. He loved his mother, and his mate, and if he were here, he would love his children, too."

"Did you try to go back and get him, Mother?" Hope asked.

"I did. Many times. The door will only open to someone who hasn't found their basherter. It will never open for me again."

Before they could ask more questions, I pulled my sharpening stone from my pack. "We're going to use this to carve your father's name on one of those big stones. Then his name won't be lost to the sands, and he'll be remembered forever. I'll let you help me choose where to put it."

Satisfied that they were rested and well fed, I led them to the upright stones, and we started looking for a good place to put Edward's name. Hope and Ward were curious about the other carvings and examined everything in great detail. I tried to explain what most of them were.

We finally decided on a nice flat area on one side of the right column. While they watched, I scratched the letters of their father's name onto the rock. "That's enough for now. We'll come back after sleep cycle and carve it deeper." We gathered our things, and I led them to the small, nearby island.

…..

I woke with a start. Heart racing, I glanced around the small center pool, trying to find the source of my fright. Alice and Jasper slept curled together on one ledge, and Hope slumbered on another with Charlie beside her, but Ward … "Ward, where are you?" I whispered. Slipping from my ledge, I hurried around the edge of the water, peering into each space big enough to hold a small boy. When I couldn't find him, I knew there was only one other place he could be.

I found his footprints leading from the narrow opening of the island. My eyes traced their route and found my son. His small figure was heading straight toward the rock columns, and he was almost there. For a moment, I hesitated, wondering why he would be going there, but then my mother's instincts kicked in, and I knew I had to stop him.

"Ward, Ward, stop," I screamed as I ran toward him. "Alice, Jasper," still screaming, I yelled for their help. My legs churned and my claws gripped the sand as I tried to catch him. "Ward, Ward!" I was still screaming his name when he stopped and turned back to me with a smile.

"Look, Mother, it's just like you said. Red with lots of sparkling colors, and it's pretty." He pointed at the portal in front of him, but I could see no light or colors.

"No, Ward, please stop, son. Don't go any closer."

"So pretty," he said, stepping toward it.

I lunged for him just as he moved toward the doorway again. My claws snagged on the back of his clothing but pulled free when the fabric tore. Falling face down in the sand, I raised my head just in time to see my son step between the two columns and disappear.

I was on my feet and running to the portal, hoping this time I could go through, but it was just like the last time I was here. Screaming and crying and calling for my son and my mate, I ran back and forth between the rock columns, but nothing happened.

My yelling had brought Alice and Jasper. Overwhelming anger boiled up within me when I saw her. I ran toward her, screaming and demanding that she do something, that she make Grandmother Spirit do something. Jasper moved to crouch in front of her, a low growling snarl warning me not to get too close. Off to my right, I heard crying and saw my daughter on her knees, hugging Charles and sobbing. I knew I should comfort her, but I was so lost in my misery I had no comfort to give.

I had just turned back to the portal when the ground began to shake. Far in the distance, bright red light burst into the sky with a roar. It ended in a shower of colors. Before I could ask what was happening, another blast of light and another roar lit up the horizon. Then there was another and another. Some were nearer, some were farther away, and some could barely be seen.

"Alice, what is happening?" I yelled, barely able to be heard over the noise and the shaking.

"It's the portals, the doorways, all of them. They're all closing down and self-destructing."

"But …"

Before I could finish speaking, the portal in front of us exploded with a great surge of almost blinding red light and a loud shattering roar. I whirled away, shielding my eyes. I glimpsed Charles wrapping his wings around Hope's head.

"Why? Why are they doing this?"

"Because"—I looked up to see her pointing at something behind me— "because the last basherter just came home, and we don't need them anymore."

Eyes still stinging from the bright light, I spun quickly. A tall figure stood between what was left of the standing stones, which were scattered in pieces on the ground. It was holding Ward.

"Look, Mother," I heard him shout. "I found Father."

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AN: Aaaand he's back! Many thanks for the reads and reviews. They keep me at the keyboard. Kudos to Sally for cleaning this up.