Epilogue
Riddick
It's been a blur.
Danforth's transport was right where we left it on Sheol V.
Nim redrew the map Vaako gave us, and compared it with the research she'd done on Tetragammon. Turns out, one of the M-Class starts with a gravitational wobble was our destination. The star's designation is Omega Nu. It was further out than our first option. I promised Nim this would be her last time in cryosleep ever. For the rest of our lives.
I intend to keep that promise.
We lay eyes on the planet for the first time together, with Nim standing at my side, her arm around my shoulders. It's fitting. Getting to fill my senses with the smell of her on the brink of this event. Clouds swirl across the surface of the planet; a storm raging out in one of the vast blue oceans. I can make out a ring of mountains around the planetary belt-line, dotted with the occasional flare of scarlet. Geologically active. That's a good sign.
It's familiar, too. Jagged mountains, vast rolling plains, a tossed sea. We make three orbital passes, each one lower than the one before it, before Nim breaks the silence.
"There's no monoliths." The hushed observation is awe-struck. But she's right. No where across the surface are there the signs of Necromonger invasion. There is lush greenery, and bright white ice-caps. This is not a planet that was rendered dead.
I know why. It's as painfully obvious as the ghostly sensation of an umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. Nim's hand tightens on my shoulder. Her soft gasp tells me that she's just made the connection as well. The Necromongers didn't want Furyans to populate their precious Underverse. Eradicated, or converted, but not Ascended. I think of the Purifier as I push the transport down for planetfall.
On our fourth pass, we zig-zag along the shoreline at Nim's request. She points out ruins amid the forest: buildings taken over wild untamed growth. We follow the slope of the land, hugging close to the ground. I'm looking for a suitably defensible position; Nim is looking for something else entirely.
"There! There it is!" Her excitement is contagious. I spot it too. The ruins of a stone cottage, roofless, one wall collapsed, situated alone in an overgrown field. A top a cliff. Overlooking the ocean.
Just like she'd described.
Just like I'd dreamed.
When the debarking ramp is down, we both stand at the top of it for a long time. The air is clean. Undisturbed. Birds sing in the distance. The waves crash against the base of the cliffs far below. She lets me walk down the ramp alone. This is it. This is really it. I can feel it in my bones. I reach the ground, kneel, and run my fingers through the grass.
This is it. We really did it.
An impulse takes me, and I pull the goggles off. The first look is cautious. The Furyan Solstar is massive, a young red subgiant. But it's not bright enough to harm my eyes. I don't know how I feel about no longer needing the goggles. I've never felt... overwhelmed before. But kneeling here, on the turf of my homeworld for the first time, I feel small, insignificant and unworthy.
And then Nim joins me. She kneels in the grass beside me; she takes my hand, and uncurls my fingers from the goggle strap. I feel her clip them to my belt, as she leans in to press a kiss to my temple.
"We're home, Riddick. We did it."
She squeaks as I pull her into my arms, toppling us both over. Together, we roll through the grass until we're out of the ship's shadow. She ends up on top of me, straddling my waist., her hands splayed over my chest. Her smile is impish, the dimples I've come to love out in full force. She leans down, kissing me, letting me taste that delight as her curls tickle my face.
Somehow, it's fitting that our first act of celebration on Furya is one that affirms life.