Daughter of Three Suns

Chapter 36

"What do you mean, domed cities?" I ask Hope after the excitement of her homecoming has finally subsided, and she's joined us at the table.

"They're large outdoor living spaces, ringed by mountains and covered with a clear barrier that's designed to protect the people from the heat and radiation of Daughter Sun."

Edward nods as he listens to his daughter. "But they failed when it got too close."

"Yes," she answers him. "The devices that make the domes are buried beneath the mountains. They use power from inside our world to keep the covers in place. Most of them survived but on this side of the world they didn't. The shields failed, and the people had to go deep inside the mountains to survive."

Images from the vision I'd had so long ago before my metanora flash through my mind. "Great expanses of open water," I murmur. "Herds of beasts roaming free and green plants everywhere."

"Yes!" Hope cries. "That's what they're like. How did you know, Mother?"

"Grandmother Spirit showed me in a vision many turns ago before I left to find your father. I didn't understand it then, but now I think she was telling me the true history of our world and what happened to change us so much."

"How do you know all this, Hope? Have you been to one of these cities?" Edward takes his daughter's hand in his and smiles at her. "Did you find your mate there?" he teases.

"I have and I did." She grins in answer to his questions. "It was a very long journey. So long I was afraid I wouldn't survive it. I had to fly far, far up above the world. The winds there are strong. I let grandmother's breath carry me to the place my heart knew he was waiting for me. I found him there."

"Is he here? Did he come back with you?" I'm on my feet, walking toward the door when she answers.

"Come back, Mother. He isn't here. He stayed."

"Why? Didn't he want to meet your family?"

Movement from the other side of the room interrupts Hope before she can answer. It's Alice who comes to stand beside her niece. With her fingers, she slowly explores Hope's face. "Your face is just as beautiful as your spirit, dear child," she whispers softly. "Now tell them why you came back."

Hope's eyes trace a path around the room, examining the people anxiously watching her. "You have to leave. The water running beneath our islands is being diverted to the cities. As soon as Daughter Sun weakens enough, the domes will be turned off and the cities opened to the sky. They say the water will come together in one place called an ocean. It will be like the ponds in our islands but so big you can't see the other side."

Shocked expressions give way to cries of dismay and shouted questions until Edward has to tell everyone to be quiet. "Do the people in the cities know about us?" he asks. "Do they realize what they're doing?"

"They have tales of people living in the desert but no one had ever seen someone from the rock islands until I arrived. There are many, many people living there." Hope's gaze wanders over those listening. "They have leaders who make the decisions for everyone. I told them about our way of life—the islands, the ponds, and the food, our metanora and the way it changes our bodies. They couldn't believe we had only women and had to journey to find our mates."

Turning to Edward, she continues. "There are men and women there, Daddy, and they all shift. Just like the people from your world. They shift, Mother." Now she smiles at me. "Just like you always wanted to do. Everyone shifts when they become adults."

Quiet fills the room as we consider what she's said.

"What they're doing is the end of our way of life, Hope. Can't they stop these devices?" I finally ask.

"No. This drawing of the water was planned a long time ago. They say it was programmed into the devices and can't be stopped."

"Then they will let us all die?"

"No, no," Hope grabs my hand. Once again, her gaze sweeps the room before settling on her aunt Alice, who's still standing beside her. "They want us to come to the city, and they've made a plan to help us get there."

Alice smiles. "And it's a good plan," she says.

My sister's words about the prophecy repeat in my head when she returns to her seat. Could this be what she was talking about? I love my sister, but sometimes, her strangeness can be unsettling.

"The distance between us and the city is so great we won't be able to carry enough supplies." Hope's voice catches my attention. Examining the map Rosalie has drawn, she taps our island mark, then points toward the far wall. "If this is where we live, then the city would be there, beyond the end of the table."

"We can't survive that," Rosalie whispers beside me. The murmurs around the room agree with her.

"The plan is to store supplies along the way. All the basherti willcarry nets with water and dried food. When we get to each location, Daddy, Ward and I will shift and bury the supplies for safety. Then we'll all fly back for another load. We'll keep doing this over and over."

"We'll be using some of the supplies for each return journey though," Ward says.

Hope nods. "Yes, we'll have to plan carefully."

Edward has stayed silent, but he's examining the map intently. When he glances up at me, I realize we've come to the same conclusion.

Shaking his head sadly, he turns back to his daughter. "I'm sorry, Hope, but it won't work. By the time we get halfway, it will take all the food and water we can carry just to get there and return. I don't see how this can be done."

"Which is why we only have to cover about a third of the distance. Samuel and a large group from the city have already started leaving caches of supplies along the route. They have more water, more food, and more people and can do this quicker than we can. As we get closer, he'll fly to meet us and show us the way."

"Samuel? Is he your mate, daughter?"

Hope grins at her father. "He is. He's so … Well, he's just … I mean …" With a shrug, she gives up trying to explain. There are nods and chuckles around us as we all remember the overwhelming pleasure of finding our mate.

"I'm glad he brings you such happiness." With a smile, Edward places a light kiss on his daughter's cheek. "Now," he continues, glancing around the room. "We have a decision to make."

The room is quiet except for a murmur here, a sigh there, and the rustle of clothing as we consider the future. It's Esme who finally breaks the silence. "We don't really have a choice, do we? If we stay here, we'll eventually die. Our only chance is to follow Hope's plan and go to this domed city. It will be difficult, but if we work together we can do this."

And so began a time of great hardship. We planned and worked and hoarded every bit of food and water we could spare. Hope went with Rosalie and Emmett to their home and shared her plans with the people there. They, too, started preparing for the time we would all leave together.

The basherti made long flights into the desert, carrying large nets filled with stores of water and dried food that were buried in the sand. They returned tired and exhausted. Most of them had to rest for many cycles before they gained enough strength to make the next flight. We grew thinner and weaker.

Yet, even as our bodies tired, our minds grew more alert and determined. We became closer as a family. The end of each work cycle found everyone gathered at one large table. We shared our meager meal, then listened to Hope's tales about the place we were going. We discussed the plan and what was left to be done. Alice told stories of our past, and Kenna described their home and beliefs. Gradually, we bonded as one people intent on surviving the coming journey.

We rose one wake cycle knowing it was time to leave our bare-rock island. Our packs were full, the nets for the basherti were ready, and the sleds Edward and Ward built were loaded with supplies.

It was difficult to say goodbye. As we gathered on the sand near the entrance, my thoughts were on all the times this island had given me refuge. I had rescued a family of sand cats on my first stay. That same family became my companions when I retreated here after losing Edward. It was the male cub, now grown to adulthood, that greeted us when Alice, the twins, and I came looking for a place to call home. And it was here that Edward finally joined us, and we raised our children. This was home and my heart ached to leave it.

It was a home that had no future. So, with one last look, I turned away and led my people into the deep desert.

This journey was like none I had ever made. We walked through a land of molten gold—golden sky above, golden sand below. We walked, ate, slept, and then rose to do the same again.

Mother Sun shone above us, and Grandmother circled the horizon, her red glow a reassuring presence. The desert was everywhere. As far as our eyes could see, there was nothing but sand. No rock islands, no plant or animal life, nothing interrupted the rolling dunes that stretched to the distant horizon.

The wind was our constant companion. It cooled our skin and tugged at our clothing as though encouraging us to keep moving. It blew the sand, shifting it into currents and shapes that disappeared almost as soon as they formed. It pushed the sand into towering dunes that we climbed and descended in never-ending monotony, over and over and over.

But most of all, it sang to us. From the low booming deep within the tallest dunes to the soft slithering our footsteps made and the faint tinkling of individual grains tossed in their wake, it sang us a song of the desert. Without thinking, we found ourselves humming along to the tune. We hummed and walked. Hummed and walked. And then Alice began to sing.

She sang our griefs and sorrows, our happiness and joy. She sang our history and our future, our hopes and dreams. She sang all our stories. With one hand buried in Jasper's ruff and the other clutching her staff, she led us onward. Her songs lightened our heavy loads and strengthened our tired feet.

We reached the first supply cache, then the second and third. "Six more," Hope said. Then five more and four more. "Sam will be waiting," she assured us.

Finally, we stumbled to the last of the caches, only to find no Samuel and no supplies. Something had discovered our hidden food and water and had taken advantage of the unexpected bounty. Exhausted, we sank, defeated, to the sand.

Hope was frantic in her worry. Torn between staying with us and searching for her missing mate, she paced the sand, too distraught to rest. "Go," Edward finally told her. "There's nothing we can do but wait. Maybe he's on his way."

With a cry, she sprang into the air, shifting immediately into the beautiful long-necked bird I remembered. She circled higher and higher into the air before hovering for one long moment. Then, with a sudden banking turn, she left. I watched her dwindling form until I could no longer see her.

"Bella, come rest." Edward took my hand, pulling me down to lie beside him on the sand.

"But—"

"No," he interrupted. "She'll return. With or without her mate, with or without supplies, she'll be back. Worrying will not help. Rest now and conserve your strength."

One by one, our people laid down on the sand. I waited until all had fallen into a deep sleep. Then, with my mate's arms around me and my head resting on his chest, we slept.

Edward was the first to wake. He sat up abruptly, waking me with his movement. Then he was standing, calling out to everyone. "It's Hope. Hope is coming with her mate."

We looked up to find not only Hope and Samuel but a group of basherti following them. They carried nets loaded with supplies. There were so many they darkened the sky when they circled above us.

We welcomed them. Not just for the food and water they carried, but for the proof they represented that our journey had not been in vain. There was a place waiting for us and a people who would welcome us home.

When we met Samuel, he explained that he had arrived only to find the cache destroyed. He immediately returned to the city, and after explaining the situation, a large group with supplies had left to rescue us. Our peoples intermingled eating, drinking, and sharing stories.

We were interrupted by a loud shout. A young woman crying, "Nathan! Nathan!" ran toward Emma and her family. She was Nathan's twin sister, we learned later, and had believed him lost forever when he didn't return from his mating flight. The mystery of his origin had finally been solved. It seemed a sign from Grandmother that we were following our destiny.

The next part of our journey, though much longer than the first, was easier. More food and water kept us stronger, and our new friends, who came and went repeatedly with extra supplies, kept us entertained with their stories of their city.

Finally, we stood at the top of the final sand dune and looked down on a large valley surrounded by mountains and covered by a clear dome that sparkled and shimmered in Mother Sun's light. A large entrance opened on one side and from it streamed a group of people, old friends and new, to greet us and welcome us home. We hurried to join them.

Edward, Alice, and I were the last. We stayed to help those, like Mother and Esme, who might need extra help. Finally, it was the three of us and Jasper who stood staring at the city that had been our goal for so long.

"Alice?" I questioned when she didn't move forward.

My sister shook her head, then smiled at me sadly. "The city isn't for me. My destiny lies elsewhere," she answered. "There are people in the desert who need someone to give them hope and tell them a new home awaits."

"But Alice—"

"No," she interrupted. "We'll be fine. My pack is full. Jasper's pack is full, and he can find water even below the sand. We'll meet again, sister mine. Until then." She turned and walked away.

I'd spent my whole life with Alice, but I realized as I watched her walk away just how unlike us she had become. Small, barely taller than a child, she still wore the white robes of a seer. Her hair had never grown any longer. It stood in white tuffs around her face. Her white eyes and pale skin, that never darkened in the sunlight, marked her even more. Over the turns, Jasper's fur had grown paler and paler until it shone as white as Alice's hair. They made a glowing pair in the sunlight as they walked away over the golden sand.

"The White Seer," I whispered to myself, recalling the words Kenna had said.

Edward pulled me closer to his side, and I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Don't worry about Alice. She's doing what's right for her."

"And are we?" I asked.

"What does your heart tell you?"

I stepped away so I could see his face. "It tells me there are people who will need a guide. Alice can give them hope, but someone needs to show them the way."

"Then perhaps we should begin another journey." My mate smiled at me, but I couldn't answer him so easily.

"Edward, I can't ask this of you. We might never come this way again. Your mother, your children, even your grandchildren will live in that city. I cannot ask you to give up a future with them. It's too great a price."

"Bella." He caught my hand, pulling me close against his chest. "No price is too great if you're by my side. You are my life, my future, my family. When Grandmother saved me and returned me to you, I knew my destiny was at your side. I think this journey has always been your moirari. My pack is full, your pack is full, and there are people waiting in the desert for someone to save them.

"Do you remember when I told you how beautiful your world was, and how I wanted to see more of it?" he continued. "I think perhaps now is that time. Besides." He laughed. "I haven't gotten my fill of sand and sun yet."

I smiled and nodded. Then, holding hands, we turned our backs to the city and walked away.

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AN: I meant for this to be the last chapter, but it got longer and longer so I cut it into two chapters. Will post the second part soon. Thanks again to Sally for cleaning this up and thanks to those of you who are still reading and reviewing. Appreciate you much!