Two Moons of Sera (30 page)

We rejoined the group by the tree. Sev stood with the
smallest girl back in her arms. Lock held one of the boys and stood between Sev
and Keene, and Elle sat with Lace on the forest floor.

“It looks clear,” I told them, “but we should hurry. I don’t
know how long it will be safe.”

After gathering up the children so they could be easily
carried, we headed for the tree line. I led the way, keeping my senses as open
as I could while remaining alert to my immediate surroundings.

Keene whispered through the group to his sister, “Burn our
path so Erdlanders. lose our steps.”

Sev nodded solemnly and passed the child she was holding to
Lace. With tentative arms, Lace received the unconscious girl and cradled her
to her chest as though something could snatch the child away at any moment. We’d
all lost far too much in this. I pitched my hopes on the possibility that if we
got through this alive, if we could survive the next few hours, we’d finally be
safe.

“Now!” I directed.

We ran.

Elgon darted between us, yipping at the children when they
fell behind.

Behind us, Sev set the forest ablaze until I couldn’t even
see a single tree for the flames. Beyond sight of the forest fires, the
blackness of night turned dense and thick with the oily smoke of death. My
senses spiraled along the wind, flying through the air like a speck of dust. I
sprinted at the front of our group. I wasn’t the fastest, but I was the only
one who had a chance of finding a path through the rocks and debris. We ran
over charred ground and destroyed crops, through the remnants of an entire
people, and didn’t look back.

Near the cliff’s edge, Keene stepped past me, one hand on
the rock, and crept forward until he reached the drop-off near the cave. My
eyes stung from the smoke in the air. Particles of ash attempted to slip past
the membrane protecting my eyes.

“The path is here.” Keene reached forward and took my hand,
guiding me to the point where ground shifted to stone and open sky pressed
against me. “You go, they will follow. I’ll come after. When I’m at the cave, I’ll
shoot the rocks.” He pointed to the top of the cliff where a tree grew
haphazardly out of the mountainside. “Cliff will be buried or destroyed, but
none will follow.

Single file, we edged along the path to the cave. I’d been
here just a few days ago with Velka. The impossibility of everything she had
shown me paled next to the urgency of staying alive. Who cared about ancient
people and unbelievable portraits on cave walls when you were running for your
life? But maybe that was the point. Maybe prophecies come true whether you
believe in them or not.

I waited in the black mouth of the cave for each of our
group to arrive. Sev and then Keene were the last to appear. Other than the
sleeping child in Lace’s arms, all the children were set on their feet. We didn’t
have to tell them to stay close, as they clung to whomever was nearest.

I stood outside on the cave for a moment, looking up at the
moons. How long would it be until I saw them again? How long until I could
sleep and not worry about war creeping up and ripping my friends away from me?
If the ruby moon really was a goddess like in my mother’s stories, I hoped she
would smile down on our little family. As I turned my back and rejoined the
group, I took Tor’s hand and knew I’d see the open sky again soon.

“To initiation place,” Sev said. “We sleep, then go on.” She
sparked a fire to life and let it float to the middle of the group. “Us is all
we have now. Come, family.”

She led the way through the inky darkness, our mishmashed
group in tow on our way to a new life on the other side of the mountain.

Jaxyra held his son’s small hand as they approached the
voices. It had been a month since they’d seen another person—Erdlander,
Sualwet, or anything else. The world he’d escaped into was nothing like the one
he remembered.

Looking down at the redheaded boy, still draped in the
remnants of their prison uniforms, the need to protect him overwhelmed Jax. How
many had lost their children, their lovers, their families, in this
jikmanae
war? Until the moment when a sympathetic guard opened his prison door opened,
he’d believed he’d lost everything. The man had spoken in garbled Sualwet, but
from what Jax could understand, the fighting had come to the camp.

Now he had his son back and he knew there was so much more
to lose.

“Papa?” the little boy peered up at him with hazel eyes, so
unlike his mother’s.

“Yes, Jade?” Jax squatted down, looking at his son’s calm
face. The boy had never known anything but cruelty, yet he still had so much
faith that things would be all right. Jax prayed his son was right.

“These are friends?”

“I hope so.”

Jax had heard stories from other refugees about a place on
the other side of the mountains, beyond the reach of the blazing cities, where
people of all the races had settled and lived together in peace. Now, standing
at the edge of what could be paradise, he couldn’t squelch the fear swelling in
his chest that he had risked his son’s life for a rumor.

“I’ve never had any friends.” Excitement sparked in the boy’s
eyes, and a small fire burst to life among the dry leaves at their feet.

Jax stomped out the flames with his bare feet, hiding the
pain from his son’s apologetic eyes. “Try to stay calm, buddy, and don’t use
your fire unless you have to protect yourself. If these are friends, we don’t
want to scare them.”

“Like the bad men in the white room?”

“Yes, those men were afraid, and they did bad things.”

“But these are friends?”

“I really hope so.” Jax pulled his son into his arms and
inhaled the sweet scent of childhood before lifting the boy’s small frame to
his shoulders. “Let’s go.”

With a steadying breath, he stepped forward and called out
toward the din of laughter ahead: “Gods be kind, we come as friends!”

“We’ve been expecting you.” A tall man with thick
shoulder-length hair and a welcoming smile stepped out from behind a nearby
tree. He wore a long skirt that hung around his ankles and nothing else. Scars
littered his chest, and the tattoos of an A’aihea climbed his arm, but his eyes
shone with kindness. Next to him stood the largest mountain hound Jax had ever
seen. “I’m Torkek. I’m glad you decided to join us.”

“You knew we were here?” Jax kept his voice steady, despite
his fear.

“Yes, we’ve found it’s better to let people announce when
they’re ready to say hello. Come, we have food and a fire. The moons will be up
soon, and it’ll be cold tonight.”

Torkek patted the hound on the head, and it bounded off into
the woods. “Don’t worry, Elgon is friendly. He especially loves children.”

The man’s smile seemed so genuine, Jax decided believing him
was worth the risk.

He followed Torkek’s winding path through the forest,
weaving among the trees in no clear direction. Their surroundings disoriented
him, and he couldn’t tell which way they had come. He lifted a hand to his son’s
leg and squeezed, more to comfort himself than the boy. Never again would he
ever let anything bad happen to his son. Never.

The sun set as they walked, and a chill settled over the
earth. When Jax spotted the fire ahead, his exhausted body longed to sit and
sleep, but he held his fatigue at bay, ready to run at the first sign of
danger.

“Daddy!” A little girl a few years younger than Jade wobbled
away from the fire, darting into the tall man’s waiting arms.

Torkek lifted her in the air before settling her on his hip
and turning back to Jax. “Nila, these are new friends. They’re here to rest by
our fire.”

“ ‘Kay.” The chubby-cheeked girl popped her thumb into her
mouth and laid her head on the man’s shoulder.

A striking, pale-skinned woman in a blue dress joined them
and wrapped an arm around Torkek with a smile.

“Welcome to our fire,” Torkek said. “This is my mate Sera
and our daughter, Nila.”

“We’re so glad you decided to join us,” the woman said. “All
are welcome here.” Her eyes twinkled in the moonlight, making them appear almost
silver.

“I’m Jaxyra—”

“Jax?” A female voice from the past drifted from the fire.
That impossible sound ripped through his heart and laid him bare.

In a trance he watched as the blond beauty he loved with all
his soul stood in the firelight. Her face was badly scarred, the flesh pulled
tight over rippled skin, but that didn’t matter to him. Every night since they
were separated, he would lie awake and wonder if she was still alive somewhere.
Seeing her here, after all this time... it was almost more than he could bear.

“Lacey?” He let his son down to the ground, kneeling next to
him as tears streamed from his eyes.

Lace ran forward and knelt before them. Her hands shook as
she reached out, fingers poised to touch but didn’t dare. “Jax? Is it... is it
really you?” She looked up at him, and his breath caught.

The memory of every moment they had been apart crashed
against him all at once, and before she could disappear into the ether, he
grabbed her with all the strength his malnourished body could muster.

“Lacey, Lacey,” he sobbed against her. His hands roamed over
her arms, her face, her hair, as though reassuring himself she wasn’t just a
fever dream. “Gods, Lacey.... I never thought I’d see you again.”

Their kiss burned with desperation. He needed to taste her,
to feel her, to brand her into his reality.

“Papa?” The little boy’s voice broke through their reunion,
and both Jax and Lace cried fresh tears of anguish and joy.

“Jade, come here.” Jax held an arm out and invited the boy
onto his lap.

The child sat still, hands clutched together.

“Jade, this is your mama, Laceyra.” Jax’s voice cracked as
he watched realization crest over Lace’s features.

His Match had always been so strong—he could see her
fighting the awful pain she must have felt over losing them. But instead of
falling into it, she settled before them and held out both hands in offering.

“Hi, Jade,” she said. “That’s a nice name. You know, that
was my papa’s name.”

The boy nodded and looked up to Jax with uncertainty. “Uh,
hi....”

“I’m glad you’re here,” Lace continued, her lips pulled into
a tight smile. “I’ve wanted to meet you for so very long.”

“Really?” Jade lifted his eyes to his mother’s loving gaze. “Me,
too, Mama.”

“Would it be all right for me to give you a hug?” Lace
asked, her voice trembling.

The little boy nodded and reached forward, embracing his
mother for the very first time.

After wrapping his arms around his family, Jax gripped them
both tightly, but none complained. They were finally together again.

---THE END---

Two Moons of Sera
has been a long and wonderful
journey. I first began writing it in 2011, thanks to a brainstorming session
with Michelle Dixon, who inspired and encouraged me to pursue the idea of a
girl with webbed toes. Through the years, many people have given their time and
love to this story, including Carissa Angerson, Kira McFadden, Ashley Egan, Serenity
Hallgren, and the amazing team at Evolved Publishing. There are many others who
have believed in me and this story, and I thank you all.

Two Moons of Sera
will always have a special place in
my heart as the first novel I ever wrote and the one that took the longest to
finally complete and get right. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time in Sera’s
world. I hope to meet you there again soon.

Award-winning author of multi-cultural and transgressive
literature, Pavarti K Tyler is usually found with Doc Martens strapped on over
fishnets, and a girlish giggle as easy and likely as a throaty guffaw. She is
an artist, wife, mother, and number cruncher. She graduated Smith College in
1999 with a degree in Theatre. After graduation, she moved to New York, where
she worked as a Dramaturge, Assistant Director, and Production Manager on
productions both on and off Broadway. Later, Pavarti went to work in the
finance industry at several international law firms. She now lives with her
husband, two daughters, and one very large, very terrible dog. She keeps busy
working with fabulous authors as the Director of Marketing at Novel Publicity,
and penning her next genre-bending novel.

The best way to stay up to date with Pavarti is to join her
mailing list. If you do, she’ll even send you a free short story! Sign up at
http://eepurl.com/f1iL5
.

Follow her at:
www.PavartiKTyler.com
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MOON DUST

A “Two Moons of Sera” Short Story

This science fiction short story is now available. For
more information on this book, please visit the
Evolved
Publishing
website.

~~~~~

Nilafay spends her time beneath the ocean’s surface either
swimming in the depths or in the artificial atmosphere of the Domed City.
Despite the rules of her amphibian race, she longs to explore the world above.
On the day before her wedding to the Sualwet man of her dreams, Nilafay finally
wanders too far and learns just what the others had been warning her about.

~~~~~

Praise for
Moon Dust
:

“Your writing style and language is fantastic. You left no
lack of detail and vocabulary, but you didn’t push it too far. You do it just
right! Such a fantastical world you created.” –
Matthew Jones