Kyla
It was like watching a magic trick. A master at work.
“The little god realized that if he had friends, he could survive anything,” Fernanda said. “That he could do anything. That he would never be alone. He realized that with good people at his side, he could go on adventures forever through the stars.”
She stopped to smile. Te’lo’hi said cautiously,
what
what kind of adventures?
Fernanda looked back at Ethan and Kyla with the saddest smile Ethan had ever seen.
Kyla said, “Are you sure about this?”
Fernanda said, “I looked and I looked in the mirror, but there isn’t a future where my brother and I are safe together. I never found a world where we were both happy.”
“I see,” Kyla said.
Adeline patted Fernanda on the arm. “It’s okay.”
Ethan said simply, “Thank you.”
With a soft grin, Fernanda turned back to Te’lo’hi. “What adventures? Oh, mijo. We should go see for ourselves.”
A few feet away from Kyla, something shifted. Sarah Powers had stopped moving, Jack Allen’s knife still buried in her back. But above her, something odd began to rise—silver and diaphanous, like the vapor of a dream.
Kyla’s breath caught in her throat. That might just be Sarah’s soul.
Te’lo’hi saw it too. The god flicked a little hand up and over and around, conducting the invisible forces around them. The shimmering substance rose higher into the air before flying over the platform and plunging into the silver waves below. Beneath them, Kyla heard a metallic chime like a bell.
She said, “What did you just do?”
i sent her to another story
one where she could still convince
me and the old tribe
to help the people of this world
Kyla said, “And what about your people? The other beings like you, the ones you got separated from? Why can’t you go find them?”
they are
so far away
even with my power
it would be
a very long journey
Kyla looked from Adeline to Fernanda and back to Te’lo’hi. “Don’t be afraid. I think you’ll have some friends for the road.”
Ethan said, “You can’t keep putting off the inevitable. Sooner or later, you have to move forward. You have to face the facts. Time only goes one direction, even for you.”
Little Adeline gave Te’lo’hi’s shoulder another firm pat. Fernanda placed a hand on the back of the little god’s neck. She said, “I’ve always wanted to know what else was out there. As long as we do not suffocate in the vacuum of space.”
there are
there are ways to make the journey
“Then let us make it,” Fernanda said. “There is no time like the present.”
Te’lo’hi seemed to smile.
i have seen
many ways this night could end
i never believed
not for a moment
that this was the story you would choose
The silver light began to expand again, taking on as it did a new, softer color. It started to grow over the platform, heading toward Ethan and Kyla. Softer or not, Kyla had a feeling it would still be a bad idea to touch that light.
Te’lo’hi said,
will you two join us
or will you follow another story?
Kyla and Ethan traded glances. They didn’t have to ask each other. They already knew.
“I want to stay in this world,” Ethan said. “I want to live this life.”
Kyla said, “I want to finish what I started before I came here.”
very well
Te’lo’hi pointed a finger to the rim of the platform at their feet. Out of the lake, a long ribbon of quicksilver rose up and formed itself into a bridge that seemed to stretch away for eternity.
Fernanda looked to Kyla. “Get the film to the cartel. Make sure they take care of my brother. They made a deal.”
Kyla said, “I will.”
Ethan caught Adeline’s eye. He said, “I’m sorry for… whatever he did to you.”
With a startling wisdom, Adeline just said, “It’s the past.”
The column of light would overwhelm the platform soon. Te’lo’hi said,
you should go
No need to tell Ethan and Kyla twice. Turning toward the silver bridge, they found they were holding each other’s hands.
They traded one more look. They looked over their shoulders.
Adeline and Fernanda were already beginning to glow with their own silver light.
Te’lo’hi’s long hair was floating around them like a shroud.
“Bye,” Kyla said.
Fernanda’s voice was already growing strange, like it bore the sound of its own echo. “Good luck.”
Kyla and Ethan were a step away from the silver bridge. He gave her hand a squeeze.
Here goes nothing.
As a metallic sound broke out behind them, almost like the chime of a thousand bells, Kyla and Ethan raised their feet at the same time. A quick breath. A final hesitation. They took a step forward and