Epilogue Peace and Tea
Lukys
Without the worries of others stealing our attention, we have more time to focus on what is really important each new day. Like settling into our new life together.
Sometimes, when the hunt is fast and fruitful, we spend the evening butchering the carcass and preparing a long fire.
During these times I teach Elena about the beasts I bring her to eat, as well as how to properly carve into them, what tastes the best raw, and what is the most tender.
I have also shown her how to strip the fur and tan it.
I gave her my old orb. Sitting on a table by my nest, it has been ignored for many seasons, only using it occasionally when I have a random question.
Nowadays, she has more questions than I. And the orb is an expert about this place. Earth.
She seeks to utilize the plants and what they have to offer by making warm, flavored drinks she calls tea from them. But she does not know what is readily edible, what is tasty, and what is not. Luckily, the orb can help her with that.
Now, I often hear it before I hear her. A third to our company as it flies above our heads.
I tilt my chin. “Thissss way.”
Elena does not look up from the ground, which she scans thoroughly for foragables.
Meanwhile, I carry a basket of berries and leaves she has collected.
Tonight, we will have a warm, fruity drink after she practices her crushing and steeping.
Luckily, she seems to have the basics of what she needs in her ship.
She is happy, smiling often.
I have not seen her tears since her sister left.
“Thissss way,” I say, changing her course with a squeeze of my tailtip. Instead of heading down the mountain towards the water, I take her up it.
Her eyes rise from the ground. “We have enough berries today if you are taking me to another berry patch.”
“I am not taking you to a berry patch. Come.”
We ascend the steeper cliffs and hills at the top of the mountain. I help her along when she pants, clearing another heavily wooded area to maneuver through.
“Where are we going?”
I tug her after me. “You will see.”
We end upon a cliff with an overview of all of Black Mamba’s territory, including Ixi’s and what was once Deiys’s. Elena is silent as she steps forward to stand beside me, her attention on the landscape.
“I can just see the shimmering veil.”
I follow her eyes to the dome where, in the distance, the blue shield covers the land.
“Yessss. But that is not what I want you to see. This,” I wave my hand outward, “this is ourssss. This is the land I keep and protect. This is your home. All of it. There are no walls here, only freedom. I want to give you this. I want you to love it as much as I do.”
Her eyes are wide when she laughs. “Give it to me? I don’t need land, only you. There’s so much of it. I’m going to get lost.”
“You may get lost now, but I will teach you the trails and pathways I have made. You will walk them all until you are confident within your home. I want you to be happy…”
Her eyes hood. “I am happy. Very much so.”
I cup her cheek, recalling all the times I have seen her tears. “You have lost so much.”
“But I have gained a lot as well.” She leans into my hand before stepping into my embrace.
I rest my chin on her head and hold her to me.
“Stop worrying. Jenna and I exchange comms every day, which is more than we did when we were on The Dreadnaut. I’ve never been closer to my sister, strangely enough.
” She pulls out of my arms and looks over the cliff.
“Earth really is beautiful, so, so beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here. So much of space is dark and gloomy. Also, I’ve been looking up at this mountain for so long, it’s something else to look down from it and to see everything at once. ”
“I come here when I have little else to do. It brings me peace.”
“I can see why,” she whispers, gazing at the mountains, water, forests, and hills before her.
“It is nice being here with you.”
She leans into my side. “It is nice being here with you too.”
“Come.” I squeeze her and shift us toward the trees, coiling my tail around her foot to tug her after me. “Let us return below to wash the berries for I would really like to get you naked and in the water. It is time we bathed.”
“I agree.”
Later that evening, we are inside her ship. The sun is cresting the horizon, falling swiftly below it.
Now, resting after the day’s exertion and a wild, frenetic mounting where I spilled my seed inside her sheath, fireflies appear to flutter through the plants and bushes outside the window.
I lean back against one of the round chairs in her ship’s lounge and watch as she sorts her berries and leaves and places them in small plastic boxes with caps.
When she is done, she wipes her hands and faces me. “A little more and I’ll be ready to go back to the encampment. We just need to figure out a good method in allocating or bringing water.”
I nod. She wants to help the refugees—not the military—inside the encampment.
I told her I would take her back but only if she does not leave my side again.
She vowed she would not, and she has made that promise numerous times.
Though I am uncertain about returning so soon, her newfound joy in her work makes her radiate.
And I like the way she looks when she radiates.
“I have a better idea.”
She brushes a loose lock of hair behind her ear and twists the beaded necklace on her neck.
A trinket she found in her sister’s room and has been wearing since.
“A better idea? We can go to a different camp if you want, I told you I was fine with that. There are people out there that could be lost, and need help.”
“No.” I sit upright, coiling my tail inward toward the chair. “I will take you to meet Shelby.”
She opens her mouth then closes it as she debates her response. “I would like to meet Shelby…”
“Then that is where we will go next, and in the meantime, you can gather more for when we do return to the encampment. If you are keen on helping others… I have never not seen the worth in that.” I enjoy having allies.
I am also hoping the shimmering veil will disappear before we return, but when I check on it each day, it is there, just past Vagan’s land. I would like to know what he thinks about it, and what the others think about it. Taking Elena to meet Shelby is not only for her, but for me as well.
I do not have a direct way of communicating with them like Elena does her sister. Yet. I have never cared to communicate with someone so quickly until now.
I eye the orb and the controls of Elena’s ship, wondering how I can make her communication system useful to me. If not her controls, then the ones in Greg and Levy’s vessel. If Elena hears Shelby’s voice on her systems, then it should be possible to “comm” with them as well.
There’s a dinging noise and my eyes shoot to the metal rectangular box in the corner.
“It’s done!” Elena pivots and walks to the machine. She opens the front compartment and takes out a plate. She blows on it, grabs a fork, and walks over to me with it. She grins as she hands it over. “Ready to try bland pasta, Lukys?”
I dubiously scan the contents—the pale cream color of the squiggly items on the plate. I bare my fangs and hiss when my next inhale is filled with strange smelling chemicals. They are not bad, just not appetizing.
“Come on, try a little bit of my culture. It’s basic but still…” She laughs, pushing back her hair. “It’s not going to kill you.”
I pick up the fork and poke it into a squiggle, finding the utensil odd in my hands. Carefully, I bring it to my mouth as I narrow my eyes.
But Elena is not looking at my eyes, she is staring at my mouth, smirking deviously.
I endure the pasta and close my mouth around the fork like I have seen her do many times before.
Salt bursts on my tongue as a subtle creamy flavor blooms forth.
Chewing slowly, I smash the slimy squiggle between my teeth, finding it easy to break down.
I swallow smoothly and put the fork back on the plate.
“What do you think?”
“I would like water…”
“Here, I’ll get you a cup.” When she moves to leave, I place the plate on the table and haul her into my lap. She huffs and shimmies, but then sighs and settles.
“I would like you,” I amend with a growl. She faces me, dropping her legs on either side of the chair.
I cup the back of her head and pull her mouth to mine. I share the salty flavor of the pasta and in return, get it cleansed with a taste of her. I press my tongue inside and am flooded with her essence and a little bit of berry. “I would do anything for you,” I rasp against her lips.
“I know.” She kisses me back. “You just ate machine-made pasta.”
“I would eat a lot more than that.”
I will take her to the encampment, and I will take her to others, if that is what she wishes. I will even eat her food. It is such a little thing to ask when I would be willing to do so much more.
But first, we need answers, and Vagan and Shelby may have them. I will do a lot for my bride, but not if her safety is impaired.
I want to know what they think of the veil.