Echoes in the Dark (65 page)

They
all ranged what was left of the battlefield. Did they feel the need to witness
as Jikata did? She walked over the smokily transparent surface, showing bodies
beneath. Thankfully most of the death wounds were shadowed. Luthan held her
elbow.

“A
monument to all who fought the Dark, by Amee,” he murmured.

Jikata
caught her breath again as she trod over the Chevalier representative, Lady
Hallard, and her Shield.

Then
she stopped by Alexa, who wept over a pair of men locked in each other’s arms,
between their volarans. All four seemed to exude love.

“Our
old squires, the newest Marshalls.” Alexa held onto Bastien. The men’s batons
weren’t standing straight up in the ground like the pictures Jikata had seen in
the Lorebooks, but were in their hands.

Like
the rest of them, Alexa let tears trail down her face. She looked at the flat,
glassy plane, glanced up at the jagged lip of the volcano crater. “How many are
entombed here?”

Bastien
shuddered. “It’s not natural, to see them so.”

“Ayes,
it is.” Jikata’s voice was thick. “Like Jaquar said, a monument from the planet
Amee herself.” She began Singing the most beautiful, saddest Song she knew,
Samuel Barber’s “Agnus Dei.”

The
Exotiques wept around her.

Her
Song broke again a few notes from the end, but music itself swelled through
her, them, around them, echoing off the glass.

The
feycoocus Sang, led by Tuckerinal, who knew the tune, and there were more than
the three Jikata knew. More than a dozen perched on the rim of a furled glass
wave.

Sing
with us,
said Sinafinal.
You are Lladrana’s Singer now.

Again
a heavy weight settled on her shoulders, constricted her chest.

Truly,
the passing of an era.

And
thank the Song for such a terrible era’s passing,
Luthan said
mentally. Like the other men, there were wet trails on his cheeks.

Koz
limped heavily toward them. He’d taken the time to look at all the bodies
between Bossgond’s and the two new Marshalls’.

Jikata
saw Koz shake his head hard, thought she saw tears fly away. His hands opened
and fisted. He thumped his chest. “And I’m still here. All these, too late to
save, dead before the explosion.” He pivoted on his heel, pointed. “The Ship!
Everyone else must have been rescued.”

“A
quarter,” Calli said softly. “So many volarans dead.”

The
feycoocus’ Song mixed with Chasonette’s as she flew toward them. They looked to
see the Ship sailing full power toward them with people cheering and volarans
rising to the sky.

Jikata
hiccupped with sobs.

Then
it came, the call of Mother Earth, rolling over Jikata like an inexorable tide.

The
Snap.

Jikata
—Mother Earth,
sending her own promises of the future. Jikata experienced the feeling of being
on stage before thousands, all roaring in approval, joining with her to sing
her latest platinum album. Oh, the rush of applause from such an audience! The
scent of hot California earth came, directions from an impatient man who wanted
her to say her lines just
so.
Her, a movie star. An Oscar and gold
Grammys. A life of ease and wealth and luxury on a rich world. Her
home
planet grateful that she hadn’t been invaded by any wisp of the Dark. Jikata
would be creative and successful and loved.

Jikata,
whispered Amee,
echoing like it was from the chamber in the Caverns of Prophecy, all the way
from the Abbey.

“Jikata.”
Luthan wrapped her in his arms. “Beloved,” he said in a thick voice.

The
winds came.

Not
the tearing forces ripping through the Dimensional Corridor just before it
shifted like a kaleidoscope forever. But the real winds of Amee, with the hint
of coldness this far north.

Earth
pulled at her with its delicious melodies, its underlying soul-tune that was
the pulse of her own blood.

“Jikata.”
Two voices Sang, Luthan’s and another, one that put an English spin on her
name. A voice she thought she’d recognized.

Mist
surrounded her, them, then dissipated and Jikata saw they all stood together on
one side of a stage.

“What
is
this place?” Calli asked in awe.

“Ghost
Hill Theater,” Jikata said and her voice wasn’t mere words but a Song.

Alexa
snorted. “Huh.” She looked around, “Nice place.”

“Ayes,”
Jikata said, lifted her arm and pointed. “Restored by him.”

Trenton
Philbert III stood, hand clasped with his wife, his lady, who Sang with a
mediocre voice, but the pulsing colorful auras of light around her were
awesome. They stood before a group of people dressed in evening clothes. Most
were men who looked like Raine, but there was a threesome who clumped together
in a manner that even Jikata, raised in Denver, recognized as ranchers.

“My
father,” Calli said faintly, “his wife and stepson.” She looked down at
herself, at Jikata, and Jikata was very aware that they appeared like they’d
been in a fight to end all fights.

But
they’d saved a world.

“I
don’t have anyone there,” Alexa said in a strained voice.

Bastien
picked her up and held her close, “Good,” he said, then made soothing noises.

“Neither
do we.” Marian stood hand-in-hand with Koz, a false smile frozen on her face.
“Mother must have died.” Jaquar stepped close and wrapped an arm around her
waist.

Bri
was sobbing openly, and Jikata finally focused on the elegant woman that had
her face—her twin, Elizabeth, who was held by her husband, flanked by her
mother and father.

Trenton
put an arm out when a couple of powerfully built men surged toward Raine. “They
have fought for an entire world—”

“Two,”
Juliet said crisply. “For Amee and for Earth, because if that Dark had
triumphed it would have crossed the corridor to the nearest planet, which is
our Earth.”

“You
can’t go to her, but you can see she is fine, and can talk to her,” Trenton
ended.

“Fine!”
Raine’s father’s shout hurt her ears. All her brothers and her two
sisters-in-law were there, looking stunned.

Through
her tears, Raine said, “Okay, so I was dying, it was rough. But I’m better now.
Best, really.” She wrapped her arms around Faucon. “This is my husband, Faucon.
He’s a nobleman here, so he’ll keep me richly.” She laughed and the sound rang
with contentment throughout the theater.

Her
father and brothers ceased their restless shifting. Her father crossed his arms
over his chest. “He doesn’t look Swedish.”

She
snorted a laugh. “Here in Lladrana we have no engines. So I’ll start a golden age
of sailing vessels. I love you all…” Her voice broke. “Be well, and those
mirrors you put in your houses? We can see and talk to each other through them,
if you want. Holidays maybe.”

She
sniffled. Faucon whipped out an orange-and-red handkerchief and she blew her
nose, glared at her brothers. “I am
not
a weenie.”

“Never
said you were.” Her father stuck his hands in his pockets, rocked back on his
heels, studied Faucon. “So the nobleman deal was true.”

“Ayes.
Yes.” She grimaced a smile. “So was the stuff about designing a ship. You were
right.
I
captained it.”

Her
father stilled. “That mirror. You
did
see us.”

“Yes.”

“I
love you and am proud of you.”

Bri
and Sevair had moved close to her family, and she gestured to them to join
Raine’s shell-shocked men. “I’m Bri, and these are my parents and sister. You
might want to talk to them about all this. We’ve been communicating for a
couple of months or so with mirrors.” She turned back to her delighted twin,
her parents, her face showing she yearned to touch them. “Oh, Elizabeth,” she
sniffled.

“Oh,
Bri!” Elizabeth twined all her fingers in her husband’s, as if holding onto him
would keep her from reaching out to Bri.

“So
you whupped the Dark, eh?” asked their father.

Bri
stood tall. “Ayes, yes, we did. I love you, Daddy and Mommy and twin.”

“We
love you, too,” her mother said. “It’s a blessing that we can see you one last
time.” She shook her salt-and-pepper head. “Though you’re looking the worse for
wear.”

Bri
grinned. “Life can only get better.”

Jikata
watched the emotional reunions of Bri and Raine. Was glad for them, but tired,
wanted to go home. Back to Lladrana and wherever home was for Luthan.

He’d
heard her thoughts, of course. “We’ll visit the family estate, then go to the
Abbey.” He’d made peace with his father somehow, she saw
that
in his
mind. She squeezed his arms around her waist. “Good.”

Calli
and Marrec walked tentatively over to the ranchfolk. The father, his new wife
and her son that Calli’d written about in her Lorebook.

The
young man smiled at her.

“How’s
the ranch?” Calli asked.

Her
father looked relieved at her question. Marrec’s arm came around her and she
leaned into it.

“Ranch
is goin’ well. We’re followin’ some new practices. Still a cattle ranch.”

“I’m
glad to hear it,” Calli said.

They
stood in silence that was all the more quiet for the babble of Bri’s and
Raine’s loving families.

It
would have been like that for Ishi and Jikata if Ishi had been alive, had come
here.

But
she wouldn’t have. Jikata took Luthan’s hand and went over to Alexa and Marian
and Koz.

Alexa
looked at her and Luthan, smirked as she touched her red hair. “You know,
Jikata, both you and Luthan are totally silver-headed.”

A
shock rippled through Jikata as she looked at Luthan. It was true and she
hadn’t noticed.

He
squeezed her hand. “More important things on our minds. You are beautiful.”

Judge
Philbert cleared his throat. “Time’s up, folks.” He took a heavy envelope from
his breast pocket and slid it across the stage to Calli’s feet. “Your
investments, Calli, liquidated.”

“Thanks.”
She bent down and picked it up.

“How
do you come into this, Philbert?” Alexa demanded.

Trenton
smiled at his wife. “I married into it.”

Juliet
Philbert’s gaze was serene. “I was disabled in Lladrana, couldn’t hear Songs
well, saw auras instead. The old Singer gave me a chance to come to a place
where my kind of Power worked better.” She shivered. “A strange, frightening
place, but the Singer put me in Trent’s path and he found me.” She glanced up
at him and shook her head. “It took me a while to trust him, and for him to
believe me, but we married and took on the Singer’s work here. I am the
equivalent of Earth’s Singer, but I deal better with light.”

She
looked at Calli. “I was the one who tuned the crystal in the mountain for you
to use it as a portal, and I helped destroy it. I worked with the Singer to
provide mirrors in the Abbey and here at Ghost Hill.” She sent her gaze across
them all. “I love it here, and I love Trent. I let my Power here change my
appearance to become Terran. Give them my Lorebooks, Trent.”

The
man went to a podium and pulled out two hefty leather-bound books, zoomed them
across the stage and into their space. Jikata wondered how that might work and
thought she should ask Bossgond…and grief caught at her again.

She
looked down at the books—one was in Lladranan and one in English. The title was
The Lorebook of the Lladranan Aura Mistress Giselle Reneau Philbert.

All
the Lladranans stared down at the books, then Marian and Jaquar picked them up.
After a moment, Alexa said, “Huh.”

It
seemed the right word.

Juliet
continued, “Now is the time the Dimensional Corridor shifts, Sing the portal
between our worlds shut with me, Jikata. You can cross over to this side or
stay in Lladrana.”

Jikata
could have all she’d ever wanted if she stayed here on Earth, the validation,
the fame and success. Everything that had meant so much to her. She’d unblocked
her composing talent and could create soul-satisfying albums that would be
wildly popular.

But
she stepped back, into the group of ragged people who’d had the determination
and honor to save a world. “I’ll stay.”

Juliet
nodded and began the first note, low in the register, accompanied it with
throbbing midnight blue light emanating from her hands. Jikata realized the
spell would be a simple scale from the lowest note to the highest. She sang the
next.

Raine
shivered as the notes rippled from the throats of the two Singers, one of Earth
and one of Lladrana, women who’d switched worlds. Strange colors pulsed around
and from Juliet.

Swallowing
hard herself, Raine cast a last glance at her father and brothers, her
sisters-in-law, and stepped back to join her new family.