“I didn’t think you got tired anymore with those.” She reached to touch the tattoo on my arm.
I looked at the two halves of a ball connected by a black bar. “Not that kinda tired. Besides, technically it’s the one on my thigh that gives me endurance.”
She leaned to bump her shoulder into mine. “I know that. On both counts.”
“Now what?” The question came from nowhere. I had no idea I was going to ask it until it popped out.
“I have no idea,” she said.
I nodded and sighed. “My one and only plan was to find you and take you back home.”
“Doesn’t seem quite right, huh?”
I watched the Delicians mill about in the street, dazed and confused. Daresh had ruled this city for millennia with an iron shackle that tightened with every century that passed. I doubted even the oldest families could recount stories of a time their ancestors weren’t oppressed and beaten down.
“No, it doesn’t,” I said.
“This world is so broken, Gaige,” she said. “When we first came here, I just thought it was just a bunch messed up races that didn’t get along, but this past year I’ve spent so much time here. It’s just…broken.”
I had been on Alisundi for a few weeks—far less than the year she spent here—but I knew what she meant. “What are we supposed to do about it? We’re just two kids from another planet.”
She turned to look at me with hazel eyes. “This world is just so full of,” she paused to find the right word, “demons.”
I flinched at the use of that word. It stirred something in me.
“Not like real demons,” she went on, “though they have those here like Daresh and Lortmore. There’s just something deeply engrained in the people who live here. They’re good people, Gaige. I’ve met them.”
“I know,” I said, thinking about Elder Narit and the rest of the Jo-Shar. Minotaur. Sholto. The Mother Tree. The Ashlings to a point, though deeply misguided at times. The Delician Underground. “But what are we supposed to do?”
She thought for a while. Brande had managed to gain the attention of the Delicians and put them to various tasks. She sent some into buildings she had pointed out to clear a few of the Underground’s discovered and caved in tunnels. She sent others to the task of fortifying the breached wall. She sent patrols of soldiers onto the plains to watch for Balataur activity in case the beasts turned and came back.
“They’re drifting,” Aoife said finally, “like a ship lost at sea. Surviving, not living. Maybe all they need is an anchor to hold them until the storm passes.”
“I still don’t see what we can do about it.”
She glanced around the street before slipping her hand in mine and climbing to her feet. She pulled me to mine. “Come on.”
She guided me to a building across the way and stood me in front of a large window. The sun hung just right in the sky hit the wavy glass and reflected my image back at me.
“Um…” I started.
“You don’t know what your back tattoo is, do you?”
I blinked at the realization. I had yet to come across a mirror to be able to see it. “No.”
She turned me around and lifted the back of my shirt to the neck. I twisted my head as best as I could to see the black ink on my shoulder blade. The image was slightly distorted but unmistakable. I stared at the image of an anchor permanently stained into my skin.
She dropped my shirt and smiled at me. She lifted a shoulder. “Maybe there’s something we can do.”
I shook my head in disbelief. How could a member of a mountain people like the Jo-Shar even know what an anchor was, much less what one looks like?
Aoife found whatever look I had on my face—the usual confusion most likely—amusing. She laughed lightly, used my shoulders to lift herself to tip toes, and kissed me quickly. Before the act sank into my head, she stepped away and pulled me by the hand again. “Come on.”
“Where are we going now?”
“To say some goodbyes.” She nodded toward Minotaur standing awkwardly near Brande, then shifted her eyes down the street.
The wall and wreckage seemed miles away, but I knew exactly where she meant. The spot Seanna had died was down there. I swallowed the lump that had appeared instantly in my throat.
“Then what?” I asked.
“We go home,” she said.
“But, I thought you said they needed us.”
“Yes, but you need to see your mom,” she said. “Plus, I’d really love to see my family.” She glanced at me. “I can’t imagine what the past year’s been like for them. Or you.”
I gave her a sad smile and nodded. “It’s not been good.”
“That’s okay. We’ll make everything right again,” she said. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back, Hero.”
End OF The Gatekeeper Trilogy
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Well, we’ve come to the end of The Gatekeeper Trilogy. As I close this book, I do so knowing that not all of Gaige and Aoife’s stories have been told. For now, I’m excited to move on to other projects and stories that are begging to be told. Rest assured, I’ll return to Alisundi from time to time check in on things and I’ll bring you along with me. Until then, thank you so much for all the support! Without my readers, I’d still be sitting up late at night writing for no other reason than to get this craziness out of my head.
Thank you a thousand times over!
Go raibh míile maith agat!
-Scott
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The year Scott was born was like any other, though a commemorative quarter was produced to celebrate his arrival (or so he assumes). He grew up in a place in America that’s a little too hot and now lives in a place in America that’s a little too cold. Growing up, he hated reading anything that didn't have cool drawings of muscular men wearing spandex punching other muscular men wearing spandex. That is until he found a book that transported him to a world full of knights, elves, dragons, and gods. In the time that followed, he’s devoured many worlds.
A few years ago, he discovered a gateway to another world very much like Earth, but so very different. In the time that followed, he’s struggled with telling the story, but he is coming forward with a tale of another who was lured into a gateway much like himself. If there’s one lesson to be learned from this story, it’s if you do find yourself on another world, keep your wits about you, trust sparingly, and let your imagination fly. Just maybe you’ll find out who you’re supposed to be.
Check his website for information about The Gatekeeper Trilogy and other projects.
www.munboy.com
The Gatekeeper Trilogy Page 82
