The Return To Erda Box Set

by Beca Lewis

  After the insects passed, we scrambled down from the trees and back to where we knew the circles would take us down to where Pita and Teddy would be waiting, ready to put our next plan into action.

  Shatterskin thought he was coming to us, but we were going to him instead. But first, we needed to regroup and prepare.

  Shatterskin Fifty-Two

  Besides Teddy and Pita, James and his men were waiting for us in the transport room. He was leaning on his brother, but otherwise looked unharmed. I rushed over and grabbed his hands. His daughter would never forgive me if something happened to him.

  “You had me so scared, James,” I said. And then to my complete embarrassment started to sob. James let go of his brother, John, and put his arms around me, holding me close without saying anything.

  That made me cry even more. At that moment I realized how much I missed my Earth family and their constant care and attention. My mother was always hugging me, and I would shake it off thinking I was too old to be cuddled. Now I would give anything to be embraced by her again.

  “I was terrified,” I whispered to James, keeping my face buried in his coat.

  James lifted my chin so I could see him. “So was I, Hannah. And yet, you did what you needed to do, and it worked.”

  “But what if one of you had been killed?”

  “We weren’t. And if that happens, Hannah, it won’t be your fault. It’s the kind of thing that happens. But you of all people know that what is called death is just one door closing while another opens.”

  “It won’t make it hurt less for those of us who would miss you, though.”

  “No. It probably won’t. But it will give you a sense of peace knowing that life transforms itself into other forms.”

  “Like the trees.”

  “Exactly like the trees, Hannah.”

  “You’re calling me Hannah.”

  James smiled down at me and said, “You’ll always be partly Hannah. That’s a good thing. Think about what you learned during your time in the Earth Realm. That learning will always give you insights that some of us might not have since we haven’t learned from that world. You have an expanded awareness that you will bring to everything if you remain open to it.

  “Besides, Hannah, we all know you miss your Earth family and friends. That’s only natural. Plus, you have had to grow from a young girl to a young woman in just a few months with the weight of a world on your shoulders. We’ve asked a lot of you.”

  James pulled a tissue from his jacket pocket and handed it to me.

  “Thank you,” I said, smiling through the tears running down my face. “And I hope when this is over I can come to stay with you and Liza and just be Hannah and not Kara Beth.”

  James smiled and said, “You can consider us your non-royal friends forever. Our village will always be a refuge for you.”

  “Well, I guess we better get ready to save it, then,” I sniffed.

  “That we better,” James answered while putting his arm around my shoulder. I wasn’t sure if it was him that still needed to be supported after his brush with the stunning effect of the Shrieks, or if it was me that needed to feel his arm around me.

  Either way, I was as happy as I had been in quite a while. James made me feel like I was his daughter, and that was a feeling I was going to treasure forever.

  As we turned to leave, I realized that the transport room was empty except for James and me. I was grateful that everyone had let me have my breakdown in private.

  Teddy was waiting outside the door. “Hello, pumpkin toes,” he said to me, taking my hand. James and I laughed so hard I was crying again. Once I got my breath, I turned to Teddy and hugged him, too.

  It was like hugging a furry rug, not quite the same as embracing James, but it felt great to be wrapped up in those big strong arms.

  “Okay, you two. I think I am recovered enough to be ready for the next plan,” I said.

  “Not yet,” Pris said flying towards me. “First, shower, clean clothes, and then we are all meeting in the planning room. Niko said you have an hour.”

  I said goodbye to James and Teddy and followed Pris down the hall to my room. As I walked, I tried to ground myself in the energy of the trees that held the rooms together.

  “Take off your shoes,” sounded in my head. Not a voice, a feeling of a voice.

  I stopped and waited. Pris turned.

  “Got something going on?” she asked.

  When I nodded yes, she said, “Well, do it then.”

  “So you heard that?”

  “Hum … not the same as you, but I know when the trees speak.”

  “It was the trees?”

  “Well, who else would it be?” Pris said waving her arms around her. We were surrounded by the soft lights generated by the roots that wove through the walls holding the earth in place.

  “Well, yes, that too,” she said to who knows who.

  “And who are you talking to?”

  Pris gave me one of her famous looks that implied I was a stone cold idiot.

  “The trees!”

  “And what did you mean by the ‘well, that too,’ remark then,” I countered, almost as huffily as Pris.

  Then we both laughed. We were two primadonnas doing a standoff. I could almost hear the trees chuckling.

  “Well. Take your shoes off then,” Pris said, settling herself on a root in the wall.

  I did. I slid off my shoes and socks and felt the ground. It thrummed. I stood still, the light dimmed, I closed my eyes, calmed my breath, trying to feel the breath of the trees. And I waited.

  It didn’t take long. Within a few minutes, I knew what needed to be done next.

  Shatterskin Fifty-Three

  After a quick shower, and gratefully putting on the clean clothes lying on my bed, I was in the planning room with everyone else just under the hour time limit set by Niko.

  Food was set out on the tables lining the walls. As always, it was a buffet filled with food that met all our individual needs. I promised myself that after all this was over, I would do something for all the invisible people who were providing for us.

  I wasn’t really hungry, but I knew that it was necessary to eat, so I filled my plate and joined everyone at the table.

  Niko began, “Well, now we know that we didn’t have to paralyze the Shrieks to drop the salt water on them after all. That means we can attack them without putting all of you in danger by being too close to them. It also means that we can stop the supply line to Shatterskin.”

  “Does that mean that we will only be dealing with the power left in Shatterskin?” John asked.

  “That’s what we believe,” Niko answered. “However, we don’t know how long that will be, or how quickly Abbadon can, or will, send replacement minions to bring the fresh batteries.

  “The good news is that Lady and her crown of pileated dragons believe they have located the manufacturing plant where Abbadon makes the Shrieks. If we can destroy that plant, we can stop the Shrieks forever.”

  “We hope you have a plan to do that, Niko,” John said. “I admit, your plans to stop the Shrieks worked perfectly, although I reserve judgment about the residual effects of the salt. However, no one has talked at all about the biggest danger.”

  Niko motioned for John to continue.

  “When Shatterskin comes through, no one lives. He destroys so thoroughly it will take centuries before the ground recovers—if it ever does. Now your reports tell us that he is moving faster than ever and our earmuffs and shields are not going to protect us from him.”

  That was John. Questioning. Not quite on board. But we needed people to do that, otherwise we might stumble into something we would never get out of without some of us dying.

  The Priscillas flew off my co
at and arranged themselves on the edge of the table to look at me. I tried to shoo them away, but they stuck themselves there. Staring. Waiting.

  Niko laughed. “Well, I see that the Priscillas know what is going to happen next.” He turned to me and said, “Well, Kara Beth, are you going to tell us the plan?”

  Zounds, I was hoping to gain more time, stall a little. But it seemed that wasn’t going to happen. Although I did my best to fidget around a bit, hoping that what I was going to say would improve with a few more seconds of reprieve.

  Everyone was looking at me. As I looked back at our team, I expected to see everyone looking at me with complete dismay, probably figuring that if I had a plan, it was going to fail. Couldn’t blame them there. But I was surprised to see that there were a variety of looks.

  Besides the Priscillas, both Niko and Aki had that look of anticipation as if they knew what I was going to do, and they approved. Sometimes they scared me with what they knew.

  Others looked at me with pride.

  Surprisingly, Ruta was in that category, along with Beru, Teddy, Pita, and Zeid.

  Zeid had a different kind of pride in his look though. I knew that once this was all over, I would have to address what was between us. But it would have to wait. I had no room for thinking about that right now.

  Finally, the men from the village. James had the look of a father whose daughter was growing up; John was angry; and Kit, Mark, and Thomas were patiently waiting for my answer before passing judgment.

  However, before I could speak, I was saved. I was pretty sure that Suzanne and Earl’s entrance was timed perfectly for just that reason. Trying not to give away my total panic, I projected a “thank you” into their minds and in return received a feeling of warmth and safety. I wasn’t alone.

  “I’ll be helping too, Kara,” Link said.

  I included him in my thanks and then settled back to let Earl and Suzanne run the show, at least for the moment.

  Although he was up above in the woods, I could feel Cahir’s presence so strongly at my side it felt as if I could reach out and pat him on his head. I almost laughed out loud when Cahir growled and snapped at my fingers reminding me that my time was coming soon.

  “Get ready,” Cahir said.

  Well, I knew that’s what he said even though it was just a feeling, like feeling the trees talking to me.

  Thankfully, everyone had turned their attention to Earl. He didn’t need to ask for it. Now that we had all seen his power as Coro, the man standing before us was even more majestic and commanding.

  He took his time, looking at each person around the table for a long time. Perhaps he was taking a measure of who they were. The effects of his gaze resting on them was different for each person.

  The doubters seemed to squirm a little more, and the ones who had looked at me with pride or acceptance looked more grounded and relaxed.

  I prepared myself for his gaze resting on me, but it didn’t. He looked at each Priscilla, made them giggle, and then passed right over me and took in the entire table.

  I tried not to worry about why he had skipped me. Did he know that I wasn’t up to what I was supposed to do next and he didn’t want anyone to see my reaction when he looked at me?

  There wasn’t time for me to drag myself down too far because Earl started speaking. His voice filled every crevice of the room with power, assurance, and courage.

  “Thank you for your bravery out there today,” he began. “Yes, now we know how to eliminate the Shrieks, and I have sent small storms over every band of Shrieks that managed to escape. The insects have taken care of the remainders of the Shrieks that fled. We are attacking the supply lines as we speak.

  “The trees have assured me that they can handle the amount of salt we have dumped. And once this is over, we’ll help by sending clean rain down to wash the salt further down where the roots can do their work gathering it, using what’s needed, and sending the rest back to the ocean.

  “Too bad we didn’t know earlier how easy this was going to be. But that’s often the way.

  “Things seem impossible, and then a few brave people of all races and creeds band together and find the solution. In this case, it’s everyone around this table and all the ones who have supported all of you behind the scenes.

  “We think that the solution to stopping Shatterskin will follow the same scenario. The solution is easy, but it will take bravery to carry it out.”

  That’s when he turned to me and said, “Time to take over, Princess Kara Beth.”

  My heart froze. It was time. I was not ready. At all.

  Shatterskin Fifty-Four

  A long silence dragged out, and the longer it dragged out, the harder it got to speak. When I finally managed to squeak out a few words it was such a far cry from Earl’s booming voice which inspired so much confidence that I was sure everyone in the room would burst out laughing.

  When no one did, I straightened up and thought about all the people that were counting on me. Every moment I stalled, Shatterskin was busy destroying. If my plan worked, we wouldn’t have to wait until his battery ran down, if it ever did. We could stop him now.

  But first I had to tell a story. I looked to Ruta and Suzanne for support, and they both nodded at me to go on. It was my story to tell. I had to share what happened when Aki took me to the Oracle.

  I don’t know what I expected, but I was still trying to make sense of what happened. Ruta was part of the story. Grumpy Ruta who had treated me with disdain when I first arrived. Ruta, who had done his job only because Earl had told him to. Now I knew it was Earl’s voice that moved through the wind that day in the clearing and told him to take care of me.

  And Ruta had done his job of taking care of me, even though it didn’t seem like something he wanted to do. Over the past few months, Ruta didn’t become less grumpy, but some of his disdain seemed to have faded.

  It was always Ruta and Beru who made sure that everything I needed was always available. They were my protectors. Beru and I had developed a comfortable relationship, even though she sometimes treated me like an errant child, probably because I was. However, Ruta had stayed distant and just done his job.

  Until the Oracle.

  For me, the word oracle meant some mystical person or being who knew everything and only shed their wisdom on some people and always in riddles. That’s what I expected. In a way, that’s what I got.

  After the hobbit door closed behind me, I couldn’t see anything at all except for a small blue light. I felt my way around the walls until I was in front of it. By then my night vision had clicked on a bit, and I could see that the blue light was inside what looked like a tree trunk.

  Since the walls were composed of tree roots, in one way a tree trunk was not surprising. However, we were at least fifty feet underground. How was there a tree trunk down here?

  The blue light sparked, and I heard the question inside my head, “Is that your question for the Oracle? How is a tree trunk down below?”

  “I guess it depends on how many questions I can have answered while I am here,” I answered. “I would like to know, but that’s not the most important question I have to ask. Anyway, if you are wise and all-knowing don’t you know the question I am here to ask?”

  I heard what sounded like chimes and decided it might be the Oracle laughing since the light had fluttered while it laughed.

  “Ruta shared stories about you with me,” she said. “He said you were a bit feisty. Of course, I know that you have always been that way.”

  At least I assumed it was a she, since the Oracle had a lovely lilting voice, and weren’t most Oracles female? I didn’t want to ask that question, though, because, once again, I didn’t know how many questions she would answer.

  But I couldn’t help myself when I asked, “Ruta? You know
Ruta? Do you speak with Ruta? And you know that I always have been feisty? Do I know you?”

  If the Oracle had answered the question, I never heard it. Instead, the next thing I knew I was back in my bed, and it was morning, and Aki was sleeping in the air beside my bed.

  It was Aki who showed me what had happened when I visited the Oracle. It was Ruta who told me who she was, but I didn’t share that knowledge with the group. It was still too new for me. Afterward, if all went well, I could talk about it.

  I told the group around the table that I had been practicing, and I thought I was ready to demonstrate but not in the closed room. I stood and said, “Follow me.”

  It was an odd feeling to have all those people following me. Even though I hadn’t seen myself in a mirror for a long time, I knew that I was average everything: average height and unspectacular brown hair that I tied back in a ponytail.

  And even though Zeid seemed to think I was beautiful, I am not. Just average. Although I have been told that my blue eyes sometimes do sparkle a bit. I was just a teenage girl leading a group of grownups to their destiny. Nothing to stress out about. I felt Cahir’s presence and his reminder that I wasn’t alone and felt a little better.

  A few minutes later we were in our practice room. The last time we were there I was trying to send practice blasts with my shield to a target without hurting anyone. This time the target was a massive piece of metal at the end of the room.

  “Would you all stand behind me please,” I asked and turned to face them. Then without saying anything, I sprung into the air, spun around and headed for the target, shooting lightning from my hands.

  Within seconds the entire piece of metal was melted and lying on the ground.

  I landed as gracefully as possible. In practice, I kept falling over, but miraculously I remained standing this time and turned to look at everyone in the back of the room trying to look as if what I did was an everyday occurrence, not something that Aki and I had been working on ever since the Oracle.