“You don’t…” DraDonna started, but he cut her off.
“Yes I do. I need to make things right with you. I was mad, but even before that my attitude toward you was bad. But I see now that you are so very special. It was because of you that the HEART was able to break the loop in her programing, so we will all be set free.”
DraDonna looked into the strong planes of his good-looking face, hardly able to recognize the man that stood before her.
“You look so different,” she told him.
“I am. I have been freed from a madness that plagued me all my life,” he confessed. “Can you forgive me, DraDonna? For all I did to you?”
Still looking into the beautiful face of a man she felt she never knew she saw true sorrow for all his misdeeds.
“Yes,” she said with enthusiasm.
“Donna, we have to go,” JorMelony said.
“Will I ever see you again?” she asked her sister with tears in her voice.
“Anything is possible once we are free,” she told her younger sister. “I have a gift for you.” Reaching out both of her closed hands, she placed in each of DraDonna’s hands a brilliant and beautiful point of light.
“But… I don’t understand,” DraDonna confessed in awe.
“You will,” JorMelony said. “I will always love you, my baby sister. All is well; all is well.” She turned to JorRobert. They wrapped their arms around each other. Their souls then merged in a brilliant flash of light and acceded to rejoin all the other souls in the swirling torrent of colors.
“I must go now too, Little Donna,” Tatiana said. “Thank you child; you have freed us all. I knew you would.”
“I wish you didn’t have to go. I will miss you. Aside from DraDevon, you were the only friend I ever had,” she said.
“Yes I was, but you don’t need me anymore. You do have wonderful bonded friends now and they will stand by you, child. Did you ever wonder why I never longed for a child of my own?”
“I always thought that you found fulfillment in your service to all the HEART’s children.”
“Well there was that, but mostly it was because I had you,” she told her. Once again she leaned forward and kissed her curly head. “I love you, Donna.” Tatiana ascended in a bright flash of light.
“But Tatiana, I don’t know how to go back!” she called after her friend in panic.
“Maybe I can help you,” Jude said. She had been standing quietly behind her.
“Jude, I’m sorry, I forgot you were here, too.” DraDonna said.
“Please don’t apologize to me. It should be the other way around,” Jude said with the pain of shame and sorrow in her voice. “I have caused so much grief that it torments my soul. I can at least make things right with you. I betrayed you and I am so sorry,” she sobbed.
DraDonna remembered what the HEART had told her about the control collar and how it affected Jude. She knew before Jude began to wear it that she was a bright and happy person who was full of compassion.
“It wasn’t you,” DraDonna told her. “It was the necklace. The HEART said that it was old and evil and had been falsely reported to her as destroyed. She said that it corrupts the person who wears it. That thing blocked the energy from your mind as well as the Traveler’s Joy. So it wasn’t you.”
“But still…I…I did those things, control collar or not,” Jude confessed in sorrow. “Can you forgive me?”
DraDonna looked into her beautiful ghostly face and smiled. “Forgiveness is greater than vengeance. Of course I do.”
Jude smiled back with the relief of redemption in her eyes. “Thank you, DraDonna. But you need to go back to your body now.”
“But I don’t know how.”
“I will show you. I have tried many times.”
“Are you coming with me?” DraDonna asked her hopefully.
“I can’t,” she said with pain in her voice.
“But why? Come on, try. Symon needs you,” DraDonna begged her.
“The jolt of negative energy I got was so fast and so hard that it did permanent damage to my brain; my soul has a hard time holding onto my body. But I think you might be able to help me.”
“How? Just tell me what to do,” DraDonna said urgently.
“I’m not sure yet, but I have a feeling,” Jude said, unsure of the answer. “Our souls have touched, so I will be near.”
“I will look for a way to save you, Jude,” DraDonna promised her.
“You must go now, DraDonna,” Jude said with insistence. “The longer you are away, the harder it gets.”
“There is one more thing I have to tell you, Jude. The HEART has freed you and Symon to marry.”
A mixture of surprise, joy and pain was on her lovely face. “Tell Symon for me that I will keep trying to come back to him.”
“And I will not stop trying to figure out a way to save you,” DraDonna promised again.
“Thank you,” she said with tears in her voice. “It’s time for you to go back, DraDonna. Close your eyes and listen to my voice. Now focus on the one who loves you. He is close to your body. Hear him call you home.”
Darkness surrounded DraDonna once again as she closed her eyes. “Go home DraDonna. Go HOME!” Jude said with so much power in her voice that the last word rang in her ears over and over: “HOME…HOME…HOME!” The echo of that one word began to change. The sound of the one word became masculine, and the voice that spoke it was deeper.
“Come home to me DraDonna!” It was DraDevon’s voice that she heard calling her home.
Epilogue
HOME
The journey down through the ship was strange but exciting. They were going to get a look at the HEART’s choice for their new home.
The four bonded friends stood in the cargo hold of the ship. “HEART,” Symon said. “Will these…umm, machines still work after all this time?” he asked her.
Yes, my bots have kept them in good working order. I control them, my Symon, so all you have to do is get in.
“She says yes,” he told the other three as he stood up and gestured toward the back of the cargo area. All the people began to pour into the machines. “Let’s go,” He called as he climbed into one of the machines that were filled with the HEART’s children as well as his three bonded friends.
“We need to hurry,” DraDonna said, “the sun is setting. The HEART said she will open just after sunset.”
“I know it will take time,” Symon said, “but we will make it. There are a lot of these things and I think they go very fast.”
“Let’s go, HEART,” he said.
The hatch began to open with a grinding noise, then a hiss of pressure, and everyone felt their ears pop.
The engine of the machine started up with a roar and they all began to move toward the large opening near the bottom of the ship. Once the machine was free of the opening of the ship, it climbed slow up an incline at first, and then picked up speed as it leveled out on flat ground.
Everyone was breathless with exhilaration from traveling at such high speeds. DraDonna looked forward out of the machine, and saw the rich colors of the rocky plains of her new world. DraDonna could not resist asking Symon questions.
“Why did the HEART land here?”
“She said that this is called a crater, a… umm… place in the ground that could handle her landing. She said that there was no other place like it on the planet and if she didn’t use it she was afraid she would harm the planet.”
“Look how beautiful those mountains are!” TynLexa pointed out in excitement. “Are we going all the way over to them?” she asked.
“No,” Symon told her. “In fact, see that hill just over there?” he asked her, pointing to a nearby green hill. “That’s where we will stop. It will give us a good view of the ship.”
The machine began to slow as it approached the hill and came to a stop with many others just behind it. The children of the HEART climbed the hill in the rapidly growing darkness.
“Wow!”
Exclaimed DraDevon as he looked up at the darkening sky when he reached the top. “What are those lights called again?” he asked Symon.
“Stars. The HEART called them stars,” Symon answered him with awe in his voice.
“Look, there’s NulSam and NulJena!” DraDonna said, running off to hug her HEART brother and sister.
“How are you feeling, NulJena?” DraDonna asked her with concern with her arm still around her HEART sister as they walked to join the others.
“I’m feeling huge but good. This is so amazing; the colors of everything are so rich and bright even though it’s getting dark.”
DraDevon and NulSam embraced happily as they all turned to look at the ship.
“It should be any second now,” Symon informed them.
“NulJena, are you feeling alright?” Symon asked her as he gently patted her large belly.
Now My Symon! The HEART warned him.
“Now,” he told his friends with his hand still on NulJena’s tummy.
A loud grinding noise began. The dome that was once their sky quickly fell back, sinking down inside the hull of the ship. As soon as it had opened, there was a great explosion of light as millions of souls raced across the night sky, leaving a blazing trail behind them on their way to freedom.
The light from the freed souls began to fade and a great cheer rose up from all the HEART’s children. NulJena and Symon both gasped at the same time instead of cheering.
“What is it?” NulSam asked them with concern. “What’s wrong?”
Symon lifted his large hazel eyes to look at NulSam and said, “I felt the babe move.”
***
While the HEART’s children cheered with happiness at the sight of the freed souls, he was still in the ship. In a dark and secret place, he waited and planned.
About the Author
Linna Drehmel was born at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho in 1973 and grew up surrounded by military. Her father served for 22 years in the Air Force, her mother was a military police officer in the Marines, and her older brother served for 10 years in the Navy. She draws inspiration from her family’s many years of proud service in the military. She has spent much of her life studying anthropology and has a particular fondness for archaeology. She loves to find ways to intertwine anthropological and archaeological themes into her writing. She also has a strong understanding of what the reader likes, as she herself is an avid reader.
Acknowledgements
First, I thank God for this great talent that I have to share with the world. My husband and kids for putting up with the weird hours, frozen food and my endless prattle about the characters and sub plots. mp-66 and Dez, my Uncle and Aunt for much advice on Clematis. My publishing family: Sarah, Madison, Alexia, Kyani, Jenna, SK, Nathan S., Roxanne, Para Graphics for the amazing cover art and all the fantastic people at Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly publishing.
Gabriella Hartwell Chapter 18 is dedicated specifically for you for the inspiration and guidance you have given me when it comes to soul mates. Thank you Chris Clark for the advice on fine carpentry, and Bri Clark for the advice on everything, Aaron P. for stopping me from making a big mistake, Chris W. for ever so much, Trish and Nathan W. my late night councilors, Kim Curtis for the first photograph of the HEART and for the pic that has made look like a rock star. Carly Anne W., Wendy L.T.G., and Deborah Beale for just being darn kool supporters of my work.And a very big thank you for my friend and writing mentor Lindsay Downs, and the list goes on. All who let me name characters after them. There are so many amazing people whom I thank and love for their support, just know that if you don’t see your name here it is written on my heart and I will thank you always.
This would just not be right without a thank you to my muses. Narcisse Navarre (Khajj) for the amazing poetry. Tad Williams I look up to you. My two most powerful musical muses, Josh Groban and Depeche Mode who’s voices inspire the creation of characters and new worlds.
Last but not least the people who invented earbuds so I can keep my muses to myself at 2am, and Diet Coke with lime so can stay up till 3am.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Gathering - Chapter 1
Awake - Chapter 2
Change - Chapter 3
Plans - Chapter 4
Understand - Chapter 5
Advice - Chapter 6
Gone - Chapter 7
Surprised - Chapter 8
Help - Chapter 9
News - Chapter 10
Notebook - Chapter 11
Control - Chapter 12
Copy - Chapter 13
Welding - Chapter 14
Enemy - Chapter 15
Seeing - Chapter 16
Lies - Chapter 17
Reunion - Chapter 18
Leverage - Chapter 19
Sharing - Chapter 20
Communion - Chapter 21
Work - Chapter 22
Punishment - Chapter 23
Jude - Chapter 24
Symon - Chapter 25
H.E.A.R.T. - Chapter 26
Report - Chapter 27
Sleep - Chapter 28
JorMelony - Chapter 29
Comfort - Chapter 30
Ambassador - Chapter 31
Madness - Chapter 32
Ambush - Chapter 33
Sacrifice - Chapter 34
Hope - Chapter 35
Free - Chapter 36
Epilogue - HOME
About the Author
Acknowledgements
H.E.A.R.T. Saga: The Children Page 25
