They both walked in silence down the tunnel and Erin squeezed Jaxor’s hand, looking up at him.
When he met her eyes, she asked, “Are you okay?”
He’d become quieter and quieter as the Pass of theKokillixdrew closer.
“The last time I was here,” he said, “it was one of the worst moments of my lifespan. Realizing that you had been taken. This place had once been my sanctuary. It had once brought me peace. But returning…it only makes me remember that span.”
Erin had feared as much and she bit her lip, wanting to comfort him, but knowing that heneededto do this.
There was something of his mother’s that he’d left behind. A old jewelry box, he’d told her. He’d had it packed but had left it behind in his rush to reach the Golden City, to try and save her.
She saw the travel sack at the entrance of the tunnel and watched as Jaxor knelt beside it, rummaging. Then he nodded. He held up a small, beautiful box, though the lid was damaged and bent. He inspected it and then carefully placed it inside, padding it with spare furs.
Then he stood, taking in the sight of his base. Surprisingly nothing had changed. There hadn’t been a huge storm. It wasn’t flooded. Nothing was in disarray. In fact, in some ways, it remained completely unchanged. She still heard thekekevirs’hisses. The waterfall still trickled. There was a quiet, hushed peace to the little place that Jaxor had made his home.
Only upon closer inspection did she see the little cracks. The door to their sleeping cave was off its hinges from when theMeviraxmale had chased after her. Their crops were withered and dead. Another of the shield links above had lost power completely, so only half of his base was hidden.
She’d hated Jaxor in this place. She’d fallen in love with Jaxor in this place. They’d conceived their child in this place. It was strange to see it with new eyes, especially with her rounding belly and the knowledge of everything that had come to pass since the last time she’d been there.
But Jaxor needed to say goodbye to the place that had been his home for five years. Especially since they were journeying to their new home, to begin their life as a mated pair. It would be in the outpost ofJirallathat they would raise their child. It was there they would begin again, begin anew.
Vaxa’an had offered Jaxor his old title, his old life. After word spread that Jaxor had killed Po’grak and was partially responsible for obtaining the treatment that would help restore Luxirian females’ fertility, he’d become a hero.
Everywhere they went in the Golden City, he was greeted with thanks and awe and support, which had only served to make him uncomfortable—considering he didn’t see himself as a hero at all. He’d confided in her that it made him feel like a fraud. Her mate wasn’t used to the attention and she knew that a part of him longed for the quieter life he’d once led in the Pass of theKokillix.
So, when Vaxa’an had offered him the position of Ambassador ofJiralla—which had always been his to claim since his birth—he’d been tempted. Jaxor had always been meant to oversee the outpost. While he hadn’t been the firstborn son of Kirax’an, Jaxor’an was always meant to rule in his own way.
Jirallawas a smaller outpost to the east, the last remaining and sometimes forgotten outpost of Luxiria. From what Jaxor had told her, it was situated deep within the Forest ofOlaraand protected by ancient stones of the Fates. Its main purpose was to import fire fuel to the Golden City and the remaining outposts because of its proximity to ancient bogs.
The only thing that kept them in the Golden City had been Vaxa’an and Kate. Jaxor was loathe to leave his brother considering the two had just reconnected, but since the other women had returned to their respective outposts with their Ambassador mates—Beks and Lihvan toKroratax,Cecelia and Rixavox toVelraxa, Taylor and Vikan toLopixa, Lainey and Kirov toTroxva, and Crystal and Cruxan toOtala—Erin knew it was only a matter of time before they moved forward with their own lives too.
Erin wrapped her arms around Jaxor from behind, pressing her forehead into his back as he looked around the base.
“I am ready to go,” Jaxor said quietly after another moment.
Erin nodded and threaded her hand with his again. “Do you need to grab anything else?”
“Nix,” he said, blowing out a small breath. “It is time to leave this life behind.” He looked down at her, brushing his fingers across her cheek. “Especially when I am eager to start this next one with you. With our offspring.”
Erin smiled, her stomach fluttering. He still made butterflies burst in her belly. Every single day.
“Okay,” she said softly and, with one last look at Jaxor’s base, they turned back towards the tunnel. When they reached thekekevirgate, Jaxor lit the sconces on the wall, casting light into the tunnel…and then she watched as he unlocked the gate, swinging the door open.
“It is theirfacev,” Jaxor told her, climbing onto the hovercraft after her, carefully tucking the travel sack with his mother’s heirloom with the rest of their baggage. “Once the fires go out, they can reclaim it.”
Erin nodded. Jaxor turned on the hovercraft engine and they rose vertically until they emerged from the overhead entrance. It was a clear, crisp day, no fog bank overhead for once. Erin could even see the glimmeringLopitaxSea from that distance.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she murmured, sighing.
Jaxor leveled a grin down at her and she was pleased to see that his spirits were lifted again. It was as if a weight was released from him and her heart skipped a beat just looking at her handsome mate. He’d make a wonderful father. He’d make a strong Ambassador. Because she already knew that he was the most perfect mate and life partner that she could ever have hoped for.
Erin couldn’t help but let her eyes stray east from that view. TowardsJiralla…but also towards the Caves of thePevrallix.
It had been decided by the Council ofVirzalla, by Vaxa’an, and the Ambassadors that anyMeviraxwho wished to pledge themselves to the rule of the Golden City would not be exiled. Those who remained loyal to Tavar, however, would be.
Over fiftyMeviraxwarriors chose exile. They’d been loaded onto a Luxirian spaceship and sent off to a neutral colony, to begin a new life in the vast universe, wherever that might be. Their names and information had been logged into the Uranian Federation’s vast database and they would be branded with their exile wherever they went…but at least they chose life.
TheMeviraxthat remained had more options. They could settle in the Golden City—though that had its own consequences, since some in the Golden City were angry and mistrustful about their presence. They could also settle among the outposts, as well. In fact, a fewMeviraxhad chosen to settle inJiralla.
