Gregor and the Prophecy of the Overland (Book VI)

Epilogue

     I stand on a cliff just outside the city of Regalia. This is where the falling stones from above changed the landscape the most, and I like to come here to enjoy the silence. It's only been a month since the Flood and yet so much has changed. So much has become better and more wonderful than before.
     My family knows I'm staying. They couldn't have stopped me even if they wanted to, and they're supposed to come visit every few months. Hopefully.
     The Lost Garden hasn't gotten much greener, but the field is covered in grass and flowering weeds that the Regalian children go to pick every weekend. Luxa has some strict rules on destroying the plants but I assured her that picking a few flowers won't kill the field. And Henry says he's working on something to make it grow better, although he's being very secretive as to what it is. The only one he's told is Nerissa, and she won't utter a word about it. They've grown closer lately, and I hardly see them apart. Just like in my dream.
     I guess you could say the same about me and Luxa, except when her duties as Queen require us to separate. Like now. She's meeting a few stingers in the Firelands to discuss alliances and friendship and stuff. I could have gone with her but Luxa insisted that I use the time to clear my head—something I've been doing a lot of lately to help keep and fragments of blood memories from surfacing.
     So I come here. Alone. Without Luxa or Eris or Demetri. Just me and my thoughts. And I know something is supposed to happen here, I'm just waiting for the day when it will.
The sound of footsteps approaches behind me, like my thoughts were calling to destiny and it answered.
"Hello Overlander." The voice says quietly. Calmly. But I detect a hint of anger underneath, like boiling water under the shiny lid of a kettle.
"Kel." I say in acknowledgement. But I don't turn around . I know how this plays out. I remember my dream. I just have to let the words come themselves. "Why are you angry?"
"Why?" Kel sounds almost startled, and a little confused. "Why indeed... I've lost everything, Warrior. Everything. And I hated everything for leaving me alone. Until I came here and I found Luxa and I hoped..." Now the rage spills over into his voice as it moves closer to me. I think of Osiris, his flier. Only two bats died during the Flood, but Osiris was one of them. Kel has lost more than most. "Until you came back, Warrior. Then Luxa was yours, and everything was gone again and I want it all to be gone forever, for everyone. I wish the Flood had wiped this cave clean of life."
"But why hate everyone for something they didn't do? Why would you wish the same fate upon them? The innocent?"
"Why can't I?" Kel's voice is almost in my ear and I try not to brace myself against what's coming. My visions have been happening more frequently, and I've learned that trying to stop them only makes them worse. If I don't fall, if I don't die like I did in my dream then something else will happen. Someone else might die, or lose everything they care about instead. I'd rather it be me.
"Why can't I, Warrior? It's what I want. And you always get what you want." There's a pressure on my back and I feel my foot slip and slide against the rocks. Instinctively I flail and grasp at the air behind me, stumbling until my hand catches on Kel, but my fingers slip off his silky spider-silk shirt and I plunge forward. I remember the dreams I used to have about falling before I came to the Underland, and my fear of heights until I had Ares. Now the dream is coming true and there is no Ares to save me.
I don't scream. I don't close my eyes. Instead I watch the stones rush toward me for the second that I'm airborne. Then the stones turn the color of silver coins.
     Oof! The breath explodes from my lungs in one big gust and I choke on the fur against my face. Wait, fur? I carefully push myself onto my forearms to see the shape of a flier beneath me.
"Eris?" I ask, astonished.
"Do not look back, Overlander. Kel was not so lucky as you."
I ignore him and sit up to look over my shoulder anyway. There's a small crumpled form at the base of the cliff I stood on. Kel must have slipped as well. He must have fallen and Eris didn't catch him. My echolocation kicks in and I sense no heartbeat. He must have died on impact.
     I brace myself. Usually death triggers one of my memories of those I've lost. But I didn't really lose Kel, and I don't really feel sorry for him. Kel lost his bond, and his family before that, and he was convinced that everyone was to blame. I hope he's in a better place now. A happier place.
     I turn back around and watch Eris' muscled back flex and contract as his wings move up and down, carrying us toward the lights of Regalia. He just saved my life. In a very similar way to Ares when I leapt off the cliff with the gnawers.
     "Thank you." I say softly. "How did you know I needed you?"
     "I didn't." Eris hisses with a note of excitement, Kel's body already forgotten and fading into unwanted memories. "Henry asked that I find you. He has made something, Gregor. He says it will help trees grow, though I do not know how it works."
     "What did he make?" I ask, excited. The thought of trees in Regalia is the most wondrous thing I can possibly imagine. It can mean fruit trees and more food for the people and creatures. It can mean more vegetation in general, like flowers and grass and berry bushes—all the things a child should be able to play in when growing up. And it will also mean a little bit of home in the Underland. A little bit of Central Park and the farm and my family.
     "He made a Light." Eris says with wonder. I think back on the conversations I've had with Henry over the last month, the things Nerissa told me about him and the things we talked about over dinner and during training and picnics. One of those things was that Henry always wanted to be an electrician. "Gregor, Henry made a White Light."
The man with the light--his arm still encircling the regal woman--looks down at his  hand, at the silvery object that is the cause of all this, and he smiles.