Chapter Fifteen
“Can we come out now?” a child’s voice called out from the bushes.
Max, Susie, and Louis, Barbara’s three children, came trooping out of the jungle. Their faces and clothes were filthy and their hair was matted, but they were unharmed.
Jaspar shook himself and shrank, returning to human form. His bones cracked and reshaped themselves. He retracted his fangs and smoothed his skin. His wings melted into his back, and his tail withdrew.
Marjan hurried out from behind a thick mass of underbrush, holding a bow and arrow. There was a quiver half full of arrows on her back.
“Hey! I told you kids to stay out of the way until the killing stopped,” she said, scowling at them.
“But we got bored,” Max said. “And they’re all dead now anyway.” He kicked the enormous scaly corpse of a Harbinger.
Liza came running out of the trees. She had a bump on her head, and her lip was split. There were several burns on her arm that looked painful, but she had an enormous grin on her face. Jaspar felt a massive weight lift from his shoulders. She was alive. She was mostly unhurt.
Jasper threw his arms around her, and she winced. He stepped back quickly.
“Ouch, sorry,” she said. “Burns and cuts. The Harbingers kidnapped me and I fought back, so I’m a little sore right now. But you found us!”
“Of course I found you. My heart!” he said. “You are safe!”
Korl hurried up, now in human form. He was splattered with blood and grinning from ear to ear. “What a glorious battle!” he cried.
Jaspar glanced at Korl’s neck, then at Marjan’s. “You have mating marks. While we have been going mad with worry, you two have been honeymooning on a tropical paradise planet?”
“Not just honeymooning,” Marjan said indignantly. “We have spent most of our time hiding in the forest and setting traps for the Harbingers. We rescued the children from them after we first stumbled through the portal, but there were too many of them and they were too well armed, so we could not make it back through. We have been picking them off one by one. They kept sending more, and we kept killing them.” She smiled broadly at that. “Almost as much fun as the honeymoon.”
“My mate is most bloodthirsty,” Korl bragged. “She was the one who discovered the poison for our arrows. Our children will be monsters.”
“Savage, terrible beasts.” Marjan bobbed her head in happy agreement.
“And we rescued Liza when they dragged her through the portal yesterday,” Korl said. “They had her in a cage. We freed her. I assure you, it has not been all fun and—” he glanced at the three children “—honeymooning.”
Jaspar looked around at their surroundings, shaking his head in wonder. “This portal has been hidden underground all this time. It is an absolute marvel. Very few portals open onto habitable planets. Why, the natural resources here…” He peered at a tree. “Look at those fruits. Are they edible?”
“They are. Those are the fruits that Roger, the grocer, sells in his store. He’s been selling them for years,” Liza said. “He must have discovered this cave system years ago. And it can’t be a coincidence that shortly after he arrived and set up shop, the first case of black fur fungus was discovered. He’s somehow connected to all this – I’m sure now.”
“Brother, we must hurry to the meeting,” Sterran said impatiently.
Korl looked alarmed. “The meeting is today? We lost track of time. Our electronic equipment does not function here.”
They all hurried to the portal and rushed through. They were immediately hit by a blast of cold air, and they ran through the cave system to reach the hovercraft.
Jaspar headed straight to the conference center. He leaped out, with Korl and ten of his men accompanying him, then Sterran guided the hovercraft towards Barbara’s house so they could return her children.
“I do not understand,” Sterran said to Marjan as they glided to a stop in front of the small ranch house. “My brother is your heart-mate? I thought you had warned Liza that you sensed danger from him.”
Like most structures on Far North, the house was Christmas-themed. The walls were painted white, with the woodwork picked out in a glossy red. From the eaves hung glass candy canes, like red-and-white striped icicles, which made pleasant wind-chime tones in the breeze. It was as neat as a pin, except for a pink bicycle that lay in the front yard, looking lonely and forlorn.
The hovercraft door unsealed and opened. Marjan waved off Sterran’s concerns. “I felt a storm of emotions when I first met him, and of course I assumed that meant that he was an enemy. But now I know that those feelings mean I want to mate with him, not kill him.” Marjan paused. “Pretty sure.”
They all climbed out of the hovercraft. Barbara and her husband were hurrying out of the front door, and they shrieked with joy when they saw their children.
“Mom! I learned to shoot a bow and arrow!” Louis cried as she hugged him to her.
“Daddy, I still get presents, right? Did we miss Christmas?” Susie demanded.
“Of course you get presents, princess.”
