Page 188 of Moon Chosen

“We have to get out of here, Nik,” Mari said, pulling on his arm. “Come on! Get to the boat with me!”

Nik looked unseeing at her.

Behind him the wind suddenly whirled with a violence that was almost sentient, pulling at the ravenous flames, feeding them, encouraging them, and finally carrying their sparks up and up, until they paused there, hovering to form the voluptuous shape of a beautiful, earthy woman. The watching people, Companions and Earth Walkers alike, gasped in amazement. Then, with the sound of a sigh, the figure moved over the channel, re-forming into fire. All eyes followed the progress of the column of flame as it found the bank. There was a portentous pause, and then the bank erupted into a blaze that lifted, lifted, enveloping the first of the massive pines—then another—then another. As they watched, like a living being, the fire converged on the city in the trees.

“Go! Go! Go!” Cyril shouted. “Get us back there! We have to stop that fire!”

“Nik, listen to me! We will burn if we stay on this dock. Laru and Rigel will die with us.”

His eyes met hers then. She understood the depth of despair she saw within them and her heart broke for him, and she said the only thing she thought might reach him.

“Your father would want you to live.”

He nodded woodenly. “Go. I’ll be behind you.”

“Rigel, with me!” Mari called as she sprinted across the dock. She unwound the rope that tied the little rowboat to it. Rigel jumped into it, and then Mari followed him.

Nik was still crouched beside his father’s body with Laru nearby. There was another terrible explosion, and the dock trembled. Then it, too, erupted into flame.

“Nik! Run for it!”

With flames licking at his feet, Nik ran, skidding into the boat beside her. Bending over the oars, Mari pulled with all her strength, trying to gain some space between them and the inferno that was the dock.

“Laru! Come to me!” Nik called.

The big Shepherd was standing over Sol’s body, completely surrounded by flame. The Shepherd’s head bent. He touched his muzzle to Sol’s cheek and closed his eyes. Mari watched as the tips of his sable fur began to curl and singe and then she looked away, unable to bear to see the loyal canine’s end.

“Laru, I can’t lose you and Father! Please choose to live! Please come to me!” Nik roared in a voice that sounded so like Sol’s that it sent chills skittering up and down Mari’s arms.

Laru’s eyes opened. And then, as if shot from a bow, the Shepherd gathered himself and leaped through the flames, ran across the deck, and dove into the water. Surfacing in moments, he swam for the boat.

An arrow plunked harmlessly into the water several feet in front of them, and as Nik wrapped his arms around Laru and hauled him into the boat, Mari saw Thaddeus.

All of the other Companions were paddling wildly for shore, determined to beat the fire to the Tribe—determined to save their families. Thaddeus was standing in his kayak, facing the opposite direction. Though his young partner in the little boat was paddling them toward the shore, Thaddeus continued sighting his crossbow at Mari and letting arrows fly, one after another, even though they were clearly out of range. She could see that his face was red with rage—his expression so twisted by hatred that he looked less human than monster.

“I’ll get us out of here.” Nik took her place and began rowing them farther into the Channel, farther away from the Companions and the burning forest.

“This isn’t over!” Thaddeus shrieked his rage at them. “I will hunt you down and kill you! That I swear on my own canine’s life!” Then smoke, black and thick, spread across the Channel, shielding them from more of his venom.

Nik continued to row, bending his back to the task as if he was attacking the water with the oars. Mari went to Laru, feeling all over the Shepherd for injuries. Finding nothing except singed fur, she sank to the bottom of the boat, trembling with relief and holding tightly to Rigel.

Minutes or hours could have passed as Nik continued to row. They were alone on the water. Mari looked to the east. Where the sun should have been rising there was a wall of flame.

Laru stood, and on legs that shook, he staggered to Nik. Nik dropped the oars and pulled the Shepherd into his arms, saying, “I know this choosing wasn’t the same as when you bonded with Father, but thank you for answering my call and coming to me. Laru, Iaccept you and I vow to love and care for you until fate parts us by death.” The Shepherd rested his head across Nik’s chest, sighed, and closed his eyes, nuzzling as close as possible to his new Companion.

Mari watch Nik look from Laru to the dock, which was completely ablaze, to the fiery ridge. As if he felt her gaze on him, his eyes found hers.

“My world is burning,” he said.

She leaned to him, grasping his hand in both of hers. “Then let’s build a new world. Together. Where everyone is accepted—where everyone can belong.”

“I don’t know if I believe that is possible,” Nik said.

She moved forward and took him and the big Shepherd into her arms, holding them, comforting them. Rigel joined them then, completing their circle of love and loyalty.

“Then I’ll believe it enough for both of us until you can, too. Trust me, Nik. I have your back. I’ll always have your back.”

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