Chapter 246: The Journey Home

Day 13

When I walked out of the cave, I was mobbed by my wives and lovers, all expressing their joy that I had returned. Then Kip showed me the now opened chest.

“Aida kept the key from the cave on the Marae,” he offered in explanation.

Before I even looked into the chest, I looked around for Aida and when I found her, I went to her and picked her up and twirled her around. “Thank you for your thoughtfulness,” I told her. “I hope you can forgive me for slighting you in the past. I promise I will not do that again.”

When I sat her down, she didn’t say anything. I scanned her and saw her surprise. I also saw that, for the first time in her life, Aida was feeling the pangs of desire. Sexual desire!

“I guess the voyage back to Gerwayne will be interesting,” I thought to myself.

“Oh, No! She should have go to the end of the line, Michael,” Abby thought to me, with a giggle “And it’s a very long-g-g line!”

I knew she was teasing Aida. But she still looked cute when she blushed like that.

I left all the giggling girls connected to Vickie as I made my way back to the container. The Armor was the only thing inside the alien container and when I lifted it out, I was a little surprised. It was chainmail. Very intricately designed, woven silver chainmail. Constructed to be put on as a shirt would, but instead of buttoning or zipping up, it overlaid itself, giving me two layers of protection over my chest. When I examined the back, it was also two layers. There were no fasteners. It simply melded into itself. The neck rode kind of high and the sleeves went below my elbows and the hem of the mail covered my crotch. Still, it was incredibly light. Not heavy like I expected.

As I tried it on, and ran my hands across the finely crafted silver rings of the chainmail, the rings on my left hand became quite animated. And when I drew my sword, she was trembling in my hand in a way I had never felt before.

Suddenly, there was a bright light surrounding me and I could see or hear nothing for several moments. Slowly, the light faded and I discovered that we were all standing on the foredeck of the Edna Lorraine. Even Vie, Nina, and Terry, who had been onboard the Jarvee, were with us.

Then I heard the Edna Lorraine’s engines scream to life and had a good idea of what was about to happen.

“Aiziel!” I thought suddenly. “Where is she? Is she still back on the Dragon’s Isle?”

“I am here, My Lord. Although I am unsure where ‘here’ is,” Aiziel thought back to be.

“Welcome aboard the Edna Lorraine!” I thought to her. “She’s an older Search and Rescue vessel that just recently came into my possession.”

“This is not wood?” she stated as she looked up at the tall superstructure. Her gaze then followed the ship’s line toward the fantail and the twin cranes that towered there.

“No. It’s not wood,” I replied.

“It is so ... so ... large!” she exclaimed in wonder. “It is a vessel truly fit for a god!” she added in her mind.

“Aiziel, I need you to understand that I am not really a god. I just seem to have been given a few gifts,” I told her. “Just as you have been given the gift of future sight.”

Aiziel nodded her head, but I could tell she was examining my words in her heart.

“It’s also not too late for me to return you to Gerwayne. However, if you do still want to go with me, I will tell you that you will see many confusing and wonderful things.

“I also want you to understand that I will make no claims or demands of you. Once you learn how life work in my time, you will be free to make your own decisions. Go where you want and do what you want to do. You will have the opportunity to gain an education and become anything that you wish to become. All I ask is that you take your time to figure out exactly what you want,” I told her.

“You make it all sound so exciting!” she replied. “How long will it take us to sail to this wonderful world?”

“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say we are about to make another inter-dimensional jump, back to my time,” I told her. “So I guess that means that its decision time for you. Would you like me to return you to Gerwayne? Or would you like to continue this adventure and return with me to my own time? I can promise you, that if you go with me, I will take care of you to the best of my ability.”

“QUIET!” Vickie thought to everyone. “Michael is proposing to someone!”

Aiziel lowered her eyes and blushed. I was sure then, that she could hear the girl’s mental chattering excitedly going on in the background. I looked at her and smiled sheepishly.

“Unfortunately, that’s the way it is around me most times.” I thought to her.

“I had never considered having to share a mate before ... But it seems to work well for you. Yes. I will stay with you, Michael,” Aiziel said aloud. And then she was swarmed.

While all the other girls were excitedly talking with Aiziel, I looked around for Rie’ka. She and Aiziel were the only two that hadn’t come to this dimension with us. And she was the only one that hadn’t said she wanted to go home with us. I thought it time to say goodbye.

“Rie’ka?” I called softly. She was standing at the railing, looking out over the lagoon at her island. Finally, she turned to look at me. I was afraid that she was going to start yelling at me for some reason, but then I saw the tears.

“You were supposed to rescue US!” she cried out between the tears. “Not some old armor that doesn’t mean anything! But now you’ve got what you want and you’re leaving! I heard what you told the girl with the silver hair. You’re going to take her with you and take care of her!”

Suddenly, there was a loud blast in the distance. Rie’ka looked at me with fear in her eyes.

“That was my friends, Kip and Unevia, destroying the gate,” I explained. “Now the Kuardians can never bother you again.”

“So you ARE rescuing us!” she exclaimed. Then she paused for a moment as she thought it through.

“But this is not what I thought the god-of-the-old-ones meant!” her voice filled with disappointment as she began to cry.

I wondered if Kip would be able to appreciate the irony in this turn of events. I mean, here I now possessed all four pieces of the legendary Te’trad of the gods and despite now being the most powerful man in several worlds, I couldn’t keep a small girl from crying. Heck, I was probably the greatest empath in the universe and I couldn’t even figure out why she was crying!