EPILOGUE
That day on the battlefield, after we administered the antidote to the Taken, I held my father in my arms for
the first time since he was stolen from me. Though there was death all around us, I clung to him and focused on the future.
Putting that day behind us was just one step toward our goal of a new world.
Most of the newly Taken regained their full memories, but Devlan works daily with his parents to help them with what seems lost. We’re still studying the long-term effects of the Virus, but I have faith that, in time, we’ll discover how to bring everyone back fully.
Xander officially assumed the throne, providing evidence of his birthright through a letter left behind by his mother, and then, through his mother herself. A Taken restored to her rightful mind, she confessed Xander to be the second-born son to King Hart, Sebastian’s half-brother. She was pregnant when she went into hiding after the Rebel leader—my father—freed her from the Oubliette. A story all of its own that I plan to hear fully from my father sometime soon.
It’s still hard to imagine how all our lives were linked together. How, at times, it seems as if we were meant to find each other. There’s more to the history of the Rebels, my family, and King Hart. I know this, and one day, maybe all those secrets will be revealed.
King Xander reigns over Karm not as a ruler, but as a servant to his crown, restoring the realm to true greatness. I never imagined that Xander could be so strong…or that Fallon would willingly wear a dress. But they soon married, and she, by his side as his queen, gives him strength to lead with firm assurance. Xander has even taken my father, the admitted first Rebel leader, into his confidence, where my father explains the laws of old about republics, freedom of speech, and democracy.
Slowly, Xander is blending the old with the new, incorporating into the kingdom ways of the past that had worked for our ancestors, and creating a realm such as the world has never known.
When the rest of the Taken were brought back into Karm, and Excalibur was shut down permanently, we started over. I admit that I miss the heated water and electric devices that made our lives simpler. However, if we’re to truly build a new world, and help heal the one damaged by our ancestors, we must learn to give back to Earth—not take from it.
The knights pledged their service to Xander, and soon a wall, not a barrier, was constructed around Karm. We use Hart’s weapons to beat back the monsters and cannibals, staking our rightful claim on the planet. And every week we venture out a
little farther into the Outside, discovering new things about the world hidden from us for so long.
Devlan and I served Xander in the guard for a time, helping to construct the wall and fighting against the
darkness of Outside to cleanse the threat to our existence. When we were confident things had fallen into a steady rhythm, though, we devised our own project. We still visit the castle, and Fallon and I have become close friends. Xander, Devlan, and my father hunt the beasts together and talk of ways to build a movie house to show the old reels the Rebels had hidden away. But that is where my time at the castle ends. I want to venture beyond Karm.
I was never content to stare at walls.
“Faster!” I squeeze Sterlyn’s sides as we bound over the dark world. “Come on, girl. You can do it.”
Devlan and Fireblood are coming up on us, gaining ground. I glance behind me. “Oh, no you don’t,” I say under my breath, and send Sterlyn into a full gallop, taking the lead.
The monster races ahead of me. I’m down by one to Devlan. He’s killed two this month, and I refuse to let him win again. I kick my horse’s sides, urging her to go faster. The cat—monster cat—turns on me quickly, claws extended, and I pull Sterlyn to a halt. I take out my sword and fire off a series of blasts. The cat falls.
I dismount and walk up to it. Devlan circles me on Fireblood. “Dammit,” he pants out. “I swear you’re feeding your horse genetically-enhanced food.”
I cock an eyebrow at him. “Don’t be a sore loser,” I say. “You know I’m just too cool for you.”
He laughs. I love that word. Cool. I heard it in one of the movies Fallon showed me. I walk up to the monster cat and kick its side. “Two for me. You’re slacking, Devlan.”
He nods, but then his face sobers. “Down.”
I drop as he blasts something over my head. Turning, I see a cannibal crawling over the rocks. He wears tattered clothing—rags, actually—and his teeth are sharp. I’m not sure if the cannibals are born this way, or if they do this to themselves, but it doesn’t matter. Their pointy teeth hurt like a bitch when they sink into you.
Devlan slides off his horse and stalks toward the rock. The cannibal crawls to the other side, his teeth bared, and stands. His large black eyes—no whites—stare at Devlan, sizing him up.
His hair is matted, and it hangs in thick coils around his gray skin. I can smell his stench from here, and I cover my nose and mouth. Devlan raises his weapon and the cannibal doesn’t even flinch. Then the cannibal growls, a high-pitched shrilling that makes my skin prickle, and hurls himself into the air.
Devlan fires a round of white blasts into the air, hitting the cannibal. He falls to the earth. He jerks a couple of times before he dies. Tendrils of smoke curl off his body.
Shaking his head, Devlan walks up to the cannibal. He releases another round of blasts from his sword into the thing. I stand and wrap my arms around my stomach. “That’s the second one that came alone.” I glance around. “That’s not like them.”
He sheaths his sword and faces me. “They’re scouting,” he says. “But at least we’ve pushed them back this far. I just wonder what their twisted minds are thinking.” He walks over to me and takes my hand. “Do you have it?”
“Oh. Yes.” I take out the wrapped seed from my pocket.
We grab the reins of our horses and head toward the large boulders. My hand reaches for the locket around my neck, and I rub the cool silver.