Wren's Story - Audio

ONE:

Wren pulled Meg from Tarek’s arms, reached out to include Silke and Suzanne, and in a flash, was gone, leaving a stunned Tarek with Wren’s command to meet them at the Islands ringing in his ears.

It was a dangerous move, but one Wren had prepared for, even though she knew the consequences of doing so would be dangerous. More than dangerous. Deadly. Which is why she took Silke and Suzanne with her. She would need their help.

There was only one problem. She had not warned them. It had been a conscious choice to keep it a secret from them, but at that moment between dimensions, Wren had a moment of burning fear that she had been wrong not to tell them.

Her husband, Karn, knew. But only because she had to talk to someone about the plan. Someone who knew her family’s history. Someone who would tell her the truth and keep her secret.

Despite all that they had been through together, or maybe because of it, she trusted her husband. So she had brought her plan to Karn, and despite knowing the dangers, he had agreed it was the right thing to do.

They both knew that when Meg saved Thamon, she would die if Wren didn’t take her to the only place that could help her. They agreed Meg deserved to live, no matter the cost to Wren.

So at that moment, Wren didn’t think about the consequences of what she was doing. She already knew what they could be, and she was willing to take the chance.

She had returned home after hundreds of years of being away. Returned after being told never to return. But it was the only chance she had to save Meg, and knowing that, she had gathered all her courage and pulled the four of them through the portal to Hilreon and come home.

Wren wasn’t surprised to see her father and mother waiting for her, arms folded over their chests, faces rigid and disapproving. She knew she was probably only imagining a flicker of happiness in her mother’s violet eyes.

Her mother was a beauty even when she was angry. In the shadows, more of her people stood, silent and disapproving.

“I had to come,” Wren said.

Meg lay limply in her arms, more dead than alive.

“Yes,” her father answered, no emotion in his voice. Turning to his wife, she nodded, and he added, “You chose to disobey us for this human? And you brought an Okan and a Shapeshifter with you, too? Were you not told never to come here again?”

“I know you understand I had to. This woman will die without your help.”

Wren’s mother placed her hand on her husband’s arm, and they turned their backs on the four of them.

“Yes, they are my parents,” Wren whispered to Silke and Suzanne before they could ask. “Don’t speak. Just wait.”

Not that Silke and Suzanne felt like speaking. They were both in shock. One minute they were on the planet Thamon, and now they were somewhere else.

For both of them, the fight to stop Aaron-Lem was still pounding through their veins. Just a moment before, they had been watching dragons wheeling through the air, people running from the woods to help, and Meg bursting into flames.

Now Wren had brought them to some place that didn’t want them. And the only reason she would do that was that she thought Meg had a chance.

Suzanne could hear Wren’s parents speaking together in a language she had never heard before. It sounded like water. Liquid and frozen. Flowing and then crackling as if the words were breaking. Even though Suzanne understood nothing they were saying, it was easy to see that they were arguing.

Suzanne turned to Wren and took Meg out of her arms. She hadn’t let herself think that her sister might be dead. She had watched her turn into a beam of fire and then collapse.

Only Wren’s words that Meg might die kept her from breaking down. That meant that Meg was still alive even though she could detect no breath or beating of her heart. She had to trust Wren. There was no other choice.

Despite that, tears rolled down Suzanne’s face as she knelt on the ground, cradling her wild-child sister who had just saved a planet.

“Where are we?” Silke whispered in Suzanne’s ear.

“Shh,” Wren hissed.

Suzanne closed her eyes and leaned over Meg and prayed. It didn’t matter where they were. If Meg died, nothing mattered.

***

“We will put this human in stasis while we decide.” Wren’s father said, turning back to the four intruders. Gesturing to the guard standing nearby, he said, “Take her.”

“No!” Suzanne said, clutching Meg closer to her.

Wren knelt in front of Suzanne and Silke and whispered, “It’s Meg’s only chance. They will keep her safe while we persuade my parents to let me help her. Please trust me and let her go.”

Wren’s mother stepped forward.

“You have my word. This girl will be safe. But you need to know that my daughter has put you all in danger by coming here. So it is possible that not only will she die, but all of you will die with her. Do you agree with this? Otherwise, we will return all of you to where you came from.”

“But my sister will die if you do that?”

“Yes. Your choice. But make it now, or we will make it for you.”

It was Silke who answered. “We will stay.”

“So be it,” Wren’s father said.

“Wren, we will give you and your friends time to rest. You will need it.”