79

Last Night

Birth.

Lottica dreamt it. Her own birth, from the dark, amniotic calm of her mother's womb, to the birth of a star, a nuclear furnace of simple elements creating the stuff of life. It was so easy to believe they were one and the same. She let herself be carried along in the paradoxical lightness of unborn thought reborn. Weightless and easily carried away.

She was being carried. She awoke to the reality. Her arms were wrapped loosely around her father's neck. Her head was on his shoulder. Her father was carrying her on his back through a dimly lit passage. Ahead, she saw Nick trudging valiantly along. Behind she saw her mother, holding the flashlight to light the way for all of them.

"Hey, honey," her mother said softly when she noticed Lottica looking back at her. "How do you feel?"

"I think I'm okay." She squeezed her dad’s shoulders. "Dad, you can put me down?"

"You sure, daarling? We couldn't rouse you after—" he failed to find the words to describe what they'd experienced. "Are you hurt?"

"No, just woozy and worn out. What about you guys? I mean, it looked like something intense happened to you with the Kareima."

In response, Deilune set her down and then turned to face her. "I don't know what to make of it, and I hope you are not too terribly disappointed, but I don't think your mother and I are undead anymore. See?" He held his shirt open. “It’s gone,” he said, tapping his thoroughly normal chest. “No Kareima, but we're still here. And, all things considered, I feel pretty darn good. Linda?"

"Never been better," she agreed with a smile.

"Hey, let’s keep moving! I'm starving," Nick butted in. "You gonna carry me a while, Dad."

"Fat chance, Breima. I was just going to ask you to carry Lottica for awhile."

"You're kidding?"

"Of course he is, Nick," Lottica said. "Besides, I'm okay. How long have we been walking in here? What did I miss?"

Nick snorted. "Only the coolest cataclysm this side of Vesuvius. As soon as the cavern roof blew off, everything went dark except for the glowing lava. You were out cold, so got you out of the pool. I was able to find your flashlight. Then the lava started bubbling again and flowed into the chasm. It was crazy. Then lava started spilling our way, so Dad grabbed you, and I showed them that passage we found earlier.”

“How long ago was that?” Lottica asked.

“We've been heading upwards about thirty or forty minutes,” Nick said. “And I think we must be getting close to an opening. I can feel a change in the temperature. The air seems cooler."

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"Well, I'm okay to walk, so let’s keep moving. I’m all for getting out of here.” The she smirked. “Besides Nick is hungry."

They let the hungry one lead, and slowly a chill seeped into the air. Initially, they’d been glad for the warmth of the passage to dry their soaking clothes, but it had also tired them and made them thirsty. The cooler air revived them, and Nick sped up the pace, until Lottica reminded him about banging his head earlier. She then told her parents what happened to Nick in the tunnel. Linda checked Nick’s temple, to which she gave her healing kiss.

The more immediate worry was the flashlight. The battery was losing its charge and the wan light continued to dim. At one point, they huddled close as Deilune opened the flashlight and took out the batteries and rubbed them against Nick's flannel shirt. "An old hiker's trick," he explained. "It gives a brief charge. Though we're probably going to be wishing the Kareima was back inside me before long."

The battery trick gave a slight boost to the beam's brightness, but it was short-lived. They had to slow down and bunch up to be able to see in its feeble light, just as the passage became a bit steeper and more difficult.

"Take it carefully," Deilune told Nick, though the advice was for them all. They joined hands and moved even more slowly. Soon the flashlight failed completely.

Strangely, the darkness was not complete. There was a dim glow in the passage. The four Breimas moved slowly on and gradually the passage brightened.

"Dad, where's the light coming from?" Nick asked.

"Based on the cooler air, there must be an opening not too far ahead. And maybe the moon is full," he ventured uncertainly.

"No," said Lottica, always current on the lunar cycle for star viewing, “The moon won’t be full for awhile."

"Maybe, Weirhamatt and Heidein got those helicopters to do a night search," Nick said.

"That could be, but this is a steady light. Keep moving. We should find out soon."

About ten minutes later, it was bright enough that they could see the expressions on each other's faces, which were very relieved looks. A few minutes after that, Nick gave a shout. "I think we're almost there. It's much brighter up ahead."

It was also much colder. But, as they approached the hidden opening, stepping out under the "chin" of Mount Breima, it could've been thirty below zero and still they would not have felt it. For when they looked across the vast "chest" towards the “hands” of the Mount Breima, they could see what the mighty explosive force of the three gemstones had done. The “hands” were no longer held up as in supplication and prayer. Now, they were cupped to receive an offering.

An offering from far above.

The whole of Mount Breima, all of Lebreima, the entire world, was now receiving the transforming light of the Tireima.

Directly overhead, in the heart of the constellation of Hawk high in the night sky, a newborn star glowed white-hot. Its crystalline light, as bright as a full moon, gleamed protectively, spreading across the earth like a soft and secure blanket. Night would never be as dark. Earth would never be as afraid.

"Did we do that?" Lottica asked.

"I'm not sure,” Nick said, gawking. Then he pointed a hundred feet or so below where three flashlight beams had begun to wave rather excitedly in their direction, “But I'm betting Bopei and Ladamei and Heidein can tell us.”

A short time later, Lottica had surprisingly little to say as her grandparents hugged them and wrapped them in spare clothing against the cold, clear, bright November night.

She had one question for Heidein, though. "How did you know to send Hawk?"

He laughed. "I did not send Hawk. I brought him. Hawk cannot be sent anywhere."

"Did you know Hawk held the Astreima?"

Heidein's expression remained inscrutable, though his eyes widened just the faintest bit. He answered, and Lottica understood these to be his closing words on the matter, "Let me remind you of the oldest expression in all of Lebreima. Heidein zei."

After the mind-bending events deep in Mount Breima, and with a newborn star shining overhead, Lottica repeated the ancient mantra that provided no rational answers, but now very much reassured her, "Hawk knows."