Eera jumped toward Jenny’s attack. The energy ball hit her stomach and exploded, pushing Eera into the pedestal.
After her body landed on the ground, the time stone fell off and shattered next to her. Eera glanced at the pieces in shock. “This can not be!”
Above her, white lightening flashed around the blue watery energy sphere. The portal roared with a thundering tone like an angry monster. The floor quaked while pieces of rock fell from the crumbling ceiling.
One bolt struck the demon goat woman, instantly zapping her into a smoking skeleton. She didn’t have time to scream.
Jenny widened her eyes at the portal. It went berserk, and it seemed to expand. Without the time stone, the portal was destabilizing itself.
“We gotta get out of here!” Jenny dodged a bolt and raced toward her friends. “Come on!”
Huntar and the others caught her attention, and then they followed her up the stairway. The cultists retreated too. One of them got vaporized by the portal’s plasma bolts.
Once they reached the top toward the exit, Jenny stopped and turned around. The portal grew bigger and bigger, engulfing half of the ritual chamber. Obviously, the expanding portal won’t stop. If it keeps growing, it might shallow the entire oasis, or worse, the entire world. Both results will be catastrophic.
Jenny glanced at her hands. Perhaps she could use her powers to stop the time portal from growing. If her power created the portal, then she could undo it. For the fate of the world, she has to be the one to stop it.
Huntar grabbed her arm. “Come on! We must keep going!”
Jenny gazed at him and pulled her arm from the lion’s grip. “No! Go on without me!”
Huntar widened his eyes. “What?”
Jenny pointed her finger at the portal. “I have to stay and stop that thing! It might engulf the entire world!”
Zena and the others ran back toward Huntar.
“How can you stop it?” The zebra asked.
Jenny held up her left glowing white hand. “With my power. I can undo what Eera took from me. It might be the only way to stop it.”
“But what if it doesn’t work?” Rani asked.
Jenny pursed her lips. Her eyes glanced at the floor in sorrow. “I just have to try…” She glanced back at her friends. “No matter what happens, I have to stop it.”
Huntar moaned. “No! I can’t bear to lose you, Jenny. You are like a sister to us!”
“Torag!” The rhino agreed.
“There must be another way!” Zena exclaimed.
“I wish I know.” Jenny grimaced. “But deep in my gut, I know it is the only way. Let me do this.”
Huntar glanced into her eyes as he frowned. “You are truly like your father. He gave up his life for all of us, too.”
Jenny smiled, remembering the great sacrifice her father had made. If it weren’t for him, Jenny and her friends wouldn’t have escaped with their lives. Like him, she was ready to make the same sacrifice for her friends. "If anything happens to me, I want you to know I still love you. You have always been loyal to me since I arrived here. Without you, I wouldn’t be alive today.”
With tears in his eyes, Huntar hugged her with all his might. She embraced his warmness as her head rested against his furry board chest.
Zena and Torag joined the two’s embrace, giving more love to Jenny. Only Rani and Basju watched them behind.
Huntar and the others released her. He sniffed. “Protecting you gave me strength to never surrender like a coward. Your will and skills also helped us survive too.”
“I enjoyed your past, which taught me new things to improve my battle skills,” Zena explained.
Torag swung his fist up. “Torag!”
Jenny guessed the rhino learned new things too from Jenny. He was a dumb brute, but he grew better over time by Jenny’s side.
Rani stepped forward. “I am also grateful you freed me from my master."
Jenny grinned and pointed her finger at Huntar. "He actually did that for you."
Rani giggled. "Overall, I am pleased to join your party. Although I didn't slay a sorcerer, the journey kept me entertained."
Basju stood next to Rani. "And I am thankful you saved me from that stinky nest inside the cave. You are an amazing human, Jenny. I shall never forget you."
“Thank you.” Jenny felt a rumble below her feet and turned around. The portal spread across the audience seats. It was almost close to the exit!
Jenny swallowed. “You better leave now. It is getting closer!”
Huntar took her hand and rubbed it. “Promise you will return… If you can.”
Jenny smiled at him with tears in her eyes. “I’ll try… If I don’t, take care of Zena and Torag. Don’t give up on what we started.”
Huntar nodded. “I will not fail them.”
He let go and ran down the corridor. “Follow me!”
After the others sent their last glances to Jenny, they retreated through the hall behind Huntar. Jenny will never forget their faces in her entire life.
She faced the growing portal. Her body turned white and her feet levitated off the floor.
She pulled as much energy from her system into her arms. Everything must count if she intended to stop that thing.
Stolen novel; please report.
Once her body burned like fire, she held up her palms and blasted all her energy at the portal. To her relief, her two blasts pushed the sphere back.
While her white powers coated the portal, it shrank smaller and smaller.
It's working! Jenny kept pushing back, gritting her teeth. Stopping the portal from engulfing the world was the only thing that mattered.
When the portal shrank into a tiny ball above the platform, it exploded and a white flashing shockwave flew toward Jenny.
She shielded her eyes as the whiteness engulfed her.
*****
Outside, Huntar stopped and turned around when he heard a loud boom behind him. He saw the amphitheater building collapse into rubble. A giant dust cloud escalated over the debris.
The lion dropped to his knees. His friends joined him, glancing at the massive stone pile.
His heart immediately dropped as tears dripped down his face. "She’s… gone. Jenny is gone…"
Zena glared at him. "That can't be true! She could-"
"She’s gone!" Huntar roared. "I can feel it in my heart!"
He moaned at the ground, raining his tears into the cobblestone. Whether he knew, Jenny gave up her life for the entire world.
While crying, Zena and Torag sat around him. They hugged him, sharing their loss with him.
*****
Jenny fell through a strange tunnel of light swirling around her. Am I dead?
If she was, maybe this was how souls ascend to heaven. Her grandparents believed all souls fly through a light tunnel to reach the afterlife where an angel will judge them. But why was she falling down instead if she was supposed to go to heaven?
Jenny screamed until she fell through a dark hole and landed on a street. Cars stopped around her and honked their horns. Angry voices shouted through the cold air.
After Jenny got her bearings back, she rose off the black concrete and glanced around. Vehicles in an intersection surrounded her with frustrated drivers. And people in modern clothing stared at her with puzzled faces on the sidewalk, probably because she still wore her skimpy loincloth bikini and furry boots.
Jenny glanced up and saw tall buildings with lights reaching the night sky. Her realization instantly took her breath away.
She was home!
*****
A month later, Jenny sat on a balcony in her white robes, watching the sun rise over the city. The air smelled salty since her apartment was close to the bay.
When she returned from the future, the police took her to their station for questioning. Luckily, Walter, the CEO of Thunder Tech, bailed her out and brought her to the rehabilitation center. She went through therapy, recovered her modern nutrition, and she relaxed at a spa. The doctors cleaned her old wounds and gave her medicines to kill the diseases in her body. Besides the bacteria, Jenny was very healthy. Good thing she didn't bring a plague into the past.
After her recovery, Walter and his researchers asked her many questions. In a relaxed environment, Jenny explained her entire story from the distant future. She believed she was gone for five years in the post-apocalyptic world. To Walter, she was only gone for 24 hours. Technically, she vanished for only one day after the convention. The question of how she came back puzzled her.
Soon, Eddie came by to visit her once he heard about her return. He was deeply relieved she survived the accident. During his visits, she told him everything too. About her dad's sacrifice, how she arrived on an alien planet, and Eera's ritual that sent Jenny back to the present. With so many stories to tell, Jenny surely planned to write a novel about them. Maybe she could retire from reporting to write her books.
Thirty days later, Jenny returned to her apartment, just the way she left it. She relaxed for a while, and her boss never called her. Maybe Mr.Coleman heard about Jenny’s return and decided to give her slack. After all, he was smart enough to let his reporters recover so they can report later.
She opened her palm and glanced at it. No longer she could feel her power flowing through her veins. Perhaps the portal sucked away all her power before it exploded. Without her Star Crystal power, she was back to being an ordinary human girl.
Behind her, the sliding glass door opened. Eddie stepped toward her, carrying a small cardboard box. “I got you breakfasts.” He held up the box. “Donuts?”
Jenny turned around on her bench and smiled at him. “Sure. I forgot what donuts tasted like.”
Eddie chuckled and handed her one donut hole with a chocolate gaze on it. Jenny nibbled on it as Eddie sat down next to her.
With her eyes closed, Jenny allowed the sweet chocolate taste to melt inside her mouth. It felt like she ate a donut for the first time.
“How are you doing?” Eddie asked.
Jenny swallowed and licked the chocolate off her lips. “I’m fine… A little.”
Eddie placed the box down between him and Jenny. “You missed them?”
Jenny finished her donut. “Every day… They probably think I am dead.”
Eddie rubbed her back. “You did what you had to do. If you didn’t stop the portal, we wouldn’t be here. Your self-sacrifice was noble.”
Jenny sighed. “I know… If I could go back, they would know I survived.”
“Do you want to go back?”
Jenny gazed at him. “Maybe, but this is my real home. I can only hope they can fight and survive without me.”
Eddie touched her hand on her lap. “You said they are beast warriors, right? I think they can move on without you.”
Jenny smiled and placed her other hand on Eddie’s hand. “Yeah, I believe so too.”
Together, both of them glanced at the morning sun. Jenny’s adventure in the future may have ended, but her friends will continue in their own world.
*****
On the coastal cliff, Huntar placed a dagger on a pile of rocks next to Barry’s grave. Although he couldn’t find Jenny’s body, he believed it would be right to build her empty grave next to her father’s. That way her spirit could meet him in the afterlife.
The dagger didn’t belong to Jenny, but Huntar remembered she used one during her previous adventures. So he brought a spare from a tribe as a memento for Jenny. Indeed, she will never be forgotten for her bravery.
With his friends, they prayed for Jenny’s successful ascendance to Kronos's spirit realm. As a strong female warrior, she deserved to enter his paradise.
After their prayer, they glanced at the gravestones.
"Do you believe Jenny is now a goddess in Kronos's realm?" Basju asked. "With so much power, why shouldn't she be? She did save the world, after all."
Huntar grinned. "Kronos would never dishonor a warrior who sacrificed her life for her world. He will give her the best welcome ever." He glanced at Basju and Rani. "What will you two do? You are welcome to join us."
Rani crossed her arms. The ocean wind breezed through her long hair. "I believe I will settle in a village for a while. Maybe fight for another tribe like how my clan used to trade."
Basju scratched behind his head. "I'm done with fighting and stealing. Maybe I'll become a traveling performer to entertain tribes who suffered too much war."
"Interesting career," said Zena. "I wish both of you luck in the wild lands."
Huntar nodded. "My companions and I will continue what we started with Jenny. We will still help other tribes so we can earn rewards. Whatever the future lays for us, we won’t give up until death stops us."
With a grin, Basju shook the lion’s hand. "Then I wish you luck too. If you see me, I will give you a free show."
Rani approached Huntar and hugged him next. "I still thank you for freeing me. If we meet again, I'll buy you a drink."
Huntar blushed. "Sounds good to me."
Basju and Rani walked away. They waved farewell to Huntar’s party before they descended down the slope behind the cliff. Their own separate journey has begun.
Zena glanced at Huntar and Torag. "So, where to then?"
Huntar shrugged. "Whatever we can go. It is more fun when our adventure becomes a mystery."
"Torag!" The rhino shouted.
Zena smiled with a shrug. "Alright then. Let's go."
Before Huntar followed his friends, he gave one last glance at Jenny and Barry’s grave. Although his heart still burned for her, he will never forget her last words. Don't give up on what they started.