Christoff frowned when Crystal stood up and waved for him to follow her. His gaze swept to Edna for a moment. She was looking back at him while listening to Jack.
“Come on,” Crystal urged in excitement. “Spark, I need you to come with us, too.”
His symbiot shimmered with color and rose up. Christoff could feel its excitement. He stepped over to the door and helped Crystal with her coat before grabbing his own off the peg. A moment later, they were outside in the yard.
The sky was a brilliant blue and the sun shone down. It was still too cold for the snow to melt, but it was the perfect day for being outside. He would need to let Gloria out for a while. His dragon could clear the snow and dry the ground in just a few minutes.
“What is it you wish to show me?” Christoff asked, watching in amusement as his symbiot pressed against the little girl and nodded at something she was showing it.
Crystal limped over to him. Holding out the paper in her hand, she motioned for Christoff to take it. He carefully pulled the heavy paper toward him. Blinking in surprise, he saw that it was a picture of a dragon. It didn’t take long to see that it was a picture of him, only….
“The wings,” he murmured, touching the gold colored wings on his dragon’s back.
Crystal smiled. “I thought about it over the last few days. If they could make me a fake leg that worked, why couldn’t we make you wings? Spark can change into anything. You said he was smaller than the other ones of his kind, but he is plenty big enough to make you a set of wings to fit over yours. I… Do the dragons in your world fly?” she asked in a tentative voice.
Christoff fingered the drawing. “Yes, they fly but I have never been able to,” he murmured, looking back at her with burning eyes. “This is what you were doing earlier. I saw you with my symbiot.”
Crystal nodded shyly. “I was showing him how my leg worked,” she replied in a soft voice. “I thought it was worth a try.”
Christoff suddenly laughed. “Yes, it is worth a try. I honestly never thought of it before,” he admitted, handing her back the drawing. Turning to look at his symbiot, he grinned. “Are you willing to try it, my friend?”
Familiar warmth filled him as it responded. Focusing, he called eagerly to his dragon. Within seconds, he had shifted. Crystal’s delighted giggle told her that she enjoyed watching him in his dragon form.
“I really hope this works,” Crystal clapped in excitement. “I’d love to see a dragon fly.”
Chapter Fourteen
Christoff heard Crystal’s heartfelt wish. Something deep down inside told him that this was very important not just for him, but for her as well. She needed to know that one day she could fly as well and that her leg would not hold her back from achieving her dreams.
A shiver ran through Christoff’s dragon when he felt the symbiot form wings over his small, deformed ones. His dragon shook, not used to the unfamiliar weight on his back. Focusing, Christoff sucked in a breath when he felt the wings spread out. He turned his head to stare at the golden extensions to his body.
He spent several minutes experimenting with the weight, feel, and movement of them. His dragon was impatient to lift off, but Christoff understood the overall importance of this being successful.
We need to make sure this will work, Christoff explained to his impatient dragon. This is about more than us, it is also about Crystal.
I know. I ready, his dragon insisted. Spark ready. We work as one. It is way we are made.
If you are sure….
Christoff never got to finish his thought. The moment his dragon felt him concede, he pushed up off the ground. The instinctive knowledge of how to fly filled the creature. It was the same as the knowledge of how to breathe dragon fire and shift from one form to the other without thought that had been passed down through generation after generation of dragons. A wave of awe washed through him as he lifted off the ground. His golden wings moved in powerful strokes up and down, pushing him higher.
“Go, Christoff! Go!” Crystal yelled, laughing and trying to follow him. “Fly to the moon and back!”
The dragon released a low rumble of laughter that echoed through the crisp mountain air. For the first time in his life, he was flying! Really flying!
I free, his dragon whispered to him in awe. I like other dragons now. I not weak, unworthy.
You have never been weak or unworthy, my friend. You have always been perfect to me, he replied in a somber voice.
I wish my mate to see me, his dragon sighed.
She does, Christoff chuckled. Look to your right side.
Christoff felt his dragon’s love for its mate explode through him. He knew what it was feeling. He felt the same way whenever he looked at Edna. Slowing his speed to match his mate, the large male waited for the small green female to catch up with him. Together, they flew over the trees and up to the high meadow. Christoff circled around before gliding in for a landing along the powdered snow. He turned as his mate came in behind him, her soft rumble of happiness washing over him as he folded his make-shift wings against his side.
You fly, his mate breathed out in wonder.
Yes, I fly, he laughed. I fly!
Crystal turned to look at her parents. Tears burned her eyes, but she quickly blinked them back. It was true. If Christoff could fly, so could she. Walking slowly toward her parents, she didn’t think about the slight limp caused by her prosthetic. It was her symbiot. Her way of being able to fly.
“It worked,” she said with a smile. “Just like with me, his wings worked.”
“Yes,” Shelly whispered, brushing at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Oh, Crystal.”
Crystal moved up the steps and into her mom and dad’s arms. She buried her face against her mom and sobbed. It took several minutes to finally calm herself enough to realize that they were all getting cold.
“I’m going to be okay now,” she said, wiping at the tears on her face. “I know I can fly, just like Christoff.”
“Yes, you can,” her dad murmured. “You always could.”
Crystal gave her dad a shaky laugh. “That’s pretty much what Christoff told me. Isn’t it cool that Grandma is a dragon?” she added with a grin.
Shelly looked up into the sky and shook her head in wonder. Her mom! A dragon. How cool would that have been during some of the mother-daughter events when she was growing up, she thought in disbelief before a wave of sadness washed through her. Her mom had told her that she would be leaving soon, that she and Christoff couldn’t stay here.
“A woman came to me,” her mom had told them while they were inside after Christoff and Crystal went outside.
“A woman? What kind of woman?” Shelly asked, puzzled.
Edna looked down at her hands. She grasped them together when she saw they were shaking. A single tear ran down her cheek and dropped on it, but she knew what she had to do. In life, a child could accept that their parents would go first. It was time for Edna to go, but not in the way most parents do.
“She was like Spark, only more powerful, I suspect. She explained that she sent Christoff here, but that he could not stay. It is too dangerous for him… and for me, now,” Edna explained. “I belong with him, Shelly. I love him so much. I love you and Jack and Crystal, but this is different. It is more than about me. He is a good man.”
“I know he is, Mom, but why do you have to leave?” Shelly insisted, rising from her chair and pacing.
“Shelly,” Jack murmured, standing as well and holding her. “He’s an alien. It would only be a matter of time before someone discovered him. You know what would happen to him, and your mom, if they did. We talked about this over the last few days.”
“I know, but why does she have to leave?” she insisted. “I need you!”
“No, you don’t,” Edna replied, standing. “And that is the way it is supposed to be. You have Jack and Crystal. You’ll always have me inside your heart. I won’t be truly gone as long as you remember that, just as your dad has never
been gone for me. I can feel him in my heart. Just because I can’t see or touch him anymore doesn’t mean he isn’t there. I need to be with Christoff, Shelly. He makes me feel young and alive. He fills the emptiness left by your dad.”
“You love him, don’t you?” Shelly asked in a husky voice.
“Yes, very much,” Edna replied, walking around to hold her daughter’s hands. “Just as you love Jack and I loved your father.”
They all turned to look when they heard Crystal shouting out in the front yard. Striding to the door, they quickly grabbed their coats and slid them on before stepping outside. Edna was the first down the steps. She could feel her mate’s excitement and joy. Staring up at the beautiful sight of the male dragon in flight, she called to her own dragon.
Can we join him? She breathed out, staring in awe as the male flew higher.
Yes, her dragon whispered as she took over.
In the background, Edna heard Crystal’s excited laugh that she had the coolest grandmother ever at the same time as she heard Shelly’s gasp of disbelief. She ignored them all, focusing instead on her mate.
Lifting off the ground, she felt an intense wave of joy and happiness fill her as she raced to catch up with him. Her gaze ran over the golden wings encasing his shorter ones. The membrane of them was so sheer that she could see through them. His warm rumble of pleasure washed over her and she angled her small body up beside him.
My mate, she breathed.
Christoff turned and slowed so she could catch up with him. Together, they soared over the tops of the snow-covered trees and up the mountain. From this height, Edna could see for miles. Now, she truly understood what the golden woman was saying. This is what her and Christoff’s dragons needed. Shelly and Crystal would be alright. It was time for her to move on to her next life.
Chapter Fifteen
Christmas morning came bright and early. Jack, Shelly, and Crystal had decided to stay the night. They had stayed up late, laughing, talking, and singing. Spark had made a bed for Crystal and she and Bo were still curled up in the golden symbiot’s warm embrace when the adults rose.
“I remember you waking us up at the crack of dawn so you could open your presents,” Edna reflected in a soft voice as she moved around the kitchen.
“Crystal used to do that, but she stopped after the accident,” Shelly replied, pulling the milk, orange juice, and eggs out of the refrigerator. “Pancakes and eggs?”
“Sounds great,” Edna said. “I think she’ll be alright now.”
“Yes,” Shelly replied, glancing into the living room. “She wants to start back to regular school after the first of the year.”
Edna glanced at her daughter’s worried face. “Let her, Shelly. She knows what she needs to heal,” she advised in a soft tone.
Shelly smiled and nodded. “When do you leave?” she asked in a trembling voice.
“I think tonight,” Edna replied, turning Shelly in her arms and staring into her eyes. “We will not be sad. There may be a way to come back. If there is, I’ll find it. I don’t want this to be a sad day.”
“I know,” Shelly whispered. “What about the cabin? All of your things?”
“I drew up a will shortly after your father died. I revised it when Abby left me this. The cabin and mountain will go to Crystal. Abby would be happy with that. I contacted a lawyer in Wyoming to handle things,” Edna replied. “I know Jack could have, but I didn’t want anything suspicious coming back on you two with my leaving. Chad Morrison knows about the aliens. He is managing Paul Grove’s ranch. From what he told me, the aliens have a tendency to show up when he least expects it. Paul left his ranch as a place where they could arrive without fear of being discovered.”
“When did you do this?” Shelly asked in surprise.
Edna smiled. “When you have an alien goddess appear before you, you tend to realize that anything is possible when you set your mind to it. I called Chad immediately and made the arrangements,” she replied dryly.
Shelly shook her head in amazement. “I love you, Mom. I’m happy for you, too. You have been the best mom any girl could wish for,” she said in a thick voice.
Edna wrapped her arms around her daughter and held her tight. “You do the same for Crystal and I know that my work is done,” she whispered. “I love you, too, Shelly, never forget that. I’m proud of you, too. You are a wonderful mother, daughter, and wife.”
“Hey, the mule is fed, is there any food for the men?” Jack called out as he stomped his feet by the door to knock the snow off of them. He winced when both women hissed at him to be quiet. “Sorry!”
“I’m hungry, too,” Crystal groaned out in a sleepy voice. “Are we having pancakes?”
Later that afternoon, Edna and Christoff stood on the porch watching as Jack, Shelly, Crystal, Bo, and Gloria headed back down the mountain. Christoff had looked at her funny when she told him that Bo and Gloria would be going to live with Jack, Shelly, and Crystal.
She had hugged the Golden before piling all of his toys, food, and bedding into the back of the SUV. He had helped Jack hitch the trailer and load Gloria. Edna had held out an apple for the old mule and stroked its head affectionately before pressing a kiss to its forehead.
“You know,” he murmured, staring at the fading lights.
“Yes,” she replied, turning to walk back into the house.
Christoff followed her inside and closed the door. The house seemed empty with everyone gone. Spark looked up at him, then at the door. He could see the small green tennis ball at its feet. He nudged the ball and watched as it rolled across the floor before looking at the door again.
“How?” he asked in a thick voice.
Edna smiled as she began picking up some of the dirty dishes that had been left out. Glancing over her shoulder, he could see the glimmer of amusement and acceptance in her eyes. She knew he was worried about her.
“An alien goddess told me,” she said.
Christoff released the breath he was holding. He stared around the room. The warmth from the pellet stove and the fire kept the chill out. The colorful lights on the tree brightened the room and he could still smell the sweet scent of the pancakes they’d had for breakfast in the air. He would miss this. He had nothing to offer her when they returned to his world.
“Christoff,” Edna murmured, setting the plates and glasses down on the counter and walking over to him. “It will be alright.”
Christoff gazed down at Edna and pulled her into his arms. He held her tight against his body, savoring the feel of her soft form pressed against his. Lowering his head, he rested his chin against her hair.
“I love you, Edna,” he murmured.
Edna’s arms wrapped around his waist and she held him tightly against her. “I love you, too, my alien warrior,” she whispered, relaxing.
They spent the rest of the day cleaning the cabin and organizing it. Edna had debated whether she should take the Christmas tree down or not and pack it away. Christoff made the decision when she told him that her family had always left it up until after the first of the year for good luck. They turned off the pellet stove and doused the fire in the fireplace before they went to bed.
Christoff watched as Edna brushed out her hair before she braided it. For a moment, she paused as she looked down at the bed. A look of confusion settled over her face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, walking over to tilt her face up so he could look into her eyes.
Edna gave a self-conscious laugh. “I don’t know what to wear. Do we go to sleep in our clothes? Do I wear my nightgown? How is all this supposed to happen?” she asked nervously.
A smile curved Christoff’s lips. “I plan to make love to you, so you won’t be needing your clothes for a while. After that, it will be up to the goddess. Perhaps, she will let us know before we leave,” he teased.
Edna raised her eyebrow. “If I appear on your world naked, I’m not going to be very happy with you,” she warned.
“I’ll take my c
hances,” Christoff murmured before he bent and captured her lips.
Christoff glanced at the clock next to the bed. It was close to midnight. Edna lay tucked in his arms, sound asleep. They had made love, talked, and made love again. He knew she was frightened, but she never complained or expressed any doubt that she should return to his world with him. Exhaustion pulled at him as well. He worried that he wouldn’t be able to care for her properly once he returned home. He would need to build them a home near the village. He debated if he should move to a different area, but something was pulling him back to the valley. It was as if something was telling him that this time, things would be different and he needed to go home.
His eyes drooped and no matter how hard he tried to keep them open, they refused. A strange warmth filled him as he fell into a deep slumber. He was vaguely aware that his symbiot had jumped onto the bed with them, but even that wasn’t enough to pull him back to consciousness.
“Sleep, my gentle warrior. It is time for you and your mate to return home,” Aikaterina whispered, stroking his brow. “You needn’t worry. The villagers realize their mistake.”
Christoff’s lips moved, but no sound escaped. He finally gave up and slipped into the calm darkness, his arms tightening around Edna when he felt a sense of weightlessness. Home… Home.
Epilogue
Six months later: Valdier
Edna laughed in delight as she watched Zohar reach for another cookie when he thought Abby wasn’t looking. Abby, Zohar, and Zoran, the King of the Valdier, had been regular visitors since their arrival. Abby and Zoran had been visiting with the villagers and making sure that they had all the support they needed in the rebuilding of the village when she had seen Edna. Abby’s cry of delight had drawn Edna’s attention and before she knew it, she had been engulfed in her young friend’s embrace.
“How…? Why…? I don’t care,” Abby had laughingly said as she brushed the tears from her cheeks.