D. MacHale - Raven Rise

I saw his face. A face I hadn’t seen in years. A face I thought for sure I would never see again. But he had made a promise. He said we’d be together again. That was a long time ago. So much had happened. I’d given up hope.

I shouldn’t have.

He kept his promise.

Uncle Press always kept his promises.

“Hi, guy,” he said casually. “Havin’ a rough day?”

He looked exactly as he did the day we left home so long ago. His hair was still longish and a little messy. He still needed a shave. He still wore a brown work shirt and jeans. It really was his long, tan coat I saw flapping around as he walked. He stood over me, looking down with the smile I had missed for so long. There were a million things I wanted to say. Only one came out.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Stand up, Bobby.”

I slowly got to my feet and faced my uncle.

“Hey,” he said with a crooked smile. “When did you get taller than me?”

I jumped forward and hugged the guy. I couldn’t help myself. There was something else I couldn’t help doing. I cried. Yeah, I cried. I felt as if I were six again. I think what put me over the edge was touching him. He was real. He wasn’t a shadow or an illusion created by my wishful imagination. It really was Uncle Press. We stood that way for I don’t know how long. He let me cry. He patted my back. He let me enjoy the feeling of having at least one part of my family back. It felt safe. I think I would have stayed like that forever, if I hadn’t heard another voice call to me.

“All right! Enough!” a girl’s voice said sarcastically. “You’re going to get me crying too, and you do not want to go there.”

I turned quickly to see a blond girl in blue coveralls and yellow-tinted glasses. She stood with her legs apart and her arms folded across her chest, looking at me like a disapproving parent.

“Hello, Pendragon,” Aja Killian said. “What took you so long?”

I stood there, stunned. My mouth opened, but no words came out. A shadow moved toward her from behind, coming forward out of the haze. It was a big guy, who lumbered up behind Aja to give me a small wave. He once again wore the armor of a Bedoowan knight.

“I know you tried to help me,” Alder said.

I stood there with my mouth open, unable to think or make sense of what I was seeing.

“A-Are you all right?” I asked my friend. It seemed like such a lame question.

“I am now” was his definite answer.

I turned to Uncle Press and asked, “Is this real?” Uncle Press shrugged, as if to say, “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

My eye caught more movement. There were shadows everywhere. We were surrounded by a ring of phantoms.

“Hello, Bobby,” said an elderly woman with long gray hair. “Remember me?”

I nodded numbly. It was Elli Winter. Nevva’s mother. The Traveler from Quillan.

“I don’t know what to say about my daughter,” she said sadly.

“You don’t have to say anything,” I replied.

“You owe me, Pendragon,” came a guy’s voice that sounded pretty ticked off.

From out of the haze stepped Siry Remudi, the young bandit. The Traveler from Ibara. “If I knew you were going to bury the flume, I never would have left Ibara!”

“I didn’t want to trap you there,” I explained.

Siry smiled. “Yeah, I get it. I’ll let it go this time, but don’t you ever leave me out again.”

“I take it you got my note,” came another familiar voice. It was Patrick. Alive and well, or whatever it was that we were.

“I did,” I answered. “I wish I could have done more with the information.”

“You did just fine,” Patrick assured me. “Nobody could have done better.”

I heard an animal snarl. Under normal circumstances I probably would have jumped. I didn’t. A beast on four legs stalked out of the haze, stood up, and walked the rest of the way on two legs. Kasha, the cat from Eelong, joined the circle.

“You made me a promise, Pendragon,” the klee growled. “I did?”

“You said that one day you would bring my ashes back to Eelong. I haven’t forgotten.” I nodded.

“Hello, shorty!” came a warm voice that made me smile, and almost start crying again.

Stepping out of the haze, wearing the same dark suit he always wore on First Earth, was Gunny Van Dyke.

“Whoa now!” he exclaimed as he looked me over. “Maybe I can’t be calling you ‘shorty’ no more!”

I ran over and gave him a hug.

“Heck of a thing, Pendragon,” he said wistfully. “Heck of a thing.”

“Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.” I sniffed. He held me out at arm’s length and asked, “You all right, son?”

Unbelievable. With all that had happened, Gunny was worried about me.

“Getting right real fast,” I answered.

He smiled warmly. “Wouldn’t expect nothing less.”

“Where is he?” I asked him.

Gunny gave me a mock confused look. “Who? Who you talking about?” His eyes twinkled and he smiled slyly. He knew exactly who I was talking about.

“Hobey!” I heard a familiar voice call. “Don’t go starting the party without me!”

Running into the circle, out of breath, was Vo Spader. The Traveler from Cloral. Though he looked a little older than the last time I’d seen him, so much about him was the same. His black hair was still long. He wore his black aquaneer’s swimskin. He still had that mischievous look in his eye, that said he was ready for whatever adventure was coming his way.

“Haven’t missed anything, have I?” he asked me.

“Heck if I know,” I answered. “I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Ahh,” Spader scoffed. “You’ll get a handle, no worries.” He grabbed both of my arms and leaned in to me. In a quiet, sincere voice he said, “I meant what I said, mate. I’m there for you. I’m ready.”

I didn’t realize how much I missed Spader until that moment. He gave me a hug, then backed away and stood next to Gunny in the wide circle.

I was standing in the center of a ring of Travelers. It’s hard to describe my emotions. It was all too much to comprehend.

“Wait,” I said to nobody in particular. “We’re not all here.”

Everyone exchanged looks. Nobody responded. At least nobody in the circle.

“Not yet,” came a familiar voice from outside the ring.

A tall, dark form strode confidently into view. She wore the light armor of a Batu warrior. Strapped to her back was the long, wooden cross-stave weapon that had served her so well. Seeing her gave me a surge of confidence like I hadn’t felt in a very long time.

The Traveler from Zadaa had arrived.

Loor walked right up to me and stood looking into my eyes. “Why didn’t you come for me?” she demanded to know.

“I wanted to protect you” was my answer.

Loor looked surprised. Surprise turned to disbelief. Disbelief turned to intensity. “You wanted to protect me?” she declared, incredulous.

All I could do was nod dumbly.

Loor leaned in. She got right in my face, nose to nose. “Do not make that mistake again,” she ordered…and kissed me. Right on the lips. It wasn’t exactly the intense, romantic kiss we almost shared that incredible, rainy night back in Xhaxhu during the Festival of Azhra, but it was still pretty okay.

Except that I nearly fell over.

Loor backed off, stepped into the circle, put her hands on her hips and declared, “Now we are all here.”

We were. Every one of us. Almost. Uncle Press strode into the ring, joining me in the center. I looked to him and quietly asked, “What about Mark and Courtney?”

Uncle Press shook his head and spoke softly. “They’re not Travelers, Bobby. I’m sorry.”

His explanation made sense, but it didn’t make the news sting any less.