“I thought everyone was dead,” she admitted, wiping her tears as Jack handed her a tissue box. “I thought everyone that I have ever known was dead. My family…” More tears came and she stopped, her lungs heaving. New questions needed answering, but the boys had just given her something she hadn’t felt in a long time—genuine hope of seeing those she loved again. She had been nursing some hopes since realizing the Stonehenge Four were being summoned repeatedly, but nothing like this. She wanted to just sit and laugh. She needed it.
“Well,” began Ryan gently, “we don’t know what is happening with your family, but it’s only been three years everywhere but here. So there’s hope. They’re probably not all dead, certainly.”
She patted his hand. “I have wondered before about the role of time travel in all of this, because when we were summoned, this world was like the Medieval Ages, and yet when I arrived in New Zealand two decades ago, it had changed so much. I thought Morgana had summoned us in the same time frame to Earth, and that I had been thrown a thousand years into the future. I didn’t know that at first, only after researching about Merlin and Morgana and learning how long ago they had lived, according to what we now see as myths.
“Now it appears Morgana summoned us to a thousand years in Earth’s past, and in all the worlds. And when the quest ended, and Soliander’s return spell completed, something went wrong. It seems like I didn’t quite make it back to the present, just close, the same way that I didn’t make it home, but ended up somewhere else on Earth.”
Matt nodded, eyes far away as if struggling to remember. “He sensed it. He felt something was wrong. His last look…” He looked at her knowingly, and she suddenly wondered how much the techie knew.
Eric observed, “So it seems like he was sent back to the right timeline, and the right planet, or close enough, but you were left here, and you arrived maybe seventeen years short of the right time. Another three have passed since then.”
She nodded slowly, calming herself. “That seems accurate.”
He asked, “And there’s no sign of Andier or Korrin on Earth?”
“No. No sign of Soliander either, except for what you say. I have some questions about that, but I assume from our talk that you did not know what Merlin’s Pendant really was until now.”
Matt shook his head. “None. Sometimes info pops into my head, but there’s no controlling it. Now I’m curious to know how Anna ended up with it.”
Eric pursed his lips. “Yeah, and where it’s been all these years.”
Eriana remarked, “I have a private investigator that I use to track down supposedly magical items, and this was the first one I had him look for. But we have never seen or heard a word about it in all this time. Maybe when she is feeling better, she can say more about where she got it and we can track its history, but I’m not sure it’s that important.”
“You never know,” said the rogue. “I wonder if it was a coincidence that she ended up with it. You said something about a prophecy. Was there anyone left on Earth who knew any of this and ensured she would end up with it?”
Intrigued expressions mirrored Eriana’s own. “An interesting scenario. Merlin had a few Earth friends who knew what he’d done. It is possible one of them took possession of it when the spell completed.”
“Any ideas what happened to Merlin and Morgana?” Matt asked.
Eriana frowned. “No, only what was supposed to happen. Both were to return to the fae world because any creature with that much fae in them would have died when the spell completed, if they were still here. Because magic is part of them, and they can’t live without it.”
Eric stood up. “Well, this is all beyond fascinating, but I have to hit the bathroom. Let’s take a quick break. Eriana, if you need anything, please help yourself.”
She nodded thanks and rose to stretch her legs, finding herself at the window, looking out over suburban sprawl as night gathered, lights twinkling on to brighten the dark. They mirrored how she felt, like a light had been lit inside her. Soliander was alive. And only three years older than she last saw him. This meant everyone else likely was, and a real possibility of seeing her friends and family again existed. She smiled as Jack came up beside her.
Chapter 12 – The Lady Hope
“Seems like an enormous weight off your shoulders,” Jack remarked to Eriana. “I’m happy to hear that you may see your friends soon, and that your family is alive.”
He bit his lip. How much of one did she have back on Elloria before all the quests began? His curiosity about her was strong, and it wasn’t just that she was physically attractive; she was old enough to be his mother. There was something charismatic about her. Comforting. Radiant. Sweet. And wise. Whatever was causing it, he wanted to know more, and to have her look at him. He sensed she knew he was attracted to her, and he didn’t care that she knew, but not because he was a fool. He just felt a compassionate sincerity in her eyes and felt drawn to it. He’d seen the others, especially Eric, smirk about his interest and ignored it. This wasn’t about sex. He didn’t know what it was. He just felt good when she looked at him, somehow comforted, like everything would be alright, even though he wasn’t the one who had any actual problems right now.
He added, “That must have been hard all this time, thinking they were gone a thousand years. They must have wondered if they’ll ever see you again, too. That could be some
