Page 126 of Rebirth

“That makes sense,” she nods, brows furrowing, but there is no disappointment in sight. “The network seemed to affect them differently. Some had tentacles. Some didn’t. Some seemed more aggressive while fighting. Others weren’t.” She leans closer. “I wondered if it was just different stages of the illness. Possibly, it was just variable presentation.”

I rumble as her scent gets sweeter the closer she leans.

“We can fully cure some of your people. That is certain.”

Sophie throws her arms around me, nearly knocking me from the stool on which I sit. I cling to her, overcome with emotion. Never have I felt this much for one being.

On Edooria, I believed my sacrifices for my world put my planet at the height of things I cared for.

I was wrong.

Everything Soh’fee and I have endured, all the failures and setbacks—they have led us to this point. I have saved my mate. And she has saved hyu’manity.

“We shouldn’t wait,” I say to her. “We must distribute the cure to those trapped in isolation. The sooner—”

“The better.” She smiles at me and I am once again caught in the brightness of her light.

We work for two straight cycles, injecting the Corrupted and watching the cure do its work, freeing them from the grip of the parasite that has for so long rendered them prisoners.

The last of our regen chambers are emptied as the hyu’mans emerge, blinking in the light, frail but with a spark returning to their eyes that had been absent. My life organ swells at the sight of their relief.

We have given them back to one another.

Returning to the ground, Soh’fee and the other hyu’mans work to rebuild Unity. Carbon from our ship is repurposed to create living quarters that will tower from the ground.

Flame-resistant, as Soh’fee demanded, and as she directs one of my brothers in how to build them, I approach her from behind.

She smiles even before I touch her; the ba’clan alerting her to my presence.

And when I reach around her and fasten a gem around her neck, she pauses, eyes widening.

“What’s this?”

“To my kind, this gem’s eternal flame is a symbol of undying devotion.” I pause. “My bond with you is eternal, as enduring as the flame within this stone.” I bring her closer to my chest, reveling in the feel of her softness against me. Her eyes glisten with water as she reaches back and embraces me. I close my eyes and lose myself in her warmth, her touch, memorizing everything I can.

When I open my eyes again, I take in the events happening around us.

The Vullan and hyu’mans now talk of integration and perhaps, my brothers will not return to what’s left of Edooria.

Five thousand years…

I look down at Soh’fee.

I have found my home.

We watch my brothers work alongside the hyu’mans, erecting the living structures that Soh’fee described, and she smiles.

“Every Vullan will have a home here.”

Close by, some of my brethren’s ears flick, and a chuckle rumbles in my chest.

Hyu’manity talks of home, but all they hear is talks of finding “mates”. And perhaps, that is fine, too.

More hyu’mans will arrive. And perhaps some, like my Soh’fee, will not fear being mated to one like me. My brothers have a chance.

More hyu’mans come each day, their eyes lifted skyward in search of the vessels that defeated the darkness. And though there is only one, they still come amazed.

Those against us are present still. But word of our victory against them has spread. And for now, they keep their distance.

My gaze shifts to my Soh’fee. To her smile, her happiness flowing from her in waves, and I am content.

No longer staring into the void, I am present.

My mate, your light has kindled the flame of hope in my cold, dying soul. Our work is not yet done, but the future is ours to forge. Together, we have ensured hyu’manity’s survival.

My bond with you is eternal as the flame—and it has saved us all.