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Epilogue

Farewells

I stood with my toes digging into the sand, hot and grainy and the most terrifyingly beautiful feeling in my life. My ears had mostly stopped ringing, and I basked in the light of the rising sun creeping over the massive, imposing iron walls of the Pit. I could hear shouts of confusion and screams from inside. I thought maybe I could see a dark blotch on the northern horizon that could be Korrix flying away. Nearby, Leon was in furious conversation with Captian Geist--with Mom.

"But... our last name is Hart. Not Geist." He still sounded like he didn't believe it.

Geist snorted. "Like Hell it is. 'Hart' is an Autocracy slave name. All Lepids in the Autocracy have the last name Hart. Just like all Equia have the last name 'Colt,' all Cervids are 'Doe'... you get the picture." She waved her hand dismissively, clearly annoyed that the conversation was even taking place.

"No," Leon said, baffled, "I do not get the picture. Where the fuck have you been for the last fifteen years? Why did you leave us with Tofa?"

"Don't talk back to me," Geist snapped. "I left you here to keep you safe. Had I known what that fat wolf fuck was doing to you, I'd have come for you sooner. The second I heard about this fucked-up 'experiment' of his, I came running. Travel by ship ain't exactly fast, and walking across the desert even less so."

Leon stared at her, like he was trying to decide whether or not to punch her. I moved over and squeezed his hand. "Let it go, Leon. There'll be plenty of time to sort it out later. Let's get moving." I turned to the others. "You ready?"

Tanya had been silent since leaving the Spike, never taking her eyes off my mother. She finally spoke. "You," she said, pointing at Geist, "stole me. You sold me to the Warden. Like property."

Geist folded her arms and smirked at Tanya. "Because you were property. Now you're not. Bully for you."

Tanya's face went slack, and I knew what was about to happen. I threw myself in front of the Lontramar and gripped her shoulders. "Tanya, don't. I get it. It's shitty what she did. But she's also the reason we got out of there."

Tanya turned away from Geist and looked at me with genuine hurt. "You... you're going to side with her?"

I bit back tears. "Please. Please don't. She's..." I dropped to a whisper. "She's scary, Tanya. I'm afraid you can't win against her, and I can't... she's my..." I dropped my head. "Please don't."

Tanya stepped back from me and turned away. I shuddered. "Fine," she snapped. "But I'm not going anywhere with her. I'll take my chances in the desert."

"I'm not going, either," Patrice said, taking her hand. "I thought she looked familiar because she looks so much like you two. But no. She's the one who hijacked my prison ship and sold us to the Warden. I'm with Tanya on this. I don't care if you rescued us, it doesn't make up for what you did to us."

Geist rested a hand casually on the butt of her flintlock, her eyes deceptively heavy-lidded. "Oh? What did I do, exactly, boy? Aside from send you from one hellhole to a different hellhole? Hmm? You think Autocracy prison colonies are a fucking picnic? All I did was change your scenery. It was a lateral transition, at worst. I just made some scratch in the process. You wanna die out here in the desert, be my guest. I only came for my babies, anyway. But don't you give me that lip again or I'll blow it off your fucking face, you piece of Predator trash."

That did it. Leon hauled off with his metal arm and socked her right in the fucking mouth. The Minoan was on him in an instant, tangling him up and putting him in a chokehold. Geist stumbled back, then touched a finger to her bloody lip. For a split second, her face was a hideous mire of rage, but then her eyes widened and--

--and she laughed. Hard. A deep, genuine belly laugh like I'd never heard in my life.

"Shit, you really are my kids, aren't you?" she said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Let him go, Thrasher." The Minoan reluctantly released his vice grip on my brother, who stumbled away from him to stand at my side. "That kind of loyalty will earn you your own crew, someday. But right now, we got miles of sand to pound, if we're ever going to get to my ship. You keep your friends in line, and they can come too. But I don't tolerate any disrespect once you're on deck. I'll toss your ass overboard without a thought, no matter if you're my kids or not."

"Maybe we don't want to go with you," I said, teeth gritted. "Maybe you're just as awful as the Warden. Selling Anthropa like cargo? You're disgusting. Tofa was more of a mother than you'll ever be."

Geist's jaw clenched. "You have no idea what I spared you, sending you here. You were safe here. Was it not a picnic? Huh? No silk sheets and servants bringing your mead? Well that's life, girl. Get the fuck over it."

"Get over slavery?!" I screamed. "We slept in a hut crammed with fifty other people! We bathed in a fucking trough! We worked the quarry when we were seven! Meanwhile you were having your little fucking pirate adventures, selling people for money. So don't fucking tell me what life is, you mean old cunt, because I've lived more of it in my fifteen years of this hellscape than you have in your entire life! You don't get to be high and fucking mighty when you left your children in a slave camp!"

Leon was holding my shoulders, keeping me from launching at this bitch. Some fucking mother. "Don't be so fucking melodramatic," Geist sneered. "This is a prison, not a slave c--"

"Shut up," Leon said. He didn't yell, but his voice was commanding. "Don't insult us any further. You can call it what you like, it's slave labor. You left your flesh and blood to work slave labor in a prison camp in the middle of a fucking desert. You didn't bother trying to find us until you heard about the experiment, but frankly, the Spike was a gods-damned paradise compared to the Pit. You didn't save us until our lives were less awful. You can't even rescue your kids properly. You're pathetic."

Geist threw up her hands. "I can't fucking believe this! I rescue your ungrateful asses, and this is the thanks I get? That's just fucking perfect."

"You're right," I growled. "Thank you so much for waiting fifteen fucking years to rescue your own goddamn children from slavery, Captain. You can be on your way now."

Geist looked at us like we were insane. "You can't be serious."

Leon shook his head. "Nollie's the only family I had for most of my life. Rika, Tanya, Patrice? I've known them for a year and I consider them more family than you'll ever be. I'm staying with them. If they don't go, I don't go."

Geist, to my utter shock, looked... lost. Just for a moment, her world fell apart in front of us. I hate to admit it, but I almost felt sorry for her.

And then her face reverted to a neutral mask. "You have no idea what I saved you from. Who I saved you from. And I guess you never will. Go with Katarang, children. I hope you learn gratitude out in the desert. Before you die of dehydration, anyway." She turned and started walking away. The Minoan glared daggers at us before following her, but the Simian studied us intently, not moving to follow. He said not a word, just rubbed the mottled, rust-colored fur of his chin and considered us for a long moment before turning and following his captain.

"Stop!" Rika called. Geist paused and raised an eyebrow at her. "They're going with you."

I turned to her angrily. "Like Hells we are--!"

Rika grabbed my hand and looked at me pleadingly. "Just--just hear me out. Okay?" She reluctantly shuffled up to Leon. "Baby, you... you gotta go. And..." Her eyes welled up, and Leon knew what she was going to say before she said it. He fell to his knees in front of her, shaking his head. "And I gotta stay."

"No," he croaked. "No. I'm staying with you. With Nola. I'm not leaving again. I made a promise and I'm not breaking it."

"But you gotta," Rika said, holding his head in her hands and touching her forehead to his. "I gotta free these people. For my kits. Dessi and Lucern. For Carmine. They died because of people like the Warden. I couldn't save them, but the folks here? Maybe... Maybe I can save them." She stared up at the imposing iron walls of the Pit. "This place... Nobody belongs here. I wouldn't wish this hellhole on anybody, not even your mama, and I ain't never wanted to eviscerate another Anthro as much as I do her right now. Arthur's still in there, far as I know. And others, good folks. They deserve to be free. But so do you."

Leon shuddered violently. The world blurred and shimmered like heat waves as tears ran down my cheeks. Leon looked absolutely broken.

"Please don't do this to me," he whispered.

Rika smiled despite the tears pouring down her own face. "I need to help these people, but I need to know you're safe, too. And as awful as Geist is, I know you'll be safe with her. She'll protect you. It's not gonna be an easy life, but at least it'll be one."

"Please," Leon sobbed.

"Sshhh," Rika stroked his ear and kissed his forehead. "It's not forever, baby. We'll meet up again down the line. I want our kits to know their daddy. I don't think it's gonna be an easy job, just myself--"

"And me," Tanya interjected.

"Yeah, me three," Patrice said, puffing his chest out a little. I smiled at him through the tears. There was that damned Alpha Strut again.

Rika smiled at them and then turned back to Leon. He looked so beautiful, even broken and sobbing. I wanted to hold him, kiss him, tell him it would all be okay, but this wasn't our time. This was theirs.

"You ever heard of the Isle of Dreams?" she asked. Leon shook his head. "It's a small cluster of islands off the coast of Saurok. You find it in two years' time. I'll be waiting for you there. We'll be waiting." She placed his hand on her belly. Leon shivered from ear tips to toes, vibrated like a struck tuning rod. "You take care of Nola and the little ones. I'll take care of ours until you get there. Okay?"

It was absolutely, unequivocally, undeniably not okay with Leon, but he nodded his head and kissed her with such desperation I started crying all over again. It wasn't fair, but damn it if I wasn't proud of Rika. I already knew I was going to follow my brother and go with this she-demon who claimed to be our mother, and Rika was going to go be a fucking freedom fighter--with a kit on the way, no less. I only hoped I could be that badass someday.

Rika seemed to read my face. She stepped over to me and took my hand, pulling me gently down to one knee. She kissed me softly and hugged me. "Keep him safe, yeah? Bring him back to me. Bring you both back to me."

I hugged her fiercely. "I love you," I said.

"I love you too, baby. Be good to each other."

"No other way to be."

* * *

After tearful hugs and kisses, Patrice and Tanya said their goodbyes as well. Tanya still wouldn't look at me, but she hugged me at least. With a final wave, Leon and I trudged miserably after our mother and her cronies. We walked around the great circumference of the Spike, our trio of friends dwindling from sight, until we rounded it to the point that they vanished entirely.

A wagon waited for us, pulled by a pair of bored-looking feral camels. The wagon had no wheels, but rather four flat boards that curled upward at the front. Considering the Titan Sands were dunes for about eighty percent of it, that made a whole lot of sense. Barrels of water and two crates of dried foodstuffs sat in the back of the covered wagon.

"Get in," Geist ordered. I considered standing my ground just to spite her, but what would be the point? It was petty and self-detrimental. I hopped up into the back of the wagon and helped my brother up. We cuddled up next to each other against the water barrels. Geist and the Simian sat up front, and the big Minoan--Thrasher?--walked alongside. Apparently he was too much weight for the camels. He didn't seem to mind, though. He walked behind the camels and to the side, his big legs giving him massive strides that easily kept up with the wagon as we jostled and slid across the Titan Sands.

"Freedom," I whispered, testing the word in my mouth.

"Doesn't feel like it," Leon muttered. "Feels like death."

I put my arm around him and held him close. "She'll be okay. She's strong. And Tanya is with her."

"And Patrice," Leon added with a little smile.

"Eh," I grunted, and we both chuckled.

"What are we gonna tell her?" he asked after a moment of silence.

I suspected he didn't mean Rika. "About what?" I whispered.

"About... us?" He shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe no one was going to judge us in the Spike, but..."

I looked down at my swelling belly. "We'll... figure it out as we go, I guess."

"I'm scared, Nollie." He shivered despite the pounding heat.

I stroked his ears. "Me too, babe."

My brother kissed my shoulder and snuggled tighter against me. I stroked his ears absently, staring at the slowly shrinking walls of the Pit. That horrid thing that had raised us. That noxious building that held all my worst memories--_all_my memories. Our home for fifteen years, almost from birth.

Gods willing, it would be the last time I ever laid eyes on that nightmare again.