the outpost of Jiralla that they would raise their child. It was there they would begin again, begin anew.
Vaxa’an had offered Jaxor his old title, his old life. After word spread that Jaxor had killed Po’grak and was partially responsible for obtaining the treatment that would help restore Luxirian females’ fertility, he’d become a hero.
Everywhere they went in the Golden City, he was greeted with thanks and awe and support, which had only served to make him uncomfortable—considering he didn’t see himself as a hero at all. He’d confided in her that it made him feel like a fraud. Her mate wasn’t used to the attention and she knew that a part of him longed for the quieter life he’d once led in the Pass of the Kokillix.
So, when Vaxa’an had offered him the position of Ambassador of Jiralla—which had always been his to claim since his birth—he’d been tempted. Jaxor had always been meant to oversee the outpost. While he hadn’t been the firstborn son of Kirax’an, Jaxor’an was always meant to rule in his own way.
Jiralla was a smaller outpost to the east, the last remaining and sometimes forgotten outpost of Luxiria. From what Jaxor had told her, it was situated deep within the Forest of Olara and protected by ancient stones of the Fates. Its main purpose was to import fire fuel to the Golden City and the remaining outposts because of its proximity to ancient bogs.
The only thing that kept them in the Golden City had been Vaxa’an and Kate. Jaxor was loathe to leave his brother considering the two had just reconnected, but since the other women had returned to their respective outposts with their Ambassador mates—Beks and Lihvan to Kroratax, Cecelia and Rixavox to Velraxa, Taylor and Vikan to Lopixa, Lainey and Kirov to Troxva, and Crystal and Cruxan to Otala—Erin knew it was only a matter of time before they moved forward with their own lives too.
Erin wrapped her arms around Jaxor from behind, pressing her forehead into his back as he looked around the base.
“I am ready to go,” Jaxor said quietly after another moment.
Erin nodded and threaded her hand with his again. “Do you need to grab anything else?”
“Nix,” he said, blowing out a small breath. “It is time to leave this life behind.” He looked down at her, brushing his fingers across her cheek. “Especially when I am eager to start this next one with you. With our offspring.”
Erin smiled, her stomach fluttering. He still made butterflies burst in her belly. Every single day.
“Okay,” she said softly and, with one last look at Jaxor’s base, they turned back towards the tunnel. When they reached the kekevir gate, Jaxor lit the sconces on the wall, casting light into the tunnel…and then she watched as he unlocked the gate, swinging the door open.
“It is their facev,” Jaxor told her, climbing onto the hovercraft after her, carefully tucking the travel sack with his mother’s heirloom with the rest of their baggage. “Once the fires go out, they can reclaim it.”
Erin nodded. Jaxor turned on the hovercraft engine and they rose vertically until they emerged from the overhead entrance. It was a clear, crisp day, no fog bank overhead for once. Erin could even see the glimmering Lopitax Sea from that distance.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she murmured, sighing.
Jaxor leveled a grin down at her and she was pleased to see that his spirits were lifted again. It was as if a weight was released from him and her heart skipped a beat just looking at her handsome mate. He’d make a wonderful father. He’d make a strong Ambassador. Because she already knew that he was the most perfect mate and life partner that she could ever have hoped for.
Erin couldn’t help but let her eyes stray east from that view. Towards Jiralla…but also towards the Caves of the Pevrallix.
It had been decided by the Council of Virzalla, by Vaxa’an, and the Ambassadors that any Mevirax who wished to pledge themselves to the rule of the Golden City would not be exiled. Those who remained loyal to Tavar, however, would be.
Over fifty Mevirax warriors chose exile. They’d been loaded onto a Luxirian spaceship and sent off to a neutral colony, to begin a new life in the vast universe, wherever that might be. Their names and information had been logged into the Uranian Federation’s vast database and they would be branded with their exile wherever they went…but at least they chose life.