A Book of Dust and Breath

Chapter Fifty Three

The cool grass beneath Max's back yielded to the weight of his body. Lily's hand lay warm in his.

He pushed himself up. Across the pot-holed lane the river burbled. Two black squirrels chased each other in a spiral that led them toward the full green branches of an enormous oak.

To his left, the roses bloomed magnificently, so fragrant he could smell them, even at this distance.

Lily stirred, shielded her eyes with her hands, and looked at him. "Where are we?"

"We're home."

She rose to her feet and turned to look up at the house.

He followed her gaze. There, on the porch, in Daniel's usual chair, sat a man.

His olive skin and black hair appeared very dark against the brilliant white of his t-shirt and pants. His smile was miraculous. Max couldn't help but smile in return.

"Who is he?" Lily whispered.

Max took her hand and led her closer.

"You've done well," the man said in an accent that was almost Indian, but not quite. "We are so very pleased with you."

He rose and came down the steps to meet them. A little shorter than both of them, he nevertheless exuded power and confidence unlike any Max had never seen. He reached up and put one hand on each of their shoulders.

Lily gasped.

Every bad thing was washed away in the presence of this perfect acceptance. No. Not washed away. Obliterated, as though it had never existed at all.

"Why are we here?" Max asked. "I don't understand what happened."

The man held out his hands. "This is where you chose to come."

Max shook his head. "No. We were in the city, near the breech. My father was there and..." he stopped.

"There was so much darkness," Lily said.

"Yes. It was a terrible imbalance, but it is healed now, thanks to your sacrifice. You gave yourselves, every single bit of your bodies, minds, and souls to the salvation of others. You did it all out out of love. No greater love can be shown."

"Then there should be oblivion," Max said. "That should have been the end."

The man's smile grew even wider. "No, Maximus Metit. Not the end. The beginning. When you shed all that you had been, you allowed yourself to become something new."

Max glanced at Lily and saw his own confusion mirrored on her face.

"The breath of the Creator, within the created, cannot be destroyed, Maximus; not in the darkest of hours. What remained was given new life. This is where your heart led you; the place you most wanted to be, with the people you most wanted to be with." Releasing them and turning back toward the house to climb the steps he looked over his shoulder and went on, "I would add that Lily was free to make her own choices, and here she is, as well."

Max shook his head. "I don't understand," he said again. "Have we been reborn?"

"You have returned to exactly the time and place of your choosing--your most beloved time and place, minus those parts you did not love."

"Max?" Lily's soft voice drew his attention. "I think we're human. Together. In a world without the breech. A world where the breech never happened at all."

The man opened the door of the house for them. "Welcome home, kids. A word of warning, though; this is it. You're human. You live this life, you pass on to what comes next. No extra skills. No accelerated healing. Take care of these bodies. They're the last ones you get on this side."

"On this side?" Max said through unabashed tears.

"That's right," the man assured him.

Lily curled into his arms and wept against his chest.

From inside the house, came the strong, healthy cries of a newborn baby, a sound at least as magnificent as the songs of angels. Ignoring the El Camino just then turning into the driveway, Max and Lily raced to their son's side to comfort him.

Delbert stepped out of the car and met the man's eye. The leathery skin between his eyes folded in a deep frown. "Knew I shouldn't of listened to this old bat when she said we were invited to dinner here. If they didn't want to see us, they coulda just said so. Don't got to go running off to hide like that."

"Oh, hush. They probably heard the baby cry, is all," Gracie said, getting out and slamming the door behind her."

"Precisely so. I've no doubt you are welcome here." The man in white was walking down the path toward them.

Delbert's frown deepened. "I know you?"

The man smiled. It was the warmth of the sun in mid-summer. It was fresh, cold water to a parched soul. It was waves crashing against a cliffside in an explosive display of the power of nature. "I'm sure you can let yourselves in," he said by way of answer.

"You're a friend of theirs?" Delbert asked.

"No, Delbert," Gracie snapped at him. "He's the kindest, most well-groomed cat burglar in the Midwest. Get the cake. Let's go."

"What cake?"

"I specifically told you to pick up a cake at the bakery downtown."

He snatched a bottle of wine off the back seat and slammed his car door shut. "I asked you if you wanted me to get a cake and you said no, said to get a bottle of wine from the restaurant, so I brought a bottle of wine."

She rolled her eyes dramatically at the stranger. "I swear. His memory gets worse every day. He's practically a danger to himself and others."

The man said nothing but offered an arm, which she took with obvious pleasure. "Come on, then," she called over her shoulder. "And don't drop the cake."

Delbert stomped along behind them, muttering about crazy old women and state run institutions.

At the door, the stranger released her. "Enjoy your dinner with the Metits."

"You're not staying?" Gracie asked him.

"I'll be around." He held the door while they went in and his extraordinary smile grew even wider as Max and Lily greeted their guests with happy exclamations, then, very gently, he closed the door and whispered a blessing that would carry them on through their final, long, happy life and into eternity.

The end.