The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

fire. She wasstill having trouble staying warm. “Who was at the door?” she askedme.

“Just Peter,” I said.

“What did he want?”

“He just needed my approval to dealwith a few minor things,” I said mildly, winking at her.

She gave me a suspicious look, butdidn’t say anything.

“It can wait,” I told her. “The worldwill survive without us for a few weeks.”

Slipping her hand into mine, shenodded. I sat down beside her, and she leaned into me. It scared meto feel how cold she was. Irene began crying once more. I stillhadn’t taken care of her.

“You better get that,” said Penny witha wan smile.

***

That night, after dinner, Penny wentto sleep early. She had been doing that every evening, as well asnapping frequently during the day. Her strength still hadn’treturned, and she had begun to develop a cough. I worried that anillness might take her before she recovered.

“Dad?” said Matthew as we sat in theparlor. We were watching Conall play a new game he had inventedinvolving two sticks and some rocks. It made no sense, but heenjoyed it anyway.

“Yes?”

“Is Mom dying?” he said with hiscustomary directness.

“No,” I said immediately, putting allthe confidence I didn’t have in my voice. “She’s just weak becauseshe gave me too much of her aythar, her energy.”

“You said that the same thing happenedto you though, right?” he asked. I had given the children anabbreviated version of the ordeal, but I had kept the descriptionsless vivid.

“You mean when Mal’goroth took mypower?”

He nodded.

I took a deep breath. “That wasdifferent. He was drawing the aythar that my magical construct hadgathered. My ‘source’ was still protected, isolated, within themagical cage. Your mother gave me the aythar from her wellspring,from the place that keeps us alive. Does that makesense?”

He nodded again. “She’ll getbetter?”

“She will.” I hoped she would.Sometimes when the flame of life is drawn down too far, it sputtersand goes out. Hers was guttering, too close to the edge of havingbeen extinguished to immediately restore itself. All I could do,much like a man husbanding a newly lit fire in a frozen wilderness,was to shield it from the wind and keep offering freshtinder.

The twins were able to sense what Iwas doing, hence their concern. Since returning with Penny, I hadkept a constant light shield around her. When she slept, I stayedclose, warming her not only with physical contact but a tiny flowof aythar. I wanted to give her more, but I had learned a bit frommy studies before and after Marcus had died. Much like the fire inmy analogy, forcing too much on her could overwhelm her andultimately produce the opposite effect.

I thought she would recover, but itwas far from certain, and only time would tell. Until she did, Iwasn’t going anywhere.

***

Another two weeks passed without muchchange. I spent some of my free time, while Penny was convalescing,examining the wilderness around our isolated cottage. The briefvisit by several hundred refugees had done considerable damage tothe forest. Some trees had been cut, and a lot of underbrushremoved to make lean-tos and other temporary structures.

Not that I blamed them. If you’re inthe woods with your family, you do whatever is necessary to staywarm and dry. The twins and I explored, removing some of thedeadwood and cleaning up the damaged areas. An amazing amount ofrefuse had been left behind as well. Some of that we burned, andother portions we buried.

Naturally we used magic to do this,and I enjoyed the opportunity to see my children learning how touse their abilities. Moira’s magic hadn’t manifested until myunfortunate transformation, and Matthew’s had come even later. Thiswas my first chance to see them at work, and I found itfascinating.

Walter had taught Moira some of whatshe needed to know, but her knowledge was still very limited.Clearing brush, turning logs into firewood, and eliminatingtrash—rather than being annoying tasks had become a special way forus to restore our bond. I began teaching them the Lycianvocabulary, offering advice, and showing them my preferences forhow to do these things.

What amazed me most was the agility oftheir minds. The young should not be underestimated.

They were full of enthusiasm, havingnever been asked to use their abilities for any productive purposebefore. Like puppies they seemed to vie for my attention, and theyfrequently surprised me. I had been a wizard long enough to havestopped thinking about many things that I considered ordinary. Theyhadn’t. Whenever I showed them something new, their curious mindsturned it over, shook it, and sometimes they found new insights Ihad overlooked.

Sometimes parenting can be as humblingas it is rewarding.

That afternoon I fell asleep, a commonoccurrence for me after our outdoor exercises. I woke to find Moiraleaning over me, holding a cup of hot tea. Lilly had taken toteaching Moira and Matthew some of the basic tasks of cooking,letting them help her prepare meals. Moira in particular had showna fondness for it.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” I told her,touched once again by her thoughtfulness. My daughter was provingto be a natural caregiver. “Your tea is always welcome.”

“Momma made it,” she said with aknowing look in her eye.

I raised my brows. “Oh,” I saidastutely. Expanding my attention, I was surprised to see Pennysweeping in the kitchen.

My wife had always been a meticulousperson, and one manifestation of that was a propensity to clean.Since her illness, she hadn’t done any of that, letting Lillymanage everything. Seeing her with the broom told me alot.

She was feeling better.

Her aythar was brighter, and I knewshe’d passed the danger point now. I blinked a few times, feelingthe boulder that had been sitting on top of my shoulders for thepast few weeks quietly vanish.

Moira leaned in to kiss me on thecheek. “I knew she wasn’t going to die, Daddy.”

That shocked me, and I let my faceshow it. “Who said anything about dying?” I had kept those fearscarefully to myself.

Moira wrinkled her nose at me,“Sometimes you aren’t a very good liar.”

“If you knew, why didn’tyou ask me about it?” I asked, remembering at the same time thatMatthew had asked. “I might have been able to reassure you.”

“You had enough to worry about,” washer