Goddess pressed on the bottom of my hand and lifted them in the air, raising the ball of light high. When it was higher than my head, she lowered her hands. Subconsciously, I lowered my hands too. The ball of white energy stayed where it was.

Goddess flicked a glance at Kesstel, her lips tight. She still didn’t approve of him, I guessed. She looked at me and a determined smile hooked her pale pink lips. “This is what we’ve been looking for all this time.”

She reached out a delicate finger and tapped on the energy ball.

At first nothing happened. Then the ball started to shrink, the energy condensing tight like a white black hole. Small sparks of silver exploded inside, like little flowers. All at once, the ball of light burst like a firework then spread out and grew larger.

My eyes narrowed in reaction to the brightness, but I didn’t look away. It felt so warm, like a heat lamp in the dead of winter. So cozy. I could stay in it forever. I did, however, notice Kesstel as he angled his face away from the light. After all, the root of his power was the parasitic planet. Did this light make him uncomfortable? With that in mind, I reached out and hooked his fingers with mine.

His fingers curled around mine in a firm, but gentle, hold.

The light spread out, slowly creating a silvery-white glowing arch about seven feet tall. It looked just like the Portals, only a different color. Just like the ball it came from, everywhere it’s gentle light touched, the red stain from the sky vanished, leaving this the only naturally colored location as far as the eye could see.

Goddess drifted around from the backside of the white Portal. She reached out a hand to me. “Let’s go. It’s long past time for my people to be avenged.”

“And save Earth, your new home.” I looked from Goddess to Kesstel. “Together.”

He gave me a quick nod.

I took Goddess’s hand with my available left hand. As soon as our skin touched, she disappeared, leaving only a small wisp of mist where she used to be. I felt her presence settle in the back of my mind.

Then Kesstel and I stepped into the light together.

My stomach lurched as if someone put a hook around my waist and yanked it. Kesstel’s hand tightened on mine until it was borderline painful, but I was squeezing his just as hard.

I was completely blind, just like when I walked through the Portal between Vapria and Earth. The difference was back then it was pitch black. Now it was so bright that I could barely keep my eyes open. My feet touched solid ground, even though I couldn’t see what it was. Something was still pulling me, urging me forward.

Goddess had control of this Portal so I felt confident as I walked forward, holding onto Kesstel the whole way. He was a little more hesitant, as if he didn’t know which way he should walk. Even so, he held onto me firmly and let me guide him to wherever I was being encouraged to go. I couldn’t tell if we were walking down a narrow passage or an open field. We could be walking in loops for all I knew. All I could see was white. All I felt was Kesstel’s hand, the solid surface under my feet, and the feeling directing me where to go.

Either way, there’s no turning around.

Maybe I should be scared. I was going to an alien world with no clear way home. And I was going to be facing a whole planet with an unknown amount of power. Strong enough to eat other planets. I didn’t even know if I could breathe up there, for that matter. But somehow, I wasn’t scared. As long as I held his hand, I was okay no matter what happened.

Whether or not I was okay, I couldn’t fail. It was literally the end of the world if I did. This was our only shot. There was never going to be another Goddess to attempt to poison the parasitic planet before Earth died. Instead of worrying about it, I threw all my emotions into my determination to win. Determination to survive with Kesstel and see my family on a healthy Earth.

The bright light started to fade. I still couldn’t see where we were going, but I wasn’t blinded anymore. A dark arch came into view not far ahead. Because everything was white around it — if the floor, walls, and ceiling existed at all around us — it looked like the dark arch was floating.

Our strides picked up in pace. As safe as it felt in the Portal — at least for me — there was something we needed to do.

Kesstel pulled me to a stop in front of the arch. When I looked up at him in question, he wrapped his arms around me. “I’ll protect you. I promise,” he vowed and buried his face in my shoulder. “No matter what happens. So stay safe. Always think about your safety first, and don’t recklessly get hurt. I know what all this means to you. Believe me, I understand more than you think. I’d have gladly thrown away my life to save Kathar. And I’ll gladly do it now to keep you safe.”

I smiled and hugged him back. “I’ll protect you, too. It’s not just Earth and my family that’s important to me.” I brushed my lips on his warm cheek. “You are too. So, so much. I … I love you, Kesstel.”

Some people could say words of love at the drop of a hat. But for me, I could count the number of people I’ve said them to on one hand. To my family, it was easy to say. But those three words with romantic inclinations held the weight of the world to me. My parents only said those words to each other. As high school sweethearts that struggled through an apocalypse and the rebuilding of a world with each other, those words were lifelong binding.

And I viewed them the same way.

Kesstel's eyes softened as a smile spread across his handsome face. “I love you, too. I never thought I would be able to feel that emotion again. I can not even come to express how grateful I am that I met you. After so many years, I thought I was going to exist alone forever. Exist, because there was nothing to live for. Now you are my something. My everything.”

I rose on my toes and kissed him, hot and heavy. If I was going to die on the other side of that gray Portal arch, I wanted to do it with his taste on my lips. If we survived, well, I’d find another excuse to kiss him again. Or I wouldn’t even need an excuse, I’d just do it.

All too soon, we stepped back at the same time. Maybe we shouldn’t have even stolen this little bit of time, but now that it happened, I realized how much I needed it. Needed to hear his emotions and tell him mine. I wasn’t planning on dying now, but there was no guarantee.

Hand and hand, we walked through the gray Portal.

I didn’t know what I was expecting to see on the other side. Maybe an alien control room like in the sci-fi films? With smooth desks and angular, uncomfortable chairs all made out of blue energy crystals. Or maybe a giant floating head, like in the movie with the little girl and Toto dog. I at least expected to see a person. After all, Goddess had a humanoid appearance.

I was disappointed in all aspects.

We stepped out into a flat, barren land. Smooth ground was made out of blue energy crystal. There weren’t any hills, mountains, or lakes at all. There weren’t any cracks or imperfections in the blue crystal at all. It was a gemologist’s dream. There wasn’t a light source in the sky. Instead, the light came from the center of the planet, its blue light glowing from under my feet. There were no clouds overhead, just a dark, red-tinted sky. Floating in that void were hundreds of near see-through globes. Each orb had a piece of land inside, the remnants of planets that the parasite had already eaten. They hung like mini, stationary moons. It was kinda pretty, if the reason wasn’t so horrifying.

Directly overhead was a huge fissure in the dark-red sky, mirroring the one in Earth’s atmosphere. On the other side was Earth, looking close enough to touch. From here, I could see how the originally blue, green and tan planet from the pictures in school books had changed. Most of the continents had changed shapes as pieces of land fell in the ocean. Over twenty percent of the remaining land was stained black. These weren’t even the parts where nukes were dropped, trying to kill the monsters when they first appeared. It was something else that was causing the discoloration. Whatever it was, it looked horrible.

It all just proved how damaged Earth was.

The only landmark I could see for miles around was a cluster of tall, slender crystals grouped together in the distance. They stabbed into the sky, their edges sharp and unforgiving.

“Every planet has a heart,” I whispered to Kesstel. Something about the still, silent atmosphere around me prompted me to subconsciously lower my voice. I didn’t know how the parasite interacted with people — did it have a humanoid body after all? — so I didn’t didn’t know if it had ears to hear me. Or maybe it didn’t need ears at all. “That must be the parasite’s.” I motioned to the tall crystals.

I did try to get you as close as I could, Goddess explained. The rest will have to be on your own.

Thanks, I thought back and stepped forward.

Boom!

In an instant, the entire terrain changed. Millions of crystals exploded out of the smooth ground, stabbing at us with their sharp, angular tips.

Luckily, we were able to react at the same time. The crystals chased our feet as we rose into the air. Twenty feet. Forty feet. Sixty feet. How much higher were these crystals going to rise up? At seventy feet, I reached the top of my jump and plateaued. Kesstel grabbed my waist and pulled me with him when he double jumped, boosting us higher. Still the crystal chased us up.

Suddenly I became aware of the fact that this whole planet was made of energy crystal. The same crystals that Goddess didn’t want me to touch. The same stuff that turned people into monsters when it got inside them. What would happen to me if I got some inside me?

We needed to get this over quickly, before either of us got hurt.

My eyes narrowed as I focused on where the parasitic planet’s heart was. The crystals attacking us were so tall, it was covered up. If we were going up, we weren’t going to be able to get closer.

I tapped Kesstel, giving him a heads up, then jumped away from him and activated Feather Step. At the same time, I Mirrored my kindjal and pooled a cloud of mist around me. As soon as my mist came out, the light from inside the crystals around us flickered bright. The parasitic planet obviously didn’t like the water vapor. My two floating kindjals orbited around me once then shot out, slicing off the sharp tips of the crystals closest to us. I landed on the flattened tip and sprinted ahead, towards the heart of the planet. Kesstel followed a step behind me, managing to move on before the tip re-sharpened to a blade.

The crystals were still changing, trying to stab us. As soon as we started to move forward, sharp branch-like sections exploded out of the tall crystals around us. The needle-like offshoots were tenacious as they reached for us.

New crystals grew out ahead of me in various angles, blocking my way and stabbing at me. I twisted and cut at them, leaving a trail of shattered crystals behind me.

Kesstel didn’t have as easy of a time. His sword couldn’t cut the crystals, so he was forced to simply dodge around them as we ran. He tsked in annoyance, but there wasn’t much he could do except stay on my tail and move before the crystals were able to reform.

I had my hands full of trying to clear a way forward. I just had to hope that he could keep himself safe.

Suddenly Kesstel pushed me from behind. “Careful!” he yelled then grunted in pain.

His shove sent me several feet ahead. I landed on the side of a crystal, slicing off the sharp tip as I turned to look at Kesstel. My eyes widened in shock.

He stood right where I used to be, an inch wide crystal offshoot stabbed right into his side.

*****