Page 21 of Pets in Space 10

The Nether room on Zelos was quiet, save for the whisper of turning pages and the soft hum of ambient magic that pulsed gently through the ancient stones.

Harmonia sat curled in the high-backed velvet chair near the hearth, the fire low, casting golden light across the room’s runes and sigils carved into the arched ceiling.

Books lined the tall shelves like silent watchmen.

The scent of parchment, spell-ink, and her mother’s calming lavender garden drifted through the air.

She sighed as she reached up to replace the ancient tome she had been reading, her hands trembling slightly from the effort. Her magic still flickered — too weak one moment, too wild the next.

Her recovery dragged on, causing frustration to gnaw at her. She searched for answers every day in the vast archives… and found none.

The door creaked open, and the scent of orange spice and honeyed tea preceded her mother into the room.

Lyia Stormhold swept in like a warm breeze, her presence calm and radiant as ever. “I brought you something,” she said gently, holding a delicate porcelain cup with steam curling from it like an offering of comfort.

Harmonia gave her a wan smile. “Thank you,” she murmured, placing another book down with a sigh.

Lyia set the tea beside her on the small round table, but didn’t immediately retreat. Her gaze lingered on her daughter — drawn, pale, and too quiet for the firebrand she’d always been.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard,” Lyia said, her voice soft. “Healing takes time.”

“I just need to know why it’s taking so long,” Harmonia whispered, swiping at a tear before it could fall.

Her mother said nothing at first. Instead, she simply watched, a curious expression dawning in her eyes as she stepped closer.

“What?” Harmonia asked, confused by her mother’s sudden shift.

Lyia gasped — and then, to Harmonia’s astonishment, laughed. Not a quiet chuckle. Not even one of her delighted hums. But pure, bubbling laughter that filled the entire Nether room like music.

Harmonia blinked. “What is it?”

Instead of answering, Lyia came to her and gently gathered her into her arms. “Oh, sweetheart,” she murmured, hugging her fiercely. “Oh, my brave, beautiful girl.”

“Mother?” Harmonia’s voice cracked with confusion and a spike of hope. “Is everything… all right?”

Lyia leaned back, brushing back a lock of Harmonia’s hair, her thumb feathering across her cheek. Her eyes shimmered with emotion.

“The answers you seek,” Lyia said tenderly, “might not be in these old tomes, Harmonia. They might be inside you and connected to the time you spent with that young man you love so much.”

Harmonia frowned, unsure, until she felt her mother’s hand drop — slowly, reverently — to rest on her lower abdomen.

Her heart stilled.

Then, her breath caught as the meaning of her mother’s words sank in.

“What…?”

Lyia’s smile softened. “I had the same bone-deep fatigue during the early months of my pregnancies, you know.”

A shiver ran through Harmonia. She lowered her hand, trembling, and pressed it to her belly. Magic sparked against her palm — not wild or unstable, but gentle and bright, like the glimmer of stardust on calm water.

Then she felt it.

Two tiny, flickering threads of magic.

Twin flames.

One fierce and stormy, the other playful and radiant.

Her breath hitched. She sank into the chair, her vision blurring as tears overflowed.

A daughter.

And a son.

Life. Born of love. Full of magic.

Her voice came in a hoarse whisper. “Landry…”

Her mother knelt before her, wrapping both hands around hers. “You’ve created the next generation of Stormhold mages, love. You’ve given us all a gift.”

Harmonia was still absorbing the impossible beauty of it when the air in the Nether room suddenly changed. The runes along the ceiling shimmered. The temperature shifted.

And then — light.

A soft blue pulse filled the air as the wards responded to something Harmonia had not summoned.

She stood, grabbing her mother’s arm as a swirl of golden light formed in the center of the room. Magic twisted and curled, folding the air like rippling silk.

A portal opened.

Her heart stuttered.

And out leapt Lilypad, her little body spinning midair in a show of joyful acrobatics. “WE MADE IT!” she sang, landing in a giggling heap at Harmonia’s feet.

Pug followed with a bounce and a cheer, their tails tangling before they rolled to a stop with potato chip crumbs trailing behind them.

And then — came the storm.

Selene, Malcolm, Mavis, William, Gloria, Sarah, her father — they all spilled out in a flurry of color, magic, and commentary.

“Well, that was a tight squeeze,” Mavis muttered, brushing spectral cobwebs off her robe.

“I told you we should have taken the scenic portal,” William huffed.

But Harmonia didn’t hear them.

Not really.

Because behind them, stepping out of the golden glow with wind-tossed hair, mud-dusted boots, and eyes that locked with hers across the distance — was Landry.

She didn’t breathe.

Couldn’t.

Her heart gave a jolt so powerful it echoed in the twin sparks of life within her.

“Landry…” she whispered, stumbling forward.

He surged toward her, arms outstretched, eyes burning with every ounce of love and desperation he’d carried across worlds.

They collided in the center of the room, her arms flinging around his neck, his around her waist.

His lips crushed against hers, fierce and hungry, a promise and a prayer wrapped in a kiss.

Magic swirled around them, light flaring briefly before settling into a gentle glow.

Behind them, the ancestors let out loud, deeply pleased sighs.

Selene wiped a nonexistent tear from her eye. “Well,” she sniffed, “I said she’d choose someone unconventional. A non-mage is practically scandalous.”

“She brought home a scientist,” Gloria retorted. “That’s practically alchemy. And I can sense magic in him. We’ll just have to teach him how to access it.”

Lyia just smiled, pulling her husband into a warm embrace as their daughter found her future.

Harmonia clung to Landry, her tears soaking his shirt, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

“I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered.

“You’ll never lose me,” he replied, pressing his lips to her hair. “Not now. Not ever.”

And for the first time in weeks — no, in her life — Harmonia Stormhold felt whole.

She was home — in Landry’s strong arms, her magic steady, her heart finally in tune.