*Author's note: This is the final part of the series! I strongly recommend that you begin with part 1 -- a complete index can be found in the comments below.
Since you've come with us this far, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have in the comments. I'm eager for your feedback.*
*****
Hannah watched in awe and stumbled to the ground as pinpricks of light detonated above the island from several different directions. The points flashed and expanded into blinding brilliance, followed soon after by a dull rumble that permeated the island and lasted for several seconds. The usual cacophony of the forest subsided until the light began to fade, and Hannah picked herself up off the ground.
"They're nuking us," Heron said. Her husband. One shock at a time. His semen still dripped from between her legs, and when she focused she could feel their child growing inside her womb.
Hannah wasn't scared. "As long as the perimeter is up, I think we're invulnerable," she said.
Heron's eyes scanned up and down her body, fixing on her tummy -- on their child? "Then let's keep it up. Who cares if some part of Shaper is in here? Better than being vaporized."
Hannah played along. "Duh, Cool Guy. Let's head to the plateau and find the others."
The noises of the forest resumed as they walked along the deserted paths. Hannah made a quick detour to Bag End to grab the resonance inducer and wasn't surprised to find it empty of students. Everyone had been called up to the plateau. They walked in silence, Hannah naked and Heron in his leather duster, both dirty and tired. He didn't love her, but he respected her and lusted for her -- maybe those were enough.
The trek was agonizing up the winding stone steps up to the top of the plateau, but when they finally broke through the forest canopy a cool ocean breeze refreshed Hannah's body and spirit. From the summit the ocean was visible in every direction, littered with naval vessels of every size and description in a ring several miles across. They'd been there for weeks, and Hannah didn't give them a second look.
What was more interesting was the massive assembly of people atop the plateau, more than Hannah had ever seen together on the Island. There were nearly 200 students, half of whom Hannah had collected herself, dozens of handmaidens, a hundred graduates, a few hundred men -- husbands and soon-to-be -- and hundreds of children. In total, almost a thousand people crowded the plateau, all staring at the sky and ocean, waiting.
Hannah tried to keep a low profile as she moved through the crowd towards the low office buildings beyond the grass field, but it was no use. Everyone knew her, and everyone thought she'd know what was going on. She did her best to ignore them all until Nicole, Elizabeth, and Stephanie popped up in front of her and bodily blocked her way.
Nicole put her hands out and grabbed Hannah's shoulders. "What is going on? Where's Emily? Where's Ashley?"
Hannah hesitated and collected her thoughts, looking around at the expectant crowd. "Emily is dead."
Nicole's grasp immediately turned into a fierce hug, and Hannah struggled not to break into tears again. She hugged Nicole back and took comfort from her proximity, feeling their skin together from cheek to toe. "I'm sorry, Hannah. I'm so sorry."
Hannah sniffed and pulled back a little, holding Nicole around the waist. "Ashley used an amulet to save her, and she was handmaiden for our wedding. Me and Heron."
"That's... ok... wow," Nicole said, searching for words and looking between the two of them.
Hannah knew Nicole was nervous about her own wedding and tried to reassure her. "It's good. In a way, it's like Emily is still with me. It's hard to explain. I didn't get what I wanted, but maybe this is the best that was possible." Except for the Shaper fragment. "I need you to handle everything up here, ok? I'm going to find Shelly and Ashley."
Nicole nodded. "I think I can manage."
As she spoke the Island began to shake violently under their feet. The crowd of people looked around in confusion and a few people began screaming. Hannah reached out and grabbed Stephanie's arm, Nicole and Elizabeth clutched each other, and several others fell to the ground. A huge plume of spray erupted from the ocean in a ring around the Island, quickly obscuring the view of the surrounding fleets. The shaking subsided after several seconds, but the violent churn in the ocean only intensified.
"What's going on?" Elizabeth asked, variously echoed by everyone on the plateau.
In a quiet voice that only her friends could hear Hannah said, "We're going up. Tol Eressëa."
After she said it they all felt it: the shaking had stopped, but now the ground pressed up gently against their feet, like the floor of an elevator. Within seconds their movement was perceptible relative to the surrounding ocean, which was flooding into a vast, empty chasm that had been left behind when the Island and its surrounding waters were dislodged from the Earth.
A mile or more of water lapped at the Island's beaches in every direction, but the ocean was violently filling the void below. Hannah gasped as she watched the distant warships plummet into the abyss like bugs washed down a drain -- tens of thousands of lives crushed in the watery cataclysm.
The crowd was utterly silent as they absorbed impact of the event.
Even Heron was grave. "That was every navy on Earth. Just gone."
"It's only the beginning," Hannah said.
Heron raised his voice, speaking to the crowd more than Hannah. "Of course it is! How do you think this will end? I don't know what Dr. Wilcox is after, but all of humanity is gathered against him. Against us! We need to stop him before he destroys us all!"
His words roiled the crowd, sparking arguments and shouts from every direction. Nicole jumped into the fray, trying to calm everyone, but the chaos was spreading. Heron looked ready to say more until Hannah grabbed his arm.
She yelled to her nearby friends, "I'm going down to the Door. I know how to open it. That's where we'll find Dr. Wilcox and Shelly. I know what I have to do!"
