“What’s a flute?” Sulyan asked.
“It’s a musical instrument,” Ilene explained.
“Oh, I do enjoy the art of tonal creativity.
With Rojaire and Kaylya translating and Kiril hanging on to every word, Ilene described the basic principles of how a flute produced musical notes. To her surprise, the inventor actually retrieved a stylus and pad and took notes.
Food and drink revived the companions only briefly. Weariness quickly took hold once again. “We will be taking a long rest here,” Rojaire told the group. “Get some sleep; we’ll have a meeting at daybreak.” As they began to make a move, Rojaire spoke out again. “A word of caution when you start strolling around in the morning. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of little tree seedlings growing in the area around the shelter all the way upstream to the creek that we will follow to the Crescent Mountains. You will want to avoid trampling on them.”
“My trees,” Captain Setas rasped, but she was too tired for more.
The women were offered the shelter although there was no threat of rain. The men snuggled into their bedrolls around the fire. “Here, you can have possession of the star stone back,” Traevus said extending his hand to Kiril. “It might help you with your communication problems,” Traevus grinned. Kiril gladly took back possession of the mysterious golden stone.
Exhausted, the colonists quickly became quiet. One by one, conversations were replaced with sounds of even breathing and the murmur of the river.
The sun rose long before the camp stirred, except for Wessid. Since he was the only one well rested, he took it upon himself to have aromatic teas brewing and porridge simmering by the time the others got up. He was busily making flatbread when Zaloka snuck out of the shelter to join him by the fire.
“It was certainly nice of you to prepare breakfast for everyone,” she praised him, helping herself to some tea.
“Well, I am a provider.” He smiled at her warmly, but resisted the urge to touch her. Sharing a son did not permit him to be so forward. She was beautiful. The golden highlights in her auburn hair, still rumpled from sleep, matched her gold-flecked eyes, charged with the excitement of their adventure. “What a beautiful morning!”
“It is indeed.” Zaloka blew on her tea, her gaze taking in the sparkle of sunlight on the Cremyn River and the deep purple of the Crescent Mountains to the East. Then she noticed the expanse of the valley around her. Amidst the sparse vegetation she had become accustomed to, a hand span high miniature forest stretched out before her. As far as she could see, brilliant touches of blue and orange dotted the coarse lavender soil. The little trees stood out against the sparse pink and yellow foliage that grew naturally in the valley. Suddenly the captain was standing beside her.
“My trees,” Captain Setas whispered. Wessid placed a cup of herbal tea and warm flatbread into the captain’s hands. She barely noticed. Without another word she hobbled off into her emerging forest.
After the tall one cried out all her frustration and despair, Chiita (the tall one will never get it right) fed Caleeza a broth to help her sleep. It also gave Chiita time to think.
She laid back thinking in her lookout over the valley from the uppermost woven rope hammock level in her tree. She had plenty to think about. Gazing out across the lonely, but fruitful valley, she touched the crystal floss satchel and medallion she wore. According to legend, the satchel and medallion once belonged to a tall one called Vestan. Vestan visited her people long ago, before the great darkness. The satchel and medallion were handed down to her by her father. Chiita’s father received it from his mother. Until now she had thought she would be the last to wear them. That may have changed. She gently caressed her abdomen. The encased embryo that had arrived with the girl glowed warmly in her reproductive pouch.
Chiita’s ancestors were nearly obliterated during the great rumbling darkness. Food became scare, survival tenuous. Only a few of Chiita’s people survived. Food was strictly rationed and even with their reduced numbers there was little to go around. Reproduction was halted and the fertile faintly glowing embryos the females produced were preserved in their shells of translucent stone. These were stored in a sacred place in the mountains to await better times instead of placed in their reproductive pouches. The ordeal stretched over many cycles of seasons leaving the people weakened and in time infertile. Eventually no more fertile eggs were produced.
Very few repositories of the preserved eggs survived the mountains’ turmoil. But some did. The preserved embryos were the people’s only hope of continuation. Chiita was once one of those preserved embryos. And the tall one brought her another. Does the tall one know where there are more? Perhaps I can save my people from extinction after all. Once again Chiita touched her reproductive pouch. I can’t change the loss of my people, she sighed, so I might as well concentrate on solving the problems of this new tall one. Maybe she will lead me to more fertile eggs.
Chiita had picked up numerous images of other tall ones from Caleeza’s mind. She felt certain they were in the valley to the east. All the images she could draw from Caleeza’s thoughts supported it. Caleeza had to have arrived here in her valley through a warp tube, but of course the warp tube was closed now. For her to return Caleeza to her people, they will have to cross the mountains. It will be an arduous trek, but doable, once the tall one regained her strength; Chiita knew the way. If she helped the girl find her people, she may learn more about where this embryonic stone was found.
But when Chiita finally descended her tree to check on Caleeza, a long sleep later, Caleeza was gone.
Caleeza….
Awakened by the message, a confused Caleeza sat up in her crystal floss bed. Colorful crystal-filtered light spangled her sleeping chamber. Was she dreaming or waking up from a dream? Pray I’m dreaming for I can’t bear captivity again in the Crystalline Landscape.
“Sarus…?” She rose from her bed.
Caleeza, what are you doing here? Sarus did not project an image of himself.
“I don’t know.”
You do not belong here.
“I thought you called me. Are you all right?”
I often call your name so that I may remember.
“You do?” Caleeza’s heart swelled. Not only did Sarus remember her, but he often spoke her name so he would never forget her.
For you to hear me, it must be you who is in distress, Sarus explained.
It was a strange sentiment, but she found it somewhat reassuring. Did Sarus really continue to watch over her?
How can I help you?
Should she tell Sarus of her troubles? She decided it couldn’t hurt. “I found a wonderful group of people to live with in a beautiful valley. And I found Ollen and Traevus from our expedition, but now I am lost and can’t find my way to return to them. My friends will be looking for me, but I fear they will never find me.
For the longest, Sarus didn’t answer. Caleeza paced around the chamber wondering what to do next. She couldn’t stay here. She must get away somehow. Then Sarus spoke in her mind once again.
I will take you where you want to go.
When Caleeza finally began to awaken from her deep sleep, she didn’t want to open her eyes for fear of where she would find herself. Was she lying on Chitter’s woven mat in the little cave? Or in the Crystalline Landscape on her bed padded with crystal floss? Or back in the colony with Theon and the others in her private stone chamber? She just wasn’t sure. She felt with her hands for more clues. There didn’t seem to be enough light penetrating her eyelids to place her in the Crystalline Landscape. In fact, the bed felt very familiar. Then she heard someone speak in the main cavern.
“So you are leaving now?” The voice was low, lacking in enthusiasm, as though stating something that both the speaker and the listener already knew and neither were happy about.
Theon… that was Theon!
“Yes, I might as well get started.” He had agreed to wait for the next period of light. The wait was over.
<
br /> Tassyn.
Caleeza tried to jump up and shout out to them, but she was a bit groggy still and only managed to roll on her side and mumble incoherently.
“I hate leaving you with just Edty to help out,” Tassyn said for the tenth time.
“We’ll be all right,” Theon assured him once again. “Just find them.”
“I’m right here,” Caleeza called out in a whisper, working her way up into a sitting position.
“Did you hear something?” Caleeza heard Tassyn ask.
“In here,” she called out louder, wobbly gaining her feet. In an instant Tassyn was by her side offering support, with Theon moving faster than he thought he still could close behind him.
“Caleeza, you’re here!” Tassyn exclaimed with more excitement than usual, especially since being “reformed” by the High Council for living the life of a renegade. “When did you get back? Where’s Ollen?”
“I was hoping he was here.”
“Not unless he snuck in like you did,” Theon informed her.
“I didn’t sneak in. It’s a strange story,” she added seeing the confusion on their faces. “I’ll try to explain,” she sighed. Her stomach growled loudly for all to hear.
“Well, come out on the terrace by the fire. I think Edty has something cooking and you can tell us what happened.”
Edty nearly dropped his spoon when the three of them walked out together. “By Seaa’s Light,” he gasped.
Tassyn led Caleeza to the best chair in the house, after Theon’s, and ordered breakfast. “Are you all right? You seem a bit weak. Have you been hurt?”
“I fell down a hole… Ollen and I got separated… He fell into a stream…” Caleeza paused in exasperation. “I hardly know where to begin.”
“Now, now, take a deep breath,” Theon urged. “We have time.”
“Where’s Ollen?” Edty asked anxiously, delivering the breakfast Tassyn ordered for her. “Did he run into a bear beast?”
“No, I did. Thanks,” she said, smiling to him, gratefully accepting the gourd of porridge and fruit and a carved utensil to eat it with. The men watched cheerfully and waited impatiently as Caleeza had her fill. When she was done, Tassyn handed her a hot cup of tea to wash it down. Feeling better, she was ready to tell her story.
“You and Ollen left long before daybreak, rotations ago, in order to cover familiar ground before sun-up,” Theon reminded her gently, pointing out where the story should begin.
“And we did just that; when the sun rose above the eastern mountain peaks we looked out on undiscovered country from our perch on a low plateau.” She told them about crossing a large range of grassland filled with kurpers to a forest of angular trees with water flowing beneath them. She described climbing through their tangled branches, seeking a way across the flood, the small crawling lifeform that startled Ollen, causing him to fall into the deepest part of the stream, and his efforts to stay afloat as the strong current carried him away. “It was the last I saw of him.”
“Where did you meet the bear beast?” Edty wanted to know after a thoughtful pause.
“Not long after Ollen and I were separated. I made it across the stream safely and immediately went looking for Ollen. I was certain I would quickly catch up with him, but I was wrong. It wasn’t long before I came to a waterfall. I feared he may have gone over the falls. But before I could find a way down, I found myself face to face with the bear beast.”
“Were you scared?” Edty quivered and whimpered in fear.
“Absolutely terrified!”
“Did it have long sharp teeth and claws?” Edty’s voice chattered.
“It certainly did, but it didn’t look anything like the bears in Alaska.”
“So what happened?’ Tassyn asked.
“The beast threatened to attack. I backed away from it and the ground opened up beneath my feet.” From here Caleeza was less sure of the validity of her perceived experiences. Real or not, she had a captive audience. She went on.
“The fall beat me up quite badly… I probably suffered a concussion. It was Chitter who nursed me back to health.”
Caleeza realized too late she should have led into the topic of the discovery of another intelligent lifeform more cautiously. The three men leaned questioningly toward her.
“Chitter nursed you…?” Theon asked for all of them. “Who’s Chitter?”
“Her name isn’t exactly Chitter, but it sounded something like that. She lives wherever it was I ended up when I fell down the hole.” Her story was starting to sound like a fairytale even to her. She described Chitter in great detail, from her brown flesh mostly covered in brownish orange feathers to her round dark violet eyes. “Chitter could walk upright, she only reached about waist high when standing. She could also lope about on all fours. She could build a fire, cook, weave fibers, and she took care of me when I was hurt.” Caleeza realized she never had a chance to thank Chitter for her care.
“So how did you get back here?” Theon finally asked.
“It was Sarus who brought me back,” she said to even more stares of disbelief.
Ollen collapsed in exhaustion and despair. The valley had proved vaster than they had ever imagined. He was yet to reach the end of it. He searched for Caleeza relentlessly, refusing to give up. He backtracked to the jungle gym trees where he had fallen into the stream after being startled by the crawling life form and back again to where he had washed up on the streambanks after tumbling down the waterfall. Failing to find her, he followed the river downstream for many leagues, calling her name until his voice gave out. He climbed up every vantage point and searched every depression he could find along the way. Caleeza was nowhere to be found.
Finally the river itself had abandoned him, plunging down into a rocky hole in the mountain. For a moment he actually considered diving in and letting the swift current bash him to death against the rocks. Ollen lay on rocky terrain softened by a carpet of wildflowers and sobbed uncontrollably. He lost Cremyn long ago; now he lost Caleeza. Theon, Tassyn, and Edty expected them back by now. How could he return to the others without Caleeza?
In the end, he felt he had no choice. As a new dawn announced a new period of light, Ollen decided to head back. He could only hope that either he would still find Caleeza on the return journey or she had already found her way home. There may actually be a search party out looking for him. It wasn’t much, but for now, it was enough of a thread of hope to get him up and going again.
CHAPTER 14
Earth
“My Boats!” Papa screamed frantically, running up the beach. “What happened to my boats?” he cried gesturing toward the empty water in angry bewilderment. Melinda watched helplessly in terrifying confusion as her father raged on. Nothing made sense and even more frightening, she had never seen her father so upset before. What happened next was even more horrifying than the disappearance of their fishing boat and skiff. Papa became ominously silent, grabbed his chest and slumped to the ground.
“Papa, Papa!” Melinda cried, dashing to his side and throwing her arms around him. “Papa, what is happening?” she cried disparately.
Papa didn’t answer; his body was lifeless. Grief overwhelmed her. Then he vanished from her arms. Inexplicably he was gone, body and soul. Grief turned to shock and then to panic as Droclum approached, his evil aura nearly smothering her as he came closer. Melinda screamed with the terror of a thousand nightmares, a silent scream that uttered no sound, no matter how hard she tried.
Melinda thrashed about in her seat, consumed by horror and panic. The elderly woman seated next to her stood up and silently moved to another seat. Gradually the sound of the surf transformed into the noise of the road. Shaken by the relived ordeal, she took in her surroundings with welcomed relief. She was riding on a bus through a dark summer night with a ticket to Denver, Colorado. Not since she had acquired the mysterious key from a very different nightmare, had Droclum haunted her dreams.
Determined not to fall asleep again, Melind
a stared out the window at blackness. Occasionally, a grouping of lights denoted a spot of habitation along the way. When they passed through a town, the night lit up with streetlights, gas stations, convenience stores, and closed strip malls. The bus even stopped once at one of these spots of illumination to let a passenger off. Sometime during the night they pulled into a station and switched out drivers. Most of the towns they passed through were small, their illumination brief, before the darkness swallowed them up again. There was no way to tell what the countryside beyond the dark window looked like. As she was carried along through the night, she thought of Aunt Adele, probably alone in her little house since her sons had lives of their own. Did her aunt miss her now that she was gone, or did she embrace her solitude? Strangely, Aunt Adele relished the brief attention from reporters. Recalling her “fifteen minutes of fame” made Melinda shudder.
By contrast, reflecting on the time she spent with her cousin Greg on his fishing boat brought a smile to her face. She chuckled silently as she relived the stealth with which Greg had snuck her out of the house and onto his boat to deflect reporters. It was comforting to be on the water again after so long. She was born to live near the sea. Perhaps she should have returned to her life in Southeast Alaska instead of remaining in the Susitna Valley with Rahlys and Maggie after her ordeal with Droclum. Once again she was a long way from any coastline. It was an almost depressing thought.
Of course, she had lived for years peacefully happy in the Northern Susitna Valley far from the sea, but those years had been bittersweet. Immersion into a loving extended family had been clouded by the horror of events that had severed her from her father and the life they had shared. Her existence continued to be haunted by the essence of Droclum. What she sought was relief. The key tugged at her being with increasing urgency, leading the way. Rahlys had plucked her from Droclum’s evil clutches, but as Droclum’s essence had repeatedly gloated in numerous nightmares since, Rahlys could no longer hear her cries for help when under Droclum’s aura.
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