by Garry Spoor
“Well, I’m going to bed.” Daniel stood and dusted the sand from his pants. “What about you?”
“I think I’ll stay up a little longer.”
“Suit yourself,” he said and headed to the camp.
Kile turned her attention back to the woods, or more precisely, back to the temple. The whole ordeal in the pit, with the wolf and the forest, didn’t sit well with her. As with everything else, she felt out of place, as if she was missing something. It was like being dropped into the middle of one of Alex’s tales, but not knowing what part she was supposed to play. Since she left the Tower, she’d been trying to catch up with the story.
She sat for a little while longer, but none of the answers came. She was about to turn in when she spotted Galan walking out of the forest. It seemed strange the Alva would be up so late. He turned and looked at her, so she waved. For a brief moment she thought he was going to ignore her and walk away, but instead he approached.
“I see you’re enjoying the night air,” he said when he got closer.
“Couldn’t sleep,” she said. “Not after everything’s that’s happened.”
“I agree. We have come a long way. To think my people’s journey is nearing an end.”
“Do you honestly think the Heart will help your people?”
“Oh, yes.” The dark-haired Alva grinned. There seemed to be no doubt in his mind. “You will see. When the true power of the Heart is revealed, the Alva will have what they have always desired.”
Kile was a little uneasy with that grin of his.
“So, what exactly is the Heart, and where did it come from, and why was it brought here?” she asked.
“You are an inquisitive child, aren’t you?” He laughed. “Well, I’m afraid I’m not the one who can answer those questions. For that, you will have to speak to Arbane. He is our lore master. He knows more about the Heart of Nilak and the island of Shenataesi than anyone else.”
“Arbane?”
“Yes, my lord and master. He sits now with your king awaiting our return.”
That’s right, Kile thought, how could she have forgotten the Alva she tried to assassinate?
“So, you don’t know anything about the Heart?” she asked.
“Well, I know what every Alva knows, what we were taught when we were young. The Heart was given to my people long before the coming of the vir. It was a gift of the Orceen to bring us closer to nature. Unfortunately, my people were too naive at the time, and we could not appreciate such a gift. So, the Orceen took it back and brought it here until such time the Alva were worthy of it.”
“And are you? Worthy of it, I mean?”
The smile slowly left Galan’s face. “I think we are,” he answered. “It is said that when the time comes, and the Alva are ready to reclaim that which was taken from them, the Heart of Nilak would make itself known. We have read the signs.”
“Signs? What signs?”
“I would not expect a… a vir to understand. It is not something that can be explained in… simple terms. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll turn in.”
Before Kile could even ask him a follow-up question, he turned his back to her and walked away.
“What do you think, Vesper? Do you think I made him mad?”
-Not happy. Don’t trust him.-
“No. No, neither do I.”
~~~***~~~
“Come on, Danny. Wake up,” Kile shouted, shaking the small tent.
“What is it?” came the grumble from inside.
“It’s morning. Lothran has started breakfast, and the sailors are already working on the repairs to the ship.”
“So, what does that have to do with me?”
“I’m going back to the temple, and you’re coming with me.”
There was some shuffling coming from inside the tent before Daniel’s head poked out. “What are you on about?”
“I’m going back to the temple, and you’re coming with me,” she told him again.
“Why do you want to go back there?”
“Because I think we missed something.”
Daniel rolled his eyes before pulling his head back into the tent.
“The job is over, Ki. We got what we came for. Let it go.”
“You remember what Master Adams used to tell us? The job of every Hunter is to gather information. There’s still information back there, information we might need.”
“Don’t you think Elmac or Master Heaney would have already taken care of that?”
“Fine,” Kile said, backing away from the tent. “If you don’t want to come with me, I’ll go alone.”
There was more shuffling from inside the tent before Daniel threw open the flap and dragged himself out.
“Fine, I’ll go with you,” he said in defeat.
Somehow, Kile knew he would, but it was nearly two hours before they were finally on their way. She had to wait until he got dressed, washed up, and ate his breakfast before he would even consider the long journey back to the temple. She was positive he was stalling, as he tried to talk her out of it the whole time, but in the end, he gave in. She could have gone without him, and probably should have, but it did support her theory. Someone had told Daniel to stay close to her. She wasn’t sure who, or why, but the evidence was there.
“You know, this is all a big waste of time,” Daniel complained.
Kile sighed. “Look, I’m sorry I asked you to come along. Why don’t you head back?”
“No, no, we’re almost there anyway. I said I’d come. It’s just, I don’t think we’ll find anything useful.”
“We won’t know until we look.”
“That’s it. Elmac looked at the walls while you were down in the pit. He said they were an irrelevant handful of scribbles with no academic value.”
Somehow, that didn’t surprise her. It sounded like something the mystic would say, but she had a feeling he was hiding a lot of secrets. If he had seen anything of value on the wall, she doubted he would share it with just anyone.
“Here we are,” Kile said, stopping at the entrance to the underground temple. She pulled a small lantern out of her pack and lit it. They wouldn’t have the luxury of the Elmac’s floating spheres of light this time around.
“You sure you want to go back down there?” Daniel asked.
“I only want another look at the writing. It’s not like I plan to go down into the pit again.”
“Look, I’m telling ya, Elmac said it was just a bunch of silly pictures and didn’t mean anything.”
“Think about it, Danny. Would you create a temple, sixty-some-odd feet underground, line it with interlocking stones, hide a sacred artifact inside, and scribble something meaningless on the walls? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“But Elmac said—”
“And I don’t trust Elmac.”
There, she’d said it. She was thinking it the whole time, and now she’d said it. She didn’t trust the mystic.
Daniel was surprised by the announcement. “Why not?”
“I don’t know. It’s only… little things. Things he does, things he says.”
“You think he’s trying to sabotage the expedition?”
“No, nothing like that, but I think he knows more about what’s going on than he’s telling.”
“Well, you know how mystics are. They’re all like that. They like to keep their secrets or at least make people think they have some.”
“Yeah, that’s probably it,” Kile said.
Holding the lantern up, she directed the light down the tunnel entrance.
“You don’t have to come down with me if you don’t want to,” she told Daniel.
“No, I said I’d come, I’ll come.” He fell into step behind her.
There was a definite change in the atmosphere of the temple from the last time they were there. It felt more foreboding and Kile proceeded with caution. Of course, the first time she entered, she had three experienced Hunters, a mystic, and two Alva with her. This time a
round, all she had was one nervous medic. As she reached the main chamber, she removed the hood of the lantern, allowing the light to spread out across the floor. It did little to improve the mood. If anything, the dancing shadows only added to the unsettling ambience.
The last place she wanted to look was the first place she visited. She was drawn to the pit in the center of the room. Carefully approaching the edge, she peered down into the darkness.
There was nothing there.
What did she expect to see?
A part of her wanted to see something that would support what she’d experienced. A tree, a bird, something, anything to prove the forest existed, but if the forest existed, so did the wolf, and if the wolf existed, so did the thin man with the crooked yellow teeth.
She slowly backed away from the edge and stopped. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“It sounded like… something walking around down there.”
“Knock it off, Ki. There’s nothing down there.”
Daniel was still hovering around the tunnel entrance. He hadn’t even stepped into the chamber yet and could barely keep the panic out of his voice. “Come on Ki, let’s go. There’s nothing here.”
“I’m sure I heard something. Vesper, you heard it, didn’t you?”
-Hear nothing,- the yarrow said.
“Ki, let’s go,” Daniel pleaded.
“One more moment. I want to look at the writing.”
She knelt at the edge of the pit for a few more minutes, listening for any stray sounds, but all she heard was silence. It was probably her imagination, she thought, before turning her attention to the walls. That was what she came down here to look at after all. Holding the lantern aloft, she slowly moved around the perimeter, taking in all the intricate lines and details of the writing, but little of it made any sense. It was a series of images depicting people, animals, and trees. Each scene was connected by a string of writing, but the words, and even the letters were meaningless. It was in no language she had ever seen before. Could it be that Elmac was right, and it was merely a handful of irrelevant scribbles? Setting the lantern down, she pulled out a sheet of parchment and a piece of charcoal and copied the writing. Just because she couldn’t read it, didn’t mean it wasn’t readable.
“Aren’t you finished yet?” Daniel asked from where he was still waiting for her at the exit.
“Only a few more minutes.”
She filled one sheet of parchment and was digging in her pack for another when she heard the sound again. This time it sounded as if something was climbing up out of the well. Grabbing the lantern, she held it as high as she could, but the light only reached the edge of the pit. Holding her breath, she waited, but nothing came.
“You can’t tell me you didn’t hear that.”
“I didn’t hear anything,” Daniel said quickly.
She had a feeling he was finding it hard to hear anything over the sound of his knees knocking.
“Come on, it’s getting late. Let’s go,” he pleaded.
“I’m coming,” she said, but she wasn’t heading in his direction. She was walking toward the pit.
“Ki, come on.”
“One minute.”
When she reached the edge, she held the lantern over the opening and looked down into the darkness. There was nothing there.
“Ki.”
“Fine, we’re going.” Kile backed away from the edge. She paused for a moment, straining to hear anything, but all she could hear was Daniel retreating up the tunnel.
Once outside, she thought she’d feel better, but she didn’t. The change in the atmosphere in the temple had somehow followed them out. The air seemed heavier, the trees appeared darker, and the forest more threatening. It was as if the island had only now realized it had unwanted visitors. Kile found Daniel a few yards away from the opening trying to catch his breath.
“You all right?” she asked, coming up behind him.
“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure? You seemed a little nervous down there.”
“Nervous? I wasn’t nervous.”
“Okay, you seemed scared.”
“What do you mean, scared? I wasn’t scared.”
“Please. Your teeth were chattering so much, I was afraid you’d wear them down.”
“Let’s just get back to camp, okay?”
“Okay, but wait a minute. First, what do you make of this?” She handed him the parchment.
Daniel quickly looked it over, even rotating it a few times, before handing it back to her.
“It’s a bunch of squiggly lines,” he said dismissively.
“I think it’s more than that. I think it’s some kind of writing.”
“Come on, Ki. It’s nothing. It’s only a bunch of lines. If it’s a language, it’s one I haven’t seen.”
“Maybe I’ll give Master Adams a visit when we get back. He might be able to read it. If not him, I know Morgan would love to get a look at it.”
“Seriously? Fine, suit yourself. If I were you, I wouldn’t waste another moment on it,” Daniel said, walking away.
~~~***~~~
The change had reached the beach. An air of uneasiness seemed to have infected the crew. The sailors were nervous. Some, refusing to stay on the island, retreated to the ship. The campsite was starting to dwindle, with fewer tents than before. Lothran remained to cook the evening meal, but even the big man was worried. He kept looking at the forest as if expecting something to come charging out.
Kile took a seat at the edge of the beach, away from the campsite, and unrolled the parchment. The squiggly lines, as Daniel described them, meant something. She simply had to figure out what it was. She stared at the lines until her eyes watered and her vision blurred; neither helped her interpret them.
“What am I missing, Vesper?” she asked the yarrow who was now sitting on her lap, looking over the parchment with her.
-Looks like worms-
“Worms?”
It was an odd way to describe the writing. She didn’t see it herself, but Vesper always had a unique way of looking at things.
-Wiggling worms,- he clarified, and in his words, she saw the writing move. Of course, it meant nothing and was simply his way understanding things. Or was it?
“What are you actually seeing, Vesper?”
-Wiggling worms, moving lines,- he said again, and this time she could see the whole parchment the way the yarrow saw it. The lines were indeed moving, wiggling as it were, across the page.
Kile quickly jumped up and started brushing the unseen worms off her arms. “Oh, that is gross,” she yelled. “Why didn’t you tell me they were alive?”
-Didn’t ask.-
Vesper was now walking across the parchment, scratching at the lines, but they weren’t moving, or they didn’t appear to be moving. How could the yarrow see them, but she couldn’t?
Sitting back down, Kile closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and fell into her Edge. She let her feral side take over once again. When she opened her eyes, she looked down at the parchment. The lines were now moving for her as well. Dull yellow lines, squirming around on the paper. She was loathe to touch it.
In a strange sort of way, it made sense. The message was written by the Orceen, for the Orceen, and only an Orceen could reach this level of consciousness to read it. Perhaps the writing was a test to see if the Alva, or anyone looking for the Heart, was worthy to claim it. Unfortunately, even though the writing was wiggling around on the paper quite happily, it was still unreadable. Of course, these were only small pieces of the writing, single lines she copied down from the wall. Maybe, to understand what the Orceen wrote, the entire wall had to be read at one time.
Kile suppressed her feral side and the dull yellow wiggling words reverted to the charcoal scribbles. Carefully picking up the parchment, she rolled it up and slipped it into her shirt. What was she going to do with this new information? Should she tell Elmac? Did he even want to know? Did she trust
him? Surely Master Heaney would be interested, but he was back on the ship. She could tell Galan—he was lurking around somewhere, but she wasn’t sure if she trusted him either. Her only option, now, was to gather more information. That meant, tomorrow, she and Daniel would have to return to the temple and read the wall the way the wall was supposed to be read. Now all she had to do was break the good news to Daniel.
It didn’t take long to find him, he was down on the beach, but he wasn’t alone. Master Boraro and Master Creech were with him. They were having one of their private discussions. Boraro, whose back was to her at the time, was doing most of the talking, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying over the sound of the surf. She tried getting closer, but Creech heard her. Damn his Edge.
“Spying on us, Miss Veller?” Boraro asked, without turning around.
“Not at all. Unless, of course, you’re trying to hide something,” she said.
“I wasn’t the one who snuck off to the temple this morning.”
“I didn’t sneak anywhere. I simply returned to see what I could learn.”
“And did you… learn anything?”
“I might have.”
Boraro turned and faced her. He was trying to stare her down, but somehow that look, which once had cadets quaking in fear, didn’t faze her anymore. He was either losing his touch, or she was starting to see through him.
“You should be more careful, girl. Some lessons aren’t worth learning.”
“I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
Boraro gave her one of his harrumphs before turning back to Daniel.
“You know what you need to do,” he told him.
“I know,” Daniel said in an exasperated tone.
“Don’t forget what’s at stake,” Boraro added, setting off across the beach with Creech in tow. Kile waited until they were out of earshot before she approached Daniel.
“What was all that about?” she asked.
“That? Nothing.” Daniel shrugged it off.
“Nothing? It didn’t sound like nothing, and what did he mean when he said, ‘you know what you need to do?’”
