“It’s food, eat.”
I sense no falsehood, her reply is pure, and clean. I waste no time, and slurped the hot liquid. My tongue has been dead until the spices and salty flavor revives it. I chew on the soft particles like my life depended on it. My daughter almost danced with joy, the nutrition quickly nourishing her. She too, has been without food.
“This is rice and vegetable soup.” said Lola serving herself.
We sat in silence, our eyes kept away from each other. We ate without speaking a word. The only sound that is coming from us, is our lips, sipping the hot broth. The flavor of the greens and white grains beautifully mixed inside my mouth that itched for more.
“I don’t know what to believe.” she finally said. “I passed by your flying machine, it’s real alright, but I just can’t allow myself to believe you. You gave me a lot of panic, I can’t handle that kind of stuff right now.”
“It’s no machine.” I explained, drinking the remaining drop of broth. “It a catarelia, a living rock. Rest assure it will soon shrink to a pebble.”
“I thought it looked smaller!” exclaimed Lola looking at Kinoki for confirmation.
“I’m sure it’s not bigger than you right now.” I predicted.
“How did you know?” she asked. “When I first saw it—it was much wider.”
“It mirrors my health. When I die, it won’t be visible to the naked eye.”
“Don’t say that” she interrupted.
“You made a mistake to return.” I said, finishing my meal. “Don’t you know what I meant by using you as a vessel?”
“I don’t.” she stated. “It was rude for you to tell me that.”
“No Lola, I wasn’t speaking to you” I corrected.
My eyes dropped at her belly.
“I was talking to the life inside you, it will be my vessel.”
A solid slap, smacked my face.
In my surprise, I froze. How careless of me to not predict that movement. I looked up at her and saw she had spilled her soup on the muddy cold floor. Lola’s hand shook vibrantly, eager to hit me again. I invited her to do it again.
“You can go ahead and say whatever you need to say to me, but leave my child out of your little dilemma!”
Her strong voice caused a powerful echo, the birds that sang, fell silent. Lola took hold of her belly and took deep breaths to calm her anger. The strike on my cheek flared my instincts to fight back
“If only you knew.” I whispered. “If you knew who I am, you would keep that hand from crossing my cheek.”
“You think you’re that special? That your life has higher value them my own child?” she exclaimed.
“It’s not value.” I reacted. “It’s purpose! My daughter must live!”
“As my own!” she stormed back. “You’re not the one who has to live in the middle of nowhere. You don’t have to sleep every night wondering if the father of your child will one day find you and kill you for leaving him! You don’t have pretend that you care about nothing, and mistreat the few people who actually care!”
“Yes—I do!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t just waltz my way out of my home planet because I wanted to. Believe me, I had good reasons for leaving.”
Lola exhaled and I watched the life in her sink and rise. Inside her belly is a human holding all of my hopes, the hope I prayed for every night. I looked away—Lola can’t possibly understand, she just doesn’t know! If it wasn’t for our pregnancy, we would be at each other’s throat.
Ultimately, Lola doesn’t deserve a single grain of my explanation, our history should not pass to a human. Some words that came out of her mouth, are trapped in my mind. She said the father of her child is hunting her. I have been prejudice, a form of thinking created by culture—not nature. My grandmother always told me to live honestly and mercifully—not through deceits, and seduction. Only then, will I be able to understand the creation of love.
“Ebon” I said out loud. “Once again, I need your assistance.”
Chapter Seventeen
The Emperor
“I watched my legs bend, carefully going to the ground.”
I laid out the facts. No one reported any meteor crash or phenomena in the Okanogan Forest. The large crater is far from being man made. A majestic crystal rock who Avalon calls catarelia is shrinking as we speak. Lastly, what are the chances of finding a pregnant, possibly insane woman in the country’s most restricted forest? I still haven’t found an explanation to how I woke up here. This must be real, but if it is, then what is real?
When I returned to the cabin, I pinched my checks and called Dr. Graham to grasp a hold on myself. Of course Dr. Graham found it strange that I called him, but I easily evaded his suspicions, by explaining that I dialed the wrong number.
Standing here, in front of her, I can’t find a reason to disprove what Avalon so heartedly believes. I hoped cameras would pop out of the forest with pranksters laughing and Avalon confessing that she’s a professional actress. Dr. Graham would be the director, and I would laugh this out. But no one came out of the bushes.
Avalon looks nothing from our idea of an alien. She looks approachable with her straight nose, and the colored sea in her eyes. Anyone can consider her a beautiful woman: her lips are full and pink, her silky short hair curves around her face like a curtain, her eyebrows are sharp, and she eats in a graceful manner. Her way of speaking is most unique to my ears, she speaks slowly, with a deep soft tone. Avalon’s body is longer than an average woman, overall, she doesn’t look abnormal. Since I first saw her sleeping, I've been examining her torn clothes that have been bathed in mud. The red fabric is torn, some parts are shredded, by who—I don’t know.
When the word vessel came out of her mouth, Kinoki chattered and growled. To Kinoki, this woman is dangerous, but that doesn’t even explain how Avalon guessed Kinoki’s name. This is frustrating—I can’t put a single piece together!
Avalon’s permanent gaze on my belly ended, she moved her glittery eyes to the Cascade Mountains. Her eyelashes are so thick, they almost resembled a flat paint brush. We didn’t need to exchange any words, we are so stuck in our own minds.
Avalon’s speech bothered me the most, her English is unusual, especially when she reverted to speaking to herself. Right now, she’s chatting to an imaginary friend she calls Ebon. Afterwards, she looked back at me and nodded to herself.
“Lay on your back” she commented. “You look tired.”
“I don’t think I want to do that.” I replied.
“We can talk for hours and soon your feet will be too swollen to circulate any blood. Besides, your height is hurting my neck.”
I was about to give a second objection but my body is starting to sink. I watched my legs bend, carefully going to the ground. My body is moving on its own! My eyesight started to get blurry, like someone threw water into them. Even my eyelids are getting heavy. Avalon watched me whimper as I resist my body’s autonomous movements. When laid on the ground, the expression on her face never changed. The moment my eyes closed, a heat-wave wrapped me. It’s that same warmth from the night I almost suffocated me in my bedroom.
“So it was you.” I said, feeling lethargic. “You created that strange heat in my cabin.”
The wind brushed my face, but I can no longer feel the cold chill. I sunk into what is starting to feel like a sauna.
“Avalon.” I gasped. “Why is it so hot?”
“Sleep.” said Avalon, closing her own eyes. “You will see in a few moments.”
I opened my eyes to a splendor sight of the stars and wisps of clouds. I’m in space, at least, I think I am. I kicked my feet around until I felt the solid invisible ground.
“What you experiencing at the cabin is was no heat.” said an incoming voice. “Not the literal term of heat at least.”
Avalon greeted me with a faint smile. She’s no longer on the ground, dirty, and cold. She’s standing upright, in gracious, dignified matter. The collar around her neck is no longer to
rn, the burgundy cloth that draped over her chest has more designs engraved in the center. This Avalon is different than the one in the forest, this one looks intimidating.
“Am I dreaming?” I said.
“Yes.” she replied.
“Is this how you lured me to the forest?”
“Yes.” she revealed. “I asked Ebon to put you to sleep. Fear not, you’re not going anywhere today. You are asleep for one reason. I want you to understand, however, arguing is leading us nowhere. What I’m about to share will be another extension of betrayal to my people. I’m willing to reveal our sacred information, information you don’t deserve to know.”
“Thank you for your offer.” I replied. “But I’m not interested.”
I asked Avalon to let me wake up, but she didn’t pay any mind to my request. She only looked ahead and told me to never repeat what she is about to tell me. She’s persistent to convince me to believe everything that comes out of her mouth.
“We are the Lenur.” began Avalon. “Osois is our home.”
“I told you—I don’t want to know!” I exclaimed.
Avalon told me I might want to prepare myself for what’s about to happen. Her index finger aimed towards a planet surrounded by wisps of gray and white clouds. It resembled the same clouds that circle the cold regions of earth.
“Osois means sleep. Our planet is continuously consumed by snow. It takes a decade for Osois to completely circle our burning star, thus, for nine years we are enveloped in snow. On the tenth year, the sun blesses us, and the snow evaporates. Our prolonged exposure to the cold temperature, altered the developing stages for an unborn Lenur.”
A ghostly woman appeared, she’s naked, and pregnant. Some of her features matched Avalon, but it isn’t her.
“Lenurs reside in the womb for 5 earthly years, maturing mentally and physically. This woman is my mother.”
The woman went from a ghostly figure to a solid state. She looks so real, she could speak to us any second. Instead, Avalon’s mother rubbed her belly, smiling away.
“We are born with developed muscles and bones, while we may look no different than a human infant, we can walk and speak within weeks. We are created in a way that compels us to become robust at birth. You have an animal that shares that values that essential, I believe you call it an elephant. After birth, a newborn elephant must learn to walk within hours, we are pressured to do the same. If we don’t become strong at birth, we will die by the next stages of life. You may think of us as a potentially strong species, however; we have a weakness—a curse.”
The woman disappeared along with the planet and stars. Were now inside a forest, enveloped in snow. The place is no different than the Okanogan Forest. The pine trees are an exception, they’re massive—twice as large as our General Sherman, a giant sequoia tree.
We met a little girl, who’s taking a stroll on the heavy snow, her eyes focused on each step she took.
“That’s me.” admitted Avalon.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m carefully trying to walk on the snow, without sinking in.”
The little Avalon should have died from frost bite. She’s barely covered in winter clothes. She’s wearing a dark red dress with a white tunic. Her leather boots wrapped her legs to the knee, kept in place by a white lace.
“Do I look alive to you?” she asked.
I answered with a simple yes, she’s moving isn’t she?
“In your world, I would be considered dead. If you were to check my pulse as a child, you would feel no heartbeat.”
I looked at the little Avalon. No heartbeat means flat line—she doesn’t look dead to me. Avalon raised her hand and pressed it at the center of her chest.
“Our hearts don’t beat like yours—it remains dormant to a Lenur child. The organ is temporarily useless. We internal supply blood to the vital areas by familiarizing with the activities of our cells. Many child Lenurs can die by not properly learning this from their parents.”
You don’t need to be a scientist to know that taking the heart of every animal on earth will kill it instantly. I want to debate her outrageous statement, but it will be better for me to just listen. Only a biologist will have the passion to object her claim. As for me, I’m stuck in this dream.
I watched the child memory of Avalon miss a step. Her entire body sunk into the snow. All I can see is her little fingers, wiggling for a way out. I almost moved to help her, until the snow began to shrink—no, melt. A ghostly figure pulled Avalon out and carried her on her hip. This woman is not Avalon’s mother. She’s old, slim, and very tall. Avalon mentioned a woman named Famira, it’s her grandmother, the woman who took her in. The young Avalon pressed her cheeks against Famira’s neck. They walked away, until they vanished.
“On we reach a certain age, every child Lenur will be haunted by the spirits of dead children. It’s a curse created by the practice of countless death. This stage begins when the body matures, when a female’s breast enlarge, when a male’s height increases. Hormones overwhelm the body in sweeping amounts.”
“Sounds like puberty.” I interrupted.
“Do you train your body and mind for puberty’s arrival?” asked Avalon.
“No.” I replied baffled. “It’s a natural process, we just let it run its course. It’s no Olympic tournament to be in adolescence.”
“Before adolescence, a Lenurs entire life is at risk. We have an obligation to train and prepare ourselves for what we call Yi, the awakening of our dormant hearts.”
To help me understand, Avalon’s hand clenched to a fist. She told me her fist represented a Lenur’s heart.
“What do you think will happen to a child Lenur, whose heart finally beats?”
Avalon’s fist swiftly opened like a flower in bloom.
“At an unprecedented age of puberty, Yi awakens, and the heart beats for the first time. The first beat is a magnified source of energy, the second even superior. In your world, our heart are like a stored nuclear reactor, one we must prepare to control at a young age. To do so we must prepare to resist the high peaks of energy invading everything from the very follicle of our hair, to our psyche. Our mind is thrown into a dark abyss, where to many—there is no return. The feeling is pleasurable, our minds reset to that of wild beast. It’s difficult to resist the temptation of power resting at our fingertips. The consequences however are not so great. Lenurs without a controlled heart will become insane, resulting in the death of many.
This power is not artificial, it’s given to us by the Creator. Somewhere down the line, it became twisted by our selfishness where we now have no control. To tame that strength, we must be strong enough to overcome it, and control our desire to be self-destructive. I believe in your world the temptation you have to overcome are more complex. You humans have so many sins against you, but when you commit them, you may still live another day. Our sin is biological, we can die that very moment.”
I asked Lola how tweens with superpowers lead to their end. Avalon’s face saddened, a glimpse of shame is written on her face. Avalon’s head sunk to the floor, we left the snowy forest. Now were standing on an open field, and with no surprised we’re once against surrounded by snow. At least, that’s what I thought, until I noticed a pool of blood on the ground. There’s a man on the floor, lying face down. His hair is as silver as Avalon’s. A woman crawled nearby, her clothes are also stained in blood. The thick snow around them is turning into red slush. Slowly, a child crept behind her, he too is dripping in red blood. I thought he was about to reach behind her and hug her, instead, he shoved his hands through the woman’s neck. His eyes have rolled back, shrieking a laughter at the sound of the woman’s last breath. I stepped back frightened and ready to run. Avalon stopped me and told me to just watch. In the boys laughter two older men took hold of him and shoved crystal like swords into his heart. His chest tore open and his heart fell out. The boy fell silently. I cried and covered my face.
“Stop!” I cried. “Stop!
”
We returned back into dark space. My own heart raced, unlike the Lenurs, mine is innocently beating.
“When a Lenur cannot control their awaken heartbeat, they can destroy anything that defies them. The only way we can stop a child Lenur who cannot maintain their destructive power is through execution. That boy you saw killed his own sister, the man on the floor was a volunteer.
Those chosen to kill untamed Lenurs are often family members and friends. Unlike a stranger, they have a better chance quickly expose their weaknesses. What you saw is a successful kill. Often times, an awakened Lenur frequently requires more than a family unit. It takes at least a dozen adults to silence one untamed child, that doesn’t include the expense of severe casualties. Millions of children are born each year and thousands die at the start of one child’s heartbeat. The only way we can overcome our own heartbeat, is through our own strength. Those who succeed, are considered worthy among our society and allowed to return to their normal lives. Those that die have a terrible fate. Their souls can linger and attach into child Lenurs who have yet to experience their first heartbeat. The dead enjoy the taste of life, a life only a heartbeat can offer them.”
“Is that the curse?” I asked.
“Yes, the dead children crave that power, and will lurk into any child’s first heartbeat.”
Avalon’s eyes lowered, the hand that bloomed into a flower surfaced on her stomach. As far as I’m concerned, at puberty, child Lenurs are exposed to a supernatural power that can overtake them. But who decides that? Is it a law they follow? Avalon is obviously a grown woman, which means—
“You survive your own heartbeat.” I concluded.
We left the dark space and a dark cave laminated by a single candle. I can her the rapid breaths, and echoing moans. A teenage Avalon is on her knees, shaking vibrantly. Avalon’s grandmother is there, gently rubbing her granddaughters back.
“When she saw my body began to develop, my grandmother locked me in a cave resting beneath the levels of the ocean for a year. If my heart awoke on land, we would catch unwanted attention. We waited patiently for my heart to beat. It was a nightmare to me. My grandmother was ready to behead me when I fell close to giving into the power. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, but I prevailed, I passed.”
The Birth (The Black Wing Book 1) Page 14
