Bannack looked at the human women, and at Eden, her belly swollen with Pyra's child, the first of the new generation of Denynso, with respect and gratitude, but even these comforting feelings were not enough to dampen the fury and aggression that had been tormenting him since they dropped down from the moss-hidden holes in the forest into the mirror world beneath the compound. This was anger and intensity like he had never experienced, and he struggled with understanding what could be creating these feelings inside him when the other warriors didn't seem anywhere near as affected by the battle, or even by Jem's death, as he was. Though they had all expressed their own dark and painful emotions, they all seemed composed and controlled.
Soon Bannack couldn't take it anymore.
Chapter Three
Bannack could hear the warriors behind him shouting as he broke out of their formation and started back toward the compound. He just couldn't stand there with the rest of the warriors anymore. He couldn’t stand there and look at the kneeling women, the stoic king and queen, and the confused, hurting human women. He couldn’t stand there and stare into the purple water, part of him waiting for Jem to simply swim to the edge and climb up out of it with his usual smile on his face, the funeral rite and the funnel of water somehow resurrecting him from his resting place in the reflected sky and allowing him to return to their number. He needed to get away.
He continued into the compound, picking up speed as he went so that he could put the lake and the entire ritual behind him as fast as he could. The emotions churning through him were too dark and too difficult for him to cope with, and he felt like he was losing control. Deep down, however, he knew that this was not all about Jem, or the battle. There was something else at play and it was pushing him ever forward toward the brink of his control over himself. He didn't know what was pushing him or how far he could go, but the thought of what may exist just beyond that threshold of control scared him.
"Bannack!" Pyra yelled from behind him as Bannack made it back into the center of the compound.
Bannack stopped and turned to face the other warriors as they streamed through the compound and joined him. He knew they were going to be angry with him. Leaving a funeral like that was not only extremely disrespectful to the fallen warrior, but to the rest of the tribe that relied on every member to band together during these difficult times and offer each other as much strength and support as possible.
"What?" he demanded as the massive, powerful warrior approached him.
"What the hell do you think you are doing storming out of the funeral like that?" Pyra shouted at him.
"I couldn't just stand there anymore, Pyra. With everything that just happened yesterday, how can we just stay goodbye to Jem and honor his death, and then move on like nothing happened? Like just because the Klimnu are gone, everything is perfectly fine and we should just go about our lives all happy and wonderful."
"What else would you want us to do, Bannack? The Klimnu are gone. The threat is over. It is horrible that Jem had to give his life for that to happen, but any of us would have. He sacrificed himself so that we could continue on with a future that isn't filled with all of the fear and pain and battles that they have put us through over the generations. We owe it to him to acknowledge what he did and honor him by continuing on with our lives."
"Pretending that there is nothing else that could threaten us is not honoring Jem, or anything that the rest of us went through. Jem is not the only one that suffered. We all put ourselves through brutality and pain to protect the clan and the compound. Now you just want us to think that that was it, that the Klimnu are all that could possibly ever want to get in our way or take over our land. What about the mirror world where Jem died? Can you explain that?"
Pyra fell silent and Bannack could see him stiffen. The warriors didn't want to think about that anymore. They didn't want to think about the strange, unexplainable place that none of them knew existed just beneath their feet, and what it could mean for them. Bannack saw Pyra look over his shoulder at the king and queen, who were approaching them quietly, their faces showing that they were as curious about what the warriors had gone through during the battle as Bannack was eager to talk about it and try to figure everything out.
"Is this the mirror world that the women told us about?" Creia asked.
Pyra nodded.
"We haven't heard very much about it."
"Tell them," Bannack demanded, "If you are so sure that there is nothing else to fear now that the Klimnu are gone, why don't you tell Creia, Theia, and the women about what we saw when we were down there?"
He wasn't used to standing up to Pyra like this, and usually he would expect for the head warrior to react strongly, even violently, but Bannack didn't care. He was tired of feeling like he was crawling within his own skin and that he was being ignored. It seemed ridiculous to him that they were all so willing to think that just because they had gotten rid of one source of threat in their lives that there would be nothing else. To him, the battle was only the beginning.
"I'm willing to talk about it," Pyra said slowly.
Creia nodded and turned to the others, who waited several feet away, not knowing what they should do. Eden stood slightly in front of the others, one hand rested over her growing belly protectively as she stared at her mate as if she could control his behavior just by staring intently at his back.
"Those who wish to know what the warriors and our brave human women experienced in the battle may come into the meeting hall with us and hear. Those who are not interested are welcome to go home and do what they please until dinnertime."
There were a few seconds where it seemed that the other warriors, the Denynso women, and the human women seemed to contemplate within themselves, and then with each other, whether they wanted to join in on the conversation about the battle. Some seemed to immediately know that they wanted to know what had happened. Others drifted toward the back of the center of the compound, drawn toward their homes where they could put the mourning behind them and continue forward in the Klimnu-free future that they had dreamed of for their entire lives.
Finally Bannack turned and climbed the stairs into the building, letting the others fall into step behind him. He walked into the main room of the meeting hall and took his place at one of the long tables positioned around the center of the room. Most of the other warriors, all of the human women, and a few of the Denynso women, along with the king and queen, made their way in after them and joined him at the tables.
"Tell us what happened," Theia said as the last person settled into place at the table.
They all had their eyes focused on Bannack, but he turned his gaze to Pyra. No matter what type of anger, frustration, and aggression he was experiencing, he knew that it was his position to respect Pyra. He had already stepped out of line so far that he deserved severe punishment, and it was time now that he relented and resumed the position chosen for him, which meant handing over the control of telling the story of the battle to Pyra.
"Do you remember when Zuri, Samira, and the other women went into the cave and discovered the tunnel that led down to the strange world that they described, where they saw the Klimnu?" Pyra started.
Everyone at the table nodded.
"Of course. That's why you created the battle plan as you did in the first place."
Pyra nodded in return and continued forward, describing the holes in the forest floor that were covered by moss, concealing them, explaining how they used the vines in the trees to attack the Klimnu, and recounting again the last horrific moments of Jem's life. Though Jem had gone into his death courageously, and even joyfully, it had been a crushing moment for everyone that was there. It was especially difficult for Ty, who had tried so hard to save him and who had made the decision to honor Jem's wishes and release him so that he could perform his final feat of heroism.
"Tell us what you're thinking, Bannack," Pyra said.
Bannack looked up and realized that everyone at the table was staring
at him. He didn't know how long it had been since Pyra had stopped talking. He had been staring at the dark surface of the table, letting the images of the mirror world cross over his eyes again and again. He couldn't fight them, so he relinquished his mind to them, allowing himself to review them over and over so that he could clarify the details and commit them solidly to memory.
"Who made that mirror world? Was it the Klimnu, or did they steal it like they wanted to steal our compound?"
Chapter Four
Bannack's words seemed to stun the others sitting at the table and he met their eyes carefully. He wanted what he had said to sink in and for them to really think about it. It had been something that he had been thinking about constantly since they first realized that the Klimnu were using the underground realm to infiltrate the compound. It seemed to him that if the Klimnu had had that capacity to create such an incredible, complex space, they would have had been able to put more into their attacks on the Denynso. It didn't make sense to him that a species that had spent generations so devoted to capturing Creia and taking down the entire clan, and who were known for their sparse, rough lifestyle would have put forth the effort to build something so strange, but so beautiful. It struck him as much more likely that the creatures had done what was in their nature and simply taken what they wanted rather than making it for themselves.
"How much do you know about the rest of the planet, Creia?"
The king looked older and more weathered in that moment than Bannack had ever seen him. He didn't know if it was from the strain and stress of the battle or the realization that the peaceful future that he had dreamed of for so long was not yet guaranteed for them.
"Nothing," the king admitted, "The Denynso have been here for the entire existence of our kind. Our home has always been here. The compound has expanded since then, but it has been as it is now for as long as I can remember, and likely well before that."
"So you don't know what other types of creatures might live on Uoria?" Pyra asked.
The tremendous warrior suddenly seemed shaken. He stared at Creia with an expression on his face that seemed at once dismayed, let down, and angry. Bannack could understand exactly what he was feeling. Creia was a powerful and mighty king, one that they followed with absolute loyalty and devotion. He had been on the throne for longer than any of them had been alive, and was, in fact, the father of many of the warriors. To think that he had lived on that compound for his entire life without ever knowing what lay beyond it was disappointing and disheartening.
"It is our tradition to fight only those who threaten us. We have battled with species that have come from other planets, we have fought the Klimnu, and we have struggled against ourselves at times. There has never been the need to venture far out of our compound or to interact with any of the others that may occupy Uoria."
Pyra straightened and Bannack could see the darkness and anger roll over his eyes.
"How have you allowed us to not know what's beyond our compound? The unknown is what made the Klimnu such a brutal force, and what almost allowed them to defeat us. The entire planet is unknown to us. What if there are other creatures who know that we are here and want to come after us?"
"There has never been a threat, Pyra," Creia said sternly, speaking to his son with the tone of both a father and a king.
"Every threat comes after a time when there has been no threat."
Pyra seemed to be fighting to control himself. The anger was building inside him with such force it was visible. Eden reached out a hand and rested it on her mate's arm, looking at him with eyes that pled for him to stay calm.
"Are you questioning my choices as king?" Creia asked, the tone of his voice like a warning.
"I am questioning your decision, as someone who has been the primary focus of the violence and strategic attacks of the Klimnu, to pretend that there couldn't be other threats existing outside the compound. You say that our people have battled creatures from other planets. Why have we been so quick to wage war against species that come from other places in the galaxy, when we don't know anything about the species that live right on our own planet?"
There were several long, tense seconds and the look on Creia's face went from anger to regret.
"I wanted to do as all of the leaders before me have done, and I wanted to do what I thought was right for my people and my family. Staying in and near the compound meant staying safe. If we stayed here, we didn't cause trouble with the others that inhabit the planet. To me, that seemed to reduce the chances that we would be in danger."
"But we are warriors. We are known around the galaxy for that."
"Just because we can go to war, Pyra, doesn't mean that we always have to. I didn't want to watch my children face any dangers that they didn't have to."
Pyra looked at Eden and then back at Creia.
"I am going to have a child of my own soon. I don't want that child born into a world that I don't understand. I have heard about the threat of the Klimnu my entire life. They have been looking for you for as long as I know. They're gone now, but how do I protect my child if I don't even know what I should be protecting him from?"
The mention of his grandchild, the first of the new generation, seemed to change something in Creia. He looked at Eden with painful softness in his eyes. She carried the hope of the future of their kind, and in that moment Bannack could see Creia shift. He couldn't let anything happen to that baby, and that meant finding out what threats could be lurking just outside the compound.
"Start with the mirror world," Creia said, his voice returning to his usual strong, steady tone, "Find out what you can about it. Find out if there are any species that live there, and then report back here. We will decide what to do about the rest of the planet from there."
Without another word, the warriors stood and started toward the door. Zuri, Samira, and Elianna followed closely behind, determined to return to where they had joined in the battle alongside their mates. Eden stayed behind, knowing that Pyra would never allow her to do something as dangerous as wander into an unknown area that had already claimed the life of one of their warriors when she was as far into her pregnancy as she was, and Leia stayed to be with her.
The warriors knew that they would not be able to get down the tunnel in the cave, so they would have to go down into the mirror realm in the same way that they did before the battle. They walked through the compound toward the forest in silence. Bannack could feel the tension among them and knew that they felt the same way that he did. None of them wanted to go back to the site of the battle so soon.
When they got to the forest, Bannack watched as Ero and Pyra pulled away the layers of moss that covered the holes leading down into the mirror realm beneath the compound. Moving slowly and carefully, they climbed down one by one. Bannack followed Pyra, grabbing onto one of the dangling vines as soon as he got deep enough. He wrapped the vine tightly around his wrist and forearm to secure him, and swung over so that he could grab onto the tree.
He concentrated on each of his movements, going slowly and carefully to keep himself from tumbling down toward the bright blue reflection of the sky that looked even more like water rippling across the ground of the massive cavern. Bannack looked up and watched the rest of the warriors make their way down the trees. The human women were last, coming down even more gradually than their warriors due to their smaller size. The warriors watched them intently, ready to catch them if they stumbled. Once they made it all the way down, they gripped onto their mates, holding them closely both to keep themselves steady on the branches that stretched out across the sky and to gain strength and comfort from their presence.
As Bannack looked around, he felt the fury and aggression that had eased slightly roar back into full intensity. His stomach clenched and he felt a strange pressure building throughout his pelvis and down his thighs. He struggled against the feeling, fighting to focus on what Pyra was saying even though his voice seemed to be coming through fog at him. Bannack tightened his gr
ip around the vines, hoping that the pain of the thick plant cutting into his palm would turn his focus from the feelings building inside him. Around him the warriors were strategizing about how to safely and effectively explore the cavern, but all Bannack could think about was the intense, almost irresistible pull he felt toward the back corner.
Chapter Five
I sank as deeply down into the shadows as I could while still being able to see the Denynso and the women I assumed to be the human females that had joined their tribe. The fear coursed through me so powerfully that I felt like I couldn't catch my breath and I struggled to hold myself silent as I watched them. I had, of course, seen them before. They had been there only the day before when they had descended from the moss and struck down the pale, disgusting creatures that had been crawling through my home for many months.
I didn't think that any of them noticed that I was there. Just like during the battle, I stayed out of sight, keeping completely to myself so that they didn't know that I even existed. That was the way that I liked it, the way that it had been for several years since the rest of my kind succumbed to an illness so severe that it burned through our families in a matter of days and killed everyone that it touched. I had no idea why it spared me. There have been many times when I wished that it hadn't. It would have been much simpler to let it take me as it had everyone that I knew and loved. Instead, it left me with the memory of youngest sister disappearing into the sky as I let her slip through my fingers.
The creatures that live on the ground above me have never known that we were here. My grandmother once told me that our kind didn't always live in this cavern. We once lived where the Denynso have settled, but a brutal war with another species and a plague that threatened our very existence drove us down into the cavern, a space that the wisest and most powerful of our species living then transformed into a reflection of the land above, the land that our clan loved so deeply. They had no way of knowing that the plague followed us down. It would be many generations before it struck again, but when it did it did so with a vengeance and only I was left behind.
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