Once the team was far enough away from the village, they stopped.
“We should be safe from patrol now,” Xala said. “I think I’m going to have something to drink. It’ll be very important to stay hydrated, and you can never start that too soon.”
“I could use a drink myself,” Mills said.
“I brought vib steep,” Anaxis said. “Anyone interested?”
“Ew, no,” Mills said. “You’re the only one in Talx that likes vib, Anaxis.”
“I’m afraid he’s right,” said Xala. “I can’t stand the stuff.”
“Fine,” Anaxis said. “More for me.”
“After our little rest, we’ll drop down the cliff at the same location you came up it,” Xala said. “I trust you’ve brought the rope?”
“Right here,” Anaxis said, patting his bag after he put his container of steep back into it.
“Excellent. I hope the two of you won’t mind giving me a hand, lowering me,” Xala said. “My upper body strength isn’t what it used to be. Who am I kidding, it never was! I’m weak in body. But strong in mind!”
“Of course we’ll lower you down, and then climb ourselves,” said Anaxis.
“Excellent. Are we hydrated?” Xala asked.
“I’m good,” said Mills.
“Me, too,” said Anaxis. “To the cliff!”
The three returned to where only days ago Anaxis had been rescued from the desert. Mills crept to the edge and stared over it, down at the river below.
“It’s really a lot farther down that I thought,” he said with a gulp.
“Can you believe I fell that whole way?” Anaxis asked. “It’s unbelievable I didn’t smash my head on the rocks.”
“You’re not making this any easier,” Mills said.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about, Mills,” Anaxis said. “Just hold the rope tight.”
“Okay. So I’ll keep my foot in this loop,” Xala said of one end of the rope Anaxis produced from his bag, “And we can wrap the other end around that slender boulder over there.”
“Wait a minute… We’re going to have to climb back up, aren’t we?” Mills groaned.
“The two of you will, yes,” said Xala. “Then you’ll pull me up.”
“Lucky you. I can’t wait until I’m old,” Mills said.
“Well, you’ll have to,” Xala retorted. “Alright, now, I’m depending on the two of you. Don’t let me fall, okay?”
“Don’t worry,” said Anaxis. “You can count on us.”
Xala hung her green-glowing lantern from her bag and stepped into the rope loop.
“That’s it, then,” she said. “Here I go!”
Anaxis and Mills lowered Xala down the side of the cliff, slowly, until she let them know she had reached the bottom with a tug on the rope.
“Who’s next?” Mills asked.
“You go,” said Anaxis. “I’ll make sure the rope holds.”
“Okay,” Mills sighed. “Here goes nothing.”
Mills made his way down as quickly as he could with his legs wrapped around the rope, and his eyes squeezed shut, then let Anaxis know he had reached the bottom.
“My turn,” Anaxis said to himself.
He slid swiftly down the rope, passing hand over hand, until he, too, was next to the river with the others.
“What’s that horrible smell?” he asked. “Mills?”
“Funny,” Mills said. “No, I think it’s the cannar.”
Two of the beasts, which had been rotting in the heat of the sun for days, were festering nearby. Anaxis felt a pang of renewed guilt looking at the animals.
“Poor things,” he said.
“Gross. How did you get across the river?” Mills asked.
“There are some rocks…” Anaxis said, searching the watery stretch for the route he had taken. “They form a little bridge… Hard to see in the dark, though.”
“We don’t want to search until sunrise,” Xala said. “The heat will be too great. I’ve just the thing.”
She went into her bag and produced three leather bags, which she passed around.
“What are these?” Anaxis asked.
“Buoyancy hides,” Xala answered. “Find the intake,” she said, demonstrating for the others the valve on her own bag, “And fill them with air. They will allow us to float over the river.”
“Wonderful,” Anaxis marveled. “You’ve got a whole bag of tricks, don’t you, Xala?”
“That I never get to use in Talx, yes,” Xala said. “But we can use them now, can’t we? Go ahead, fill your hides.”
The team used their flotation devices to cross the slow-moving river. They were all three wet when they reached the other side, but the night was still warm and dry, and as such they wouldn’t remain so for long.
“Alright, you show us the way,” Xala said, deflating her hide.
“I remember these rocks,” Anaxis said. “I know just where we are. Follow me!”
Under the blanket of stars, Xala, Mills, and Anaxis made their way down the riverbank.
“It’s so perfect this time of year,” Anaxis said. “Not too hot, not too cold. Perfect stargazing conditions. I’ve really been missing out. My parents haven’t let me see the constellations for days.”
“Just how badly are you going to get punished for this one, do you think?” Mills asked.
“I don’t know. I had never been grounded, so that was the worst they could come up with. I imagine the punishment for this will be death,” Anaxis answered.
“Ah, well,” Mills said. “You were a good friend, Anax.”
“Thank you, Mills,” said Anaxis. “Pity for it all to end this way.”
“You two are silly,” said Xala. “How far do you think we are from the crash site, Anaxis?”
“Maybe twenty runs,” Anaxis answered. “To be honest, I was so excited, I wasn’t paying attention as to how long it took to get back. I’m not sure what time in the night I spotted the crash, or how long it took for the sun to start to come up the next morning.”
“I suppose we’ll get there when we get there,” said Xala.
“You’re sure we’re going in the right direction, though, right?” Mills asked Anaxis.
“There’s only the one river, so, yes,” Anaxis answered. “We’ll come to the fork, we have to. We’ll take a left there.”
“Okay,” Mills said. He scooped up a smooth rock and skipped it across the murmuring river.
“Look!” Xala said, pointing up. “Meteor shower!”
The sky was streaked with tiny white tears, which appeared and disappeared like sparks from a fire.
“How did what you see compare to those meteors?” Mills asked Anaxis.
“Well, it looked the same, at first. But then it changed to a green color, as it got closer,” Anaxis answered.
“Meteors can be many colors, depending on their composition,” said Xala. “Most of the ones we’re seeing now must be burning up in the atmosphere.”
“What I saw burst into flames before it hit the ground,” said Anaxis. “It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. Actually, now that I’m remembering, the night before I had eaten biora, from the river, and it made me hallucinate. What I saw under the effect of that was really strange, too.”
“Ah, biora. I know it well. What visions did you see?” asked Xala.
“First, I saw a purple lizard. It talked to me. Said hello,” Anaxis answered.
“Purple lizard, huh?” Mills asked.
“Yup. And then I saw the sky bend, the stars, they pressed down in the shape of a face, and the face told me to go to Gnirean. Isn’t that strange?” Anaxis asked.
“Yes,” Mills answered. “Yes, it is.”
“Why would your subconscious tell you to go to Gnirean?” Xala wondered. “Perhaps you are yearning for something more? Perhaps your dissatisfaction with village life, combined with our talking about Gnirean days before, combined into the vision you had?”
“Maybe,” said Anaxis. “I don�
�t want to go to Gnirean, though, that’s for certain.”
“No?” Xala asked. “I think I would.”
“Have a bit of a death wish, do you?” Mills asked Xala.
“Hardly,” Xala answered. “I don’t believe traveling to Gnirean would mean death. Rather, I think it would mean wonders untold. A better life, in fact. From what I read in the book I had, Gnirean culture is unparalleled.”
“I don’t know,” Mills said. “Don’t they mutilate cannar? Don’t they enslave outsiders?”
“I don’t believe those things to be true,” Xala answered. “Or, at the very least, I don’t know for certain either way. But I’d like to. I’d like to see the place with my own eyes. You can only believe what you experience for yourself.”
“Hey, maybe after we explore the crash site, we can all go to Gnirean together,” Anaxis joked. “Why, we might as well trek across the whole planet! Make a week out of it.”
“I know you’re joking,” Xala said, “But I don’t have too many years left. And I plan on doing that very thing in the near future.”
“You’re going to leave us, Xala?” Mills asked.
“I have to, Mills,” Xala answered. “I’m not from Talx originally, you know.”
“No?” asked Anaxis. “Where are you from?”
“From a far-off place,” Xala answered.
“How far?” Mills asked.
“As far away from Talx as you can get,” answered Xala. “Someday I’ll tell you two my stories. But I’ve always found that it’s best while you’re in the middle of an adventure to just enjoy the adventure. When you’re back at life, when you’ve got time to pass and chores to do, that’s the time for reflection.”
“Well I’d sure like to hear your stories, when the time is right,” said Mills.
“And hear them you shall,” said Xala.
The three had entered a field of angular rocks.
“Something about this place seems familiar,” Anaxis said.
“Maybe because you’ve been here before?” Mills asked.
“No, that’s not it,” Anaxis said.
Some of the rocks started to tremble.
“I remember now!” Anaxis shouted. “It’s a freck! We’re standing on a giant freck shell! Run!”
“No,” Xala countered. “No, hold tight to one of the rocks!”
“Xala…” Anaxis started to argue, but the instructor was already holding fast to one of the shaking forms.
“Hold tight, boys, trust me!” Xala shouted.
Against his best judgment, Anaxis grabbed one of the freck’s spikes and clung tight. Mills did the same, and the three were lifted up from the desert floor. The huge freck they stood atop started to lumber forward, as the sand fell from around the spikes on its shell and the three riders standing on it.
“Frecks are excellent modes of desert travel, Anaxis,” Xala said as the three bobbed up and down with the movement of the animal.
“That makes sense,” Anaxis said. “I was just so scared, when it happened before and I was alone.”
“That is understandable,” said Xala. “But I’ve got plenty of experience riding frecks. When life gets shaky, it doesn’t mean you have to run, it means you have to hold on even tighter!”
The freck walked alongside the river for some time before it crawled down the bank and slipped in. Xala, Mills, and Anaxis bobbed atop the animal as it paddled downstream, a cool wind blowing through the air and the meteor shower putting on an incredible show overhead. When the fork in the river came, the freck continued on and its three passengers waved thank-you and goodbye.
When the team had nearly reached where the crash site should have been, after walking all through the night, nature’s pastel paintbrush was slowly transforming the landscape. The shadows and grays of pre-dawn slowly gave way to subdued tinges on the orange rocks scattered across the dunes. In no time, pinks, blues and reds painted the desert landscape for as far as the team could see, and crimson light rimmed the corners of the mountains in the far distance.
“Are we there yet?” Mills asked. “I think I might just pass out if we have to go much further.”
“Should be over one of these dunes here,” said Anaxis.
“You need something to keep you awake?” Xala asked Mills.
“Now just yet, but I will soon,” said Mills.
“Let me know,” said Xala.
The three trekked over a few more wind-sculpted sand dunes, and then Anaxis saw what they had been looking for: the scattered wreckage of his mysterious ship, glittering in the light of the rising sun. Only, it wasn’t all that was waiting: there was another ship beside it, one completely intact. And three figures in dark robes moving about the crash site.
“They aren’t dead, Anax…” Mills started to say, but Anaxis dropped down onto the sand and pulled his friend with him before he could finish.
Xala knelt down beside them, still peering over the dune at the activity on the other side.
“They were!” Anaxis whispered. “That second ship wasn’t there before, either. Xala, who are those people?”
Xala gave a wave over the dune. “Whoever they are,” she said, “They’ve spotted us.”
Anaxis and Mills stood back up hesitantly and watched one of the hooded figures walk slowly from the crash site towards them, then up the dune to where they waited.
“Hello,” Xala said when the stranger was near. “Do you speak Molari?”
“I do,” the figure answered. They removed their hood, revealing a smiling Valorian face covered in a white beard. “Good morning.”
“G...Good morning,” Anaxis managed.
Mills blinked his wide eyes and opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
“What brings you three out here?” the man asked.
“We’re here looking for that crash site down there,” Xala answered. “It looks like you’ve beat us to it. We’re coming from the village of Talx, to the west.”
“That’s a long journey to make on foot,” the stranger said.
“We had some help from a giant freck,” Xala said. “My name is Xala. This is Anaxis, and Mills. What is your name?”
“Cine,” the man answered. “Those two down there are Orn and Laquin.”
“Is that your ship?” Xala asked.
“Yes,” Cine answered. “The crashed one isn’t, though. How did you three know it was here?”
Xala looked to Anaxis to answer.
“Oh, I, well, I was in the desert, well, obviously, and I was walking along, and I saw it fall from the sky,” Anaxis answered. “I went back to my village to get help investigating it.”
“I see,” said Cine. “It’s quite bizarre, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir,” Anaxis said.
“If it is not your ship that crashed, do you know where it came from?” Xala asked Cine.
“We believe it came from space,” Cine answered. “That it originated on the planet Alm.”
“On another planet?” Mills asked, astounded. “How? What?”
“We thought it might be from Gnirean,” Xala said. “What makes you think it’s extraterrestrial?”
“Well, we all are,” the man said.
“You all come from the planet Alm?” Xala asked.
“Not just us, all Valorians do,” Cine answered.
“Oh. Care to explain?” Xala asked.
“The heat is rising,” Cine said. “Perhaps we can discuss this further in our ship?”
Mills shook his head in protest when Anaxis looked for his opinion.
“Is it safe?” Anaxis asked.
“Perfectly,” Cine answered. “I promise.”
“Xala?” Anaxis asked, turning to his instructor.
“I think it will be alright,” she said. “Besides, how could we possibly say no?”
“Follow me,” the robed man said.
The three villagers from Talx made their way through the wreckage, past the other two robed figures inspecting the crash. Anaxis saw that the biggest c
apsule was now empty, that the beings and the instrumentation from inside it had been removed.
Cine led the fascinated group up a walkway into the belly of his gleaming ship. The interior was all rounded edges and soft hues, and filled with the sound of a humming mechanical murmur.
“Sit, please,” Cine said, waving a hand at a bench that ran around the ovular cabin.
Xala and Anaxis sat, but Mills stayed standing near the exit.
“How did you construct such a magnificent ship?” Xala asked Cine.
“I didn’t. This ship is many hundreds of years old,” Cine answered, taking a seat in a chair at the far end of the cabin. “Most of our equipment is. We come from the south, from a place called Haven. We are keepers of ancient lore, and protectors of the future.”
“I know of Haven! Please, tell us more,” said Xala.
“There is much to know. But, succinctly, we creatures, you and I, Valorians, are descendants of a space-faring race hailing from a planet in our solar system known to its inhabitants as Alm.”
“What planet is that?” Xala asked. “In our sky, what would we know it as?”
“The fourth from the sun,” Cine answered. “You probably refer to it as Wran.”
“How did we get here?” Anaxis asked.
“In a ship. Just like the one you saw crash in the desert, but much, much larger,” Cine explained.
“How? When?” Anaxis asked.
“Tens of thousands of years ago,” Cine answered. “Though there are not many living on Valor today who remember.”
“Why not?” Anaxis asked.
“That is a long story,” Cine said. “Which I’ll be happy to tell you, but we’ll get there eventually.”
“The Gnirean,” Xala said, “Are they descendants of Alm, too?”
“They are,” Cine said. He sighed. “Though they would insist otherwise. They would destroy all others on Alm if they could.”
“Why?” Anaxis asked.
“Confusion. Misunderstanding that has become belief that generations have been indoctrinated with,” Cine said. “That is why Haven is keeping the truth. So that when those from Alm return, we can be the bridge between people. And it seems that may be happening sooner than we thought!”
“Their ship crashed, though,” Anaxis said.
“Yes,” Cine said. “Which is most troubling. We are here to try to understand why.”
Legend of Alm -The Valor Saga Pt 1 - Falling Star Page 6
