Chapter 10
Amreth
T hat first night sharing this house turned out to be a lot more restful than I expected. A genuine connection occurred last evening. Instead of tossing and turning while longing to hold her again, the memory of how perfectly she felt in my arms kept me company until morning.
A part of me was embarrassed to be so keenly aware of her arousal as her aura loudly broadcast it. Obviously, it pleased me a great deal that she should be attracted to me. But I wanted an emotional and spiritual connection with Ciara before we took things farther. Because sex with one of us was guaranteed to be phenomenal, I needed to feel like we had more than just lust as a foundation.
But that hug…
I’d never been one to have an addictive personality, until now. There was no question my mate would become my new drug. And I welcomed it.
We woke up almost at the same time. After quickly getting dressed, we met in the living area where I shamelessly stole a kiss from her, followed by a much-too-brief hug without wings. I might have tried to make it linger a bit, but the bright lights of approaching souls forced me to put an end to it.
As an Obosian, I could see souls in a very wide radius even through walls and other obstacles that blocked people’s normal sight. Even stealth shields could not fool me.
It turned out to be Aku inviting us to join the others for a quick breakfast before we each parted in our own direction. After the meal, the spectacle that greeted us outside blew us away. A handful of mounts awaited our companions and their escorts.
“These are Saguls,” Aku explained. “They allow us to travel much greater distances a lot faster than if we run or swing on trees. The previous humans who came here said they resembled horses and behaved the same.”
My mate nodded. “They certainly are the same size as a horse with a similar head. But the curves and shape of their bodies remind me more of a greyhound with the stripes of a zebra, the mane of a lion, and the horn of a unicorn, although three horns in their case.”
Aku and a couple of other Kreelars whose name I didn’t know stared at her with some of the confusion I shared. I knew of horses, lions, and unicorns, but greyhounds and zebras meant nothing to me. I suspected our hosts never heard of any of those other creatures either.
“They are beautiful!” Mehreen exclaimed with almost childish excitement. “Am I to understand we each get to ride one?”
Aku nodded. “Yes. I hope it will not be a problem?”
Ernst and Mehreen simultaneously shook their heads. “Horseback riding is compulsory training to be an Interstellar Doctor assigned to some of the primitive planets. It is often not possible or allowed by the locals for us to use shuttles. So we need to be able to adapt to whatever local transportation is available.”
A wave of shame surged through me at the instant jealousy I felt when Ciara eyed her companions with envy while the Kreelars taught them how to ride the Saguls. I’d been counting the hours, minutes, and seconds until I finally got to hold her in my arms as we raced through the skies to our destination. There was no way I would let some pretty alien creature steal my moment of proximity with my mate.
Thankfully, our destination was much too far for us to ride that mount. In fact, our escort—Enre—left ahead last night so that he could make it by the morning. To my shock, right before the two other doctors and their escorts were about to set off, a female entered the inner courtyard carrying a small package. She handed it over to her leader who then came to me.
“Here, in case you need them. I doubt it, but I would hate for you to find yourself in a precarious situation with little means to defend yourself or your mate. I trust you will show wisdom as to when or if they should be used at all.”
My jaw dropped upon seeing he had returned my blaster and my sword.
“Your trust honors me,” I said in all sincerity as I took the weapons from him.
“As your integrity honors us. Safe travels to both of you. May your trip prove fruitful,” Aku replied.
With one last nod, he turned around and hopped onto his own mount with incredible grace and dexterity that screamed of a lethal predator contained behind his controlled exterior. The extent of the importance of the work we were doing here and of the relationship we were currently developing with his people finally struck me.
Between their natural physical abilities and their newfound powers, the Kreelars would be extremely lethal foes on the battlefield. The fact that they hadn’t achieved interstellar travel on their own meant nothing when clearly more advanced species interacted with them on multiple occasions in the past. Should one of those visitors—or worse still their friends—convince them to turn on us, things could get ugly quickly. Humans already gave them a reason to resent us. And their raid on the Gladius proved they could wreak havoc beyond their planetary borders if they wished.
I secured my weapons around my waist as we watched their mounts take off. Once they cleared the gate to the inner courtyard, I turned to look at my woman to find her staring at me with an air of pride that warmed me to the core. I hadn’t done anything special for our host to show me this level of trust, but it pleased me that she should delight so much in it. Her pride confirmed she’d claimed me and saw us as an extension of each other.
“Let’s go,” I said in a soft voice.
Ciara nodded and passed the strap of her bag around her neck so that it would dangle sideways across her chest. Thankfully, Enre took with him most of the equipment and medicines that my mate required last night, strapping them on his mount.
A flame sparked in the pit of my stomach when she approached me and slipped her right arm around my shoulders when I picked her up like a bride. She settled her bag on top of her stomach before glancing back at me. Ciara’s expression was unreadable, but a part of me believed she was also enjoying that proximity. It wasn’t lust swirling deep within, but a tender possessiveness mixed with an odd sense of well-being to have her so close, in my arms, where she belonged.
“Here we go,” I said gently before flapping my wings and taking flight.
As I ascended, Ciara gradually tensed, her hand around my shoulder gripping it more tightly while she pressed herself against me. She closed her eyes and buried her face in the crook of my neck. Tharmok take me! She felt so wonderful against me. But shame immediately crushed that warm feeling. As much as I loved that increased closeness with my mate, my protective instincts overrode my selfish needs.
“Calm, my Ciara,” I said in a reassuring tone while emitting some of my bakaan to appease her.
A shiver coursed through her, and her hand tightened a bit more around my shoulder for a split second before she looked at me with an air of wonder.
“See? It’s not so bad,” I said gently.
She scrunched her face, then peeked warily below before closing her eyes and burying her face in my neck again. I chuckled and tightened my embrace around her before kissing the top of her head. I loved the soft and bouncy texture of her hair. It was like rubbing my face on a cloud.
For all that, my mate stole a few more glances at our surroundings as we flew, and her fear gradually subsided as the beauty of the landscape increasingly retained her attention.
“Flying is one of those things that I would be devastated to lose,” I said wistfully as I spread my wings wide to glide over an air current. “It’s the feeling of total freedom, of being in complete harmony with the world. Sometimes, I will just do wild acrobatics in the air for fun. My brother and I used to chase each other, issuing ridiculously dangerous dares to see who would veer off first as we barreled towards a rock wall, or down a cliff.”
“Why do I have a feeling it didn’t always end well?” Ciara asked with a disapproving tone.
“Because it didn’t,” I confirmed with a chuckle. “It’s a good thing we have an accelerated regeneration on top of access to some of the best medicine available. I might have broken more than my fair share of bones because of reckless behavior. Reining in the wild antics of younglings once they get a true taste of speed can be challenging.”
“So how do you learn how to fly?” she asked, peering at my wings over my shoulders as I resumed flapping them. “Do they kick you out of a shuttle or drop you off a cliff?”
I snorted and shook my head. “Parents usually are the ones trying to stop the little ones from trying to fly too soon. Some reluctant children need a bit of coaxing to get going. But for most of us, the need to imitate our parents and elders is just too strong, not to mention the instinctive urge to just flap our wings. The only thing that keeps us from flight early on is the weakness of our muscles.”
“Meaning you try to take off but can’t flap hard enough?”
I nodded. “We’ll rise a couple of centimeters and fall right back down. Needless to say that our surroundings get rather roughed up in the process. You’ll find that dwellings with younglings tend to be very minimalist in their décor.”
She chuckled. “Does that mean we will have to pad every surface in the house the day we have kids?” Ciara asked teasingly.
A powerful longing exploded in my chest at that thought. I definitely wanted children. Since we’d just met, that obviously had not been a discussion between us, but it pleased me beyond words that she appeared to be not only open to the idea, but even thinking it was a foregone conclusion that we would.
“It may not be a bad idea for certain things. If they are half as rambunctious as my brother and I used to be, it would be a wise course of action,” I confessed, unrepentant.
“I have a hard time picturing you—or any Obosians for that matter—as troublemakers,” she said with an amused expression. “You all always seem so proper and disciplined.”
I laughed. “It’s the quiet ones you should be the most wary of. Do not be fooled by that stuffy expression my people project. We’re just like everyone else with our sense of humor, mischievous behavior, and vast emotional responses, including diva tantrums as humans like to describe them. We just tend to do it behind closed doors.”
“Okay, now I totally want to see you having a full drama queen melt down,” Ciera said, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Deliberately break the law, and you might get your wish,” I said teasingly.
To my surprise, she didn’t respond with a dismissive huff as I expected. She sobered and studied my features with surprising intensity.
“No, Amreth. I don’t think that would do it. In truth, I believe only deep and devastating pain would ever cause you to lose control. But I have no doubt you will berate me until my ears fall off.”
“That, I most certainly will. Why do I have a feeling that you are plotting to deliberately push my buttons?” I asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
The smug and shameless grin she gave me was all the answer I needed. Unable to resist, I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. She smiled and lifted her face to press a kiss on my cheek. My heart melted further, and I gave her a gentle squeeze before looking back down at our destination.
I gestured forward with my chin. “This is it, Jaln Village. We should land in the next five minutes.”
Ciara nodded, although I didn’t miss the tension that returned, stiffening her back.
“It will go well, and we won’t be alone,” I said reassuringly. “Enre is already there, waiting for us.”
She smiled, its stiffness indicating that she was still apprehensive about the greeting that awaited us. I used a bit more of my bakaan to soothe her. However, I needed to be careful with how much of my calming aura I emitted as it could either make her groggy or greatly aroused. Under the circumstances, neither would be ideal.
As I began my descent, I assessed the village. Its size was comparable to Bryst, maybe even slightly bigger. It also appeared to be older, with a clear evolution from some of the older buildings to the newer ones. As in Aku’s village, a series of houses had been separated from the rest of the village by an inner courtyard. I was beginning to suspect all the tribes had been forced to erect that separation to isolate their members who became ill once the disease began to spread.
Heading towards the open area that served as the village square, I altered my vision to assess the overall state of mind of the villagers. I would have hoped for far more blue halos, but the overall shade of yellow was pale enough to express wariness and not hostility. At least, as far as the majority of the people were concerned. A non-negligible number of them thankfully radiated an aura that usually reflected relief and even anticipation. Only one Kreelar had all my senses on high alert. They were angry. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say whether that anger was aimed at us or at something completely unrelated.
To my own relief, I spotted Enre in the middle of the square waving at us in greeting and making sure we had seen him. Before our departure from Bryst, Aku confirmed through their radio system that all was well and that we were expected.
It bothered me to no end that Ciara still felt nervous—if not a little scared—as I landed in front of Enre. He was standing next to a Kreelar female with a potent aura of authority. She appeared to be older than Aku, and closer to my own age of forty-six. Like most of their females, she was tall, fairly muscular—but not in a masculine fashion—with light grayish beige fur and stunning blue eyes. Like Aku, a circlet adorned her forehead marking her as the leader of the tribe.
“There you are,” Enre said with a big smile. “I’m glad you were able to quickly find your way.”
Although he spoke those words in a jovial tone, I didn’t miss the underlying relief in his voice. It struck me then that, as much as his people respected Aku’s authority, they didn’t necessarily share his views on everything. They had trusted his judgment in allowing me to fly my mate here on my own, but they had not equally shared his faith in me. It didn’t hurt my feelings but increased my respect for Aku as a leader. Considering all that was at stake for them, it said a lot as to the level of loyalty his people bore him.
“The directions were perfect,” I said gently as I put my mate down on her feet.
She adjusted the strap of her bag across her chest, ran her fingers through her hair to comb it after the wind seriously ruffled it and smiled politely at Enre and our hostess. Despite her lingering nervousness, the poise and calm demeanor she displayed filled my heart with pride. If not for my ability to read a limited range of emotions through one’s aura, I would have been fooled by her apparent stoicism.
“Good, good! Amreth, Ciara, let me introduce you to Kald Vala, leader of Jaln Village. Vala, these are the off-worlders we told you about, Amreth and Ciara, who are working diligently to help save our people,” Enre said, gesturing in turn at my mate and me.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Amreth and Ciara,” Vala said in a gentle voice. “The people of Jaln welcome you and thank you for whatever assistance you may provide with our plight. We—”
“Samra telankay!” an angry male voice suddenly shouted, interrupting her.
Unsurprisingly, my translation implant didn’t recognize the language. However, I didn’t need it to guess as to the nature of his words. He repeated them in a litany while charging towards us.
As one, the other villagers, who had gathered at a short distance around the square to witness our arrival, moved towards the male to restrain him. He was the angry aura I perceived during my descent. On instinct, I pushed Ciara behind me and spread my wings to hide her from view. They grabbed his arms and tried to hold him back while he struggled to free himself, shouting the same words in a loop. The depth of pain and sorrow in his voice and on his face told me all I needed to know.
The illness had taken a loved one.
Enre and Vala took a protective stance in front of us. That erased any lingering concerns I might have had as to their intentions or the safety of my mate in this village.
“Muti, calm yourself!” Vala commanded.
I placed my palm on each of Enre’s and Vala’s shoulders and gently pushed them aside so they would no longer obstruct my view of the shouting male. They cast a worried look at me, but I kept my eyes locked on Muti. I made no threatening gesture and instead cast a focused blast of my bakaan on him. As it had an area of effect, the people in his direct vicinity also felt some of my calming aura, tension bleeding out of them but also loosening their grip on him as they were trying to restrain him.
With him receiving the greater concentration of my power, his efforts to free himself weakened, his eyes slightly glazed over, and his angry shouts devolved into unintelligible words before turning into choked, teary sounds. My heart broke for him when he fell to his knees, his body rocked by violent sobs. Many of the people around him crouched by his side. They intertwined their tails with his, caressed his head and back, and whispered soothing words in their language.
Ciara pushed on my left wing, clearly wanting to see what was happening. With most of the threat now under control, I folded my wing and drew her to my side. Vala walked towards Muti, knelt directly in front of him, and pulled him into her embrace. She whispered to him in their language in an almost maternal fashion. I continued to send appeasing waves his way, and his sobs gradually faded. Vala pulled back, cupped his face with both hands, and wiped his tears with her thumbs.
She spoke a few more words to him. He nodded, his features tortured by sorrow, despair, and something akin to guilt. Vala kissed his forehead then helped him up at the same time she rose to her feet. She gestured with her head at a couple of villagers. They promptly approached, each holding onto one of Muti’s arms, and gently escorted him.
His tribe leader continued to stare at him walking away with a sad expression filled with pity before she turned towards us. As if following her cue, the rest of the villagers also shifted their attention back to us. A quick survey of their emotions reassured me that this incident had not turned them more hostile. But a definite hint of despair now infiltrated their emotions.
“Because of the disease your people brought to us, Muti is about to lose his mate. She’s in a critical state, and his two infants are fighting for their lives,” a female to our right said bitterly.
Despite the harshness of her tone, her anger wasn’t aimed specifically at us, but at off-worlders in general and at the situation that was destroying their people. A single stern glance from Vala quieted her.
“No words can express the sorrow we feel for the tragedy that befell your people,” Ciara said to the female in a soft voice filled with sympathy. “The few of us here are not your enemies. You have every right to be angry. None of this ever should have happened. We personally didn’t cause this, but we will do everything in our power to make sure to stop it. It will not bring back those who have already been lost. We can only devote ourselves to prevent it from ever happening again.”
“Can you?” Vala interjected with a sliver of defiance in her voice. “The sickness came back after the first humans said it was cured. Throughout the past decade, it kept coming back. It always comes back. And this time, it is hitting my tribe harder than it ever has before. Twenty-three of my people started showing signs just three days ago.”
“The same day you arrived!” that same female said, the underlying accusation audible in her voice this time.
A few heads nodded while some other people in attendance muttered their agreements in their language. Another swift peek at their auras reassured me that they still were not turning hostile, although their anger was blossoming. There was nothing even remotely alarming yet, but I mentally prepared to act quickly to take my mate to safety should things turn sour.
Having learned my lesson from the first time they’d captured me, I made sure to bring back a psychic disruptor so they couldn’t mess with my mind again. I didn’t actually believe they would turn on us. But when it came to my woman’s safety, I didn’t take risks.
“Our arrival on that day is a pure coincidence and not linked in any way,” Ciara said in a tone that brooked no argument. “The type of illness that is afflicting you only transmits through something you eat. It also takes a certain number of days before the first symptoms appear. So whatever caused this new wave, the sick tribe members ate it long before we arrived on Kestria.”
“But what food?” Vala asked. “And why only them, not the rest of us?”
“That’s what I am hoping you can help us determine,” Ciara said. “I have many questions about it that will hopefully put us on the track to finding the source. But Enre has also brought test kits for us to detect if any of your food stores are currently contaminated as well as find out if anyone else among you has been infected but isn’t showing signs yet.”
“The tests were kept in a cool environment, as per your instructions,” Enre said swiftly. “Should I go fetch them?”
“In a minute,” Ciara said. “First, we need to set things up in a way that we can do this in an orderly fashion and ensure we keep track of everyone that has been tested. There’s also a small questionnaire that we need them to fill.”
“Yes,” Enre said. “Ernst explained the procedure to me. We will set up the tables and chairs and have the forms ready.”
“Thank you,” Ciara said with a grateful smile before turning back to Vala. “Naturally, I would need to examine the patients. But I also would like to know if there’s anything specific or unusual that happened to all of them over the past week or so.”
She frowned as she pondered on the matter. “There isn’t really anything we can think of. At first, we thought it might be due to their pilgrimage to Svast Temple. We all go there once a year for prayers and purification. The rituals last for a week before they head back.”
“It sounds like they all ate something over there that made them ill,” I said pensively.
Vala shook her head. “We initially assumed that something at the temple made them sick. It would have been a tragedy considering it is the holiest of places. Why would the gods punish us when we went to honor them? On average, seven or eight different tribes participate together. This time, there were nine tribes. As soon as the first person fell sick, we contacted the other villages whose members were present, but only one had people falling ill.”
“Only one?” Ciara echoed pensively. “How long is the trip from here to the temple?”
“It is a two-day journey on foot through the forest in each direction,” Vala replied, in a factual manner. “We could complete it faster, but the pilgrims stop along the way to cast blessing prayers over the land, to eat, and rest. They will camp for the night at the midway point.”
“How long ago did they return from the temple?” Ciara asked, her voice intense.
Excitement would not have been an appropriate term to describe her emotions, but she clearly seemed to feel like she was onto something.
“They returned eight days ago, but only started showing symptoms five days later,” Vala replied.
“This is critical information,” Ciara said, while absent-mindedly glancing at Enre who was setting up the tables a short distance away with the help of other villagers. “It gives us a much narrower window as to when the infection occurred. The other village with infected people, how close is it located from here?”
“Not close at all,” Vala said with discouragement. “That is another reason why we eliminated the possibility that the journey to the temple might be the cause. There is a wide river between Baki Village and us that they must cross using a boat. And once on the other side, they have a long way to travel on foot. They left on completely different routes.”
“But they hunted for food along the way, right?” Ciara argued.
Vala nodded. “We hunt and forage along the way.”
Sudden understanding struck me.
“So something they gathered in the forest or hunted along their respective paths was infected,” I said pensively. “Any chance the animals could still be infected, or would they all be dead by now?”
“It really depends on whether the prion hurting the Kreelars is normal for the animal, fruit, or vegetable they consumed. If it is normal for them, then they will still be thriving in that area. But if it’s not, then we would need to find one that is still alive.”
“It would take us a bit more than half a day—approximately twelve hours—to run to the temple on foot, and maybe seven to eight riding a Sagul,” Vala replied.
“Which means it would take me barely two to three hours each way,” I said.
“It should take me about six hours to test everyone as well as the food. So that would work perfectly,” Ciara said with an enthusiastic spark in her beautiful eyes.
But even as I spoke those words, a wave of unease swept through me. I didn’t really want to leave my mate here by herself. Granted, Enre would protect her, and I didn’t doubt the same from Vala. The aura of the people around us had gradually lost some of its wary edge, more and more having streaks of blue indicating they were relaxing around us. But it still unnerved me. At the same time, I could do this much faster than they could.
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Ciara began typing a few instructions on her bracer, seconds before my own beeped from an incoming message.
“I’ve sent data regarding the prions we’re looking for,” Ciara said. “I would need you to do an aerial scan of the flora and fauna between here and there. There’s a good chance that your bracer will not be able to detect the prions without actually testing a sample. But it will be able to pick up on any anomalies between plants and animals of the same species.”
“So it will flag any animal or group of plants that are abnormal compared to others of the same type,” I said to confirm I properly got her meaning while uploading the new data to my scanner.
“Exactly,” Ciara said, beaming at me with that same glimmer of pride in her eyes that did the sweetest thing to me.
I had never thought of myself as dumb, but simply as someone of standard intelligence. And yet, over the past day, my mate had increasingly made me feel almost like a genius. I was discovering a new passion in trying to solve these little mysteries.
I smiled before casting a wary glance around the crowd. To my surprise, Ciara immediately sensed my discomfort.
“I will be fine in your absence,” she said in a reassuring tone. “Enre and Kald Vala will make sure I’m safe.”
“No harm will come to your mate,” Vala confirmed with a firmness that did wonders to alleviate some of my concerns. “There can be no greater dishonor than for a host to allow their guests to be mistreated in their home. On my honor, and with my life, I pledge to keep your mate safe for so long as she is within our walls and until she is returned to Bryst.”
“Thank you, Vala,” I said with sincere gratitude.
I turned to Ciara and gently caressed her cheek. To my delight, she pressed her palm to the back of my hand and leaned into my touch. Unable to resist, I leaned forward and kissed her. She returned it with a tenderness that messed with my head. Fighting the urge to draw her into my embrace and deepen the kiss, I straightened and reluctantly let my hand drop.
“I’ll return soon.”
“Be safe out there,” she replied with an encouraging smile.
I nodded, cast one last meaningful glance at Vala, then took flight.
The first hour proved totally uneventful. My scanner collected data on the flora and fauna below without picking up anything unusual. Thanks to previous sanctioned visits to Kestria by Elias Jacobs’ teams to work with the Sangoth, the UPO already had a pretty extensive database regarding this planet’s plants and creatures. With everything checking out so far, I allowed myself to revel in the untainted beauty of this new world.
As much as I hated how those foolish doctors tragically derailed the lives of these tribes by their careless actions, I could understand the temptation that led to this. This place truly was a paradise with countless perfect settings for romantic getaways. I spotted so many along the way where I would love to take Ciara for a proper courtship. To my shame, I caught myself wondering if it would be acceptable to have such an escapade before our departure. As we wouldn’t be bringing anything alien into their ecosystem, surely it would be fine?
But all such wandering thoughts flew right out of my head when my scanner beeped. A look at the interface indicated a number of moving orange spots of varying sizes, which belonged to animals. I looked up and altered my vision to peer at the aura of those creatures. A mix of shock and excitement surged through me upon seeing the grayish burgundy color of their auras. This corresponded to a state of mindless rage. Those creatures were rabid.
Who or what infected them?
I circled around the area, marking the coordinates on the map of my scanner while attempting to see how far the infected creatures had roamed. I also noticed that not every animal registered as rabid. In fact, only a handful did. Although I only quickly surveyed the results, it struck me as odd that not all the animals of the same species displayed the symptoms. I couldn’t tell if it was because they were still in the early stages of the disease, if they hadn’t been infected yet, or if they were somehow immune.
But that would be for more competent people than me to assess.
To my surprise, as I traveled farther to the west of the path I had been following, a dense patch of red appeared at the edge of my scan radius. It was located on the other side of the river, which initially made me hesitate. Intrigued, and not wanting to leave any stone unturned, I crossed the large body of water. Once over the western shore, I tapped an inquiry into the scanner. My jaw dropped when a small holographic display popped up from my bracer with additional info indicating an intrusive plant.
“How is this plant intrusive?” I asked my device.
“This plant does not belong to Kestria’s ecosystem,” the artificial intelligence replied. “It is a 94% match with two different species of berries from Earth: strawberries and raspberries.”
I muttered a curse under my breath even as a thrill coursed through me. Granted, the berries were rather far from the location where the infected creatures roamed. But if it also took a while before the symptoms manifested themselves, the animals would have wandered off in the days after they consumed it.
Across the river?
That didn’t add up. I continued flying farther west until the scanner stopped picking up more of the berries. But it did detect a few sick animals, although in far smaller numbers than the ones I had found on the east shore. I backtracked and continued nearly a kilometer to the east to see if I could find more berries but failed to do so.
For a moment, I considered picking up a few samples then decided against it. I wasn’t a scientist and didn’t know what potential consequences my actions could have against the Kreelars. It didn’t matter that Ciara said that the infection only occurred through consumption. These people were suffering enough without me gambling further with their lives by taking risks. At least, I knew specifically where they could be harvested under proper safety and containment procedures. Instead, I flew down to some of the largest patches and took close-up pictures.
With time ticking away, I came back to the main path the pilgrims had taken and pursued the journey to the Svast Temple. A haunting melody reached me long before the forest opened in front of me to reveal its splendor. I didn’t need to know that it was indeed a holy place. It radiated divine energy. I suspected some of it could be explained by physics, but a part of me believed that people could imbue an area with either positive or negative energy when enough of it was expanded repeatedly over a long period of time.
The temple itself had been carved directly into a mountain face framed by a waterfall. The tall pillars and massive doors were intricately adorned with carved symbols in a foreign language my translator didn’t know. There didn’t seem to be a direct access to the front entrance by land. One had to walk through the water to reach the stairs. I presumed it was a form of cleansing ritual before being allowed in.
And exactly what appeared to be happening right now. At least a hundred pilgrims of all ages had gathered in the water. The youngest stood closest to the stairs, which was the shallowest part. The older people took position in the deeper part, with water reaching up to the middle of their waists. They formed a continuous chain with everyone on the same row holding hands. The people standing at the end of each row would link to the row in front or behind by holding the tail of the person ahead of them.
They were chanting while not exactly performing a dance, but they were stepping from side to side, front and back, and occasionally tilting their heads at various angles in a synchronous fashion. In front of them, standing at the top of the four stairs to the entrance, three Kreelars also sang while performing wider gestures with their arms and hands. They were wearing sleeveless robes with faceless masks that made it impossible to know their gender for sure.
I wanted to fly in closer to get a better look and further enjoy the fascinating proceedings but turned around instead. Although Vala didn’t tell me to steer clear of the temple, it felt sacrilegious to spy on their devotions and intrude in their shrine. Anyway, I was only here to determine whether more infected plants or animals could be found in the area. The fact that I didn’t seemed to confirm why only a small number of the previous pilgrims had been infected instead of all.
Although I hurried on my journey back, I still ended up reaching Jaln Village after an absence of nearly eight hours. Despite feeling tired and famished, the emotion that dominated within me as I began my descent towards the square was relief to find Ciara rushing towards its center with a broad smile.
Relief also radiated from the other villagers, and especially from Enre and Vala. I could only imagine how much the trust the people had in them would have been undermined had I not returned.
Ciara throwing herself into my arms as soon as I landed did the most wondrous thing to me. I could get used to this type of warm welcome every day for the rest of my life. It touched me all the more that it wasn’t fear and the need for protection that prompted it, but genuine joy at simply having me back.
“Welcome back, Amreth. We feared you might have gotten lost,” Vala said in a teasing tone, though I didn’t miss the underlying lingering worry that she had genuinely felt.
“I did not, but I did wander off much farther than initially intended to investigate some anomalies,” I replied before turning to my mate. “I believe you’re going to like this.”
With a couple of taps on the interface of my bracer, I called up the pictures I took and displayed them on the holographic screen that deployed over it. Ciara gasped, her eyes popping with excitement. I swiftly recounted what I encountered, between the rabid animals and the patches of berries.
“You were wise not to bring samples,” Ciara said absent-mindedly while browsing through the scan reports before glancing at Vala. “Are you familiar with those fruits? Are these a part of your diet?”
She shook her head and looked at them with a confused expression shared by Enre.
“I have never seen those berries before. They certainly aren’t anywhere near the areas that we hunt or forage in.”
“It’s not really surprising,” I said pensively. “Without the scanner, I likely wouldn’t have noticed their existence. They were not visible from above, and even after I landed, I had to lift a few leaves to expose them.”
Ciara pursed her lips and slowly nodded as she reflected on my words. “That’s pretty common for wild strawberries. This explains a few things. Ideally, we would have a field lab directly in that area. Maybe we could set something up using your shuttle?”
I quieted my instinctive desire to say yes and glanced questioningly at Vala. My heart sank when she stared at us with a closed off expression.
“I will discuss the matter with the other Kalds,” she said in a non-committal fashion. “Anyway, the hour is drawing too late for you to return to Bryst. You must be tired and hungry. Come, rest and eat. You will all sleep here tonight. In the morning, we will have a decision.”