Chapter 26 Grighri
GRIGHRI
Rah-bee and his friends were fascinated by the lights inside the tunnel.
With the language barrier still between us, I had no way to explain to him that the Star Gods had long ago placed them here and that they were powered by the great crystalline trees above, using some process that seemed magical but was not.
It was something clever their kind had discovered, accessing power to run the lights and to keep the tunnel free of cold and damp despite the weather above.
It was why we called them gods, though we did not worship them so much as honor them and follow their guidance.
They were Sky People, after all, not mystical beings, despite what our ancestors first thought.
Hroash sidled up to me.
“They must think they are inside another metal grak,” he said. “Though not a demon one, as they are not afraid.”
“Perhaps,” I agreed, though that didn’t feel quite like it.
Metal graks flew, and this was underground, unless Rah-bee’s Sky People had burrowing metal beasts they used to travel underground.
That made more sense, and I decided that must be it.
It also explained why they were standing there chattering instead of walking.
“Rah-bee, come,” I told him, tugging him to come along. “We must walk. This is a tunnel, not a metal beast that moves you.”
“Oh!” he said, realizing he and his friends were holding us up. “Sah-ree.” He pointed at the light nearest us. “Thayr eelektrik”
I smiled and nodded, letting him know I understood how wondrous he found their presence.
After being in our village, seeing the trees, the tunnel, and the lights had surely been a surprise.
I remembered the first time I’d seen them, after having heard them described by our teacher and shown a drawing of the trees and their keepers in one of our learning books. I, too, had been amazed.
“The chamber is around this next bend,” Thilish, the leader of this group of guardians, said. “May the Gods smile favorably upon your matings.” I didn’t miss the wistful way he looked at my Rah-bee, and I felt sorry for him.
Grokah shivered. “I hate going through the portal. It feels unnatural.”
“That’s because it is unnatural,” Thilish smirked, his eyes dancing in amusement. “It is Star God made, not something the world provided by itself.”
“Well, I for one wish we had one back at our village,” Hroash said. “Then we wouldn’t have to do all the walking and climbing and then more walking to get here.”
“And where would the trees grow?” I asked him.
Thilish hummed thoughtfully. “On the sides of your mountains,” he suggested. “You already have caves, so there’d be no need to create a tunnel and cavern like they did here.”
“I wonder why they didn’t?” Hroash replied. “I mean, this one will take us to the caves along the Great Water, so why are we the only ones without a portal?”
“Shuh,” Rimbet scolded him. “I’m sure the gods have their reasons.”
“And I’m just wondering what those are,” he shot back.
We’d reached the bend in the tunnel, and a door was set in a crystalline wall a short distance along the path there.
“Ah thot thay wur loh tek,” Pahtrik said aloud.
“Ahb vee uhs lee naht,” Rah-bee replied. “Eetz rahthur shahkng eesnt it?”
His friends all bobbed their heads in seeming agreement. Meanwhile, Thilish was tapping out a sequence on the etchings by the door, causing the door to part along its middle seam and open to admit us.
“Ezz thaht uh stahr gayht?” Sahm gasped.
“Let’s get this over with,” Hroash grumbled, tugging his charge through the lit ring.
“Whehrd thay goh?” Rah-bee demanded, looking panicked.
It didn’t take much to figure out their disappearance had freaked him and the rest of his friends out. Exchanging a quick glance with the rest of my people, we grabbed each of the hoomuhns tightly with one hand and surged forward the few steps it took to go through.
“Nohhh!” one of the females was shrieking as she went through, before stopping abruptly. Sahm, I realized, who now said. “Whehr ar wee noah?”
Rah-bee twisted around to peer through the mouth of the cave we were now in.
“Iz thaht uh beech?” he asked.
“Yehs eet iz,” replied the Star God who entered. “Wee wur hohpeng yu wud kuhm.” Turning his attention to me, he then said, “We were alerted to the distress beacon in the crashed ship and, after disabling it, came to wait for news. It has been many days.”
“It has,” I agreed. “We rescued these people and had to see to their health.” I hoped that would alleviate any displeasure over Chief Grishk not sending us right away.
Grokah stepped forward. “I am the Chief Healer and can confirm that they needed recovery time. Their bodies were ill prepared for the snow, and the demons had not provided them with warm clothing nor had they been well looked after.”
The god sucked in a breath through his nose. “Very well. It was to be expected, I suppose, especially as you have to travel to reach a portal.” He wrinkled his nose. “We should hold a quorum to discuss that.”
He made a beckoning gesture, urging us to follow him out, which we did.
“Ah kahnt uhndurstahnd uh wuhrd hee wuz sayeng thehn,” I heard one of the hoomen males say, unsure of which one, as I was only completely familiar with the sound of my Rah-bee’s voice and they were behind me.
“Buht hee spohk eenglush,” one of the females replied.
“Thahtz beecoz thuh pohrtul deetektud whut wuz bee eng spohkun ihn thuh chaymbur beefohr yuu trahnzpohrtud,” the Star god called out over his shoulder.
“Muhst hahv uh trahnzlaytur,” the hoomen male who’d spoken first replied.
“Buht uhv kohrs,” replied the Star God as he continued to guide us along the shoreline of the rocky cliff, and then up a path that took us back up.