Chapter 9 #3
“So, what you’re saying is that you’re able to see when two random people are soulmates?” Mares insisted.
“Essentially, yes,” Kayog said with a shrug.
“Damn, my friend. If you can 100% match people with their soulmates, you should start some kind of mating agency. People throughout the galaxy are fed up with crappy dating apps and websites.”
We all burst out laughing.
“Kayog, the matchmaker,” my mate said with a disbelieving expression. “And you say I’m the one with a sense of humor?”
Mares shrugged. “I think it would be a blast to be able to provide people with their happily ever after. That would be a lot better than the countless crappy jobs out there that no one wants.”
“True. But I believe I’ll pass. Interesting suggestion, though,” Kayog said teasingly.
“I aim to please,” Mares retorted, imitating the flourishing bow Kayog had performed when he spoke those same words earlier.
We laughed.
“Come on, you overpowered, silly aliens. Let’s get going. I have a cool winged mount to ride!” Tala said.
“Lead the way, my love,” Mares replied.
We hopped into Mares’ personal shuttle to complete the thirty-minute journey to Xilqen Canyon.
It was a majestic, protected land where the native species of Mazeria thrived for centuries before their extinction.
Guided tours were offered riding a winged mount that followed a specific trail through the large territory that the Syllens had occupied.
Tala compared it to the Grand Canyon on Earth, but with the stony ridges clustered far closer together with narrower passages in between.
Furthermore, Xilqen Canyon didn’t have the burnished red and ochre color of her homeworld.
Instead, the ridges all boasted grayish stones covered in moss or luxurious vines and other greenery.
We went to purchase our tickets, Tala and Mares each picking the mount they would ride.
The Nordjarimm were magnificent creatures, half birds, half mammals.
The four-legged mounts had cleft hooves on their back legs, and reptilian talons on their front paws.
According to Tala, their bird heads looked like a mix of a puffin and a golden pheasant, both creatures from her homeworld.
The golden tuft of hair on top of their heads and the long beard-like strings dangling from each side of their beaks gave them a wise and elder look.
A soft brown fur covered their bodies with two majestic, feathered wings.
Although they were pacific creatures, their rumps extended into a set of very long twin tails.
They were tipped with a leaf-shaped, reddish appendage with ridged darts, which could stab or electrocute any predator that threatened them.
The human manning the rental counter gave us each a set of virtual guides.
The tear-shaped, small magnetic devices attached to our temples with a simple pressure.
Once we took flight, they would activate holographic displays, with personal audio explaining what we were seeing, including virtual overlays projected directly on the environment to show us a recreation of the indigenous people in their daily lives or during historical events.
As they were individual guides, they wouldn’t impede or overlap with what the others were seeing.
“Are you going to be okay using these?” I asked Kayog, worried as he pressed the first pod to his right temple.
He smiled reassuringly. “Yes, my dove. These won’t harm me. They operate on a different frequency and target a different section of my brain.”
“Okay, good,” I said with relief.
He rubbed his beak against mine in a gentle kiss. Even though I couldn’t read his emotions, it was obvious that he loved that his welfare mattered to me.
After helping his mate onto the saddle and making sure the security mechanisms were in place to prevent any guest falling off their mount mid-flight, Mares hopped onto his own mount and patiently waited for the clerk to do his own security check.
It melted my heart to see how protective and attentive Mares always was where Tala was concerned.
We took flight and accompanied our friends along the preset trail the Nordjarimms were trained to follow.
A tall hill hid the view of the canyon behind it.
But as soon as we flew over it, the beautiful land beyond took my breath away.
Although I had seen images of it, nothing could have prepared me for the magnificence sprawled before us.
Gigantic statues in the effigy of the long-lost Syllens—a dryad species—had been carved directly into the rock faces of the canyon.
They were easily twenty meters high, their width varying based on the pose or hair of the statue.
I now understood where Acadia had taken its inspiration for the design of the campus, with the corners of the buildings vaguely shaped like Syllen faces.
Their unique features mesmerized me. Centuries ago, the advanced Sikarians—a merfolk species—had colonized Mazeria.
Although they had built their own cities a great distance away from the primitive natives, crossbreeding eventually occurred.
The merfolk traits could now be seen on their faces, with the finned ears, gills in their necks, and smattering of scales on their foreheads.
The powerful emotions emanating from Mares had my skin erupting in goosebumps. In a way, the Syllens would be deemed distant cousins of the Edocits, even though they had evolved in a different direction.
The virtual guide went into great details as to how the primitive species achieved such phenomenal architectural feats.
Although Sikarians had joined their tribes, they always observed many rules of the Prime Directive during their colonization era by not introducing their more advanced technology to their new people.
That didn’t prevent them from achieving great heights.
That said, unlike the Sikarians, the Syllens didn’t turn their legs into tails when they went into the water. They always kept their legs, but had webbed feet and hands, as well as a long, fanned tail.
The icing on top? Like Mares, they also possessed veris.
Intricate pathways circled around the wide chasm between the rocky elevations of the canyon.
The guide expressed that they sadly didn’t have any writings or other records of the lost species to explain why they built their villages in the canyon and in such heights when they were hybrid dryads and merfolks.
Them settling into a forest near a large body of water would have made more sense.
Still, it fascinated me to see how they integrated their natural environment with the sculptures. My favorite one had to be that giant face with its mouth open from whence a waterfall cascaded down into its open hands, creating two different pools and plateaus in which people could swim.
Sadly, as was too often the case with lost civilizations, the meddling of off-worlders totally derailed the future they’d been building.
The visitors attempted to settle here. However, unlike the Sikarians, they came here with hostile intent, the main one being to convert the locals to their faith.
Naturally, the Syllens resisted. In retaliation, the settlers destroyed their temples to coerce them into converting. And massive bloodshed ensued.
The settlers who didn’t get massacred fled the planet.
But the damage was already done. The local population got sick and slowly died off.
History doesn’t know for certain what was the source of the sickness that wiped out the local population.
Some speculate that the settlers brought some sort of virus that the Syllens weren’t able to fight back.
Others believed that, out of spite, the settlers poisoned the land, their food reserves, or the water. We would likely never know.
However, the deeper we got into the canyon, the stronger I could feel something strange, as if the entire area was alive. It made no sense as only stones and vegetation remained. And yet, there was an undeniable flow of emotions, almost like a discreet sigh in the background.
I cast a concerned look towards Kayog who was gliding next to me, his broad wings spread wide as he rode the air currents.
With his heightened sensitivity, I feared that the inexplicable emotions I perceived might be a painful cacophony for him.
But he had a peaceful, almost dreamy expression on his face.
Sensing my worry, he turned his head towards me and gave me such a joyous smile that all the tension I felt faded away.
He closed the distance between us and reached for my hand.
With our wingspan, it required us to be more careful in how we flew to avoid crashing into each other. But with decades of experience flying, we instantly adjusted to each other. The gentle way he squeezed my hand before caressing its back with his thumb melted me from the inside out.
That male truly cared about me.
In that instant, thoughts of our nuptial flight flashed through my mind. It was much too early to think in those terms. But I didn’t doubt that day would come.
Too soon, the tour came to an end in a large valley next to a huge body of water.
Various breeds of Syllens were holding an annual fair where neighboring tribes would visit and celebrate together.
Watching them dance and sing with the virtual overlay enthralled me.
Obviously, these were only speculations derived from all the artifacts the archaeologist and historians found.
But it still gave a fascinating glimpse into the amazing people they had been.