Chapter 13
Lila
We beam down with the fourth group, and as soon as I hit the planet’s surface, I shove my hands into the dirt, soaking up all the energy around me. As I absorb the energy from the ground, I take in the scenery. A large field of bushes stretches out in front of us, but there’s an eerie sort of atmosphere and no sound—no leaves rustle in the breeze, and no insects or birds chirp. Surrounding us in a large circle is a green haze of magic that must be the protective dome we need to stay within.
“Ah, Lila. Better stop that,” Xavier hisses out of the side of his mouth, and when I look around, I discover the plants next to me—big, dark green bushes that probably stand at normal head height for me, with bright orange strawberry-sized fruit on them—are drooping, and the fruit looks a little desiccated.
“Shit!” I yank my hands out of the soil, and the earth closes back up. I look around to see if anyone noticed. Oak and Elm are distracted handing out baskets, but the hooded being is looking directly at me.
I brush the dirt off my hands and move into the crowd as Brannock and Xavier get their baskets. I gaze at the field. It’s more of an orchard than a field, the bushes almost tall enough to classify as trees. People are spread out, collecting the fruit, but on the edge of the field, I see a bunch of small creatures watching us. I walk closer, eyeing the hazy green circle we are encased by. I’m assuming that’s the limit of the being’s magic. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him tracking me just like I’m keeping an eye on where he is at all times.
My attention turns to the creatures, and a small smile crosses my lips. They are tiny balls of fluff, a little like a Furby toy I had when I was smaller crossed with a Pomeranian, and I have no idea how they protect themselves, because they are bright yellow, blue, and pink. I squat down to take a closer look, and one of them lunges at me, their teeth bared, followed by five more. I scream and scramble backward as they hit the magic barrier and disintegrate. Holy fuck, they had teeth like a piranha, and I have no doubt they would have eaten my face off. I gasp for air as I try to settle my heart rate. The rest of the creatures move with agitation, like they really want to have a go at me.
“You shouldn’t stir up the creatures,” a quiet voice says from behind me, and when I look up from the ground, I freeze. The hooded being is standing over me. He’s so close, I feel him brush against my wings, and a little shiver flows over me. He isn’t looking at me, but at the swarming creatures, yet I still can’t see within the darkness of his hood. Instead, my gaze drifts down his form, and I notice that the cape bulges in the back like he has a giant hump. Maybe he’s deformed, and that’s why he keeps himself covered. I feel a pang of sympathy for the creature. Suddenly, the bulge wiggles like he has a bunch of ferrets under the cloak, and they are excited to see me. I gasp in surprise, but slap my hand over my mouth, hoping he didn’t hear it.
“Shoo.” He waves a hand at the creatures, and I almost snort with amusement.
“Pretty sure that’s not going to work, dude,” I tell him, but as my gaze returns to the swarm of terrifyingly cute creatures, my mouth drops open. They turn around and disappear into the jungle that surrounds the field of halla bushes. Whoa, he really does have a way with the creatures here. Maybe he’s a whisperer of some sort like me. I guess that wouldn’t be too far-fetched.
“I am not deformed.”
“Huh?” I shake my head and turn my attention to his words. Oh fuck, did I say that out loud?
“No, you didn’t, young Elementi, but I heard it anyway. Come along, you do not want to get caught outside of my magic barrier. I do not make exceptions, even for one such as yourself.” His words are a gentle reminder of the danger I just witnessed, but I feel safe and secure in the knowledge that he is protecting us. It’s a weird kind of sensation, and I don’t know how I feel about it or why I’m feeling that way. I thought I would be scared of him, but he radiates an aura that feels like an old friend.
He moves away, and I catch sight of a foot underneath the robe. It looked like a pale humanoid foot, but with claws for nails. I try to peer into the robes, but they sweep together before I can see anything else. Damn it, if he doesn’t reveal himself, then how am I going to mimic him?
I think about what he just said and slam up barriers inside my brain. Holy fuck, he can read my mind. I’m still panicking when Brannock and Xavier find me, both carrying baskets bigger than my current form.
“Are you okay?” Xavier asks, holding out a hand to help me to my feet. I take it but use my wings to launch myself into the air.
“He can read minds,” I hiss at him, and he looks around.
“Who?” he asks, and when I look around, I discover the being is now on the other side of the magic barrier. I don’t know how he got there so quickly.
“Him.” I nod in his direction, and both men turn to look.
“How do you know?” Brannock asks.
“He basically told me when he was over here.”
“You spoke to him?” Xavier gapes at me in shock. “I was just having a conversation with one of the other harvesters Dopnoo is friendly with, and apparently, he never talks or interacts with anyone, and he’s done three harvests.”
Brannock nods. “Yes, I asked a few of the others as well, and they all said the same thing. He doesn’t talk, and he never removes his cape.”
“Well, we are going to have to come up with a plan, because I can’t mimic what I can’t see,” I tell them, not to mention not knowing is driving me crazy. I just need to see what’s under the hood now.
“Okay, but for now, we’re starting to draw attention, so let’s do the job while we try to come up with a plan.” Brannock points at the basket in his hand. “We have to fill five of these today, or we’ll be punished. The punishment will be bad. The beings I talked to were terrified of not getting their quota.”
“Well, that fucking cattle prod didn’t look like my idea of a good time either, so let’s go.” I bounce up and down in the air in agitation, not wanting to know whether this tiny form can take a hit from the stick or fry me like a lightning bug in a bug zapper.
“Okay, let’s split up and try and gather as much info as we can while we work,” Xavier suggests, and with a wave, he wobbles off toward another group of harvesters and starts picking the fruit bushes. I follow Brannock in the opposite direction, and we find a tree that hasn’t been harvested yet and get started. The fruit is almost as big as my hand in this form, and it’s quite easy for me to pick, but it means I can only do two at a time before having to place them in the basket. I fly down, but I underestimate how delicate the fruit is, and I squish one of them in my grip. The fruit bursts, sending a spray of orange juice all over me. I freeze, hovering in the air, my body dripping. Holy crap, that was a lot of juice in a relatively small fruit. I hear a snort of amusement, and when I look up, I discover it isn’t Brannock. He hasn’t even noticed what happened, busy yanking the fruit from the bushes and filling our basket. He doesn’t seem to have any trouble handling it.
I look around to see who is laughing at me and discover that once again, the hooded being’s attention is on me. This isn’t good.
“Handle them with care, little one. The juice will become uncomfortable if you end up wearing too much of it, and you will be that much more attractive to the flupkups.” His warning is soft and caresses me like a hug, and I feel his concern for my safety.
Although I’m a little worried I have this being’s attention, I’m also curious and can’t help myself. “Flupkups?”
“The creatures from before. They are addicted to the halla fruit. It’s what makes them so aggressive. You just became an even more tasty snack for them… and me.” He mutters the last bit, but I must have heard wrong. He can’t have said what I think he said.
I look down at myself. I’m starting to get sticky as the juice dries in the warm sun that shines down on us. When I look back up to respond, he’s gone again, back on the other side of the magic barrier and standing over another group of harvesters. Did I imagine that?
“Uh, did you see that?” I fly down and around the bush to Brannock and the basket, dropping the fruit that survived in. He’s moving quickly and already has a good layer covering the bottom of the basket.
He stops what he’s doing and scans my tiny form. “Why are you wet?” he asks, reaching out and swiping his thumb across my lip, catching a stray drip. “And sticky?” He brings his thumb up to his mouth. “You’re supposed to pick it, not play in it.” His eyes sparkle with humor as I watch him suck the juice off his stubby digit, and I think about what other kinds of juices he could be sucking off.
Gah, focus, Lila, I scold myself internally. Rescue Grandma then ride the Aaz’axian to celebrate.
“Ah, the fruit is a little more delicate than I thought. I assumed they would be like an Earth citrus and thick-skinned, but they are more like a grape, with a thin membrane then full of juice on the inside with the smallest amount of pulp to hold it all together, and I just squeezed too hard.”
He chuckles and keeps picking. “Did I see what?” he asks, reminding me of my question.
“That being was talking to me again,” I tell him, and he stops picking and looks around.
“He’s all the way over there. Are you sure it wasn’t one of the other harvesters?” We both look at the bush next to us and the two beings who are working it. They are unusual, and I haven’t seen their species before. Both of them have two heads and four arms on a black-skinned body. Each head has only one eye, but both have a nose and a mouth, with a long mane of pure, snow-white hair mohawked down the middle. Their bodies are large and brawny and seem to move with unnatural speed as they focus on the task of picking the fruit from the bushes.
“Nope, definitely not them.”
“Hmmm, well, let’s try not to draw his attention too much. I’m sure if we just do the job, he will lose interest in us.”
“Okay,” I agree, and then I groan as I look at how much we still have to put in the basket. “This is going to take us forever, and even longer if I keep squishing them.” Manual labor and I do not play well together. I look around to make sure nobody is watching us, and then I hold my hands up. Ever since I came to this planet, I’ve felt power running through me—a connection to the plants. They seem to call to me. It’s this low-key humming in the back of my mind. Focusing on the fruit, I coax it towards me, asking the bush to release its hold on its precious bounty.
I feel the bush’s reluctance to give up its produce, but I continue to encourage it, and one by one, each individual fruit pops off and floats in the air. Once I feel like the bush has given me everything it has, I carefully direct the fruit to the basket, controlling its movement through a form of telekinesis, something I hadn’t managed to produce at all in my Skarrian form.
The fruit lands gently in the basket, and I drop my hands, breathing a little heavily, my power drained, and then I drift down to the ground, my wings too tired to hold me up.
“Phew, that was hard work,” I mutter to Brannock as we both look at the three-quarters full basket.
“Are you okay?” he asks, stepping toward me with a hand held out like he wants to support me.
I nod, leaning against the bush slightly to get my balance. A shadow passes over us, and when I look up to find what’s causing it, I have to shade my eyes. The sun directly above is stopping me from seeing. I’m going to guess it was Tirrian, but I don’t know for sure. I’m hoping it’s not another unknown predator waiting to devour us.
I wave him off. “Yeah, I’m fine. It just took a lot out of me. My form isn’t in full working order.”
“That’s because you spent too much time in space, little one.” The chatty being is back, and Brannock hisses slightly before moving in front of me like he wants to protect me.
“Elementals are not supposed to be without their element for long periods of time. It can damage them permanently. You need to spend a few days here just to absorb what you need to from the surrounding environment. If you take too much at one time, that’s when you suck the life out of things. I will arrange with Elm and Oak for you to stay on the planet overnight so you can heal.”
“But don’t all the predators come out at night? She won’t survive even a few hours on her own,” Brannock argues, and the being turns his attention to him—or I think he does, since we still can’t see any features.
“You may as well drop that glamour, Aaz’axian. I can see right through it. You can tell the warlock the same thing. These creatures are slow and cumbersome, and they will not be a benefit to your harvesting job.”
My mouth drops open in shock, and Brannock and I exchange a glance before he sighs. His glamour shimmers and fades away, leaving the pretty form I’ve grown attached to.
“As for her protection, I will ensure she is unharmed,” the being continues, but Brannock shakes his head, stubbornly crossing his arms.
“No way, for all I know, you will feed her to one of the predators the moment we return to the ship. We don’t even know what you are, so how do you expect us to trust you with our friend?”
“That goes both ways, Aaz’axian. I am not the one who was pretending to be something I’m not.”
Oh snap. I guess he has a point. I wonder if he knows that I am not really an Elementi either, but then again, I guess I am. He hasn’t said anything, so I am not going to bring it up. Maybe this is the chance we need. Maybe if I spend time with him, I can convince him to help us rescue my grandma.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” I blurt out, and Brannock glares at me.
“No, you will not. It isn’t safe. Remember what I told you about nighttime?” I roll my eyes, and Brannock’s glare gets narrower.
“I assure you she will be perfectly protected by me.”
Brannock growls at him. “I don’t care, she’s not staying.”
“If she does not, she will die. This form cannot return to space as it is. It needs complete immersion within its element to begin healing. If she returns to space, she might not make it through the night.”
Brannock’s glare drops, and his expression turns to one of concern. He bites his lip and sighs.
“Your mates are going to kill me,” he mutters but nods his head. “Fine, but the warlock and I will stay as well.”
“No, you will not. I cannot protect her to the best of my ability if I am protecting you two as well.” Damn, this creature knows exactly the right things to say. “Now finish up your job. Trust me, you do not want to know what the punishment is for not achieving your quota.” The being disappears, only to reappear across the field next to Xavier. We watch as he leans in and speaks to my warlock, who startles before looking at us. His eyes widen as he sees Brannock in his real form, and he heaves out a sigh of acceptance before his body returns to his normal warlock form, then his mist expands outwards, covering him from head to toe.
The harvesters who were sharing the same bush as him quickly back away, hurrying to find a space that is far from my husband. We watch as the two of them talk for a moment before the being returns to watching over the rest of the crew.
Lila, why is Master Z telling me that you will be staying on the planet overnight?Xavier growls into my head.
According to him, I will die if I return to the ship tonight. This Elementi needs complete immersion into the element to survive. They overdid it in space.
Just change forms,he snaps at me, but I shake my head.
No, this might be the chance we need. He might lose his hood and give me a chance to mimic him, or I might be able to convince him to help us with Grandma Lily.
I will not leave you alone. You can’t ask this of us.He sounds desperate and angry.
I know I shouldn’t be asking you, but I am. Remember, I have the communicator to our ship, so I can signal to them if I need help, and they will send down Saxon, Silac, and Tirrian. I have backup, I remind him. I can feel his frustration, despair, and reluctant acceptance. And I still have all the other forms at my fingertips if I need them.
Fine, but if you die, Lila, I will find a necro to call your ghost, and I will lecture you for the rest of your undead life,he threatens, and I can feel how worried he is, so I let him be, sending waves of love and gratitude.
I know this could possibly be a too stupid to live moment, but I need to take the chance. I am confident in my abilities. Xavier trained me to the best of his knowledge, and I am secure with the fact that backup is just a teleporter away. There’s also that feeling of familiarity I have for the being. There’s just something about him that makes me feel safe, and if he can help me with the death forest, then I’m going to take any chance I can.