Chapter 16
- Morgan -
The island turns out to be larger than I expected.
Not much larger. We can still hear the river from almost everywhere, and it never takes long before another stretch of shoreline appears through the trees.
The places where the monster knocked big pieces off are still like open wounds.
And yet, after spending the night huddled near the shelter while storms, monsters and general misery try to kill me, the place suddenly feels almost spacious.
Sunlight filters through the canopy overhead in bright golden shafts.
Because of the flood, many trees have been washed away and the treetops aren’t completely blocking all the light, the way they usually do.
Water drips steadily from leaves and branches, sparkling whenever a breeze moves them.
The ground remains muddy in places, but it no longer feels like the entire world is drowning.
I stop beside a cluster of broad-leafed plants and poke one experimentally.
"You're inspecting vegetation," Vyrathion says behind me.
"Some of these plants may be edible. Or they may be medicine. Especially if they have thick leaves like this one." I break off a leaf and smell it. Nope, nothing special. I drop it and move on.
“Yes, of course. Always thinking of food and healing. What a strange existence you lead! Always at the mercy of everything around you. How do you stand it?”
“You get used to it,” I tell him as I pick a berry off another plant, pop it open and smell the inside of it. “For instance, this berry smells of nothing, so it’s likely poisonous. If I taste it…” I touch my tongue to the crushed berry, “...it is sour. So nothing I’d want to eat. Now I know.”
“Anything could kill you,” Vyrathion marvels. “And yet you chose to come along with me.”
“I’m still alive,” I point out. “So that was a good choice. Like I said, you get used to it.” I continue forward through the undergrowth.
The island smells completely different now that the rain has stopped.
Everything is fresh and green. The air carries the scent of wet earth, crushed leaves and flowers I can't identify.
Somewhere nearby, something rustles through the bushes.
Vyrathion immediately turns his head.
I hear it a moment later. A series of soft crunching sounds. The noise moves through the vegetation ahead of us before emerging into a patch of sunlight. For a moment I don't understand what I'm looking at.
The creature stands about waist-high, with six sturdy legs and a body covered in short green fur. Its long neck curves upward from a barrel-shaped torso, ending in a narrow head with enormous dark eyes. Several leafy branches protrude from its mouth.
The animal freezes. So do we. For several seconds everybody simply stares at everybody else.
Then the creature resumes chewing. Apparently we've failed to impress it.
“See? Even he doesn’t fear you," I whisper.
"He must be too stupid. Or perhaps he realizes I have no intention of eating him. His only danger here is you. Surely you’d like to bite into him? Doesn’t he look delicious to you?"
"No. He looks adorable. I don’t want to eat him."
His eyes glint. “Are you sure? I’ll snap him in half if you want, so you can smell his insides and see if he’s poisonous.”
I gently cuff his shoulder. “You’re teasing me! Don’t hurt him. He’s our neighbor.”
“It’s likely preferable to not want to eat one’s neighbors,” Vyrathion agrees.
The creature takes another bite from the branch. Then it casually turns and wanders deeper into the trees without the slightest concern for our presence.
For some reason that makes me happier than it should. The entire time we've been on Xren, everything has tried to eat us, stab us, kidnap us, worship us or sacrifice us. Discovering an animal whose primary ambition appears to be chewing leaves feels oddly refreshing.
I continue walking. Behind me, Vyrathion follows with the air of someone enduring a terrible hardship. "I don’t see you," he says, stepping over a fallen branch, "looking for gold."
"You said there isn’t any,” I sniff. “So what’s the point?"
"Gold is the whole point. It’s always gold. Only gold is the point. Am I making myself clear?”
“You’re really not.” I bend down to pick up a handful of clay. “Hmm. Let’s see now. Is any of this gold? No? All right.” I dump the handful of mud and brush my hands together. “See how carefully I search?”
I can hear his teeth gnashing. “That was not a serious search. Gold occurs in heaps of dust, in nuggets, in coins and bracelets and crowns and bars. Not as mud!"
I bite my lip. “Do you actually know how gold is found?”
He kicks at the ground. “I just told you.”
“Yes, but before that. Before the gold is made into coins and bars.”
“Gold is gold. Well, hoard gold is different. And certainly old crowns or such that’s been worn by kings are better than most other gold. Gold dust is cumbersome because it sticks to your feet and you’re always dragging it around your lair. But it is gold.”
“You know gold comes out of mines in rock?” I ask. “Or from the bottoms of rivers?”
He looks away. “I obviously have heard of mines. And yet, I have never had reason to consider those things. To me, gold comes from hoards or conquered lesser people.”
I tap my lips. "Because I don’t think there will be coins or crowns buried here. Or anywhere on Xren.”
“Jewelry will do. Bars too. Fine figurines. Dust, as I said. Nuggets.”
We walk on. The only way I can think of to actually find gold would be to pan for it in the river, but while I have seen docudramas about those things, I’ve never done it myself.
Probably Vyrathion’s best chance is the Earth girls.
If there’s a lot of them, maybe at least one was wearing some earrings when she was abducted.
Ahead of us the trees begin to thin. Sunlight brightens noticeably between the trunks, and I catch glimpses of open space beyond. Whatever lies on the other side, it looks different from the dense jungle surrounding the shelter.
I point ahead. "See? Exploration."
Vyrathion sighs heavily. “It all looks the same as everywhere else on this goldless planet. But by all means, go on.”
“Thank you. I believe I will.”
Behind me, Vyrathion steps over a fallen trunk with exaggerated reluctance. "There’s only trees ahead. I'd like to point out that we've already discovered several trees."
"But maybe those are amazing."
He picks a tiny leaf out of his hair. "Only you could find it amazing to find trees in an endless jungle."
"Maybe some of them are secretly made of gold. Have you checked?"
"If they were, I'd know it,” he growls. “And you’d know it because I would not look like this."
I smile and keep walking. The strange thing is that I don't feel any need to keep the conversation going.
A couple of days ago, silence between us would've felt awkward.
Now it feels comfortable. I know he's paying attention to everything around us, even while pretending not to care.
He knows I'll eventually stop to investigate something completely unnecessary. We've both become predictable.
The realization sneaks up on me. Somewhere between river monsters, hostile tribes, near starvation and all the other disasters Xren has thrown at us, we've apparently settled into a routine. It’s not a bad routine, actually.
Not something that would work in a calm, domestic situation in a suburb of Sacramento, but for a deadly jungle, it’s fine. For a while.
I roll my eyes. So now we’re fantasizing about bringing an alien dragon to Earth and buying a four-bedroom with him in a good school district.
“Get a grip, girl,” I admonish myself.
As I spotted before, eventually the trees thin enough to create a small grove. Sunlight pours through the canopy overhead. Large blossoms hang from the surrounding branches, turning lazily in the breeze. The air smells sweet enough that I stop walking without really meaning to.
For a little while I simply stand there.
Behind me, Vyrathion arrives and immediately becomes suspicious. "What? Something trying to eat you?"
I glance over my shoulder. “Not right now, for some reason. But look at this place.” I reach up and brush my fingers against one of the flowers. It sways gently overhead.
“It’s a part of the jungle,” the dragon sighs. “Just as muddy and humid as everywhere else.”
“Yes, but this place smells better.” The grove is peaceful. The river sounds distant. Nothing appears to be trying to kill us.
And suddenly, without warning, I remember waking up alone in the shelter. The memory doesn't hurt as much as it did last night. Mostly because he's here.
I lower my hand and look back at him. "Vyrathion."
His eyes flash in silver. "What?"
For a moment I consider letting it go. Then I decide not to. "I'm glad you came back."
Something flickers across his expression. The silence that follows lasts a little too long. His gaze drifts toward the trees, then toward the river beyond them, as though the answer might be written somewhere in the landscape.
Finally he folds his arms. "Even a terrible servant is better than none. And someone had to eat that meat I found.”
I grin. I think that’s the best I can get from him right now.
The strange thing is that the lack of immediate danger leaves room for other thoughts.
For days I've been too busy surviving to pay much attention.
Every thought has been about food, shelter, monsters, tribes or whatever fresh disaster Xren decided to throw at us.
But now we're simply walking through a jungle together.
Which gives me time to notice things.
Ahead of me, Vyrathion ducks beneath a hanging branch and casually shoves aside a fallen trunk that would've taken three people to move. The motion pulls at the black skin stretched over his shoulders. Beneath it, the golden outline of scales catch a shaft of sunlight before disappearing again.
My thoughts immediately wander somewhere unhelpful.