by Seven Steps
“Who is this authority?” the leader asked. “What is this service? And who are you?”
“We are only travelers,” Lex replied.
“Your skin and clothes say as much. Travelers from where?”
“From ...very far away.”
“You are here for a dark purpose. Perhaps you are spies.” The leader poked the spear tip deeper into Lex’s neck. “Spies from the Women’s City?”
“We don’t know anything about a Women’s City,” Lex said. “We are only looking to speak to Seven.”
“What do you want with my daughter?” the leader barked.
“I already told you that she has been called—”
“Homen!” the leader interrupted.
The head hunter stepped forward. “Yes, Chief Byron.”
“Take them to the pit and keep them there,” Byron said. “If they are spies from the Women’s City, we cannot allow them to give away our location.”
“Yes, Byron.”
Homen grabbed Lex’s arm to pull him forward.
Lex raised his hands, sending Homen skyward.
The hunter’s feet kicked in terror.
The other hunters stepped back.
“You will not touch us,” Lex growled.
Chief Byron looked from Homen to Lex. He swallowed. “What are you?”
“We are here to see Seven and Pennick,” Lex said. “Bring them to us.”
“And what will you do with them?” Chief Byron asked.
“They will lead us to Arees,” Lex said. “After that, they will come back with us to see the Magistrate Embrya.”
“Arees?” Chief Byron blinked. “So you intend to use my daughter to find the Fallen One?”
“Yes,” Lex said.
“Are you like Arees?” Chief Byron asked. “Fallen gods?”
Lex took a deep breath and nodded.
Chief Byron’s face faded into a frown. “Release Homen. I will tell you what I know.”
CHAPTER 27
“Gods?” Nadira asked.
They were taken to a cool, empty hut and provided with large bowls full of water and fruit. The smell of meat wafted through the air as someone cooked over the fire in the middle of the village.
Lex wiped water from his chin. “I just went with it. Besides, if we let him believe we’re gods, we can guarantee he’ll help us. We need allies if we’re to succeed.”
“And when they find out otherwise?” Nadira asked.
“How will they find out?” Lex said. “If they get out of line, we’ll show them what we can do.”
“I hope you’re right about this.” Nadira took a bite of a banana and looked at Eva. Her friend sat quietly in the corner and looking blankly up at the sky through the hole in the middle of the hut’s roof.
She is being quiet. Something’s wrong.
A knock on the outer hut wall interrupted Nadira’s thoughts.
“Enter,” Lex said.
A lean man poked his head inside. “The meat is almost ready.”
“Thank you,” Lex said. “We’ll be out shortly.”
The man nodded and disappeared.
“Look, just let me do the talking,” Lex said, “and we’ll be out of here as soon as we can.”
“Don’t be too long,” Nadira said. “We only have four days, and I have no intention of being trapped here.”
Lex nodded, took one last sip from his water cup, and led them out of the tent and into the light of the setting sun.
Chief Byron and the rest of the village sat on one side of the fire. The flames hid all but Byron’s face from the Venians. With the flames illuminating his strong features, he looked like something from another world, a holy and fearsome creature.
Nadira wondered if they looked as fearsome to Byron.
A thin woman with a baby strapped to her back with a colorful cloth came forward, poked the slab of meat, and smiled. She took a knife that had been strapped to her waist, sliced off a piece, and handed it to Chief Byron.
He slurped the juicy meat and nodded.
The villagers murmured excitedly.
A short, squat woman handed a bowl of cloudy water to Chief Byron. He washed his hands and face and handed the bowl back to her.
More women stepped forward with bowls and handed them out to the villagers.
A shapely woman walked to where the Venians sat. She handed them the bowl.
Lex sniffed the water. It smelled of citrus. He washed himself and handed the bowl back.
After everyone was washed, the meat was distributed. Chief Byron was served first, followed by the “gods” and then the villagers.
A woman handed Nadira a wooden bowl, filled to the brim with meat, juices, and fragrant vegetables. Using her fingers, Nadira scooped out some of the meat. At the first, tender slurp, Nadira sighed at the delicious flavors that sank deep into her taste buds.
Mmmmm. Earth food. The best food ever.
Nadira looked to her left, where Kiln had tipped the bowl back to get the last of the juices. With firelight bouncing off of his greased lips, large, sweat-soaked forearms, and shaved head, he looked positively delectable. She licked her lips and sat back to admire him.
He saw her looking, and lifted one side of his mouth in a half smile.
She smiled back.
The Venians and the villagers were served until the hunk of meat was only a bone.
Following the meat, more fruit and water was distributed.
Once the villagers had eaten their fill, they sang songs and danced around the fire. They sang about hunting, beasts from the water, shattered moons, a God who lived among the frogs, and love.
Nadira lay back and allowed Kiln to wrap his arms around her. She was sweaty and in desperate need of a bath, but with her hunger satisfied, she was happy and content to lay in her lover’s arms.
Kiln kissed her hair.
She sighed.
“I miss you,” he whispered.
“I’m right here.”
“That’s too far.”
Nadira smiled, stretched her head back, tenderly kissed him, and settled again. This is what I want, she thought. This is what I need. To be surrounded by friends, to live off the land, and to be with Kiln. This is all I want. She called a cool, refreshing breeze to her. It rushed down and shook the leaves above them.
Chief Byron looked at his visitors. “The gods are satisfied.”
The people cheered and danced more than before.
The villagers called Lex up to the fire, begging to see what he could do. He gladly complied, raising laughing children into the air and sailing them above their parent’s heads.
Eva rolled her eyes and retired to the hut.
Lex called up Kiln, and the villagers watched in amazement as he blew fire from his mouth and swallowed it again. Nadira joined him, and together they made shapes in the flames.
After hours of laughing, dancing, singing, and tricks, the festivities came to an end and Chief Byron called them into his hut.
Carvings of stars and animal skins decorated the inside of the large, humid hut. A woman, who previously had been cleaning, excused herself and rushed out when they came in.
Chief Byron sat on a comfortable fur next to the small fire in the center of the hut. He waved them to other furs on the ground and waited until they were comfortable. He looked into the fire. “So you want to know about my little star maker?”
CHAPTER 28
Chief Byron wiped the remains of grease from his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Seven is my only daughter,” he began. “As a child, she was like everyone else. Hard-working. Obedient. Kind. She was happy, always so happy. After her mother died, she cried but she kept her spirit, even when I could not.” He cleared his throat. “I tried to be a good father. I made sure that there were women around with whom she could talk to. I taught her to hunt, to track, to honor the gods, to find her way. I just can’t understand why she would leave. She had friends here, family. It’s beyond my understan
ding. Perhaps it is a matter only for the gods.”
“What happened to her?” Lex asked.
“Two moons ago, she began to change,” Chief Byron said. “She would disappear into the woods at night. And during the day, she would carve these.”
He waved to the flat, circular wood carvings that covered the walls of the hut. Within the circle were eight points in the unmistakable image of a star.
“She carved dozens each day,” Chief Byron said. “I got worried, and I sent my hunters to follow her at night. I thought that if I could see where she went, I could see what had bewitched her. And then we found him. Pennick. He is the son of a chief whose village is not far from here. A village full of wicked men who kidnap my women and steal from our hunting grounds and pick from our fruit trees. Men who won’t listen to reason and who don’t want peace. When my hunters reported back to me, I was furious. I had hoped that Seven would marry Homan, a strong warrior here. I couldn’t understand what she was thinking. She’s still so young, barely out of childhood.” A tear drifted down Chief Byron’s cheek. “I had hoped that after a few days she would come to her senses and come back to me, to her family. But she has not.” He sniffled, took a deep breath, and wiped his nose. “So now here I am. A blubbering old man who is waiting for his little girl to come home. My hunters were on their way to spy on the other tribe when they found you. I had hoped that you would bring me good news, but you, too, want to take my child away.”
He looked up to the ceiling of the hut, as if he could see through it. “If my daughter must go to the Gods, then there is nothing I can do. I honor the Gods, and they bless my people. But promise me that I will see her again before you take her. Promise me that you will bring her back here so that I can say goodbye.”
Lex nodded. “I promise.”
Even as he said it, he wondered if it was a promise he could keep.
CHAPTER 29
They began their journey in the rising sunlight. The entire village came out to wish them well.
“Go west.” Chief Byron said. “Chief Erick’s tribe will be on your way. I cannot guarantee that my daughter will be there, but I pray that you will soon find her.” He put his hand on Lex’s shoulder, and looked him sternly in the eyes. “And I know that you will remember your promise.”
Lex nodded. “We will return with your daughter, Chief Byron. You have my word.”
Chief Byron embraced each one, and with a wave of his hand, they headed west.
A silence hung over the group as they moved deeper into the jungle.
Lex cleared his throat. “So I’ve been experimenting with my powers, and I’ve discovered that when I fly, it’s just me condensing and rearranging the molecules in the air. So I thought, why can’t I do that for other things? Watch.”
He stopped by a tree and placed both of his hands on the bark. As he moved his hands apart, the bark expanded.
Eva turned away while Nadira and Kiln reached out to touch the newly formed wood.
“Incredible,” Nadira said.
A roar sounded somewhere in the distance, and the jungle grew silent.
“That didn’t sound good,” Eva said.
“We should pick up the pace,” Nadira said.
“Or the height,” Lex said. With a wave of his hand, he lifted Kiln and Eva from the ground and above the trees.
Nadira floated up next to them.
“It feels weird,” Kiln said.
“It’s faster than walking,” Nadira said.
“How will we see the tribe?” Eva asked. “Do you have x-ray vision, too?”
Pushing aside the inclination to drop her, Lex kept Kiln and Eva afloat while shifting his focus to the trees. He tried to bend the trees to see through them, but every time he got one to bend, Kiln or Eva would drop.
“Here,” Nadira said. “Let me.”
A stiff breeze blew through the trees, scattering animals and parting the leaves.
“Can you keep that up the whole time?” Lex asked.
“We’ll see,” Nadira replied. “Lead on.”
Staying behind Kiln and Eva, Lex and Nadira flew forward, keeping an eye to the tree line, watching for any signs of a village.
When the sun was directly above their heads, Nadira pointed to a grouping of huts not unlike the ones in Chief Byron’s village.
“There.”
“Do you think it’s them?” Lex asked.
“Can’t hurt to find out,” Nadira said.
“How will we know?” Lex asked. “Are we just going to go up and ask?”
“How else?” Nadira shrugged. “If things get hairy, we’ll just use our Tomas.”
Nadira landed away from the village.
Lex slowly dropped Kiln and Eva to the ground before finally landing himself.
Nadira reached into her backpack and pulled out a nutrition pill. She placed it on the back of her tongue, and swallowed. Twelve hundred calories and a full day’s worth of vitamins filled her stomach. She then pulled out a hydration pill and swallowed. It delivered a slow release of water into her system and would for the next twelve hours. She readjusted her backpack and turned back to the group.
“Kiln, stay up front with me,” Lex said. “Nadira, keep an eye on Eva, just in case.”
“I can take care of myself,” Eva said.
Lex cleared his throat. “Okay. Then don’t keep an eye on Eva. If things take a turn for the worse, leave her.”
Lex trotted toward the village, smiling as he heard Eva’s shocked gasps behind him.
CHAPTER 30
Chief Erick’s stroked his long, grey beard as he listened to his scout’s report of the approaching intruders. Though the young boy had never lied to him before, his reports of flying men and women gave Erick pause. If the intruder’s could fly, that could only mean one thing: they were from Women’s City. And if they were from Women’s City...
Erick stretched his fat limbs out in front of him before using a cane to struggle up from the low cot he’d been sitting on. A frown pulled on his bloated face. He’d been trading with the women for years. He’d delivered his quota of slaves this month, hadn’t he? What else could they want? Better yet, why were they sneaking up on his village?
He instructed the scout to tell all of the villagers to stay in their huts until he gave word that it was safe to come out.
When the four intruders burst through the foliage and stood on the outskirts of his village, he was neither surprised nor pleased.
“We have already paid our tribute, Venians,” Chief Erick said. “What business do you have in my village? We have no more slaves to sell you nor are we in need of any medication or other trade.”
The darker skinned woman stopped short, while the red headed man stepped forward.
“We are looking for Chief Erick,” the red haired man said.
“I am Chief Erick.” Chief Erick stared at the red headed man then flicked his eyes to the two women. “He talks?”
“Constantly,” the paler woman muttered.
“You know that we’re Venians?” the red headed man asked. “How?”
Chief Erick looked over the group. His dark hand went to his long beard, stroking it thoughtfully. “I have my ways. What is your business here?”
The paler woman stepped forward. “We need to find Pennick. We were told that he may be here.”
Chief Erick stiffened. “I haven’t seen him.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Do you know where we may find him?”
“What business do you have with Pennick?” Chief Erick asked.
“He has been called by a great authority,” she said.
“What authority?” Chief Erick asked.
“The Magistrate Embrya.”
“Why haven’t I heard of her?” Chief Erick asked.
“Not surprising, considering the primitive state of this planet.”
Chief Erick frowned at her. “Suppose that I did know where Pennick was. What will you give me for this information?”
“What do you want?” Eva asked.
“Blasters.”
The old man’s demand for blasters startled Eva, making her blink.
“Venian blasters?” Eva asked.
“That’s right,” Erick said.
“You would sell us information about your son for Venian blasters?” Nadira asked.
“I am offering a trade,” Chief Erick said. “I won’t tell the other Venians that you are here when, I’m guessing, you’re not supposed to be, and you give me a Venian blaster.”
“What would you do with the blaster?” Nadira asked.
“None of your concern,” Erick said, “just as it is none of my concern that you are here.”
Nadira frowned. “We don’t have any weapons.”
“Then you have no business here.” Erick turned to leave.
Lex flicked his eyebrow upwards, picking Erick from the ground and hanging him there. “You know exactly where your son is, don’t you?” He spun Erick around to face him.
Erick’s eyes didn’t widen. He didn’t cry out or act startled in any way. He simply stared at them, as if he’d been expecting this to happen all along.
“You don’t scare me,” Erick said. “I am a valuable commodity among your people. I’ve seen what you can do a thousand times before. If you harm me in any way, the other Venians will find me, and then they will find you. So get me a blaster, death walker. That is my price for silence.”
“We told you we don’t have any weapons,” Nadira said.
“I’ll bet you know how to get one,” Erick said. “I’ll bet you could walk into the Women’s City and take one if you wanted to.”
“Women’s City?” Nadira gasped. “There is a slave trade colony here.” She looked to Chief Erick. “Where is it?”
Erick looked to the sky, as if exasperated by her comment. “I won’t say another word until you put me down.”
Lex lowered Erick to the ground.
“Where is the Women’s City?” Nadira asked.
“What will you give me for telling you?” Erick asked.
Nadira glared at him. “You aren’t very helpful.”
“I could say the same of you.”