The music surged in his mind but for once, it wasn’t urging him to offer himself. It was urging him to wait, to be patient, to let it wreak its murderous havoc on the innocent humans it must have lured into its grip. He fought, but there was nothing he could do. And then there was silence.
It happened so suddenly he wasn’t sure what had happened, but all of a sudden, the resounding chorus in his mind dropped to a tinkling of bells in his subconscious. Arlen let him go and he opened his eyes slowly and looked around. There were five creatures surrounding him and Arlen tentatively touched his arm. The moon was shining and Jarl looked at it, though he knew it was likely too late for whoever else had been out this night.
There was a pulse along the notes in his mind: a summons. He couldn’t disobey as Arlen led him closer to the colony. He shivered. Did the planet want to show him the humans they had killed? He had seen many bodies on collection duty in the colony but he had never had to see the bodies along with the creatures who had just fed. Would he ever be able to look at Arlen the same way if he saw other creatures with their victims? What did the planet want from him? Why had it prevented him from saving other humans but left him alive?
They reached a clearing and Jarl winced at the sight of a creature cradling a human form. It was Keisha and Jarl shivered. But then she stood up, wobbling slightly as her creature steadied her. The creature’s hand was on her heart and as she looked around, her eyes caught Jarl’s and he drew in a slow breath. She was unharmed.
“Jarl,” she said, sounding stunned. Not nearly as stunned as he was.
“Keisha,” he said, and took a step closer.
“What happened?” she asked, looking from him to the other creatures.
“You adapted,” her creature said with a pleased smile. “You offered me your heart only, and survived.”
Jarl couldn’t hold back a laugh of relief. She hadn’t offered her body, only her heart, and she had survived. There was a rustling and he felt other creatures arriving, and then a female creature came into the clearing with them holding a limp and bleeding human form. Jonah, the other forager. But even though he wasn’t walking on his own and appeared badly injured, he was alive. His creature helped him to his feet and Jarl blushed as he realized the injuries were sexual in nature. Apparently Jonah had offered himself the same way Jarl had, and likely had the same types of injuries.
“Jarl?” he asked hoarsely, then looked at Keisha. “What’s going on?”
“You survived the same way I did,” Jarl said. He looked at the other creatures. “What happens now? Are you going to make them go back?”
“Go back?” Jonah asked in shock. “You can’t make us go back. They’ll kill us.”
“You must go back,” his creature said. “You must teach the others the way that Jarl taught you.”
“But he didn’t teach us anything,” Jonah said, then paused and looked at Jarl. “I guess you did. If I hadn’t looked at the moon, I think I would have kept… I wouldn’t have survived.”
“He taught me everything,” Keisha said. “But how are we supposed to teach others? What are we supposed to tell them? That you’re not enemies? We’d be killed.”
“I don’t know what else they can say,” Jarl said, agreeing with her. “I told them to look at the moon and they do, now. I don’t think anything we do can get them to accept creatures.”
“Persuade them to come out during the next peace and talk to us,” the creature said. “The more of you we talk to, the more will be safe.”
“So we’re safe?” Keisha asked, looking at her creature.
“The planet will not hurt you anymore,” he said. “You belong to it now.”
“Being immune to the planet does not mean she won’t hurt you,” hissed the female creature who had threatened Jarl. “You are now subject to the planet’s wishes, and death is part of the rhythm of our planet.”
Jarl shivered and Arlen glared. “The planet wants the humans to survive. Until all of them adapt to her will, she will protect them.”
The female creature looked straight at Jarl and smiled cruelly, not saying a word. He shivered again. The planet might not be a threat to him, but she was. He wondered why she was so determined to hurt him. In his dream of the planet he had gotten the impression that the planet wanted the humans to adapt and survive, but she seemed to be trying to sabotage that process. Then again, he had also sensed that the creatures weren’t as strongly connected to the planet as the other animals, so perhaps she was more independent than the others. He wondered how the other creatures felt. If the only way for humans to adapt was to spend time with creatures and learn to love them, then he wanted to be able to trust the creatures’ intentions. What if a creature like her seduced a human and then devoured them? The humans would never trust the creatures if that happened.
Keisha and Jonah looked at each other uneasily, probably as unsure of the female creature as Jarl was. But he wanted this to work, so he smiled at them.
“We’re safe here,” he said. Then he looked at the elder creature. “But I really don’t know if anything they say can persuade the others to talk to you during the peace.”
“We must try,” the creature said solemnly.
Jarl nodded. The creatures could only approach the humans on the two longest routes right now and it was likely Keisha and Jonah would continue on those routes, so there wouldn’t be a chance to talk to different humans next year. The colony couldn’t keep training new people for those routes. There just weren’t enough people capable of it. Even Keisha could barely get through it and she had plenty of help.
“They’ve had a year to get used to the idea that the woods aren’t a death sentence,” Jarl said to Keisha and Jonah. “Tell them that you looked at the moon and the creatures talked to you instead of eating you. Then, throughout the year, talk to the younger people and tell them that the creatures want to befriend us during the peace. Tell them to sneak out during the peace.”
Jarl looked at the creatures. “You might need to get closer to the colony if you want to talk to the people who sneak out. They can’t go far.”
“We can only go at night,” the elder creature warned. “We will not risk ourselves to your guns.”
Jarl nodded and looked back at the other humans. “Tell the younger people to leave at night, and to come back every night of the peace. Tell them to try to avoid being seen.”
“You really think that’ll work?” Keisha asked nervously.
“Don’t let the president know, or the old timers,” he warned. “They’re dangerous. Tell them you talked to the creatures but that’s it.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Jonah asked, gesturing to his bloody and battered body. “Why would a creature talk to me after attacking me? They’re going to assume it was an attack.”
“Tell them you were attacked, then looked at the moon, then your creature talked to you,” Jarl said. “And tell them to think of the creatures as brothers and sisters,” Jarl added, thinking of how he had saved Keisha from the attack. Keisha blushed and looked at Jonah, probably able to figure out what had happened differently between them and how Jarl’s comment to her had saved her from offering herself sexually. Would Jonah’s injuries be a problem? A doctor could probably tell he had been injured during sex but maybe he would assume the sex occurred before the attack, as he had assumed in Jarl’s case. He would have to hope. If the colony thought creatures were attracted to them, there would be even more fear than before.
“You’re not a sister to me,” Jonah said softly to his creature, stroking her arm. Jarl wondered if he loved her now, the same way Jarl’s love for Arlen had sprung out of friendship when the song of the planet had filled his mind.
“Are you coming back with us, Jarl?” Keisha asked almost desperately. “You seem to know exactly what to do and wouldn’t they listen to you? You can prove that it’s possible to survive out here outside of the peace. Wouldn’t they want to know that?”
“For now, just tell them t
o try to talk to the creatures, and tell them it’s only safe during the peace,” Jarl said. “They can’t accept too much at once.”
Keisha and Jonah were much younger than him, he realized suddenly. No wonder they were afraid of doing this alone. He was an adult, confident in himself, but they were practically teens who were no doubt insecure of themselves. He smiled.
“You can do it,” he assured them. “I believe in you. And you have your creatures to support you as well.”
“But we can’t see them while we’re in the colony, can we?” Jonah asked sadly.
“We could try to visit you,” his creature offered.
“You shouldn’t,” Jarl said, and Arlen nodded.
“There are too many dangers, and not just the guards,” Arlen said. “It would not be wise.”
Keisha’s creature ran his fingers through her hair. “We can lure you to the woods again, perhaps,” he said. “If you survive a second time and say you spoke to us again, perhaps it will help to convince them that we aren’t enemies.”
Jarl considered that option. It sounded reasonable. Plus, he suspected the creatures wouldn’t survive an entire year without feeding. Arlen had been so weak, and he had gotten to feed halfway through. He couldn’t ask the creatures to stay away from Keisha and Jonah all year.
“We must get you closer to the humans,” the elder creature said. “You are weak and need rest. Do you know what to do and say?”
“Yes,” they both said, sounding frightened.
“We’ll let you say goodbye in peace,” Arlen said, glancing at the other creatures meaningfully. He took Jarl’s hand and started leading him away as the others dispersed. As Jarl left the clearing, he saw Keisha’s creature leading her in the opposite direction and wondered what their relationship was. Not physical love, but she had been able to give him her heart and survive. Would it be as difficult to say goodbye for her as it had been for him to say goodbye to Arlen? He wondered how they would arrange for Keisha and Jonah to be found, and he wondered what the colony’s reaction would be. Would their plan work? They would have no real way of knowing until they drew Keisha or Jonah into the woods again, or until the peace next year, whichever came first. He felt almost abandoned not knowing what was happening in the colony but he had chosen his life out here, away from the humans. He didn’t regret it yet.
Chapter 19
All of the pods and the water canteen were safe when he and Arlen returned to the clearing with the rock and he was reassured. The female creature frightened him but it seemed the rest of the planet would leave him alone. He gratefully slipped into a peaceful sleep and when he awoke, Arlen was sitting next to him, leaning against the stone. He sat up and yawned.
“We should head to another plant today,” Arlen said. “It’ll take two days to get there, and we’ll be very far from the colony. Can you do that?”
“I’ll do my best to keep up,” he said, though the thought of more days of walking was a little intimidating. He had always thought that he kept himself in good shape but he was realizing that his endurance was fairly limited. He could push himself hard for five days, but everything after that was difficult. The woods didn’t make it easier with the fallen tree trunks and boulders scattering the ground and the low visibility with the dense trees and undergrowth. But he would try, and he knew he would eventually get used to it, just as he had gotten used to his route. He hoped Keisha would be used to the route by the next peace. Maybe he could arrange to be nearby and help her out. Assuming he survived that long, he thought grimly. He was alone now, with only Arlen to protect him. There was danger all around him and he would have to be extra careful not to injure himself. There were no doctors out here.
“Once we have all the pods, we’ll find a home for us,” Arlen said as they headed out. He was carrying the bags, freeing Jarl up to climb over the obstacles in their path. “It’ll have to be near the colony so that we can assist if anything happens.”
“That’s fine,” Jarl said, huffing slightly as rough bark rubbed against his palms. He was going to develop calluses quickly, he suspected.
“There are more creatures near the colony,” Arlen said, glancing back at him. “They cluster at the colony. If humans start adapting regularly, I’ll take you deep in the woods where there aren’t any other creatures. But until then, we must survive nearby.”
Jarl nodded. He hadn’t even thought that the creatures would be concentrated, but of course they would be around the colony. That was their food source, and also where they spawned. Most of the planet probably didn’t have any creatures at all. He was reassured that eventually he could live without fear of the other creatures, but it might be years before that happened. There were no guarantees he would survive that long.
Although Arlen had predicted it would take two days to reach the plant, it actually took three. Jarl was simply too exhausted and had to rest more than usual. He was careful to look at the moon every night, though he wondered if it was necessary with Keisha and Jonah doing the same. Although he hadn’t told them to look at the moon every night, he realized with a start. They didn’t know why people were surviving and there was no way to get a message to them now. It would be up to him to protect people by looking at the moon, at least until the creatures made contact with Keisha or Jonah again. He knew Arlen would be keeping him near the colony, but would he actually get a chance to talk to them? He wasn’t sure.
Maybe he could try to tell their creatures to let them know to look at the moon, he considered. He tentatively reached out to the music in his mind and tried to sense any creatures linked to humans. He felt three notes stand out and tried to send the message to them through music, doing his best to limit it. Arlen stopped and looked back at him.
“You sent a message,” he said in surprise, and Jarl blushed.
“How many creatures heard it?”
“Just the ones you sent it to,” Arlen said. “I’m glad you thought of that. With them looking at the moon, perhaps you would be able to get more sleep.”
That meant the message had been delivered safely and he was relieved. This could be quite useful, he considered as he continued to gaze at the moon. He wasn’t very good at manipulating the planet’s song yet, but he could learn.
In the morning he harvested the plant and they set out to the next one, only a day away. Perhaps two, Arlen had added thoughtfully, but assured him it would still be ripe. They set out and it was indeed two days, though Arlen didn’t show any of the impatience Jarl had shown Keisha during their trek. Perhaps it was because they weren’t rushing to accomplish everything before a deadline, but it was probably also because Arlen was simply a more patient person. Jarl was grateful for his silent support and soon he had enough pods to last a year, if not longer. Good. He wanted a stockpile just in case.
Once they had everything, they set out for a cave closer to the colony that Arlen assured him would be empty by the time they arrived. Instead of killing the animal who normally lived there, he had simply persuaded the animal to go somewhere else. Since the planet was on Jarl’s side, the animal had obeyed without question. And sure enough, as another night was falling, they reached a large hill with a deep hole cut into it. The hole was barely tall enough to walk through but once inside it opened up considerably. The dirt floor was beaten down in the places where the animal or animals must have slept and it stank a little, but not nearly as much as Jarl was beginning to smell. He really needed to figure out a soap replacement. He had been bathing as often as possible but it didn’t help much. Arlen hadn’t commented, but he had to notice.
Jarl arranged the bags of pods into a corner of the cave. It was a single room with a few cubbies along the side. One could serve as a bathroom, he considered, so he wouldn’t have to go outside every time. He would need a pot or container of some sort so he wouldn’t just be going on the ground inside, but maybe Arlen could help him come up with something. He set his clothes in another cubby and then returned to the center, where Arlen was looking a
round.
“Does this work?” Arlen asked. “I know it’s nothing like the colony.”
“This should be enough,” Jarl said, then looked at the ground. He had been sleeping on the ground for too long and ached for something soft to sleep on, and a blanket to cover him. “Could we get more fabric for a blanket?” he asked shyly. “And would anything work for a pillow or mattress?”
“There are several soft plants nearby,” Arlen said. “Their petals would cushion you and serve as blankets, too. I’ll go get them. You rest here.”
“I can’t see the moon,” Jarl realized suddenly.
“Come outside,” Arlen said. “You usually only need to look at the moon for an hour or two, and then you can come in and sleep. Your bed will be ready by then.”
Jarl nodded and returned outside. Luckily there was a clear view of the sky and the moon was just rising. He stared at it and felt the usual peace sweep over him. He was so intensely grateful to the beautiful orb. It was the only reason he was alive, the only reason any of the humans were alive. Without the moon, there wouldn’t be a peace every year and the colony would starve. And now, the moon also protected the people who looked at it when they were drawn out. He wondered how many were surviving, and if he was looking at the moon long enough. The longer he looked at it, the safer everyone was, but he was running out of energy and couldn’t stay awake as long as he could when living in the colony. He hoped people were still surviving unharmed, because that would make Keisha and Jonah’s job easier. People needed to stop thinking of the woods as dangerous or else they wouldn’t risk coming out during the next peace. Maybe he would stay out here a little longer tonight.
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