The guard unbound him. Silver eyes stared at Andrew for several long moments. Then, she made a “tsk” sound with her tongue. The four warrior women slowly backed out of the hut and let the flap drop closed once they cleared it.
Andrew waited until they were gone before saying, “You’ve been here before.” He walked over to one of the hammocks but found it covered in dirt and other filth. His nose wrinkled up at the putrid odor emanating from the skins. Deciding he did not want to lie on it, Andrew went over to one of the chairs and sat down. Its tired limbs groaned in protest against the new weight it had to bear.
Raptor, however, sat down on the edge of one of the hammocks. “It didn’t go well. It was the first major Stone we had ever tried to deal with. We wanted to make peace with Nagun, but she was having none of it. Between the disrespect Venom showed, Tran making some translation mistakes, and me making a poor decision …” Trailing off, she swept a hand over the top of her head. “It was just one thing after another going wrong.”
“Ugh, sorry to bring it up.” Andrew did not want to pry open a sore topic.
“Just how it goes sometimes. Right now, we really don’t have time for diplomacy and the Stones aren’t interested in cooperating anyway. They have no stake in what’s happening, so they resist us.”
“Out there, in the forest, you changed into a horse and then a gorilla. How did you do that?” He envisioned her bones bending into place all over again, wondering how anyone could ever bring themselves to go through transformations like that.
Raptor swung her legs back and forth under the hammock. “Every Keeper has specific abilities. Mine is animal-morphism. It roughly means that I can change into different animals.”
“Is that what you’re named after? Those raptor dinosaurs? Can you change into a T-rex?” Andrew mused to himself. He wondered what it would be like to ride a dinosaur.
Raptor frowned. “My name comes from living raptors, like hawks and eagles. I took the name after I joined the Keepers because they inspire me to protect my fellow Keepers. And no, I can’t change into a tyrannosaurus.”
Andrew paused, thinking about his place in the Keepers. “Will I get a name?”
“When you’re ready. It should be a name that reflects who you are as a person and as a Keeper. Something that has meaning to you.”
Bowing his head, Andrew knew he would have to think about it. He had lots of favorite plants he could pick from. Some even grew in his greenhouse.
Raptor leaned forward, focusing intently on him. “Spend some time considering it, because I’ll be screaming it at you sooner or later, so best not to regret that choice.” Her face brightened with a smile.
Andrew grinned in return. There was no doubt his name would be a type of tree. Maybe he could be Willow. They were a beautiful family of trees, multiple species, all in the genus Salicaceae. He would have to consider not just common names, but regional names and scientific names as well. A single plant could have a dozen different names, depending on where it grew and who you talked to.
“Work on it later. We have the Quester Stone of Life to get right now.” Raptor pointed just above her forehead.
“In her crown,” Andrew said. “I saw it: the emerald. I couldn’t take my eyes off it.” He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “You know, for aliens, they don’t look very alieny.”
Raptor nodded. “They are human, sorta.”
“Sorta?”
“A long time ago, the Stone of Life found Nagun and brought her here. She speaks a dialect of a dead language similar to French, according to Tran. Everyone here is her child.”
Sucking in a quick breath, Andrew tried to wrap his mind around the logistics of that. “You’re kidding. All of them? I mean, how’s that possible?”
“The Stone has the ability to do that. We didn’t study this place for long, but I think they are all partial clones of her. For you and me, one half of our chromosomes came from each parent and which pieces of it we get are random. The result is we share only about a half of our genome with our siblings.”
“I think I’m following.” Thinking about what Raptor said, it made sense. Since he only got half from one parent, then they would have an entire other half that he did not have. The same would then be true for the other parent, leaving many different combinations of chromosomes possible.
She leaned forward, folding her arms together and resting them on her legs. “Her children are related to each other by three-fourths. They all got the same half set of chromosomes from her—exactly the same, not random. The other half is random, so every offspring would have a fourth of those chromosomes in common with each other. A half plus a fourth is three-fourths.”
Squeezing his eyes shut, Andrew repeated what she had said to himself. He reached up and rubbed his temples. “Math hurts my head.”
Raptor rocked back in the hammock and laughed. “Mine too. It’s called haplodiploidy, and bees reproduce like this.”
Andrew felt befuddled by her explanation. “They are bees?”
“No, no hive-mind going on here—just a half clone and the result is they all look alike and are all women.”
He wondered if she innately despised him because he could never be one of her own. “And that’s why she hates men?”
“Well, ‘hate’ is a strong word. More like, you’re a lesser being, not very useful, rather dull, and prone to violence.”
“Wait, the warriors we just fought say I’m prone to violence?”
Raptor ran her hands across the tops of her legs and leaned forward, resting on her knees. “If we’re right and she’s from ancient France, then the culture there was pretty different—a lot more wars going on—and, if I had to guess, she saw firsthand what people could do when inspired to violence. From her point of view, men lead other men into war, and there is no war here. I didn’t say it was logical or right; it’s just her view.”
“Is it a utopia or something?”
“Far from it. They have plenty of problems, including violence, but large-scale war isn’t one of them. According to their culture, since everyone is related, killing someone will result in the murderer’s death. Everyone is the same person, in a metaphysical sense.”
No war sounded pleasant, but being a clone of everyone else creeped him out. Andrew did not think he could handle looking at the same face repeated over and over for his whole life.
Trying not to think about it, Andrew changed the subject. “So, the Stone …” he trailed off, thinking. “Could you change into something small, sneak in, and get it?”
“For me to get that Stone, I have to get close to it, and I can’t with her sitting on her little island.” Raptor’s lips parted into a wide grin. “So we shot a few warriors and that made her mad enough to want to face me herself.”
“That’s why you didn’t kill anyone.”
“As a Keeper, we try not to kill people. It’s just a bad policy anyway.”
Andrew could feel his confidence rising, knowing he was making the right choice about joining the Keepers. Though why Raptor kept putting so much trust in his abilities nagged at him. “If you mean to fight her, why did you bring me along anyway? I mean, won’t I just get in the way?”
Lifting a hand to cover her mouth, Raptor laughed. “Just wait until you go on a mission with Tran. You’re staying. Besides, you did well in Paris.”
Andrew could not help himself and gave her a big smile. “I’m really the Keeper of plants?”
“Looks that way. Though, how did you do that to the trees without touching them?”
“Do what?”
Raptor pinched her fingers together. “Make them grab that creature. Venom had to have physical contact with the plants to control them. I mean, he got pretty good at finding obscure roots, just nothing like what you did.”
All he had wanted in that moment was to squeeze the life from the monster, to make it stop attacking his new friends. “I don’t know. I just wished it, and it happened.”
“
Wishful thinking doesn’t work. Somehow, you made a connection. We’ll have to figure it out how later so you can implement it again.”
“Can I turn into plants?” Andrew pictured shoots of leaves stemming out from his body.
“Venom tried to find a way to do that for years. I don’t think it’s possible. There’s just too much difference between animals and plants. However, Venom did learn to control plants over long distances. It has its limits. The plants have to have their root systems connected and be sharing resources, even if indirectly through a fungus.”
“Wow. Can you teach me about my powers?”
Raptor gave a sheepish grin, her head tilting to the side. “Maybe. I’ve never taught anyone before, so this will be a new experience for me. Let’s start with something simple. We’re standing on a giant tree. What can you tell me about it?”
“It reminds me of a form of a bonsai tree—”
“No, not like that. I want you to connect to the tree itself. Tell me about it. How far does the platform extend? How does it get its water? What is it doing right now?”
“I don’t know.” Andrew scrunched his eyebrows together.
“Okay, try touching the tree and then listening.”
Andrew slid out of his chair. He squatted down on the ground and put a hand on the smooth wooden floor.
“The answer should come to you, like a stray thought. Listen for it.”
Squeezing his eyes shut, he searched his mind for anything about the tree. He tried setting both hands on the floor, but nothing came to him. “I can’t get anything.”
Raptor rubbed the side of her head. “You tried for all of two seconds. Do it again.”
He closed his eyes, pressing his hands firmly to the wood. It was a type of hardwood, if he had to guess—very old. Andrew frowned, knowing he had just told himself something he already knew.
“Focus on one aspect of the tree, one question. Don’t go looking for all the information right away.”
“I thought I could just make plants grow.” Impatience bubbled up inside him.
“You’re going to find you have a variety of powers, such as being able to identify plants by touching them.”
Andrew rubbed his face with one hand and then set it back on the ground. He decided he wanted to know how big the tree was.
Nothing came to him.
“Ugh, I’m not getting anything. I want to know how big it is,” Andrew said, keeping his eyes closed.
The hammock creaked as Raptor moved. “Try a smaller question, like which hut is nearest ours?”
Andrew pointed off to his left. “It’s over there.”
“How do you know that?”
“I saw the huts on the way…” Andrew opened his eyes. He had seen the huts spread around the pit, but he did not know their exact distances from each other. Yet, he knew for a fact the hut he had pointed to was just a tiny bit closer than all the other huts.
Andrew stood up, raising his fists into the air. “Oh, that’s cool!” He pumped his arms up and down in a happy dance, grinning the whole time. Tapping the side of his head, he said, “It just popped in there, just like you said.”
“Okay, great. Now ask a bigger question.”
Andrew took a breath and closed his eyes. He did not crouch down this time. “Do the pillars have roots too?”
“To yourself.” Raptor sighed. Andrew could see her rolling her eyes at him, even with his closed.
Focused on the question about the pillars and picturing them in his mind, he asked himself the question again.
Information poured into his mind.
The pillars did not have roots in the traditional sense. To create the pillars, a long vine stretched down to the ground from the platform. It plunged deep into the soil and spread open, like an upside-down umbrella. As time went on, the root system thickened and hardened, providing a footing that supported the large platform above.
Unable to hardly believe it, his eyes shot open. His insides felt like they were vibrating all over. He wanted to run outside the hut, screaming for joy.
“I take it you got your answer.”
“Oh, yes! They don’t have roots, not really, I mean—”
“Nope, no. I don’t want a botany lesson,” Raptor said, holding up a hand as if to stop him.
“But it’s so cool. They are like umbrellas, and they support it by distributing the weight and—”
“Andrew!” Raptor snapped, interrupting him again. “Great job, but you’ve got a long ways to go.”
“You’re right! Show me how to control plants.”
“I will. I promise, but I need to get some sleep. If I’m going to fight Nagun, I have to be at full strength. I suggest you get some sleep too, while you can.”
Andrew felt weary, but he eyed the blue-black colored hammocks. He feared he would contract some alien disease from them. “I think I’ll stay awake and work on trying to learn more about the tree.” He was excited he could gain information just by thinking about what he wanted to know.
Raptor squinted her eyes. “Do as you wish. But I’m telling you, this may be the only rest you get for a while.”
“I’m sure,” he said, even though she was right. There was a lot left to do. They had to collect several more Quester Stones, find Christine, and confront Venom.
“All right, I can’t make you. However, I expect peace and quiet until they return. I burned all my energy repairing my wounds. Sleep is what allows me to regain that energy.”
“Like you did after Venom—” Andrew started, but she cut him off with a nasty glare. “Er, will I be able to do that?”
“Eventually. Have you ever been badly injured? Fallen off a roof or anything?”
“No, but I don’t go around trying to kill myself either.”
“Well, if you are anything like the rest of us, then you already have a version of it.”
“I’ve been cut before, and I don’t heal in two hours.” Andrew reached up, rubbing the back of his neck. There was so much he did not know about being a Keeper.
“We found a way to speed it up, but we don’t have time right now to give it to you.” Raptor tapped her fingers on her leg. “Don’t mistake me, we can still die. If they had kept shooting me with arrows, I would have eventually succumbed to my injuries.”
Andrew gulped. “I’ll be careful.”
“Good.” Raptor swung her legs into the hammock and closed her eyes.
Andrew let out a soft yawn and placed his hands on the floor again. He wondered how many people lived on it, but that information did not float into his mind. Maybe he was not strong enough yet to tell.
He tried to figure out how big the tree was again. He pictured the platform and imagined himself trying to look all the way out across it and up into the canopy at the same time.
Nothing came to him. He got up and took a seat in the chair, leaning back in it as he closed his eyes. A few moments of quiet would do him some good and let him think up a better question.
Minutes crawled by as his chin gradually dropped to rest on his chest. He started to imagine himself walking along the platform and all the faces of the identical women staring at him.
Andrew was jarred awake as he almost fell out of his chair. He caught himself and adjusted how he sat in it. The hammocks were tempting, but he still refused to climb into one.
Andrew turned to face backwards in the chair. Crossing his arms over the back, he set his head down on them. His eyes closed, trying to refocus on the question of how big the tree was, but his mind wandered away from it again. Thoughts of what terrible things might have happened to Christine came to him. He worried she was in grave danger.
He slipped into a dream about Christine. He would be her hero, saving her from the crystalline creature by killing it with a tree shaped like a sword. Christine would then discover she was a Keeper, like him. Together they would save the world from Venom and bring peace to the planet, hand in hand.
The dream changed, and he floated through a
city made of trees, much like the city he slept in now. There was one difference, though. Instead of people staring at him, they were waving and cheering.
A weak voice spoke, surreal and distant, “It could be yours, if you want it.”
Andrew smiled to himself as he sighed in contentment. He did want it.
“You will need to find me. I will give you everything you want. Christine could come too,” the voice cooed.
Andrew thought, “Where are you?”
Flying through the city, he headed toward the great tree at the center. When he reached it, he glided to the ground. At the base of the tree was a tiny opening. It was too small for him to fit in, but the dream world allowed him to enter the hole. Nestled inside a tangle of roots sat an emerald. It pulsed with a pale green light.
The voice in his mind became louder and more urgent. “Find me! I will make your dreams come true. Anything you desire!”
Andrew toppled over in the chair. He landed on the ground with the chair on top of him. Pushing the chair away with one hand, he stood up, breathing hard.
Raptor woke up. “What happened?”
Righting the chair, Andrew took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Just a strange dream.”
“Strange how? Did you see a white light?”
“No. I just floated around in the city and talked to the emerald. How long did we sleep for?” A yawn escaped his lips, and his eyelids dragged themselves closed.
“About an hour.” Raptor rubbed her face and leaned back into the hammock again.
“I am not a dream.” A familiar voice floated through Andrew’s mind.
Chapter Sixteen
Andrew spun around, searching for the source of the voice. “Did you hear that?”
“No. What?” Raptor stretched out her arms and tucked her hands behind her head.
“It’s that voice from my dreams, talking.”
Raptor bolted upright, her face pale. “In your dreams, the emerald spoke to you? What did it tell you?” She leapt from the hammock and went to the wall of the hut. Pressing her face up to the woven stick wall, she peeked through a small gap.
Stone of Power (Keepers of Earth Book 1) Page 21