There was no instant, permanent bond. Any person could interact with the Vahe, but the longer one person did with any specific Vahe, the better the bond would become.
They stopped in the village only to resupply with water and eat. They left the small village behind, but continued to walk a wide path that held similar fields on either side. In the distance, the forest continued to creep up against the edge of the fields. Then, in one turn of the path, the wide road turned into a small trail and they were swallowed by the trees.
The path started to rise now as they began to gain altitude. They had encountered many people, walking or riding along the wide path, but the small trail left them in solitude. For the first hour, as Kale worked his legs going uphill, nothing was said. At a small clearing in the woods, Kale got his first glimpse of the valley down below him. As he stopped to drink, he broke the silence.
“The mountains of my youth had no trees,” he said, admiring the view. “I think at one time they did, but the Dominion had cut them all down.”
“Mountains bare of trees? I don’t think I can imagine that.”
“It is hard for me to be here with all these trees.”
“Your memories of your mountains are good ones, are they not?” she said.
“Reading my thoughts?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I cannot read thoughts. I can sense what you sense.”
Kale turned back around and looked down into the valley. He spotted the fields, but was unsure if they were the same ones they had passed. He couldn’t spot the wide road they had been on and certainly couldn’t see the village. In the distance, though, he could still clearly make out the spires on the coastal city. Along the horizon, at the edge of the ocean, one of the suns was rising up above it while another shone brightly above them.
“Yes, what few moments of happiness I had at that age were in the mountains. It was the only time we felt free.”
“We?” she asked, but noticed Kale pointing out towards the ocean.
“What is that?”
Uli smiled. “That is one of our many hidden companions. The watchers in the sky.”
“A moon?”
Uli nodded. They were difficult to see because of the bright skies. It was a pale circle in the pale sky, barely noticeable.
“You will see them better when the darkness comes.”
The path continued upwards. Kale was grateful that he wasn’t carrying too much. While he breathed laboriously at times, Uli barely broke a sweat. He found himself taking more and more breaks, simply to allow his heart to catch up. They continued talking as Kale asked her about other creatures on the planet and Uli asked him about Alioth. She seemed particularly fascinated by Earth whales that had been transplanted to Alioth successfully. There were groups of Gadoni that had legends of whales in their stories. There was no such like creature here, though.
Kale wasn’t sure when in the conversation, but he noticed that his heart and legs had caught up to him. He could still feel the burn of the uphill climb, but found it more a pleasing feeling than cumbersome. They continued their conversation, but kept it strictly casual. On occasion, they would come across other people coming down. It was after nearly ten hours of walking that they arrived at their first stop: the village of Haen.
The small town was carved directly out of the mountainside. At first, the abodes seemed like just caves, just holes in the mountain. That was until they entered the first one. Inside, there was no evidence of a cave. Instead, wooden walls gave a sense of warmth and safety. They were given a room with a window and a balcony. He had seen none of these as they had entered the city, and found them hidden in plain sight. The center of the town was cleared of trees and the view out towards the ocean was impressive.
The hostel they had arrived at was nearly full. According to Uli, so were all the others. Many had already traveled the path up to the mountains to celebrate the coming of the night. After dropping their gear off in their room and cleaning up at a communal bath, they went out into the town. Large groups had gathered in its center. Tables had been set out all over the place and copious amounts of fruits, meats and other food had been placed upon them. Giant bags hung from trees, and Kale saw people pouring some kind of drink from them. Uli offered him a taste. It was thick and sweet, and went down very smoothly. It didn’t take him long to realize it was also alcoholic.
They followed the crowd after getting some food and drink towards the eastern edge of the clearing. A cliff greeted them and they walked a thin pathway down the side of the cliff. As Kale peered over, he could see hundreds of small ledges where people set up chairs and mats. Some ledges were big enough to have small fires on them. Some were fenced, but most were not. Uli led him to a small ledge, threw down a furry mat, and they both sat down. Uli sat with her feet hanging off the edge. Kale sat safely back against the side of the cliff.
“Now what?” he asked, taking another sip. Knowing the effect of the drink, he wondered how many would fall off the ledges.
“Look,” she said, pointing out towards the sea.
“What?” Kale asked. “I don’t see anything.”
“That’s right. Every trail the suns chase each other up around Gadoni.”
That’s when he noticed. There was no sunrise in the east. Instead, a peculiar dusk began to set in. He had only been here for days, but he had already grown used to the constant brightness. This was the first time that he really began to notice the shadows. Down in the valley below, he could see a river winding through the forest and again, he could see the tall spires of the city. But now he saw the shadow the mountain was casting as the last sun dipped behind them. The tall spires cast their own long spindly shadows out into the ocean. The sky turned a dark blue.
Kale could sense the excitement building up among people on the ledges. Parents talked with their children in instructional tones while friends laughed and drank together. Lovers sat close, many not even watching the impending darkness as they locked into an embrace with each other. As it slowly grew darker, Uli recanted stories of her youth. They were stories of legends or of great deeds, both by members of her family or just great men and women in general. Kale tried to follow the stories. He was equally impressed by their grandness and at the same time jealous and ashamed. He had no such things to tell.
“I am sorry,” she said, suddenly.
Kale instantly snapped out of it. He knew exactly why she had said it.
“How is it you can feel what I feel, but I can’t?”
“I can see the threads. I think that is why I can see you as I do,” she said quietly.
“Ok, so how do I see these threads, too?”
Uli stopped for a moment. She was lost in thought. Kale was about to ask again when he heard someone cry out. Kale realized that the world had grown much darker. He looked down below to see where the shout had come from and noticed everyone pointing. He looked up and saw them right away. Two moons were just starting to rise from the horizon, both nearly full moons, but opposite to each other. They were bright white from the reflection of three suns.
“The Watchers,” Uli said softly.
He felt her move in closer. The temperature had clearly gone down quite a bit and for the first time since he had arrived on the planet, Kale felt a shiver of cold. He allowed her to sit closer and he reached down and brought the fur over her.
“I was told as a child that the moon on Earth was our watcher. Our people did everything by what the moon said,” Uli said. Kale just listened. “Here, our watchers remain hidden most of our lives. But when they come, they show us everything.”
Uli pointed. “Look.”
The forest below as far as he could see had transformed. Half of it seemed set ablaze in a soft purple glow. The large purple leaves now shone in their own light and Kale could see them swaying with the wind.
“AISTEE!” Kale heard someone shouting, as everyone began repeating. Uli pointed again.
Kale squinted to focus in the pale light of the
moons and the forest. He could see something coming out of the forest. He couldn’t make out what it was until he could see it against the reflection of the light on oceans. Something was unfurling out from the trees and heading up into the sky. Hundreds of these long limbs were unwinding and heading upwards. They unwound slowly. Kale watched in amazement as they continued past what he could only assume were thousands of feet up into the sky. He had to crane his neck up and soon lost sight of them into the clouds.
“They seek the light of the suns. They will stay up above the clouds until they feel the sun. Only when they feel their heat will they come back down. This way the forest knows how long the darkness will last.”
A hush came over the crowd of cliff hangers. All Kale could hear was the wind rising up against the side of the mountain.
“This is peaceful,” Kale whispered.
“It is a moment we desire,” Uli said.
The moons kept rising through the night sky, slowly moving away from each other. They sat there for nearly two hours, sometimes talking, but often just enjoying the calming sight of the forest. When it was time to retire back to the hostel, Uli had to help Kale back up the thin pathway. He had enjoyed his drink.
He was glad to find out that it didn’t have any side-effects the next morning. He thought it did because he woke up to darkness. He had forgotten that the night lasts about three of the planet’s days.
They continued their trek up the side of the mountain. They traveled in the pale glow of multiple moons as well as the trees. Only the purple leaves glowed. Some of the trees had only purple leaves, while others had both green and purple leaves.
They reached another village later that morning, according to Kale’s body’s biological time. It was smaller than the one they had spent the night before at, but this was the last village Uli explained. They walked quickly through it and the minor celebrations that were being held there. The path grew far smaller and narrower when they left the village behind. Kale followed Uli in a single file. They hiked for nearly five hours, rarely talking. Uli had picked up the pace considerably, and Kale was still worn out from the previous day’s walk. They came across no one else and at times, the only sound Kale heard was his own labored breathing.
He watched as six different moons made their paths through the night sky. He had hoped to be able to see the stars as well, but the moonlight kept all but the brightest away. The thick tree cover made seeing them even harder still. They stopped at a small stream to refill with water.
“It’s not far.”
Kale thought the next three hours were far enough. The path got increasingly harder for him. He found himself going over rock and mountainside, hand over feet. The two had to work in tandem, taking turns pulling each other up along the path. For Kale, it was the most physically taxing exercise he had participated in as long as he could remember. His mind was solely focused on just putting one foot in front of the next, one hand in front of the other. He was concentrating so hard on the physical aspect of the hike that he failed to see when Uli had stopped. He had just pulled her up an especially narrow section and had stopped with his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He turned and ran into her, knocking her over and tripping over her and falling next to her.
“Sorry,” he started to say, but stopped when he heard her laughing.
“What?” he asked, partially embarrassed.
“We’re here,” she said. She rolled over and turned her back on Kale.
Kale sat up. They were at a small clearing. It was a gap. The mountains continued to tower behind them to the west, but in between two peaks there was a gap that opened up to the west. A stream came pouring down off the mountains into a small pool, then went cascading off down towards the west. As Kale stood up, he saw that the clearing ahead of him was clear of trees. He glanced to the east through the last remaining trees and began walking towards the clearing. The night had grown far darker, with only the dim glow of the trees. The moons had left them.
Kale walked into the clearing and took a deep breath. He dropped his pack, letting it slide of his back and onto the ground. He immediately felt extremely light. He tried jumping but as he landed his legs failed him and he collapsed in a heap. He sat up and looked east. He could barely make out the city and its spires. In the darkness though, he could see a few glittering lights coming from the capital ship Galaxy as it floated just off the coast.
“This is where we stay,” Uli remarked.
“As perfect a place as any,” Kale said.
He got up again, much slower this time. Uli had already begun to unpack her back. It was the first time that Kale noticed that her bag was far larger than his, heavier too. She took out a small leathery bag and handed it to Kale. She pointed at the pool of mountain water and asked if he could fill it with water. He nodded his head, took the pouch, and began walking down towards the pool.
He got on his knees at the water’s edge and dipped the pouch into the water. The water was cool, almost shockingly so. Kale pulled the pouch out and took a deep drink. He filled it up again and sealed it. He then set it on the ground next to him and quickly took off his boots. His feet were a mangled sweaty mess. He didn’t see any sores or blisters, but they felt swollen.
An unusually warm breeze came up from the west through the gap. It hit the small waterfall, producing a mist that blew up against him. The moisture on his hot, sweaty face was instantly relieving. He took a look down at the water and splashed his feet into the water. He nearly pulled them back out from shock, but calmly kept them in the water. The pain and swelling vanished nearly instantly. He then suddenly took off his shirt and reached out into the water, cupping some in his hands and splashing it over his chest. The shock was brutal at first, and he breathed quickly in the cold, but as the warm air hit his bare chest, he felt refreshed. He balled up his grimy shirt and soaked it in the pool. He then drew it out and rinsed himself off as best as he could.
He continued to wash himself, pouring the cool water over his head, washing it through his hair and beard. He scrubbed at the sweat and grime. He was so focused at his cleansing that when he felt a warm touch on his back, he jumped and fell forward into the water, landing on his knees. He turned around and saw Uli looking back at him. Her eyes were wide open, as was her mouth.
“Those marks…” Uli said.
Kale instinctively reached back behind his neck. He knew they were there and had grown used to them. He did forget, though, that he never took off his shirt. Kale stood up and got out of the water. He wiped the water from his face, pulling it through his beard. He stepped out of the pool and towards Uli.
“They are the marks of the Dominion. Of the tormentor,” he said. He reached for his soaked shirt and was about to put it back on when he remembered he had a spare with his pack. He grabbed his boots and began walking past her when she stopped him with a hand on his chest. Her hand landed on the largest of scars, right over the right side of his chest. It was a hideous burn mark that stretched down into his torso. She touched the bare skin, horribly deformed from the scarring.
Kale looked ahead as she stood in front of him. Her eyes studied the series of deep gashes that carved out the left side of his chest, and traced them around to his back. Several large scars showed where flesh had been carved out of him. These had been burned over as well with raised scars around the missing flesh. She took her hand off and held it to her chest.
“I know now why you are in pain,” she said, quietly.
Kale turned around to face her.
“This,” he said, pointing at his scars, “is not the source of my pain.”
“Then show me,” she pleaded.
“I… “ Kale began. He faltered and lowered his head. “I dare not remember them. I cannot speak of them.”
“You will not have to speak,” she said, reaching out for his hand.
He wavered for a moment before putting his hand in hers. “Then how?”
She began leading him back up to the clearing. “I wi
ll show you.”
3127 – Gadoni, on board the lion transport
For the second night in a row, Ayia was alone in the transport. Kale had vanished off into the mountains with that woman and Gheno, Karai, and even Sentinel had gone off to run their experiments. Technically, Sentinel was still there at the ship, but was dedicating all of his core to their mission. Ayia had tried to carry on conversations with Cove, but she was not Sentinel. Not yet at least. Sentinel had promised that she was growing in her awareness and abilities as he helped her rewrite her code.
The previous night, she had sat from the hangar pad and watched as the bright planet had turned into night. The coast had been alive with thousands that had come out to greet the darkness and cheer on the moons that came screaming over the horizon. The next day, or night, as it turned out to be, she had spent walking around the city trying to understand their celebrations of this nightly event. She was able to communicate very rudimentarily with some of the locals, but nothing more than learning some simple words.
Sanoi was the night. There was a special reverence to that word.
She had been tempted later that day to call back to Cruxe. She had been going over the many issues she was having conflicts with in her head. She knew she was jealous of Kale’s friendship with Uli, although she really didn’t have any right to. She also recognized that her faux infatuation with Cruxe was nothing more than an attempt to deal with that jealousy. She was trusting the criminal only because he had legitimately helped her with the anonymous messages.
She didn’t really trust him. What she did want was revenge on the Crusaders, and in him she saw a means to an end. If it turned out he was as he said, then it wouldn’t matter. But if he somehow had any connections to them, she was going to use that. She just wasn’t sure how yet.
The Lost Tribe (Sentinel Series Book 2) Page 24