by Gene Stiles
“Oh, no!” Haleah moaned. “Bouncing always leaves me slightly ill!”
“Ah,” Anaxus laughed, his grin all but hidden by the heavy, full red beard that blanketed his crinkled face, “re-payment!”
The twins each locked a tree-trunk arm onto Haleah’s then slapped their Polaris-Belt controls up to maximum. Each man curled his thick, sinewy legs and bounded high into the air, carrying her along in a distance-eating bounce. Her screams of laughter echoed behind to where Morpheus stood shaking his head.
“Morpheus, my friend,” Anaxus grinned, planting a slap against his back, “you shall have to do something with that woman soon before another – like me – spirits her away from you.”
“Not to worry,” Morpheus responded while hitting his belt controls, “the lady has much better taste in men than to look twice at the likes of you.” He bounded off after the others, Anaxus fast on his heels.
The city was a bustling hive of activity. Eventide was upon them, the sky filled with streaks of red, yellow and blue while the sun dropped rapidly behind the jagged, snow-capped mountain crests to the west. Still, the growing city of Atlantis washed in the brightness of mid-day by the glowing Proto-Suns topping each of the twelve shining ships of the Ancestors. Many of the boulders that had held them entrapped for countless ages had been melted down into shiny, smooth, flat surfaces that made up the many roads and pathways the laced out like a spider’s web from the base of the ships. Other stones were sliced neatly into massive blocks for the construction of buildings and walls. Haleah had stood in jaw-dropped wonder when the workers pointed humming, black rods at stones many times taller than a man and watched the gargantuan blocks float neatly into position. Each piece created strange, angled forms – not just square shaped – that interlocked with the adjoining shape with a precision the defied Haleah’s comprehension. So neatly did the boulders mesh that no mud need be between to block air holes or light as the Clan did when building tree-branch shelters. A blade of grass would not have fit within those joints.
Not a single rock was wasted. If it was not large enough to make a wall or two small to melt for a trail, they made decorations for little gardens where the earth had been cleared around a new home. The new city was dotted with open areas but the ground was too hard for most things to sprout. Those few flowers that did grow were only in areas which had been scooped out and filled with soil from beyond the One Tree.
Haleah immersed herself in the daily wonders she beheld in the company of the Ancestors – the People she corrected herself. Time lost all meaning. Her days were filled with lessons in language, reading and, to her, the most fascinating of all, the history of the People. Her insatiable curiosity drove her to study their ‘science’. She wanted to know how they moved massive objects as if they were mere toys. How could their sleds transport people in groups and across the chasm separating the city from the One Tree and the valley beyond? She wanted to know about the pictures that floated in thin air within the gathering rooms of the ships, and oh, so many other things.
Day after day, blending into month after month, she consumed all they had to offer. She had never been happier. The People had welcomed her into their bosoms with the warmth of long lost friends. They had dined with her and showered her with colorful clothing the likes of which she had never seen. They gave her a room with the softest bed she had ever touched for her very own. She would not insult them by letting them know that she preferred to sleep on the firmness of the floor. The clothing she would only wear at one of their communal meals. Sometimes she would dress in the uncomfortable finery when The People gathered to talk and laugh together. Out in the city, she preferred to wear the silver suits or dark colored clothing. Though safe here, she felt that the bright colored fabrics made her stand out to every predator for miles around.
She learned about their mighty weapons but was never allowed to handle one. She was given permission instead to study their fighting tactics and it was there she had met her closest friends…and Morpheus. She knew from the moment their eyes first met that he would be the one she wanted for all her life. His smile was warm and genuine. It did not contain that touch of condescendence with which the others treated her. At times, the People treated her as one would a child and, in truth, she felt like one around them. Morpheus did not correct her paternally when she spoke their language in her heavily accented tongue. He just listened attentively then helped her pronounce the unfamiliar words. Around others, she was loath to speak and most often struggled just to understand their speech. They thought of her as quiet and shy – which she surely was not. Morpheus treated her as an equal and brought out the best in her.
When the warriors of the People, those they called the Aam, found she could move in ways they had never seen and use common things like a stick as a weapon, they welcomed her as a brother at arms. She felt most at home in their midst and spend as much time with them as possible. Morpheus was a commander of a small unit of ten men. He also taught unarmed combat – what the People called Sho-Kun-Rue from a language so ancient that its meaning was lost – and was delighted to find her a quick study. He was astounded when she would incorporate movements she developed over the years by watching animals and by battling side by side with the Clan.
Unlike the twins or Anaxus, Morpheus was not boisterous, but quiet and serene like a still valley lake. His voice was like a spring breeze, quiet yet touching all around it. His restless eyes missed nothing, constantly aware of the tiniest of changes in the spaces around him. Yet he could move with the speed of a striking serpent, blurring the air with the traces of his hands. Outside of combat training, he still moved with a grace that made it seem as if he slipped through a crowd as a wisp of smoke. In the largest gatherings of the People, he drew Haleah with him into a quiet pool of space seemingly occupied by only the two of them.
He treated her as an equal.
There was much she had yet to understand about the People. Most of them preferred to stay in the confines of their ships or homes. They seemed frightened so much by the very sky above them that roofs of stone covered most of the passages between buildings. When forced by circumstance to be in the open air, they scurried like rats to the nearest door, heads down and eyes half closed. Morpheus had tried to explain to her that the People had been born and raised beneath the surface of their world, but to Haleah that meant they should thus welcome the openness. In his quiet, understanding way, he would answer all of her questions slowly and to the best of his ability.
Morpheus did not treat her as a student though. He asked as much of her as she asked of him. He was utterly fascinated by her life and her travels in this world. He listened with rapt attention to every word she spoke, gleaning all he could and interrupting only to ask the occasional question. He even asked that she be his teacher. Morpheus wanted to learn the language of the Clan so he could better understand them and her. He laughed at himself more than once trying to pronounce words that to Haleah were commonplace.
She loved him. Haleah knew it with all her heart, but she was afraid to tell him. Could she be wrong and he only saw her as an exotic pet? Did he only see her as a friend? If she told him of her love would he back away as would a man approached by an adoring child? She would rather have his friendship than chase him from her life. Yet, she wanted there to be so very much more. Haleah wanted to feel those finely muscled arms engulf her in their warmth; those soft, full lips to taste the essence of her desire. She ached to wallow in the placid pool of his love, to share her body not from tradition or duty, but from pure desire. To be part and parcel of his life would be the greats of gifts she would ever receive. In her dreams, he welcomed her as if he had waited for her all of his long life. In her nightmares, he patted her head paternally, smiled and walked away. Dare she risk it?
“We need a break.” Anaxus raised himself off the ground in a single fluid movement and brushed the dust and dirt from his Enviro-Suit. The day was ending, the last warm rays of a golden sun sliding over the rim of
the western mountains. The green grass swayed gently, caressed by the breath of the warm evening breeze. Lights began to flicker through the windows of the city beyond as night slowly drew a blanket of shadow down the mountainside. The other six men who comprised the squad of Aam commanded by Morpheus had returned home hours ago, leaving these four friends to continue to train with the insatiable Haleah. She worked them to the bone, anxious to learn all they had to offer her and to add her own knowledge of unarmed combat to their store. For the last hour, the friends sat on the grass, sharing stories and relaxing in quiet camaraderie.
Anaxus leaded down slightly, reached out and proffered his hand to Haleah. “Please come with me, lovely lady,” he said with a mock bow, a wide-toothed grin parting his curly, red beard. “Let us leave this rabble to find less desirable company than yourself. I shall take you out for a fine night of dinner and dancing if for no other reason than to simply to show you my softer side.”
“You do not have a softer side,” Nuvan countered with a laugh. “I have seen you dance. It is like watching bears mating, all grunting and hopping around.”
“It is rather sad really,” Navis nodded sagely in agreement. “Now my brother and I flow like birds in flight, drifting on the current of the music.” The two men stood together, their arms draped around each other’s shoulders, looking like a wall topped with close-cropped blond grass, their sky blue eyes filled with merriment.
Haleah took the hand of Anaxus, rose and snuggled under his armpit. She put her arm around his tree-trunk like waist, gazing up into his greenish-hazel eyes, filling her face with exaggerated adoration. “You would save me from these loutish beasts?” she signed. “You would not bounce me into sickness as they are so apt to do?”
Anaxus looked at the twins, his face filled with feigned scorn. “Of course I would protect you from such indignities!” He bunched the muscles of his free arm, showing Haleah how they strained against the fabric of his clothing. “None would dare mistreat you with me to watch over you. With me you would be totally safe.”
“And who would save her from you?” Morpheus grinned. He still sat upon the warm green grass of the meadow, resting his back against the bark of a tree, chewing thoughtfully on a long blade of tender grass.
Anaxus looked crushed, his brow furrowing while he shook his head sadly. He swept his arm out to encompass the other three men around him. “See, Lady Haleah. This is how my oldest and dearest friends think of me. I only confer upon them the utmost respect and admiration, sharing with them my natural grace and charm and the wisdom of my vast knowledge.” He signed heavily as if the weight of the world was upon his very shoulders. “This is what I would protect you from.”
Haleah laughed aloud and reached up to rest her hand against his beard-covered cheek. “Oh, thank you, my savior! Quickly, spirit me away from them before you are attacked further!”
“Quickly it is, Milady!” Anaxus laughed, holding her tightly and raising his Polaris-Belt to maximum. He bunched his legs and leaped high into the air. “We shall meet you at the Windsong,” he shouted over his shoulder.
The last thing the others heard was Haleah screaming into the ether, “No bouncing you said! No bouncing…!”
The Windsong stood directly across street from the Great Pyramid. It was the first building constructed in Atlantis after necessary housing. The fantastical creation was under the direction of Hyperion, one of the council of the People. He convinced the Council that the People would need an outlet from their toils and would work the better for it. In this, he was correct.
An incredible place that more than lived up to its name, the four sides rose high into the air to form a needle-tipped pyramid. The wide base covered an entire block bordered by streets, walkways and flower gardens. High arched doors made of polished wood graced each wall and complimented the huge, round, glass-paned windows dotting the sides. The two upper floors of the structure were laced with fluted wood panels that captured the air and passed it through, bathing the city with an ever-changing melody of soft music.
Inside, the lower level boasted a wide, fur-carpeted walkway fronting an emporium of storefronts, most of which were unoccupied at present. Enamored by the abundance of precious trees, so rare on their home world, the Atlanteans used woodcraft wherever possible for both function and design. The center of the edifice, enclosed by great stanchions of glossy timber, bound together by rails of like material, had tall arched entryways. Oak and mahogany tables and chairs filled with laughing groups of people circumvented all but one side of the area, leaving clear a sunken dance floor of dark, stained wood. In the dead center of the room rose a round stage, the musicians performing in clear view above the frenzied dancers gyrating below them.
To one side of the club, a thirty-foot bar made of a single tailor-cut tree topped with a thin slab of smooth stone stretched across the room. Jubilant parties of men and women sat delightedly drinking multi-colored concoctions on the padded, high-backed stools in front of it, occasionally dragging each other to the crowed dance floor. Nowhere else in the entire city manifested the exuberance the People felt for their new world, their new lives, and their unlimited future, more than the Windsong.
Haleah stood in one of the archways next to Anaxus soaking in the laughter-rich atmosphere. The Atlanteans had brought with them a variety of clothing materials and much of it was on display here. The outfit she wore was of her own design – something for which she found she had a gift. Her short skirt was of tanned and softened deer hide, dyed a deep crimson, highlighted by a wide, silver belt. Beneath it, Haleah wore leggings of thin, form-fitting, silver-flecked cloth that hugged every curve of her long, shapely legs. Low-heeled boots of worked and polished black leather graced her muscled calves, stopping just below her knees. The blouse she wore was purest white, form fitting with billowed sleeves and cut deeply between the full swell of her breasts. Her sparkling blond hair was held from her face by a crimson headband tied at the back. More than one set of eyes traced the lines of her body from afar, none so bold as to draw the attention of the mountain next to her.
Anaxus was dressed in his own finery. He wore a long, loose gown of near-sheer gold that reflected the flickering lights above the dance floor and lay exposed much of his barrel chest. It had long sleeves, fastened at the wrist, and tied at the waist with a dark red sash, knotted to one side, which hung to his knees. Beneath it, he wore dark brown deerskin pants, designed by Haleah, which laced up on the outside of each leg with woven strips of hide. His well-polished boots were almost twins to those worn by Haleah. His thick mane of wavy, reddish-gold hair hung loose, billowing around his head and rolling down and over his shoulders.
Anaxus shouted out above the crowd and waved his hand to a table near the center where Morpheus and the twins awaited their arrival. Taking Haleah by the hand, he almost dragged her in his wake as the People parted before him like grass in the wind. The men rose to greet them, motioning them to take the seats saved for them. Morpheus pulled out a padded wooden chair and held it until Haleah seated herself next to him.
“What took you two so long?” Nuvan laughed. “We are near starving to death”
“Well,” Anaxus replied with a grin, “I took an extra moment to insure I was the best looking of this sorry group.” Giving them a look of distain, he continued, “I see I need not have given it a thought.”
Navis stood, spreading his arms wide. “So true, Anaxus. Three days of moments would not be enough for you to compete with our dashing good looks!”
The twins were dressed not unlike Anaxus but their shifts were of solid red, tied with black sashes that matched their pants and boots. They had no need to tie back their blond hair, so close-cropped was it to their boulder-like heads. Unlike his compatriots, Morpheus wore simple black pants, belted with a dark sash, knee-high matching boots and a collarless tunic of the same shade. The only acquiescence he gave to fashion was a wide, silver strip that encircled his neck and followed down the front of the deep V-cut of the s
hirt. It shimmered with myriad reflections from the colored lights overhead. His long, wavy, black hair was tied back with a simple strip of hide in a long tail. Haleah thought his simplicity made him the most desirable of all.
Morpheus signed and patted Haleah on the hand. “I am sorry you must be witness to such posturing. Now you see why I do not bring them out often.”
Haleah laughed, the sound enveloping Morpheus like a warm blanket. “As their leader, it is a burden you are duty-bound to bare.”
“I know, I know, yet sometimes it is trying,” he replied, shaking his head sadly. “I suggest we bury ourselves in a good meal before their patter ruins our appetites.”
“It is about time,” Navis grumbled. “Look at my poor brother and me. We are wasting away to nothingness!” Waving a server over, he concluded, “I fear we will be as thin as saplings should we wait further.”
After a meal of braised venison, topped with a savory mushroom sauce, fresh steamed vegetables and boiled red potatoes, Haleah was well sated. The twins let out a belch of pure contentment and Anaxus leaned back to pat his pleasantly distended stomach. Until joining the People, Haleah had never known how many ways food could be prepared. The variety of sauces they created were innumerous, spiced with herbs not just of this world, but also of their own. Meats brought from the stores in the vast ships were exotic and flavorful, almost melting when it touched the tongue. It was with great difficulty she restrained herself to eating only until full.
“Well, my friends,” a familiar voice rose above the noise of the room, “it is good to see you grace our little club. It seems so seldom I see you. Welcome.” Hyperion stepped up behind Morpheus and planted long-fingered, delicate hands on his shoulders. As always, a small harem of beautiful women accompanied him, sharing their sparkling smiles with the men at the table. The floor-length robe he wore glittered with each turn of his body. It was by far more flamboyant that any other outfit in the room, all shades of purple and red in soft pastel patterns. It clasped at the waist by a short gold chain, but open above to reveal his muscle-defined, baby smooth chest. Hyperion wore skin-tight, dark blue pants that molded his dancer’s frame down to his sandaled feet. Standing a good head taller than Morpheus, he surveyed those around him like a king in his palace. Shoulder length, tightly curled, jet black hair framed an incredibly handsome face with eyes the color of chipped jade and a radiant smile that lit the area like the glow of a hundred candles. Hyperion’s prefectly straight nose complimented the square lines of his jaw and high cheekbones. His full lips had, to Haleah, a feminine quality