Tales of the Dissolutionverse Box Set

by William C. Tracy

  But Avi didn’t fall. Instead they glided out from the wall, away from the trees in a slow spiral. We watched as the Grumv made a lazy circle, then turned back in our direction. They didn’t flap their wings, but drifted up, maybe catching a patch of hot air. They landed a little below us, then came back to our level with great leaps from tree to tree, their wings unfolding with each jump, strong short legs propelling them upward.

  Huh. Well, that’s a good reason for being shorter than an Etanela, I thought. Mom and I couldn’t have made those leaps, even if we had wings. Our legs would have gotten all tangled up in the branches.

  Avi was panting when they got to the beetle and us.

  “You don’t actually fly, do you?” Mom asked. “You glide.”

  Avi tilted their head back and forth. It seemed like they didn’t see a lot of difference between the two.

  “Well, if you are to be done giving us all attack of the chest muscles,” Wailimani complained, “perhaps we can be entering your home.”

  Avi unfolded a hand to a step carved half into a toka trunk and half into a beam. I glared at the Kirian.

  You didn’t need to be so harsh. I carefully unclenched my hands from where I’d grabbed onto my rope.

  We transferred from the toka tree trunk to the broad trellis, crafted from several overlapping wooden beams tied into separate trees with what looked like thick white rope.

  There was no rail to hold onto, as we moved through the trees and away from the surface of the wall, but there were many branches to catch hold of.

  I suppose the Grumv don’t need to worry about falling.

  “Careful,” Mom said, as the branches thinned. She must have been thinking the same thing I was. “We should tie our harnesses together.”

  “So we can all be falling off if one does?” Wailimani asked, his crest spiky in fear.

  “I will not fall,” Majus E’Flyr said, from behind us. Her boots made solid smacking sounds on the wood beams, and where the rest of us were hunched over, trying to stay as close to the beam walkway as we could, she walked upright, confident. She must have changed notes of the Symphony so she had a stronger connection with the wood, like she had when she stood on the back of the beetle. “Avi can lead us, and I will follow. The rest of you tie onto my harness, and if anyone falls, I will bring you back up.”

  The branches here were not big enough around to support my weight. We were emerging into open air, away from the wall and the canopy of the vertical forest, but the trellis continued. We passed by other beams connecting to trees farther away, and above and below. They gave stability to the bare stretch of thin trellis—no branches and no rails—leading from us to a low rounded structure of wood—Avi’s house. Below us I could see giant beams, and even trees trained to grow straight out from the wall, supporting the structure.

  “All well and good, but shall we be walking all the way back there so you can be getting in front of us?” Wailimani pointed back to the wall.

  “Not a problem,” the majus said. She grasped the Kirian’s robed arms with her long fingers, and spun in place, so he was behind her. I forced my lips together so I wouldn’t laugh at the expression on Wailimani’s face—it managed to be offended and amazed at the same time. Avi didn’t have the same restraint and made a bubbling, coughing sound deep in their throat.

  I was next and Majus E’Flyr lifted me up as easily as if I was a bag of groceries, then spun and plopped me down behind her. It was like being lifted by a rock. She didn’t even wobble. I watched in astonishment as she even did the same thing to Mom, though she was half again the majus’ height.

  “Well, I guess that will work,” Mom said, a little breathless.

  We passed our ropes forward, tying onto Majus E’Flyr’s harness, and continued after Avi.

  The Grumv looked back to see we were following and continued their loping pace across the trellis, using both webbed hands and feet.

  “You are like the holy one,” they called back after a moment. “The one who changes the music only he can hear.”

  The majus paused in the middle of a step, just for a moment, then continued walking. “You have a majus?” she asked. Her voice was tight and controlled.

  She’s as surprised as we are. I’d gotten to know her well over the past few ten-days.

  “If that is what you call the ones who change the music, then yes,” Avi said.

  * * *

  Avi’s house was very open. The outer structure looked like a lot of cylinders, made from stacked and curved beams. Inside, woven mats were suspended between the walls to make the floors. The mats hung down in the middle, so each room was shaped like a bowl with a springy floor. The center of the bowl dipped as we entered, stretching so low my chest was about level with the beams that divided this room from the next. Wailimani put his hands out to his sides, balancing on the shifting mat.

  Will this hold us all? Thoughts of falling sped through my mind, but as I put out a shaking hand to the nearest beam—at head level—I realized the mat was quite thick, and didn’t look unsteady at all. They’re supposed to act like this! I pulled my hands in, getting my balance.

  Above, more trellises acted as ceilings, but they weren’t covered. I saw rolled up mats attached to some beams, so maybe they could roll them out like awnings if they needed to. I need to sketch this house when we get settled. I’ve never seen anything like it.

  “Mater, Pater, I’ve brought new friends,” Avi called out, though anyone in the house must have seen us coming from the wall. Overhead, I could see more thick beams and the trunk of one particularly tall tree, tying the house into the top side of the vertical farm.

  I could just see farther into the house, and the nearest woven bowl wobbled as if someone was inside. Then a head, like Avi’s, poked over the side.

  “Avi! You are well?” Avi’s mater sounded uncertain, as I’m sure I would if three new species had appeared at our house on Etan.

  “I’m fine, Mater,” Avi answered. “They’re from below the white sea. They’re explorers. They say there are many more who live down below.”

  The head poked out again, then swiftly down. “I always thought those stories were made up,” Avi’s mater said. “But if you are certain you are well, then bring your new…friends here, and we will learn about them, and get them something to eat.”

  Avi spread their wings and vaulted over the side of our bowl into the next, then popped her head back out.

  “Over the side to enter.” They cocked their head. “You will have to climb, like an old one with holes in her wings.”

  Majus E’Flyr went first, and her long fingers clung to the mat as if they had been glued there. She vaulted gracefully over the top, then tugged on the ropes connecting us to let us know we could follow.

  We climbed over, Wailimani complaining the whole way.

  “This is to be undignified,” he said. “Falling over woven grass, my legs and arms to be waving in the air for all to see!”

  Not again. I rolled my eyes at Avi, whose head was cocked to one side again. It seemed like the Kirian didn’t like it when his ankles or wrists showed.

  Isn’t that pretty much impossible to avoid while climbing? What did he think would happen?

  After we pulled Wailimani all the way in, still grumbling, we turned to Avi and the larger Grumv who stood behind them, arms protectively around them. Avi’s mater’s eyes were wide, her wings drawn in tight around Avi.

  “Hello,” Mom said to the other Grumv. “I am Morvu Francita Januti and this is my climbing crew. We come from the ground of the Nether—a journey of many ten-days. We represent three of the ten species that live below, and we are very excited to meet you and your species.” She gave a little bow, like when Etanela greeted old or respected members of society.

  The other Grumv gradually uncrossed their arms, then spread wings out to their full extent. Their voice shook, then gained strength. “I…I welcome you, on behalf of the Grumv Vugm
Mugv. My spouse will be here momentarily.”

  “Spouse?” Mom confirmed, and the Grumv tilted their head in agreement. “Are you…female? If you don’t mind me asking?”

  “I am,” the Grumv said. She was calming down, though her eyes darted between the four of us—no doubt marking the differences in our species. “I am called Mira Arim Rima Rait Mairi, but you may call me Mira.”

  Mira was like Avi, but larger, like Mom was larger than I was. She had the same brown and green skin, the same hair/feather plume on top of her head—if a little longer—and even wore a tunic like her child, though Mira’s was pale green.

  That’s strange, I thought. Is this what Mom thinks about all the time, being a naturalist? How you classify the new things you discover?

  The same way the Nether helped us all communicate with each other, it also usually gave us hints about what gender a person was, since it wasn’t always easy to tell between species. But I couldn’t tell if Avi was a girl or a boy. They were just…Avi.

  I was about to ask, but there was a rustling from the next bowl over and a huge…stunning creature vaulted into our bowl.

  Mom caught her breath, and Wailimani took a step back. Only Majus E’Flyr stood still, considering the new creature.

  He’s beautiful. There was no doubt this was a male Grumv.

  Where Mira and Avi were brown with green patches, This Grumv’s upper body and head were bright blue and green. Instead of a simple plume of hair and feathers, he had a crest that draped down his back, white, but tipped with blue and orange in little patterns that reflected the wall’s light when he moved. This crest flitted and flapped as his eyes pinned each of us in turn.

  His wings were folded closely to his sides now, but when he had been crossing between the rooms, I’d seen circles of blue, orange, green, and purple on his wings. I couldn’t tell if they were natural colors, or some sort of tattoo. Beneath his deep maroon tunic, even his legs were bright orange and deep black. He was a full neck and head taller than his wife. Remember this too. I have to draw them tonight before I go to sleep.

  “Welcome to our home, strangers,” he said. His voice was a deep rumble I could feel through the woven mat. There was a threat in it, if we did not obey the hospitality of the house. “I have heard your introductions. Excuse my lateness. I was setting our table with toka and other fruits from our farm. I am Hria Airh Riha Rani Hairi. You come from far below?”

  “Hria,” Mira said, wrapping one long brown arm protectively around her husband. Her wing fell like a blanket around his shoulder, highlighting the differences in her drab coloring and his brightness.

  “Very far,” Wailimani said. “We were not knowing there were people like you up here.”

  “We did not know of you either,” said Hria. “I think we were all surprised.” Then his crest settled. “But I must admit, we are interested to meet—three is it?—new species. You must tell us more of what exists below the white sea.”

  I felt the tension in the bowl-like room ease as Avi’s family accepted us. With our initial surprise and hesitation over, I turned to Avi, more comfortable with someone about my age, while Mom and the majus and Wailimani talked with Avi’s parents. I couldn’t help comparing Avi to Mira and Hria.

  “Sorry for asking, but are you…more like your mom, or your dad?” My new friend looked a lot more like Mira, but didn’t have the same kind of softness their mother had.

  That sounded so awkward. I hope Avi knows what I mean. I hope I didn’t offend them. There were a lot of differences in the genders of the ten species of the Great Assembly.

  Fortunately, Avi seemed to understand exactly what I was talking about. “I haven’t decided yet,” they said, “but I’ve always thought it’s better to be smart and sneaky, like Mater.” They leaned in close, gesturing with one webbed hand. I put my head close to Avi’s. “I love Pater a whole lot, but you know what men are like, all loud and colorful. Can’t help but spread their wings.”

  I chuckled. I think I knew what Avi meant.

  “Plus, there are a lot of men in the town right now, so it’s probably better if I become female when I molt.”

  I nodded like I understood what Avi meant. Something else for the notebook.

  “Did you already choose to be female?” they asked. “Some kids do that earlier than me. My friend Luna did.”

  “I—choose?” I stuttered. “Uh, it works a little differently with my species. I’ve always been female, like Mom.”

  Technically, I’m a dominate female, like Mom, instead of subordinate, like Kayla. But I could already see Avi’s eyes widening, and figured now wasn’t the best time to explain the little differences between my two mothers. Even species familiar with the Etanela had a hard time telling our different genders apart.

  I wanted to talk with Avi more, but the grown-ups were looking like they had agreed on something. I listened to what they were saying.

  “…welcome to eat with us tonight. Avi told us you like toka fruit,” Hria was saying, stretching his arms out to display the colors on his wings.

  I traded a look with Avi. Men.

  “It’s just this way,” Mira said. The two adult Grumv hopped over the dividing beam holding the two woven bowls up. Mom, the majus, Wailimani, and I climbed over. We were still tied together. Avi helped us, curious to see how we worked without wings.

  In the next bowl, we untied ourselves from Majus E’Flyr and set the harness and ropes in a pile to one side. We’d be safe from falling, as long as we stayed inside the house.

  There were little hammocks, strung between sides of the bowl, filled with purple toka fruit, and others I didn’t recognize. Avi showed me how to grasp the top of a hard white berry, and pull the insides out like an ice pop.

  Wailimani looked concerned, his crest drooping, until Hria pointed out a pile of wriggling worms in a little hammock by themselves. Wailimani’s crest rose quickly, and he patted Hria on the back, before picking a particularly hairy one up and sucking it down. I shivered.

  At least the Grumv have a little bit of everything. They’re very kind, especially to three completely new species. I don’t think I’d be this calm. Maybe it was just their way.

  I looked up. Now we were out from the wall’s light, I could see more detail, and caught my breath. “Look, Mom, Majus E’Flyr! It’s the ceiling of the Nether!”

  They looked with me. The top of the Nether was visible without a telescope, a mass of light, crystal like the walls. The nearby column rose to meet it.

  “Finally,” Mom breathed. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever see this.” She reached out and grasped my shoulder, and I sniffed back a sudden lump in my throat.

  Against the lit crystal were other shapes, like this house, but much bigger, if I judged distances correctly. It was beautiful.

  We stared for several more minutes, Avi’s family pointing out different features to us.

  Finally, I turned to Avi. “Does it ever rain up here?” I asked. “I mean, we climbed through the clouds on the way up from the ground.”

  “Clouds?” Avi tilted their head, then clacked their beak. “Oh, the white sea below us. No, there is none of that above, only the light from the ceiling.” They waved one hand upward, stretching out their wing. “Sometimes the ceiling gets drippy, but if it does, then we can pull those mats overhead to make sure nothing gets too wet.” They indicated the rolled material hanging from the beams above my head.

  I looked out the other way, while peeling a toka fruit. The waterfall was just as big up here, a rushing mass of water that passed close to Avi’s family’s farm.

  “What about that? Where does all the water come from?” I’m asking questions like Mom does. I always thought it was rude that she skipped around to so many topics when she talked to people. Now I see she just wants to know everything.

  “My mom says our ancestors made the great water happen, a long time ago,” Avi answered. I looked down at them. “The town gets a lot wetter th
an we do down here, since it’s closer to the ceiling, and so people directed all the wet away from them. Pretty soon all the water connected up and became the great water. I hear the other towns do the same thing.”

  “There are other towns up here?” I asked. Mom will want to know this.

  “Several,” Avi said. “But I’ve never been to one. Mater and Pater stay busy on the farm. They say we might go to visit—”

  A shout from the other side of the room interrupted Avi’s words. “What is that to be?” Wailimani said. He was on his tiptoes, crest spiking out to all sides. At his feet was a big hairy creature with a mass of eyes and a beak at the front, and at least eight long black legs coming out from its bulbous body.

  I jumped back too. Did a creature from outside get in? At the Kirian’s yell, the creature had scuttled across the floor, away from him, with surprising speed.

  “Churi Iruhc—there you are!” Avi met the creature halfway across the bowl and ruffled the black hairs behind its eyes. “Did you eat all your leaf fleas? Did you? What a good boy!”

  The creature snuggled up to Avi’s hand and made a chirping noise.

  “This is your…pet?” Majus E’Flyr asked. Even the normally unflappable Lobath was having a hard time not moving away from the little monstrosity.

  “Yep!” Avi said, leading the creature forward. “Mater and Pater said I could keep Churi Iruhc here with us, rather than with the rest of the herd.”

  “The herd?” Wailimani’s crest was trying to escape his head. I took a little bit of guilty pleasure seeing him squirm.

  “Another part of our livelihood,” Hria explained. “The toka trees are our prime crop, but we also grow several other types of fruit, and milk the Arach Hanar for their silk, which we sell to the tailors in the town, who make our clothes.” Hria picked at his tunic with one hand.

  “Speaking of the town,” Mom said, “I would greatly like to see it. Could one of you take us there? We’d like to learn more about your people, and offer a gift from our government to yours.”

  My mind went to the sealed box Majus E’Flyr had shooed me away from the day we started climbing the wall. It had slipped my mind on the climb, buried at the bottom of the net with the scientific equipment.