Chapter 24
If I had thought that the tunnels from our room to the dining hall were narrow, I had no words to describe what we were walking through now. We had just finished a hearty meal in the dining hall and were now following Vandalaharis and Torchuk through the constricting pathway toward the northern most tip of the Beyjerones' caves. It was from there that we would be taking off. The tunnel seemed to get darker and smaller the further we went, and by the time we got to the end the two manbats almost had to walk sideways to push their wide shoulders through. I followed closely, counting my breaths, and trying not to have a panic attack. I wondered how they could live in such cramped conditions and still be sane.
When we finally emerged from what felt like a tiny crack in the wall into a much larger hallway, I almost cried with relief. The area was surprisingly well lit, though the ceiling was completely closed in with dark rock. We turned to the right and I noticed that immediately ahead of us on our left, were two huge windows next to a massive door. The windows were covered in the same transparent rock that was on the ceilings of the tunnels.
"That is Professor Madalhandra's laboratory," Torchuk said, pointing toward the windows. "I'd sure like to go in and have a closer look at those things." He stopped and peered through the window at the dead Orlogs.
"She doesn't let anyone in there if she's not around," Vandalaharis said. "Especially now....she doesn't want anyone messing with her specimens."
I stood next to Torchuk and looked through the window at the two grotesque things laid out on two large rock tables. The layered rock of the window distorted the room somewhat, but I recognized the general deformity of the creatures.
They lay on their stomachs, legs stretched to the front and back of their bodies so they seemed exceptionally long, though probably not any longer than a tall human. Their bulbous heads rested on their front legs in a way that was similar to how the farm dogs back home had slept. I could only see the face of the one that was closest to us; its body partially blocked my view of the other.
But the sight of one was enough to induce uncomfortable memories. Its mouth gaped, and its tongue flopped to one side. I could almost hear wails of pain escaping from its swollen lips. Its cloudy eyes were only half open, but I was sure they were staring right at me, threatening to break into my mind, twist into my thoughts and freeze my muscles. A feeling of revulsion shuddered through me, but yet I could not seem to look away.
"Ugh, Emerin, how can you even look at those things?" Jalya said. "Just knowing that they're there makes me feel sick."
I pulled my eyes away from the dark image and looked at Jalya cringing against the wall on the other side of the hallway. Her pale skin stood out in contrast to the deep brown of the rock. She would not even lift her head, for fear of catching a glimpse through the window. She flitted her eyes over my face briefly. "I don't even want to think about them...or last night."
Vandalaharis looked at her softly. "Alright, I think that we've spent enough time here," he said. "We need to get going."
"I agree," I said, deliberately not turning back toward the window. I really had no desire to get lost in that thing's eyes again.
We moved forward around a bend in the hall and I realized that the light that filled the area emanated from a huge doorway at the end. I couldn't stop smiling as we approached it....light, freedom and open air....after a full day of confinement in rock. We walked through the opening and out onto a grassy clearing, just as the last of the sun's rays kissed the snowy peak of Malhadron mountain in a glorious display of shimmering red. I felt warm inside despite the cold; I was privileged to bear witness to such beauty.
"Are you scared?" Jalya asked, slipping her hand into mine.
"Oh yeah," I said, still lost in the sunset.
"Did you get any sleep at all today?"
"A little."
Jalya eyed me suspiciously. "You weren't asleep when I got back to the room."
"I'm pretty sure I was. I don't remember you coming in." That was a lie. I actually had been awake, but didn't feel like spending hours discussing Oches, so I pretended to be asleep.
"Uh huh."
"Seriously Jalya, I was asleep." I looked at her skeptical face. "What about you, did you sleep for long?"
"A little, I think. Not much though, I was a little nervous about the flight. By the time I fell asleep, Vandalaharis was banging on the door."
"Yeah, he woke me up too."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vandalaharis and Torchuk each putting on some sort of vest. It slid over their heads and tied around their bodies, under their wings. They spent a few moments adjusting each other’s vests and making sure that they were fitted snugly.
"These will make it secure for you to ride," Vandalaharis said, and he folded himself down onto all fours to demonstrate. "See, there's a seat and handles for you to hold." I looked over the whole contraption, hoping to reassure myself of our safety.
"I don't feel any more secure, do you?" Jalya whispered.
"No, but it can't be that bad. They seem to know what they're doing." I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "It'll be okay."
"Climb aboard, Emerin," Vandalaharis urged. "It's a little scary at first, but it’s fun once you get used to it. At least that's what I've been told."
"Okay." I let go of Jalya's hand and walked over to Vandalaharis. Being so close to his massive wings scared me a little, but I did my best to appear brave. I reached up to the handles that lay between his wings and dragged myself clumsily into the seat. It was pretty comfortable, though still terrifying. I plastered a smile on my face and looked back at my friend. "Go on, Jalya....it's not that bad."
I tried not to laugh as Jalya flung herself onto Torcher’s back, skirts flailing. I had to remind myself that I had probably looked just as silly, but Jalya had just been too nervous to laugh at me. She pulled herself awkwardly into the seat and pushed her hair from her eyes. "No, not bad at all," she said through gritted teeth.
"Alright, hold on." Vandalaharis crouched down and I held my breath as he pounced into the sky. My stomach fell down to my feet as I felt the ground float out from under us and I focused my eyes on my hands for fear of looking anywhere else. I assumed that Jalya and Torchuk were also in the air by now, but I couldn't make myself look. I felt us getting higher with each flap of the mighty wings, and I leaned forward lest the increasing breeze might blow me off.
"How are you doing?" Vandalaharis asked. "Are you alright?"
"I think so."
"We're almost as high as we're going to get now. Look across, Emerin, over the mountain...do you see it?"
"See what?"
"The lights over there, on the other side of the mountain."
"I don't think I can look. I swear if I look up, I'm gonna fall off."
"You won't fall off, Emerin," Vandalaharis snickered. "And even if you did, I would catch you before you went anywhere."
"Mmm, I hope so," I said, pulling my eyes away from my white knuckles. I slowly brought them upwards, tracing a straight line from the vest handles toward the back of Vandalaharis' fuzzy head and between the tips of his ears. All I saw was the grey twilight hugging the curve of the mountain. What was he looking at?
And then I saw it. With one last powerful flap of his wings, Vandalaharis brought us above the edge of the mountain and I noticed the horizon was speckled with thousands upon thousands of dancing lights. They sprawled out vast and wide on both sides, and now, with nothing to block my vision, they encompassed all I could see in front of us.
"Wow, what is that?" I asked, almost forgetting my fear for a moment.
"That....is Nebril City."
I was taken aback for a second. When I saw the lights, I honestly expected that it was some sort of strange phenomenon that I hadn't heard of before. I'd seen so many new and unusual things as of late, that I didn't think there could possibly be a simple, believable explanation for what I was seeing. Nebril City! I knew it was big, but I couldn't even take
it all in at once.
"It sure is big."
"It's preposterously enormous," Vandalaharis exclaimed, "and growing all the time. We're just waiting for the day that its outskirts reaches our caves. We wouldn't want to go looking for a new home, but none of us wants to live across the river from that monstrosity!"
Now that my fear was washing away, I eagerly looked in all directions, and took in all that I could in the quickly dwindling light. I saw nothing straight ahead but that huge expanse of city lights, getting brighter with the increasing darkness of its surroundings. To the left, I saw the grasslands morph into a wooded area, much like the one we'd travelled through in the first week of our journey. I wondered how many clans lived in there, how many Orlogs, how many clanspeople tormented and driven away by Orlogs.
I looked to the right, and saw Jalya riding Torchuk a short distance away. I wanted to wave at her to let her know that I was okay, but I could not imagine letting go of the handle, even with just one hand. Beyond Jalya, I expected to see the Nebril River, but it was blocked by the mountain which we were now curving around. I could, however, see it snaking off into the distance toward the brightly lit city. I wondered how many people lived there, and how their lives were different than my own.
"Vandalaharis?" I said, lifting my voice above the wind.
"Yes?"
"What do you know about the Nebril people?"
"A little. We fly them out sometimes, on errands, though I really prefer not to."
"Why is that?"
"I really don't like being in the city, so dirty and noisy. And the people there, well, I find them a little, I don't know the right word....creepy I guess."
"Creepy?" His choice of words alarmed me a little. "Why do you think they're creepy?"
"I don't know...well, the kids are fine, and the young ones. But by the time they get to a certain age most of them have gone through the ceremony." He paused and thought for a second. "Have you heard about this before?"
"Well the Lumeai told us that they have some kind of ceremony with a crystal, and after that they live forever."
"Yeah, well that's pretty much the gist of it. We don't know too much about it and how it happens; they have pretty tight security there. Many of the clans, fed up with the city expanding onto their territories, have suggested mounting an attack, and destroying the crystal. It's too heavily guarded, however. We're also concerned that destroying it might have repercussions on the Great Bei, since the ceremonies themselves seem to be having a negative effect. Our scientists are hoping to find out more about it. All I know is that after they go through the ceremony, they don't seem the same anymore. They're not like you or your Harachu friends, or any of the other human clans for that matter. They're still nice and polite for the most part, but they seem unnatural, soulless; I don't know, maybe it just seems that way because of their black eyes."
"Do you know where the crystal came from?"
"No idea," Vandalaharis said. "It is rumoured, however, that there is a tree in the far north whose sap is said to give everlasting life. We never gave the idea much credibility before, but now....who knows? I'm sure Madalhandra would love to study it....that is, if we knew where to find it. But no one knows much about those barren lands, only the Varsak. Perhaps we should rendezvous with them when they come down this way."
"Are the Varsak coming early.....like some others have been saying?"
"I think, given the weather, it's a distinct possibility. And Nebril City's been spreading out in every direction at a pretty rapid pace as of late. If they're heading too far into northern territory.....well, the Varsak wouldn't be too happy about that."
"Are they bad, the Varsak?" I stopped to think of the best way to phrase my question. "What I mean is, should we be afraid?"
"Oh, they can be reasoned with. We just have to find them before they reach Nebril City. General Sanjarus has been talking about sending some of our troops up there to intercept them."
"Have you ever seen one before?"
"Never....going up there would certainly be an interesting assignment." Vandalaharis veered to the right and began a slow arc around the side of the mountain. "The Lumeai village is much more dense at the front of the summit. That's where their buildings and congregation areas are. So it's better if we land in the back; creates less of a disturbance that way. They're quite delicate creatures. One flap of my wings could send about twenty of them flying." He laughed out loud. "I found that out on my first flight up here."
"Oh, you didn't," I chuckled, "blow them away?"
"Oh yes, thirty feet at least. I don't think they were too pleased. But no one was hurt, so I don't see why they were so...." He paused as we came around the back of the mountain. "Emerin," he said with a slightly alarmed voice, "do you see a green glow at all?"
"A green glow?" I thought back to my trip to the other Lumeai village, and remembered how it had been enveloped in soft, comforting green. I didn't see that here, and this being the bigger village, I probably should have. "I don't see anything. Are we close enough to see it?"
"We should be; I can usually see it by the time I'm this close." As we turned toward the summit, I saw that Torchuk and Jalya, who had been on our right all along, had now turned and were heading toward where the village would be. Vandalaharis turned to follow them and we approached the snowy peak of the mountain top. As we closed in, I began to make out a subtle green glow.
"Look Vandalaharis, there it is!" I shouted. "It's green!"
"Yes, I see it now," he said. "But.....well, it's barely there. I mean it should be brighter than this." He shook his head slightly. "I don't know, Emerin, something doesn't seem right."
I gripped the handles tightly and swallowed the lump in my throat. Just as I was starting to feel better about this whole flying thing, he throws this at me. I closed my eyes and tried to steady my breathing. It would be alright; when I opened my eyes, the sky before me would be a brilliant, luminous green.
"Torchuk's going in," Vandalaharis announced. "If he completes his landing, then everything's probably okay."
I opened my eyes at the sound of his voice and saw, to my disappointment that the glow remained the same. At this point, even I realized that it should have been brighter. And as we reached the craggy snow covered surface, I noticed that Torchuk didn't seem to be stopping. He kept going past the clearing where I assumed we'd be landing and surged ahead, straight past the cluster of tiny houses in the distance. There was something moving down there it seemed, and it wasn't the sun seekers. It was darkness, patterns of black squirming against the white snow.
"What's he doing?" I screamed. "Why isn't he landing?"
"I don't know; I don't know; just relax. Let's get a little closer so we can see." Vandalaharis straightened his wings and we glided down over the small field and approached the village. "What is that?" he said. "What's moving down there?"
We were almost at the houses, rows upon rows of empty, roofless houses, when I finally realized just what was moving down there. As we got closer, the squirming specks of black became hundreds of black bodies lining the pathways between the houses. I couldn't see the Lumeai, but it knew that they must have been there somewhere, hiding behind the darkness. The green glow burst from between the black bodies, highlighting the twisted, grotesque features of these now familiar creatures. They looked up at us as we flew overhead, facing us with their mangled snouts and fat, droopy lips. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see. But, try as I might, I could not block out the familiar howls of pain.