Authors: Alyssa Ezra
“Hey there,” she said brightly. “Who are you guys?”
The children giggled and huddled closer to together. Storm Kar gave them a stern look. “Go back to the citadel,” he ordered.
The children flew off like a flock of birds in the direction she had just come from. She watched them go and smiled at Storm Kar. “They’re adorable,” she said and then frowned when she suddenly thought of something. “They’re not yours, are they?”
“If you mean did I sire them, the answer is no,” Storm Kar drawled. “They are the young of my tribe. After our lessons, I permit them some free time to play.”
Simone gave him an appraising look. “You’re a teacher?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Storm Kar replied. “I instruct the young ones in the secret names of the plants and the trees and explain what properties they possess. When they reach the age of adulthood and become Braves, it will be important they know what plants and herbs could heal them and what could kill them. I also teach the art of meditation and attuning to the frequency of the Great Spirits. Those not suited to becoming warriors may have the gifts to become Shaman Scientists or Healers. It is my job to determine which role will suit each young one the best.”
Simone nodded. “I saw some younger people training back in the courtyard. Are you guys expecting trouble?”
“Where we are now, the territory of the Mystic Folk is quite safe,” Storm Kar replied.
“But great swathes of the Vision Land are not so lucky. Many crueller and aggressive tribes vie for supremacy, and we must be ever vigilant against attack from our enemies.”
“Are you worried about invasion?”
“It is possible,” Storm Kar said, “but through Grazing Elk Woman’s wise leadership, we have striven to foster good relations with the tribes closest to our territory. We have been quite successful, and there is talk of a great coalition being formed if the planets are in alignment.”
Simone thought about this. “Your people are really into your spiritual sides, aren’t you?”
Storm Kar raised an eyebrow. “You regard it as nonsense?” he asked, an edge of challenge in his deep voice.
“Not exactly,” Simone said quickly. “There are plenty on Earth who do, but I . . . I like to keep an open mind.”
“There are many frequencies of reality,” Storm Kar said with authority, “there are universes within universes and there is science that appears more like magic. Your people have so much to learn, but sacrifices come with knowledge.” He fell silent and his face became grim. He shot her a sideways look.
“I assume that your being here means you are willing to agree and spend a month here?” he asked, changing the subject.
Simone nodded. “I’m not happy about it, but it looks like I don’t have much of a choice, just don’t expect miracles.”
“I don’t,” Storm Kar replied, perking up. “All I ask for is time, to prove my sincerity. Perhaps then, you will be willing to open your heart to me and see that we are meant to be together.”
Simone didn’t respond. She knew that was never going to happen. Even if she wasn’t scared of his appearance, he was not the man for her. She had loved once with all her heart and had suffered for it. She would not make the same mistake twice and not with a brooding creature like him.
She knew she should tell him that here and now and dispel any more ambiguity, but she feared what his reaction would be. It was better that they got to know each other and when he understood there was no future for them he might send her back to Earth before the month was out. That, or lock her away or murder her. She just couldn’t be certain.
Not wanting to dwell on worse case scenarios, she turned and looked out at the stream. “It’s very beautiful here,” she said in a neutral voice. “I love all the different colors, and the air is so clean and fresh. It makes me feel refreshed and invigorated.”
“I’m glad you find our climate to your liking, I would like to show you more of my home. I have made arrangements for us to go on a short journey. There’s something I’d like you to see.”
Simone gave him a wary look. “Just the two of us?”
“You have my word, I will not touch you in any way,” Storm Kar said firmly. “My only desire is your company.”
“Okay, show me the sights then,” Simone said, deciding to take a risk. If he did try anything, there wasn’t much she could do. She just hoped his gentlemanly code of conduct wasn’t all for show, and, if truth be told, she was genuinely curious about seeing more of the Vision Land.
“Splendid,” Storm Kar said eagerly. “Come, we will leave at once.” He started marching back down the track before pausing and giving Simone a cowed look. “I mean, please, if you don’t mind.”
“Grazing Elk Woman is right,” Simone drawled as she started to follow him, “you’re better with the written word than with your mouth.”
Chapter 5: A Visit To The Phoenix People
Heading back to the large citadel where the Mystic Folk lived, Storm Kar led Simone back up the staircase and down the passage to the balcony. The covering had been retracted, and one of the strange rock creatures was now stood waiting at the balcony itself.
A large, exotic looking howdah, the size of a train compartment was strapped to the creature’s back. Storm Kar went over to the howdah and opened its gilt lined door and gestured for Simone to enter.
Simone stared at the purplish rock creature and the bizarre means of transport with mounting alarm. “We’re going in that? On the back of that. . . that, I don’t even know what that guy is.”
Storm Kar frowned and then looked at the creature. “There’s no need to be afraid, Simone,” he said brusquely. “The Podderers are quite docile. We use them to travel around the land.”
“Podderers?” Simone repeated the strange name. She looked warily at the hunched over creature. “Are you sure it’s safe to go riding about on them?”
“What you talkin’ about lass?” the Podderer suddenly spoke up in a wheezing voice.
“I ain’t lost anyone yet, ‘cept that scrawny fella who tried to get a bit randy with his girl, she knocked him straight out me cab and right down into the swamp she did. He-he, ‘e stank as bad as an eel-skunk fart for weeks!”
The Podderer began chortling and the howdah shook alarmingly. Simone cast an uncomprehending look at Storm Kar.
“Do not be concerned Jedediah, she is new to our world,” he said to the creature.
“Get aboard me saucy wench, old Jed’ll look after ye,” the Podderer called out. “By thunder, she looks a game old bird and no mistake.”
Storm Kar looked down in embarrassment. Simone gave him a withering glance, but nevertheless climbed inside the howdah. Settling down in the comfortable interior, she waited for Storm Kar to get aboard and take his place opposite her. He banged the side of the howdah and Jedediah shifted away from the balcony with a heart-stopping lurch.
“If we survive this, I’m never going to talk to you again,” Simone hissed through gritted teeth as she scrambled to steady herself.
“You’ll soon get used to it,” Storm Kar said amiably. “Like Jedediah said, you’re a game old bird.”
If Simone wasn’t so fearful of tumbling out of the howdah, she could have reached forward and punched Storm Kar in the face. As it was, she had to content herself with some venomous glaring.
Once she got used to the jostling though, she began to relax. Looking out of the open sides of the howdah, she took in the scenery. Below them, the living trees she had seen when she first arrived in the Vision Land continued to make their beautiful wordless song and a smile spread across her face.
“You like the singing of the Woodrens?” Storm Kar asked.
“Woodrens? Is that what those tree things are called?”
Storm Kar nodded. “They are sentient techno-organic beings we grow specifically to surround our citadel and farming pods. The beautiful singing they produce has a calming effect over the environment in general and they generate a psychic field that serves as a defensive barrier against war parties from rival tribes.”
“So they are a kind of security fence,” Simone said.
“That’s right,” said Storm Kar. “Though they are immobile, they have formidable defensive capabilities. The song they produce can fog the minds of enemies. Fortunately, it has been a long time since they were needed in a martial sense.”
“Techno-organic,” Simone repeated the word Storm Kar had used, and brushed her chin thoughtfully. “Does that mean they are part machine?”
“The merging of the living with technology is a speciality of the Mystic Folk,” Storm Kar said with more than a hint of pride. “None of the other tribes can match our prowess in this field. The ancient tribal legends say that the secrets of the Celestial AI were passed to the Mystic Folk in the Beginning Time and made us guardians of the Vision Land.”
“Celestial AI? You mean like a computer?” Simone asked.
“That’s a crude description but yes, that’s what the AI is essentially is. The Celestial AI was created by the Grandmother Race who seeded this part of the solar system.
Many eons ago, the Grandmother Race fought a terrible war with the Reptile People, which wiped out billions of life forms and destroyed many of the habitable worlds in this part of space. Eventually, the Reptiles were defeated but at a heavy price. My people, the Noble Kin were all but decimated and our home world had been incinerated in the long fighting.
Because we had been instrumental in the Reptile Peoples’ final defeat, the Grandmother Race wished to make reparations to us. They used the last of their resources to create the Celestial AI. It was, as you say, a super computer capable of designing new worlds and technology. It began to slowly rebuild this part of the galaxy and the Vision Land was its masterpiece.”
Simone listened raptly fascinated by the extraterrestrial history Storm Kar was telling her. “This Celestial AI, is it still making worlds?”
Storm Kar shook his head. “As the galaxy began to recover and civilizations re-established themselves, many envious eyes turned to the AI as a source of knowledge and power.
There were numerous attempts to board the AI, which a world in itself, and eventually it decided to leave this universe altogether. The Grandmother Race had already left our reality as well, and when the AI departed, the last link to our ancient heritage was gone.”
Simone nodded trying to process all this information. Looking out of the howdah, she watched as Jedediah picked his way nimbly through the Woodrens, waving at other Podderers who ambled around nearby. Leaving the living forest behind, they moved across vast plains toward a rugged wall of rose-tinted mountains, shimmering beneath the aquamarine sky. The strange colors of the panorama appealed to her for some reason, and she revelled in the beauty being presented before her.
“Your world is truly breath-taking Storm Kar,” she concluded as she watched magenta cotton ball clouds drift by. “You must feel very proud to live here.”
“I would feel prouder if the Noble Kin were united,” Storm Kar replied mournfully.
Simone gave him a curious look. “I thought you said things were pretty peaceful round here?”
“At the moment yes, relatively,” Storm Kar replied, “but the tribes agitate against each other, seeking to outdo each other in prestige and influence. Grazing Elk Woman and I despair sometimes. If we united together, we could achieve our former greatness.”
“Why don’t you? What’s the problem?”
“During the time when the Celestial AI looked over us, my people were united as one. We were a force for good and knowledge in the galaxy. We helped other societies who struggled with conflict or environmental disasters. We travelled to many worlds and visited nascent civilizations to help them on the road of achieving greatness. We even came to your world and taught Earthlings the secret ways of the other realms and the arts of agriculture and tool making. When the AI left though, wars came to our own world and we fragmented into rival tribes.”
“Earth’s just the same,” Simone replied, giving him a sympathetic smile, “seems like people never learn wherever they live in the universe.”
They fell into a reflective silence and watched the Vision Land go by. The Podderer ambled eastwards until they approached a strange looking outcropping of rock that resembled coral. Simone drank in the vibrant colors of the outcropping, its lush blues, pinks, greens and oranges and stared in wonder at the varied and outlandishly shapes the rocks formed.
The outcropping was roughly divided into tiers and as they got closer, she saw it was honeycombed with caverns. Jedediah came to halt in a wide space of smooth stone that opened out onto the first of the caves. With a loud groan, he knelt down until his spindly body was down low enough for Simone and Storm Kar to climb out of the howdah and step onto the ground.
“Thank you, Jedediah,” Storm Kar said civilly. “You may leave us now. Please return to collect at sun down.”
“Right you are, sir,” the Podderer said, nodding his craggy head. “Nice to meet you, lass,” he said to Simone.
“Thanks,” Simone replied, not sure what else to say. She watched as the strange creature straightened up and meandered away across the plains. She was suddenly aware that she was now alone with Storm Kar.
“There are some people who are eager to meet you,” Storm Kar said.
She looked at him and then to the outcropping. A fiery winged shape suddenly emerged from one of the caves on the upper level and flew up into the sky. It was followed by two similar creatures. They dived as one toward the couple.
“Don’t be alarmed,” Storm Kar said when he saw Simone back away. “They won’t hurt you.”
The creatures came to land in the space before the outcropping, moving together with fluid coordination. They were tall and sleek, with slender male humanoid bodies and fearsome bird-like heads.
Golden feathers merged with smooth gold colored skin and huge bright red wings sprouted from their backs. Simone stared at the white flames burning the edges of the wings perplexed that they were apparently doing no damage at all.
Standing perfectly still, the three bird men nodded their beaks in unison.
“Welcome Storm Kar of the Mystic Folk,” they said together, their identical musical voices twinkling on the air.
Storm Kar brought his hands together and bowed his head. “I am honored to be invited to the Settlement of the Phoenix People,” he said in a formal tone. “Let me introduce Simone of the Earth People.”
The three Phoenix men turned and pierced her with their golden eyes. “We have waited long for your coming,” they said in unison in their lilting voices. “You are welcome to our domain.”
“Thank you, it’s, um, nice to be here,” Simone replied nervously. She shot Storm Kar a look that cried out for help.
“Simone, this is Pevas, the Triad Leader of the Phoenix People,” Storm Kar said. “He has kindly invited us to a festival of welcome to herald your arrival to the Vision Land.”
“You mean a party?” Simone said with surprise, not really sure what a Triad Leader was or, for that matter, which of these three Pevas was either. “Oh wow, that’s fantastic. Thank you so much,” she said politely.
“It is the least we could do,” the three birdmen said together. “Storm Kar helped our people in our darkest hour and we celebrate that he has found a potential mate. We hope your love making will be frequent and vigorous.”
“That’s . . . great too,” Simone replied with less enthusiasm. She looked frostily at Storm Kar. He was staring hard at his feet again.
“Enough talking,” the three birdmen said abruptly. “Let us take you to the festivities. We hope you will be greatly pleased with out efforts.”
Without warning, two of the Phoenix men grabbed Simone and Storm Kar under their armpits and soared upwards into the air. Simone’s heart jumped into her mouth and she let out a sharp scream.
“Relax Simone,” Storm Kar called out in a voice that was less than confident. “We’re quite safe.” He was clinging tightly to the arms of the Phoenix man who carried him and Simone immediately did the same, holding on for dear life to her ride.
In a blur of movement, they swooped over the outcropping, darting between slender, conical rock formations. Simone’s legs were like water and she prayed to every god she knew that she didn’t lose her grip. Thankfully though, the impromptu flight didn’t last very long and they came to land on a wide stone terrace near the peaks of the outcropping that rested on a rock shelf.
As they landed, Simone took a moment or two to glue back together her shattered nerves and realize how absolutely awesome that was, before she was calm enough to take in her surroundings.
The terrace evidently served as a public square for the Phoenix People community, and she more many more Phoenix men, and women, busy laying out food on low trestle tables and putting up brightly colored decorations made of feathers, bones and shiny stones.
As they worked, she noticed that they moved around in groups of three. These triads were either all male or all female, and whenever she heard their musical voices speaking it was always in unison.
As their welcoming committee went off to join the other Phoenix People, Storm Kar came to join her.
“I’m sorry you got a scare back there,” he said apologetically. “The Phoenix People assume everyone else is accustomed to flying the way they do.”
“It’s okay,” Simone said with a weak smile. “I’m still in one piece.”
Storm Kar nodded and then gestured to the terrace. “What do you think?”
“My mind’s blown away with all this,” Simone said with feeling. “There’s one thing I don’t understand though.”
“What’s that?”
“They all seem to be grouped together in threes,” she said, lowering her voice in case she caused offence. “And they all speak in unison, each trio I mean.”
Storm Kar nodded. “The Phoenix People replicate in threes and share a psychic bond within their triad group. Each triad comes from the same egg, and they share each others’ mind and feelings until the day they die. What one experiences, the other two feel too. It is an . . . interesting phenomenon.”