The sun was already high in the
sky as Manda stirred, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she lifted her head
from the side of the futon. Around her
she could hear the bustling of the other inhabitants, moving around the
monolith. Conversations drifted through the animal skins, and as Manda climbed
to her feet, the faint smell of cooking meat drifted through the window.
Outside, the sun lit up a clear
blue sky, broken only by wisps of silver white cloud, casting intricate shadows
upon the rolling forested hills. Beyond she could see the forests fall away, the
cliff into the wastelands clouded by dust and distance.
Manda leant against the stone windowsill,
closing her eyes and letting a cold breeze wash over her. She shivered a
little, feeling goosebumps rise on her arms, and the traces of morning fatigue
ebbed away. It took her a few seconds before the events of the previous night
came back to her.
I have to see the elder. He’s the only one who might understand what
happened.
She glanced at the futon. It was empty.
Manda balked with a panicking
noise, throwing the blankets aside and checking down the side of the bed. The
child hadn’t fallen off the side, or burrowed into the blankets. Manda cursed
under her breath, quickly changing her clothes and throwing the animal skin
aside.
Several of the inhabitants were
awake. The stairs in the hallway were bustling, and men and woman roamed the
hall, chatting and laughing with one another.
Manda felt panic arise in her
throat. Her eyes darted around, trying to catch a glimpse of pale skin, or
tousled dark brown hair.
“Manda!”
She jumped, glancing to her
right. An old woman approached her, waggling her finger.
“You’re lucky I don’t tell your
parents, you.”
“W…what?”
“A girl as young as you, a mother
already? What would they think?”
Manda turned to her. “You saw the
child? When?”
The woman shook her head. “You
need to take better care of him, girl. He was as white as a sheet!”
“That’s not, he’s not my- look,
which way did he go?”
The woman laid a hand on her arm,
tapping her fondly. “Now, now…. Don’t get so worried, our tribe helps each
other. It’s what keeps us strong. I’ve talked to the neighbours and some of the
hunters for some extra food for you two. Where is the father? Your lover?”
“What?! I don’t know! There isn’t
one!”
The woman looked shocked. “You’re
raising the child alone?”
“No! I mean…” Manda rubbed her
eyes, “I need to find him, and talk to the elder.”
“The elder should be preparing
for the communial midday meal outside by now. It’s almost late morning.” The woman
narrowed her eyes, as Manda ran her hands through her hair, “Were you out late
last night?”
“Yeah, I was hunting.”
The woman smiled. “Ahh… I
understand. But don’t be too needy. Be patient, and a man will come and find
you.”
“No, I was hunting…” Manda sighed.
“Fine. I was hunting for a man. Whatever. Where did the boy go?”
“He didn’t leave long ago…
breakfast was already finished. He asked me where he was, and how to get back
to his spaceship. He’s a polite little boy, if not a bit strange.”
Manda rushed for the stairs,
dodging the small groups of men and women. She took the steps two at a time,
dashing across the landings apologising as she bumped into others. Some looked
annoyed, others pitying, smiling at her as she passed.
Manda felt irritation bubbling up
in her. How many people did that damn
woman tell?
She reached the first floor, and
came to an abrupt halt. Across the hallway she could see her mother, mending
something and chatting with two women.
No way. Not yet.
Manda glanced around. There was a
parting between two makeshift tents, leading to a sturdy window, several feet
up. Manda sidled between them, and jumped for the window. Her fingers caught
the sill by an inch, but she slid off. She dropped to her feet, before glancing
around. There were a few steps up to a small stone pedestal to her right, but
they were too far along the wall. Something was holding the cloth of the
left-hand tent down, and as Manda slid the weight around she saw it was a large
block of wood, knotted bark wrapped around it. She unwrapped the cloth as
quietly as she could and moved it into position. She took a couple of steps
back, out of the gap between the tents and into the hall.
She felt a prickling on her neck,
and glanced around. The women were glancing at her and whispering, and her
mother was staring, looking confused. One of the women leant in, and whispered
something in her ear. Her eyes widened.
Crap!
Manda dashed forwards, planting
her foot on the stump and caught the lip of the window ledge with both hands,
pulling herself up. The window was only a couple of feet tall, and Manda pulled
herself through on her belly.
Outside, the ground curved away
from rock into a sloping hill, leading into the forest. The floor of the
building was much higher than the outside; it was at least six feet from the
window to the grass below. Manda slid out as far as she could, before twisting
her body, trying to keep one hand clasped around the window’s ledge.
Her first leg swung free, but it
shifted her weight; the sudden pull dislodged her grip, and with a small yell
Manda slid out of the window, landing in the grass with a muffled thump. She
sat up, rubbing her back.
Thank the sky I didn’t land on the rock.
She sat up, and climbed to her
feet. Inside, she could hear a muffled crash, as the tent she removed the
weight from went over. Manda gritted her teeth, and made for the centre of the
monoliths, the communial square, taking care not to raise any more attention.
***
Manda moved between the crowds of
people, anxiously scanning the square for a glimpse of pale skin. As she got
closer to the centre the crowds thickened. She reached a wall of backs, and
stopped.
A hand grabbed her shoulder.
“Manda?”
She spun round. The sentry looked
down at her with a sympathetic smile.
“How did you know my name?”
“Suleiha told me your name, and
when he described you to the sentries, I recognised you from last night. You
didn’t tell me he was your child!”
Manda slumped. “He’s not my
child… he doesn’t even look like me!” she perked up. “Wait, has someone found
him?”
“He is with the elder now. I’ve
been asked to take you to him.”
Manda bit her lip, but let
herself be led through the crowd. Some people turned and looked, but Manda
ignored them, yet another pit of worry was settling in her stomach.
Suleiha wants to see me. The elder, wants to see me.
They left the crowds behind, and
away from the largest monolith, her home. Manda gave the sentry an incredulous
look.
“Wait, I thought you said the
elder had him. Why aren’t we going to the top of the monolith?”
The sentry didn’t say anything,
but gave her a friendly nudge forwards.
They ventured into the thin
forest. While still within their borders, the forests were completely safe, but
Manda still instinctively tensed up. The trees here were much lighter and slimmer;
completely different from the rugged, knarled limbs of the deeper forests, huge
wooden structures hiding the leaven floor in shadows. Here the sunlight
filtered through the trees, creating small dulcet beams amongst the leaf
litter, dappling the soft grass in shades of illumination.
As they descended, Manda saw a
large tent of patterned cloth, strung between several sturdy trees. Two
sentries stood guard, chatting quietly with one another. They stopped as they
noticed Manda, standing aside to let her enter. She hesitated, before striding
in.
Inside, layers of animal skins
replaced the grassy ground, and small tables littered with faded paper. Sitting
before one of them, a large, grizzled man wrapped in furs. He noticed Manda and
stood, a large smile stretching across his dark bearded face.
Manda bowed stiffly, staring at
the ground. “Elder.”
Suleiha crossed his arms. “So,
you must be Amanda Flowen.”
“I, er… I prefer Manda, Elder.”
“Fine. Manda it is.” Suleiha
glanced at the sentry. “Well done for finding her so quickly, Jannis.”
Jannis bowed. “I recognised the
boy when I led her home from the forests last night, elder.”
“Please, sit.” Suleiha gestured
to the other side of the table.
Jannis bowed again, and took a
seat behind the table, picking up one of the pages.
Suleiha stepped to one side, and
the boy was sitting cross-legged on the floor, picking at threads in one of the
cloths laid across the floor. He looked up at Manda, and made a face.
“Aren’t you glad to see him?”
Suleiha said with a smile.
Manda opened her mouth to say
something, but stopped herself. She scratched her back.
“Well,” she began, “Not really. I
only found him yesterday. I was planning on taking him to you this morning,
elder.”
“You were?”
“My idea, Suleiha.” Jannis
interjected. “It only two hours until sunrise.”
Suleiha sat down opposite him. “A
good idea. I had very little sleep last night.”
“Yeah. He did something…” she
glanced at Jannis. He glanced back. “He did something strange last night.”
Suleiha gestured for her to sit.
Manda uneasily sat, cross-legged at the far corner of the table, between Jannis
and the entrance. The boy kept glancing at her as he fiddled with the cloth.
“We were moving through the Windswept
Valley, and… it approached us.” Manda said.
“What?” Jannis said, looking at
her, “you told me you-”
“Jannis.” Suleiha warned, “Let
her finish.”
“But, the… the ‘it’!” Jannis
dropped the paper onto the table. “It’s one of the seven Beasts of the Forest!
How did you get away?”
“It’s not an it.”
The three turned towards the boy.
He kept fiddling with the cloth, his eyes kept darting to Manda.
“I’m sorry?” Suleiha said.
“It’s a lizard. A big lizard.”
The boy said quietly.
“We were moving through the
valley,” Manda said, “when I saw the movement in the grass. I moved to higher
ground, like I was taught, and… I don’t know, the boy just…”
“Wait,” Suleiha interjected, “we
shouldn’t keep referring to him as the ‘boy’ or the ‘child’.”
He turned to the child. “What is
your name?”
The boy stared at Suleiha, before
looking back at the cloth.
“I tried asking him when we met,
“Manda said, “but he ignored me.”
“Child,” Suleiha walked toward
the boy and knelt in front of him, “can you tell us your name?”
The boy kept looking at the
floor. Manda sighed, and stretched a smile across her face,
“Please,” she said sweetly. “Can you tell me your name?”
The boy's eyes kept darting towards her. “Enderi.”
Suleiha
froze. Jannis looked at him.
“What
is it?”
Suleiha
blinked, and relaxed. “It’s nothing.”
“So,”
Manda continued, looking confused. “Ender… Enderi was left in the grass, and
all of a sudden, the grass flowed outwards from him.”
“Like a
pulse?” Suleiha asked.
“Yes…
Exactly.” Manda said. “How did you know?”
Suleiha
crossed his arms. “Jannis, can you take Enderi to the square? The communial
midday meal will begin soon.”
Jannis
blinked. “Are you sure? They won’t begin until you give your blessing.”
Suleiha
smiled reassuringly. “Manda and I will make our way to the square soon.”
Jannis
stood up, and offered his hand to Enderi. The boy looked suspicious, but allowed
himself to be taken by the hand and led out of the tent.
Manda
stood up. “What’s going on?”
“I
need you to tell me exactly where you found that boy,” Suleiha said quietly,
“and what he was looking for.”
“It
was in the forest…” Manda said, confused, “Why? Who is that boy?”
“You’re
a sharp girl, so you must have realised that this Enderi isn’t from around
here.”
“Do
you know where he’s from?” Manda said, feeling the pit of worry return to her
stomach.
“I
do.” Suleiha said quietly, “His kind come from beyond the fog… how he came to
this place is a mystery. Did he say why he was in the forest?”
“He
said… he said, he was looking for the spaceship.”
“The
spaceship?” Suleiha asked.
“It’s
just an ore deposit in the southern district.” Manda said, “but, my friend Junipa
said it might be a spaceship. She was just being stupid though.”
“There
might be more to this than you know.” Suleiha said, standing, “Perhaps you
should investigate this ‘spaceship’. Your friend might not be wrong.”
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