It’s when Skye leads me back out of the massive hut that we hear Sophia shriek behind us, “Oh, my God! Are youpurring?!”
We look at each other, bursting with laughter. And, for a moment, I feel good about my decision to come here.
“C’mon,” Skye chuckles. “I’ll introduce you to Tessa.”
Chapter 31 - Polly
Trying to settle in with a whole new tribe has been good at keeping me distracted over the past few days.
Mostly.
The Trixikka males here are ten times more attentive than the ones back at Rynn’s tribe, but I guess that’s only because Aloryk stood between me and them when I was there. I can see the curiosity and hope in their eyes each time they interact with me, and more than once I’ve seen them glance down to check their own chests for heart-stars. Watching them do that leaves a sour feeling in my gut.
Has Delphi made his heart-stars appear yet?
I quickly shake the painful thought away and focus back on the here and now.
This Trixikka village is very similar to the other one, except that the central focus is on the large, hall-like hut, and that their temple is situated a lot closer, next to a nearby waterfall. Everyone gathers by the huge, smooth, flying-saucer-shaped ‘temple’ now. The Trixikka are having some kind of religious ritual offering. Their chief, Zarriko, or ‘Big Zee’ as Skye likes to keep calling him, is apparently too preoccupied with Sophia to attend…whatever this is, and his second-in-command, the scary looking guy who doesn’t talk, is filling in for leading the proceedings. Well… as much as he can. All the other Trixikka have no problems interpreting the grunts, nods and jerks of hishead, but then again, I suppose they’ve done this song and dance before, so they know what’s expected of them.
“This is the crazy bit,” Tessa, a friendly, mousy-haired woman leans in to whisper. Skye arches her eyebrow in a playful ‘I-told-you-so’ kind of way. In the past few days since I arrived, I’ve spent most of my time with Skye because Sophia isn’t quite recuperated enough to be out and about, Gwen spends most her time with Jaryk and Tessa is almost always right here, by the temple. Skye says Tessa’s obsessed with the ‘Goddesses’ that are meant to be inside, and spends a lot of time just trying to get them to ‘talk’ to her. Whatever that means.
But, I’ve got to admit, when that little hatch opens up and a floating sphere of light pulses its way out of the strange building, this really is ‘the crazy bit’, as Tessa describes it. And I really can’t blame her at all for wanting to find out what the hell is up with this shit.
The same older Trixikka male who had accompanied Jaryk and Gwen to the other tribe steps forward, standing next to the much more formidable-looking ‘Second Spear’. I’ve come to realize that Jaryk allows this elderly male to speakforhim, as he doesn’t seem to be able to talk at all himself. The older Trixikka clears his throat and bows his head at the glowing ball of light. “Oh, generous Goddesses,” he says, and all around us, the other Trixikka bow in reverence too. “We bring offerings this day, the bounty of which…” he glances at the small group of Trixikka standing to one side. They have bundles of feathers, a couple of kills and some of those weird-ass ‘seed-pots’. “Err…” his expression pales. “The bounty of which will be improved upon this next offering, I am sure.”
Tessa grabs my wrist and ducks her head to whisper, “listen.Listento that thing’s voice.”
My brow creases and I’m about to whisper back when the ball of spinning light begins to talk in a woman’s voice. “We thank you for these gifts, but… so… the Goddesses demand…uh…”
“What the-”
“See!” Tessa whisper-hisses, pointing a finger at the talking sphere of light. “About a week or so ago wheneverthat thingcame out to talk, it didn’t sound like it used to. The cadence is all wrong, the uncertainty… it sounds like someone on their first day at a new job!”
“I mean,” the disembodied woman’s voice continues, “the bounty of the gift needs to be multiplied… or whatever.”
“And just yesterday,” Tessa says in a hushed but excited tone, her eyes never straying from that temple, “I was asking it questions, trying to get it to talk, and at first I swear it sounded like a male voice by mistake, then it morphed into a higher-pitched female one. I’m telling you, something weird is going on behind that temple!”
I stare at the huge structure. It struck me straight away when being shown the other one back at Aloryk’s tribe that it just doesn’t sit right in this kind of landscape. These people didn’t build this. Nothing in these lands created this. It’s not of this world. It’s of a different one.
And I believe Tessa. Something weird is going on in there.
I think all the girls believe it, but she’s the only one determined to get to the bottom of it. She comes to eat with us and to check on Sophia since she used to be some kind of nurse back home, but other than that, you’ll find her here, watching that big ol’ spaceship thing as if it will spill all its secrets if she stares it down long enough.
After the whole temple ceremony is over, everyone except Tessa and two Trixikka guards wander back to the village, content to go about the rest of their day. I decide to stay with her,and, judging by the smirk she gives me, she knows my interest is piqued about this whole temple mystery.
Tessa gives me a wink and walks over to where the edge of the forest cozies up to the foot of the mountain. There’s a tree with low, wide purple limbs and draped over one of those limbs is a big, soft hide in the same purple-maroon shade of the tree bark. The hide is almost indistinguishable against the branch, except for a patch of white dappling that must have decorated the animal’s back. After retrieving it, Tessa lays the hide out on top of the strange, white grass and seats herself cross-legged on the thing. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she looks up at me expectantly and pats the space beside her.
I glance at the two Trixikka standing at the edge of the forest, observing us. They wait there, spears in hand, quietly talking with one another, only breaking their murmurings when they see me looking. Suddenly, they stand taller, widen their wings and puff their chests, their skin-stars dancing all over the place.
I feel a tug on my PJ shirt. “Girl, don’t give them any attention,” Tessa smiles up at me, gesturing for me to sit again. “You’ll only encourage them to come over here and this thing never talks to me if there’s Trixikka around.”
“It talks to you? What does it say?”
“Boring stuff, mainly,” she says, shrugging. “But I’ll catch them out one day. Did you see what’s written on the back of this temple-thing?” I shake my head. “Royal Xaviann Conservation,” she tells me, like that’s supposed to mean anything.
I pull a face, turning the words over. “So… conservation is good, right? It means these lands are protected.”
“Yeah, but protected by who? And to what end?”
