I patted his arm reassuringly, then drew him along with me several feet from our sledges, and proceeded to take my cock out to take a piss.
“Oh!” he exclaimed, a look of understanding crossing his face. “Pahtee brayk! Goohd! Ahm buhsten!” He began fumbling to expose himself to do the same, calling out over his shoulder. “Eetz a pahty brayk!” to his friends, who all scrambled off to relieve themselves. Except for the females, who kept repeating something about ‘whayteng fohr uh boosh’.
Soon, the tea was ready, and everyone so inclined had made yellow marks in the snow which we then buried under more fresh snow, just to discourage anything that might wish to track us as darkness fell.
Once we’d all fortified ourselves with a drink, we packed back up. A few stretches and then we were off once more. This time, our passengers did not sing; instead, they spoke in hushed tones, looking up at the sky and glancing towards the dark forest that loomed ever closer.
“Loohkz liek diemuhndz,” one of the women said. Then we were there, right on the edge of the crystalline forest, and a hush fell over us all as we came to a stop. Hroash and my other clan brothers turned their attention to me.
“Oh, it’s me who is going to call, is it?”
“You found Rah-bee first,” Rimbet pointed out.
That was a slim reason at best to put me in charge of this part of our journey, and they all knew it, but something told me it was right. Rah-bee was my mate, and if I hadn’t found him, the others would have died there. I was the unwitting cause of this entire series of events, or rather, as it pertained to our clan.
“Fine,” I huffed out and stepped forward to inspect the trees before us. I had to go into the tree line to find what I was looking for. Several paces in, stood a chieftain of a tree. Its trunk was so wide, it would take Rimbet, Hroash, and myself to link hands to encircle it. Its trunk was clear enough to see that the chambers within were nearly flawless, forming several unobstructed tubes that reached from sky to root. The only thing marring it were faded markings painted on, using dyes that were weathering off. That and a single bit of rope, which held a small hammer. I picked it up and carefully chose a spot, and swung.
Immediately, a bell-like pealing rang out from the tree, and several around it began to chime, the sound spreading from tree to tree deep into the forest.
”Whoahh!” Bihl gasped, hands going up to cover his ears.
“Thahtz soh beeyuteefull!” Rah-bee said, doing the same, eyes wide.
The others quickly made sounds of agreement, hands over their ears as well.
The ringing stopped, then started again a moment later, this time originating from deeper within the forest. We’d been heard, and those who lived here were on their way to greet us.
25
ROBBIE
Ow, ow, ow! Talk about having your bell rung! The glass looking trees were as beautiful as they were eerie, and yeah, freaky enough that I couldn’t be certain if their otherworldliness was more responsible for the hairs on the back of my neck and arms raising or if it was a side effect from all the gonging going on.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry when all the bongs and chimes stopped.
“What now?” Carol asked softly.
I shrugged.
“I think all that was to announce our arrival,” Patrick answered.
“Well, duh,” I replied, falling back on teasing to hide just how ill at ease and out of my depth I felt, standing in a veritable frozen fairyland.
“Um, guys, who’s that?” Beth gulped, looking wide-eyed all around us.
Oh boy. I hoped these were friends that we’d been calling because the way these guys seemed to simply melt out of thin air from the trees? Yeah, not good if they were hostile.
“Ho!” one of them called out.
“Ho!” Gree-Gree replied in turn, surging forward to extend further greetings. I watched in amazement as he clasped forearms with one of the new aliens. Aliens who were much different than Gree-Gree and his people. They were lithe, with what looked like fine crystalline scales over their bodies, and startling yellow eyes that reminded me of the citrine in my mother’s birthstone ring. They wore nothing but breechcloths, even their feet bare. I found myself wondering if they did not feel the cold at all.
“I was not expecting that,” Sam said. “Two very different sentient species on one planet, I mean.”
“Three if you count us,” Bill reminded her. “I wonder if the slavers lost more cargo than just us here. Maybe they’ve been passing through and crashed a few times over the centuries, and there were other survivors.”
“That’s possible, I suppose,” I murmured as the new aliens, including the one currently talking with Gree-Gree, glanced at us curiously. I raised a hand hesitantly and wiggled my fingers in a hello. All I got for my efforts were confused stares.
Gree-Gree’s conversation came to an apparent end, as he turned to speak to his friends, who’d abandoned the sledges and came to listen to what was being said.
