Root (Energy Anthology) (8 page)

She rested her head on his chest. “I hear your heart here. It speaks of faraway lands, as well as lands nearer to us.” Ch’kara lifted her head and looked into his eyes. He saw that her eyes were moist with tears.

“There
is
a place for us here, Lam,” she breathed. “It is what was meant to be— I feel that in
my
heart.”

Lam nodded as tears formed in his own eyes.

“Yet,” she continued, “I can also see the other line of time…”

“The other line?” he asked.

A tear caught the firelight as it escaped her eye and dropped to his chest. “The line you will choose. The line that will take you from me.”

“Ch’kara, Ch’kara,” he lifted a hand and stroked her hair. “No, I will come back to you. I will make things right in this place, and return to you to stay from then on!”

She stifled a sob, and shook her head. “No,” she said. “No…”

He raised his head and pressed his lips to hers. She returned the kiss with an intensity that sent the electricity in his body to new levels.

“Yes, dear one, I will.”

She shook her head and kissed him again, long and hard, without ever taking her eyes from his.

“Yes…” he whispered between the moments of their lips meeting.

Their hands caressed each other’s faces. She ran her fingers through his hair as his hands began to explore the curves of her waist and legs. Their lips and tongues explored each other, and their eyes never broke contact. Ch’kara felt the hardness growing between Lam’s legs.

When she slipped her hand inside his tunic and touched his chest, shivers of pleasure flooded his body. He instantly slid his fingers inside her own clothing. The small moan that escaped her when he gathered her soft breasts into his hands was like cool water after a hot day in the field. His hardness pressed against her, and she began to slowly move her hips against it.

With their eyes still locked on each other, and their kisses full of hunger and intensity, she quickly reached down and removed him from his clothing. The heat of it sent her body out of control. She eagerly gathered her skirts, and pressed him inside her.

Their intimate moment did not last long, but the sensations of it lingered on their skin through the night as they slept together, arms wrapped tightly around each other as if nothing else mattered.

• FIFTEEN •

When Ch’kara woke, she knew that something else
did
matter.

She watched Lam prepare to journey back toward the land of the Gildok tribe, and fought the urge to weep again. There would be plenty of time for that later.

The others of the remnant had now gathered as well. They encircled Lam as they had done when the Shen-Ma had first sat on him and declared him The Seed. He thought of all that had happened between that time and now, and tears once again appeared in his eyes.

He looked to the sky in the hopes his other people would be above him in this journey, but found the sky clear and blue. There were no clouds to be seen.

Terlikk gave no more lectures or speeches. He merely bowed to Lam, and then embraced him. “This is from your mother,” he said. He then embraced him a second time. “And this is from me.”

The other nine followed his example, and Lam was weeping openly by the end.

Wiping his eyes, he turned to Ch’kara. She placed a hand on each side of his face and pulled his head to hers. Forehead to forehead and eye to eye, no words were needed between them. She kissed his lips long and slow before releasing him and stepping back.

Lam looked at them all one by one. “I
will
return,” he said. “I am of the stars.”

He did not see Terlikk shake his head sadly as he walked into the forest.

The journey back through the trees was full of emotion for Lam. All he had been through, all he had just done, and all he was on his way to do washed over him in waves. But through it all, his mind never wavered from his decision. He had no doubt this was what he was to do.

When he came to his ghost of a village again, he was forced to sit down on a large root. Time passed as he became lost in his flood of thoughts and feelings. He was not aware how long he had been staring at Ric’ua’s hut, but he was not able to bring himself to go near it. Lam was glad the others planned to come here in a couple more days, to build a pyre and lay the bodies of their families to rest properly. It should have been done already, but the remnant was allowing time to pass, to make sure the Gildoks believed there were no survivors, in case they came back to check.

Lam saw no sign that the Gildoks had returned to the village. But why had they done this thing in the first place? He simply could not wrap his mind around it. The Shen-Ma had said it was not because of him, but he felt responsible nevertheless. The violent tribe’s last visit had been because of him, though that had been nearly a year ago.

It had grown to be late afternoon, and the sun had begun its climb down from the sky. He had no specific plan yet of what he would do to the Gildoks, but he would sneak close and begin by observing. The cover of darkness would provide him the ability to watch and listen undetected. Then he would know what could be done.

Lam stood from the root, scooped up a gurja fruit, and headed toward the Gildok land.

What did he hope to accomplish with this mission? What did he expect to do— wipe them out in return for what they had done to his village? He had no idea how he would do that. It was true he was from the stars, but apart from The Remnant and inside a physical body, what advantage did he truly have? Perhaps, if he was in his energy form, he could zap them from above, but he was not.

He still held the advantage of a broader sense of awareness of what it meant to be alive than the tribes of people in this place had, but even so, wasn’t he acting on the same bodily emotions the rest of the people were? Was that then truly any advantage?

He smelled them before he saw them. A pungent mixture of sweat, body waste, and roasting meat swirled around him. Was the nauseous feeling in his belly from the smell, or from the anxiousness of his arrival to their land?

Lam slowed his pace, cautiously avoiding stepping on twigs and leaves. He came up behind a large tree and peeked around it to see their night fires already blazing high. Silhouetted figures moved around the flames, preparing the village for night, much as his own neighbors had done each evening. From this point of view, these violent people seemed… normal. Were there really any differences between these people and his people? What was it that made them so aggressive, and his village so peaceful?

A movement to his left caught his eye. It was a man! Had he been found?

He pressed against the tree and held his breath. The man slowly came to the other side of his tree, and then continued on.

Lam released his breath. It had just been a guard patrolling the edge of the village.

His own village had never set a guard, even after so many attacks from the Gildoks and the Furds. Were these people
so
fearful of losing something that they could not even allow themselves to rest in the night hours?

Lam looked up at the large tree. Perhaps it would not only be safer in a tree, but he would be able to see their routines better from a higher perspective. There were no branches low enough on this tree to climb. He glanced around until he spotted a smaller tree. After checking that the guard was not nearby, he quickly made his way over to it, and scrambled to the top.

He found he
could
see into the village much better from here. A large group of them were gathered around the largest of the three fires burning in their central space. They were listening intently to one figure in particular. Was that their Shen-Ma? Did they even have seers and spirit-talkers? Lam smiled. He was sure they didn’t have any walk-ins from distant star systems.

Turning his attention back to the gathering, he saw the one they had been listening to was now standing, and perfectly motionless. The crowd around the one was shuffling and shifting. Squinting into the darkness, Lam saw they, too, were standing to their feet, and were all turning to face the same direction.

His heart skipped in his chest.

Were they facing
him?
Had they somehow spotted him in the tree? He didn’t see how— it was a moonless night, and he was well away from any firelight. The tension in his body seemed to lock him in place rather than help him make any quick decisions what to do.

The figure was moving now. The others fell behind the one, following.

And they were definitely heading straight toward Lam.

The figure walked directly and unwaveringly up to the tree Lam was in, and the crowd circled the base of the tree completely. Each and every one of them was looking right at him as he clung to the highest branch that would bear his weight.

Lam saw the lead figure was an old man rather than an old woman, with features so fierce it sent a shudder through his body simply to look at.

“This is he,” the old man growled to the others. “This is the one who came onto our sacred lands, and tainted the holy fruits of our labor.

“And yet…” He seemed to be straining to hear something. “And yet he is
not
the one.”

The old man’s eyes suddenly grew very large. “No!” he gasped. “No! This cannot be! Quickly! Bring the axes! This
was
the one who came to steal our wealth, but he is now the one that has come to steal our very souls! Cut him down! He must not be allowed to escape this time!

“He is not from this place! He has stolen life, and must not be allowed to keep it, or he will steal our souls as well!

“The dreaded prophecy we hoped would be overturned by all our good works has manifested nevertheless! CUT HIM DOWN!”

A familiar jolt shot through Lam’s body as the first axe struck the base of the tree.

His thoughts immediately went to Ch’kara. He knew at once she had been right, and he simultaneously wished he was with her right now. Why had he left? Why hadn’t even the promise of love been enough to persuade him to not continue with this dangerous mission of anger and pain?

The vibrations came to a halt, and a slow creaking sound grew into a loud cracking sound.

“Ready yourselves!” the old man cried as the tree began to tilt. “The devil is coming down!”

With a final snap, the tree began to plummet to the earth, but Lam found he remained suspended in the air. He watched himself tumble to the ground with a crash. The crowd roared as they rushed toward him.

There it goes.

Lam turned to The Remnant beside him.

I’ve lost everything now.

You’ve lost your body now.

I’ve lost our hope.

You still bear the mind of the lower vibration. You have gained everything again.

But I’ve lost my body. I’ve lost my self. I’ve lost us.

You never lost us.

We are The Remnant.

You have carried us with you always.

You have planted the seed.

You have secured the knowledge of our people.

It will grow.

It will remember.

It will carry us on.

But we ourselves…

You still bear the mind of the lower vibration.

We are not bodies.

We do not depend on bodies.

We are not attached.

But I’ve lost even our chance of salvation! I’ve dissolved us all!

We
will
join the dissolution. We will not be ended.

Our memory continues among the society below.

We will not be lost.

Look at your body, Lam.

He returned his focus to the scene below. He watched in amazement as his body jumped up and ran into the darkness of the forest, the angry mob in close pursuit.

What will happen to it?

It no longer matters.

Two societies have now been joined.

Two societies have now been saved.

The seed has been planted.

The root has been laid.

• EPILOGUE •

With a final strain and a piercing cry, she shoved with all her might.

Another cry was immediately heard— small, yet clearly strong. An audible gasp of breath was followed by yet another cry.

She let her head fall to the earth. She watched the immense cloud that had sheltered her labor from the harshness of the sun begin to dissipate as her breathing began to slow and return to normal. Laughter bubbled from deep inside her. Her tears of pain became tears of pure joy as she listened to the most wonderful sounds she had ever heard.

Nearly nine moons had passed since he had left, yet she seemed to feel him closer beside her now more than ever before. She had known before he ever left he would never return, that she would never lay eyes on him again.

But that was all right.