Large pink petals drift down, swirling in the sweltering breeze, and land along the path. The stone path is bordered by broad elephant eared plants, vibrant ferns, and a rainbow of flowers. The path leads to a village of stone huts. The village itself is arranged as a shell. One castle-like hut rests to the back, and in rings rippling outward are hundreds of smaller huts. Each hut is spaced from its neighbors with military precision in gently curving lines.
Sitting just outside the village is young, dark haired man. He scratches the air above a piece of parchment with a quill. Deep scarlet marks appear as he moves the quill. "They have moved since Pulsatilla remembered for sure," he mutters to himself, rolling the paper and sliding it into his pack. He stands up, dusts himself off, and walks into the village.
"Intrussso! Intrussso!"
The man pauses and looks around for the source of the shout. "Calma! Soy Bertramus! Bertramus!" The village then goes silent and he sighs to himself. "Have they forgotten already?"
"Ber-tra-musss?"
Bertramus looks down at the child pulling on his cloak and kneels down with a kind smile. "Sí."
The child looks awestruck. She is small and he can tell by her dull grey-brown lichen pattern scales that she is very young, but her eyes are large and intelligent. After a moment she blinks and looks at the ground as she thinks hard and then points toward the castle hut. "Queen?"
"Sí!" He smiles.
The child smiles and starts tugging his cloak in that direction. "Yo Sselsssi!"
Bertramus nods and follows her. He glances at passing faces, peeking out from the windows. Nearly every face is either an earthy orange-red or bark brown. Males. So far, nothing much else has changed it seems since his last visit, he notes in the back of his mind.
"Chao chao!" The kid then giggles before scampering off.
He looks at the hut and steps up the clay steps and pushes past the jade bead curtain. The instant he enters he sees a vividly blue-green scaled individual sitting on a feathered throne. He bows slightly. "Regina Sarasilia."
"Bertramusss? My my, you are early thisss time."
"Am I? Perhaps our calendars no longer line up." He grins.
"Pul-eassse." She cackles. "We both know you can't keep time."
"You shank me, my dear. Deeply, to the heart." He dramatically pretends to stab himself.
The woman drops her tail from her lap and stands on her three-taloned feet. She is wearing a bronze chest piece above a skirt of bright feathers. Feathers are tied with string along her long headspines in a chaotic fashion. "Are you only here to flirt? Or have you ssssomething to do?" She smirks.
"It's a check in as usual." He nods. "Pulsatilla enjoys her updates."
"Pulsssatilla, sssuch a dear, dear goddessss." She nods. "I know of no goddessss more conssserned for her people."
Bertramus grins slightly to himself. Like he had promised, he keeps his mouth shut about the godliness of Pulsatilla. She had wanted her creations to develop their own mythologies and if they decided to mark her as the creator, who was she to stop them? Like other high Maia, Pulsatilla had created a few races and organisms, but she had not created everything. Epiphyllum had made the plants and a few races, Trisopia made the animals and the half-mens, and the list could go on and on. Actually, Pulsatilla had gotten her elder sister's permission before she even made her races since she borrowed strongly from a few of her animal designs.
He has often wondered what it would be like to be a high Maia with permission from on high to create life and then supervise a legion of lesser Maia. Not that he himself was even a lesser Maia, those were no more than mere magicians and herbalists on the ground, or shop and innkeepers above. Lesser Maia also couldn't do tours of Other Earth as he himself has done many times. He was thankful to be upper mid-level....Correction, he was thankful to be one of Pulsatilla's upper mid-level Maia. She was a good boss.
"I guessss you've sssseen that we have relocated."
"Yes...Nearly couldn't find you until I come about that petal path."
Sarasilia chuckles. "I hope you know that you're the only reasssson we have that path. Your lassst visssit you complained you couldn't find an entry way."
"Oh I'm well aware and it is much appreciated." He nods. "It's easier on everyone involved."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far....It doesssn't camouflage well after all."
"Touché."
Sarasilia nods and opens the curtain for him. He steps out and waits for her. Standing beside him now, she was taller than he last remembered....Then again, she had just ascended her throne his last visit. Now her head came to his shoulders.
"The girlsss are out hunting thisss time of day." She then says. "I would have been with them if I hadn't ressseived your letter."
"Any problems with that lately?"
Sarasilia hesitates. "Asss much as I'd like to say no, I will not lie for Pulssssatilla." She sighs and leads him along a path. "In the passst decade, there have been new predatorsss among usss."
"Predators as in...?"
"Not natural. Not any animal we have ever sssseen before."
"Explain, please."
Sarasilia motions for him to sit by her on a bench. "El Ssssiego namely isss our problem. We've had a few Tatssslwurm insssidentsssss, too, but thosssse are not ssso bad." She frowns. "El Ssssiego, he'sss killed many of my fiersssessst warriorsss."
Bertramus looks at her. "What is this El Ciego?"
"It isss very big...No eyesss....Large....frillsss? Sssí! Frillsss that it hearsss you with." She thinks. "Large teeth, sssharp ssspinesss down itsss back, long clawsss. The tail, the tail hasss the sssharpessst ssspinesss. One ssswipe sssslissssed one of my girlsss in two."
"Fur or scales?"
"Neither. Leathery thick ssskin."
"Fascinating. I've never seen such a beast before."
"You don't want to sssee it either, Bertramusss." She looks at him seriously. "It'sss a sssilent killer."
"Be that as it may, I really should see it so I can report this better." He nods. "I can go alone or if you can even just spare one guard to help me navigate...."
Sarasilia is silent as she considers this. "When they return, you may go with Sssusssuri. Ssshe'sss my besssst trained tracker and assssassssin."
"Well, bright side, it's not like it will be able to hurt us. I'll use a cloaking spell." He nods.
"Unlessss you can cloak sssound, that will not help you." She rolls her eyes.
"Steps of a Thousand Whispers." He winks at her. "I've got us covered."
"You ssshould be careful flirting sssso, Bertramussss, your wife doesss crosssss through on occassssion." She pokes his chest with a smirk.
Bertramus frowns slightly. "I forget how you Iguanamenté are a fun-less race."
Sarasilia chuckles. "There'sss no room for fun in war. Life in the tropicssss is a new war every day. We battle nature, the weather, other tribesss. No ressst, no ressst."
"Has El Ciego been reported by your neighbors?"
"Sssí, we all know of the monsssster."
"Alright, then I'll see what I can do."
"If you can...kill it. Kill it with the cold fire of Hell if you can." She looks at him. "El Ssssiego has taken too many of my girlsss. I want it to burn." She bares her short, sharp teeth.
"Noted. As I said, I will see what I can do. I have a feeling it probably is not alone though."
"Maybe not, but one lesss isss better than thisss."
231Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4y0cI0SI8
