Under a Starless Sky novel Chapter 58

Twenty days hard rowing put them in sight of a shore of new land. The beach was littered with debris. There were felled trees. There was a debate about making a mast from the wood of a different tree, but there was no apparent Sleeper Trees downed. There was no other way about it. They landed. They were breaking out tools to go to work on an appropriate size log when TL stopped them.

“Allow me,” TL said.

TL fell to work using tech, cutting and trimming the selected tree with her Light Sword.

“If we let her do this with magic, we might lose our strength,” Erico said.

“She will make short work of this. We can be on our way sooner,” Arne said.

“She could make short work of my wood,” Orton said.

“Your wood is already short enough,” Torny said. “Come on. Let’s explore. Fresh rations. Treasure. Threat assessments. Parties of four. Try and be back by night fall.”

“Erico, go with Torny,” Arne said. “Shen, Jerica, Uffe, with me.”

Shen followed his group along the beach. Uffe was tall, heavily bearded man. Even his cheeks spouted hair, almost to the point you might have thought him a different species of human. He had spoken fewer words than anyone Shen had met on the ship, mostly grunting. His boot prints were deep in the sand. The beach continued to be littered with debris as far as they walked. Most of the debris were branches, some smaller trees. Arne brought them to a stop when he found an artifact that suggested human activity. He studied the terrain and then headed inland. They walked up hill and came over it to a lake. He tasted the water and spit out.

“Sea water,” Arne said.

They went around, through bamboo and back and came up another hill. The huts were primitive. The people there were dancing around fire to drums, some were crying. The music stopped. The women came at them with staffs. The men made a circle around the children and women who remained. Jerica tapped her staff, illuminating it, and stepped forwards. She stepped forwards out of herself, and became two identical projections of herself. The approaching women were not dismayed. They came up and planted their staffs. Their staffs did not illuminate with magic. One spoke.

“You are not welcomed here,” the old one spoke. “We our mourning and this is a sacred moment.”

Jerica bowed. “You speak the language. We apologize for our intrusion into your heart’s grief,” she said. “We were at sea when the path changed. We are making repairs to our ship. We are simply explorers, and wanted to alert you to our presence. We are peaceful.”

“Did you lose anyone in the divergence?” the old one asked. “Do you need to share our fire?”

“Not from our ship,” Jerica said. “Hel did not claim any of us this round. We are far from home and do not know how family faired.”

“You can project,” she said. “I can take you to the sacred tree if you wish to commune with spirit and family, but not today. My people need more time.”

“My name is Jerica,” Jerica said. “This is Arne, my compass.” Arne nodded. “Uffe, he is my dog.” Uffe grunted a bark. “Shen is merely a traveler who has joined our ship; he is under my protection.”

“My name is Inno,” the old one said. “My apprentices, Rano, and Teyo.”

“Your light shines strong, Inno,” Jerica said. “We will return to the beach so you can grieve. If you tell me their names, my sisters and I will add prayer and smoke to the skies.”

“You can remember forty names?” Inno said.

“You lost forty people?” Shen asked.

Jerica lifted a finger suggesting Shen should be quiet. The old one did not seem offended.

Inno wiped her eyes. “The sea fell back. I have never seen the land there with my own eyes. The way was paved with jumping fish. They ran for easy meals. I called them back, but their eyes were bigger than their stomach. Greed took them.”

“Your people are hungry,” Jerica said. “We have enough food we can bring you enough for a day.”

“We have food,” Inno said. “We do not want to trade with you. You have nothing we want.”

“I see some of your children eating dirt,” Jerica said. “You need food.”

“We have food,” Inno said. “I think you should leave now. Stay on the beach. I will come to you in three days and guide you to the Sacred Tree.”

“Are we free to explore?”

“I would prefer you not,” Inno said. “We are simple people, not like you. Do not tempt them with magic and tech. Do not bed them. Do not take them from their home or fill their head with strange places. Go.”

“We withdraw from your heart light,” Jerica said.

They fell back, while the two projections remained. When the party was out of immediate magical combat range, the projections faded- its energy returning to Jerica. They were back on the beach before they started talking.