hlenna. “We can get shovels, and dig it out.”
Melissa pulled up her sleeves, and began to manipulate sussa in her hands. “Or, you could all stand back, and I can melt the rest of the snow around it.” She was about to thaw the snow, but saw the expression of the hlenna had become downcast. “What is it?”
“They wanted to do this for themselves,” whispered Asil in her ear. “Don’t deprive them of the journey of discovery.”
“But . . . what else is my power for, if not to make life easier for others?”
Asil shook his head in frustration. “Do you remember when people thought of you as having little or no value? How did it make you feel? Did you want to learn anything new, or become better than you were?”
Melissa nodded, suitably chastised. “I see what you mean. Come on, little hlenna -- I think there’s shovels in the house!”
A great cheer went up, and back into the house they trudged. Melissa fabricated a dozen shovels inside a storage closet for them to discover, and before long they were busy uncovering the metal artifact while Melissa conjured more firespheres above to provide warmth.
“What do you think it is?” asked Asil.
“I don’t know. I know people once lived on the surface, but I thought they lived in caves and did little more than hunt and sleep.”
“Perhaps the truth hasn’t been passed down like you had hoped.”
Eventually, the hlenna grew tired as they were small creatures with limited metabolisms. They uncovered a great portion of the leviathan metal beast, and Melissa said they should be proud of themselves for all they had done.
But if it were left overnight, they ran the chance of having snow undo all their work. So Melissa helped them the final way, though she made a point of saying they could have done it all themselves if not for the snow, and they made it much easier on her by uncovering as much as they did.
She raised her hands, projecting millions of white-hot tendrils of sussa, and the snow crept away like the receding tide, revealing the perimeter of the object. Almost as long as a building was tall, it was wide and cylindrical, with two small stubs of wings attached near the rear and a few windows running its length.
“What was this,” asked Asil, as he tried to peer in, “and how long has it been here?”
“Let’s go in and find out.”
She used sussa to pull open the door, and ignited several firespheres outside. She created a vortex of warmth that extruded all the frigid air and circulated dry air back in so when they stepped in, not a bit of ice remained. It still smelled damp, but it was comfortably warm.
“Handy to have one of you Archsussa around,” remarked Asil. “Also convenient how beautiful you are.”
Melissa blushed, as she herded the hlenna inside. “Come on and see!”
It was like a long room, filled with chairs and the floor upholstered in some artificial material. Small glass windows were inset into metal housings that opened into black nothingness. Melissa sat in one of the chairs and touched the glass.
“What were these for?” asked Melissa.
Asil touched the screen himself, to no effect. “Can you find out?”
Melissa sat back, thinking on what her mother had done, opening a ribbon to go back in time. She had read some about time travel in the books, but still had many to go before she absorbed all the knowledge within them all.
“I . . . I can’t do that now. I could lift this plane up, but I know not how to search into the past to find where it came from.”
“Well, at least you know your limitations,” abruptly remarked Asil. “Come on, little hlenna, it’s time to go back home. It’s nearly supper, and we still have to gather those roots . . .”
Melissa sat for a few more minutes in the damp chair, her pride stung.
Damned him -- I made him! Who does he think he is? So I haven’t read every book -- I got us inside here, didn’t I?
Chapter 9
After they returned to the platform, Melissa devoted
Melissa pulled up her sleeves, and began to manipulate sussa in her hands. “Or, you could all stand back, and I can melt the rest of the snow around it.” She was about to thaw the snow, but saw the expression of the hlenna had become downcast. “What is it?”
“They wanted to do this for themselves,” whispered Asil in her ear. “Don’t deprive them of the journey of discovery.”
“But . . . what else is my power for, if not to make life easier for others?”
Asil shook his head in frustration. “Do you remember when people thought of you as having little or no value? How did it make you feel? Did you want to learn anything new, or become better than you were?”
Melissa nodded, suitably chastised. “I see what you mean. Come on, little hlenna -- I think there’s shovels in the house!”
A great cheer went up, and back into the house they trudged. Melissa fabricated a dozen shovels inside a storage closet for them to discover, and before long they were busy uncovering the metal artifact while Melissa conjured more firespheres above to provide warmth.
“What do you think it is?” asked Asil.
“I don’t know. I know people once lived on the surface, but I thought they lived in caves and did little more than hunt and sleep.”
“Perhaps the truth hasn’t been passed down like you had hoped.”
Eventually, the hlenna grew tired as they were small creatures with limited metabolisms. They uncovered a great portion of the leviathan metal beast, and Melissa said they should be proud of themselves for all they had done.
But if it were left overnight, they ran the chance of having snow undo all their work. So Melissa helped them the final way, though she made a point of saying they could have done it all themselves if not for the snow, and they made it much easier on her by uncovering as much as they did.
She raised her hands, projecting millions of white-hot tendrils of sussa, and the snow crept away like the receding tide, revealing the perimeter of the object. Almost as long as a building was tall, it was wide and cylindrical, with two small stubs of wings attached near the rear and a few windows running its length.
“What was this,” asked Asil, as he tried to peer in, “and how long has it been here?”
“Let’s go in and find out.”
She used sussa to pull open the door, and ignited several firespheres outside. She created a vortex of warmth that extruded all the frigid air and circulated dry air back in so when they stepped in, not a bit of ice remained. It still smelled damp, but it was comfortably warm.
“Handy to have one of you Archsussa around,” remarked Asil. “Also convenient how beautiful you are.”
Melissa blushed, as she herded the hlenna inside. “Come on and see!”
It was like a long room, filled with chairs and the floor upholstered in some artificial material. Small glass windows were inset into metal housings that opened into black nothingness. Melissa sat in one of the chairs and touched the glass.
“What were these for?” asked Melissa.
Asil touched the screen himself, to no effect. “Can you find out?”
Melissa sat back, thinking on what her mother had done, opening a ribbon to go back in time. She had read some about time travel in the books, but still had many to go before she absorbed all the knowledge within them all.
“I . . . I can’t do that now. I could lift this plane up, but I know not how to search into the past to find where it came from.”
“Well, at least you know your limitations,” abruptly remarked Asil. “Come on, little hlenna, it’s time to go back home. It’s nearly supper, and we still have to gather those roots . . .”
Melissa sat for a few more minutes in the damp chair, her pride stung.
Damned him -- I made him! Who does he think he is? So I haven’t read every book -- I got us inside here, didn’t I?
Chapter 9
After they returned to the platform, Melissa devoted
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