she’d seen it herself.
A cluster of tree people surrounded her. She ground her teeth together as their rough hands grabbed her. She smelled moist soil and bark. “Hoku, Dash, Vachir — don’t fight them!”
“Fight them!” Odd countered. “Break them! Set them on fire!”
The creatures carrying her moved as one being, graceful and quick. In a flash they had maneuvered her to the base of an ancient tree and started climbing. She thought they would struggle with her weight, with the awkwardness of her body and her tail. Instead, they continued to move smoothly, tiny hooks on their feet and elbows giving them easy purchase up the tree trunk.
Calli, Dash, and Hoku were being carried up other trees.
“I can fly,” Calli said. “Just let me fly!”
But the creatures continued to hold her, and Aluna understood why. Branches and leaves clotted their path. Calli couldn’t even open her wings up here, let alone find the space to flap them.
On the ground, the Upgraders continued to fight. She saw Odd smack a tree person and it flew across half the campsite. But the creatures were leaving now, breaking off when they had openings and making their way up the trees and into the darkness again.
The horses. The creatures hadn’t taken the horses.
“Vachir!” Aluna called.
Vachir looked up from the ground, her huge eyes searching. The horse cried out, and Aluna felt the sound deep in her chest. Vachir’s massive body was no bigger than an ant, and getting smaller and smaller.
“I’ll find you!” Aluna yelled. “Stay safe! Stay with the kludge! I’ll find you no matter what!”
Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked them out, not caring if the creatures saw. She tried to find the person who had bargained with her originally, but she couldn’t tell her rescuers apart. “I told you to take the horses,” she said, her hands squeezing into fists. “Rescue them, too!”
“No. Too big, too heavy. The wrong shape,” one of the people said. “They splinter if they fall.”
Aluna closed her eyes and swallowed. She couldn’t think about Vachir falling from a treetop. Her legs, so strong when they ran, were inflexible, fragile even, in other circumstances. No, horses did not belong in the treetops.
“Vachir,” she said again, her voice tired and broken.
She should check on Calli and make sure that Dash and Hoku were uninjured. She should find out where the things were taking them. Find out who their leader was and what they wanted.
But all she could do was say Vachir’s name over and over again and hope that this whole thing was a nightmare, an evil vision concocted by her brain to punish her and break her heart. It was better than facing the truth.
The creatures carried her higher than she thought possible. She began to see platforms stretched like cobwebs between the branches. Some were small, single sleeping hammocks, and some were large enough to hold huts with webbed roofs. Large glowing bugs the size of her head clung to the trees and the webbing and provided a faint light, just like the glowfish did back home. Without them, she’d have been blind up here. The tree people were almost invisible to her dark vision.
She watched one creature jump from a ledge and spread its arms. She’d thought it was wearing a loose cloth shirt, but the folds weren’t fabric — they were a membrane. A
flying
membrane. A thin layer of skin extended from the creature’s wrists down to its ankles on both sides. Another membrane opened between its ankles. The membranes caught the air and the creature glided gracefully down to another branch of the tree.
The creatures talked more up here, but only in their bird voices. Answering calls came from every direction, filling the air with a cacophony of whistles and chirps and small melodies.
Eventually they reached a wide, hanging stairway. It swung side to side as the creatures carried her up it, toward a vast area inside the trees. Leaves and branches created a canopy
A cluster of tree people surrounded her. She ground her teeth together as their rough hands grabbed her. She smelled moist soil and bark. “Hoku, Dash, Vachir — don’t fight them!”
“Fight them!” Odd countered. “Break them! Set them on fire!”
The creatures carrying her moved as one being, graceful and quick. In a flash they had maneuvered her to the base of an ancient tree and started climbing. She thought they would struggle with her weight, with the awkwardness of her body and her tail. Instead, they continued to move smoothly, tiny hooks on their feet and elbows giving them easy purchase up the tree trunk.
Calli, Dash, and Hoku were being carried up other trees.
“I can fly,” Calli said. “Just let me fly!”
But the creatures continued to hold her, and Aluna understood why. Branches and leaves clotted their path. Calli couldn’t even open her wings up here, let alone find the space to flap them.
On the ground, the Upgraders continued to fight. She saw Odd smack a tree person and it flew across half the campsite. But the creatures were leaving now, breaking off when they had openings and making their way up the trees and into the darkness again.
The horses. The creatures hadn’t taken the horses.
“Vachir!” Aluna called.
Vachir looked up from the ground, her huge eyes searching. The horse cried out, and Aluna felt the sound deep in her chest. Vachir’s massive body was no bigger than an ant, and getting smaller and smaller.
“I’ll find you!” Aluna yelled. “Stay safe! Stay with the kludge! I’ll find you no matter what!”
Tears welled in her eyes and she blinked them out, not caring if the creatures saw. She tried to find the person who had bargained with her originally, but she couldn’t tell her rescuers apart. “I told you to take the horses,” she said, her hands squeezing into fists. “Rescue them, too!”
“No. Too big, too heavy. The wrong shape,” one of the people said. “They splinter if they fall.”
Aluna closed her eyes and swallowed. She couldn’t think about Vachir falling from a treetop. Her legs, so strong when they ran, were inflexible, fragile even, in other circumstances. No, horses did not belong in the treetops.
“Vachir,” she said again, her voice tired and broken.
She should check on Calli and make sure that Dash and Hoku were uninjured. She should find out where the things were taking them. Find out who their leader was and what they wanted.
But all she could do was say Vachir’s name over and over again and hope that this whole thing was a nightmare, an evil vision concocted by her brain to punish her and break her heart. It was better than facing the truth.
The creatures carried her higher than she thought possible. She began to see platforms stretched like cobwebs between the branches. Some were small, single sleeping hammocks, and some were large enough to hold huts with webbed roofs. Large glowing bugs the size of her head clung to the trees and the webbing and provided a faint light, just like the glowfish did back home. Without them, she’d have been blind up here. The tree people were almost invisible to her dark vision.
She watched one creature jump from a ledge and spread its arms. She’d thought it was wearing a loose cloth shirt, but the folds weren’t fabric — they were a membrane. A
flying
membrane. A thin layer of skin extended from the creature’s wrists down to its ankles on both sides. Another membrane opened between its ankles. The membranes caught the air and the creature glided gracefully down to another branch of the tree.
The creatures talked more up here, but only in their bird voices. Answering calls came from every direction, filling the air with a cacophony of whistles and chirps and small melodies.
Eventually they reached a wide, hanging stairway. It swung side to side as the creatures carried her up it, toward a vast area inside the trees. Leaves and branches created a canopy
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