Read Online Root (Energy Anthology) by Lloyd Matthew Thompson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lloyd Matthew Thompson
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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
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
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