The federal troops take flight and head south towards the Tigris Tail Tavern, like a swarm of large black and violet wasps flying over the jagged shoreline cliffs. The devastated forest girl watches with tear blurred vision as the last of the soldiers shadowy silhouettes disappear into the darkening sky.
She leaps from the tree, splashing into the grey mud churning up all around the newly formed wasteland. Falling to her knees, the brokenhearted girl grabs onto two hand fulls of the small hill that used to sustain her crooked little tree. Now all that is left is a muddy little hole in the hummock. Tears flow from her emerald eyes, streaming down her beautiful sculpted cheeks, splashing into the murky water below.
The handful of young federation troops left behind to guard the Endeavor's precious cargo watch the sad scene with little interest, but will not take action unless the girl takes aggressive action. The youngest rog even uses his visor to capture a magic video so he can show the savage on the liquicnet. A wild felac is becoming a rare sight in Tharsis, although urbanized felacs are becoming a very common sight.
Shia slips down in the grey mud, her leather tunic getting soggy as she sits and weeps. She pulls her crystal flute from its waterproof sealskin pouch around her waste. Bringing the crystalline instrument to her soft full lips the forest girl begins to play a sorrowful song. Coming deep from her soul, the young female exhales a profoundly mournful song that if nothing else at the least lets her express her sadness.
Wingsong circles overhead, not wanting to land and view the death and destruction up close. His home for over two centuries is now reduced to a couple thousand muddy hills. He's not sure if he could handle that just up close. As the night sky deepens to a dark purple the mournful heartfelt song of the anguished young girl floats up to the ears of the old man. Wingsong slowly floats down, as he resigns himself to say goodbye to the blue sky’s of his soul.
Perched on a branch near the saddened girl Wingsong pulls out his waterpipe and fills it up. The wizened wizard places the pipe to his yellowish puckered lips and joins in the sorrowful song.
The slow woeful song fills the nighttime air of the rainforest as a light rain begins to fall. The two musicians are joined by the forest's nocturnal backup chorus. Tiny specks of light dot the sky and the light of Phobos appears on the western horizon.
Nighttime's darkness only makes the absence of the bright colorful trees worse. Wingsong and Shia both weep openly as they pour their souls into the crystal instruments. The two will never be the same now that such a special place in their lives is gone forever. This place that has given them so much and which asked for so little, now taken from them by a group of people that live thousands of miles away in another world. A world where nature and time are treated like slaves to be used only for selfish gain, with little regard for the beautiful blessings that exponentially branch out from a single seed.
Nature the giver of life, as well as the taker. An entity so old it views species and societies as mere phases. Now brought to its knees as its offspring uses it mercilessly to further their petty progress with its arrogant attitude towards the force which not only gave them life but also provided them with the resources and inspiration to grow, prosper, and evolve .
The journey of life on Aryn has been long and hard. In an instant of that time the intelligent races of Aryn have reduced the once proud majesty of their natural homes and fellow creatures to cold polluted places where only scavengers can survive. The vast deserts, dying rivers, and dead lakes across Aryn are monuments to what this type of living produces, yet the "intelligent" creatures of Aryn continue to rule in the same manner they always have. Failing to learn from their natural pasts they are not adapting to their intelligence well and thus are losing all touch with their history. If the intelligent creatures of Aryn do survive they will surly be pathetic, perverted versions of what they once were, while their environment will be a harsh, grotesque copy of what they once had.
The song of the two more sensitive intelligent children of nature tells of mankind's fate, as its long mournful notes speak of the pain of permanent loss. These two creatures are special, a rare find on a cold lonely world were money has quickly taken over the landscape like plants and then animals had before it. The felac and the owlwin respect the natural order: the rule of chaos which gave birth to life and thus the natural system. They respect the life and death laws of nature and thus have survived. But now the prehistoric natural order is in chaos and the rules are changing, the law's of man reign supreme. Man's law protects the wealthy, the very people that disrespect and misuse nature for their own selfish gains, at the expense of everyone and everything.
The song ends.
"I have to go now Wingsong." The sad girl says.
"I know you must go and be with your people in their time of need. I am afraid I too must go my dear. And I don’t think that I will return." The old owlwin says with a heavy heart.
"No Wingsong," the heartbroken girl pleads, " you must stay, you can live with the tribe." But as the felac utters the words she knows that it cannot be and the wizard must leave like his home has.
"Shia my dear, you are so young and you have your entire life ahead of you. Make it a fun journey, don’t waste it too soon on something that cannot make you happy. My fight has ended, and I have lost. I was put here, as were all owlwins, to teach, respect, and protect papa Aryn’s creation. That is why we were chosen to use natures miraculous magic to help the forest people. Papa Aryn said nature would provide for the problems that face mankind on his journey through life as he gains a larger understanding of himself and the world around him. But I fear he has not provided for this problem.
"When the felacs needed shelter the forest provided the Tigerwood trees. When the forest people need heat to cook, and cold to keep their food from spoiling, the forest provided them with the red and blue crystals. Nature provided the owlwins to show the felacs how to use the crystals. The forest provides food when you are hungry, shelter when you are cold and wet. It provides a place to think, and something to think about. But when man destroys the forests, the very fabric of nature itself..." The old man is overcome with emotion. He takes a moment before he continues.
"What has papa provided to remedy that? If the forest is gone how can it provide for its own destruction? It can’t Shia!" The old man says his voice wavering as he shakes his head slowly, "It can’t."
The owlwin spreads its wings and looks down on the girl’s tear stained face. "Do not cry for me young one. I have lived a full life, and what I lived for is now over. Papa teaches us to accept. I will fly away from here; I have always wanted to see the world, and now that I no longer have a home, papa has provided me the opportunity. Papa Aryn has given me the patience to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." With that the optimistic, accepting old wizard flies away.
Shia is left alone in the ravaged and raped land. Twinkling light fire flies, lightning bugs, and several varying sized and colored crystals in the water and rainforest underlight the forest girl softly. The pale glow of the rising twin moons adds to the illumination from above. She never thought her world could change so much in such a short amount of time. The young woman begins to slowly and painfully walk through the muddy mess that used to be the perfect order of nature. She makes her way up the cliffs and then back down to the rooty, rocky shore beneath the tavern, feeling numb the whole way. As Shia gets closer to the strangely quiet tavern she has the feeling her life has just begun to change.
A strange sad song swims through Tyc’s unconsciousness. It tears at his heart and he is awakened by the pain it causes. He tries to think, but an even more terrible pain centered in his head and radiating throughout his body makes coherent thought impossible. The boy’s instincts take over and he panics. His blood rushes and creates waves after wave of pain in his brain. A ringing in his ears only adds to the tremendous pain. But above the ringing he can hear something. The teen strains, trying to focus on the sound, and he realizes it is the song. The boy then realizes the song must be coming from his mind as well.
Suddenly the song stops, and strangely enough it leaves an empty feeling in the boy. Tyc tries to think of another song but he can’t concentrate. He then realizes that there is something familiar about the ringing in his ears. He tries to concentrate on it, but he nearly passes out from the effort. He remembers a trick he used to do when he would get dehydrated while studying, and get a headache. He reaches up and squeezes near his temples.
It is then that Tyc is aware that he can move. He tries to reach out or up or down, but a few feet in every direction are some kind of solid walls. The walls and the headache make him very mad and frustrated and he moves his hands back up to his temples. He feels as if he's moving through pudding. Squeezing his temples slows the flow of blood to his head somewhat and relieves some of the pressure. He listens to the ringing. And realizes it is more of a buzz. An electrical buzz.
What is it? What is it about the buzz that seems so familiar. and then hits him, it could be a chy song! It's very high pitched, with an extremely fast tempo, and simple rhythm, but it might be chy.
The boy wishes he had his crystal theremin so he can focus in on the song and listen to the actual notes and phrases.
After a few minutes of listening to the buzz through the void, the boy realizes something startling. Automatically and absentmindedly running through the chy phrases he would use to focus in on the buzz he suddenly becomes aware that he can hear every chy note, phrase and nuance of the song.
How can this be!? The boy wonders, very confused. As he losses the song.
His headache momentarily pushed to the back of his mind, Tyc tries to focus in on the song again. He instantly begins to hear it loud and clear. Listening to the song very carefully, he realizes he has never heard anything like it. It is much more sophisticated and complex than he first thought, in fact it is more sophisticated and complex than anything he has ever heard of.
Am I dead? The boy wonders. Is it like some kind of afterlife buzz, like the afterglow of a bright light?
Abruptly the boy realizes he is not breathing, and he tries to gasp for air, but no air enters his lungs through his mouth or his nose.
I can’t breath! The teen tries to scream but can't. But I can think, and I can feel. Tyc moves his hands from his head and feels his body. It feels soft and bloated. He is naked and floating in what feels like a thick liquid. When he tries to breath in it feels like the liquid is in his mouth, throat, nostrils... and lungs.
What's going on?! The shocked boy thinks as his pounding headache threatens to overtake his consciousness, and fear grips his being like the cold hand of death.
The fact that he can hear a chy song intrigues the desperate, agonized teen. He puts his hands back up to his temples and listens to the song. Where could it be coming from? Tyc tries to analyze it. He is fairly certain that it is coming from very close by, almost like it's in his ear. The confused boy makes a startling realization.
The chy song is coming from the walls. And then he realizes something even more startling, as he re-analyzes the song. The walls are made of chy energy!
Tyc tries to recreate the powerful song in his head, which is hard but luckily it’s only five phrases in one voice. After a couple of minutes he is able to recreate the song. Man if I had my theremin... the frustrated boy thinks to himself. I could play the inverse of the song and cancel it out, in theory , with enough energy, that should break down the walls.
Once again after a few minutes the constantly thinking chy student absentmindedly begins to think of the song backwards as he attempts to rub the pain from his temples. The chy comes easily to him, and he thinks of it in a fevered stupor more than a conscious thought. He thinks the inverse tune over and over. Where is this song coming from? How does it work? the boy manages to think between the simple powerful songs.
The buzzing suddenly lessens. Startled the boy falters and the buzz returns to normal. Tyc thinks it was just in his head that it lessened: he doesn’t have a crystal instrument, how could he effect the chy energy, but then again how can he focus in on it. Always the optimist, the teen tries the inverse song again, and again the buzz lessens.
The dazed boy wonders at this phenomenon. This place is very strange indeed! And with that thought Tyc reaches for the solid barrier around him. His hand is stopped. But then with constant pressure and his recitation of the inverse chy song, the barrier slowly gives.
The teens head pounds as he stops rubbing his temples and reaches both hands through the barrier. His hands encounter more wetness on the other side, but then they came to a more solid-feeling material. Kind of mushy, it feels like mud. The boy thinks as the substance gives under his pressure. He reaches far above his head, and starts to dig at the wet, mucky mud. He feels the thick guck slide down his arms and over his shoulders and face.
Digging more frantically the boy becomes frightened as mud drips down all around him replacing the liquid previously covering him. Tyc’s fingers are raw and hurt as his head pounds. He almost losses consciousness several times, but he never falters in his recitation of the inverse chy song.
The teen digs and digs, but as digging becomes painful to his bleeding hands, and his headache hammers throughout his very being, he feels he will not get out of this... alive, or dead.
Wingsong takes one last pass over his old home. But right before he flies away he notices a strange green glow coming from the bleak deathscape below. The curious old owlwin swoops down to get a closer look at the interesting light. He sees it is coming from the edge of the ruined swamp. He flies down even lower to get a better look. The old wizard is surprised to see the glow is coming from one of the muddy detritus hummocks left by the crystal trees.
Wingsong becomes very frightened and excited, maybe Papa Aryn is angry for being defiled. He lands near the small hill that contains the glowing puddle, and approaches it hesitantly. As he gets closer he realizes that the forest is strangely quiet. In fact, the only sound seems to be coming from the glowing hill. The curious old man gets closer and the sound becomes clearer. The old wizard realizes as the green glow illuminates his wrinkled face that the sound and glow are magic.
The old wizard stands over the hole in awe as he grips the multi-pointed talisman around his neck and mutters a prayer to Papa. "As he has done in the past let the creator once again bring peace to the chaos."
He begins to run his fingers over his crystal amulet trying to focus in on the strange magic song. The old wizard’s fingers tap the crystals that correspond to the sounds of the magic song, it is simple but powerful, but nothing compared to some of the magic he knows. Wingsong begins to play magic faster and more clearly, matching the tempo and rhythm of the magic radiating up from the glowing hill. Powerful green magic from the wizard’s amulet intermingles with the green glow coming from the muddy water. As the wizard plays and the two songs merge synergistically, he can feel the magic strengthen. Wingsong looks at the top of the muddy hill now submersed by the sea. The water appears to be churning, moving under the energy produced by the magic. He wonders wide-eyed what will happen next.
Tyc hears the chy song suddenly get stronger and he digs with renewed vigor, despite the burning pain in his arms. He wallows in the mud as it fills in around him. The teen gets scared and falters in the song, but the perimeter does not reappear. And then he is aware of the anti-chy song playing from above. Someone must be up their helping me! The teen thinks as he wonders if it is someone he knows. He digs even harder.
Even with every muscle aching, his head pounding, and his fingers burning like they are on fire he does not stop as he puts the last of his energy into pushing up through the mud which threatens to entomb him. He feels the soil give as his hand makes contact with a very viscous liquid, but he is beat. and buried by the wet heavy mud. The teen passes out again, his last thoughts of failure.
As Wingsong watches the churning muddy water he sees something that nearly breaks his concentration. A hand comes up out of the green glowing hill from under the muddy sea water.
By Papa! , is all the old man can think. He uses the black point of his talisman to record the song and then play it over and over. With his hands now free he reaches into the water despite his fear. The owlwins thin frail hands shake as he grabs onto the submerged hand.
Wingsong pulls on the hand, and it slowly begins to emerge from the murky water.
Tyc is awakened by someone’s touch. The befuddled boy feels himself being pulled up, and he lamely tries to use his other hand to help the process. He thinks that someone from his community must have been playing the chy song, and is now helping him out of wherever he is. The boy gets excited as his hand emerges into open air. And then the teens head breaks through the surface as he quickly exits his watery prison.
Tyc instantly feels the need to take a breath as he sits naked in a pool of water. His eyes are covered in mud and he still can’t see. He tries to breath in and is quickly set upon by a coughing fit, as his body is wracked with hacking and liquid pours from his lungs. He feels someone help him up a little as the liquid forcefully burst from his every opening in his face.
A whack to his back and the boy stops coughing and sucks in a jumbo lung full of sweet air as he screams out.
Wingsong helps the bloated boy out of the muddy hole. The creature is like nothing the old man has ever seen. With almost no fur, feathers, and only a little scraggly hair on his head, he is an odd sight. The man is having trouble breathing, so Wingsong helps him up and gives him a forceful pat on the back as liquid pours from the strange creatures lungs. When he is finally able to take a breath the creature screams out, scaring the old man, who quickly flies away.
Tyc is on his hands and knees breathing short shallow breaths. He feels lightheaded, and nauseated. He pukes into the water harder than he ever has. Tears pour from his eyes as the teen spews his guts out. Tyc screams at the watery ground as the air stabs at his lungs. The boys eye’s clear a little. He tries to look around but all he can see is blackness. He tries to crawl, but pain and fatigue make it hard to move at all. The teenage boy feels himself slipping away again, and suddenly realizes in a dazed stupor that if he passes out he could drown.
As the twin moons of Aryn shine down on the desolated swamp a small fragile figure clutches the watery ground for his life and then slumps over into the shallow water unconscious. Wingsong watches from high above and quickly swoops down. Retrieving the boy from the water when he sees his head go under. The old man places the small chubby boy on the nearby rock cliffs.
The old man then spreads his wings and flies up into the air above the desolated swamp, containing the new creature whom he hopes is the savior he had prayer for earlier. He suddenly has the inspiration to recite one of Papa’s quotes .
