Page 78 of Silver Slayer

I guided the craft into a slow circle above the wreckage.

"Sia Jakkar saw it fall," I said. "He and the exiles came to investigate, believing another threat had arrived from the stars. Instead, they found frightened human females trapped inside."

Quin studied the shattered vessel below in silence.

"They must have been terrified," she murmured. "Abducted from Earth, then surviving a crash, and rescued by silver aliens speaking a language they couldn't understand." She shook her head slowly. "I was going to say I couldn't imagine, but I can actually imagine exactly that."

Her words settled heavily between us. I glanced at her, wishing she had never been forced to understand such terror firsthand. No one should have memories like those to compare.

"We have all endured our own ordeals," I said quietly.

I banked gently away from the wreckage, leaving the old scars of the crash behind as we continued deeper over the jungle.

The Huren jungle gradually gave way to another forest unlike any I had known growing up. From above, the Trisess Forest stretched to every horizon beneath an unbroken canopy of icy blue, brushy boughs. Towering yulin trees rose above the surrounding forest like ancient sentinels, their immense crowns bathed in the cool silver-white light of the twin suns while the world below remained buried beneath layer upon layer of branches and deep shadow. Only the occasional narrow break in the canopy offered a fleeting glimpse of the hidden forest floor.

Quin leaned closer to the transparent hull, studying the vast forest with the focused fascination I had come to expect whenever she encountered a new ecosystem. I could almost see her mind cataloging questions she wished her bio-analyzer could answer.

Finding a small clearing along the forest's edge, I eased the bubble craft to the ground with barely a whisper from the gravity disruptors.

"We aren't getting out?" Quin asked, glancing toward the unopened hatch.

"Not this trip." I shook my head. "I know Clan Trisess are our allies now," I admitted, watching the towering trees sway beyond the transparent hull. “My mind understands it. My instincts have not yet caught up. My whole life, crossing out of Huren meant stepping into enemy territory. You didn’t do that without expecting bloodshed.”

Understanding softened her expression. "That'll probably take some getting used to."

I opened the small storage compartment built into the rear of the craft and withdrew another bundle of provisions.

"You planned for this to last all day," Quin observed.

"I did."

I set the meal between us on a blanket I spread on the floor of the craft. This time there were slices of chiksin, wedges of a firm white cheese from Clan Jurigon, crisp flatbread, clusters of small purple berries, pale orange fruit with a sweet citrus scent, and a handful of roasted tree nuts Vallon insisted Quin would enjoy.

We ate in comfortable silence inside the cloaked bubble craft while the Trisess Forest stretched away in every direction beyond the transparent hull. The twin suns washed the enormous treetops in cool silver-white light, their icy blue, brushy boughs forming an unbroken canopy that concealed the world below. Only here and there did the tallest trees rise above the rest, while beneath that living roof the forest floor remained hidden in deep shadow, a wilderness that had guarded its secrets for countless yerons.

After giving Quin a little more time to admire the Trisess Forest, I guided the bubble craft north toward the massive grove of yulin trees where the wetlocks made their home. The towering crowns rose above the surrounding forest, their brushy boughs supporting nests large enough to cradle the winged predators.

“Dragons,” she uttered and leaned closer to the transparent hull.

High among the branches, the wetlocks slept with their leathery wings folded tightly against blue-and-white scaled bodies. Taloned feet clutched the enormous limbs while clawed hands rested beneath powerful chests. Only an occasional shift revealed the pale scales of a belly or the glint of blade-like teeth hidden behind closed jaws.

"They sleep during the light hurs," I explained, keeping the craft well above the treetops. "Most of Valose's dangerous predators hunt after suns-fall. During the light hurs, the jungle only appears peaceful. When darkness comes, everything changes."

Quin watched the sleeping predators with unconcealed fascination, following one enormous male as he adjusted his wings. Even at rest, the creature's wingspan stretched nearly twenty fates from tip to tip.

Leaving the wetlocks undisturbed, I turned the bubble craft south and descended into the Huren jungle. The dense canopy parted just enough to reveal a small opening between the silver-barked trees. I eased the craft into the clearing, so gently the hull barely whispered against the stillness surrounding us.

Surrounded by the transparent hull, it felt as though we were sitting in the heart of the jungle itself. Towering silver trunks rose only a few fates away, their layered blue foliage weaving together overhead while thick flowering vines climbed from the forest floor into the canopy. Muted jungle sounds filtered through the nearly invisible hull. Unseen insects trilled somewhere in the distance. Leaves rustled as creatures passed through the undergrowth, and every so often a haunting call echoed from a creature neither of us could see.

“Look at them!” Quin gasped and grabbed my arm as a small herd stepped cautiously into a nearby clearing.

Several large elksen grazed alongside a handful of smaller dearths, both herbivores moving with the vigilance of prey animals. Every few moments one would lift its head to scan the surrounding jungle before returning to feed.

"I should've brought my bio-analyzer," she murmured, never taking her eyes off the grazing herd. "I'd give anything to record environmental readings, identify the vegetation, scan those two species..." She let out a sigh. "There’s so much to study.”

Her disappointment tugged gently through our bond.

“We can come back to the jungle,” I said. "Next time, you will bring it."