Page 49 of I Married A Syllen

“Way off, I’m afraid,” I admitted with an embarrassed giggle. “At least, I figured the statues were meaningful. I just had no idea how exactly.”

“Fair enough. Then you probably wouldn’t have guessed about these trees,” he said, pointing at tall trees scattered along the edge of the river.

They had the smoothest bark I had ever seen, and long vines dangled from the branches. Initially, I thought the locals had hung those vines there, but as we came closer, I could see that they naturally grew out of the branches between the leaves, like a series of oversized veris.

“These are Sentinel trees,” Taelen explained. “They watch over the village, warn us of incoming threats, and share messages.”

“They’re sentient?” I asked, stunned.

He hesitated. “Not like you and me. Not like the Great Mothers either. Their comprehension level is more basic, almost instinctive. You cannot converse with them like you can with the Great Mothers.”

“I see. So how do they communicate?” I asked, fascinated.

“They have deep roots that can send ultrasonic messages that travel through the water to swimmers. It is very useful when we need to call people back to the village. On land, their leaves will rustle to draw our attention. And when you are close enough, their vines and trunks will display any message we asked them to broadcast.”

“Oh my God, really?!”

He nodded. “There are Sentinel trees scattered throughout the land, so that people in the woods can also get the message. For example, I will use this tree to inform the Ungaro Tribe of our impending visit.”

I stared in awe as he reached for one of the long vines dangling from a low branch of the mocha-colored tree. It immediately intertwined with his veris. Taelen’s eyes darkened even as they went out of focus. A gasp escaped me when the other dangling vines twisted themselves in front of the trunk to form a hieroglyphic symbol. But it was the symbols that extruded from the smooth surface, as if embossed, that took my breath away. They looked like the yevins on the Syllens and Edocits skins but shaped like their native letters instead of swirling patterns.

“I’ve studied Syllen writing for years, but I cannot read that,” I said, baffled.

“It’s a short version of our writing, almost like a code. It would be too long to make full sentences,” he explained. “But don’t worry, I will teach you.”

“Fantastic!” I said, realizing this was some sort of shorthand, which made sense. “So what does it say?”

“It says ‘Meet in the afternoon,’” he replied.

“But at what time?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“Whenever we get there,” Taelen said nonchalantly before laughing at my shocked expression. “We are very loose when it comes to time. As we don’t travel with your shuttles, it is difficult to say with precision when we will get there. Various factors can delay or speed up our arrival. In our case, we will travel by sea. The currents could work in our favor or against us.”

“Wow! That’s different. In my world, people are very strict about being on time, which can be extremely stressful when you are delayed due to things outside of your control,” I said.

“Exactly. Under normal circumstances, the tree would rustle its leaves, and people would rush to the closest Sentinel tree to see what message we’d received,” Taelen said with a sliver of sadness as he glanced at our surroundings. “But soon, I hope, this place will no longer be so desperately quiet.”

And it was indeed far too quiet. It broke my heart to see this wondrous place so empty as its inhabitants remained dormant. In my mind’s eye, I pictured children running around the beautiful landscape. I could almost also hear their happy screams as they played and jumped into the water. With its countless exotic flowers and tall trees providing shade, the village offered endless places for the adults to just relax or hang out.

“Soon, they will awaken,” I said with a confidence I couldn’t explain.

But beyond my own determination to see the land restored, I hadn’t missed the glimmer in Maeve’s eyes. She was a woman on a mission. Whatever it took, she would catch the culprits.

“Nym and Drannor will also see the message. Hopefully, they will return to the village tonight so that I can go into further details with them first. Otherwise, I will speak to them in the morning before our departure.”

“Is it common for people not to return at night?” I asked as he led me by the hand towards the dwellings carved inside the mountain.

“Yes. The land is safe. If you’re still far in the woods, it is better to just find a place to sleep there and complete the journey in the morning.”

As I loved camping, I would have no problem with this. A disdainful smirk stretched my lips as I pictured Professor Ludwig having to rough it out in the wilderness. At the risk of coming across as full of myself, I truly believed myself to be the best candidate for the mess we were dealing with. Ludwig didn’t have the right personality or knowledge for this. It made me wonder what the future of that task force would look like once all of this was settled.

If I had a say, Ludwig would be permanently removed from any involvement with it. Since Kayog stated that the UPO was formally hiring me as the Ambassador to Syllen Affairs here on Mazeria, I wanted to believe that I would have a decisional power on that front.

The house pleasantly surprised me. Instead of finding it too bland and confining, as I initially expected, it struck me as peaceful and welcoming in a Zen kind of way. Yes, the rooms were relatively small and mostly barren. But the pale, off-white stones, the soft curves of the wooden furniture, and the pleasant splash of color offered by the plants and flowers sufficed to give it the warmth and comforting vibe you wanted in a home.

The terrace also served as the main entrance and living area. While the couches and poufs offered seating for ten people, the railing surrounding it could accommodate at least a dozen more guests. It was slightly higher than a standard chair, and two feet deep, keeping the water from flooding the terrace.