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My people and I entered the water, knelt in front of a different queen, and pressed our palms to their hands crossed over their little chests. As they were still in an even more fossilized state than the Kalrins—due to their trees no longer being alive—it took greater effort for our veris to connect with theirs. It distressed me to see how faded their life force was.

We needed more of us to complete the circle. I just prayed that Togar and the healers would join us quickly. It was unfair to ask the healers to perform such an intense task before they’d had a chance to fully recover from the Long Sleep. But time wasn’t playing in our favor.

Although weak, my connection with the queen allowed me to ‘see’ a part of what she needed to heal. My body immediately began to secrete some hormones, which it transferred to her along with nutrients to help her recover. Through her roots, the Mother Tree was doing the same with all the queens. The natural minerals contained in the healing waters also helped revive the poor creatures.

As one, we began singing the basic healing chants. It would address the most urgent needs of the queens at a general level. For deeper wounds, injuries, or imbalances, we needed a specialized healer to guide the chant. Still, as our voices reverberated against the walls, the queen slowly stirred.

Chapter 14

Mirella

Endless waves of shivers coursed through me as the divine voices of the Syllens filled the room. My skin tingled, and the resonance vibrated deep within me. My knees felt wobbly as an intense sense of well-being washed over me. Maeve, Lily, and Cedros appeared to be similarly affected by the resonance chamber.

The Derakeen reverted back to his natural form before sitting on the ground at a respectable distance from the healing waters. I settled down near him. To my surprise, Maeve and Lily both removed their boots and walked next to the Mother Tree. They placed their palms on the trunk, and the veris on their feet and hands extruded to connect with her.

A wave of envy burned deep within me. I didn’t know what they were doing. I suspected they were sharing some of their strength to further help the healing process. Then again, maybe they were just observing what was happening at a level the rest of us couldn’t comprehend.

I only knew that this song was also fixing something inside me. I’d heard of bioresonance and resonance healing. Until now, I’d never experienced it. If it felt this good when it wasn’t even targeted at me, I could only imagine what wonders it was performing on the queens and the two submerged, injured Syllens.

My jaw dropped as I realized that it was actually working on my upper arm, that I’d solidly banged when I fell earlier. The throbbing pain that irradiated up my shoulder and down to my elbow had shifted into a tingling that was steadily fading. I couldn’t tell if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but even the discoloration that had started spreading around the impact area seemed to be fading as well.

Approximately ten minutes later, the heavy doors opened, and Togar entered with six new Syllens—four females and two males. Five of them made a beeline for the queens. But one female stared at Taelen with a powerful emotion. She walked towards him and hugged him from behind. Although he never stopped singing, Taelen turned his head to look at her with a great depth of affection. Their leinis intertwined, and she pressed her forehead to his temple.

I didn’t need introductions to realize this was his sister Kaya. Their resemblance was undeniable. In that instant, I thought of my twin brother and wished I could hug him right now. Their embrace was brief. Under different circumstances, I didn’t doubt that their reunion might have lasted longer. But they had more urgent matters at hand.

I watched with fascination as the healers filled the gaps between the other Syllens who were connected to a specific queen. The healers reached for two of the unattended stumps, placing one hand on each. Their tails floated on the surface of the shallow pond.

Kaya didn’t join them.

To my shock, a single veris ran from the base of their spines down the length of their tails before spreading like tendrils over the water. Taelen and the other non-healer members also raised their tails to the surface of the water. They all bent them to the left. Soon, their own veris extruded from their tails, connecting everyone to each other. From a top-down view, their connected tails would form a flower-like pattern.

Kaya stood in the water, in front of the Mother Tree but between the two submerged Syllens. From where I sat, I couldn’t see her feet but didn’t doubt her veris were connecting to something. Her angelic voice rose above the others, shifting the pitch of the melody. As one, the others followed. Another shiver coursed through me. It felt like being wrapped in divine light.

It took me a while to realize that the Syllens weren’t only healing the little creatures, but they were also being healed. The process had been so subtle that I didn’t notice until now how most of their cuts had closed, some of them having mostly vanished.

Suddenly, one after the other, the queens fluttered their eyelids as they slowly awakened. Tears pricked my eyes at the joy that could be seen on every face as they continued to sing. Kaya moved away from her position in front of the tree and marched to a discreet table I hadn’t noticed before. She retrieved a couple of flasks from which she poured a few drops into the healing waters. Using her tail she mixed it into the basin, while pushing it towards the tree stumps.

I couldn’t tell how much time had gone by. I suspected somewhere around forty-five minutes before the queens were rehydrated enough to detach from their stumps. The Syllens each cradled one in their arms like you would an infant.

Without being asked, Cedros shifted back to his battle form and moved the now empty stumps out of the water and put them in a corner of the temple. The grateful smile Kaya cast his way confirmed her approval of his actions. The absence of fear she and the other healers displayed upon seeing him—especially in his giant dark form—took me aback. And then I realized that Togar had likely warned them of our presence on their way here after he’d awakened them.

Kaya walked around the room with a container. Each Syllen took a small amount of some kind of cream from it, which they rubbed on the bodies of the still groggy queens. Halfway through, a familiar chirping emanated from the door, the sound quickly multiplying. My jaw dropped as the doors opened and a flock of Kalrins flew in. Two female Syllens I’d never seen before followed them in.

The creatures surrounded the queens in small clusters of three or four. They reminded me of squirrels eating a treat, but in reverse, as they secreted melia nuts, which they fed to the queens. Before long, the Kalrins were pushing away the Syllens to take over the care of their matriarchs. Although they stopped singing, the healers didn’t.

Maeve and Lily detached from the tree to rejoin Cedros and me, as did Orian and her two Osheos. Before Lily could reach us, Athusa walked to her and took her hand. I couldn’t help a smile when he led her to us.

I didn’t personally know her, but I had read many of the scientific papers she published on xenobotany. Having another off-worlder living here and who shared my professional passion was the best thing that could have happened. Obviously, there would be quite a few things for Athusa and Lily to sort out before she could relocate here. I doubted she pictured herself settling here when she came to help with this mission.

Or did she?

I suddenly found myself wondering if Kayog had spoken to Athusa and Orian in the past, like he had done with Taelen. After all, it would have made sense for the UPO to touch base with each tribe. In that case, he would have known that Lily and Athusa were soulmates. Her parents were Kayog’s and his wife’s best friends. So he knew Lily well.

That piqued my curiosity. In due time, I’d pry about whether she’d known what awaited her when she came here.

Taelen walking up to me chased away those wandering thoughts. He pulled me into a bone-crushing hug that had me giggling and then melting.

“Thank you, my mate. Thank you for helping us find our queens,” he said, his voice thick with emotion before he shifted his gaze to Cedros and Maeve. “And thank you for your assistance in bringing them here. One more day, and it might have been too late to bring them back. We’re in your debt.”