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“Those are new,” Valeria said, indicating the dozens of crystal lanterns.
“We do not forget the needs of our allies,” Warrek said firmly. “Our Gahn remembered how your kind struggled to see in the darker parts of our mountain. He commissioned the installation of the light sources immediately after your departure.”
“OK, that Gahn looks like he would kill a man in cold blood without a second thought, but he gets some points for that,” Tilly whispered. Fiona and I nodded in agreement – it was decent of him to have anticipated this need. Nasrin didn’t say anything as her gaze swept over the space.
“Ooh, something smells great,” Fiona piped up, her nose scrunching up as she sniffed the air.
“Yes, that is our evening fire. Our kills are roasting. Come. I will show you,” Warrek said.
My gaze caught on something on the other side of the largely empty space we stood in – a flat stone slab on the floor that appeared to be hooked up to some sort of pulley system.An alien elevator?
“We do not need to use that,” Warrek said, seeing where I’d been looking. “The Sky Hall is not so high up.”
With that, he turned towards the tunnel on our right. We followed him, having to adjust the big circle of our group to walk more easily in the narrower space. The right wall of the tunnel was clearly the outer wall of the mountain, because large natural windows of translucent stone punctuated the wall and let in arching asteroid light and the slivers of stars. That, coupled with the lanterns, meant the tunnel was well-lit and not nearly as spooky as it otherwise would have been. As we walked, the scent Fiona had remarked on grew thicker in the air. Smoke and the smell of roasting meat. My stomach grumbled. I could definitely go for a hot meal right about now. I wonder if the food here is very different from the Sea Sands...I’d gotten used to the dakrival, rakdo, and valok menu at the settlement, but I was more than ready to try something else.
Soon, it wasn’t just the scent in the air that caught my attention, but sounds, too. Conversation, laughter, and the crackle of a fire.
The tunnel widened into a natural stone landing. Ahead, the tunnel continued onward and upwards, making me wonder if its spiral went all the way to the mountain’s peak. To our right, that landing extended outwards, a shelf jutting out from the mountainside. It wasn’t an exposed shelf, though, but rather a large natural cave seated on the flat jut of stone. The cave wasn’t dark – its rounded wall bubbled out from the mountain and was made of yet more translucent, crystal-like material, letting in the silvery evening light. A fire crackled at the far side of the cave, directly beneath a small break at the top of the see-through stone – a natural skylight and chimney for the smoke. The result was a firelit hall seeming to be suspended in the air, encased entirely by windows instead of walls. From my place in the group, I could see some of the Deep Sky people who lived here – a smattering of men, women, and children.
“Strange that we didn’t see the fire from outside. Have we already gone around the mountain to the back?” I asked, confused. I could tell that the tunnel curved upward around the shape of the mountain, but we hadn’t been walking for that long.
A voice from behind our group made me jump, echoing in the tunnel.
“It is the nature of aguir stone. We can see out. But you cannot see in.”
Gahn Thaleo stood behind us in the tunnel. Goosebumps broke out under my jacket. Weirdly, and rather ominously, his words seemed to be more about himself than the stone. I got the impression that his gaze captured absolutely everything.
But gave away nothing.
“If that’s so, how do the lanterns work? How does light pass in and out?” Nasrin asked, raising a brow skeptically. I would have said Gahn Thaleo’s sight stars snapped to her face... Except they’d already been glued to her face.
“The lanterns use a different variety of stone, called kaktuir. Kaktuir allows unhindered sight from both sides. Aguir does not.”
Nasrin gave one short nod, then turned away to look into the hall again.
Warrek raised his tail.
“Welcome back, Gahn.”
He grunted at his warrior.
“Please, enter the hall.”
Our group spread out as we filtered from the tunnel area into the great hall. The Deep Sky people fell silent at the fire, staring over at us. Our group was equally quiet, taking everything in. The new alien allies. And the exquisite spread of stars practically encasing this entire space.
“So. What do you think of my mountain?” came Gahn Thaleo’s quiet rumble.
He didn’t seem to have addressed the question to anyone in particular, but when I turned towards him, I found him directly behind Nasrin, staring intently at the back of her head.
She didn’t answer him. Though she had to have noticed his proximity and his gaze. That intensity must have felt like a finger of ice down the back of her neck.
“You and your people have a very impressive home, Gahn Thaleo,” I piped up, hoping to avoid any awkwardness as Nasrin continued walking forward and away from him.
I wonder if somewhere out there, Errok just snapped to annoyed attention, sensing I’ve just given another Gahn a compliment...
“Yes. Thank you for the invitation,” Valeria added. Tilly and Fiona nodded eagerly, their eyes wandering to the fire where the food cooked.
“Seat yourselves,” the Gahn said, gesturing with his tail towards the fire.
