Chapter One
Year: 2213
Planet of Qaldreth
Giniiri Tribe
Erasril Volcano
Thelavariver,asconstant as the suns, radiated heat, bringing tears to Nenn’s eyes.This was his land, his home, where molten rivers converged and their shelter was made of the rock it left behind.Still, this close to it was hazardous.
He flashed a grin at his friend standing beside him.Fully grown, they shouldn’t be playing games, but the pocks this morning were perfect.Dark crusts like scabs flowed at jumpable distances, the challenge too much to resist.
“Ready, Tugo,” he asked, then leaped onto the first pock.
It wobbled beneath his weight, but before it could tilt, he threw himself at the next.One by one, he crossed the river to Always Island, their name for the eye-shaped strip of land that divided the volcano’s constant flows.‘Old Erasril had a runny nose,’ they used to say as children.
Tugo hopped from pock to pock, some dipping under his bulk.The second he moved onto the next one, the rock would flick into place, splashing up a little lava.The colors were mesmerizing in bright reds and oranges.They knew to avoid anything blue or white; still, if Tugo’s mate found out that he was here…
“See, not so hard,” he said, landing beside Nenn, his breathing ragged.
“It has been a while, my friend.”Nenn settled on the cliff’s edge overlooking the lava waterfalls tumbling into a pool below.Along the ‘shore,’ his people, the tribe of Giniiri, gathered cooling rocks, scoops of lava, and scrapings of onis.He shuddered, not liking the flavor of the black moss.
Movement caught his gaze.Orange-red lizards skimmed across the river’s surface, catching tiny insects riding the heatwaves.The symbiotes in his blood whispered of a time when food had been scarce and the insects the only nourishment they could find.He followed the flittering of the tiaez, its transparent wings seeming to carry insufficient sustenance for an adult Qaldreth.How had they harvested enough to feed the tribe?Images flashed in his mind, the memories of his past fathers’ lives.
He drew in a deep breath, wondering what his symbiotes would share of his life with future generations of Qaldreths.What slumped his shoulders was the impending rite of Uhann, where the chosen representative would be granted an opportunity to have his name revered for all time.
An Ivoyan aldermen would take the chosen off-world to a star not visible in their night’s sky.Tugo thought him mad to long for this, but his big friend had a vatia sahaar,a soul mate.Nenn had only his aging father, who was on the verge of waddling into the waterfall below, as expected of anyone too old to serve.His father’s mind had wandered off after their mother went missing in the forests around the Ki’irinzi Mountains.None had seen or heard from her since.
It was true that the menewberries nearest to the mirror pools were the juiciest, which explained why his mother had ventured farther than was deemed safe.The symbiotes shared nothing but her life experiences.Her death was flashes of a blurred shadow.Many nights, the elders would poke at it like it was a mystery they needed to unravel.Ideas were thrown out though all knew, nothing had been found: not a shoe, a lock of her hair, or the hem of her dress.
The male his father once was had long gone, leaving behind a husk devoid of emotion.Still, Nenn clung to the male who’d taught him how to pock leap and to scavenge for the best medicinal plants and herbs the healers needed.
“There is value in service, my son,” his father had said.
Nenn clasped the hilt of his harvesting knife sheathed to his belt.The blade had been passed down from father to son from as far back as the symbiotes remembered.Carved into the banaari tooth forming the handle was the petal of a russmar, the rarest and most potent plant on Erasril.Many a male had lost a limb or his life gathering the purple mushroom living in the deepest crevices of the volcano.Descending and hacking at the base destroyed its usefulness.Each cluster had to be massaged, then plucked, leaving the roots to encourage more growth.
Which brought him back to the problem at hand.The rite of Uhann was soon, and he had yet to earn a nomination.No tribesman had been injured to warrant the need for russmar, a sure way to garner favor.And he had zero cooking skills, his farming lacked enthusiasm, his stone carving broke too many slabs, and he couldn’t fight to save his life.Defending the tribe from baraanis would most likely get him killed.
“Your thoughts are heavy, Nenn,” Tugo said, nudging him with a shoulder.“Looks like Panior will be seeing the stars.Perhaps at the next rite?”
Why did it have to be Panior?As the most beloved, handsome, sought-after male in the tribe, everything seemed to come easy to that male.Nenn shut his eyes to the reality of his situation.Tugo meant well, but another year doing nothing except watching his father slip away?No, Nenn needed to leave before his last memory was the cleansing of his father’s soul in the fires of Erasril.
It would be abandonment, but he didn’t have the strength to ‘lose’ yet another parent.If he was gone, he could imagine all was well.That his father had made a full recovery and would be hearty by the time Nenn returned.
It was childish of him, but the crushing grip around his hearts wouldn’t ease.Some days, he could barely draw in breaths.Not that he could hide his inner turmoil from a Giniirian, not with the symbiotes revealing all secrets.
Osnir, help me.He raised his gaze to the sky, wishing he could escape this burden.
“Come, it is time.”Tugo slapped his tree-trunk thighs and rose.The size of an ancient banaari, his friend served the tribe well.Anything that needed moving, pushing, squashing, or building, then Tugo was the male to call.He would be nominated without hesitation if he wanted to serve the Ivoyans.
But he’d fallen for the beautiful Kimgi when they were no taller than their fathers’ knees.
“You are right.”Nenn forced a smile.“I suspect yourgevatiais ravenous.”
Tugo chuckled.“She would be with a child on the way.”
The pocks were farther apart than was wise to traverse.They had only this route to return to the main mountain, but to risk it… Again, Nenn went first, hopping across as fast as he could.The last pock sank, spilling lava over its edge.He lunged for the bank, landing with a grunt on the hard rock.Rolling over, he gaped at the pock when it crumbled, the lava consuming the chunks.
