章節 38: The Echoes of an Alien World

"Who are you?" With a terrified look on his face, Aldo anxiously switched his gaze between the portal and Jalen.

"Does it matter?" he said. "If you still wish to die, I can grant it."

"No, no. I'm just… overwhelmed, is all." That was all the motivation Aldo needed. First, the man stuffed the contents from his mini-fridge, which consisted mostly of beer, into a gym bag, then disappeared into the boat's cabin, reappearing with a packed rucksack. Only then did Aldo venture into the portal, flinching at the point of contact before delving into the unknown.

He followed behind. Unlike Tanarion, he made the journey a tad convenient, with lesser g-forces exerted on them, even grabbing a misplaced tool Aldo dropped while experiencing the spiraling tunnel. Soon the tunnel smoothed out, allowing them to walk the last leg of the journey.

"This is fucking insane," Aldo exclaimed, gawking at his faint reflection in the rippling tunnel. After he handed Aldo his misplaced Swiss knife, the man said. "Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Where are we headed?"

"You'll see, soon," he said. "Let's not spoil the surprise."

Aldo's excitement was rubbing off on him.

They emerged under a dense canopy of towering trees that blocked the sunlight, only narrow shafts of light slipping through. Calls and shouts echoed across the forest from every direction, alluding to a vibrant ecosystem teeming with life. The grass underfoot was abundant and wet, the strong aroma of fresh earth accosting their noses. Nearby, a flock of sing-songy birds took flight, the leaves ruffling in their wake.

"Where the hell are we?" Aldo asked.

"A forest," he said.

"No shit. You know what I mean. Where on Earth are we?"

He ran his fingers against the moist bark of a tree—whose diameter dwarfed those of trees found in North America—his eyes scanning the surrounding area. "We are on a planet far removed from the reach of Earth. An entirely different universe."

"You've got to be shitting me."

"No, I'm not." He stepped into a light shaft, his gaze fixed on the sun. "Though it feels very different since I last came here. The star tells me eons have passed."

"Ah! What the fuck?" Aldo screamed, backpedaling past him and tripping on a root. "Tell that tiger to stay back."

He examined the big cat that had snuck up on Aldo, a smile spreading on his lips. "It is not a tiger, Aldo. Get up."

He could not fault Aldo. The specimen growling at them struck a striking resemblance to a tiger with orange, yellow, and black striped fur covering its entire body. The differences between it and a tiger lay in the specimen's musculature. It was bipedal, like a human, but it chose to approach on all fours.

"What are you?" It asked, its husky voice distinctly female.

"It talks?" Aldo moved in behind Jalen, still keeping his distance. "What did it say?"

He placed his hand on his chest, edging closer to the specimen. "I'm Jalen. He's Aldo. Who are you?"

The specimen backed away from him, her eyes clouded with confusion and apprehensiveness. "I'm Nola of the Tigna Claw Tribe."

"It's okay, Nola." He stretched his hand in a welcoming gesture. "Get up. I won't hurt you."

It was hard for him to read Nola as her face resembled a feline's with piercing yellow eyes, an elongated nozzle tipped by a small black nose, and powerful jaws lined with long, sharp teeth. Still, Nola inched closer to him, her hand outstretched as well.

"Ah! Help—"

He whipped around, finding that a bipedal tiger man had knocked out Aldo with a club. The surrounding trees shook, hundreds of leaves swinging to the ground. Perched upon the branches of these trees were hundreds of the tiger people—all wielding various primitive weapons like spears, bows, and knives—roaring with battle cries. Nola used the opportunity to grab a large stone and whack him in the head.

❊ ❊ ❊

Aided by his healing factor, he came to his senses just seconds after he hit the ground, his sight blurry and his head aching. With his eyes still closed, feigning unconsciousness, he heard them moving around him. Silent and efficient, they bound his limbs with rope and fastened him to the back of one of their peers. During the entire process, he never struggled once, more intrigued by who they were and how they came to be than his apparent safety. If push comes to shove, he could always transform and eliminate them effortlessly.

After the one carrying started moving, he opened his eyes. The tiger man carrying him, along with the others, leaped onto the trunk of a tree, their claws digging into the bark, which allowed them to climb the towering structure without equipment. It was truly amazing to watch them maneuver across the tree's trunk like seasoned squirrels. And he would have continued to enjoy the sight if not for his entire weight pressing on thin ropes that dug into his skin. Aldo was unconscious, fastened to the back of one of the tiger men.

After climbing to the right height, the tiger people leaped onto a man-made narrow ledge that lined the bark of the towering tree, their ample dexterity plain to see. He winced from the impact of the tiger man, who he was fastened to, landing on the ledge, the ride dangerously uncomfortable. The rope dug into his thigh, arresting the feeling of his leg.

"They would serve as perfect sacrifices," one tiger man said.

"It is by Luwana's mercy we found sacrifices in time," another said. "Anhei, oh great Life Giver. Anhei, oh great Warmth Bringer."

"Who are you people?" he finally spoke.

The tiger people stiffened and gasped.

"You see?" A voice he recognized as Nora's spoke. "He speaks our tongue."

"Yash, bring him over," a gravelly voice commanded.

The tiger man backpacking him moved towards the front of the group. There, the largest tiger man studied him. "There is no way he is a metulu. Who are you, bare-skinned one?"

He sighed. This game was tiring him. He found his creations fascinating, even willing to play along as their captured price, just to catch a glimpse of their culture. But they tied the ropes too tight.

"I asked my question first," he said. "Who are you people?"

The tiger man growled, the baritone sounds reverberating off Jalen's bones. "And I, as Tigna, chief of the Tigna Claw Tribe, spoke. Know your place, furless one."

Nola drew near him, all semblance of her timid demeanor gone with the wind. "We call ourselves terisar. If that is what you are asking. What are you, Jalen?"

"Do not undermine me, Nola," Tigna said.

"I did not. Jalen already knows he is our sacrifice. Why would your threats work?"

"Because I can end his life sooner, right now."

With a roll of her eyes, Nola raced ahead, leaping onto a branch and swinging onto another, making her way up the expansive network of branches. The other terisar followed her lead. If Jalen felt uncomfortable before, the acrobatic moves performed by his handler nearly made him puke.

They ascended the tree to where countless branches weaved and intertwined, forming a stable platform that supported entire ecosystems. Standing on the forest floor, he wouldn't have known these many animals lived in the trees. Apes scurried away from their large group. Wild boars feasted on a tree's bark a few paces away. He even spotted a jaguar far away, carrying dead prey in its jaws.

"So you didn't answer my question," Nola said. "What are you?"

"Why does it matter?" he asked. "If you plan to kill me, anyway."

She frowned, gripping her spear tightly. Her facial features were becoming easier to read. He gleamed off some confusion mixed with a natural curiosity from her features. Before she could speak, another terisari screamed. Immediately the terisar dispersed, circling a terisari, who was dead in the Jaws of a giant black snake.

"A kodia!" someone shouted.

"You were supposed to be watching above," another barked at his partner.

The snake swallowed its catch in one fell swoop, then hissed at the terisar. Unfortunately, Aldo chose this time to awaken, his terrified screams grating to Jalen during the chaotic frenzy.

The snake lunged at the nearest target, who sidestepped the attack and plunged his spear into it. A line of terisar standing further back, armed with bows, let loose their arrows into the kodia's long and thick-muscled body.

The pitiful attacks only pissed the snake off. It whipped its head, smashing a terisari against a tree. Nola had been right there as well, but she leaped in the air, dodging the snake; the unfortunate terisari, caught in the attack, died on impact, his blood splattering against the tree.

Tigna charged at the kodia.

The snake darted toward him, but Tigna was quicker, dashing at a tree and using its trunk as a springboard that launched him above the snake's head. The large terisar gripped his spear, with both hands reared behind him, and plunged it into the kodia's head. With a loud, ear-piercing cry, the snake writhed and convulsed before ultimately crashing onto the interwoven branches underfoot.

"Hold!" one terisari said.

They watched the branches underfoot, to determine if it was steady enough to walk on.

Bone-chilling hisses froze the terisar in their inspection.

Jalen looked up, searching for the source of the sounds. Two more enormous snakes, larger than the dead one, slithered down the trees. He doubted these people could handle the snakes, considering how much trouble the first one caused.

So, to aid his first sentient creations, he transformed, ripping the ropes that bound him. The terisar that carried him backed away, his eyes widened into saucers.

At the heart of the confrontation, every terisar had fallen behind Tigna, who yelled and waved his spear in long, sweeping arcs to deter the approaching snakes. This proved futile as the snakes flanked the chief, clearly attracted to the retreating group.

Jalen, now levitating a few inches off the ground, moved ahead of Tigna, who backpedaled to put himself between the snakes and his people.

"Stand back," he said. "I wouldn't want the precious chief to die from collateral damage."

At that moment, just as he turned to address the chief, a kodia decided to strike. But without hesitation, he grabbed hold of its extended jaws, barely flinching from the force of the attack. The kodia hissed and struggled, but it was futile now that he had a firm grip. He wrestled with the snake, slamming it against a tree not once, but twice, testing its resilience. The terrified screams of the other terisar reminded him to take the fight seriously, lest they become snake food.

"Play time's over." He tore apart the kodia's jaws and discarded its lifeless body.

Whipping around, he discovered that the other kodia had cornered the remaining terisar, poised to strike. That attack never came because golden beams emitting from his eyes sliced the head off the snake's body.

With the giant snake threat now dealt with, the terisar peered up at him with a mixture of fear and awe. Their muscles were tense, their weapons clutched tightly. He let the afterglow of his heat vision linger as he descended, to remind them how futile their resistance would be when pitted against his might. Then, he transformed back into his human form and offered his arms to Tigna.

"Close your mouth, chief, or flies might get in," he said. "Aren't you going to restrain me?"

Tigna growled, looking like he was moments from impaling Jalen with his spear. "Yash bound our sacrifice again." The chief leveled his spear at him, mere inches from his neck.

"Tigna!" Nola stepped forward and yanked the spear away, her hand wrapped just under the stone blade. "What is wrong with you? Were you hit in the head as a cub?"

"Back off, Nola. You absconded from your duties to become my wife. You have no say in my decisions as chief."

She edged closer, face to face with Tigna. "And I will do so till the day Luwana descends. That does not mean you should damn us all."

Tigna turned around, looking his fellow people in the eye, urging them to do his bidding. However, what the chief saw were anxious people who seemed to regard Jalen with more dread than their chief. Yash made no attempt to step forward.

"Fine, you are a pride of cowards and weaklings." Tigna walked off, slamming the butt of his spear against the branches underfoot repeatedly. The rest of the terisar slowly followed. Still amused, Jalen recommended that they release his friend, Aldo, and they obliged. Then he followed them, curious to see where they lived.

At sundown, they arrived at a tall wooden building fastened to the side of a tree. Bioluminescent vines hung from on the building's walls. It served as a watchtower, where a few terisar men resided. Pushing through, a vibrant village lay ahead, with hundreds of houses—lining the trunks of giant trees—stretching above. Oddly, the houses seemed organic, as if grown like a plant rather than the man-made methods he was accustomed to. They ascended a walkway fastened to a tree to reach the village's level. Flexible bridges connected the village from tree to tree. They walked through a few bridges, the passing terisar stopping to gawk at him and Aldo.

At the center of the village, where most bridges led, large ringed buildings clung to a tree. An elderly terisari sat with a long rattling staff on the balcony of the lowest-ringed building. Her fur was gray-tipped, her back bent with age. A crown of bones, stone, and feathers sat atop her head, a necklace of similar make resting on her chest. Before her, seated on the ground, were juvenile terisar, who listened intently to her words.

"Naru'ma, we need to talk," Tigna said.

Naru'ma raised her hand up, not bothering to look. "Can you not see I am busy? I already know what the issue is. Wait for me."

Then she addressed the young terisar, her voice dropping its sternness and assuming a gentle tone. "When it seemed the deathless Moon Brother would extinguish Raakar's life force, a brilliant point of warm light sparked in the dark sky. It was Luwana, the radiant Sun Sister, erupting into existence to defend the Great Hunter. Her molten rays burned away Zur'nik's black oblivion.

"From Luwana's noble sacrifice, spilled across all of Avani, sprang the first life-giving rains. And in the fertile valleys, sheltered from the Moon Brother's baleful influence, the first terisar tribe took shape, woven from strands of Luwana and Raakar's intermingled life essences. That is all for today, bright cubs. Make sure to listen to your parents or the Moon Brother will see you at night."

He furrowed his eyebrows.

What load of bullshit is this?