Incarnation | Wandering Stars Volume One

Chapter 16

NORTH OF BAHYITH

Sariel traveled north along the stream, following the same path that he'd taken previously to Arar Gahiy, but this time he was alone. The day after leaving Bahyith, he shaped into his Iryllur form and flew east into the foothills of Bokhar. Crossing over the Morning Mountain, he descended into flatlands that were choked with towering trees and dense undergrowth. According to Yeduah's instructions, the People of the Trees lived in the forests that grew thickest between the eastern slope of Bokhar and the Great Waters.

For several days, Sariel flew in a methodical search pattern over the land, always shifting his consciousness toward the Eternal and back. Each time he perceived the glow of a living being's spirit he descended to the trees for a closer look with his physical eyes. But he found nothing except animals of all kinds—reptiles, and mammals—moving in herds, or at other times alone. Occasionally, a school of fish swimming through the abundant streams would appear from high above as a gathering of human spirits. But the Aytsam were nowhere to be found.

Gradually, Sariel made his way south and east. There, on the narrowest section of land that separated the Great Waters from another body of water to its northwest, he noticed a difference in the pattern of the trees. With caution, he landed and approached the area on foot.

What he had barely noticed from above turned out to be human dwellings suspended in the thick braches. Platforms of bundled saplings were connected by rope bridges, creating an entire village high overhead, just beneath the underhanging foliage. But it was deserted. Sariel flew up to the braches and walked along the platforms, looking for clues. Then he searched the ground beneath the village, but it looked as if it hadn't been used in months.

A brief flicker of movement in the distance suddenly caught his attention.

Sariel stopped and peered through the congested throng of massive tree trunks.

Did I imagine it?

 

Just then, a flash of dark, earthy skin flitted between trees to his right. Something was moving south.

Sariel shaped into his human form and started off at a run. If he did encounter one of the Aytsam, he didn't want to scare them off with his Iryllur body. Vines threatened to strangle him as he dodged between the undergrowth, heading southeast on a course that would bring him into contact with whatever was out there. A few minutes later, he reached a clearing where thick grass grew up around a boulder. Without breaking his stride, he leaped onto the side of the rock and scrambled to its top. With his breath now coming in heaves, he watched and listened, hoping that his prey hadn't deviated from the direction it had been moving.

Just when he began to lose hope, he saw something else. This time, he was sure that it was more than one person. They were still moving south and he had been moving parallel with them and was now slightly behind. They were quicker than he thought.

The People of the Trees!

 

Sprinting from his vantage point, Sariel dodged between bushes and quickly made his way through the waist-high grass and out of the clearing. Under another stand of trees, the grasses gave way to wet soil and rotting leaves. Though unpleasant, he moved quicker over this terrain. By the time he reached the next clearing, he was sure that he'd gained ground, expecting them to be directly east of him, perhaps a little to the south.