To The End of Time

Chapter 9: A Day in the Life

On the edge of the second base, near the very shadows of the trees, a small medical hut stood where Eileen could work in peace. With some help, she had styled it as close to a hospital room as she could with a wooden bed that was softened by woven fern blankets, chairs that held stuff petal cushions, and a makeshift cleaning station that held all her equipment.

The Quies had their own set of doctors or healers as they were known for, that used the natural earth and plants around them to make their ointments and cures. Samia had been nice enough to give Eileen a notebook continuing years upon years of generation research of the various swamp flora and fauna when there a knock paused her daily reading.

Who could that be? She wondered, making her way to the wooden door. Her eyes widened at the sight of Beryl. "Beryl, what are you doing here?" She questioned. She stepped back as his gaze flickered around the clinic, clearly taking everything in.

"I was told you would be here." His eyes landed on her again as his lips pulled into a warm smile. "I see you have your own little clinic."

"Yes." She nodded. "I was a nurse back on earth so I try to help out here from time to time."

It gives me something to do when Ursus is busy. He stepped closer. "So, then are you free to talk?"

Talk? Her head tilted slightly. "Is something wrong?" She turned back toward her book. "If you're sick then-"

"No, no, it's not that." He motioned for her to follow. "Come along." With a slight hesitation, Eileen followed behind him. As they made their way toward the swamp floor, a head raised up toward them.

Her gasp slipped free at the giant falcon, his giant falcon. Its feathers shook, releasing a barrage of wind and dust up into the air before it leaned its head against Beryl's outstretched palm.

"I thought you might want a ride." His smile widened. "I was informed that you don't have birds this size back on earth."

"No, no we don't." She hesitated. Would it like her? Would it try to bite her hand off? The last time she interacted with a parrot, it was when a family member had brought it in to drop something off for a fellow patient. Eileen didn't forget the small nip it had given her, drawing blood.

As if sensing her thoughts, Beryl grabbed her hand and pressed it against the bird's surprisingly warm beak. A gasp of surprise left her lips again. "Amazing." As its golden eyes met hers, Eileen couldn't look away. It stared right back at her, filled with intelligence and mixture of....amusement. Movement snapped her gaze to Beryl who swung up onto the falcon's back with ease. His hand tightened around the horn of a saddle before he held his hand out to her. "Come on."

Eileen grabbed his hand.

With surprisingly ease, he swung her up and behind him. Her arms wrapped around his waist as his bird's wings spread out. "How fast can it gooo?" Wind whipped her words away as the falcon shot off the ground.

Her grip tightened as it weaved through the trees, left, right, left. With another great gush, it shot up higher and higher. The shadows around them shifted, growing brighter and brighter as they shored through the tree layers. Dark shadows shifted into brighten yellow, red, and finally pink light as they burst through the treetops. The wings startled insects and flower petals into the air.

Eileen couldn't breathe. Her eyes couldn't turn away from the pure awe of the bright pink sunset. Amazing.

"Beautiful right? I used to love flying up with my sister to see the sunrise on her bird. We would play a guessing game about which color the sunset would be."

"How many colors could it be?"

"Any color really. It depends on what meteors are handed around to reflect its light." With another flap, the falcon eased toward the swamp top before diving toward what seemed to be a lake. Leaning forward, Eileen's hand ran through the sludge like water. Her eyes widened at the glow of light that followed her fingers.

"Want to see something really beautiful?"

Eileen nodded her head.

The falcon flew higher, once again taking over the top of the trees. A few minutes later, it dove toward what seemed to be a cave. Its wings folded as Beryl slid off and then helped her off. She watched with bated breath as they all eased word the wide opening.

Flowers, lilies from the look of them, glowed along the walls and floated down the cave rivers. It was beautiful, their light reflecting across the glow of the rocks and crystals around them. "Glow Lilies," she whispered.

They had been vital during the funeral after the massacre. Beryl knelt down. "Come closer." Eleen knelt down beside him, watching him reach forward to pull out a particular blue one. He turned to her. "Do you have these on earth as well?"

"No, nothing like this." Eileen responded. She glanced up at him. "Beryl?"

"Hmm?"

"Why the fascination with earth?" If anything, this world had so much more wonders then her simple earth planet. Beryl lowered the flower back into the river, giving it a nudge to catch up with the others. "My mother used to tell us stories of what earth was like. How humans could turn on these devices and listen to others from wherever they wanted like magic. How it could play songs, shows, even communicate back with other humans."

"And there's this magical game you guys play," he turned fully to her now. "Where you take over the land around you and make little pieces move. A black suited person would move the pieces for you as you dodge the hidden traps. I can't remember what it's called...."

"Uh," Eileen frowned. "I don't know either. We have plenty of games, game of life, jinga, monopoly-"

"That's it!" Like a child that had just been given candy, Beryl stood up. "That's the game!"

That didn't sound anything close to monopoly but ok. She simply smiled. "Glad we got the name down." Heat flushed across Beryl's face as he eased himself back down. "Sorry, I didn't mean to gush like that."

"No, no it's fine." Eileen smiled widened. "It's cute actually." When was the last time someone was excited to actually learn about my world. Just as quickly as the thought appeared, Eileen pushed it away. No, I shouldn't think like that.

She knew why she was here....even if it was slightly against her will in the first place. She was here for Ursus.....right?

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just..." Eileen sighed. "It's nice to talk to someone who cares about my home, you know? It's kind of...."

"Isolating?" Beryl replied. "Yeah, I know how that feels." Grabbing her hand, he gave it a small squeeze. "But don't worry. You don't have to feel that way around me." As their fingers entwined, the same feeling started down Eileen's arm. It was as if thousands of fire arts pricked her skin, leaving goosebumps rising along her arm.

"Thanks Beyrl," she pulled away. "I appreciate it, really." The urge to move grew as she pushed herself to her feet. "But we better get back." She rubbed her hands against her pant legs. "The others must be getting worried."

"Ah, yes you're right." With a whistle, the falcon lowered itself to the ground. "Shall we?" As Eileen climbed onto the falcon again, her arms wrapped around Beryl. As the falcon made its way out and back into the air, the ants returned again as they crawled along her arm.

As it reached her chest, a sharp pain shot through her heart. She gasped silently as her hold on Beryl tightened.

No matter how hard she tried, Eileen couldn't shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong.