Oriehn

Chapter 6- Taliesin

Chapter 6- Taliesin

I dared to speak once we were high up in the air, far above harm's way. Looking to Alice who was lost in her thoughts, seeking a distraction I turned ahead and focused on our heading. As trained as I was, however, it only served to irritate as the silence sharpened my ears.

I felt it roaring in the back of my mind, a desperate for it to stop, I spoke. "Is your ankle alright?" I asked Alice.

She shrugged as part of an answer. "It's been better."

Realizing she wasn't really in the mood for conversation, I pressed a button on the dashboard, introducing soft tones into the silence. I closed my eyes and relaxed against my seat, my favorite music making the panic ebb away.

"What is this? I've never anything like it before." Alice asked, intrigued.

I grinned. "What you are listening to right now is Oriehn music. You're definitely more Oriehn than you thought you were."

She furrowed her brows. "It's nice."

"Most mortals wouldn't like it, saying that it is too bland." I explained further, "But we Oriehns can hear the underlying tones and notes."

Alice pursed her lips. "Why is that?" she turned her head around to look out the window, although I could tell her interest was still running high.

"Our eardrums are more sensitive—the tympanic membrane in the middle of our ear vibrates faster in response to sound waves." I replied, glancing over to she her head quirked to the side.

She shook her head, "Yet another difference we never knew about while researching your kind on earth. The advanced healing, the advanced hearing. I'm sure I'll discover more as I get to know your—sorry, our—kind."

"You won't have to research or catalogue us," I chuckled shaking my head, "As you get closer to spending more time in our atmosphere and more time around us your hormones and body will change in response—our differences will become yours."

She reeled back, her grip on the armrest white-knuckled and tight. "Our differe— what?" Her voice came out hoarsely before she continued, "My blood...that's how it was red and blue, how it changed colors?"

"Proximity and hormones," I nodded, continuing to explain, "although adrenaline has been known to make the changes happen faster."

"Okay then," she shook her head and resumed her stare out the glass panes, silence filling the small cabin.

I didn't mind her reluctance to talk so much anymore. My mission was done, and I had retrieved her from the enemy's home. I would return victorious and a hero, bringing back the last-born female. I smiled at the thought.

Then I realized that once we returned home, it was likely I would never see her again. I frowned. A female was already elevated in station, with Alice being the last-born even more so. Compared to a lowly Venery enlisted Hunter, I was lucky we were even sharing the same air.

"Is this the route to your home planet?" Alice asked me, tracing some picture only she could see on the dashboard in front of her.

I nodded. "Yes. But we still have to meet with our transport first."

"Where to?" Alice asked, marking a sharp mark on her drawing. It looked like she was drawing a continuous line of some sort, kind of like a road. She stopped drawing and looked at me, her head slightly tilted as she waited for me to answer.

"We have a rendezvous with a friend," I paused, then added, "Her name is Padraigin."

"Padraigin?" She asked.