Life Seed, page 9
A stitch in his side forced him to stop. He slowed down to a halt, gulping for air, and leaned against a tree. The Life Seed felt hot now, but Elias was more interested in whether anybody had followed him. He remained very still, listening, straining his senses to the utmost. Nothing. The night around him was serene and quiet, the silence broken only once by the mournful call of a swipebird.
I did it. I can’t believe I actually did it.
He wasn’t sure whether he was ecstatic or horrified. There was no going back now, though. He had to get to those mountains and return the Seed to where it belonged.
He kept on going in the same direction after a brief pause, no longer running because he had crossed into the woods and it was a hard path; treacherous roots and sharp branches seemed to come out of nowhere. Even though the trees were devoid of leaves, as they had been for years now, their trunks eclipsed much of the moonlight, and there were deep shadows concealing obstacles at every step. Elias walked tirelessly, still relying on his adrenaline high, and the radiator-like heat of the Seed was more than enough protection from the winter cold. It was only when dawn began to gray the horizon to the east that Elias slowed down, yawning. He was absolutely exhausted. He looked around for a place to sleep, somewhere he would be safe in case any wurl came looking. The trees were the obvious solution. Elias walked around until he found an imposing great yult, its trunk a perfect obsidian black. Yults were massive, often reaching heights of thirty meters or more, and they were wide enough around the base that five people holding hands could barely encompass them. They were also good for hiding, because their branches were thick and flat.
Elias looked up at the tree he had chosen. It had been ages since he had climbed a yult, but his childhood muscle memory served him well. It was awkward going, first placing the Seed on a branch, then pulling himself up onto the same. He repeated the process more than a dozen times, stopping only when he was dangerously high above the ground and the branches had thinned out somewhat. From the high vantage point he could see very far, but the light wasn’t good enough to make out any details. At least here he would be safe from wurl.
He undid his belt and looped it around the branch, securing it tight around his midsection so he wouldn’t fall. Then he sat with his back to the trunk, wrapped his arms around the welcome warmth of the Life Seed, and tried to sleep.
It wasn’t easy. Elias feared he would fall every time he began drifting off, or that he would drop the Seed, so he spent several pitiful hours dozing but not quite sleeping. The cold seeped underneath his jacket, too, making him shiver in spite of the Seed’s warmth. Every sound startled him wide-awake as well. All in all, he was pathetically grateful when the sun finally rose over the canopy, drenching everything in welcoming warm sunlight. Elias yawned, even more tired than when he had settled down. He rubbed his eyes, undid the clasp of his belt around the branch, and secured the Life Seed under one arm. Time to climb down.
A hint of movement below caught his attention. Elias froze, looking out. Something was moving among the trees, far away in the southeast still, but unmistakable. Elias waited until he could get a good look, and his patience was soon rewarded. It was the outline of a person, tiny with distance but distinct enough that Elias could make out the shock spear the figure held in one hand.
He was being followed.
He gulped, climbing down from the tree as fast as he could. The patrol had come after him. He couldn’t believe it. And if they caught him….
No. I can’t let them catch me.
He landed on the brittle grass around the yult. His link wasn’t connected to the colony network anymore, but basic functions like a compass were still accessible, and he was easily able to determine which way was northwest. Making sure his grip on the Life Seed was secure, he set off at a run in the direction of the mountains.
It was hard to keep a good pace. Another adrenaline surge in his veins helped Elias for a while, but he soon got tired of navigating the unforgiving terrain among the trees, dodging obstacles and carrying the apparently increasing weight of the Seed in his arms. He was also climbing as the land around him rose to meet the distant mountain peaks, which he could glimpse every now and then through the trees. The slope wasn’t too pronounced yet, but it could not be ignored, and as noon struck, Elias slowed to a walk.
Crisp, invigorating air greeted him when he crested a hilltop devoid of trees. It was chilly, but Elias was sweating profusely, and he welcomed the refreshing wind. Wiping his brow with the back of his hand, he took stock of the land around him.
It was breathtakingly beautiful.
Elias had never left Portree in all his life, and although he was familiar with the topography of New Skye from his geography class at school, it simply wasn’t the same as seeing it firsthand. The view from the hilltop allowed him to see very far away to the north and the west, where the landscape changed dramatically from the deep forest he had been crossing. The terrain rose and fell in progressively higher folds, like a shockwave frozen solid, testament to the creation of the mountain range that rose above it all, hazy with distance, the white peaks far above a few wispy clouds. The hillsides between him and the mountains were mostly devoid of trees, covered instead by short tan-and-gray grass that splayed out in beautifully complex patterns, occasionally broken by large boulder formations that rose up from the ground in strange places, appearing to defy gravity. Elias could even see the shadows the clouds cast on the ground as they moved along with the wind. Although desolate, the land was also hauntingly serene, as if it merely lay in wait for something to happen.
Elias broke the spell of the awe-inspiring landscape with a shake of his head. He looked back, among the trees, but he could see no sign of the patrol member who had been following him. Still, it would be best to hurry. Now that he was out of the trees, Elias would have no cover, aside from the big rock formations farther away, until he reached the mountains. It would be easy to spot him… and to catch him.
He set off at a quick trot, not quite running anymore, but determined to reach his goal.
Hunger soon made itself felt, along with ravaging thirst. According to his link, Elias had been moving nonstop for nearly six hours since he had woken on the yult, and the paltry winter sun had moved all the way across the sky and was now preparing to set, throwing long shadows across the land. Elias realized he hadn’t planned ahead at all. He didn’t even have a water bottle with him, let alone anything to eat, and although he’d had a ton of food at the feast, his stomach rumbled ominously, demanding more. His legs were also beginning to ache in silent protest against the punishing pace Elias insisted on keeping. Elias had never been a very athletic guy, and it was beginning to show. His arms and back ached as well, the result of his having to carry the Life Seed without a backpack or anything else to help him deal with the load. By the time Elias reached the foot of a hill with a much sharper slope than the others, strewn with little rocks that would certainly make climbing an ordeal, he simply stopped in exhausted despair.
“Just a bit,” he whispered to himself. “I’m only going to rest for a bit.”
He sat down on the dry grass, looking back the way he had come. He could see no one following, which was good. Maybe he had lost them after all. But that meant he was on his own out in the wilderness. With no food, no water, and no shelter.
Although he was able to rest, remaining motionless in one spot brought along a whole new set of problems. He was very exposed out in the highlands, and the wind blew relentlessly. Although the sky was clear and the sun still shone feebly in the west, its light brought no comfort. The ground underneath Elias’s hands was cold, nearly frozen, and it seemed to leech warmth away from him. The Life Seed on his lap was hot, thankfully, but even with it, Elias realized he was shivering. His clothes stuck to his skin, clammy with sweat. His lips were cracked by the dry gales, his mouth parched. His temples pounded with a headache that was beginning to make him feel nauseated, although he was sure there was nothing in his stomach for him to vomit.
A sudden gust of frigid wind nearly made him topple over, and he realized he couldn’t stay there. He stood up, his legs already stiff. His right knee felt wobbly, but he trudged up the hillside nevertheless. He tried to follow a zigzag course that would make the slope less punishing, and he ended up rounding the hill, reaching a cleft in the rocks that spread open like a jagged scar in the earth, cutting him off from his way closer to the mountains.
Panting, Elias walked to the edge of the abyss. A river flowed at the bottom, its waters white with foam. Simply hearing the water made Elias open his mouth and inhale deeply, as if he could somehow extract the moisture from the air. He had to get to that river somehow. He was thirsty enough that his vision was beginning to blur.
The problem was that the river was at least ten meters below him, and the walls of the cleft it had cut between the hills were smooth rock, impossible to descend. The sun had set by then too. In the quickly fading twilight, Elias realized that he had little time to find a way to get water. He watched the river for a few seconds, his mind racing. It was flowing from right to left, and Elias remembered hearing somewhere that rivers always flowed down. He decided to follow the cleft in the rock upstream, hefting the Life Seed on one shoulder and keeping it more or less steady with a shaking hand. He dragged his feet as he went, lacking the energy to go much faster. The slope along the riverside quickly rose, but as it did, the distance between Elias and the foaming river decreased. He kept walking, following the meandering paths of the stream, dodging rocks and clumps of dry grass, telling himself that he would soon be drinking plenty of water. His face felt numb from exposure to the merciless chill wind, however. The hand that was not holding the Life Seed ached from the cold.
He was rewarded for his efforts as true night fell over the land. Elias finally reached a plateau on the highlands, a wide and flat expanse of terrain through which the river cut with the precision of a knife. The river’s banks were wide and shallow, and Elias was pathetically grateful to fall down on his knees and dip his hands in blessed icy water. He brought it up to his lips and drank too quickly, which made him choke and sputter. As soon as he recovered, he did it again. He didn’t even care that the water was so cold. Water was life, and it was all he ever needed.
Soon his thirst was slaked, though, and the chill of the night reached out to seize him with a steely fist. He was shivering fiercely now, and Elias realized that by drinking all that freezing water, he had probably decreased his core temperature significantly.
And he was tired. He could not remember feeling more tired in his life, and he yawned several times, his lower jaw trembling. He reached for the Life Seed and held it to him, clinging to its warmth now that night was upon him. Elias’s headache was getting worse all the time, and after a few minutes of trying to keep the water down, he was forced to crawl to the river’s edge and vomit. He felt better after he had done so, but only marginally. And the wind was picking up.
He crawled to one of the rock formations that rose very close to a spot where the river plunged down suddenly, deeper into the hillside in a large waterfall. Touching the boulders, Elias realized they still held some warmth from the sun, and he quickly built a small fort out of the smaller ones, a single wall really, leaning against the towering rock formation with its sharp angles and grass-covered exposed sections. He nestled into the corner formed by his makeshift shelter and immediately felt the warmth radiating from the sun-warmed rocks on his back, while the Life Seed in his arms heated up his chest and legs.
He wasn’t comfortable, but at least he wasn’t shivering anymore. The light of the moons was reflected in the swift current of the river a few paces away. The foam from the waterfall rose into the air farther away, and the wind carried with it a moist, earthy smell. As he watched the night spectacle, Elias saw a couple of ryddle birds corkscrewing through the air, their white plumage shining in the moonlight. They were silent as they glided down, hopping gracefully to the edge of the riverside. They had long, many-jointed legs, serrated beaks, and three dark eyes dotting their feathery foreheads. Elias stayed very still, knowing that ryddle birds could be aggressive if they felt threatened, and he watched them as they turned their heads this way and that, looking at the river waters. One of them hopped into the river itself, somehow managing not to be carried away by the current, and pitched its head forward, beak slightly open. A few seconds passed and the bird held its position, motionless, until it suddenly struck. It plunged its body into the current, disappearing from view only to explode out of the water in a burst of sparkling droplets. It flapped its powerful wings, spiraling back onto the shore. There was a small fish caught in it beak, which it promptly devoured.
Elias’s head fell forward, onto the Life Seed. He was so tired that he was asleep even before his arms relaxed, allowing the Seed to tumble out of his grasp onto the moist riverside.
Chapter 9—The Wilderness of New Skye
ELIAS AWOKE to bright sunlight, an aching neck, and ravenous hunger.
It took him a moment to realize where he was. He was lying with his head leaning awkwardly on one of the rocks he had piled yesterday, and as he sat up, he massaged a crick in his neck with fingers numb from the awful cold. His breath was ragged in his lungs, and he coughed several times while he rubbed some feeling back into his legs. He hoped he hadn’t caught pneumonia, but there was no helping it if he had.
Everything hurt. Elias stumbled upright, walked a few paces away from the river and relieved himself while trying to count how many places in his body hurt. He stopped when he reached twenty. His feet ached, and his left ankle felt a little swollen. Both his knees hurt when he bent them, and the muscles in his back protested at the slightest motion. His shoulders were stiff and his biceps wobbly. Even his jaw was sore, and his nose felt numb, nearly frozen.
He zipped up his pants. The good news was that he had no signs of frostbite anywhere, which he was able to confirm by wiggling his fingers and toes and touching his nose and ears. Aside from a faint rattling in his lungs whenever he took a deep breath, he didn’t feel too bad. The problem was the hunger, which was slowly awakening again in the pit of his stomach. It gurgled when Elias scooped up handfuls of freezing water to drink. He could see a few fish swimming in the river, but they were too small and quick for him to catch, and he wouldn’t be able to eat them even if he caught them. He would have to go hungry for another day.
It was strange, in a way. Elias was used to not eating very much, but he had never actually gone an entire day without food while simultaneously exercising more than he ever had in his life. It felt awful. And it drove home the fact that if he allowed things in the colony to reach the point of starvation, everyone would suffer as he was suffering right now.
The Seed.
He blinked. He didn’t have it with him. Where…?
Thankfully, he spotted it right away. It was lying a short distance from the river’s edge, and Elias rushed forward, fearing that it would topple into the river to be lost forever. When he was close enough to stand over it, however, he froze. There was no way the Seed would have fallen in, not with the thorny branches of a flowering bush anchoring it to the ground.
Elias kneeled in front of the strange bush. There were plants similar to it near Portree, but they were always bare, the woody stalks covered with spines and nothing else. This bush, however, was short and round and covered with beautiful green leaves. In several places between the leaves, tiny purple flowers with three petals each had blossomed. They were beautiful, but that wasn’t all. In many places, the branches held not flowers, but fruit. A specific kind of fruit.
Small purpleberries grew in clusters all over the bush, weighing the branches down with their bounty. Their smooth leathery skin was the same color as the flower petals, each of them about half as big as a Terran cherry.
“No way,” Elias whispered. “What the hell?”
He touched the bush experimentally. It felt real.
How come I didn’t see it last night?
He couldn’t understand it. It was the only bush growing on the river banks, and although last night had been dark, he would have definitely spotted something like this. What was a purpleberry bush doing in the middle of nowhere, next to the Life Seed?
Unless…. Unless it wasn’t here before.
Elias reached forward and grabbed the Life Seed. When he tried to lift it, there was resistance. He pulled harder, and it tore free of the ground. Lifting it up, Elias realized that three slender growths had come out of the flower bud, like the roots of a tree. They had tunneled into the ground, from the looks of it. Directly underneath the purpleberry bush.
The logical conclusion was too fantastic for him to accept. Instead, he placed the Life Seed carefully nearby and sat down next to the bush. He proceeded to pick it clean, gathering every berry he could find. Then he ate.
The berries were delicious. He had never tasted anything quite like them—a mixture of sweet and tart with a wonderfully chewy pulp inside. He’d had purpleberry jam when he was little, but its flavor was nowhere near the awesomeness of the fresh fruit. Purple juice dripped down his chin as he stuffed his mouth with handfuls of the berries, swallowing gratefully and enraptured with several pleasant sensations at the same time. The berries quenched his thirst and sated his hunger. Better still, the headache in his temples abated, and soon his stomach was pleasantly full. About five minutes later, he simply could eat no more. Several handfuls of the berries remained, and he stuffed them in the zip-up pockets of his jacket. He lay down on the hard ground, looked up at the beautiful azure winter sky, and allowed himself to relax for the first time since escaping from the colony.
He heard the noise then, clearly. A voice, shouting.
Elias scrambled to his feet, looking around wildly. He saw the patrol officer right away, cresting a hill not half a kilometer back the way he had come.
