Page 32 of I Married A Syllen

“Definitely not. Anyway, this weather would not suit them. And they would also not find the right type of food to meet their dietary requirements here.”

“Hmmm,” Mirella said pensively. “Whoever performed this excavation left. I detect no sign of life. And there doesn’t seem to be any furniture or equipment either. Were there any valuable resources down there? Things like rare minerals?”

“No. The only thing that should have been there was melia,” I said, anger seeping into my voice.

“What is melia?” she asked.

“It is something essential to maintain the balance while we are awake,” I explained. “The reason we’re so desperate for the Kalrins to awaken is because they do that work. They feed off weeds and various parasitic plants. That allows them to secrete melia, that they shape into balls that we call melia nuts. They bury them in the ground throughout the territory, and many of them around tree roots. Both animals and trees will feed from these nuts that are rich in nutrients.”

“Okay,” Mirella said carefully, clearly not seeing what that had to do with these caves.

“There is always an excess of them. So trees will use their roots to bury the nuts even deeper into the ground. A chemical reaction occurs when the nuts remain in the soil for a long time as they start to absorb an increasing amount of the iron it contains. Over time, they will turn into stones. We harvest a very small quantity of those stones, which serve as an energy source, but also to illuminate our dwellings and other locations at night.”

“I must see one of those stones,” Mirella said forcefully.

“We have old ones back in the village. Some of them are not drained. We didn’t bother looking for fresh ones since the ones we had sufficed for our needs,” I replied.

“Perfect. For now though, we need to find the entrance to that underground cave,” my mate said firmly.

“Agreed,” I said, pleased by the almost angry determination audible in her voice.

We started flying endlessly in search of that entrance. There was no question in my mind that Doopelok Moniuk wouldn’t have been so eager and unwavering in his desire to get to the root of things. However, something had shifted in my female’s demeanor the minute I mentioned the melia stones. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but my gut said she had a growing suspicion of what had happened. And if my instincts were right, she believed humans were behind it.

Chapter 7

Mirella

My blood boiled as we flew over the valley and the orchard. Every reading on the scan confirmed some deep excavation over the entire region. I didn’t doubt the architectural prowess of the Syllens, based on the beautiful things they had accomplished with their villages and giant statues that withstood the test of time. But such an extensive network of caves could not have been done without advanced technology as I couldn’t detect any proper ventilation system that would have supported life while they performed the work.

With the Syllens being the most advanced native species of Mazeria, only an off-worlder could have done this. Except access to these lands had been forbidden. The only people authorized to venture here from time to time were the employees of Pirenei. That further enraged me.

Is this why they didn’t hire me? Did they figure out I would become a whistleblower if I found out what they were up to?

During the recruitment process, I made no mystery of my passion for the Syllens. If they truly were the ones behind this—and I couldn’t think of anyone else—then they would have perceived me as a liability. My interview with them had gone so well, now it made sense they declined hiring me.

Pirenei had been retained as watchers over the land. They were only allowed to send in the occasional drones to make sure that no one was intruding or breaking the Prime Directive laws concerning the Syllens. They also had a very restricted authorization to study the flora and fauna of the planet by retrieving small samples.

Initially, before Kayog alerted us to the fact that the Syllens would awaken again, Pirenei had removed some of the trees to study them. After that, the UPO demanded they return everything, which they claimed they had done. Based on what Taelen said, most of the trees had indeed been returned, although not at their exact original positions. But what happened to the queens?

My chest constricted at the thought of the potential fallout should my assumptions be proven accurate. This could severely harm the fragile relationship we were trying to establish with the locals. Mentally, I was already preparing for that certainty. Either way, the culprits would need to face exemplary punishment to deter anyone from ever doing such a horrible thing again.

Taking away the queens, I could somewhat forgive. After all, we all genuinely believed that they were mere statues. For all I knew, it could have been the handiwork of some questionable employee seeking to make a quick buck by selling them to rich collectors. Had they been exposed in a museum or something along those lines, I would have known. Therefore, they had to be secretly held somewhere. Hopefully, it wasn’t for nefarious reasons.

What if they awaken and also go on the offensive?

That would be another can of worms that we also needed to prepare for. Sadly, there was a real possibility that, had they been sold to an individual, that person might have no clue that they were illegally acquired and potentially deadly.

My mind reeling, I glanced over my shoulder at Taelen.

“About the missing queens, what happens if we cannot find them?” I asked cautiously. “Would you be able to raise more?”

He frowned before hesitantly nodding.

“Technically, yes. The problem is awakening the Kalrins forcefully instead of through the natural calling from their queens is extremely difficult. On top of that, breeding a new one takes a long time while the land and the creatures who rely on that balance will continue to suffer,” he explained. “We also cannot awaken the other Syllens until that’s resolved.”

“Why is that?” I asked, surprised.

“Because too many of us will drain the natural resources available if the land is not healthy enough to produce a sufficient supply. Remember that this entire planet is one giant organism that we’re all a tiny part of with our specific purpose,” he replied.