Page 5 of I Married A Syllen

They froze and gave me a stunned look as if I had fallen on my head before peering questioningly at the Birdman. The stiffness of his beak made it difficult to know whether he was smiling for sure. However, the slight tremor of his shoulders indicated repressed laughter. Mares audibly chuckled.

“He is correct,” Kayog said in an indulgent tone before spreading his arms wide as he had previously done with me. “But go ahead and touch. You have my permission.”

Watching them pet him wrested a laugh out of me as well. In many ways, I could see how ridiculous it might look now that it had been highlighted. We so often touched without thinking that it barely even registered in our minds. I was just grateful that he was so indulgent with our curiosity—not that Mares’ antlers were spared either.

“Unfortunately, we must part ways with you,” I said in an apologetic tone. “We must scout the land and make sure it is ready for us to gradually awaken our people.”

“Of course,” Kayog said, sobering. “Would it be acceptable for me to return in a few months to get to know your people better once you are all settled in?”

“Yes, Birdman. You will always be welcome in Drossara,” I replied gently.

To my shock, he extended an arm towards me. He chuckled at my air of confusion.

“You can touch one last time before I leave,” he said teasingly. “I can feel that you want to. I’m an empath.”

I snorted, my cheeks heating with embarrassment before I shamelessly complied. His down feathers were truly fantastic.

After a final farewell, Mares got back onto his Nordjarimm, and Kayog flapped his wings, flying alongside him as they soared into the sky. My Osheos and I watched with fascination until they disappeared on the other side of the ridge.

As soon as they faded from view, I refocused on my companions. We briefly discussed our plans for scouting the land. This would be a first assessment, after which we would be able to decide how many of our people to awaken.

“I will fly to Tekera Valley to check on the Kalrins and the farmlands,” I said.

“I will ride an Elijinn to see the state of the river, what food it has to offer as well as the maturation chambers,” Nym said.

The thought of riding an Elijinn sparked a deep longing in me. I loved racing on the back of these sea creatures both over and underwater. Once my duties were handled, I would make sure to indulge in a few rides.

“I will check the village and general infrastructure,” Drannor said.

“Very well. Let’s reconvene by nightfall,” I replied.

Nym touched her fingers to her chin before diving back into the water. Drannor and I emitted ultrasonic pulses to call Nordjarimms. While we waited, we examined the banks and flora around the chamber to ensure its sturdiness and health. As the minutes stretched, I began to worry that the creatures would not answer a call they had not heard in generations. I emitted another ultrasonic pulse and waited some more. Just as I was beginning to lose hope, four creatures appeared on the horizon and quickly made their way to us as we repeated the call.

They circled overhead around us, unsure what to do. They understood the summons, but they’d never seen one of us in the flesh. Yet they were familiar with us thanks to the giant statues of us carved in buildings and mountains.

As one, Drannor and I began to sing in our alluring voices. It wasn’t as harmonious as usual due to my vocal cords suffering from disuse. Thankfully, it still achieved its goal of irresistibly luring the creatures to us while appeasing them.

All four Nordjarimms landed, their bird heads cocking from side to side as they examined us with the same curiosity we’d shown our guests. Still singing, Drannor and I petted each animal, allowing them to familiarize themselves with us. To our shock, all four appeared already trained to take riders. And yet, they were wild, not the domesticated ones that Mares rode here.

Have they been released by the off-worlders after serving them?

Whatever the reason, Drannor and I were grateful not to have to spend additional time coaxing them into accepting us as riders. With a final nod to my friend, I picked one of the four creatures and took flight. He did the same, heading in a different direction.

A wave of joy washed over me as we cleared the mountain ridge, and the beautiful landscape of Drossara sprawled widely before me. By the Goddess, our world was perfect with its towering trees, colorful flowers, luxuriant vegetation, crystalline waters running through the valley, and the warm sun caressing my skin as it hung high in the clear blue sky. In the distance, various birds and other flying creatures chased after each other in different areas.

Relief flooded through me at seeing the land apparently unscathed from this vantage point. Granted, after so many years, multiple areas had become overgrown and a little neglected. It instantly brought a smile to my face imagining how fat the Kalrins would grow with so much weed and overgrowth for them to feed on.

But even as that thought entered my mind, I wondered about their absence. The queens would have felt the shift in the land and stirred before our return to get their workers back in action. The Kalrins already should have been flying around, eating weeds and bugs, which in turn would allow them to produce the melia nuts essential to maintaining the balance of our soil. Even if some of them were burying those nuts in the Tekera Valley where most of them resided, there should have been hundreds of them milling about.

Foregoing further exploration of the Drossara farmlands, I directed my mount towards the Tekera Valley to investigate the state of the Kandra tree orchards that served as home to the Kalrins. The closer I got to my destination, the more my worry turned to dread. The land was far too reddish from iron saturation. Even after all these years with the Kalrins also going dormant alongside us, the melia nut reserves underground shouldn’t have depleted so quickly. Without them to neutralize some of the iron in the soil and fertilize it, the land quickly became unsuitable to live on.

The orchard should have filtered all of this.

The saturation was too great and over too vast an area. Something had gone terribly wrong. As I cleared another ridge protecting the orchard of Tekera Valley, my heart sank before a wave of anger surged within me. At least a hundred trees were missing. Most people wouldn’t have noticed as each tree had been plucked out at random spots so as to not leave gaping holes. But I knew each of those trees. Worse still, all the Mother trees sheltering the Kalrin queens had been taken away.

The off-worlders had wronged us… again.

Chapter 2