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“Wait,” Mirella said, tapping on the glass of her bracer. “Athusa is right, there are a few segments very likely to collapse if you stand on them.”
I was about to answer when I was suddenly struck by a thought.
“You see that Sentinel tree over there, that’s partially tilted?” I asked, pointing at it.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Can you show me a safe path to it?” I asked.
“Crayek!” Athusa exclaimed. “Great idea!”
“Yes, I can,” Mirella replied even as she cast a confused look at Athusa as to what the ‘great idea’ was.
“Proceed!” I said.
To my shock, Mirella pointed her arm towards the pit. A thin red beam shot out from it, illuminating a specific spot on the ground. The red light followed the movement of her hand, guiding me to my destination. While I could have achieved the same thing using my veris every few steps to assess the stability of the ground on a short radius around me, it would have taken a long time.
Athusa raced ahead to the Sentinel tree, his movement made easier by the more even terrain and straighter line to his destination. Whereas I had to do quite a bit of zigzagging to avoid the unstable areas. He placed his palm on the trunk of the tree, his veris connecting to its vines. Moments later, the roots of the tree—partially exposed by the collapse—started extruding, extending horizontally in a downward slope.
Although it didn’t quite reach the pile of rubble I was hastening towards, it was close enough that I could leap to catch it. The roots were thick and solid enough that they wouldn’t break under my weight. I started running as I approached the peak from whence I would jump, waiting until the last minute to do so. Just when my feet left the ground, a familiar scent smacked my nose. Despite its subtleness, buried as it was in dirt, fallen leaves, and moss, I distinctly recognized it. Too many dark memories were attached to it.
The shock nearly made me miss the roots. As my hands began to slip, I tightened my hold while cursing.
“Taelen!” Mirella shouted fearfully.
As much as it shamed me to have needlessly frightened her, my entire focus was on trying to pinpoint the source of the scent. To my dismay, the Sentinel tree immediately retracted its roots, pulling me towards the ledge and away from my target.
As soon as I was within range, Athusa grabbed my wrist to help me back onto solid ground. Mirella all but knocked him out of the way to throw herself in my arms. I winced as she gave me a bone-crushing hug. Her arms were applying pressure on one of the tender spots in my back. But I didn’t pull away and returned her embrace instead, before making sure she was fine.
“I’m okay,” she said reassuringly when I frowned at the bruise that was already darkening on her upper arm, near her shoulder. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
“Nothing worth worrying about,” I said distractedly before looking back at the pit.
Under different circumstances, I would have been amused by Mirella running the scanner of her bracer over me. But that gave me a different idea.
“Can you use your scanner to see if there are any weapons or mechanical devices in this area?” I asked, indicating the area where I believed the smell emanated from.
“Weapons?” Mirella echoed, her confusion reflected on Athusa’s face.
“The Settlers used small spheres that exploded and destroyed things. They could kill if you were close enough,” I said angrily. “Although they didn’t emit fire or heat that we could see, they always left a distinct burnt scent behind.”
“You smelled it here?!” Athusa exclaimed, horrified.
“Yes,” I said forcefully, my gaze still leveled on Mirella.
She frowned and once more tapped on her scanner before holding her hand close to the hole.
“I’m not picking up anything that could even remotely resemble a bomb or explosive residue,” my mate said apologetically, her frown deepening. “The only technology I pick up are the support poles.”
“Hmmm,” I said, frustrated as I knew with certainty I hadn’t imagined it.
“Maeve should be here soon. She will have a far more powerful scanner than mine. We can ask her to check then,” Mirella suggested.
Mollified, I gave her a stiff nod. However, a glance at our surroundings broke my heart while also fanning the anger simmering within me. The collapse stretched over far too long a section of the forest. Countless trees had been uprooted, some split right down the middle, or their limbs torn off. While we were running, various birds and insects had taken flight to escape the destruction. But how many smaller mammals, rodents, and reptiles had been unable to outrun this disaster? And all of this because of the greed of off-worlders.
Only greed or deliberate sabotage?
Orian calling out to us reclaimed my attention. She was standing a short distance away with most of our companions. Above them, a Nordjarimm had taken flight, carrying Urthan and Norak. Even from here, Norak appeared unconscious with Urthan supporting him. I addressed a silent prayer to the Goddess to spare our brother and allow him to make a full recovery in the healing temple.
