Kyle walked along side her, keeping as close as he could without irritating the aliens. Not that they are aliens. Nylie thought. This is their native planet, we are the aliens here.
Nylie stumbled a few times as they made their through the dense forest; she was unused to the uneven ground. She looked around her, trying to memorise their route, look for landmarks. But there weren’t any, and soon she became lost and confused.
Eventually, the trees began to spread out more, and as she looked around, she gasped. They had arrived in the alien city.
Rope bridges stretched between the tall trees, connecting the buildings residing in the branches. The colours were so bright, the array of greens was magnificent. And the vibrant flowers and alien plants were stunning. There were winding staircases circling the tree trunks up to the boughs where the buildings were, and it was one of these that they began to climb.
As Nylie looked around her, alien people like the first they had seen, were wandering around, minding their own business like it was a normal day. Some were holding the hands of children; others were mingling among one another, heads together in conversation. Some were holding weapons in their hands, obviously the patrol guard.
Many faces turned to look as they passed and she could hear floating whispers passing between them. She felt like an animal in a zoo enclosure back on Earth. Obviously, there weren’t any zoos here on Avalon.
Soon she became tired from the long, winding stairs. She paused for a second, only to be pushed on again straightaway. She looked up at the building they were approaching and gasped in wonder.
It was obviously the biggest and most grand building. With arches formed from twisted branches and vines, and a pair of grand double doors made of green leaves and branches, with flowers entwined within. The building itself was crafted from a fine wood, that was covered in soft, green moss. The whole construction seemed to melt into the large tree it was resting in, as if it was sung from the tree itself.
They were led into the building through the grand doors and I stared in wonder at what was around me. They were in entered a long hall with several doors leading off from it. There were sheets of green and cream silk strung across the ceiling like the top of a tent, but the walls were left as their natural wood state. Walking across the floor was like walking across a net made of branches, and she was thankful she wasn’t afraid of heights.
At the end of the room there were two grand thrones made of intertwined branches and ivy. In one was sat a woman so beautiful it took Nylie’s breath away. The woman had pale green skin, like the others, but hers seemed to glow with radiance, and her dazzling emerald eyes were like finely cut jewels. The long, flowing dress she wore, made of fine cloth, fit her delicate frame perfectly. Her silvery blonde hair fell around her waist in curling ringlets.
Sat on the throne next to her was a man, he looked fairly young, but the presence he held and the frown of concentration on his face made him seem older. His wispy, white hair was combed away from his piercing blue eyes. His skin was as the other alien’s they had seen, pale green, with triangular brown markings on the cheeks.
It was in front of the man and the woman that they were shoved onto their knees.
“Who, are you?” The man asked, after a long pause. He spoke in a strange accent and seemed unsure of his words as he spoke.
Nylie had not been expecting them to speak their language, and was to gobsmacked to speak.
“How do you know our language?” Kyle demanded.
“That, will come with time. If you can be trusted. My lord asked you a question.” The woman spoke, her voice was unsure also, but it was as beautiful as her appearance.
“We are the last of the human race, well, that we know of anyway. Our planet was destroyed and so we left in search of other places to live, and came here.” Nylie explained. “We only mean to find somewhere to stay.”
“This is our planet, what right do you have to be here?” The man said.
“Tell that to those who invaded our planet.” Kyle said quietly.
The woman’s eyes widened. “I thought you said your planet was destroyed?”
“It was. The invaders were close to wiping us out, and then we were evacuated because it was discovered that our star was going to explode.” Nylie quickly said.
The woman nodded. “I see.” She was silent for a moment, and then she spoke again. “I am Aecealia, and this is Bearloph,” She indicated to the man next to her, “we are the leaders of the Angrasti people.”
Bearloph leaned close to Aecealia and whispered secretly in her ear. Nylie couldn’t hear what they were saying but he didn’t seem too pleased, and after what looked like an argument, he got up and left. She sighed as she watched him go, then turned to Nylie and Kyle, indicating for them to rise.
“Come with me, there is something, you must see.” She stood gracefully and glided out of the double doors. “Lanelirendi.” She called over her shoulder.
The first Angrasti they had met took Nylie’s wrist and pulled her gently out after Aecealia. Another of the Angrasti attempted to take Kyle’s wrist but he pushed the hand away and the Angrasti settled with walking next to him.
Lanelirendi, as she presumed his name was, had a firm grip on her arm, though it was not meant to hurt and not once did he push or shove her, unlike on the way to the great building. He walked her up to Aecealia, so they were walking in step with the graceful leader. Kyle walked up on her other side.
“You wanted to know how we learn your language, yes?” Aecealia said. Kyle blushed ashamedly but she didn’t seem to notice and continued regardless. “You may think by looking at our city that we are not much technically advanced. But, we are, we just prefer more…traditional methods. When your ship landed we watched what would happen, we wanted to understand more about you before we made judgements. And so we listened, and learnt your language through radio signals and other such things.”
“You practically spied on us!” Kyle exclaimed.
Aecealia shook her head. “That was not our aim. We only wanted to learn, so that if our paths crossed then we would be able to communicate. You have not travelled so far before, what were you doing so far away from your camp?”
“We got lost.” Nylie admitted.
“But now you are not, and shall not be.” Aecealia said.
Nylie didn’t quite understand what she had meant, and by the look on his face, Kyle hadn’t either. So they stayed silent.
They made their way across a rope bridge and Nylie had to force herself not to look down. She wasn’t usually afraid of heights, but in this case she definitely was. She had half closed her eyes, trusting Lanelirendi to guide her across, for he hadn’t released her wrist for the whole journey, so far anyway.
But suddenly she stumbled; her toe was caught in one of the gaps in between the wooden slats that made up the bridge. She tumbled forwards, trying hard not to scream, and shut her eyes, expecting to fall to the ground below. She felt arms wrap around her and she opened her eyes. Lanelirendi was looking down at her as he pulled her back up, there was no emotion in his face, which she found rather odd compared to Kyle’s expressions.
“Thank you.” She said quietly, blushing slightly.
“Be more careful.” He said simply, retaking her wrist and hurrying her along to catch up with Aecealia.
After a long trek over many bridges they finally reached a small building, not as grand as the grand building they had last been in, but still as well built, and heavily guarded.
The guards parted as Aecealia approached and opened the door for her. Lanelirendi followed her in, taking Nylie with him; Kyle and is guard filed in after.
The room they were in was cast in shadow, and only when Aecealia lighted the lamps could any of the room be seen. There were many shelves, cabinets and boxes containing what looked like precious artefacts. Alien technology spilled from a box in the corner, and one shelf held numerous, exotic-looking plants.
Aecealia flittered over to a pedestal at the opposite end of the room; a brown cloth was draped over it. She looked at us and lifted the cloth.
Nylie moved closer to see what looked to be part of a ship, as she studied it closer she gasped; on the side it read SC-3764. It was from one of the Earth evacuation space ships. And it wasn’t from the one they had landed in, which meant there was another ship on Avalon.
To be continued…
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