Page 13 of Larz

He stopped just a few paces away from me, close enough that I could see the intricate patterns etched into his blue scales. “Your intentions may be honorable,” he said after a moment’s pause, “but intentions do not always equate to outcomes.”

I swallowed hard, but held his gaze. “We’re trying to learn,” I insisted. “To adapt.”

“Adaptation is survival,” he conceded. His eyes never left mine; they held stories and secrets of countless moons.

The air between us crackled with an energy I couldn’t name—a mixture of tension and something else entirely that made my pulse quicken.

“You have much to learn about Zorv.” He turned slightly, gesturing toward the surrounding landscape.

“I’m willing,” I replied quickly, too quickly perhaps. My eagerness might have seemed naïve, but it was genuine.

He regarded me for a long moment before nodding once. “Then observe.” Larz knelt beside the burrow and placed his hand gently on the ground. The Skelth flyers emerged once more, encircling him in a dance of light and color.

“How did you—” I started, but stopped myself as Larz raised a finger to his lips.

“Listen,” he instructed softly.

I closed my mouth and did as he said; and there it was—a low hum emanating from Larz’s hand that resonated through thesoil. The creatures responded to it as if it were their own silent language.

“You’re communicating with them?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

“In a manner.” He removed his hand and stood up again. “Every being on Zorv connects with the life force around them.”

I stood there dumbfounded by what had just unfolded before me—this display of harmony between warrior and winged sprite alike was unlike anything I had ever witnessed on Earth or imagined possible here.

“This is incredible,” I said.

Larz looked down at me with what might have been the hint of approval—or was it amusement? It was hard to tell with Zorvians; their expressions were as enigmatic as their world.

“It is life,” he replied simply before glancing toward where my companions would wait for me at camp. “You should return now.”

My head bobbed in agreement, even though every fiber in me wanted to stay and learn more about this warrior and his extraordinary connection with everything around him.

“Will you teach us more?” The question leaped out before I could weigh its boldness.

He regarded me for a heartbeat longer than necessary before answering. “Perhaps.” There was no promise in his voice but no dismissal either; it hung there like an unspoken pact between two souls from different worlds.

“Thank you,” I said sincerely and turned toward camp, aware of his gaze on my back with every step I took away from him and toward my kind who knew nothing yet of what had just transpired—of what might yet transpire between us all.

I stumbled back into camp, the image of Larz’s commanding presence imprinted on my retinas. My mind churned with a maelstrom of questions and a yearning for knowledge that I had never felt so acutely. I shed my suit with clumsy hands, feeling suddenly confined by its layers.

Caleb caught sight of me first, his brow creased with concern. “You alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No, not a ghost,” I said, shaking my head as I struggled to articulate the encounter. “Just... something unexpected.”

Jana perked up from her analysis of soil samples. “What kind of unexpected? Alien plant? New mineral?”

I hesitated, glancing at Sergei, who was peering over Jana’s shoulder with a mild interest that quickly sharpened when our eyes met.

“It was one of them—Larz,” I admitted. The name felt strange to my tongue, resonant and full of uncharted depths.

Caleb’s expression turned serious. “Did he threaten you?”

“No, nothing like that.” I sat down on a nearby rock, feeling the weight of their gaze. “It was peaceful, actually. He showed me... he showed me how they communicate with the wildlife here.”

Sergei crossed his arms over his chest. “Communicate how?”

I struggled to find the words that could do justice to what I’d witnessed. “He touched the ground and these creatures, Skelthflyers he called them, they responded to him. They danced around him in this... harmony.”

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