Page 44 of I Married Amreth

“I’ll return soon.”

“Be safe out there,” she replied with an encouraging smile.

I nodded, cast one last meaningful glance at Vala, then took flight.

The first hour proved totally uneventful. My scanner collected data on the flora and fauna below without picking up anything unusual. Thanks to previous sanctioned visits to Kestria by Elias Jacobs’ teams to work with the Sangoth, the UPO already had a pretty extensive database regarding thisplanet’s plants and creatures. With everything checking out so far, I allowed myself to revel in the untainted beauty of this new world.

As much as I hated how those foolish doctors tragically derailed the lives of these tribes by their careless actions, I could understand the temptation that led to this. This place truly was a paradise with countless perfect settings for romantic getaways. I spotted so many along the way where I would love to take Ciara for a proper courtship. To my shame, I caught myself wondering if it would be acceptable to have such an escapade before our departure. As we wouldn’t be bringing anything alien into their ecosystem, surely it would be fine?

But all such wandering thoughts flew right out of my head when my scanner beeped. A look at the interface indicated a number of moving orange spots of varying sizes, which belonged to animals. I looked up and altered my vision to peer at the aura of those creatures. A mix of shock and excitement surged through me upon seeing the grayish burgundy color of their auras. This corresponded to a state of mindless rage. Those creatures were rabid.

Who or what infected them?

I circled around the area, marking the coordinates on the map of my scanner while attempting to see how far the infected creatures had roamed. I also noticed that not every animal registered as rabid. In fact, only a handful did. Although I only quickly surveyed the results, it struck me as odd that not all the animals of the same species displayed the symptoms. I couldn’t tell if it was because they were still in the early stages of the disease, if they hadn’t been infected yet, or if they were somehow immune.

But that would be for more competent people than me to assess.

To my surprise, as I traveled farther to the west of the path I had been following, a dense patch of red appeared at the edge of my scan radius. It was located on the other side of the river, which initially made me hesitate. Intrigued, and not wanting to leave any stone unturned, I crossed the large body of water. Once over the western shore, I tapped an inquiry into the scanner. My jaw dropped when a small holographic display popped up from my bracer with additional info indicating an intrusive plant.

“How is this plant intrusive?” I asked my device.

“This plant does not belong to Kestria’s ecosystem,” the artificial intelligence replied. “It is a 94% match with two different species of berries from Earth: strawberries and raspberries.”

I muttered a curse under my breath even as a thrill coursed through me. Granted, the berries were rather far from the location where the infected creatures roamed. But if it also took a while before the symptoms manifested themselves, the animals would have wandered off in the days after they consumed it.

Across the river?

That didn’t add up. I continued flying farther west until the scanner stopped picking up more of the berries. But it did detect a few sick animals, although in far smaller numbers than the ones I had found on the east shore. I backtracked and continued nearly a kilometer to the east to see if I could find more berries but failed to do so.

For a moment, I considered picking up a few samples then decided against it. I wasn’t a scientist and didn’t know what potential consequences my actions could have against the Kreelars. It didn’t matter that Ciara said that the infection only occurred through consumption. These people were suffering enough without me gambling further with their lives by takingrisks. At least, I knew specifically where they could be harvested under proper safety and containment procedures. Instead, I flew down to some of the largest patches and took close-up pictures.

With time ticking away, I came back to the main path the pilgrims had taken and pursued the journey to the Svast Temple. A haunting melody reached me long before the forest opened in front of me to reveal its splendor. I didn’t need to know that it was indeed a holy place. It radiated divine energy. I suspected some of it could be explained by physics, but a part of me believed that people could imbue an area with either positive or negative energy when enough of it was expanded repeatedly over a long period of time.

The temple itself had been carved directly into a mountain face framed by a waterfall. The tall pillars and massive doors were intricately adorned with carved symbols in a foreign language my translator didn’t know. There didn’t seem to be a direct access to the front entrance by land. One had to walk through the water to reach the stairs. I presumed it was a form of cleansing ritual before being allowed in.

And exactly what appeared to be happening right now. At least a hundred pilgrims of all ages had gathered in the water. The youngest stood closest to the stairs, which was the shallowest part. The older people took position in the deeper part, with water reaching up to the middle of their waists. They formed a continuous chain with everyone on the same row holding hands. The people standing at the end of each row would link to the row in front or behind by holding the tail of the person ahead of them.

They were chanting while not exactly performing a dance, but they were stepping from side to side, front and back, and occasionally tilting their heads at various angles in a synchronous fashion. In front of them, standing at the top of the four stairs to the entrance, three Kreelars also sang whileperforming wider gestures with their arms and hands. They were wearing sleeveless robes with faceless masks that made it impossible to know their gender for sure.

I wanted to fly in closer to get a better look and further enjoy the fascinating proceedings but turned around instead. Although Vala didn’t tell me to steer clear of the temple, it felt sacrilegious to spy on their devotions and intrude in their shrine. Anyway, I was only here to determine whether more infected plants or animals could be found in the area. The fact that I didn’t seemed to confirm why only a small number of the previous pilgrims had been infected instead of all.

Although I hurried on my journey back, I still ended up reaching Jaln Village after an absence of nearly eight hours. Despite feeling tired and famished, the emotion that dominated within me as I began my descent towards the square was relief to find Ciara rushing towards its center with a broad smile.

Relief also radiated from the other villagers, and especially from Enre and Vala. I could only imagine how much the trust the people had in them would have been undermined had I not returned.

Ciara throwing herself into my arms as soon as I landed did the most wondrous thing to me. I could get used to this type of warm welcome every day for the rest of my life. It touched me all the more that it wasn’t fear and the need for protection that prompted it, but genuine joy at simply having me back.

“Welcome back, Amreth. We feared you might have gotten lost,” Vala said in a teasing tone, though I didn’t miss the underlying lingering worry that she had genuinely felt.

“I did not, but I did wander off much farther than initially intended to investigate some anomalies,” I replied before turning to my mate. “I believe you’re going to like this.”

With a couple of taps on the interface of my bracer, I called up the pictures I took and displayed them on the holographicscreen that deployed over it. Ciara gasped, her eyes popping with excitement. I swiftly recounted what I encountered, between the rabid animals and the patches of berries.

“You were wise not to bring samples,” Ciara said absent-mindedly while browsing through the scan reports before glancing at Vala. “Are you familiar with those fruits? Are these a part of your diet?”

She shook her head and looked at them with a confused expression shared by Enre.

“I have never seen those berries before. They certainly aren’t anywhere near the areas that we hunt or forage in.”

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