Chapter Seven
A few hours later they were well on their way to Aughra's when Mark stopped.
"Are you all right?" Kira asked, Jen standing close behind her.
"I think I feel better then I have ever felt before," Mark replied. "As we have been walking I have heard the voices of the rocks, the breezes, the mountains, all the life of Thra. They are saying to me that I am a worthwhile being. The planet has told me that I belong now to her, and that I am welcome here."
Once again they set out, and about mid-afternoon Kira mentioned to Mark that she was thirsty. As she watched Mark shut his eyes and concentrated. "There," he said, pointing to a spot just a short distance away. "We' ll find water over there."
They walked to where he had pointed and found a small stream that flowed out of the ground and then, a short distance later, when flowed back underground"How did you know the stream was here?" Jen asked.
"I saw it, somehow," Mark replied. "Apparently if I open myself to the planet it will tell me what I need to know."
A few hours later they stood outside the door to Aughra's observatory, a variety of sounds greeting their arrival. Through the open door they could hear the sounds of laughter, singing and mixed voices.
Jen and Kira looked at each other, their eyes alight with wonder. "'Gelfling," they cried and quickly ran inside. Mark watched them go into the building, then he turned to look towards the horizon.
Inside, all seemed to be bedlam as Jen and Kira met a group of Gelfling happily talking and singing. They were warmly greeted by Jora, leader of the Gelfling tribe.
"I am Jora, leader of my tribe. You must be Jen and Kira," he said smiling. "Aughra told us about you and how you got rid of the Skeksis." He hugged Jen and Kira tightly to him.
"I thought Kira and I were the only Gelfling left," Jen said.
"So did Aughra," Jora replied, "but you can see that she was wrong." The room was filled with some thirty Gelfling, all talking and laughing and dodging Aughra's orrery. At that moment an aged Gelfling quietly stepped forward.
"This is Karn, our oldest and wisest member," Jora said.
The Gelfling was far older than any of the others. His eyes were
unseeing, and had been so for many ,years, yet he "saw" far better than any of the others. His face bore a ready and warm smile.
"Karn was Aughra's pupil," Jora said. As he was saying this Aughra appeared from around a corner. "Good one he was, too," she added.
"How did you escape the Skeksis?" Jen asked.
"Long ago Karn made a prophecy," Jora replied. "He foretold what would happen with the Great Crystal, the Skeksis and the urRu. He couldn't see how it would a11 end, though, for the future is a composite of many futures. The other Gelfling did not believe him. I and my tribe did, so we all went far away into the wilderness to try and escape. Aughra assumed we had all died, only we survived hidden in tunnels we found deep under a mountain. We stored as much food and water as we could and then we sealed the entrances. If the garthim ever came by all they would have seen would have been mountainside. We waited until Karn told us that the Great Crystal had been healed."
Aughra looked at the Gelfling. "'They all come this morning, wake Aughra. No quiet since."
Jora and the others laughed, then he asked Jen and Kira where the strange being was that Aughra had told him about.
"Mark?" Kira asked. "He was with us." She looked around couldn't see him anywhere. She went to the door and looked outside, seeing him standing, looking at the horizon.
"Come on in, Mark," she called, "and meet the other Gelfling."
Mark turned and entered the observatory with her, Kira hold his hand. "This is Mark," she said to Jora.
The Gelfling stopped their talking when marked appeared. They stared at him for a moment and then slowly began to move nearer to him. A flurry of questions was directed towards him, the last one relating to the symbol that was burned into his chest.
"I'm not exactly sure what this symbol means," he said. "I'm hoping that Aughra might have a clue as to what it stands for, and how to use it."
Aughra was now standing near Mark and was sniffing him. "You smell different," she said. "Not same as before. Smell fine now. Outside fine. How inside?"
Mark looked at Aughra. "Also different," he said. Before he could explain any further a girl Gelfling neared. Mark looked at her, seeing that she was incredibly beautiful and seemed to possess a soft radiance around her.
"I'm Alera," she said,. her voice gentle and soft.
"Hello," Mark said, unable to take his eyes away from her. She moved closer and reached out towards him. He touched her fingers with
his, and suddenly both human and Gelfling moved as if a current had run through their bodies, yet without breaking the touch of their fingertips.
While the others watched, silent, Mark and Alera remained touching. Their eyes gazed at each other as their minds filled with images of their lives. They had begun to dreamfast, to see each other's life through the mind's eye, sharing the experiences and feelings each had gone through.
When they finally released their touch they stayed near each other. Alera was looking at Mark, and Mark had a puzzled expression on his face.
"You were dreamfasting," Kira said.
Mark turned to her, speaking as if far away. "Dreamfasting? How can that happen when I'm not a Gelfling?"
"Silly," Kira replied. "You don't have to be a Gelfling to dreamfast. I've done it with the podlings many times."
"Does it happen whenever you touch?" Mark asked.
"No," Kira replied, "only sometimes, when we're very open to others."
"Dreamfasting," Aughra said. "Good. Now how strong bond?"
"What do you mean by bond?" Mark asked as he moved slightly closer to Alera.
"Dreamfasting is a bonding," Karn said, his voice deep and rich. "How strong it is depends on the persons involved. The bond might only be one of friendship and closeness. It could also be very strong, bonding their very souls together."
Aughra walked behind 'Mark and sniffed him again. Her eyebrows rose slightly, and then she turned and spoke to Jen. "Dress like Gelfling," she began, "now smell like Gelfling."
The rest of the evening was spent in celebration as the Gelfling tribe talked to Jen and Kira and made Mark welcome amongst them. They talked briefly of the danger facing them, deciding that in the morning they would hold a council to decide what they should do.
For the immediate moments, though, the emphasis was on happiness and fun. Everyone noticed that, throughout the evening, Alera and Mark ware together, holding hands and frequently lost in each other's eyes.
Somehow Aughra managed to find places where all of them could sleep and they went to bed at last, the Gelfling within the observatory, Mark in the single large room he had used before. He was glad to be able to stretch out. Shortly after Mark settled in there was a knock on the door and Alera entered. She walked to his pallet and lay down next to him, the two of them cuddling until both finally fell asleep.
In the morning Jora said that he would take the Gelfling down to the old ruins to see if they could be restored so that the Gelfling could live there. Aughra had already discussed with Jora the problem that they faced, and he was going to talk to the other Gelfling as they explored the ruins, trying to come up with some kind of idea on what they could possibly do to combat this alien evil.
A short time after they left Mark turned to Aughra. "It's time to start my lessons in earnest," he said to hear. "I need to learn about this talisman, about how it links me to Thra. Maybe there is some way I can use Thra's own energies to combat that thing from Earth.
Aughra told Mark that she had searched the observatory and had uncovered some very old parchments that helped explain the talisman. It was a device to focus energy, working on both the physical and the spiritual planes. It could also be used only in defense, never in an aggressive mode.
Throughout the day Mark poured over the parchments with Aughra, Alera always by his side. He learned that Alera was a healer, one of two in he tribe. There was no doubt that the bond between the two was growing stronger all the time, although Mark was still reluctant to give in totally to its pull, sure that something was bound to happen, that he would make some mistake that would drive Alera and the others away.
In one of their short breaks Aughra asked him about his reluctance. "Aughra, " Mark began. "I admit that I love with Alera. I had begin to think that I had somehow destroyed that emotion in me, that I would never been able to love anyone again, but I was wrong."
He paused for a moment and then continued. "I love Alera. I'd like to spend my life with her, but I don't see how that is possible. She's a Gelfling, and I'm a human. For all I know I may not even that much longer to live, once I confront this thing that came with me from Earth. And that's even assuming I am worth loving, which I have some major doubts about."
Aughra looked at him, hrumphed to herself, picked up a wooden rod from the table and proceeded to whap him on top of his head. Hard.
"You sound stupid," she began. "All beings worth loving. All beings can love. This not just about you," she continued. "What about Alera's feelings?"
"I don't want to see her hurt," Mark replied. "I've always messed up whenever I've allowed by emotions to be in control. Alera deserves better than a misfit such as me."
He did not realize that Alera was standing nearby, just outside the door. She had heard everything he had said. She ran into the room and grabbed him, holding him tightly.
"You do deserve love," Alera began. "We're different on the outside," she added, "but inside, in here (she said, indicating her heart), we're the same. I love you and you love me. That is all that either of us needs to know."
She looked into his eyes. "Besides," she continued. "I won't let you face danger alone."
Mark hugged her and together they returned to his studies. It was far into the night before they were able to take the time to sleep.
In the middle of the night, a pod village was attacked and destroyed by the energy cloud.
There were only three survivors.
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