The Green Ones

Episode 2, Part 7

Fifteen minutes into our hike through the Shadows, it starts to rain in earnest. The altered rhythm of rain inside the dome quickly replaces normal for residents of Worker City. Rather than an even blanket of droplets, the rain falls in a combination of shattered mist and large, collective drops.

Oddly, beneath the forest canopy inside the Shadows, the rhythm feels completely natural as leaves deflect and pool the rain on its way to the earth’s surface. Gradually, the relative quiet of the rich greenery transforms into an orchestra of drips and drops, until it feels like we’re at the base of a waterfall.

Yetic stops our trudging pace. Looking at both Olin and I, he shrugs and shakes his head as if he’s gotten us lost. The noise of the rain makes chewing him out more effort than it’s worth. Instead, I look for a means to slake my raging thirst.

A large drop strikes the top of my head. Looking up, I find a banana leaf pregnant with rain. While tipping the leaf for a few mouthfuls of water, I’m struck with the impossibility of finding this non-native tropical in such a hostile place. Before I can offer Olin a drink, he catches my wrist.

His eyes have returned to normal, save an extreme level of concern. With a subtle nod, he indicates the canopy above us. This time, as I lift my head, I focus past the branches of the banana tree. In shock, I realize the forest is filled with perching twitchers.

My first temptation is to scream. Fortunately, my survival skills override the terror rippling throughout me. Unwilling to look away, I reach blindly in the direction of Yetic. I start at his hand on my shoulder.

“I thought I had the right place,” he sounds relieved, jovial even. “These guys get trickier every time I visit.”

I risk a glance at him. “You make it a habit?” I’m nearly yelling over the rain.

He shrugs, “It’s the best place to train.”

My brain freezes, unable to compute Yetic’s words under the circumstances. I jolt, realizing the twitchers above us are on the move. As a single unit, they flush from the branches with the grace of monkeys. I squeeze Olin’s hand and try to shield him. He and Yetic don’t crouch at all, exposing my efforts as ridiculous at best.

Fanning out around us, their numbers swell into the dozens—at least fifty. Packed shoulder to shoulder, they form a tight circle around the three of us along with the banana tree. Fresh eyes reveal the tree to be planted in the center of a small opening. Someone has tended it, protected it.

None of the twitchers make an attempt to communicate, either verbally or physically. Seconds later, a hole opens in their perimeter. A female strides into the circle, bare chested and mottled as if her skin were an extension of the light and shadow of the forest. “Yetic, how nice that you bring company this time.” Barely speaking up, her voice cuts through the rain like a knife.

Yetic bows slightly, “You tire of my face already?”

“After the first time we met, yes.”

Yetic smiles and nods at this.

“I hope you don’t expect us to extend the same agreement we have with you to any morsel you tempt into our forest.”

“I’m hardly a morsel.” I bite the inside of my cheek, too late to stop the outburst.

The woman shifts her focus from Yetic to me and my brother. The circle of twitchers release a hissing breath in unison, racking my body with shivers. “The little boy,” she nods, “he has promise. But you,” she points with her chin, leering at me with beady, black eyes, “how do you expect to survive?”

“I could start by killing you,” I growl, this time without apology.

“Ah, I see. Fire can serve you well, as it has me. But—”

My feet lift from the ground as my arms crush to my sides. I squeak, the air rushing from my lungs. Olin flinches, only the slightest of movements, but I know the woman sees it. I’m helpless to cry out, to demand she leave my brother alone.

The woman’s eyes flare. A blue light sparks the air beside me, and I tumble to the ground, free from the woman’s mental grip. As I rise to my knees, a swirling storm of light expands in the space between Olin and the woman.

Flicking her hand, she yanks the storm into the ground. It dissipates with a gentle puff of pulverized earth.

Olin is trembling, and I rush to his side in time to keep him from total collapse. “What did you do to him?”

Yetic steps in between me and the woman, defusing the matter. “I come seeking safe passage through your forest. As you know, I would not do so lightly.”

The woman cracks her neck, shedding a subtle pulse of telekinetic energy like a smoke ring from a pipe. “Explain.”

“These two have become hunted enemies of the ometeotl.”

“Huatiani,” the woman growls the name. The ring of twitchers burst into a chorus of rain-shattering screeches, filling the air with mist. Moments before my brain explodes, the woman expels a weak pulse, silencing her minions instantly. “Continue.”

Yetic snaps to attention, “Right. You know the punishment they face. The boy’s crime is telekinesis. His sister’s,” he glances at me, “is hardheadedness.”

I clear my throat loudly.

“That, and caring for her brother.”

“Siblings,” the woman nods. “I will let you pass, but you will owe me. As much as I hate the Supreme and his groveling guard, especially Huatiani, our forest is not a safe haven for enemies of the state. I needn't remind you, if our secret is discovered, you will die among the first.”

“You couldn’t be clearer. I’ll return with a batch of Worker City’s finest at my earliest opportunity.”

“You mean, before you scamper off to the academy?”

Yetic nods.

The woman brushes him aside, approaching Olin and me. “The circumstances suggest I can look forward to seeing you two again, if you survive long enough to die in our forest.”

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

“On what? You surviving?”

“On anyone standing in our way.”

The woman laughs, causing the pattern of light and shadow beneath the surface of her skin to dance. “I like you very much.” She swallows, her look of disdain returning. “In that case, perhaps we shall meet again, somewhere outside these walls.” She turns. Her entire entourage of twitchers shift into two columns, one on each side of us. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Yetic falls in beside Olin and me, all three of us flanked by disciplined and sentient twitchers, something I didn’t know could exist. Together, we march.