closed in on him as the falling alien ship finally made contact and blasted the mountainside into dust.
***
Inlojem’s eyes looked onto an expansive field of grass that led up to a flat platform made from sandstone. Around the portal, which was also made of sandstone on this side, stood several beings, humanoid in form, but red in color. They all wore well-trimmed, neatly tailored baggy clothing, with headbands and bracelets draped casually off of their slender wrists and smooth white-haired heads. A young female smiled at Inlojem as he stood, shocked on the other side of the portal.
“The Red People!” Iogi beamed, as his face emerged from the light. Inlojem removed the Transmutation Block from the portal, and almost instinctively gave it to the young female who smiled at him.
“Do not fear…this came from our land. We have been waiting for you,” disclosed the round headed red female whose eyes were a glowing yellow Inlojem had never beheld. Inlojem stared back toward the empty arch, and saw that behind it another field of grass expanded endlessly. On the horizon were some tan ziggurats, not entirely different from Vesh structures but built in a bright and welcoming quality. He thought about Teftek, who met his end at this very second, and about Iquay, whose body waited for extradition from this life.
Iogi ran around in circles as Inlojem stood in shock, his unbroken gaze consuming the strange details of his new life. Iogi chanted “The Red People!” loudly and excitedly as he ran around the serene, smiling cadre rosy skinned greeters. They laughed with him and tried to meet his eyes, eager to see the joy of a child.
Inlojem looked back toward the portal. Blank and hollow, it was a hollow threshold that only showed the image of this planet. He stared through it, his eyes widened and fixed on the shallow groove where the transmutation block had been. Teftek had been within Inlojem’s grasp, but had slipped away at the last instant. Now, only the old Vesh lived. He had abandoned the only true convert he had ever known, to die so he would live, still evicted from his faith.
A dark red hand, slender but tough, touched Inlojem’s thick wrists. His arm jutted back and his head swiveled to see her face: a stocky thick boned female with blazing yellow fires inside of her eye sockets. Her half shaven head boasted braided locks of white hair from one side which ascended into a mohawk. She persisted with her hands and wrapped one around Inlojem’s elbow, the other around his hand.
“Don’t be afraid,” she cooed. “It’s alright. You’re alive.” Inlojem shakily gripped her for support as he felt his knees buckle slightly, his mouth standing open aghast and confused. She moved him to the small steps leading onto the flat stone crest where the portal stood, and they sat down together. “Is that your child? She asked, pointing toward Iogi who was telling a tall long haired male about the things that had happened to him.
“What? No,” Inlojem replied, recognizing the language and understanding that life was still moving around him. “No, no…that…that is the prophet, Iogi.” Her smile dropped a little as she discerned the seriousness of his voice and her eyes followed the innocent seeming child who bounced with energy. “He led me to this place. No one…no one would believe him about the Red People. But here you are.
“He knew he would see us?” She inquired, her voice rising with interest.
“Yes,” Inlojem replied ponderously.
“We haven’t met any others like us, with bodies and minds like us- like you,in our time on this world. We’ve met others…from the portals that is. Even from the stars. We’re just mastering how to get off of this world, but we haven’t met any others that were like us ” she explained. Her sun colored corneas studied his face as Iogi walked toward the ziggurats with several of her colleagues. “Would you like to go with him?”
“Maybe…maybe in a little
***
Inlojem’s eyes looked onto an expansive field of grass that led up to a flat platform made from sandstone. Around the portal, which was also made of sandstone on this side, stood several beings, humanoid in form, but red in color. They all wore well-trimmed, neatly tailored baggy clothing, with headbands and bracelets draped casually off of their slender wrists and smooth white-haired heads. A young female smiled at Inlojem as he stood, shocked on the other side of the portal.
“The Red People!” Iogi beamed, as his face emerged from the light. Inlojem removed the Transmutation Block from the portal, and almost instinctively gave it to the young female who smiled at him.
“Do not fear…this came from our land. We have been waiting for you,” disclosed the round headed red female whose eyes were a glowing yellow Inlojem had never beheld. Inlojem stared back toward the empty arch, and saw that behind it another field of grass expanded endlessly. On the horizon were some tan ziggurats, not entirely different from Vesh structures but built in a bright and welcoming quality. He thought about Teftek, who met his end at this very second, and about Iquay, whose body waited for extradition from this life.
Iogi ran around in circles as Inlojem stood in shock, his unbroken gaze consuming the strange details of his new life. Iogi chanted “The Red People!” loudly and excitedly as he ran around the serene, smiling cadre rosy skinned greeters. They laughed with him and tried to meet his eyes, eager to see the joy of a child.
Inlojem looked back toward the portal. Blank and hollow, it was a hollow threshold that only showed the image of this planet. He stared through it, his eyes widened and fixed on the shallow groove where the transmutation block had been. Teftek had been within Inlojem’s grasp, but had slipped away at the last instant. Now, only the old Vesh lived. He had abandoned the only true convert he had ever known, to die so he would live, still evicted from his faith.
A dark red hand, slender but tough, touched Inlojem’s thick wrists. His arm jutted back and his head swiveled to see her face: a stocky thick boned female with blazing yellow fires inside of her eye sockets. Her half shaven head boasted braided locks of white hair from one side which ascended into a mohawk. She persisted with her hands and wrapped one around Inlojem’s elbow, the other around his hand.
“Don’t be afraid,” she cooed. “It’s alright. You’re alive.” Inlojem shakily gripped her for support as he felt his knees buckle slightly, his mouth standing open aghast and confused. She moved him to the small steps leading onto the flat stone crest where the portal stood, and they sat down together. “Is that your child? She asked, pointing toward Iogi who was telling a tall long haired male about the things that had happened to him.
“What? No,” Inlojem replied, recognizing the language and understanding that life was still moving around him. “No, no…that…that is the prophet, Iogi.” Her smile dropped a little as she discerned the seriousness of his voice and her eyes followed the innocent seeming child who bounced with energy. “He led me to this place. No one…no one would believe him about the Red People. But here you are.
“He knew he would see us?” She inquired, her voice rising with interest.
“Yes,” Inlojem replied ponderously.
“We haven’t met any others like us, with bodies and minds like us- like you,in our time on this world. We’ve met others…from the portals that is. Even from the stars. We’re just mastering how to get off of this world, but we haven’t met any others that were like us ” she explained. Her sun colored corneas studied his face as Iogi walked toward the ziggurats with several of her colleagues. “Would you like to go with him?”
“Maybe…maybe in a little
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