MEETING DIAMANN
Scene 52
“Who are you?” The man scrambled to his feet, stumbled, and steadied himself against the huge tree trunk next to him. He took a step away as if to run, but his knees buckled a little, and he bent over, panting.
“I’m Derizan, and this is my family. We just arrived here. Who are you?”
“You’re not looking for me?” The man slowly turned to face them.
“No! We’re exiles from the City. The City forces were chasing us. We found… a way here, and that’s all.”
“But I was alone, and I fell asleep, and I dreamed, and you all came, and some huge thing started talking, and then we were all here, and I woke up. How did you get here?”
“That’s a long story. Please, introduce yourself. We’re all Arcus Coll.”
At that, the man nodded. “My name is Diamann. I’m Arcus, but you may know about me already.”
Astina said, “Oh, yes, you were named a fugitive in the City. We found out the accusations against you were lies, but the authorities rejected the truth. Our coll knows, but they don’t have influence in the City now.”
Daryuz added, “That’s why we’re here. The City pulled a ‘relocation’ on us, just the way they’ve done before. They want Arcus people out of the City. Mostly they just want us dead. Isn’t that why you got accused as an insurrection leader?”
Diamann nodded. “That’s right. Do you have any food? It’s been a couple of days, I think, since I ate last.”
Ajina looked at the tree trunks and their fungal scalings on the great slabs of bark. “Is any of this edible? What do you know about these trees? And where are we, if you came here on foot?”
“I came down a crevasse in Muathen, along a river rapids through the South Fall. Corpos were chasing me for the bounty. I swam three rapids, and going over the last one I hit a rock. I got out and followed the water flow until I was too tired to go on. I’m too old for this.” Diamann’s hair was gray and matted, his black-bruised left shoulder showing through his ragged jacket.
“What do you know about this forest, these trees?” Denzari came up beside Derizan.
“I haven’t tried to eat anything from here.” Diamann gestured around them. “No fruit, no seeds, no roots to eat, as far as I can see. If you look up, you can see it’s a long climb before reaching any branches – if you can find any way to climb. It’s just bare and dark down here. But… how did you get here?”
“Here.” Denzari led Diamann and the others back to the low mound of the portal. He pointed at the outer door. “There’s a chamber in there with a pedestal. The pedestal has a panel with symbols on it. We were up in Muathen, at the edge of the Sleethe, the big forest north of the City. They were chasing us. The Gellins up there found a portal chamber underground, a lot like this one. It transported us here when we touched the panel. We don’t know how it works. It’s very old.”
“Here.” Tellina, cradling her baby, offered Diamann a waterskin and some dried strips of meat. “We don’t have much, but you look awfully thin.”
He gratefully took what she gave him. He chewed at a meat strip. “Could you show me this pedestal? I’d like to see it.”
“It’s risky,” Derizan said. “We… nearly had a bad accident when we tried it. Some of the symbols lead to other worlds.”
“Other worlds? Do you mean other locations?”
“No! We learned by chance that the symbols connect different planets at different suns, in different times.” And Derizan explained to Diamann the interactions with Ben. “We think we can get back to Muathen here, using this thing, but we don’t want to, not unless there is some great need.”
Diamann looked over at Alumaras, who was standing just behind Selech. “Father, we are of an age. What do you think?” The honorific title acknowledged their shared status of seniority in the Arcus Coll.
A tremor jarred everyone’s feet. Ajina said, “Something might be coming.”
