Wizardness

Umhat felt the shockwave, the second, and then the earth trembled. He turned to his crew. They were loaded in the bike’s cargo hold, they were ready. Umhat nodded and began to pedal.
He raced. Getting there first was critical for the success of the colony. Getting there first, but making sure there was enough for the others was critical.
The bike’s windings boosted his power, allowing him to ride faster. His custom designed suspension allowed them to glide over the shattered remains of the great Stone Trees. The wake of the Great Ones was always treacherous.
Umhat could smell their prize before he could see it. He heard whoops behind him. Umhat glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the bugs behind them.
Umhat whooped and upped his tempo. The more time he had before the bugs got there, the better off both groups would be. The bugs would only share if people got their first, but would not tolerate if people took everything.
Rather than breaking, Umhat found a relatively clear section near their prize, and swung the bike around, using the wheels to break the momentum. As soon as the bike had slowed, the crew leapt out. Fulan was still fumbling with her mask. She wasn’t holding on and got flung into the massive pile of Great One shit.
Umhat hopped from his seat and pulled up his mask in one fluid motion. He sprinted to her. He pulled her out as quickly as he could. She wasn’t conscience. Umhat sprinted away from the fecal prize and went to work.
He pulled any matter from her nose and throat. He poured water over her along with a mixture of alcohol and bicarbonate that helped dissolve the matter. She sputtered and took a ragged breath.
Umhat patted her shoulder, “Oh thank the Stonewood. I thought you were gone.”
Fulan smiled weakly, “Thank you.” She tried to stand, but wobbled and plopped on her backside. She glanced at Umhat ruefully, “I’m not going to be much good today.”
Umhat pulled her up, “Nonsense. You get to help me with the bugs.”
Fulan shuddered, “Can’t I go play in the shit?”
Umhat smiled, “You know the rules. You can’t go near that for at least a month.” He gestured towards his mask, “Get your mask on. Can’t have you pass out again. Bugs might get you.” He grinned evilly. Fulan blanched, she quickly pulled up her mask.
Umhat returned to the crew. They were working hard. They’d set up a perimeter around the section they wanted to gather. The bug portion was necessarily larger. Fortunately, this was a massive find. There would be more than enough for everyone.
Umhat heard another crew arrive behind him as he was walking past while Fulan gave her crew an apologetic wave. Umhat reached the demarcation point just as the largest bug stood on its hind legs. It was easily twice the height of Umhat.
Umhat bowed, “My Lord Jundar.” Umhat had no need to saw the words, it was mostly for Fulan.
The bug, Jundar, was as difficult as ever to read. The exo-skeleton doesn’t allow freedom of expression like a face does, though, the bugs only thought faces were good for eating.
Jundar’s antenna did twitch in greeting. One pointed towards Fulan. Both humans felt the impression of intent, “Who is this interloper. Oh, she nearly overindulged.” ~humor~ “You show great restraint.” ~surprise~ “Instead of taking equal portions you leave even more for us.” ~magnanimous~ “We will continue to honor our treaty.” ~suspicion~ “Though we expect betrayal at any moment.”
Umhat smiled, though Jundar couldn’t understand it. “Thank you for your continued enforcement of the treaty. We have made great effort to make up for past failings. We will continue to strive to avoid future hostilities.”
Jundar lowered both antennas “You humans have come far, but we are not a trusting species.” ~caution~ “The Great Ones are uneasy. Be wary. Good hunting” .
Jundar turned and the other bugs went to work. They adhered exactly to the perimeter. The humans worked their portion more slowly. Umhat took one cargo bin back, the ride was long and challenging. Even though the village tried to keep up with the Great Ones, it was often impossible. They simply walked too fast.
Umhat had just returned from a trip to the village when another rider hailed him.
“Umhat, the elders are summoning you.” The young woman said.
Umhat wiped his brow, “Seriously, why didn’t they just ask me to stay in the village?”
She shrugged, “Must have just missed you. Leave your bike with Fulan and me. You’ll take mine. You need to ride to Village Oleary.”
Umhat paused and gave her a look, “Why Oleary? I’ve been doing runs to Village Gomez. Is that why we missed each other?”
She shook her head, “Oleary is closest to the incident. Something’s going on with the Great Ones. Good luck sir and great work here.” She gave him a winning smile and blinked rapidly.
Umhat sighed, “Yea, thanks. What’s your name?”
She looked startled. He continued, “So I can explain who sent me.”
She looked crestfallen, “My name is Tuin.”
He smile, “Thanks Tuin. Good luck with the next load of shit.”
He adjusted the seat of her bike and took off. He checked the water and food in his pack as he was riding. “Fuck.” He breathed. Just barely enough to make it there.
Without his enhancements, the ride was rough going. Oleary was on the other side of the Great Ones – literally. Gomez was southernly while Oleary was Northernly of the Great Track. The Jundese river was between the two villages. Jundar’s people lived along the river. As far as Umhat knew, Jundar had been alive since humans settled the planet. Jundar claimed to be ageless.
It was nearing dusk when Umhat reached the Jundese river. Umhat fell off his bike, he had bonked. He gasped for air and held his head. After a few minutes of rest, he felt a little less bottomed out so he reached for a bottle of water. He fell over.
Admitting defeat, he crawled the rest of the way to get the water. He drank greedily. He sputtered, then coughed. Hydrated, Umhat sat. He was lighted headed, still, so he rocked as he stared at the river. There was no way he could cross this tonight. Not feeling like this and not with the low light.
Umhat glanced about. There wasn’t much cover here. The Great Ones had already been through. They were moving quicker than normal. Umhat pulled some dried potatoes from his bag. He chewed on those while staring at the river.
As he chewed the river sound grew louder and louder. It sounded like thrumming wings. Umhat shook himself from his exhaustion and looked up.
One of the bugs. Jundar’s people. It was rare to see one of the fliers. which was good for the humans. Fliers could get the Great One’s leavings before any human could hope to.
Umhat dragged himself to his feet as the flier landed. He bowed. He needed to steady himself as he stood. His vision narrowed from the effort.
It was then Umhat heard Jundar’s voice, “You look tired and weaker than normal” ~concern~ “Did your effort to get here exhaust you?”
Umhat nodded, “Yes, it did, sir.” Umhat drew a hand down his face, maybe it was the exhaustion or maybe it was familiarity, but he asked the boldest question of his life, “Why do you sound like Jundar? You don’t look anything like the Jundar I met this morning.”
“You humans are still so very ignorant of this world. We,” the bug made a very human gesture and raised an arm up and down its body, “are a hive mind. Jundar is a faction of the mind that interacts with you, specifically.” “Did you really think that was the same body every time?”
Umhat thought back to the last few times they’d met, “You know, there were some pretty significant differences, like missing legs, that I’d just ignored. Sorry.”
~pleasure~ “No offense given. I’m glad you saw the Jundar of each body rather than the body each time.” ~curiosity~ “Since you humans are not a hive mind, why did they bring you here?”
Umhat absently took a bite of his potato. “I was summoned to Oleary.” Umhat gestured towards the village. “I’m one of our fastest riders and I’ve been around the Great Ones a good deal. They wanted me to investigate an incident.”
“Excellent. I am please to deal with you.”
“Deal with me?” confusion crossed Umhat’s face.
“Oh, yes. We requested a human to view the incident with us. I recommended you.”
Umhat felt the air move about them. Then the thrum of more wings. He looked up. More fliers.
~assertive~ “We are trusting you. You must trust us. We will take you to Oleary, as you call the tree, we call Vital Blackness.”
Umhat swallowed, “You’re going to carry me there?”
“Yes.”
Umhat took a deep breath and looked at the black line of the river next to him. “Ok.” he breathed.
As soon as he consented, Jundar rushed forward and grabbed him. It launched into the air and flew quickly. Much quicker than Umhat had never ridden his bike. He could barely catch his breath.
As Umhat adjusted, he was able to take in the flight. It was riveting to be moving like this. Now he understood the gliders. They moved from village to village lifted on the thermals. They had a mission to try to regain communication with the ship.
Umhat saw that one of the bugs had taken his bike for him. At first he was a bit concerned, but noted the care the bug handled it with. Umhat smiled.
“We are glad you are pleased with our handling of you and your equipment.” Jundar impressed the thoughts upon Umhat.
“Thank you for treating it with respect. Those bikes are difficult to make with the tools we have.”
~comforting~ “Please relax. You are safe.”
Umhat did his best to relax. The grip Jundar held him in was both secure, but not easy to rest into.
~informational~ “We are arriving. You fell into a sleeping state.”
Umhat glanced about confused. After blinking a few times, he saw the village, Oleary or Vital Blackness as Jundar called it. “Thank you for waking me.”
People were scurrying about as they approached. They were yelling and pointing. A few were grabbing weapons.
“Can you lift me up so I can easily use my arms?”
“Yes.” ~command~ “Calm the humans.”
Umhat was shifted higher with his arms visibly untouched by the bug. He waved his arms, indicting to put the weapons down.
“This would be much easier if you could talk without vocalizing.”
Jundar set down well out of range of the humans. Another bug returned Umhat’s bike. He quickly mounted the bike and sprinted towards the village.
“Stand down,” He cried. “They were helping!”
The people milled about. Eventually one, a young woman, stepped forward, “Who is that?”
Umhat slowed as he approached, “This is Umhat Gomez. I was summoned by this village. Jundar decided to help me get here.”
The woman raised her eye brows and mouthed “Jundar helped?” She shook her head, “Come this way and bring one of the bugs. The rest will come no closer than the glider landing pad. Is that clear?”
Umhat nodded. He turned his bike and sent an impression to Jundar, “They welcome one body and request the remainder come no closer than where most humans stand.”
~irritation~ “Your people are most irrational. I will come.”
The bug that had carried Umhat leapt next to Umhat in a blink of the eye. The people on the glider pad cried out, but made no threatening movements.
Umhat pedaled his way through the crowd. Jundar easily kept pace. The young woman had to jog to keep up. She directed Umhat to the village long house.
The long house was one of the few buildings constructed out of Stonewood trees. They had decided to cut the pieces into similar sized blocks. Which resulted in a sort of log cabin and large block aesthetic, unique to long houses in most villages.
Umhat was directed in and Jundar followed. There was another bug in the long house along with a number of elders from more than a few villages. Including a few interior villages.
One of the elders chuckled, “You were right. How did you know?”
“Ask Umhat after this is dealt with” replied the bug in the long house.
Elder Gomez spoke then, “Thank you for coming Umhat. I see another emissary of the Jundanese found you.”
Umhat smiled, “Yes. Now what’s this about?”
“We need you to investigate very strange behavior of the Great Ones. They have gone to the coast. They’ve never done this before. You and this bug will go in the morning.”
Umhat groaned. “I don’t have any of my equipment.”
“You will have everything you need. We will get whatever your people cannot provide.” Jundar replied.
Umhat shrugged. “Ok. Fine.” He quickly imprinted exactly what equipment he needed from Gomez.
He glanced at the elders, “Show me where the Great Ones have gone.”
The next morning, before sunrise, Umhat woke. He quickly dressed and walked to the village community mess. There was a hearty breakfast of eggs, potatoes, hot cakes, and more. But most importantly, coffee.
As he exited, Jundar joined him. “Your equipment is on the glider pad. Let us go.”
Umhat bowed, “I’m sorry for causing a delay. Gotta eat, though.”
Umhat inspected his equipment. It was all there. His favorite hatchet, bow, and machete. His bike was in perfect condition. This wasn’t the bike he’d gotten yesterday or his cargo bike, this was his proper adventure bike. Large wheels, organic gearing that could adjust to climb anything. Bags for holding weeks worth of food and water.
He turned to Jundar, “Thank you, this is” Umhat hesitated, “perfect.” He grinned from ear to ear.
~dismissal~ “of course. this is what you requested.” ~annoyance~ “Let us go now. You may not have much need of this.”
The pair left Oleary in the more traditional manner. Umhat rode down the spiraling ramp, while Jundar flew down and met him at the bottom.
They began their trek across the wilderness. The sun was yet to rise and with the canopy above, they would be traveling in a half lit twilight until they found the Greath Ones’ path.
About an hour in, Jundar stopped. “I believe we are far enough away. Please ride right there.” Jundar gestured to a specific spot.
Umhat shrugged and rode there and dismounted. The ground immediately shifted under him. He felt himself lift up.
He was on a giant bug. It was a long many legged bug. It spoke to him, “You will ride me. This will be faster than you riding or the hive carrying you. Lie down.”
Umhat lowered his bike to the ground and laid down next to it. He held his machete tight. His knuckles white.
“I know this is a change of plans. We need to get there quickly and this is the only way. I am trusting you. Your people know nothing about the greater variety of me.”
“Are you every insect on this planet?” Umhat whispered, terrified. “Are you the bugs we eat too?”
~informational~ “There are more than one hive minds on Mother.” ~dismissive~ “We will not speak of those bugs now. That is another discussion. One we don’t have time for.”
The monstrous bug shifted, its carapace closed around Umhat. He heard a seal. Despite the shell, the air was clean and the space was large enough to move about.
Umhat felt drowsy.
~gentle command~ “Sleep now.”
Umhat stirred. He opened his eyes to see the sun. That large white orb in the sky. It was too low. He started. He sat up and stared about. The ocean. He was already at the coast. He was high. Very high.
~greeting~“Good you’re awake. You are at the top of one of the Sky Trees.” Jundar was the flier again.
Umhat looked down. The tree seemed to be floating. Part of the tree was above the clouds.
Umhat heard a great crash. He glanced about, but couldn’t see what the source of the noise was. Jundar didn’t provide any information. Jundar seemed to be looking off towards a distant rock outcropping.
Umhat squinted. There were Great Ones there. They were doing something.
The tree swayed.
Umhat reached into his bike bag. He pulled out a telescope. He focused on the Great Ones. They were tearing into the earth. There were much smaller beings running around the Great Ones. If the Great Ones were humans they might be considered children, but these were just smaller, not immature looking.
A spout of lava shot out of the rock outcropping. A great one slammed into the back of the outcropping. Seconds later Umhat heard the crash, moments after, he felt it.
Umhat’s voice shook, “What are they doing?”
~terrified~ “Making a weapon.” ~uncomfortable~ “Correction, making weapons.” The bug pointed along the coast.
Umhat scanned the coastline, there were a number of rocky outcroppings with similar activities. He saw a number of Great Ones swimming out to sea. “Where are they going?”
~alarm~ “They are trying to find the source. The source of the waves.” ~terror~ “The waves might wake up their mother.” ~anger~ “Are more of your people landing?”
“I don’t know. We can’t communicate with them.” Umhat shook his head, “The Great Ones made sure of that.” He finished bitterly.
~considering~“The last time the Great Ones acted like this, your ancestors landed.” ~thoughtful~ “That was some 200 circumnavigations ago.” ~query~ “Can your people communicate with the ship?”
Umhat shrugged, “I, uh, I’m not sure. The gliders try, but I don’t know if they can. 200 circumnavigations, huh, yea, we’d call that 200 years ago, the Great Ones destroyed all our technology, well lectric, including most our coms.”
~annoyance~ “Yes, wave creators were destroyed.” ~awe~ “The Great Ones were generous, generous enough not to destroy you. They were very afraid. They carry a heavy burden.” ~irritated~ “We are blind here.”
“What burden?”
~exhausion~ “Preventing the awakening of their Mother and Father. They strive to prevent the destruction of my mother. The planet.” ~directive~ “We must help them. Humans are obligated to help. Great Ones kept you alive to help. Stop this.”
Umhat nodded.
The great crashing stopped. Umhat focused his Telescope on the rocky outcropping. The Great Ones were sitting. Their shoulders slumped. Some had their heads down.
~hopeful~ “The crisis may have been adverted.”
The pair continued to observe the Great Ones. Eventually night fell. The sun was big and bright the full day. A novel experience for Umhat. One that his skin did not appreciate. Despite precautions, his face felt hot and stretched.
He leaned back staring into the sky. Counting stars. One of his favorite hobbies. He looked for the blinking light of the ship. This time of the year it would be nearly over head. It was the bicentennial of the first landing, typically the ship was overhead, as Gomez was the first landing location.
Umhat blinked. There was a second light next to the first. This light was much larger than the first. Did another ship arrive? Are more colonists going to land? Is this a misinformed war party?
“Jundar, can you talk with the Great Ones?” Umhat asked.
~cautioned concern~ “Why?”
“I think we’re in trouble.” Umhat pointed at the sky.
“What is that? A new star?”
“No.” He said quietly, “More humans.”
Umhat started at the crash of the earth. The skytree swayed. He sat up, he could see fire pouring into the ocean.