Luminosity 2-The Return - 4. Chapter 4

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While searching a remote treehouse, Henry was startled by a sound coming from under a bench in the back of a small room. He cautiously approached the bench and discovered one of the horrendously mauled bodies of a woman. Beneath the body, covered in dried blood and gore, were two eyes peering anxiously up at him. Henry, overcoming his initial fear and surprise, gently said. "I am a plainsrunner from Dinas, and I am here to help you."
**
Henry knelt and extended his hand to the cowering creature beneath the bench. No movement.
After a few minutes, Henry sat facing the adjacent wall, careful not to make eye contact. One hour, then two hours passed without movement from under the bench. In the third hour, Henry caught some motion in the corner of his eye.

From beneath the mutilated corpse, a creature cautiously crawled toward him. It was a boy, a skinny, emaciated boy covered in indescribable grime. The boy looked to be eight to nine earth years old. Henry did the calculation, five and a half cycles; so young. There was a disturbing, blank expression on the child's face. Henry understood why this boy would shut down after all he'd been through.

The boy stood up unsteadily, bent over, and reached for the hand of the corpse. Henry supposed the woman was his mother. He fought off tears. It wasn't that long ago that he had to say goodbye to his own mother. He thought about her every day.

The boy came within an inch of the lifeless hand, paused, and withdrew it. The child stood there staring off into nothing with empty, unfocused eyes.

Henry slowly rose. The boy did not react. He gently took his hand and put an arm around his shoulder, then guided him to the entrance to the treehouse. Henry leaped from the tree using the countering blue lumin flow to soften the landing—no reaction from the comatose child.

Henry erupted, wrapping the child within the flare, and headed to the Goginaovern settlement meeting place where Tomas, he, and the Quay phalanx set up camp.

Tomas and the phalanx gathered around him, showing surprise and concern.

"Let's clean him up and lay him in the suns. His ability to store lumin may be limited, but the radiation should help," said Tomas.

A pond with fresh water was close by. Henry carried the boy into the water and rinsed his body. Tomas helped rub the grime from the child's skin and hair. One of the primaries of the Quay phalanx found some fresh clothing; they dressed him and laid him on woven mats in the sun. Henry never left the silent boys' side.

The Quay phalanx had suitably recovered enough of their lumin stores to return to their home settlement. Twm, Henry, and the primaries of the phalanx met to discuss a plan.

"This will be the first test of the messenger phalanxes," said Twm.

"We need to inform all the settlements about the latest abomination," said the primary Paulin.

"Yes, and we should also advise them to send scouting phalanxes deep into the neutral zone to ascertain where the nmblings are amassing their forces. Be sure all the settlements fortify their entrances," said Twm. "Once we have a sense of the enemy, we must reposition plainsrunner phalanxes to counter the threat."

"What about the boy?" asked Paulin.

"Can you find a place for him in the Quay mangeni?" asked Twm.

"He would slow us down. We are already weak, and we must make this a rapid trip. Besides, a non-kindred boy has no place in the mangeni."

Henry heard this response and flinched. There were still so many things he didn't understand about the norms and customs of the plainsrunners.

"I understand," said Twn. "We will take him to the Henllys settlement with us."

"But there is no phalanx to run the leg of the journey."

"Henry and I will be fine on our own."

Paulin remembered who he was talking to and offered a courteous bow.

The Quay phalanx erupted and began their strenuous trip to their home settlement.

Henry knelt beside the boy. "We have to leave for the Henllys settlement."

There was no response from the insentient boy.

Henry sadly shook his head. "I'll take care of you. I promise. Come with me. We have to go now."

Tomas and Henry erupted, enveloping the boy in benevolent luminosity.

"Henry, we must travel much faster than the messenger phalanxes."

They exploded, filling the sky with the energy of the suns.

Henry looked over at the boy. For the first time, Henry saw life. His eyes were focused and alive. 'Could this young boy communicate through the mind like plainsrunners running in a phalanx?'

"I am Henry. What is your name?"

The boy's head abruptly turned, looked at him, and then turned away. It was a start.

By the end of the day of running, Tomas and Henry passed thousands of nmblings heading in the same direction as them. The intensity of their lumin flow both attracted the nmblings and, at the same time, kept them at bay. They arrived at the entrance to the Henllys settlement early on the second day. Henllys phalanxes were battling hordes of nmblings. The phalanxes were losing ground to the attackers. It was only a matter of time before the nmblings breached the entrance to the settlement.

"Are you ready, Henry?" said Tomas.

Without hesitation, they increased the intensity of their flares and closed in on the nmblings. Twm and Henry swept around the enemy's most significant concentration, incinerating many. The remaining nmblings ran from the battlefield. Twm and Henry averted the threat for a while, but they knew the nmblings would return.

The Henllys phalanx were relieved and tired. They rallied around Twm, Henry, and the boy, grateful for the miraculous intercession. An impromptu meeting of primaries convened to discuss the state of the defense.

Llethu, the senior primary, began. "The nmbling attack caught us by surprise. They approached during gorffwys. A few breached the entrance before we drove them out of the settlement, but they kept coming. Their numbers are too great."

"We saw tens of thousands moving in this direction. At the rate they were moving, they will continue to arrive over the next two or three weeks. The force will be too large to resist within a week, and they'll likely cut off a retreat," said Twm. "I'm sorry, but the Henllys settlement must be abandoned."

"That's impossible!" shouted Llethu. "Our people have lived here for thousands of cycles. It is sacred land."

"If you stay, you will die," said Twm.

"What about the mangeni?

"The mangeni will need to be evacuated as well."

The primaries of Henllys stood staring at Twm. In a resigned voice, Llethu said, "We have no choice. We must begin preparations immediately."

All the primaries nodded sadly in agreement.

"Henry and I will scout the surrounding plains and thin out some of the nmbling numbers to buy us some time while you prepare," said Twm. Can we leave the boy with you until we return?"

The boy leaped forward, embracing Henry around the waste. "Don't leave me, Henry! Please, please don't leave me!" he said, looking imploringly up at Henry with tears in his eyes.

"I won't leave you. I promised to take care of you."

Addressing Tomas, Henry said. "I know it's dangerous, but I can't leave him behind."

"Everywhere is dangerous now. We'll take him with us."

Tomas and Henry erupted, cushioning the boy securely in the lumin flare. Within minutes, they sighted the first of the retreating nmblings. A hundred nmblings would no longer prey on the lumin rich organs of plainsrunners.

After an hour, Twm and Henry reduced the nmbling numbers by over a thousand. It was necessary and grisly work, but even Twm the strong's reserves of lumin weren't unlimited.

The trio traveled west toward the next settlement, Neuadd. They encountered a throng of many thousands of nmblings traveling north. In the direction and speed of the horde, they would block off the retreat of the Henllys plainsrunners in less than a week. The situation was dire. Never before had an entire settlement been evacuated, and time was running out.

On the return trip to Henllys, Henry spoke to the boy. "What should I call you?"

The boy turned his head to look at Henry and said, "My name is Dieuogrwydd, but my friends call me …" he paused, perhaps realizing that all his friends were gone, "Dieu."

"I will call you Dieu then! We are only an hour from the Henllys settlement, and then we'll be off the Neuadd, Goginan, and eventually my home, Dinas."

"Is it safe in Dinas?" asked Dieu.

Henry thought about this briefly and said, "It is safe in Dinas," while thinking, 'I hope it is still safe.'

Twm updated the primaries of Henllys on what they had found.

"How is the evacuation proceeding, Llethu?"

"Things are progressing, but I'm concerned about the mangeni. Few can flare, and those that can are weak in lumin from either youth or old age. How will we transport them?"

"Henry and I will gather them into our flare until we are past the nmbling choke point," said Twm.

"So many?" asked Llethy.

"We have no choice," said Twm.

After two days of frantic preparations, the population of Henllys was ready. Tomas and Henry had sunned themselves to maximize their Lumin reserves.

The Henllys phalanxes would follow Twm, Henry, Dieu, and the four hundred of the mangeni. They erupted, nine hundred plainsrunners leaving their cherished home settlement, perhaps never to see it again.

Henry and Tomas were as one in the lumin flow, and he could feel the strain of transporting a virtually inert load of women, men, and children across the plains. He hadn't felt anything like it since Tomas and he traveled from Earth to the plains four cycles ago. Even Tomas and Henry couldn't maintain this expenditure of lumin indefinitely.

"Do you see them, Henry? asked Tomas.

"Yes, the nmblings are close. Will we make it?"

"It will be close, but no. We'll need to burn our way through," said Tomas.

"Llethu, the nmblings are upon us," said Twm. Have the phalanxes flare as close to the hills as you can. Burn hard, and good luck."

The plains were ablaze with the flares of the desperate plainsrunners as thousands of nmblings converged to cut off their escape.

Tomas and Henry could see the gap closing ahead of them. The Henllys phalanxes were right behind them.

Nmblings vaporized. They were slowing down. Henry and Tomas increased the lumin intensity. They broke through, accelerating as they did. Both their stores of lumin were nearly exhausted.

Tomas and Henry projected the countering blue lumin with great difficulty but managed to slow down and observe the struggle behind them.

The Henllys phalanxes battled the nmblings, seeking to burn through the nmbling horde. Three of the fifty phalanxes burst through, and that was all. Fourth-seven phalanxes were gone. They tried not to consider the unthinkable brutality within that mass of nmblings. There'd be time to honor them later. They were all exhausted and needed to limp far enough away to take some time to restore their lumen stores.

That gorffwys, they rested and sang songs of thanks for deliverance and in honor of the lost phalanxes. It was little consolation that two thousand nmblings also lost their lives.

They were all weakened, and the progress to the Neuadd settlement was agonizingly slow. The three remaining Henllys phalanxes would need weeks to recover, while Twm and Henry could refresh their lumin stores quickly while traveling at a slower speed, despite the burden of the mangeni.

It took them three weeks to reach the Neuadd settlement. Henry feared finding a settlement devastated like Goginaovern or under siege like Henllys. There was no introductory flair from Twm this time. The state of the Henllys phalanxes and the presence of the mangeni was enough to alert the plainsrunners of Neuadd of the devastation of their neighboring settlement.

Thankfully, the peaceful settlement was intact.

Tomas and Henry met primaries wearing drab brown robes tied at the waist by a simple cord at the entrance to the settlement.

"I am Abbot Heddychlon. Welcome to our settlement. It will be difficult for us to accommodate you all comfortably, but we'll do our best."

"We are a monastic settlement and unaccustomed to communicating with strangers. We aren't forbidden from speaking; we are just uncomfortable with it. Please be patient with us."

The plainsrunners of Neuadd lived a monastic life centering on the study of the nature and universality of lumin. To them, lumin was a supreme entity upon which to worship and meditate.

Each phalanx occupied a cloister with a meeting place in the center and surrounded by an arched walkway leading to featureless cells for each of the phalanx's plainsrunners. The plainsrunners of Neuadd would contemplate the mysteries of lumin in the solitude of their cell. They still ran the plains, but silently and respectfully, while meditating on the lumin pouring from their bodies.

The abbot primaries led Tomas, Henry, Dieu, and the Henllys phalanxes to the gathering place that the plainsrunners of Neuadd called the chancel for vespers (gorffwys).

Neuadd plainsrunners led the Henllys mangeni to the Neuadd mangeni, where they were greeted kindly and incorporated into their numbers.

"Thank you for your warm welcome. I am Tomas, and this is Henry, Dieu, and three phalanxes from Henllys. We bring sad news. The Goginaovern settlement was destroyed, with Dieu, the lone survivor. Three phalanxes and the mangeni are all that remain of Henllys."

"This is sad news. We will implore peace for the essential nature of their lumin." as he said lumin, he made a shallow bow and touched his middle and index fingers to his chin...

"Three phalanxes? How can this be? It would take three hundred phalanxes or more to project the lumin …" he repeated the bow and, touching his chin, "necessary to transport the mangeni."

"We had nothing to do with transporting the mangeni. It was 'Twm the strong,' and Twm could transport many more," Llethu said while pointing at Tomas.

"Glory to the chosen one! He has arisen!" shouted Abbot Heddychlon as he fell to the ground to worship Twm.

All the plainsrunners of Neuadd immediately prostrated themselves in front of 'Tomas, the suddenly uncomfortable.'

Despite or perhaps because of the devastation and loss of life he'd observed over the last few weeks, Henry couldn't help smiling to himself and thinking," I don't imagine we'll run into any resistance in this settlement."