Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [114]
The Klikiss exploded. A high-powered shot cracked across the quiet night, and a crater appeared in the creature's abdomen. It flailed its limbs, staggered, and collapsed. One twitching, segmented arm tried to lift the body up. Slick ooze poured from the wound.
Steinman rolled out of the way, scrambled backward, and got to his feet. Now he saw the dark man standing by himself, holding a large weapon from the EDF stockpiles.
Davlin Lotze said, 'We should get out of here. They often hunt in pairs.'
'Couldn't agree more.' Steinman followed the man. 'You have good timing.'
'And you have unbelievable luck. They wouldn't even have left any bones for me to find by morning.' Davlin shouldered his weapon. The rest of the escapees set up a decent camp back in those sandstone bluffs.' He set off without looking back. 'Come on. Now that I killed that warrior, the breedex knows we're out here.'
Sixty-eight
Celli
Since making her decision to become a green priest, Celli had noticed more of the worldforest's grandeur - towering trees, colourful underbrush, sweet-smelling epiphytes, jewel-winged condorflies. She began to hear differences among the insect songs that filled the forest, instead of an unvarying blur in her ears. She wished she had made up her mind to do this years ago.
Celli stood in a spacious glade surrounded by waving grasses tipped with feathery seedstalks. She looked up - and up and up -to the canopy and the splash of open sky. Solimar watched her proudly, as excited as she was. Queen Estarra, heavy with child, stood next to her parents for the ceremony.
As the senior green priest, Yarrod was silent and imposing. Normally he performed this ritual with children, his demeanour designed to impress upon the new acolytes the gravity of their choice. He dipped his forefinger into a pot full of pasty dye. 'You will become an acolyte, Celli. You will serve the worldforest and act as a part of the verdani mind. Today you become less of an individual and more of the great tapestry. As all worldtrees are connected, so are all green priests, and all of humanity. Once you learn to open yourself to the worldforest, the trees will accept you as a green priest. Do you vow to undergo this training, to offer yourself as both servant and companion to the forest, to provide aid and information to the trees?'
'I've already been doing it for years now.'
'A simple yes or no, please.'
'Yes.' She shot a quick glance and a smile to Solimar. When he looked back at her, she could sense the depth of his feelings toward her. Had they changed, or was she just noticing them more clearly? She felt a frisson of excitement, followed by a quaver of intimidation, as she wondered how inseparable and intertwined their thoughts and hearts could be once they became green priests together. Celli wanted that, more than anything.
With dye dripping from his finger, Yarrod drew a straight vertical line down the centre of Celli's forehead. The colouring tingled, then began to burn as it changed the pigmentation of her skin. 'You are now marked as an acolyte. Green priests will help you. And before long, the worldforest will accept you.'
'I am ready.' Celli made her voice sound formal, but her heart was pounding with eagerness. 'When will I start?'
'You have already started.' Finally, Yarrod dropped the serious demeanour and opened his arms to hug her. 'I'm so glad you decided to join us.'
'Sorry I took so long to make up my mind.'
Solimar took her hand, and she felt the thrill of his touch like an electrical shock. 'Come on, I'll show you what to do.' At the edge of the glade they found a wide-boled worldtree. Using bare feet and fingers, they climbed the bark scales like steps, scrambling higher and higher. From below, Estarra waved, her wistful expression showing that she wished she could still do the same.
Celli was barely sweating by the time they reached the canopy,