So why the wall with the hollow spikes? What goes on around here that they need to surround the whole village in order to feel protected?
Frowning, he remembered Kozen saying something about how they needed to get to the village before sunset because that was when the “Riivers” came out. At the time, he had assumed it was some kind of wild animal—now, he wondered.
I’ll have to find a way to ask, he thought, as he surveyed the village. There was only one other structure of note, at the far end of the main street. It, like the fence, was made of metal—at least it appeared to be if the way the setting sun’s light glimmered on its vast sides. It was ten times as big as any of the woven tree houses and the metal it was made of was a pure, blinding white. There were no windows and it was shaped rather like a giant pyramid with the very tip cut off.
Brav wondered about its significance. Was it a town hall? A place of worship?
He supposed they would find out, in time. For now, though, he was going to keep his ears open to see if he could find out what the Riivers were and if they were the reason the town needed a fence around it.
Ten
Danni looked around eagerly as they entered the town, glad to have an excuse to end the extremely awkward conversation with Bravik. Clearly she had been right before—the big Kindred really did find her extremely attractive. So much so that it was making him really uncomfortable.
Is that why he’s been being such an asshole? she wondered. Because he feels like his attraction to me is a distraction from the mission?
She didn’t know. But she did know that they would probably need to talk about this at some point and clear the air. It was gratifying, in a way, to know he found her sexy and alluring—to be honest, it had been years since Danni had felt that way herself. But the mission had to come first and if this weird…thing between them got in the way of doing their jobs, well…
Admit it, Danni—you’re attracted to him, too, whispered the little voice in her head. Even if he is acting like an asshole, he smells incredible and he’s damn easy on the eyes. He’s like some kind of big, sexy, growly bear or something.
Danni pushed the thought away.
Oh please! I’d like to think I’m not so shallow that good bone structure and a really, incredibly fit body will earn him a pass for acting like a jerk!
Anyway, it was time to stop thinking about the Kindred at her back and start looking around at the villagers who were coming out of their houses to surround them. She needed to pick up some social cues so she would know what was considered acceptable behavior around here.
Looking around with a new focus in mind, Danni noted that the women of the H’raken people seemed to have different colored skin than the men. Most all of the males she saw had skin that was shades of green or blue or anywhere in between. The women tended to be more pink and purple and the children—of which there were many—had paler skin—pastel tones of the adult shades.
But despite the many different skin tones, the people all had one thing in common—they all had uncommonly large craniums. Looking at them, Danni wondered how in the world the women managed to give birth, because even the children had really large heads. Did the women have extra large pelvic outlets to support such births? She was extremely interested to find out.
The H’rakens’ necks were long and slender and seemed too fragile to support such big heads. Possibly this was why all of them had thick bands of either gold or silver around their necks. Danni noticed that the children had an extra kind of support—a thick tongue of metal which extended from the back of their topmost neck band and cradled the back of the young skull. Maybe this was necessary until their neck muscles strengthened and they could hold their heads up reliably on their own.
None of the H’raken males had hair, she noticed. Every one of them was bald as an egg, but the women and children had curly mops of green and gold and black locks on the very tops of their extremely large heads.
All of the people were dressed simply—the men shirtless and in white trousers and the women in thin white shifts, which appeared to be almost see-through. The children wore white smocks that fell to their knees. All the fabric looked like it was woven from some kind of naturally occurring fiber or wool. Danni didn’t see any signs of anything artificial or factory-produced.
Did they make all their clothes by hand? That would be strange—almost pre-industrial, yet she knew the H’rakens had mastered space flight and interstellar communication. Why did they live so simply if they had such advanced technology at their fingertips?