“Let’s look for some lights,” Bravik suggested. “Didn’t notice any when we got the tour earlier, but maybe we missed ‘em.”
“Maybe,” Danni murmured and followed him into the living area.
The large window in the far wall let in a little bit of light but Soluu Four only had a very small natural satellite so their “moon” was about a sixth the size of Earth’s and it didn’t shed much illumination.
“Can’t find anything in here,” Bravik muttered, moving around the room.
Danni copied him, running her hands over the walls in hopes of finding some kind of switch but she didn’t expect she’d be successful. Despite having the technology to communicate through interstellar space and even to send a messenger ship to the Mother Ship, it was pretty clear that the H’rakens lived an extremely simple, pre-industrial lifestyle that didn’t allow for any kind of electricity.
“Lights?” Bravik called but, unlike the Mother Ship, no illumination came on at the sound of his voice.
“I think we might have to accept that we’re going to be in the dark here,” Danni remarked, frowning. “Unless they have some candles or something to light the fireplace with.” Though she wondered again how they were supposed to lay a fire when there was a big hole in the middle of the hearth.
“I’ll go look,” Bravik growled. “What kind of fucking people don’t have power at night, anyway?”
“The H’rakens apparently,” Danni said dryly.
“Gonna go look in the other room,” the big Kindred said. “Maybe there’s something in the closet.”
“Maybe.” Rather than following him, Danni sank down on the flower-strewn couch. It was surprisingly comfortable, considering it was made of tree branches and vines, she thought as she stared into the empty fireplace.
Well, at least it’s better than sitting in Bravik’s lap making a damn fool of yourself, whispered a rueful little voice in her head. What got into you, anyway, Danni? What—
And then the fireplace in front of her exploded into a roaring gout of pink fire and she lost her train of thought and shrieked in terror.
Seventeen
Brav heard her screaming in the other room and his heart began to beat triple time. He was in action before he knew what he was doing, rushing towards the living area where Danielle had cried out in terror.
“What? What is it?” he roared.
“The fireplace!” Suddenly Danielle was in his arms, her face filled with fear. “It suddenly just erupted!”
He looked down at her, realizing he could see her now. In fact, the entire living area was bathed in a deep pink glow. A look at the fireplace showed why. There was a thick, pulsing beam of pink energy filling the hearth and going straight up the chimney.
Or was it coming down from the chimney? What was going on?
“You okay?” He looked down at Danielle, who was still clinging to him, her arms around his waist and her cheek pressed to his chest. He liked having her close like this, but he didn’t like to see her in fear. “Hey, little girl—it’s all right,” he murmured, putting an arm around her and pulling her closer. “I don’t know what in the Seven Hells is going on, but I won’t let anything happen to you—I swear it.”
“I…I’m not afraid.” She straightened up a little, though she didn’t quite let go of him, Brav noticed. “I was just…startled, that’s all. I was just sitting on the couch and all of a sudden this huge pink fireball erupted in the fireplace.” She frowned at the pulsing beam of pink energy. “Do you think it’s coming up from that hole in the hearth? I was wondering how in the world we could start a fire with a hole where the wood and kindling should go, but now I’m thinking maybe this isn’t meant for a, uh, traditional fire.”
“I think you’re right.” Brav nodded. He frowned. “Do you think this has anything to do with the ‘Mother Stone’ we keep hearing so much about?”
“I don’t know.” Danielle frowned. “All this time I’ve been imagining the H’rakens are worshiping some kind of statue or maybe a big stone monolith in that huge metal pyramid at the end of town. But now I’m beginning to wonder.”
Brav had a sudden thought.
“Come outside with me—I want to see something.”
He took her by the hand and pulled her out of the house.
“Where are we going?” Danielle asked, though she came with him willingly enough.
“To have a look at the fence that surrounds the village. Look—you can see it from here!”
Brav pointed towards the metal barrier with its high silver bars. Sure enough, just as he had thought, there were pink lines of energy shooting out of the tips of the spikes that were placed at five feet intervals.
“Look at that!” he pointed them out to Danielle. “I wondered why the spikes were hollow! This energy must run through the bars and form some kind of barrier around the village to keep it safe—like a fence within a fence.”