The Archaeological Chronicles - The New World

Mari

I was not prepared for that landing. I was neither prepared for the masses of people awaiting us.

Cheering. Cheering for him.

I stand beside him, on display for everyone to see. Like a pet. A new puppy. He was gripping my wrist lightly, and I’m unsure if it was to reassure me or simply to keep me put.

Like a leash.

He waved at the people first, then his brother and sneering girl joined him.

Seeing the likeness to Zuuri and the woman, I would also assume her to be a sibling or close relative. She was the spitting image of Zuuri, the only thing that made me able to tell them apart was their eyes.

She wore the same clothes as them, so it was kind of hard to see her womanly features. Her eyes were warmer than Zuuri’s, but still strikingly yellow.

As I looked at her, trying to figure out her features, her pupils suddenly snap towards me. She didn’t even move her head. She gave me a death stare and her upper lip curled into a sneer.

I averted my gaze quickly and focused on my feet instead. The last thing I wanted to look at was the mass of people and a happy Kai’ine.

This was the first time I’ve seen him smile like that. When he did, his whole features lit up, and he was strikingly beautiful in his own way.

How can a being so beautiful be so cruel?

When his feet started to move, I panicked again.

I was not going down there.

Like his female relative, his pupils snapped back without turning his head. Still smiling to the masses of people.

His eyes, though. They gave me the most dangerous look I’ve seen so far on this short journey. His grip around my wrist tightened as he discreetly yanked me closer.

‘’If you behave, I’ll consider fixing a charger for your phone and laptop,’’ he hisses under his breath. The threat was clear.

‘’And if I don’t?’’ I shoot back in a sneer.

‘’I will put an electronic leash in you, so that every time you move too far away from me, you’ll be electrocuted,’’.

Okay. Let’s not get an electronic leash around my neck, then.

He’s still glaring at me, waiting for a reply.

I won’t give him one. He returns his gaze to the masses of cheering people, waiting to greet them.

He walks first, I notice, whilst his brother and female relative walks behind.

That can’t be good.

As my brain is trying to put all the puzzle pieces together – the clothes, the jewelry, the arrogance and the small diadem on top of his annoying head. He has to be more than a ‘high-born’ as they so nicely put it.

To me it seems more like a way to tell people’s status apart. This world cannot be as good as they make it to be. He has to be someone important, a leader of some sorts maybe?

When we reach the bottom of the ships exit, people seem to be cheering louder. They all have different shades of blue as skin tone, and I find that feature about them to be really pretty.

People of lower status have more greyish colored clothes. Boring, if you ask me. Their hair color is different, too. Pitch black eyes with white pupils, of all things, and pitch black hair.

And here I thought it was hard to read Kai’ine’s and Zuuri’s emotions. How in the world will I be able to tell these peoples’ emotions based on their facial expression or body language?

They all seem to be really tall, way taller than the average human. None of them are as tall as the asshats I’m unwillingly traveling with. Maybe that’s another feature of the high-born Daque?

The masses of people are divided by fences, it appears. One on each side. As we walk past them, they yell out in a foreign language that I don’t understand.

They also reach out, trying to touch Kai’ine and his relatives.

It is no doubt about it anymore, Kai’ine is some sort of leader.

Which makes this whole situation way worse.

How in the world am I supposed to run from a being almost twice as tall as me, much stronger and a leader at that?

Despair grips me, tightens around my throat. What a mess. What a disaster. I have to get home. No matter what the cost, I decide.

I will get home.

A hand suddenly yanks me towards the left side of the fence. The opposite side of where Kai’ine was walking.

I don’t even have time to shriek as hands tighten around my throat.

Before they even manage to squeeze, I hear the unmistakable sound of breaking bones.

The hands release me, and I fall down to my knees before I’m pulled into someone’s arms.

Zuuri gazes worriedly down at me as he examines my neck.

‘’Are you hurt?’’ he asks. Emotion clear on his face. For the first time.

He was actually worried.

I shake my head no, as I try to control my shaking hands. Coughing lightly due to the sudden pressure to my throat.

The despair I felt seconds before the attack grew even more. And I’m pulled even deeper into it.

As I try and turn to look at the individual who did it, Zuuri holds me back. Shakes his head slightly. A shriek of pain is heard, growing stronger. Louder. I try to turn once again, but Zuuri takes a hold of my jaw and turns my face towards his.

‘’Better not witness that,’’ he murmurs with a reassuring smile.

Nothing about that smile reassured me as another unmistakable sound of breaking bones, several bones was heard. I could see Kai’ine, unmoving and eyes glowing, in the corner of my eye. This was not good.

Not good at all.

The screams of pain stopped abruptly. As soon as it started, it was over.

Kai’ine took ahold of my hand – not my wrist – and pulled me back to his side, as nothing happened.

The sick part about this is that the cheering never stopped. The people seemed totally unbothered about what just happened.

I tried desperately to control the shivers running through my body. I could see that we were almost at the end of this terrifying parade of sorts.

As we neared, I could see some sort of animal at the end of the line. It has the tail of a Brachiosaurus, the dinosaur type from the show The Land Before Time. That is the only reason why I know it looked familiar. Feet like any hoofed animal on Earth, maybe more like horses’ feet? A long, long neck and the face of a lizard.

What the hell.

The thing was green. Black eyes. It stared at us from a distance, staring at me. It tilted his head curiously and his tongue rolled out of his mouth.

What the actual hell.

I could hear Kai’ine and his relatives talk to the masses of people, but I couldn’t understand the language anyways, so I paid it no mind.

Lost in my own thoughts, I was momentarily pulled out of my fear as I feel myself moving towards the curious animal.

Kai’ine let go of my hand, absent minded.

I near it carefully, as his pointy ears twitch and move. If I interpret it to be something like a horse, the ears will always tell you if it likes you or not. It's ears didn't flatten out backwards, so I take it as a good sign.

I love animals on Earth, so how can this be any different?

When I’m close enough to reach it, I stop and put my hand out for it to smell. You should never approach an animal without it having smelled your hand.

It looks at me for a moment, skeptical, before he slowly bends his neck down to take a sniff of my hand. Its black eyes are glued to mine as it sniffs my hand. Its head lifts slightly as his huge face nears mine.

I stand perfectly still, heartbeat accelerating. He pushes his snout against my cheek. Approval. I pat his head in return. It lets out this squeal, a sound I’ve never heard before.

I resist jumping back from it, out of fright.

Its face moves to look me straight in the eye as its head tilt to the side. Curious. It leans into my touch as I scratch behind its ears. The being likes that, I notice.

‘’His name is Kaohl,’’.

I jump back in fright as Kai’ine suddenly stands beside me. A small squeal leaves my mouth. The being, or Kaohl reacts instantly, and moves his whole neck in front of me, and snarls at Kai’ine.

Would you look at that.

Finally some being that likes me better than him. Kai’ine is unmoving, staring at the scene that just unfolded.

‘’It seems as he likes you better than me,’’ he muses. ’’He doesn’t like anyone. How interesting,’’.

Kaohl is suddenly between my legs and tips me over, so that I slide down his back and seated in some sort of saddle.

I squeal loudly, in the most unflattering way. That caught me off guar.

‘’Interesting, indeed,’’ Kai’ine muses as he gets on as well.

His front pressing against my back. I squirm uncomfortably. He places a cold hand underneath my chin, and tips my head slightly backwards, so I see his face. His other hand traces the place where the stranger tried to choke me.

Satisfied with whatever, he lets go and Kaohl takes off.

I turn my head to see his sibling and relative follow us closely, seated on their own being like Kaohl.

All I can see around us is greenery, waterfalls, tall mountains with snow on top of them. Like an enchanted forest. It’s so beautiful. So captivating.

So clean.

The sky is blue, like it is on Earth. The same colored clouds float lazily in the sky. From what I’ve seen so far, this planet really looks like something pulled out from a movie about elves and other supernatural beings that lives in enchanted forests.

Come to think about it, every being here – that I’ve seen so far – has the same type of pointy ears as elves does. Maybe humans really found some inspiration from these beings.

A human thought they saw something in the woods one day, and it turned out to be an alien, that they interpreted to be something supernatural. An elf, a fairy or something like that.

It sounds like a probable explanation.

We ride for no longer than twenty minutes, before I can see something in the horizon. I would describe it as a castle or a really big villa, only with a lot more glass. The whole thing was basically just glass with a few slabs of wooden panels here and there.

Gosh, these people are really not afraid of burglars.

As I notice the glassed villa, I take notice that there are literally no other houses around it. I look around us, trying to see some.

On a hill, probably a few kilometers away from the villa, on the south side, I can see a village. If that’s the correct way to describe it. I can’t think of a better word for it, so I settle with calling it a village.

As expected, we slow down when we near the villa. Kai’ine was probably expecting me to ask tons of questions, but I won’t. It will only bring satisfaction to him, and I am not feeding that ego even more.

I can always ask Zuuri later on.

Kai’ine jumps off Kaohl and holds out his hand for me to take. I ignore it and jump down to the ground.

That was a mistake.

Kaohl is a huge animal, probably thirty percent bigger than the biggest horse on Earth. I won’t give Kai’ine the satisfaction of my groan of pain, so I bite my tongue and keep my mouth shut.

‘’The woman riding beside Zuuri is my younger sister, Zuki, and is Zuuri’s twin,’’ Kai’ine nods in the direction of his siblings.

I don’t reply.

Kaohl bends his face down towards me and pushes against my chest. Wanting to be pet.

I like this being.

I pet his face and he get more eager as happy squeals leaves his mouth. He suddenly lifts his head up high, forcing me to clutch his face tightly, so I won’t fall down.

He flips me once, so that I’m seated between his ears as he lightly trots around.

Cutie.

I laugh lightly as his black eyes stare up at me. The second time I can clearly see emotion on Kai’ine’s face is the expression he is making right now as he stares up at us in bewilderment and worry.

‘’Kaohl,’’ he warns. The being whines as he bends his head down, for me to slide off.

I can see his fingers twitching again, a habit he does when he’s unsure of how to react, I’ve noticed. Well, I think that's why he does it. Impossible to say for sure.

Before he can scold me, his siblings get off their being’s backs’. Zuuri’s being has a light grey color to its skin and Zuki’s has a brownish color.

So they are diverse in color, I note.

As they walk towards us, Zuki starts sneering again and Zuuri slaps the back of her head, obviously annoyed.

She whips her head towards her twin brother and snarls loudly. They start yelling at each other in their mother tongue.

Kai’ine sighs annoyedly. Barks something to them, probably ordering them to shut up, if I’m not mistaken. Zuuri laughs lightly as his sister is quite obviously annoyed.

‘’How do you like our barricks?’’ Zuuri asks as he stands before us. I assume he’s talking about those beings we just rode on.

‘’Weird but cute,’’ I reply without hesitation and smiles at him. He actually smiles back. A weird, forced smile. But a smile, nonetheless.

‘’Let’s get inside,’’ Kai’ine comments as he nudges my lower back to move towards the entrance of the house. The glass doors slide open as we near them.

The villa has this open solution. Which means there are no apparent rooms, at least not on this floor. Green plants hang from the ceilings and flowers decorates the rails up to the second floor. Pale wooden panels can be seen on this entire floor.

I spot what I would assume is a kitchen in the far end and a seating area with something that looks like a fireplace. A big, cream white couch is on a lowered floor, beside the fireplace. Glass windows everywhere.

The all kick off their shoes by the entrance and I do the same. Thank god that I won’t have to walk around in shoes all day.

In some odd sense it comforts me knowing that I won’t be here all alone with Kai’ine. Even if Zuki snarls at me constantly. It still makes me feel better.

Zuuri looks at me with a smirk on his face as he pulls out my – no way! – my blue Fjallräven backpack.

I accept it gratefully from him and yanks it open, there it was, I let out a sigh of relief. My laptop and phone.

Kai’ine walks up the black marbled stairs on the right side of the entrance. He stops halfway, turns his head slightly to meet my confused gaze.

‘’Better follow him,’’ Zuuki murmurs beside me and gives me a gentle push.

Too far out of my comfort zone, I do as I’m told and follow him up the stairs. This floor, too, has the same open solution. I can see a desk with several bookshelves placed against the wooden wall. A seating area with the same cream couch as downstairs is placed at the end of the room, with a stunning view of the scenery outside.

Before I can note any more details on this floor, he continues up another marbled staircase. I hurry to catch up with him.

This was a smaller room, with glass surrounding three out of four walls. The first door I’ve seen so far is in the right corner of the room. This entire floor was a bedroom.

A wall to divide the bed, which was placed in the middle of the room, with full view of the scenery outside, was an apparent clothing space. I assumed the door lead to the bathroom. If you laid down in the bed, you could see the scenery in every direction you turned. A framed, black bed made it stand out to the otherwise sterile room.

There were no plants up here, only a bed, a few dressers and open closets that showed shirts and pants, a big mirror beside the clothing racks and a door.

The floor was almost transparent whiteish with the same feel to it as the black marbled stairs. The only thing separating them is the color.

‘’This is where we sleep,’’ he states after a few seconds of silence.

‘’We?’’ I blurt.

He turns to look at me and nods slightly.

‘’Do you think I trust you to sleep by yourself? No. You are reckless and impulsive,’’ he states.

‘’I am not sleeping here,’’ I shake my head in denial.

No way. I’ll sleep outside with Kaohl instead. Preferably in my own bed back home, but I had to come up with a plan to get to that point first.

‘’I don’t care for your feelings around this matter either, Mai’yri,’’ he states emotionlessly.

He turns towards me and stalk closer. I unknowingly take a few steps back. He reaches out his left arm, pointing at my neck. Nothing happens.

‘’There,’’ he states.

I look down at my neck.

What the hell?

Almost transparent, glowing blue chain is around my neck. I can see it connect with the headboard of the bed. I widen my eyes in shock.

He is stronger and more powerful than I thought.

‘’What the hell!’’ I yell. I try pulling at the chain, nothing happens.

I don’t even feel it constrict around my throat as I do it. Panic grips me once again. This better not be the electric collar he was talking about.

‘’These are energy chains,’’ he states, still staring intensely at me as I struggle to get them off. ‘’The more you struggle, the more energy they take from you,’’ he explains further.

‘’They are long enough for you to roam freely in this room. You can do whatever you do on your laptop. I have some things that needs to be done. I’ll be back in a few hours,’’.

‘’What the hell!’’ I yell again. ‘’You said you wouldn’t put these on if I didn’t make a scene!’’ I scream at him.

Panic gripping me stronger. I’m helpless with this thing around my neck.

Trapped.

He shakes his head, still emotionless as ever.

’’No, I said I would put on an electric leash if you didn’t behave. This is not electric,’’ he states as he touches the chain to prove that they are in theory harmless if I don’t struggle against them.

‘’Take them off,’’ I growl as I yank against them.

He shakes his head once. ‘’Maybe tomorrow,’’ he says as he turns to leave.

‘’You can’t do this!’’ I scream and struggle harder. ’’Din jævla –‘’ I scream as I suddenly fall to my knees. Breathless.

He tilts his head. ‘’I told you they would consume your energy if you struggled against them,’’ he states.

He turns his back to me once again and leaves quietly without looking back. I bang my head against the tiled floor as I try and gain my breath.

Suddenly so tired, so weak. It will take a while to gain the same amount of energy I just lost.

Tears of frustration clouds my vision as I struggle to find a solution to this problem. I’m trapped here. In every literal sense of the word.

He is some kind of leader, has a big glass house in the middle of I-don’t-know-where and I have no idea of how to get on a ship and get back home.

Home. Millions of light years away.

I bang my head against the tiled floor again as tears starts dripping quietly on the marbled floor.

Desperate to feel more like myself I rip loose the braid Kai’ine made this morning. Throw the golden chain as far away from me as possible.

Feeling like a glorified pet, I rip the robe off as well. Trying to remove as much from his culture as I possibly can without leaving myself naked.

I let my emotions get the best of me as a muffled cry leaves my lips.

I’m cold now. Cold and tired on a black marbled floor on an unknown planet surrounded by aliens.

My body slumps down on the floor completely, as I lie on my stomach and try to tug this fucking chain off me, even though I know it’s pointless.

My breathing slows as I struggle to stay conscious. Suddenly regretting using all of my energy on this blasted thing.

I shouldn’t have struggled. Should have saved the energy.

That would have made me able to stay conscious at least. Annoyed at my poor choice of actions and panicked because I’m losing consciousness I try to crawl as far as the chain lets me, towards the staircase.

I tug one final time, in sheer desperation to get free and stay conscious, and my body falls limp. Refusing to move. I’ve used up all of my energy. As my mind is going black, I panic. I don’t want to fall asleep!

----

Translation:

Din jævla - you fucking