Acorna’s Search Read Online Free Page B

beautiful mountain and the waterfall and lake?”
    “Yes. Are we going there tomorrow?”
    “We are here now. This is that place,” Acorna told her.
    “But—it is so flat,” Maati said, bewildered. She was not at all stupid, but the concept of total terrestrial destruction was a large one to absorb, especially in the presence of the reality of the thing. This rather savage and uncertain “prettiness,” first vestige of life among the ruins of Vhiliinyar though it might be, was a far cry from the deeply spiritual beauty of the mountain with its glorious waterfall and wine-hued lake that she’d seen in Hafiz’s holo.
    “It’s not as flat as it appears. We had to climb quite steeply to land here. And the vegetative growth is no doubt due largely to the residual moisture from the lake. Perhaps not even the Khleevi could destroy it entirely.”
    “Its very waters were known to have healing powers akin to those of our horns,” Thariinye said.
    “That is clearly no longer the case,” Aari said, with a snort to dislodge the stench of the place—a mix of rotting vegetation and who knew what else—from his nostrils.
    “The presence of the plants means that there is water here,” Acorna said. “We should purify it, but perhaps it would be wise to explore this forest a little at a time at first, until we can analyze just what it consists of, and what pollutants are present in the water and the vegetation.”
    Aari nodded. “There are chemical combinations that could eat right through what we’re wearing before we could purify it with our horn. There are even chemicals the Khleevi developed that can eat through Linyaari horns themselves.”
    Maati and Thariinye exchanged startled glances. The idea that any chemical could be so strong as to counteract the purifying effects of their horns, and harm the horns themselves, was totally alien to all they knew about their own abilities. And more alien was the thought that such hostile strangeness could exist here, on what had once been the safest place in the universe to be Linyaari.
    The pallid sun drooped near the scarred horizon, and Acorna said, “Let’s settle in for the night here. For now, we should perhaps use only the water and food we brought with us from MOO.”
    Her opinion was unanimously accepted, and after a quick meal of water and dried grasses, they spread air mats over the rocks and arranged the flitter’s attachable awnings as tents over their small campsite.
    The flutter of useful activity served to calm Acorna’s nerves, which were, if not exactly jangling, at least on red alert. An air of menace pervaded this spot, the very place, however unrecognizable, that had seemed to be the epitome of peace and serenity in Hafiz’s holo. At least she wasn’t alone in her concern. Aari was alert to the slightest shift in air currents, the least nuance of shifting current in the miasma of rot and waste simmering around them.
    RK, too, that veteran of a thousand adventures, clearly was displeased with the place. He stayed near the Linyaari, slinking with his belly dragging the rocks, his ears rotating constantly, his whiskers and fur bristling, his upper lips raised above his fangs in a snarling expression that uncovered the scent glands on either side of his muzzle. He looked like a creature from a nightmare.
    Maati reached out to stroke him. He allowed the small caress after almost taking off her hand. He rubbed it with his head in apology, but continued to slink and prowl about after she released him.
    Thariinye, meanwhile, was lamenting, “We could have brought our traveling pavilions if the Khleevi hadn’t destroyed so many homes on narhii-Vhiliinyar. They would have been much more comfortable than these makeshift shelters.”
    “I thought you were the rugged adventurer,” Maati chided, “used to surviving in the worst possible circumstances with nothing but your wits, never mind a pavilion!”
    “These are among the worst possible circumstances,