The Cane Stories

By Seth Giolle

Ha-Sean is driven to know more about the colourful lines burning across his sky. When the others in the forest retreat to the solace of their wooden bunkers, he ventures forth out onto the plains to learn all he can of these strange times. With his mate Si-Moeh by his side, he embarks on a journey that will not only rock his personal beliefs and physical being. His adventure will reshape the state of their world in the times to come. In the search for truth and justice, many things must be sacrificed. To find gain, some things must be lost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Oct 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329612792

Seth Giolle

Seth Giolle was born on a small, rural farm in southeast Ontario. After Travelling throughout Canada in all its splendour, he once again makes Ontario his home.

Book preview

Cane Stories

Fantasy Adventure

By Seth Giolle

Credits

I would like to thank my aunt for giving me feedback on this text. It hadn’t occurred to me different alien terrains needed to be made as clear as alien faces. It should have been obvious to me, but it wasn’t. Sometimes, the simplest truth can be the most elusive until someone else gives you a fresh perspective.

A Note from the Author

Hello, these are my Cane Stories. I’d like offer a bit of an introduction.

Essentially, I crafted some clay alien heads to go on existing cane stalks some years ago as gifts for others. There was the intent from the start to use the characters I crafted in a story one day, and this collection is the result. It’s a bit of a collection of smaller stories, but not really. I’ll get to that one in a short bit.

To begin with, in this note section, I feel compelled to share my debate on where to place this note section. I know that sounds odd, but bear with me on this. By placing this note section at the back of this collection, I could have delved further into details that you, the reader, might find really interesting. Delving further into those details at the start of the book would spoil the story for you. For this reason, these words would have worked great included at the back of the book.

But at the same time, there also are some introductory names and concepts I wanted to include in this note. You really wouldn’t need those introductions anymore if this note was placed at the back of the story because you’d have already read the story at that point.

This was an overriding and solid point in my mind, so in the end, I put this section where it was more needed which is up front here.

You will get some hint of the story to come from reading this note. There’s a lot you still don’t know, but you’ll likely gleam a plot bit here and there. But you do need some explanation of the alien races you’re about to meet. Here’s hoping you don’t gleam too many unwanted details ahead of their time.

You will be given a slow introduction to each race.

Chapters one through three each present two different races. They are essentially smaller, individual stories, but at the same time, they’re background stories directly connected and leading to chapter four where everything comes together and becomes one story; hence, this is a single novella and a collection of stories at the same time.

In those opening chapters, both of the two alien races presented per chapter have paired and mingled fates. By design, you get a disjointed storyline involving them flipping back and forth between each. There are timeline gaps in these first three chapters. There is a good flow between each paired alien race’s story, but the disjoint still exists.

When you start chapter four, you follow one character, and the other protagonists you meet in chapters one through three are just other characters. Again, what happens in the first three chapters is all back-story for the fourth chapter. I’m just giving you a chance to see the back-story instead of telling you that this and that happened in the past. And this back-story is only a few days old by the time chapter four starts.

There’s a lot of detail to take in, and each alien race is somewhat unique, so before throwing them all in together, you will have chapters one through three to get to know each alien race a little better. This collection of shorter story style introductions will hopefully clear up any confusion that you might be feeling before the continual, more-flowing main story of chapter four.

And yes, as much as I try to present this story as simply as I can, it does get complex at times. It deals with concepts that are a little high-brow in some cases, but I’ve worked hard at presenting the concepts and alien races in a smooth, straightforward fashion. The characters physically change as the story goes along - as does the world they’re living in. I think it’s a pretty neat plot that you’ll enjoy. It’s got the complexity and richness of a great story with the simplicity of explanation such that you can actually understand those higher scientific foundations. At least, that’s my aim and opinion.

I suppose I might be a little biased.

In this story, the small ones (chapters one through three) and the main story (chapter four), different faiths pop up. With each shorter story, I made up something religion-based I thought that race would follow. There was no attempt or interest in copying any actual faith. Creating new is always a lot more fun and avoids troublesome politics.

The Icarene (Ee-Ka-Reen) are a warrior race, so their faith gained a battle-oriented, slain-beast creationist tilt. The Nortonne (Nor-Tun) are ocean bound under the rolling waves, so their creator had a wave-like hand to shape the world.

Do-Shaa (Doe-Sha) live on the plains where the wind blows freely, and a red sun would paint that blowing tall grass red, so they had Fire Wind and a deity that called it.

Anyone living in a swamp would have a down-trodden life-is-against-me attitude I figure, so the Ka Mai (Ka-My) and Ka Tailea (Ka-Tie-Lee-a) share the belief in a punishing deity that would continue their misery or make it even worse if they didn’t prove themselves worthy when he returned.

I will admit that I was losing some creativity when I got to the Tallikeesh (Tally-Keesh), so their faith system did actually take on a Greek myth base similar to Zeus and Poseidon, different gods representing different elements, but I applied it all sparingly and tried to make it forest-like as best I could, and I did make different gods, of course.

All of these faiths weren’t going to be much more than little details to make each race and smaller story richer and more interesting, but alas, they all became part of a KoCi (Co-See) truth (because the previous faiths are all kind of wrong: none of them are actually correct in how their world and different races came into being, not a single one of them). Thus, I created the KoCi faith in its own sense introducing its logic, reason, and evolution over the other set religions. That’s just the KoCi way.

I needed proper justification for this book’s main protagonist, a Tallikeesh, to travel across the world. He ended up needing answers to his faith on top of, well, other motivations. I don’t want to spoil things by going too deep here. Basic point, faith became an important subplot to the whole.

That subplot fit so well that I couldn’t remove it.

It’s neat how stories and characters take on lives of their own. It isn’t just that deleting a moment or character would be like lopping off an arm for the author (which it sometimes is. Authors gave birth to it; they become attached to said idea). It’s more that the story wouldn’t be the same if that moment was removed. Editing requires sacrifice and radical change, yes, but some change isn’t for the better and just can’t be done.

And once you kind of involve religion, you have to involve it at least a respectable amount. Then, if that lesser subplot becomes a main subplot through successive rewrites, it becomes even more key. Sigh. It became a serious subplot I didn’t really intend, but could not remove.

So the faith subplot survived then and thrives now.

A mention I’d like to make in these notes is in regards directly to changes. They’re common in any story. Again, editing requires sacrifice. Draft after draft, the author decides to add clothing, alter food, change up the way something happens, et cetera. The altering to text is expected and natural. The point of mention here is how much of that radical change I found myself making in just the first draft of this story.

For example, not giving away too much detail ahead of the story here, there is a battle set to happen before a forest at one point. Is that general enough? Originally, I had it the protagonist Ha-Sean (Hah-Sean) trying to use tricks to appear as a god visibly manipulating fire with his mind while actually controlling the fire through mechanical means. The thing was that he actually controlled fire balls in the end, no faking it, and no one could explain it - him included.

But then, a chapter before, I decided, no, he wouldn’t fight. He’d be stopped from fighting and sent away. That way he couldn’t profane a faith pretending to be someone else’s god. It made moral sense, but he found a way to fight without fighting as he left. Using his trickery, the greater war was averted, and the bad guy lost and ran with no one dying.

No, wait, that changed two chapters later; yes, I had to back-peddle and rewrite all the previous chapters I’d just completed. The fight didn’t happen; he was sent off, and that war was just delayed. That way, he could complete his quest, then, maybe, return to have the war later. It was left open-ended for a time as I wasn’t sure if I wanted the battle to ever actually happen anymore.

This isn’t actually a battle story.

It just takes on some hunts and fights that naturally evolved in the writing process.

The ending is another example of more serious change just in the first draft. In the original final chapter, Ha-Sean becomes a god in others’ eyes without actually trying to take on that role. He actually spends most of the story on shaky footing as to what he believes anymore. Being placed in the role of another people’s idol fit with the faith subplot since he’d have a new view on his own faith. Perspective is so important in anything. But it was a little much. Poignant and interesting, yes, but also arrogant and extreme. The actual final chapter became something markedly different, and there was another chapter after it as things turned out.

The amusing part for me regarding these more notable changes is that there were more later on as the drafts continued. I can’t remember any story I’ve written from shorter story to novel with so many radical changes so continuous in nature. It was interesting to experience. I’m not sure I want to come across it again, but it was fun this once.

As I was finished up the first draft, it occurred to me that I should explain in this note why these races the story works its way through don’t wear clothing. There’s ceremonial garb from robes to sashes and that sort of thing, yes, but this world is based for the most part around almost tribal races. They have furs and skins to wear and make use of, and when they sleep, they use them, but if it’s hot out, they usually don’t bother. They basically go naked most of the time. This logic fit with the races and storyline, so I went with it.

The other reason I didn’t include a lot of clothing is complexity. In short, it would make the story more complex than it really needs to be. Each race would need its own material based on what animals they hunt; their own thread depending on refinement; their own styles based on fashion; and their own colour tints based on available flowers and dyes. Type of clothing, how much, how it’s worn, when it’s worn, how is it attached, where is it hung, how is it cleaned - all of these questions/details add to the others. Involving clothing would involve all this extra detail to each chapter and section meaning longer descriptions and less flow. Were I aiming for a more complex storyline, this would be fine. As I’m aiming for a simpler plot, well, as simple as I can write it all considering, the clothing element just doesn’t work here.

No, I don’t describe their private anatomy.

I just don’t describe clothing they’re wearing since they usually aren’t.

An important point in the story to follow is its use of commas. I’ve been told over and over that I use too many. The fact is that I like to use commas properly, which means that I actually use them. Modern writing is moving away from commas for the sake of flow. We’re in a rush to get there faster and faster, and commas slow us down. At least, that’s my take on why our society doesn’t seem to want commas in our writing.

Anyway, I use commas in this book, but not as much as usual. There are many places where I could have used them, but didn’t. The fact is that there is good flow in the story. Much as I might not love admitting this, removing many of the grammatically required commas does increase flow to the story, and that flow isn’t bad. I kind of like it in what’s to follow.

It makes the ready tough in places to not have the commas where they should be, but it bothers me to not see them there. I leave them out to see what reaction I get. Will you, the reader, respond and tell me to put them in? Or will there be cheers for how they’re gone. I’ve left the story with this non-comma flow, in a sense, as an experiment. A test. Is this the type of writing you, the reader, are looking for? You never know until you try in most things.

I wanted to mention in this note one final bit of anecdotal information. This story involves the Aurora Tonnini. An Aurora is a special astral event of sorts. The Aurora Tonnini is a special phenomenon involving red coloured lights in the sky. I used this exact Aurora in a shorter science fiction story, and I couldn’t help but use it again. Tonnini’s like a character you create and become attached to. Why use such a cool story element only once? That wouldn’t make any sense at all, hence, Tonnini made its way over here. Being a special anomaly, it would be affecting more than one story anyway. That just makes sense too.

To the reading.

Cane Stories

Fantasy Adventure

Chapter One:

The Rise of Collimaise

The Hand of Limaiche

Eveise roc Nortonne

Assembly

Action

Mio’Lar roc Icarene

Reaction

Blood

Chapter Two:

Tactal, the Wind Fire

The Coming of Kamailan

Serai roc Do-Shaa

Wind Fire

Tactal

Ka-Eve’Lar roc Ka Mai

Treaty

Voice

Chapter Three:

The Brothers Inek Tsyol

The Aurora Tonnini

Ha-Sean roc Tallikeesh

Memories

Lights

Kaiselan roc KoCi

Dark Panels

Kani-Roc Kaiselan

Kani-Roc Ha-Sean

Word

Truth

Chapter Four:

The Founders

First Steps

Charmed

Stealth

Fatigue

Up Collimaise

Down and Out

Revelations

Environment

Coast

Exacting a Crossing

Push and Pull

Collikarne

Learning Calm

Prophecy

Eye of the Storm

Acceptance

Thinning the Herd

The Spirits

Glide

Theories

Cunning

Visions and Vistas

Stealth Unseen

The View

Arrogance

Truth

Eveise

roc Nortonne

Eveise leaned back and glanced around while his friends joked on. The Assembly Area was so quiet with its stone and sediment confines so empty. At council during recognized assemblies, the smoothed, stepped layers going up from the arena floor and Speaker’s Ledge were filled with Nortonne all battling to be heard. At other times, they were quietly listening, but their eyes and subtle body movements spoke quite clearly of every acutely personal thought. Emotions and opinions were screamed out for the perceptive mind to take in whether the thoughts were shared by fleck or fin.

The Assembly Area’s stone architecture from step to wall spoke of age. For that matter, the stone window boxes weren’t all whole. Some were chipped whereas others were cracked or broken from time. In fact, the Assembly Area wasn’t even. In the arena’s fall from above ages past, it had landed hard and broken its base. There was a noticeable crack leaving one half of their Assembly Area on a downward slant, but such details weren’t important. The ocean’s sediment combined with the tide’s worn smoothness had made the stranger’s arena their own generations past now.

And it had known so many heated debates in just his time.

Eveise gazed up distractedly.

There was nothing up there but blue. He often wondered where their Assembly Area had fallen from. Had the mountains extended out that far into their ocean at one point? An eruption crumbled that arm breaking all but this single monument to sink down to their depths? Eveise didn’t think the Icarene capable of crafting anything as pensive or philosophical as a auditorium or assembly space. And the Icarese certainly didn’t care for building, nothing this artful at least.

He stretched out his neck and rifled his gills. At the same time, the young Nortonne puffed out his chest and angled his arms sideways, pulling his arms back. Timing his inhale with the incoming swirling tidal front that swept through, scales lifted taking in the fresh ocean minerals and current’s latest coating. Each fleck on each scale’s glazed lid glistened gaining a fresh blue-green colouration. The gills along both sides of his neck waved briskly, and he took in what the current’s coating could give.

The ocean was alive.

It had a story.

Everything that lived in the ocean left a marker, a flavour, a taste for those who partook in its currents. Eveise relaxed his scales allowing them to settle once more. The flecks would keep their added blue-green sheen for a time before returning to their more natural dark blue colouration. Eveise blinked a few times considering what this current’s coating had offered.

There was a school of Desh nearby. He’d never been overly fond of Desh. Their meat was a little bitter for his liking. A taste of Revisa had been borne on this coating, and he adored their meat. A host of ten Nortonne hunters passed above heading off where the coating had identified the Revisa pod. Woven nets, knives, and spears abound. Eveise smiled.

If only he could follow.

His friends shared quick jabs at Eveise for dreaming himself the hunter. The fin lifts, curled nostrils and wrinkled brows combined with rippled gills and jerky exhales. The thoughts were clear enough. They’d never let him live his past attempts at fishing down, and he knew it.

His return snort, closed gills, and rounded nose tip punctuated his counter. ‘The current carried the spear left,’ came that reply slapping his closest laughing friend at the same time. ‘And if it hadn’t been for the school of Nortunni passing to my right, I would have finished it off by blade.’

‘They told a different tale,’ one friend mused.

A different friend flicked his whiskers and bristled his thick brow. He then rifled the scales along his shoulder blades running down the length of his back. ‘They claim they weren’t in any danger to warrant any concern,’ he joked with an extra flex of his boxed chin and ear fins. ‘They claim your dive to avoid the Charnol’s fumbling attempt to flee was overly dramatic if nothing else.’

‘Nortunni don’t lie,’ the friend he’d slapped insisted, eye lids and facial expression speaking volumes the whiskers, flapping gums, and downward fins only hinted at.

Eveise turned away again.

He decided he needed new friends. This opinion was relayed by fin, gill, and whisker, and his friends started a list of other Nortonne they’d suggest. Eveise closed his eyes and hung his head. He’d make a great warrior no matter what they said. They were just useless and juvenile, but they were his useless and juvenile friends, and they were always there for the good times. He supposed he’d put up with them a little longer. He didn’t want to talk to them anymore for the moment.

The arena’s bottom central floor parted to reveal the opening to the tunnels below. All Nortonne paused to wait, and Eveise’s uncle, High Speaker, rose at last before stopping to turn with arms spread and webbing dropped to hold his descend. As such, he floated and turned before spotting Eveise where he waited beside his friends. Smiling, whiskers streaming, his uncle kicked himself forwards along the ocean floor as the tunnel entrance closed behind him.

‘Nephew,’ he summoned with a quick flick of his ear fins and bow of his head.

Nortonne bodies grew slack with age. As such expressions and muscle movement lost the highly tuned articulation they’d once held in youth. Thoughts were more bruskly conveyed with finer words and higher thoughts simply no longer accessible. This was simply a part of life, and respect demands concession.

Eveise smiled and bowed, thick brows and ear fins dropping back and down. ‘Uncle.’

His friends drifted back a foot sharing bows and respectful greetings.

‘I’m sorry for being late,’ his uncle related through gill and scale tone.

‘Not at all,’ Eveise countered. ‘It’s just good you found the time to share.’ Eveise bid his friends farewell, and they parted. Floating closer to where his uncle had stopped, Eveise shared a slight frown. ‘You look tired. If today isn’t a good day,’ he started, his uncle shaking his head, gills and scales rifling.

‘Not at all.’ The ear fins were discoloured, and nostrils and nose tip didn’t lift like they should, but the Speaker shook off any offered concern. ‘I enjoy our swims and need the break from council. Shall we?’

Eveise nodded, and they kicked up from the arena floor ascending just above the Assembly Area’s outer, stone walls. At that height, his uncle angled down and left. Leg and arm webbing was released holding to the current. He kicked along with back and leg fins helping propel him along his chosen path, and Eveise followed.

They angled downwards outside and over the Assembly Area levelling out along the ocean floor. The uneven horizon spread out before them in all its varied terrain. Underwater mountains, valleys, and ridges each had their own domain with areas of sedimentary plain between. The colourful coral and underwater flora grew throughout with their accompanying sea life, urchins, fish, and other.

Eveise’s uncle kicked them on along that vibrant, randomly shifting, and always entrancing sea floor.

‘And what were you and your friends discussing? I noticed laughing.’

Eveise spun once as he kicked himself to swim head and shoulders beside his uncle. ‘They find a lot of things funny,’ he groaned, not expanding, his uncle nodding. ‘For the most part,’ he continued on a changed topic, ‘they’re curious about the colours in the skies above and the new sanctions that are rumoured to be brought down. I have to admit I’m curious about the same.’

It wasn’t easy communicating well while swimming against the tide, but when the need arose, most all was possible. Eveise’s uncle didn’t show any offense if a fin flick or chin curl had been delivered off-cue.

‘As are most Nortonne if not all,’ his uncle conceded easily enough.

They slowed approaching their main nest entry.

Workers swarmed around the large, smoothed slab applying the silicon paste brought up from the tunnels below. The sandstone slab slid open or closed at will within bits of stone edging. The paste kept the edging from becoming too dry. The slab wouldn’t slide open and closed grinding against coarse stone. Eveise had been told how that paste was constructed once. He’d instantly changed that subject too and never asked to have it explained again.

When closed into place, it made an impenetrable shield barring unwanted access to the main tunnels below. Just in case, this main doorway was guarded from inside by a number from the Nortonne warrior class - in case something actually managed to get through the protective slab however unlikely that might be.

Many of those workers lifted their gazes to consider their new on-lookers for a moment before returning to their labours signalling fresh conversations with those nearby. Eveise found the distance his uncle kept on these tours bothersome mostly because at their distance from those workers below he couldn’t tell what was being said.

‘They are correct to be curious, of course,’ his uncle continued, kicking them forward again. ‘There are sanctions coming forth at the Assembly tonight. There will be a great many changes that will affect us all for that matter, but this isn’t the place to go into such things.’

‘And the lights, uncle?’

‘The lights in the skies above our seas are key to those changes,’ his uncle allotted. ‘They are as dazzling as they are dangerous, and to keep our kind safe, we must make certain changes short term to help us long term.’ Eveise frowned, his uncle nodding. ‘I speak in riddles today. I’m sorry about that.’

His uncle extended his webbing again. The skin flaps caught the current and slowed his speed until he was hovering in the water above the reef they’d come upon. Above the mixing blues, greens, and streaming yellows below, he turned. Eveise slowed as well and hovered some feet distant.

‘I don’t mean to confuse,’ his uncle noted, resigned. ‘The lights in this world’s skies are the first of many to come.’

Eveise’s gaze lifted to the ocean surface far above. His mind lifted high above sea level to the skies that watched over their domain. It had always been blue to his knowing, but red and yellow streaks had been showing of late like darts fired from one side to the other. Some even curled or dissipated partway. They were enough to spark such curiosity.

‘The lights according to our oldest texts,’ his uncle added calling his nephew’s attention back to him, ‘relate to a display that is harmful to our kind. None of this is to be shared until the Assembly tonight. You won’t share. It’s understood?’

Eveise nodded quickly enough. He understood politics somewhat. He understood them well enough to know his uncle didn’t play with words and meanings, and he seemed quite serious, if not concerned on this measure.

His uncle nodded his appreciation. They started swimming again though at a more leisurely pace. ‘They are connected to an event slated in our oldest texts as Tonnini,’ he explained. A large school of bright red fish darted left ahead giving them way as did a smaller pod of eels that had been following. ‘The origin of the word hasn’t been found,’ his uncle groaned, ‘but the explanation and warning are clear.’

‘Then the coming sanctions are to limit our access to the ocean surface?’

‘And ocean floor,’ his uncle noted with reservation, Eveise blinking wide.

His uncle angled them to the right of the spawning fields now ahead. Spiny ridges and barbed coral kept most intruders away from the hidden, softer earth and richer sea beds within. The Nortonne warriors they passed with their barbed spears and arm-mounted dart weapons stopped any intruders who dared ignore the more natural deterrents with as much vicious zeal as those posted around the main entrance to the tunnels where they all lived.

Warriors didn’t use nets or knives. Nets and knives were reserved for hunters to catch and skin, to harvest for everyone’s food. Warriors killed. What they killed was left where it was a message to other intruders that they were equally unwelcomed.

Passing a host of these warriors, they expressed their greetings with a combination of flexes and inhales. Respectful greetings were passed back. The warriors then quickly turned back to their watch, and Eveise and his uncle continued their tour.

‘If we cannot access the ocean floor, uncle, we cannot live. We need to eat. Rumours tell of a wasting when we last rested out of season.’

‘We do indeed need food, nephew, which is why our hunters and gatherers are busy filling our stores as we speak. A large host of questions and the reason people are talking sanctions and concerns is related to that increased activity, is it not?’ his uncle asked with an added flourish. ‘And there was death when last our people rested early, but we’ve learned and won’t repeat the old mistakes.’

Eveise’s exhale expressed understanding.

‘We are even upgrading the old spawning pool,’ his uncle explained. ‘It has fallen into such disrepair over time,’ his uncle noted with disdain. ‘The next month will be no safe place for any Nortunni along the seabed or above,’ he added, motioning to the group of young Nortonne swimming past as they angled back towards the main nest entrance, ‘Nortanne,’ he suggested, gesturing towards his nephew, ‘or Nortanse,’ he groaned, patting his own chest. ‘Age will not allow protection from what’s to come for any of us, and so, to protect all Nortonne kind from Nortunni on up, we must sleep.’

Relayed alarm drew them back around right of the spawning fields as two groups of warriors converged on an approaching Tchay. Eveise was drawn towards the struggle. His uncle stayed at his side before finally stopping him a safe enough distance off where the coral reef grew thick.

‘This is their job,’ he insisted to his nephew’s impatience. ‘Don’t ever forget that it is your place to govern, to rule the council after I am gone. It is your station to take my place, not to dirty yourself with such menial tasks.’

Eight warriors fanned out with spears held ready and darts loaded. The Tchay thrust out on all sides with its many legs edging those Nortonne back, then, stabbed those ten legs through together in one large thrust. It pushed forwards trying to get past the warrior line, but that large, bulbous head with its ridges and oval eyes soon stopped again as the second group of Nortonne warriors barred that renewed motion. The first group the Tchay had funnelled itself past dropped or rose as needed to form a secondary barrier blocking any side-long flight. With a third group of ten warriors that appeared from behind, the beast was now pinned where it was with no easy fight or flight.

‘Sirs,’ came the greeting as a shielded Nortonne came to a stop to their left.

‘General,’ Eveise’s uncle returned. Eveise conceded a respectful nod.

Eveise had met General Gidai many times though he’d been ushered from the room or sent off to do other things in most cases. Those times he’d been allowed if not invited to remain and hear the discussion that followed, Eveise had found General Gidai most curious. He was Nortanse like his uncle, but General Gidai moved like the water itself, and there was no rigidity or drooping to his fins. There were no signs of age as far as he could tell.

And the Nortonne General liked order. There was discipline of mind, and the balance of the elements was practised, but Eveise had always felt this Nortonne wanted more. Be it through speed of response or what thoughts weren’t shared, Gidai had always presented himself as something outside of known accepted practise, but Eveise could be wrong.

General Gidai had been a loyal warrior during his father’s rule and his grandfather’s rule before that. He’d always shown his uncle and himself the more respectful of words and actions. Eveise conceded he was young. As his uncle often said, the young imagine things to make the average extraordinary.

He was likely right. He usually was.

‘Good timing,’ General Gidai reasoned. ‘We’ve been working on a new formation. I’d been hoping to introduce it at council tonight, but having the manoeuvre displayed will do it all the more justice.’

‘Indeed,’ Eveise’s uncle agreed.

Eveise noted his uncle’s stiffer mannerisms in addressing the General, but he was paying the goings-on too close an attention to truly note the details. Where the warriors met the Tchay, the two closest up front drew back into a crouch. Fins were brought in and gills took in a deep, held breath. Body webbing from legs to arms was kept out. Their bodies bobbed with stored oxygen and tensed muscles, but they remained stationary while the other warriors converged.

The Tchay surged forward, and the two crouched warriors extended outwards, their bodies bolting forwards. Darts were fired at the oval eyes as the warriors kicked their feet and swivelled around the attacking front limbs. Spears stabbed up into the beast’s exposed underbelly, and body webbing extended in full drawing both warriors to a full stop; then, with some quick legwork, those warriors shot back out of danger once more.

The beast pulled back in as well, and the warriors changed position. Two warriors to the right crouched, and the scene was repeated with a group thrust on all other sides in turn, that new pair bolting and stabbing through each time. As the fourth pair pulled back, the beast gave up its more defensive posture and attacked outwards at multiple targets. With that fleshy underbelly fully revealed, spears were launched, and the Tchay curled in turning, reeling from distress. Darts were launched, and warriors converged on the flailing beast to finish it off.

‘This new manoeuvre speeds up the kill,’ the General boasted. ‘It requires more warriors per larger intruder, but executed well, there will be less warriors wounded and lost in every endeavour. In the long run, this will give us an exacting edge.’

Eveise bobbed back nodding appreciatively. His uncle’s gills flared, then, drew flat again. ‘This should be explained at Assembly,’ he agreed with reservation. ‘I will call you forward to speak. I will leave the rest to you. I will play witness and confirm its effect, but I leave the words to you, General. And I will summon you some gatherers. We will more than likely need what we can harvest from this one. You’ll need another example if that is your concern.’

He bid their leave, then, led Eveise further back and away. General Gidai swam on to join his warriors in their scan of the ocean floor for any unseen foes who’d been watching in wait for their time to offend.

‘That was very good,’ Eveise signalled as they returned to random coral and coloured brush. ‘Their exercises are always good, but that was more impressive than the rest.’

His uncle slowed. ‘You show impression too easily nephew,’ he warned. His uncle stopped allowing Eveise to come up beside him. ‘General Gidai is a capable leader for our defensive forces, and to that he and his manoeuvres deserve great respect, yes, but he is a leader of arms.’ Eveise treaded water, hovering on the spot expressing free confusion. ‘Do you remember our talks on control?’

‘Of watching the others to understand their methods and motivations,’ Eveise agreed. ‘I’ve been practising as you suggested, but General Gidai is not of the council main. He is of service to the Nortonne on all levels. What would be the need to show such caution for him?’

‘You should show caution in dealing with everyone,’ his uncle insisted sternly. Thick brows, squared chin, eye and cheek structure combined in a sterner statement than Eveise was used to receiving. ‘Power is something everyone wants, and as someone who is born to accept and harness such power, you must be conscious of your every move, gesture, and action with anyone you meet. The slightest of action or inaction can bring great good or demand towering destruction upon us all.’

Eveise offered a respectful nod.

‘As for General Gidai,’ his uncle continued more conversationally, ‘he is a man who enjoys and requires control. He demands power and control more like, and dealing with him takes a more careful hand than with most. He must never be allowed to think he has power over you, or he will go with it. You will lose your control to a man who already commands our defensive units, and that cannot be allowed.

‘Our place in Nortonne society is has been carefully poised. We require balance for the order that makes our very lives possible and continual. It is to keep that order and balance that our council rules, not just one Nortonne who thinks himself deserving. Under a single Nortonne, things would be missed. The worker, hunter, gatherer, and warrior classes would become as fallible as any one of us, and we are none of us perfect.’

Eveise thought he understood. ‘Don’t give more than is necessary?’ he suggested.

‘Exactly,’ his uncle agreed. They kicked off swimming again. ‘You will make a fine Speaker one day. I only dread that I won’t be alive to see that myself.’ His uncle angled them out of the way of approaching Gatherers with their harnesses and various tools. ‘Maybe I’ll retire,’ his uncle joked as they skimmed along the ocean floor once more. ‘Then I could see our world as a mere participant for once. That would be a nice change.’

Eveise shared in the thought.

To live for once as a normal Nortonne not so obsessed with every slightest gesture and word - that would be nice.

Circling back around towards the main nest entry, he found his gaze directed upwards again. Things were about to get a lot more complicated, and it was all because of stray lights in the sky. Curiosity was driving him mad. He wanted to know what they were. He didn’t want to rest up early and miss a moment of what was to come.

Tonnini - his uncle had called it Tonnini.

Assembly

Eveise gave the Assembly area a careful gauge from where he hovered just inside back from the Speaker’s Ledge. Everywhere a Nortonne could find to hover, sit, or sidle was taken, and there was a host of Nortonne from lesser families gathered around the tall, outer posts. This wasn’t unusual in itself, nor was the volume or amount of thoughts being shared in anticipation, if not anxiety for what was to come.

They’d been collecting all day. He’d spent some time searching for his friends after his uncle had returned to speak with the Council members, but they’d been busy elsewhere, and then he’d noticed the first arrivals showing up to Assembly early, and he’d just settled back. Watching and listening from in back of the Speaker’s Ledge was really just the latest vantage point in a well-vested study of Nortonne under pressure.

Gills and facial expressions, whole body motions were quite active as Eveise picked up random bits of concern and personal opinion passed from one Nortonne to the next. Caution and confusion were popular. There were power plays spotted in a few places as well. Again, none of this was completely new.

Of course, there was one thing new this session - one thing affecting the rest.

General Gidai was there with a host of his own number.

Warrior numbers were usually present, but this time, they carried weapons. That was the tipping element this time as Eveise saw it. The presence of weapons was inspiring anxiety. He paused to nod. And the rumours of what changes might come, but it was mostly the weapons. Eveise was sure of it.

‘Nephew,’ his uncle signalled on approach.

Eveise stepped back and bowed his recognition. ‘They are restless uncle.’

‘Yes, I know. This will not be easy and will require all of my acquired skills to date as Speaker I fear, but we’ll make do and triumph in the long run. Don’t worry about that.’ Eveise’s gaze drifted to the General and his warriors again. ‘Ah, yes,’ his uncle continued, following his gaze, ‘they bear arms in case we need order.’ Eveise blinked wide, his uncle shaking his head, gills and ear fins confirming no harm. ‘There will be no fighting,’ came the clear message. ‘There will be unrest, and in that moment, General Gidai will make his speech with arms present. Those assembled and watching from outside will be reassured of their safety, and order will be kept with that bit of careful use of one’s tools at hand.’

Eveise thought long. It made sense. His uncle’s plan was quite ingenious when he thought on it further. His uncle made sure his scales were clean and fins presentable; then, he motioned to a Nortunni to their far left.

A gong was sounded echoing over the crowd and far beyond.

It was time for Assembly.

With his uncle a few feet ahead, Eveise followed a bit to the right with council members more left. The small group extended webbing as they came out onto the Speaker’s Ledge stopping, then, hovering respectfully while his uncle addressed the gather crowd.

‘Nortonne, welcome. Please, be silent and still. I have news to share. Please. Thank you.’

Eveise watched the crowd slowly cease their private conversations. Hands raised, and fins perked. Some almost stood up to speak first, but his uncle motioned for patience, and it was grudgingly given. Eveise watched it all with fascination. The slightest smile or frown, a single glance or nod out of place, and all the power his uncle held over that audience would be dashed. And his uncle played it so well. Would he ever be so good at holding others’ tongues?

Eveise was conscious to keep any observations casual so as to not suggest the Speaker’s nephew was watching any one group. He’d mastered that aspect of the forum presentation. The result of his staring at anyone too long could be seen as conspiratorial. Politics was such a game of precise, careful details.

Eveise just smiled warmly working to invite calm in those before them.

There was no harm in that.

‘Thank you,’ his uncle repeated, floating a little more forward on his own. ‘I have come tonight to speak with you about those things that confuse. I have come to explain recent changes to calm and sooth any unease you might be feeling.

‘It is true our hunters and gatherers have been busy stockpiling fresh reserves. They are being stored below with the others to fill our stores to overflowing.’ Some Nortonne made to speak, and four Nortonne did stand. Other just leaned forward or tilted their heads. Eveise watched them all hold their words. The slight game of demeanour and poise - his uncle stared them down and held off what seemed like a hundred questions with the calmest of mannerisms. ‘This measure,’ his uncle continued smoothly a moment later, ‘should not cause alarm. It is in response to a prediction. This prediction is the main reason for this assembly tonight in fact.’

A rectangular metal pad was passed forward. His uncle took the offering and held it up for all to see. There were cautious gazes and huddled pairings. His uncle nodded allowing the sacred tome’s presence to be felt.

‘The ancient tomes of our ancestors,’ he finally announced in a reverent, sage tone. ‘The same tomes left for us after Limaiche swept her great wave over the world shaping its grand valleys and mountains. The same tomes,’ he announced more nobly, ‘left to us after Limaiche saw the many disbelievers who would have profaned her words and bid her waters recede stranding the unworthy to dwindle and suffer on dry land without her true grace.’

There were nods and reverent signs made throughout. Eveise held his own right hand to his chest and mouthed ancient words of prayer in homage to the Creator Limaiche. His uncle did the same before handing the sacred tome back to the council member who’d passed it forward.

‘It is from these sacred tomes,’ his uncle announced to a more attentive crowd, ‘that we take the prediction that is now upon us. All of you have no doubt seen the lights in the skies.’ There were words of caution and wonder expressed - his uncle bringing all to a quiet pause once more. ‘Limaiche sends us a warning from the ancient tomes and their attached texts that these lights are not welcomed. She warns us they are a foretelling of a time of dangerous change. It is for this reason, we are stockpiling more food in preparation for an early rest.’

Fears were shared and sharply so. Eyes went wide and gills angled back. There were two dozen questions, several panicked concerns, and a lot of hushed conversations at once, and the three top rows at the back stood, impatient for their chance to be heard. Fear could turn the calmest of crowds into something else without too much work. Eveise feared the Assembly would become a debate without end. Expanding expressions and greater body motions suggested civil unrest the kind they hadn’t known for millennia.

‘I hear your concerns,’ his uncle announced adding in more poignantly angled fins and stricter set thick brows than necessary. This extra effort silenced the even bitterer rebuttals Eveise saw forming. ‘I share your questions,’ his uncle added, arms fanned outwards. ‘I was young when our people last went to rest early. That was a long cycle without food, and when we awoke, we were without for much hunting, so I understand your concerns well enough, but we’re stocking up more this time around. We’ve learned from past mistakes, and our fields and waters are better kept. There’ll be no damaged coral when we awake this time. I have faith in our hunters and gatherers. I have faith in our workers and warriors. I have faith in all of you, in all of us. Most importantly, I have faith in Limaiche.’

There were more hands held to chest and humbled frowns.

‘I have no doubt we will survive just fine even resting early," Eveise’s uncle noted confidently, "even facing whatever shortage of stock because I have faith this is for the best.’ He waited to see if anyone would debate his words this time. None did. ‘We begin drawing our numbers into the tunnels for rest in three days. In that time, it is advised you remain on the ocean floor as far away from these lights in the sky as Limaiche wishes.’

Before anyone could interrupt, there was a gesture drawing attention to General Gidai.

‘Our warriors have an introduction to make. I have witnessed what they describe and find the method and delivery quite effective. It warrants council and Nortonne consideration for recognition and active training.’

Eveise watched his uncle invite General Gidai before the ledge.

As the General began an introduction of his warriors and their practised manoeuvre, a message was found waiting. The council, Eveise, and his uncle retreated respectfully to receive it away from prying eyes.

‘Seven hunting parties have not returned.’

‘How long have they gone?’ his uncle demanded.

The messenger hung his head. ‘Several hours,’ he conceded. ‘They were supposed to be sweeping the eastern reach but were fanning more inland towards the Icarene hills. They were warned and issued new orders. That was the last we heard of them, Speaker.’

Eyes drifted up as if piercing stone to consider the sky and its painted lines.

‘We have to rescue them,’ Eveise urged, his uncle motioning for him to pause.

Eveise floated humbly back. He’d spoken out of turn. He was sure his uncle would understand, but the Nortonne council was not as forgiving. They eyed him cautiously for a long moment before conferring amongst themselves. The messenger was sent away, and Eveise watched in silence while other minds considered actions and effects.

‘We must send out parties to ascertain their whereabouts,’ came the final word, ‘but we must not approach the Icarene hills.’ Eveise turned to his uncle praying he’d challenge, but his uncle agreed quietly drawing his nephew to one side.

‘We can’t leave them to die,’ Eveise urged more respectfully. ‘I’m sorry for my rudeness, but they’re Nortonne. Is it not our place to make policy and rule that protects them? Do we not need them for our rest to be successful?’

His uncle smiled and nodded making sure the others were distracted.

‘We do need them, but you must understand, Nephew, how cunning the Icarene can be. They are the most unworthy of those cast out by Limaiche, and they’ve long been our enemies hunting us down and laying traps. What if they’re waiting at this time of change to ensnare and kill our number?’

‘Then our hunters and gatherers may in greater danger than we thought.’

‘As would any Nortonne we sent to save them,’ his uncle suggested. Eveise found the thoughts hard to process. ‘We could easily be sending others to their deaths as well if the Icarene are laying traps for our kind,’ his uncle patiently explained, ‘and that would just mean more deaths we could have prevented but did not, so we will ascertain the whereabouts of our groups, yes, but we will not risk the lives of others knowing those who’ve gone into those cursed hills are likely already dead. What kind of service to those Nortonne still here safe and sound would that be? How responsible would our actions be if we did not protect the ones we still have in our safe reach?’ Eveise didn’t like that logic. His uncle conceded some level of agreement. ‘It doesn’t feel right, nephew, but not every decision you’ll make in your life will. Now, we must rejoin Assembly. Even the General is not as long-winded as to be speaking well enough to hold Assembly alone much longer, and we have much to do before retreating to the safety of our tunnels.’

Eveise nodded, but he wanted to argue.

He was feeling such drive to do more than make policy.

Action

Eveise drew back into a crouch. He brought his fins in and took in a