The Lodestone Trilogy by Mark Whiteway

Author:Mark Whiteway
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Mark Whiteway
Published: 2011-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

“She was kidding, right?”

Shann was sitting on the floor of what had now become a prison, despite the fact that there was no door. There was also no furniture. The Chandara it seemed, had no use for such things. She roused herself from her inner thoughts and looked up at Rael. “What?”

“The crack about getting us a stay of execution. That was a joke, wasn’t it?”

Shann lowered her eyes. “Keltar never joke.”

“But what about Boxx?” he argued. “It’s one of their own.”

Shann shook her head. “I don’t know. These Chandara are not the same as the ones in our world. It’s hard to say what they might or might not do.”

Rael stood and began to pace the chamber. “This is not right.”

Shann sighed. “What do you mean, ‘not right’?”

He indicated the stone walls. “This…their living here, underground. They’re supposed to be forest dwellers. They’re also supposed to be extinct.”

Shann recalled their conversation from before. “You told me that the forest they used to live in was some way north of here.”

“That’s right, although…something happened to it just prior to the war with the hu-mans. The whole forest died somehow.”

“Died? How can an entire forest die?” she asked.

Rael shrugged. “Disease? Drought? I don’t know. Plant biology was never my speciality.”

“So when their forest died, the Chandara came here.”

“Yes but why here?” He raised his arms, appealing to the heavens. “You would think that forest creatures would move to another forest; not start burrowing into the ground. It’s like…I don’t know…murghal moving to the desert. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Maybe we should ask an expert. “Boxx?”

The creature perked up. “Yes, Shann?”

“What is this place?” she enquired.

Boxx replied without hesitation. “It Is A Hatchery.”

“It’s a what?” Rael exclaimed.

“It Is The Beginning. The Start Of All Things. Yet These Are Not Hatchlings. Hence It Is Also The End. Only A Gift And A Promise Can Prevent It.”

“A gift and a promise?” Shann repeated.

“Mine Is The Gift; Yours Is The Promise.”

Rael had stopped his pacing and was deep in thought. “Hatchlings…this place has to do with their reproductive cycle.” Shann remembered a humorous discussion she had once had with Alondo concerning Chandara reproduction. They had speculated on it, but neither of them had had the courage to actually ask Boxx the question. “They are a long-lived species–much longer than us, by all accounts,” Rael continued, “but they do not live forever. So they must have a reproductive method of some kind. Maybe…maybe the destruction of their natural environment triggered it?”

“No,” Boxx returned.

Rael was not going to be put off. “A hatchery implies eggs. That would explain why these Chandara are so…protective. It’s natural for a species to defend its eggs.”

“No. There Are No Eggs Here,” Boxx insisted.

“How could you know that?” Shann asked.

“There Has Been No Change. We Change. We Eat. We Remember.”

“That was what it told me before.” She looked up at Rael. “I still have no idea what it means.”

Rael addressed Boxx. “So you’re saying this is a hatchery with no eggs?”

“Yes, Rael,” the creature replied.

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