"I am not leaving until the return of Decimus."

"You must." To'an's voice was not soft enough to hide its authority. "The jungle grows more unstable the longer you wait. We can't send everyone home when the celebration ends until you have completed this task the Untameable has given you."

Lennon T. James ran his callused fingers through his, recently trimmed, brown hair. "We need to wait. He carries two of the sigils."

The air grew thick with silence.

The platform beneath our feet was high up in the canopy. The table that carried our plates were one of three long tables, benches supporting us as we sat to eat, and a flow of people crowding us as they came to bid good morning to Tier-kin.

The quiet that fell between Lennon T. James and To'an snapped even the chattiest mouths shut.

I reached for the cool glass of fruit juice, sipping at it as I watched Lennon T. James' reaction.

The tension was in the way he met the chief's gaze, the way he set his shoulders, the straightness of his spine.

The chief, with his smile bright and his elbow propped on the table, looked like the picture of ease. He was not happy, however, as the smile sat frozen on his lips.

To'an smoothly got to his feet. "Walk with me."

Lennon T. James inclined his head respectfully. "There is nothing you can say that will change my mind, vadta."

The chief stiffened at the term of respect. By sheer coincidence, his gaze met mine--most likely drawn by the way I was observing the conversation.

His eyebrows raised. "I do not think you give your biographer enough credit, Tier-kin. Bring her with you."

My eyes fell to the explorer, who had his one foot propped on the bench, his arm draped over it as he skewered another slab of back bacon. At To'an's words, blue flashed in my direction. "She is welcome to any information you give her. There is not much evidence for anything I could tell her."

"Shae? Are you coming with us?"

I looked up at Mitch, who had finished her breakfast without my notice. She waited for an answer.

"Where are you going?"

"Gino said that Wade was told that Elle was offered to be shown the waterful. All of us are going." Mitch nodded her chin to our leader. "Except Lennon, that is."

I turned back towards the explorer, whose eyes were flitting between Mitch and I.

"I think I need to stick with him," I told Mitch, shrugging one shoulder. "I need to collect as much information about his place here if I am to write about our adventure."

Mitch sighed. "I feel bloody useless."

"Oh, you are." Lyong waltzed up to our little tete-a-tete. "The only reason any of us are here is to annoy James. None of us is meant to contribute to a mission that was planned for one man."

"Sometimes," I began, popping several brightly coloured berries in my mouth. "You surprise me with intelligent contributions to our conversation."

"Sometimes you surprise me with how profoundly basic your observational skills are," Lyong snapped, warming up to insulting me as Mitch slipped out of our conversation. "You don't notice why Jamie is quiet. You don't know where we are. You don't know what they're saying. You don't know where we're going. And you don't ask."

A beat of silence.

I set my fork down, the wooden thunk a bullet hitting bark. "I don't know why we don't get along, Wade, but don't make assumptions. I have asked. Lennon T. James never gives me an answer."

Wade's dark eyes were lit with something loyal and protective and true.

He leaned towards me, lowered his voice. "I will say this only once, Shae, but my friend is exceptionally inadept at conversation or reading others' body language. Being surrounded by many people completely overwhelms him--he doesn't know how to react when things don't follow the exact plan he'd mentally prepared for."

I bit my tongue, remembering the times Lennon T. James had forgotten to explain things, his answers that never answered the question, the way he never made eye contact.

"He told the king what he was doing. He is confident in himself." My response is not a challenge to Lyong's words; they are a question.

Lyong nodded. "Of course he is. He is a strong man, knows exactly who he is and what he wants. When pushed, he is an amazing leader and the most caring man you'd ever met. But he doesn't always know how to get to that place or how to navigate groups of people or how to adapt to unprecedented changes to his plans."

Comparing Lyong's words with Lennon T. James' actions completely absorbed my mind. I could remember the smell of the coffee shop as I was interrogated about my abilities as an explorer, told where to go and when to meet, and then promised to come back alive -- and the next day, he had slowly gone from confidently sorting everyone into the places where they should be and the roles they should occupy, to being reluctant to talk, independent in his movements, and only directing us when necessary.

"Shae, To'an wishes to show you Bomsta." Lennon T. James' voice was the roar of the river, the silence of the night, the crackle of a fire.

I searched for Lyong and Mitch but did not find them. Everyone else was gone too, and I felt a tiny sense of loss as I realised they'd gone without me.

Then I realised what the explorer had said.

"Are you coming with us?"

He nodded, reaching for another scoop of scrambled eggs. "Of course. You need material for your book."

The smile that tugged at my mouth came easily, even as confusion lingered behind it.

🙞

"Bomsta is not usually this large."

Chief To'an walked with me, our feet securely on the earth as he gestured towards the platforms and bridges and ladders above us. "We expand over the cliff wall every two years when all the clans gather for the Celebration of the Sproutling."

"What is that?" I asked, having learned not to care about how blunt or basic my questions were. To'an encouraged them.

"It is a celebration of nulwe, new life." He patted my hand which rested at the crook of his elbow. "It is when we remember the Battle of Arr and the General's sacrifice. I assume you are aware of it?"

Of course, I was.

Any person who knew about the Untameable knew about the crucial Battle of Arr. The difference: a follower would've believed in it, a scholar took it as a myth. Like the Ancients.

I nodded. "I do, yes. Which clans gather?"

"That is a long story." To'an grinned when I looked up at him, surprised at the non-answer. "No, no, don't worry. You can ask me when you return and are willing to write a new story."

"Yes, I would love that." My lips curled into a smile at the prospect. Then I tipped my head back to look towards the watchtower that perched on the edge of the cliff. "Why is the whole city not in the... crater?"

"When we expand for the celebration, we build over the cliff for very practical reasons." To'an and I reached the edge of what looked like a small patch of farmland, where rows of crops had been planted. "We can't host the number of people needed when that space is taken up by farmland, grazing pastures, and the retained areas of wildlife and jungle growth."

I felt a bit like I was in a classroom.

Then my eyes caught on a figure crouched between one of the rows, his large hand gently cradling the leaves of a sprouting plant. Head bent, hair once again too short to hide his face, I could see the sole attention he awarded the baby plant — and his companions.

Our famous explorer was surrounded by a small crowd. Children crouched next to him, clung to his back, and peered over his shoulders.

He had his one arm curled around the child on his left, whose bright smile and ebony skin radiated with the pleasure at being noticed.

They were comfortable around him.

The closer we came, To'an unaware he had lost my attention as he rambled on delightedly, the more I could pick out little details.

Like the different marks painted on the children's cheeks, in gold and silver, showcased by their various skin tones. The different styles in their hair and dress, either the colours or skirts or trousers or the kilts. The way they eagerly flung questions to be answered, laughed a little here and there at the answers. Several of them crouched for a closer look at the plant.

"—grow into a flower first. See? Right here." Lennon T. James brushed the small green plant with the top of his thumb, his eyes not on the plant but on the children around him.

He was smiling, eyes a piercing blue as they flitted from whichever child was speaking to the next.

"Ah, you have cornered Tier-kin but haven't asked him to tell you stories of his battles?" To'an pulled us to a stop, and the little boy that had been loosely held by Lennon T. James scurried over to us.

He flung his little arms around To'an's legs. "Grandpapa. You didn't tell me uncle was coming!"

It was hard to hide my surprise but To'an was not paying attention. He had let go of my arm to pick up his grandson.

I didn't hover as To'an and his grandson started conversing, the chief's voice sparkling with delight. Instead, my feet took me closer to where Lennon T. James was.

He watched me approach. "This is Shae. She is from the City by the Sea."

Dozens of eyes were suddenly fixated on me. I wondered what they thought of my white dress, adorned with a simple knife belted to my waist, and leather satchel, where several Golden Glows had perched. (Not all of them were following me today, as they were nocturnal under normal circumstances.)

One of the taller, older children asked, "Shae, the Blood Writer?"

Lennon T. James twisted to face her. "Who called her that, Nia?"

"Kita the Spear Thrower."

I cleared my throat, drawing everyone's attention. "What are you doing?"

Lennon T. James stood, the two children on his back squealing as they clung tighter. He reached back to adjust them, then took one of the other's hands. "We are joining you for a tour."

"Oh?"

"Tier-kin said we go to waterfall!" One of the smaller children chirped, his braids swinging as he bounced on his feet.

I laughed. "Did he? I have never seen a big waterfall!"

Gasps erupted from the gaggle of children.

"Will you show me?" I asked the little boy, who nodded and scurried over to take my hand. And then I was being dragged past the group of children, Tier-kin following.

"Tier-kin! Take Ram with you. I have been summoned to the Council," To'an called from behind us, and I did not turn around to acknowledge his words. He did not call 'goodbye' to me.

When Lennon T. James caught up to me and my companion, who I later learned was called Gra'am, I gathered all the apprehension and hesitation and courage I had left within the walls of my heart to ask, "Where do we go from here?"

Lennon T. James' gaze clashed with mine. And even though he was surrounded by laughing children, innocence and safety tangling in the sunlight around us, his voice was dark and his face was grave as he answered.

"To the truest heart of the jungle, where monsters are born and nightmares are made."

🙞

hello, everyone!

thanks for reading!  we will be plunging back into mysteries & action in the next chapter ( what is this 'truest heart of the jungle' and what is decimus carrying? ), but we needed to establish some things about 1) lennon t. james, 2) wade lyong, 3) share burrower.

hope you guys enjoyed it. 

my motivation plummeted with my energy as my work week became INTENSE. seriously, we are understaffed, overworked, and underpaid. okay, that's enough complaining - i have a job & i am thankful.

<3 klara