E’lo woke in a startled fit.

The noise was everywhere. All surrounding. He couldn’t narrow down the biggest threat. He needed to get away. E’lo gathered his colony tight against him and rolled down the dune.

He was in a free far for a second before crashing against a hard surface. His shoulders and hips took the brunt of the impact, protecting the colony. He stretched a hand out to feel what he had landed on. Was it an old remnant?

Coarse stone met his touch. E’lo stilled as his brain caught up with his memories. The oppressive noise separated into distinct clanging, hissing and a familiar warbling.

E’lo opened his eyes.

He was in a small room. The only item in the room was the small cot he had slept on. But the walls were a different story. Endless spirals were carved into the stone. The spirals rose up the wall and joined above E’lo’s head.

E’lo pushed himself upright and marvelled at the patterns. They were complete. He ran his hand down the nearby wall to confirm what he suspected. They were the same as the ones he felt at the peak of many spires on his journey. Perfectly recreated and carved into this room.

It was beautiful.

Hunger later drew him to action. He stood and reattached his colony to his back.

He would need to find the spire’s mahivorium to feed his Jeem before he fed on the colony himself. He left the room and its precious spirals to find one of the Julon.

The passageways were small and cramped as usual for an oasis. E’lo forced complaining knees to bend as he crouched through them.

E’lo caught a glimpse of pale skin and a glow of eyes further down in the passage before it ducked away into another room. He was not deterred by the abrupt departure and followed the flash of movement.

There was no one inside the room when he reached it himself. It seemed to be a storage hub with four passages leading out of the room. E’lo straightened up with a shudder of relief as he stepped into the larger room.

Without a direction to follow he was not eager to crouch down again. E’lo took a moment to examine the contents of the room. He inspected bundles of cloth but put it back in disappointment. While of high quality, the cloth had been stuffed with some soft substance. It was not suitable for the dunes. His people may have a need for it for the young but it would not be worth much knowledge.

The next stack of goods was more puzzling. Devices of all kinds were neatly packed into shelves but E’lo could not determine their use. He spun a wheel on one of the devices and tilted his head towards the clicking sound it made. It was not the sound of any creature he knew.

“Welcome seeker.”

E’lo couldn’t prevent his flinch. He was not used to being without his primary sense. He turned to face a short woman.

“Hope spreads, Julon.”

The short woman dipped down towards him before stepping forward.

“I am lapuna Puhua.” She said before turning her head towards the device E’lo was holding. “Are you interested in the toy?”

“I am E’lo of the Gitt’an’ei.” E’lo tried to replicate the dip she made. Puhua smiled at his effort. “I was inspecting your bounty. My people’s stocks are high and diverse and we seek to spread prosperity.”

E’lo set the device down. “I could not identify what creature this imitates. Where does it originate and how does it hunt?”

Puhua blinked at him and furrowed her brows.

”It is a toy for the children.”

E’lo hummed as he considered the device. A training tool then. To teach the young how to identify sounds amongst all this noise.

“May I ask why you are here?”

“I seek your mahivorium. My colony must be fed.”

“I will show you the way.” Puhua said with a nod and gestured to one of the passageways leading out of the room.

E’lo clicked as he crouched down on sore legs. He followed behind her.

The passageway was thankfully short but the ceiling in the next room they entered was just as low. E’lo stepped in, careful to keep his colony from knocking against the entrance but stopped when he saw the many eyes on him.

The ceiling was low but it was a long, wide room. There were 10s of young.

“Hello kahuom.” Puhua greeted the one other adult in the room.

“It was the Seeker then.” The kahuom turned to a small child beside them, one of the older ones in the room. “You’re excused this time then. But don’t let me catch you running around.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Puhua led the way through the room, paying the young no mind. E’lo followed behind but was unable to be so casual. All the young were fixated on him. Two even had their mouths hanging open. E’lo wasn’t sure how old they were but they must be young if they were showing such poor water perpetuation. The young seemed to come in three different sizes but there were some discrepancies.

He hummed as he passed and tried to replicate the dipping gesture Puhua had made earlier. They managed to leave the room without any more interruptions.

As the entrance closed behind them, E’lo relaxed a tension that had built in him. He shook slightly and looked up to see Puhua regarding him with a smile.

“They’ll be pestering the kahuom with questions for the rest of the week now.”

“Amends lapuna.” E’lo said and tilted forward like Naauk had done the day before. Perhaps he should have waited and not wandered off for food.

“Oh don’t worry.” Puhua said and waved him up. “The kahuom may grumble but those children will be on their best behaviour. It’s another year or two until the next cycle is allowed and children think they know everything at that age.”

E’lo hummed in acknowledgement and they continued down the passage.

Puhua stopped in front of a door and fiddled with some device on the wall. When complete she turned back to E’lo.

“Someone will meet you on the other side of this door and bring you an auwai suit. After you are done they will escort you to your hopai. Tauw will join you then as someone else takes up watch for your people.”

E’lo hummed an acknowledgement and walked through the doorway as it opened.

He was not waiting long before another door opened and someone came through wearing a suit. E’lo dipped down towards them. It was unfortunate that this oasis had this form of greeting when his legs were this sore.

They waved him up and offered him one of their suits. E’lo refused it but ran a check of his own layers before fastening his face covering.

E’lo rested while his colony fed on the heat and rays from the auwai. The path here had not been steep so he wondered if they had tunnelled underneath or into one.

The noise of the oasis was muted here and E’lo revelled in the return of his senses. The heat of the auwai allowed him to orientate himself and rest his eyes. His muscles were strained from keeping them open.

A fresh scent had his stomach grumbling and he sipped away at his colony. He found himself looking forward to the hopai.

The path to this section of the mahivorium had led through a musty, putrid smelling room. E’lo was interested to taste the bounty of whatever required so much fertiliser.

But for now he was enjoying this respite.

E’lo was ushered into a seat upon a platform against the wall. From the platform he could look across the entire room. It was the largest he had seen so far in the oasis. The mahivorium may have been larger but he was unable to explore its bounds.

As he watched, people detached panels from the roof and floor and expanded the room. Others began to fill in and sit down in a spiralling pattern facing towards him.

E’lo was much more interested in the patterns that decorated the wall behind him than the people but he was here as a representative. He could examine the wall after the hopai.

A low murmur from the people grew as more arrived until it drowned out the every present murmuring. It was at this point Tauw arrived and with a smile sat down at the edge of the platform.

The murmur cut off as a passage opened and the oasis’s elders entered. They walked slowly across the room, waving some kind of stick about before coming to a stop in front of the platform. E’lo recognised only Naauk.

One stepped forward.

“We of the Julon, welcome seeker E’lo of the Gitt’an’ei to our respite.” Their voice echoed through the room. They stepped forward and laid the stick on the platform.

“Through our direction may you bring hope to our people.”

E’lo stood up and walked forward to pick up the stick.

“I am E’lo of the Gitt’an’ei. Offshoot from the Gitt’an who split from the Gitt. I have searched and I have found. Your burdens will become mine, prosperity and hope shared.”

The elder stepped back and turned to face his people.

“The Julon endure. We offer you hopai for your trial.”

“I partake of your hopai and direction.” E’lo retreated back and sat down.

The ceremony was complete and the murmur from the Julon grew. The elders turned and dispersed amongst their people. E’lo was surprised that none had come to greet him. It was not procedure but it was common for them to try and learn more of his people before they arrived.

“They are a bit upset at how you skipped the order of things.” Tauw called from the side. “They weren’t sure if the ceremony would be changed.”

E’lo hummed in acknowledgment. He would need to consider such things in the future.

People stood from the Julon and entered the centre of the spiral. They pulled out devices and sound began to fill the air. Others dispersed bowls amongst the crowd.

The sounds were gentle and uplifting but they made E’lo miss his people. Music was rare out in the dunes. It was a risk that was only taken on the rarest of occasions.

The Julon were skilled but their pitch was unsteady.

Tauw walked over to him and handed him a bowl. It was larger than those passed among the crowd and decorated with spirals.

“I hear you visited the mahivorium so you may already know but I shall explain.”

E’lo looked into the bowl as Tauw began. It was heaped with a variety of foods. He recognised the bean cubes, a staple in most oases. There were several kinds of mushrooms he didn’t know.

“And drizzled on top is the Julon’s speciality, syrup. Made from the stalk you are carrying.” Tauw finished and fixed him with a smile. He passed an eating implement towards him.

E’lo took the offered item and tried the food. The syrup was overwhelming but interesting. None of the food had the minerally taste of his Jeem but it was good in its own way.

E’lo offered a smile back to Tauw who moved back to the edge of the platform for a bowl of his own. E’lo settled in and watched the Julon perform.

And so E’lo ate.

After he had his fill he sat and listened to the people. The murmuring continued until the proceedings were disrupted.

Someone came up behind Tauw and whispered in his ear. Tauw’s shoulders sank and he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to the woman.

He stood up and walked over to E’lo.

“The Gitt’an’ei have been spotted.”