A salty metallic taste filled E’lo’s mouth.

E’lo twitched a dry tongue and searched for his sustenance tube. Something was off with his colony. His tongue slowly explored his mouth but found nothing.

E’lo pushed himself upright, sending something flying with a clatter. His movement dislodged his layers and his body was exposed to the… Cold?

There was a startled yelp and a creature scuttled away. It was big - its steps thumped against the sand.

E’lo reached for his guides, preparing for a fight. Anything that big wouldn’t stay away long. The movement sent the last of his layers flying and his hands touched bare skin. E’lo started to panic. What had happened to him? He reached for his colony. A sharp pinch came from his left elbow and he froze that arm but his right wrapped around. His colony was gone.

E’lo let an involuntary thrum in alarm. He shifted around, muscles aching only to be stopped by another pinch from his left elbow. He brought his right arm around. A thin tendril was attached to his arm and embedded in his skin.

He froze and began to trace the tendril back to its source. Had the creature not fled from him but from another? Was he already prey?

The tendril led him to a drop in a ledge and E’lo slowly lowered his bare feet off of it and onto… hard stone ground.

The cold, the ground. This was an oasis. The Julon oasis. He was still alive. By some miracle the uhinicust had not devoured everything.

E’lo opened his eyes and took in the room. The tendril was a tube that led to a repository of some kind. A tray of familiar metal implements rested against a wall. This was a lapuna’s room.

E’lo pulled the cloth he had mistaken for his layers back over himself and waited.

Puhua appeared in the entrance with a small youngling trailing her.

“Good you did not pull out your hydrator.”

She bustled over to E’lo and lifted up his arm to examine where the tube was embedded.

“We survived.” E’lo croaked, some water dripping out from his opened mouth to his embarrassment.

“Yes we did. Buried but alive.” Puhua said absently and turned away from his elbow to look at him. She frowned and grabbed a cloth from a table beside her. She pressed it to E’lo’s chin and it came away red. “If you’re going to stay that way you’ll need to rest.”

“Hope springs.” E’lo whispered. It was a miracle. To hide in the path of the legendary uhinicust and make it out alive - he had never heard such a tale.

The cold against his back reminded him what he was missing.

“My colony.” E’lo pushed himself upright and presented his elbow to the lapuna. She would be able to remove it and he could leave. The cloth layers fell to the floor.

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The youngling squeaked and ran out. Puhua sighed and moved in front of the entrance.

“Your colony is in the mahivorium. The mahi are tending to it. Your colony is now in better shape than you are.”

E’lo protested but Puhua stood firm and he bowed to her wisdom.

The next two days were full of rest. Tauw came to see him often but his time was limited. The greeter shouldered new roles and burdens. One of which was constructing a new spire and digging out the colony.

E’lo was shocked to hear the full story of how the oasis had hid from the wrath of the uhinicust. He was further shocked when Tauw thanked him for the idea. E’lo tried to correct the mistake but Tauw would not have it. Instead he would begin to choke and exhale air in his odd manner. E’lo stopped his protests for fear of the man’s health.

The Julon held another hopai but this time Tauw sat upon the platform beside him. E’lo was much less comfortable during this one. He was bereft of his layers - they were in use by the Julon for the construction of the spire, a task Puhua declared him unable to aid - and the ceremony he knew well.

E’lo focused on the food and syrup instead.

The hopai ended with the unveiling of part of the wall behind the platform. The Julon had added new spiralling carvings which rose above his head and circled around. Why the carvings were added, E’lo wasn’t sure but they were just as beautiful as the others.

His recovery was slow. Hesitant, halting steps turned back into his measured pace. He was able to explore more and more of the oasis as his strength returned.

To pass the time he taught the Julon’s young water perpetuation techniques and how to deal with various creatures in the sand sea.

E’lo joined in the construction efforts when Puhua gave him the okay. The new spire would be a pale imitation of the previous but it would function. E’lo was one of few workers with experience of the outside of a spire. His help with the entrance mechanism in particular sped up work.

Before E’lo knew it he was humming along to cheers as the beacon was restarted.

The Julon began the march through narrow passageways to their large central room but E’lo slipped away from the procession and started to make his way up.

“Wait, E’lo!” E’lo turned to see Tauw running through the passage into the newly built spire room after him. The greeter was still ungainly but he had more surety in his steps.

“Tauw.” E’lo dipped down in the Julon’s greeting.

“You are going then? You won’t stay?” Tauw asked as he came to a stop before him. “We would welcome you. Your people… It has been weeks E’lo.”

E’lo hummed. All he had was a direction and a faint memory of nearby auwai. It was a fool’s errand. But…

“I am E’lo of the Gitt’an’ei.”

Tauw sighed.

“Thank you E’lo. Friend of the Julon.”

E’lo tapped a hand off his heart before raising it to fix his face coverings.

“Here.” Tauw pressed a small vial into E’lo’s other hand. “I thought you might be leaving soon. I refilled it for you.”

“I will treasure it.” E’lo tucked the vial back into the folds of his layers. “Hope springs, Tauw foot mouth greeter of the Julon.”

The entrance closed behind him. One step after another E’lo began to walk.

He modulated his breathing and set his pace. He had a long unsupported walk before him to reach his people.

After that? E’lo was not sure. He would need to recover. The young always needed guidance. Perhaps some rest would not be so bad.

E’lo felt a small source of heat dancing through the air above him. There was an almost imperceptible flutter. He raised his head and revelled in the light sensations but did not stop. Lelahi or not, one did not stop in the sand sea.

And so E’lo