Alan Dean Foster Humanx 6 The howling stones

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She felt as if she were in a trance.
Long lips rippling, the two big persons indicated that the tall human could
join them if she wished. The invitation concluded, both bent and began to dig
at the spot where they had buried the two stones become one. Restraining the
hundred questions she had already formulated, Fawn joined them.
Soundlessly they dug. No music accompanied them now, no enthusiastic dirge.
Not far below the surface they uncovered the stone. The glow had nearly
vanished, as if its brief sojourn in the earth had drained it of some inherent
inner vitality. In the vicinity of the misshapen mass the soil was dark and
moist.
"Pick it up, F' an." Ululiapa gestured encouragingly. "You are female. You
should be comfortable with all things that are of the earth and of growing."
Taking a deep breath, she reached down and picked up the stone. A surge of
warmth promptly coursed through her whole being, from her fingers down to her
toes. Startled, she, dropped the mass.
Jeriill caught it in one smooth gesture before it could hit the ground.
The xenologist felt foolish. What harm could it do to hold the object? It was
just a rock-wasn't it? Sure it was. A rock that changed shape and tingled to
the touch and infused an entire hillside with energetic green light.
Okay, so it was more than just-a-rock. What the hell was it?
When she reached out, smiled, and made the proper gesture, Jeriill freely
handed the stone back.
Holding it up for a closer look, Fawn found she could see partway into the
vitreous mass. The interior was highly stratified, suggesting organization of
a type only nature was capable of imparting to the interior of an ordinary
rock. If, she found herself thinking, it was an "ordinary rock." But what else
could it be?
Her eyes widened and she brought the mass closer to her face. Was that
something moving, deep within the stone? Coils and flashes of energy,
fluctuating lines of force? Were they lingering echoes of the green radiance
that had suffused the field, or the cause?
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The big persons, the wondrous isle of Torrelau, the cradling sea, Senisran
itself: she held all of it in her cupped palms. The sensation of life force,
of prodigious fecundity, was overpowering. It enveloped her whole being. While
her mind reeled, her body felt more alive than when she was making love. That
was exactly what it was like, she thought dazedly. She was making love to the
earth, and the earth was responding. Nurturing, giving back, through the power
of the stones.
She stumbled slightly and blinked, the delicious fog that had blanketed her
thoughts vanishing.
Looking down, she saw that she now held two stones, one in each hand. They
were the original stones, inert and immutable. No light, green or otherwise,
emanated from their irregular, glassy surfaces.
Gently the two female big persons retrieved their stones. Wiping at her eyes,
Fawn turned to examine her surroundings. No remnant of the radiance remained.
Bathed in early-morning sunshine, the cleared field and surrounding gardens
shone only with natural color. No supernal hues attached themselves to growth
or soil. The world was as it had been before.
Looking down, she found that she was unable to see into the interior of either
stone. When separated, their surfaces were opaque and impenetrable.
"What-what was that all about?" she heard herself inquiring of Jeriill.
The smaller female gazed unblinkingly up at her, both eyelids fully retracted.
"When a growing stone and an earth stone are put together, it ensures a good
crop. The continuity of life is preserved."
Continuity. That seemed inadequate to describe the sensations that had raced
through her when she'd held the commingled stones. She felt a touch, looked
down to see Ululiapa resting a three fingered hand on her wrist. Slitted alien
eyes peered up into her own.
"Are you all right, F' an?"
The xenologist put a hand to her forehead. "I think so. I-I saw some things. I
feel fine. I'm just a little confused about what I saw. Or what I think I
saw."
"You saw life." Reassured, Uluhapa stepped back. "The life the stones give."
She gestured
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Allan%20...nx%20-%2006%20-%20The%20Howling
%20Stones.txt (55 of 112) [5/19/03 11:25:44 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Allan%20Dean%20Foster%20-%20Humanx%20-%200
6%20-%20The%20Howling%20Stones.txt downward. "Look at the earth. Look at the
ground beneath your feet."
Fawn complied-and her jaw dropped. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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