… They are… red…
I said out loud, looking carefully at the lights that were getting closer and closer, thinking about what had changed.
What did they do to make their plumage turn reddish, like that of the macaws?
Could this change be due to the reddish light projected by the stars having some influence on these small animals, like what happened with the pearly sand, could it have caused some kind of change so significant in the creatures as to make their distinctive yellowish luminous tone change to a reddish one?
But why so suddenly,
They left not so long ago, and if that was enough to make them change color so quickly, why, why, why hadn't our guide changed their luminous hue as well,
Could they have gone to a specific place to change the color of their plumage, like some kind of bath where they soaked in red paint?
Ha, what a stupid example
… …No, no, that can't be it.
If I think I'm sure of it, maybe I'm wrong again to compare life here with the one I know but I think this time I'm not getting the wrong ideas.
Yes, it's possible…but I hope I'm wrong, because if it's really like that, then I have no idea what could happen to us now.
I am almost sure that those two lights coming this way were not together with the rest of the lights that came with us from that cave.
Although I still don't know for sure, but this could be a trap, those new lights, whose side were they on, were they with our guide and if so why were they here, they should not have met with those who came ahead of us, were they ambushing us, we had come here without even stopping to think it through, had they organized to kill us after gaining our trust, no, both for us and for our little guide this could be a trap, if our little guide had wanted to harm us he had had his chance.
If he had wanted to harm us or do us any harm, he could have done it perfectly well in that cave with the rest of his thousands of his companions, and he also had the opportunity to do it when we passed through the portal.
I only see two but there could be more of these new reddish feathered creatures hiding in this wide open area that made no effort to hide our silhouettes.
We are exposed. I firmly gripped the handle of my machete that I had been carrying so far, mentally preparing myself for the worst case scenario and waited, my breathing had started to quicken.
I confirmed my suspicions when I got a closer look at the creatures. They were similar to our guide with the exception of having an alligator-like tail and the head of a reptile I was sure I had seen before but couldn't remember exactly that and the fact that they were of a reddish luminous hue.
They landed in front of our guide and when they began to emit sounds and our guide responded to them in what seemed to be words in their language, I tensed up a little more, what could they be saying?
The tension was mounting, for every second that passed I felt like hours were passing and it didn't help to see our guide talking as he flew away as if preparing to escape.
I tightened my grip on the hilt of my machete until I could no longer hold it. And just like in that sinister hallway I walked down in the dark, I was unable to hold my weapon, it fell stiffly to the ground, my despair began to seep in I thought watching the creatures that had passed their gazes on me.
Until they stopped and turned around and walked without looking back, at that moment I was able to hold the machete again but the tranquility did not last for long.
Do not be afraid and follow the path that has been given to you.
I heard again in my head, it was the same way in which a thought entered my mind without having been raised before by me but unlike the other occasions this time it was not my voice that sounded in my head.
I did not know for sure what kind of voice it was or who it belonged to, it was a voice that I had never heard before, I did not know exactly what it was but the voice was similar to that of an old woman but at the same time to that of a young girl, it was somewhat hoarse.
What was that?
Said my companion breaking the silence but the two little reddish beings did not give it importance and continued on their way, the only one who showed a little interest besides me was our guide who only gave us a quick look making signs with his head for us to follow him.
I quickly saw my companion, she looked frustrated but said nothing and kept walking, following her example I did the same.
But we didn't make much progress until the creatures stopped including our guide who finally landed on the ground and started walking or riding I'm not sure.
Our guide positioned himself in the middle of the two reddish beings in front of us, we followed him closely but stopped for some reason, it was like a feeling that told me not to interrupt whatever they were about to do and to stop moving forward.
This feeling was different from hearing my voice in my mind with a thought that wasn't mine, it was an idea that had occurred to me but the knowledge to stop myself from interrupting was something I felt I carried with me by nature.
As if…, my very existence knew about it since before I even began to think…,no, long before I was even born, as if it was meant to be there.
Mmmm, maybe like a machine, as if…, I was programmed for it, to be there.
A sound that reminded me of the chorus of a beautiful opera song caught my attention, as I looked at the source of the sound I saw the little animals…, singing?
They seemed to be orchestrating a song in the same tune, but even though I couldn't understand a single word they were saying and I had never heard that song before, I felt those lyrics like a sound I had heard all my life even though I had never done it before.
It was a familiar feeling to the one I had a while ago with the idea of stopping, the lyrics seemed warm and familiar, I could feel that they had been ingrained in me for centuries even though I was only nineteen years old.
…Are you…singing?.....
It was a simple question, though it seemed more like a comment than a question from my companion.
And for some reason…I got annoyed.
Shut up!
I spat angrily, I could feel the rage coming out of me like poison, I didn't know why I was so angry so suddenly but although I didn't know for sure if I had a prime suspect, I had gotten so angry just because my partner had made a comment? While those feathered things were singing.
I had been so upset just because she interrupted their song, although they never stopped singing, and anyway I had made more noise by saying that angry shut up… almost shouting.
Why had I been upset, the song was beautiful but…, why should I be upset because of a comment that could not even be heard anymore, I was angry, why had I spoken during the song?
What's wrong with me how can I get mad about something like that.
It is true that the song was very nice but to get angry for that, no, it must be for something else that feeling I had before…it was as if…as if with that little interruption I had cut my connection with my own existence…as if I had taken away something very precious as much as my own life.
Could that be why I was so upset?
Thinking about it I saw the surprised face of my companion who seemed to have gotten a little excited by the apparent fright I had given her, although that expression quickly changed to a frown with a look of annoyance.
Although she said nothing it was obvious that she refrained from doing anything else ,she didn't say a single word again and settled for looking at me angrily and with a bit of doubt on her face.
I wanted to apologize but my body did not move, as if my own body wanted to silence me to make as little noise as possible.
And for a few moments everything was silent except for the firefly rats that never stopped singing.
I was a little worried that not even the waves of pearly sand made any noise as if even they did not want to interrupt that singing, remaining completely still.
The whole landscape was in complete silence waiting for the fireflies to finish their song until it happened.
The fireflies closed their little snouts and kept silent, however the environment around us was not silent this time.
Unlike the sound of marbles colliding before, the waves seemed to move erratically, gathering and creating chaos everywhere, erasing from the map the path that had brought us here and recreating this time the sound of thunder lashing the earth.
And the sky seemed to correspond to this chaos, although it was only part of it, more specifically the part that was above us, like a whirlpool the sky whirled and whirled without stopping.
All the stars looking down on us from above became a whirlwind that reminded me of a galaxy or something similar, creating a cloud of dust that was illuminated by the thousands of constant stars spinning within it creating a beautiful sight to behold.
But my amazed sight didn't last long when I was distracted by the earthquake that shook everything around us, causing the waves to distort even more creating giant walls and then returning to the ground as rain falling and squawking on the flat pavement.
The strange phenomenon repeated itself a couple more times until it stopped when another giant wall rose up and then descended rampantly creating a dust cloud of precious gem-like crystals that shot out in our direction, which would have collided with us but for the fact that right at the part where the stars were dancing like a whirlwind in the sky , was above us which, judging by the reaction of events, served as a shield that protected us not only from the dust coming towards us but also from the rising waves of pearly sand that kept moving around the chaos.
Another earthquake arose but this one was much milder than the last one, it was more like a tremor but still a little more aggressive than the last one.
As a great column of light rose up through the skies, it cleared in its wake all the crystal dust that danced freely around.
The column of light that stood straight above us began to branch out after reaching a distance of apparently more than twenty kilometers, creating variations of light, apparently of the same color tones as the stars that were scattered around.
But the most fascinating thing was to see that in the middle of the column of light there were branches that ended in the form of trumpets, creating so many that I found myself unable to count them all.
The trumpets sang creating a unique and harmonious sound that transmitted me peace and somehow made all my anxiety disappear completely.
And besides being able to get rid of the dust of gems, it suddenly did the same with what seemed to be our shield, clearing the whirlwind of stars with a wave of fresh air, and thanks to the fact that the curtain of thousands of stars was gone, we could appreciate the new landscape before our eyes. Below the great column of light was a huge geometric figure, floating some fifty meters above the ground. The strange geometric figure had the appearance of a dodecahedron worked with a tetrahedron or that was what it reminded me of, I did not know for sure but the figure seemed to be a set of other figures.
I tried to see as much as I could of the figure but from this distance I was at it was impossible, just where our guide was with the other two red fireflies a cliff had been created splitting in half the entire terrain, although that cliff could have always been there but I could not have seen it because of the waves that covered my view and deprived me of the opportunity to observe all the distant space around us.
Trying to take a closer look at the figure, I could move again but I did not stop to think about what had changed so that I could move again, I walked with curiosity to the edge of the cliff to see more and I observed below that cliff a huge hole in a circular shape of purple color that branched in several directions, Paying more attention I realized that the hole itself was not purple, the water in it was purple, it was a huge something and right on its surface the column began although maybe it started deeper but I could not distinguish it well from the cliff that rose more than four kilometers above the lake.
What-what's going on!?
I turned around when I heard my companion and for the first time in the whole trip I saw her scared, she seemed to be trembling and then I realized, why had I stopped being surprised, I had not thought about it, I did not feel a sense of fear or anxiety, I felt too comfortable as if I was at home, it was too familiar a sensation. And feeling that sensation stronger now, I returned my gaze to appreciate the branches that were tangled together forming a path coming this way.