“Now then—hello, hello, Molly from the Stars!”
Molly’s head jerked up.
“Is that you, Wise One?” she asked, listening intently for the singer.
“It is, child. And I have the crystal I promised you. It took me so long I’m afraid I missed the feast—but I hear the two of you pledged to each other?”
“Um…yes we did.” Molly bit her lip.
“I pledged myself to Molly,” Braxx said, beside her. “I had done so before but this pledging was more…intimate.”
“As it should be, as it should be,” the Wise One said. “Now, child—come and try this crystal. It’s not full strength, as I said before. But it should help you to see at least as well as the Deep Dwellers do in the darkness.”
“Oh, well…thank you.” Molly held still as the Wise One pressed something warm and hard that felt to be about the size of a pea and the shape of a teardrop right in the middle of her forehead. It stuck there, though she wasn’t sure how—did they have some kind of natural adhesive here on Tal’os?
She smiled politely as the Wise One fussed with the placement of the warm stone but on the inside she was worried. What would she do when the crystal didn’t provide any discernable difference in her blindness? She didn’t want to insult the Wise One, who clearly had extremely high social status in the clan, by saying that it didn’t work. But how—
Her thoughts were cut off when a dim red glow began to appear on the endless horizon of black which had dominated her vision for so many years.
What the—?
She blinked her eyes, then rubbed them. The red glow grew larger and more defined. Soon it took on the shape of a person—a short, somewhat lumpy person made entirely of golden light, with a few blue and black and red places.
It’s the Wise One! Molly suddenly understood. I can see her—well, sort of! Almost like I’m looking at her with one of those heat-vision thingies. What is that called? Thermal Imaging?
It was the first thing Molly had seen in over twenty years and it took her stunned brain a moment to catch up. But when it did…
“Oh my God,” she whispered, reaching out her hands to the Wise One. “I can see you…I can see!”
“You can?” Braxx’s deep voice sounded uncertain.
Turning to him, Molly saw a much larger golden form. He seemed to glow hotter than the Wise One, with more red highlights around his face and the areas of his body where she supposed his skin was warmer. All except for his left cheek…that was a cool blue shade, like his hair. What was going on there?
She didn’t know and didn’t care—all she cared was that she was seeing—actually seeing for the first time in years.
“I can—I can see!” she exclaimed. “I mean, it looks like I’m looking through some kind of thermal camera—everything is red and blue and gold and blobby—but Braxx, I can see!”
“That’s amazing. Are you certain?” He held two long fingers in front of her face. “How many—”
“Two!” Molly cut him off excitedly. “Now four,” she said, when he added two more fingers. “I mean, they look all glowy and blobby but I can see them!” She turned to the Wise One, her joy and wonderment overflowing. “Wise One, thank you!” she exclaimed, and then remembering the Tal’os Trenta etiquette she sang, “Thank you, thank you! With my whole heart, I thank you!”
“You’re welcome, welcome, child.” It was difficult to read facial expressions but she could tell that the older woman was smiling. “If my Cha’llah stone would have been charged, the crystal would have worked better.”
“It’s amazing,” Molly said honestly. “How did you do it? How does it work?” A new thought came to her. “And…how long will it last?” she asked uncertainly.
“As long as you keep the crystal on, it will continue to radiate the healing to your eyes, child. And it works by the power of the Cha’llah, which loves and watches over us all.”
“Thank you!” Molly exclaimed again. Impulsively, she threw her arms around the old lady’s neck. “I’ve been in the darkness for twenty years. This is…overwhelming. Amazing. A miracle.”
“You will not see well in the day until I craft you a new crystal or this one is more filled with the Cha’llah,” the Wise One warned. “You have the vision of a Deep Dweller now—your eyes work best in the darkness.”
Molly let go of her and began to walk around, exploring the clearing in the center of the village where they had been sitting for the feast. Her brain was reeling—trying to make sense of everything she was seeing. She didn’t care that everything looked like she was watching it through a heat vision scope—it was amazing to just be able to get around using her eyes.
She had some blind friends who said they didn’t want their vision back—that they wouldn’t know what to do if they got it. Molly had never felt like that. She accepted her blindness completely and had made a happy life for herself. But if someone had told her there was a procedure that would give her back her sight, she would have done it without hesitation.
And here I have it back without any complicated invasive medical procedure. Without any strings attached. This is amazing! I wonder if it will really keep working? I wonder if I can go back to Earth and use the crystal to see there too?
She hoped so. It would open up a whole new world for her.
* * * * *
“Wise One, what you have done for Molly is…unbelievable.” Braxx shook his head in amazement. He was happy for her—of course he was. Watching the wonder on her face as she took in the world through her eyes for the first time in years was beautiful to behold.
He did wonder a bit uneasily exactly how much she could see.
Admit it—you want to know if she can see your scars, whispered a nasty little voice in his head.
As shameful as it was, this was true. Not that Braxx begrudged Molly her new sight—he didn’t. But he couldn’t help remembering the look of disgust on Danella’s face when she saw him after the crash.
“You used to be so handsome,” she’d said. “I was proud to be seen with you. But now…”
She hadn’t finished her sentence. She hadn’t had to. The next day, she had left him and Braxx hadn’t seen her or heard from her since. He couldn’t bear to see that look in Molly’s lovely face, he told himself. It would be like a knife in his heart, especially now that he had already halfway claimed her.
It’s not just your face—what about your past? What about what you did in the wreck? whispered the same, hateful little voice. Braxx tried to push it away.
“It’s wonderful that she can see again,” he said to the Wise One.
“Not very well,” the Wise One acknowledged. “But I spoke to the Cha’llah and it found her worthy. Mayhap in time I can craft a better crystal or replenish the one she wears.”
“Wise One…” Braxx shifted from foot to foot. “I cannot help wondering, if the Cha’llah can cure something as serious as blindness, can it…could it…”
“Could it cure your scars?” The Wise One cocked her head at him, her one large eye squinting knowingly.
“Well…yes.” Braxx felt his face getting hot—the right side of it, anyway. The left side was cold and dead as always—the mass of scar tissue frozen in place.
“I am sorry, sorry, Braxx from the Sky but the Cha’llah was able to help Molly’s outer wounds because her inner wounds were already healed. Your wounds…” She reached up to tap lightly in the center of his chest, “Are still raw.”
Braxx didn’t ask how she knew—she was right and there was no sense belaboring the point. His inner wounds still weren’t healed. He hadn’t made peace with his past the way Molly had.
“Yes, Wise One,” he said heavily. “I…understand.”
“Good. Now if you are to heal the hurt inside you, then I might well be able to heal the outer shell as well.”
“Could you?” For the first time since the Kindred surgeon told him his facial scars were untreatable—that the plasticine fuel fire had marked him for the rest of his life—Braxx felt a stirring of hope. Maybe if he could come to terms with his past…with what he had done…
Good luck with that, whispered a nasty little voice in his head. What you did was unforgivable, the same way your scars are untreatable.
“Braxx from the Sky,” the Wise One said, dragging his attention back to the present.
“I am sorry.” Braxx told her. “I was…considering whether my inner wounds could be, uh, healed.”
“You cannot heal them yourself. No, no,” she half-sang, frowning. “You need another’s help. But I must give you a warning.”
“About my, uh, inner wounds?” Braxx asked.
“No, no.” She shook her head and wagged one skinny, crooked finger at him. “I must give you a warning about the Cha’llah. It can heal when it chooses but it can also arrest the healing—stop it in place. It can freeze you, at least on the outside, if you attempt to use it for outer healing when your inner healing is incomplete.”
“All right.” Braxx nodded, though he had no idea what she was talking about. “I will…remember that.”
“Good. And now it’s time for you and Molly from the Stars to go to your huts. The second part of the night will be starting soon—the sleeping time. Come.”
She led him and Molly both to a small, thatched hut on the edge of the village.
“Oh, is this our hut?” Molly’s big brown eyes were wide and shining with excitement. She looked at the small shelter as though it was a palace.
Her enthusiasm was catching and Braxx couldn’t help smiling.
“It is,” the Wise One said, nodding. “This is where you must claim your female,” she said, frowning at Braxx. “Claim her and make her yours completely by thought and deed, thrust and seed.”
“Oh, um…” Molly cleared her throat, looking uncomfortable.
“We understand Wise One,” Braxx said quickly, though he knew they would be doing no such thing. They had already gone much farther than Molly had wanted to go earlier at the feast.
“Bind her to you, Braxx from the Sky, or you’ll be sorry. Mind what I say,” the Wise One said sternly. “Bind her so none can take her from you.”
“He will,” Molly said quickly. “Thank you, Wise One—for everything.” She hugged the older woman again, who smiled.
“You’re welcome, welcome, Molly from the Stars,” she sang. “And now, good night, good night!”
“Good night, good night,” Braxx and Molly sang back to her and then the old female turned and walked heavily back towards her hut, on the other side of the village.
Braxx watched her go and wondered what to do next. Obviously, he couldn’t really claim Molly and bind her to him—although that was exactly what he desperately wanted to do.
But since it was out of the question, what could they do instead?
It was going to be a long night.