Ep 16 - The Show part IV
Flambeau River State Forest, Wisconsin, October 24, 2014
<Naran and Psyrah are watching the Didelian show>
Suggested Music for this Chapter:
Kai walks to the front of the boat and holds the umbrella above his head. He then rolls the handle between his hands, and the umbrella starts to spin, faster and faster. The ribs of the umbrella spin so fast that they look like miniature chopper blades. Kai reaches the water, and the dragonhead plunges into the rough cascade. But as his body moves closer to the rushing wall of water, something strange happens. The water starts to move in an unnatural direction. It parts where it normally would have touched the surface of the umbrella. It curls around both Kai and the umbrella and now misses even the boat. Meanwhile, the boat continues to move forward into the stream while the man gradually walks backwards. He keeps the umbrella rolling between his hands. The entire boat moves through the cascade without being touched by a single drop of water, and we see the tip of the dragon tail gradually disappear behind the water. The flute suddenly stops playing. It is quiet except for the sound of the waterfall crushing down into the lake. I notice how the mist at the bottom of the waterfall becomes denser. The trees start to sway slowly in sudden gusts of wind that blow through the Arena. The wind sculpts the layer of mist into the shape of a giant dragonhead, identical to the one on the boat. The eyes of the mist-dragon suddenly turn bright flaming red and stare into the audience. It’s a fascinating and frightening sight, and I’m happy our seats are not all the way down in the first row.
When the cloud dragon opens its mouth, a loud roar reverberates through the Arena. A thick blaze of fire shoots over the lake, and I can feel the heat on my skin all the way from our seats. It shoots fire again, and the third time the mist dragon opens its mouth, the boat with the Didelian performer holding the umbrella rolls out. The silver umbrella he holds over his head is now entirely on fire. Kai spins it effortlessly over his head, moves around to his back and dances to the beat of a drumming sound that rises from behind the mountains. The audience exhales audibly. The light in the Arena dims, and Kai continues to row with one hand while holding the umbrella with the other. I see how the dragon’s nails on the tips of the oar light up brightly underneath the water. Kai’s movements with the oar are so graceful that his dance with the water looks like a melodious synergy. I suddenly see dozens of fish circling around the boat. Kai rows closer to our side of the Arena, and this gives me the chance to observe his face in more detail.
His smile is gentle; everything about him radiates tenderness and friendliness. A shudder goes through my body. Some people claim that the Didelians are from the very northern part of Scandinavia, and are as human as we are. But how can their abilities be so different from ours? Suddenly, I begin to doubt anything I have ever seen on Discovery. There has to be something about these people that is beyond our understanding. Something no scientist can explain. I am a scientist, and I know what I am seeing; I know this is different from anything I have ever seen before.
All of a sudden, the man looks upward with his light-green eyes and stares straight into the audience. I feel a tingle in my stomach. Is he looking at us? My heart jumps a beat, and my hands become clammy. Surely every woman in our vicinity must think the same… I look at Psyrah, and she is staring with an open mouth down toward the center. “I think…he’s looking at me…” she stammers with a bewildered expression.
I laugh. Yes, every girl is thinking the same.
The drumming stops, and at that moment Kai, drops the oar into the water. It sinks below the surface, and the glowing red nails disappear deeper into the darkness of the lake. After it is no longer visible, I realize the lake has to be extremely deep.
The boat drifts aimlessly on the surface, and the flute starts playing again. A spotlight now appears out of nowhere and shines a bright circle on one of the mountaintops. A beautiful woman steps into the light, playing a silver flute. She is wearing large silver gauntlets, and her shoulders are covered with silver drop-shaped shields. A cape with hood, which covers half her face, hangs from her back. Two long braids of blond hair tied with blue strings fall over her chest. She wears a skirt and a silver belt. Beautiful long boots close tightly around her ankles and calves, tied with leather laces. The young woman is smaller than the other Didelians I have seen until now, though her movements are equally gentle and elegant. With her eyes closed, she sways to the music she plays.
“I think that’s Idum,” Psyrah whispers.
“I think so too.”
After finishing her melody, the audience applauds generously, and she looks up. Her eyes have the same lightness as Kai’s, and it makes her look equally calm and kind.
The spotlight shining on the woman now moves toward the water, where bubbles and whirls indicate something is happening in the lake. Something huge is surfacing from deep down from the darkness. Kai kneels in the boat and looks over the edge. A gigantic shadow takes shape, and I feel my insides twist. A massive fish. The boat looks miniscule compared to the colossal body below it. It has to be a whale… The entire audience now realizes what is going on, and enormous turmoil spreads. Children scream, and a few people hide their faces. Psyrah squeezes me so hard that I have to remove her bloodless fingers one by one. For a second it looks as if the whale is going to hit the boat from below. I now also squeak and cover my eyes with my hands.
At the last second, the man dips his hand below the water. In a split second the boat moves to the side with incredible speed. I peek through my fingers and see how the gigantic whale breaks the surface of the water. It jumps out, thrusts its entire body into the air and falls back down. A gigantic swell surges upward and splashes a good part of the audience in the lower seats. Some are furious at the buckets of water that have been dumped on them. Others stay paralyzed, unable to move even a hair. A few jump on their seats and applaud frantically. Some laugh; others shout, holler, or clap. Thousands of voices are talking over each other. It is complete chaos. I’m not sure if it is pleasure or anxiety. Meanwhile, the whale disappears into the deepness of the lake. Kai looks down and then jumps after it. Everybody is immediately, staring down into the center of the Arena to see what happens to him. But he doesn’t surface; he lowers deeper and deeper until he vanishes completely. The boat sinks after he has disappeared.
Suddenly, a loud noise of crunching rocks announces the retreat of the mountains; they sink back into the floor. The woman descends with them. The trees and rocks shrink and flatten. The original sand floor becomes visible again and everything that was created in the previous hour disappears in a matter of minutes. When the mountains are almost gone, the woman jumps off and lands on the sand where only seconds before the lake had been.
The birds in the sky are the last to disappear, and they fly out through the open roof of the Arena.
The young woman walks around with her flute and plays joyfully as if nothing has happened. The people she passes by dry off instantly. We can hear a gasp with their relief. Now an entire orchestra sets in, and the Arena is filled with the fullest, most stunning sounds.
That is when I see the old lady again. Deeri. She is still standing next to the performers’ entrance, perfectly hidden in the shadows of the curtains. In the darkness, her pupils are flickering blue. It looks like the glow of ice-fire. She is staring at nothing in particular; her face is blank as if she is in a trance. Or wait. Did she just move and look at me?
“Did she look at me?” Psyrah asks softly in a confused tone.
“I think so,” I answer with a hint of laughter in my voice. “I think she sees you.”
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