The leader of the village was named Dhakrholhan, and he was a survivor of the massacre of ten years before when Jhar Morněl and his men had swept through the villages, murdering anyone they could find. He had hidden in the forest with his mate, his three cubs, and about a dozen other Tereskàdians and whistling dragons until the danger had passed.

I felt a surge of anger sweep through my body, and he noticed it immediately. I told him that ten years ago, my mate and I, and about a hundred cubs had come to this village and asked if any of the cubs wanted to come with us, because I would lead them to safety, away from Jhar Morněl. Only a few had decided to come with me, the rest stayed behind to face certain death. How many were killed? I asked. His eyes strayed to the snow-covered ground below our feet, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to say a word, because I knew that, just like my village, those who stayed behind were massacred. Only those who hid in the forest were spared.

Rhalhea placed a paw on my arm, and told me that anger would not bring back those who had been killed. There were many villages, she said, whose inhabitants were murdered. They should have seen the signs, I said. If they had, many more Tereskàdians would still be alive. But I knew that Rhalhea was right. Ten years had passed since the massacre; Jhar Morněl was dead and rotting in his grave, so why should I let my anger get the better of me?

I apologized to Dhakrholhan and he accepted it, although I thought he did it with quite a bit of hesitation. He wanted to know if we had any intention of moving here, but I told him that we were going to return to Alharhan on the 20th of Pešhorhoŵhenhashen. Alharhan, he said, and I thought he made the name of that planet sound rather dirty. I asked him if he had ever been there, and he said he had no intention of going to a planet filled with the beings who had invaded Tere-skàdhar hundreds of years ago.

Kykherhenha knew what I was thinking and she told me if I wanted to remain on Tereskàdhar she was all for it. I had that thought creep into the back of my mind, but of course my whistling dragon, being a part of me, knew exactly what I was thinking. Even though I was born on this planet I felt like I was a citizen of both worlds. Here was the world of my youth, a world of memories, both good and bad, but Alharhan was a planet of the here and now. I had lived there for ten years, and I had made a lot of friends there. Jhorhea and Rheža had friends on Alharhan. Even though all three cubs were conceived and born here, they knew very little of this planet. I have a feeling that right now they are not interested in this planet; their entire lives revolve around Alharhan.

Dhakrholhan invited us to stay for the evening meal, and I had this urge to tell him that we had to get back to my village, but I knew that would not be polite, so I just said thank you, we would love to stay. We met his mate and three cubs, and I noticed that the cubs were almost the same age as mine. The youngest cub had been in Dhakrholhan’s pouch, but she ventured out just long enough to slip into his mate’s pouch.

After the meal, Dhakrholhan’s cubs asked my cubs if they wanted to play, and Jhorhea and Rheža looked at me, but I just shooed them off, telling them to be back here before it got dark. Unfortunately, that did not give them enough time.

Rhalhea was talking with Dhakrholhan’s mate, so he and I wandered out of the village, side by side. I noticed that his tail was waving back and forth lazily, and it seemed that he was deep in thought. Finally he asked me if there was any way he could visit Alharhan. His voice was low and apprehensive, as if he weren’t sure about it. I told him a ship was leaving from the spaceport in Jinhas on Mhačăren in about two weeks, but the meaning of that eluded him, so I just said ‘soon’.

We walked further. He pointed out the area where he and the other Tereskàdians had hidden. It was an area so thick with trees and brush that it seemed as if no sunlight had ever penetrated. What are you thinking about? he asked when I stared into the forest. Something, I said, and left it at that. I didn’t want to tell him that I was thinking about Tharhedhal, and his unusual prediction that both Alharhan and Tereskàdhar would be destroyed in the Alharhanian year 5700. I had no idea why Tharhedhal came into my mind. Here, on Tereskàdhar, I should forget about him, but there are times when you cannot forget what you fear.

Later, that evening, after all the cubs had drifted off to sleep, I sat with Rhalhea in the snow, watching her drink from Keridhar. A few moments before I had satisfied my thirst, and now Kykherhenha and I were exchanging thoughts. She knew I was thinking about Tharhedhal, and she wanted me to forget about him, because he was wrong. He had to be wrong. That’s the way she put it: He had to be wrong. Well, if in some future millennium, explorers from a distant world travel by here, and see the remnants of two planets, then Tharhedhal will have been proven right.

I looked into Kykherhenha’s eyes, because a thought just flashed into my mind. There are seven planets in the Orovhian system. If Alharhan and Tereskàdhar were to be destroyed, what about the other five planets. What about Jhanhekhar? Sure, it was a lot colder there than on this planet, but Tereskàdians and whistling dragons would have no trouble surviving there. Alharhanians who were found guilty of the most heinous crimes, including any crimes perpetrated against Tereskàdians, lived there, and they were surviving.

What was I thinking? I was getting way ahead of myself, seeing the year 5700, and assuming that Tharhedhal would be right. I was here, I was now; as far as I was concerned 5700 was still a long way off.

Hmmm, I wonder what date it will be when the ship touches down at the spaceport just outside Treskebhar.

Pešhŏt. 15.489/Day 515