Vibrations: Harmonic Magic Book 1 by P.E. Padilla Read Free Book Online Page B

keen to explore other areas. That was before he settled down and became reasonable, respectable, and wise.
    Skitter had not seen much in his life beyond his own community of Citizens. In fact, most Citizens did not travel much beyond their own safe area. There were rumors that other communities existed, but Skitter did not know any other Citizen who had ever seen or communicated with another community. In the—what was the unit of time in Sam’s language?—forty-eight years that he had lived, Skitter had only seen other Citizens in his community, pantor, rakkeben (both of which tried to eat his kind and so were avoided at all costs) and the sole example of Sam’s species, Sam himself.
    He often wondered what other marvels were out in the world, but being reasonable, respectable, and of course, tremendously wise, he did not try searching for any of these mysteries. If he was meant to see amazing things, those amazing things would come to him. Which started him thinking. Sam had come to him. Was that a coincidence? Did it mean something? He didn’t know.
    He traveled easily through the underbrush, so he often had to stop and wait for Sam to catch up. The man was much too big and uncoordinated to travel in the forest like this. Sending encouragement often, he secretly felt sorry for the simpleton. Well, not all creatures could be Citizens. There had to be cretins to balance things out. Still, he was fond of Sam. In fact, he might make a good “pet,” a term taken right from Sam’s mind, though to Skitter the whole concept sounded akin to slavery. Perhaps he didn’t understand the concept well enough.
    All along the journey, Skitter attempted to communicate with Sam. He believed even more strongly now that with practice, Sam could learn to communicate like an adolescent Citizen, albeit a dim-witted one. One mustn’t expect too much or over-exaggerate the abilities of inferior species, after all. Within two “hours,” communication was slightly better, with Skitter learning more about how to use “words” and with Sam learning more about using real communication: images, emotions, and other sensory mechanisms.
    Finally reaching the strange structures, “ruins” as Sam referred to them, Skitter stopped and lay down in the cool grass, waiting to see what Sam would do. He sent to him, simply, This…is…place. As he scratched his ear, his eyes locked on Sam and watched with interest.
     

5
     
     
    Sam was tired from the hike through dense forest, trying to keep up with Skitter as the furry creature led him to the ruins in the images sent to his mind. When he saw them himself, though, all fatigue left him. Skitter’s images were from the vantage point low to the ground and were only of the edge of the ruins. Now that Sam could see them for himself, he could only stand there and stare.
    There, just in front of him, were the remains of a massive structure. Or several structures. Though crumbling, he could see that the walls were obviously concrete. A few of the corners were still intact, though he was sure that they were much higher when the structure was solid. Sam stepped carefully through the choking vines and bushes to the nearest corner to inspect it more carefully.
    From the remains of the walls, Sam tried to picture what the structure looked like. It reminded him of some sort of commercial building. Definitely not a home. The rooms, where they seemed to be separated by crumbling interior walls, were too large for a dwelling. Of course, if there were once interior walls made of something other than the concrete-like material, they would probably have deteriorated and disappeared over time. How long ago was this structure built?
    The outer walls described a building that was at least 150 feet wide by about 200 feet long, with several partial walls that appeared to be partitions. Based on the height of some of the lesser-deteriorated walls, the structure must have had more than one floor. Through the choking