Shattered Bonds (continued)

That understanding gave her the strength to grip it more tightly, knowing that there was nothing beneath her hands to which she could do harm.

Shanta climbed softly, careful not to disturb the strange mesh too much. She had heard it sing in the wind before, and now wondered how that had been possible. Regardless, she made her way cautiously, knowing that it might betray her presence with a single sound upon the air. She paid no attention to the height as climbed, for she was accustomed to that, it being not all that different from scaling one of the wavya trees.

Reaching the top, she paused for a moment, remaining perfectly still. She peered into the Human village, saw a few of them moving slowly and carefully through the mist, but none appeared to see her, nor did any of them approach. Looking down, she eyed the slender thorns that lined the top of the barrier, studying them carefully. They were as sharp as they had appeared from the ground, no doubt able to pierce her skin easily if she did more than lightly touch them.

Shanta gave the tiny spikes one final look. In a single, smooth motion, she flipped her body over them, clutching now on the other side of the barrier. The fence swayed slightly, emitting a brief series of almost musical sounds before fading into silence. Shanta held her body perfectly, letting it move with the motion of the mesh. Her greater fear remained one of detection over falling, although the distance to the ground below was great enough that she was not certain that would landed without injury.

Again, none of the Humans appeared to see her. The odd sound that had come from the barrier did not seem to be worthy of their attention. Shanta did not know how long that might be true, for she had never seen the Humans leave their fences unguarded for this long before. She moved slowly to the ground, remaining silent as she descended. When she reached the ground, she paused, flexing her fingers, as they had grown cramped from her tight grip on the strange material.

She looked around, still seeing only a few Humans walking in the distance. From their smells, they were not the same ones that she had seen before from her vantage point on the top of the fence. Having made it inside their village now, she actually had no idea where to go next. She had not thought that she would actually be successful.