《I'Minas》


 The Tower

    Beyond the coast of Agmar, deep within the islands of Urtan a magic ritual was proceeding in which the likes the world have never seen before.


    People with elongated and pointy ears stopped and watched in horror as the sky began to break down like glass, like the very fabric of reality was beginning to shatter.


    Before the eyes of thousands a vortex of storm and lightning was beginning to shape in the central island around a long central tower.


    The earth started to rumble and the heavens began to shake, and the inhabitants of the islands were in disarray and panic.


    Their hearts and minds raced in every direction to find solace and comfort, but all they got was even more terror as what could be described as distorted eyes were seen in holes and cracks of the sky.


    In that moment every creature and living soul in all the isles were gripped in such fear that their very heartbeats stopped for a moment.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------


    -What is this...what did those madmen do?!


    The captain of the guards of the first regiment of the Empire, Aloris Laroth Eruvian, ran outside the main tent of the encampment as soon as the quakes stopped.  Before him stood a great storm, brewing with storms and fires.


    Every soldier in the vicinity of Aloris looked terrified. Ranging from shock, awe and horror, their bodies are stiff like statues. They were all looking up to the sky, above the tower.


    Aloris,  trained in the arts of war and tailored for combat was ready to face any situation that presented itself, but this time his heart sunk deep in what could only be described in one word


    Terror


    Aloris by pure instinct alone, clenched his skin above his heart, waking him up from his terrorized state.


    What made him move? What makes any man move their hands to protect their being? Instinct.


    Awaken, and in control once again, he took a deep breath.


    - Battle formations! He screamed with every fiber of his being, so much so that his inner power, the ether, was drawn out.


    The powerful battlecry shaked the ground and verberated across the encampment.


    The regulars, and anyone around Aloris were jolted from their terror, waking up from whatever nightmare that overtook them.


    The ones closest to Alorist suffered some damage to their eardrums, as blood were seen dropping from their ear canals.


    - Pick up your swords and armor, prepare for battle! He screamed again, but this time he did not use the ether.


    The regulars, the priests, and other personnel, started to finally move, and began to do what was expected of them, but Aloris knew they were still afraid, but his words were enough to inspire them.


    Aloris looked around, his eyes darting around left and right of the encampment, looking for a Wise Elder.


    He could not find any, so his strength would suffice for now.


    His keen senses said this enemy could not be defeated by sword or magic, but that would only discourage his fellow men if he disclosed that. He took a closer look at the sky and noticed what could only be described as cracks in the sky above the tower.


    He amplified his eyesight using his Ether, and was surprised by what he saw.


    He saw monstrosities inside the cracks that looked like giant distorted eyes.


    The very notion that something exists outside of this world was ludicrous for him, he believed that nothing exists more than the mundane world, but he could not deny what he was seeing.


    The disturbing eyes were looking at them, at him.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Aloris hesitated to think about the consequences should the entity or entities decide to enter through, and what would happen with the expedition force if it did.


    The only thing he could think of was to try to stop whatever process that started this whole mess, and maybe figure out what happened after everyone was safe.


    He saw his second in command running to him from far away, with such speeds it would make any human question the validity of it, but they were not humans.


    They were elves, and the elves have magic.


    Boosted with whatever magic he used, it would seem the elf sprinted faster than any living creature and the normal reaction would be a gasp of surprise to any who saw it, but Aloris was not surprised instead he was happy and relieved.


    When the young elf was close enough he shouted to Aloris


    - Captain! Captain! They have activated the tower!


    ¡°Activated?¡± he thought


    The Tower was much older than the elves from the reports he read, but that is the extent of his knowledge in this matter. Most of the crucial and important reports of the archaeological sites around the Empire were not available to him, and so it was impossible to get information about this tower.


    He had been suspicious of this expedition since his findings in the mainland.


    The official reason for this expedition, as said by the council, was to explore and possibly expand the Empire to these islands.


    But if that was the case, why the hurry? The fleet was assembled in less than a few weeks, and they even sent the first regiment that was usually saved for quelling rebellions and waging war in the frontier. Even the rations were not properly handled, they only had food for weeks, not months.


    His superior, Staff officer Nar''un , told him to investigate this matter. After much investigation he found out that the commission for this expedition was from a private client, and not from the nobles of the empire as he had previously thought.


    When investigating even further, the private client was just a liaison for a number of people with ties to the Emperor. This was unusual for an expedition. Most if not all expeditions were commissioned from both the nobility and the Imperial dynasty.


    Staff officer Nar''un presented these findings to the General, but was quickly reminded that their roles were not to judge or question the council''s decision.


    "Maybe it is like Nar''un told me, they wanted this for themselves"


    Nar''un proposed that the royal faction were trying to accumulate power, and whatever that was in this island was worth more than any cooperation or benefit they had with the nobility.


    When they first saw the islands, the tower presented itself in the distance. It was a magnificent building of massive proportions located at the central island.


    He should have acted sooner, those were the thoughts of Aloris, the captain of the guards.


    ¡°I need to hurry to the tower¡±


    He decided to drop these questions for now, and focus on the task at hand.


    - Report! He shouted to the young elf.


    The young elf, still running, responded.


    - They activated the tower! Screamed his second in command


    The elf stopped before Aloris and slouched over, breathing heavily.


    After resting for a few seconds he continued.


    - They somehow activated the tower by mistake, when I questioned one of the Wise Elders in private he was terrified and said that it was not supposed to act this way! When I asked if they could reverse the process or stop it he said that they did not know how. Captain¡­ Maybe we need to evacuate.


    " If the Wise Elders do not know how then it is best to retreat and reevaluate after we are sure to be safe."


    The young elf was right and Aloris knew it.


    The young elf selected for his sharp mind and combat skills, was an excellent subordinate who could give good advice and tactical support when needed and he was a good friend.


    - Tell everyone to evacuate to the boats and ignore everything else, do you understand me?


    The young elf with a terrified expression nodded, he was about to turn around but something was bothering him.


    - Where are you going? he asked Aloris


    ¡°He knew¡±


    Aloris was going to the tower and get some answers from the assholes that were responsible for this mess, but he might not have time for that.


    - You disagree?


    - You can not save them! Let them die for all I care! You are the captain and the men need someone to lead them!  The young elf shouted


    ¡°He must have thought I was going to get them¡±


    - Think of your family back home!


    That struck a chord in him, he had completely forgotten about them.


    Aloris was about to say something but at that moment a thunderous sound was heard, emanating from the tower.


    It sounded like something cracked.


    Aloris hastily turned his face at the tower and the sight terrified him.


    The sky had now a huge gaping hole and pieces of it could be seen falling down, like reality itself was falling apart. The eyes were now as numerous as the stars in the heavens themselves.


    Then he felt pain.


    A massive surge of pain came over him all over his body and he began to fall down.


    The last thing he saw before everything went black, was his friend''s face got distorted and disfigured with agony.

 The Tower I

    He felt himself drifting to the void, his very being moving slowly to the end of all things. but when he was about to reach it, he felt himself being janked back to wherever he came from. Those were his feelings when he regained consciousness.


    Now he just felt suspended by something, floating.


    He tried opening his eyes, but his strength left him when he did so, and he lost consciousness.


    When he regained consciousness a second time, a sudden light burst in front of him, like walking out of a cave after being underground for a long time.


    Skies, endless beautiful skies, at least , that is what it looked like to him.


    The Sun shining beautifully as always, and the clouds moving ethereally.


    It was beautiful.


    But then it struck him.


    ¡°By The Moon Goddess, what happened?!?!¡± The elf cried out , remembering the event that happened that day.


    ¡°No sound?¡± he thought, but he put that aside for now.


    He looked down and saw something unbelievable. He was above the tower!


    For a moment, he thought he was falling and that maybe he was so far away that he would not notice the tower coming closer.


    But there was one problem with this hypothesis.


    He did not feel himself falling.


    ¡°What is going on?!¡±


    He waited for the tower to come closer, but it never did. This puzzled him, he did not know what to do.


    ¡°Maybe this is a dream?¡± he thought


    It could be a dream, but the dreams related to flying he has heard about involved movement.


    Another thing he noticed was that he could not feel his body, or legs, or hands. Should he not feel cold in this distance?


    In panic he started looking for his hands.


    He could not find them.


    Now he was really panicking.


    Where are his hands? Legs? Where is his body?


    ¡°This must be a dream!¡±


    He waited for the dream to end and wake up.


    But as time passed, and the sun moved ever so slowly to the horizon, his worry increased.


    He was in denial, that is true, and he tried to convince himself that this was all a dream and that he would wake up after this ordeal.


    But for every moment that passed the more uncertain he became, and the more uncertain one became, the more fear filled one''s heart. Was he trapped? Is he experiencing an out of body event or is this some kind of trick played by the Wise Elder?


    Is this punishment for his mundane world view? That the Gods do not exist ?


    He had no idea.


    As evening was coming, he panicked and decided to pray and plead to the Gods for mercy. To pray to the Gods is something unheard of from Aloris.


    He made promises , and confessed sins, hoping that the Gods would listen to him.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    He continued to do this for a time until he snapped out of his feverish praying and decided to reason his way out of this, Aloris was a captain after all, he would always find a way to solve problems and panicking was not one of them.


    Looking at things from a rational standpoint , the conclusion he could get from all his observations was that it was somehow related to the tower in some way, but he did not know how or why.


    ¡° Whatever this is, it must be related to the tower. The event that took place that day must have done something to me. So if I am too save myself, I need to investigate the tower¡±


    He forgot.


    He actually forgot about them.


    ¡°How long have I been unconscious?¡±


    He could not know so he decided to wait with those questions.


    He looked around to see if there were more unfortunate individuals this had happened to, but he could not find anyone.


    After pondering some time he reasoned that if there are more like him then they can''t possibly speak or even be seen for that matter, that in itself made it impossible for him to find anyone if they did exist.


    So he had no way to know if they were there or not, so the only logical conclusion he could get from this was to abandon this quest and try something else.


    He looked down at the tower, and tried to find a way to get to ground level.


    Puzzlement came over him when the fact that he could look around without a head somehow, and that it was natural to him in some sense.


    He noticed that it was like moving your physical head but now it was instantaneous and focused somehow.


    He left those thoughts for another time and focused on the mission at hand, to get to ground level.


    The sun went down and up and down again, it went like that for a while until Aloris snapped.


    ¡°THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"


    Furious and angry at himself for being useless he cursed himself, and blamed himself for this twisted fate of his.


    He started cursing the Emperor, the Empire, anyone he thought would be responsible


    After cursing and screaming in anger for what felt like a long time he came to a sudden realisation.


    His family.


    That''s when sorrow and pain came over him like a tsunami and overwhelmed him. He felt such pain and torment to be separated from his family.


    Would he ever see them again?


    The idea of not seeing them again, see his wife, see his children grow crushed his heart to the brink of madness.


    He was in anguish and broken, and he prayed to the elven gods again to grant him mercy.


    But he heard nothing and received no comfort.


    He continued praying and praying, but silence was all he received.


    Days passed and sorrow became anger. Screaming and cursing the gods, he could not accept this reality.


    More days passed and anger became depression.


    These emotions cycled through day and night until he was on the brink of insanity, the only reason he did not go insane was that he remembered something from his wife a long time ago.


    -------


    He sat on the porch looking at the horizon as a red and orange colored silhouette covered the sky.


    The leaves of the trees had an orange luster and the wind was blowing softly at them, making them slowly move back and forth.


    It was a beautiful sight, but gave no comfort to Aloris.


    Without warning he felt two soft leaning arms embrace him from the back.


    It was his wife.


    -¡°You spend every night and day here beloved¡±


    He was quiet, he did not know what to say.


    -¡±I know you blame yourself for this, but don''t. He choose that path himself, and you know it¡±


    Aloris with teary eyes responded


    -¡±Sasha, I could not protect our son, I who have protected others from harm could not protect our own son¡±


    His speech began to crumble and stutter


    -¡±I have betrayed you all and failed you¡­..¡±


    He felt his wife''s arm tighten and drops of tears falling down on his right shoulder, and for a while she said nothing.


    Then she spoke softly to him.


    -¡±Your son needs you husband, his brother is gone and he is lonely, he needs you¡±


    She took a heavy breath and continued whispering


    -¡±Don¡¯t let depression overcome you, I don''t want to lose my husband too, please come back to us, you are going to have a daughter soon.¡±


    ------


    The memory flashed through him and it calmed him down.


    "I must endure, for my family''s sake, I must" he thought.


    He remembered that the elves had long lifespans, some reaching over several millennia before dying, giving him plenty of time for him to fix himself and be back with his family.


    His only hope was that the expedition''s failure would reach the Emperor''s ears and maybe in time they would send another one.


    And so he waited.


    Days turned into years and years turned into centuries.


    The only thing keeping him from going crazy was the diminishing hope inside of him.

 The Tower II

    Aloris circled around the tower and inspected it.


    The tower was a marvelous feat of engineering by every standard, and Aloris was astonished by the details it had and the insane amount of effort that it must have had in its construction.


    Every inch of the tower had murals and small intrinsic details that would astonish and amaze any artisan, craftsman or builder, and the most amazing part was there were no indications of bolts or layers of building blocks. The tower looked to be grown from the bottom to the top.


    Its presence was felt all across the lands, being able to be seen from all corners of this island.The tower reached a height of 8800 feet. It could even be seen some few miles off the coast of the islands.


    The tower had two cylindrical shapes coiled around it, starting from the bottom to the top. They coiled around the tower like a snake to a branch and ended with a spiral crown. The base of the tower had a pyramid like shape, with a massive door as an entrance. It looked like more a gate to a king than an entrance.


    A double gate made of unknown stone prevented anyone from entering.


    ¡°Amazing..¡± Aloris thought to himself


    He had tried several times to enter the tower but to no avail.


    He did notice that the letters on the tower and the murals brimmed with power and color, of which he could not understand.


    He was no artisan or a mage, so he regretted not studying more, maybe the answer lies in the words inscribed on the tower.


    He gave up after a time and went about to his usual business, watching the tigers hunt.


    After the first century, he realised that he had some kind of presence or domain.


    It was a faint feeling in the beginning, almost non existent but after a year or two the feeling grew, and as time passed on, he could feel his domain expand from the tower and outwords.


    Animals, insects, trees and all manner of creatures and living things could be felt in this domain and as it grew the more he could feel around himself.


    It was a strange feeling, almost akin to touch, either way this sudden change had excited Aloris back then, so he welcomed it. For the first time in a century, he could finally "feel" something once again.


    Now it was 534 years since the event. The domain now encompassed all the isles in this region and came to a complete stop a few miles out of the shores of the furthest isle.


    He enjoyed this newfound ability and for a time it made him forget his pain and agony.


    He also discovered that with the growing domain that he had another ability, that he could see the creatures and the surrounding areas inside the domain.


    This ability presented opportunities to Aloris who had spent the first century in the sky.


    With both of these abilities he scoured the surrounding areas and amused himself with the strange creatures he found, and gave appropriate names according to their behaviour and appearance, at least that was what he thought he did. Some unfortunate monkey race was given the nickname of "Silly Monkey With Stupid Eyes", and a strange looking flying fish was given the nickname "Flying Idiot Fish".


    And then the famous one, "Ass Wiper", for its unnatural ability to wipe its ass after a massive dump. These names were given mostly a by distinct personality of his, named Laroth.


    Aloris in his lonely time created two distinct personalities aside from himself, Eruvian and Laroth, the names taken from his surname. This happened slowly and steadily over the years of solitude. It began with a simple conversation with himself that later evolved into personalities that he gave names to.


    Eruvian was a very rational, logical individual with very little emotional say.


    Laroth was hopeful and compassionate but ignorant.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Even though Eruvian and Laroth could argue about things back and forth, the one who had the final say was him, Aloris.


    Aloris knew in his heart that both of them were his creations, but he ignored it. For Aloris, who spent many decades in solitude, it was better than having nothing.


    But not all was enjoyable.


    When he first used this ability, he discovered the remains of his compatriots as black charred statues with disfigured faces around the tower.


    Thousands of statues surrounded the Tower, and had the same posture and expressions as of the time of their death, like an image was taken at that exact moment.


    He also found his friend there, the young elf that was his subordinate.


    Even though his face was a bit disfigured he could still recognise him.


    The only statue he could not find was of himself.


    He made the conclusion that day, that everyone died and that he was the unlucky one.


    He saw that the area around the tower was scorched black for two miles or so and the jungles did not creep in this area and that no animal dared enter this area.


    Each day he must confront his demons, the memories of his compatriots and of his family. The place is a big reminder of his inability to change his current situation.


    It was hard in the beginning, but with time, it became easier.


    He wanted to give them a proper burial according to the old rituals but with no way of doing it, he was forced to be satisfied with a prayer.


    From the heavens it looked like a black spot and was easily recognisable, and thus he could navigate through the islands fast and easy.


    But after four centuries of exploring the isles he grew tired and bored. Today would be no different than any other day but as fate would have it, something was approaching the isles.


    As he was watching a tiger approach an unsuspecting prey, he could feel something enter his domain.


    After what felt like eternity someone had finally entered his domain.


    Aloris woke up, even though he never slept, and felt energized.


    -¡±Someone has entered! Who do you think they are, Eruvian? He spoke to himself.


    Laroth answered back to Aloris.


    -¡±They are the elves of course, they have come back for us!¡±


    Aloris felt a bit hopeful to those words, but he wanted an answer from Eruvian, who was a bit more logical than Laroth.


    -¡±Maybe, the possibility is small though¡± Eruvian answered back


    -" Why? " He asked back


    - "They would have sent someone in the first century, the elves... we as a  people rarely make mistakes, and if we do, we rectify it quite quickly.


    -¡±Can we see them yet?¡± Laroth asked


    -¡±Yes I think it''s time, I wonder how they look like¡± Eruvian answered back.


    They peered into the distance and saw hundreds of canoes traveling slowly. Some canoes were bunched up with planks on top , with tons of passengers on board.


    They seemed to be in a hurry, and some of them looked sick.


    The most interesting part of it all was the passengers, as Aloris could not recognize their race.


    ¡°Frogs? Why do some look like frogs while others have a more toad-like appearance?¡±


    After watching them rowing their canoes for a while he came to the conclusion that the composition of the migrating horde was of two races that almost looked the same. Both of these races walked with their legs like humans and elves.


    One looked like Frogs and the other look like Toads, the only visual difference was that the Toads had a more stout body type while the frogs had a slimmer body type.


    Aloris noticed that they paddled the canoes with their legs and some even jumped down at the water and pushed the canoes as they swam.


    They rotated this duty between themselves.


    ¡°Interesting¡± Eruvian whispered to himself


    While seeing frogs that paddled the canoes with their legs was a bit odd, these canoes looked like they were going to break down any minute.


    How anyone could traverse the seas with a canoe was beyond Aloris understanding.


    -¡±They seem in a hurry and their so-called boats are nothing more than wrecks, maybe something has forced them to leave their lands? Laroth asked with a hint of curiosity


    -¡±That is a good observation Laroth, the follow up question would be from where?¡± Eruvian responded


    If the maps had not rotted away to time, then maybe they would know.


    When the domain encompassed the ships he arrived in, he went there straight away and looked for survivors in case there were some, but all he found was nothing more than shipwrecks and rusty equipment.


    The papers that contained the maps had rotten away with the years and could no longer be used.


    ¡°They made landfall¡± Aloris thought


    The frogs made landfall and they seemed to be delighted to find land, like they have been in the seas for a long time.


    It was a strange but nonetheless a comforting sight for Aloris to see them so happy but at the same time he was a bit disappointed.


    He had hoped that it would be elves or humans.


    The wait continues..

 The Tower III

    ¡°Why are we still watching that rana Aloris? Laroth asked curiously


    Aloris did not have a good answer to that question, he didn''t really know why he was watching the Rana.


    ¡°It is interesting to watch¡± Aloris answered hesitantly back


    Aloris did not know what to make of the name Rana, the name Laroth came up to identify the frogmen.


    He was no scholar and as such he thought that he was in no position to give a fair and proper judgement to the naming of the creature.


    Usually this task fell to the scholars of the elven society, but because he was in no position to ask them, he just let it go for now and accepted the name.


    To the toadmen Laroth gave the name Toak.


    The similarities between toak and toad and the dissimilarities between frog and rana was a bit confusing for Aloris in the beginning.


    But he did not object because in some way it was still him that named them that way and he had not figured out an better alternative to them.


    He did want to ask Eruvian for an opinion but it seemed Eruvian was so disinterested in the matter that he did not bother to ask him.


    So in the end he decided that the names would stay.


    ¡°Well, he is quite resourceful compared to the others..¡± Laroth responded back


    Aloris did not know if it he was mocking it or praising it, after all they were speaking about people that looked like frogs and toads.


    While it was impressive to see them work together in harmony and peace in such dire condition when they first arrived, they were quite dull.


    The Toaks and Ranas lacked both finesse and elegance to solve their problems, and to Aloris who respected and valued the intellectual prowess of the elves, he was bothered by it.


    He remembers the frustration watching the Toaks and Ranas in the first year, to the point of almost being mad at them.


    He had high hopes when they first arrived but after seeing them for a few months that hope was gone.


    While the toaks and ranas were not stupid, as they could create basic equipment, they were too passive to Aloris taste.


    The biggest effort intellectually and physically was the building and construction of their artificial ponds.


    In the beginning they were camping at the shores until their scouts found a good location for them to settle down.


    The heavy dense jungle made it difficult for them to navigate through, Aloris noticed very quickly that they were not adapted to this hostile environment.


    Many died to hostile elements, such as predators and so on, but eventually they found a lake not far from their people and reported it back.


    The area they settled down was a few miles away from the shore they landed on and built their ponds in close proximity to the lake.


    They dug up areas around lake and planted strange seeds at the bottoms and then filled them with water from the lake.


    When the holes were filled then they waited for the seeds to sprout and grow.


    The seeds seemed to have an interesting characteristic to them as they grew too fast and created enormous lily pads that somehow could withstand the weight of several Toaks and Ranas.


    After that, they spent most of their time in their ponds and rarely ventured out.


    They are a primitive race and he should not expect much, but when Kobolds have weapons and they don''t, he felt his patience with them running out.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Aloris was a warrior in both spirit and body, until the event took him, and so he was quite a prideful man when it was about warfare.


    But the tactics from the Ranas and Toaks baffled him and made him angry.


    Whenever a predator attacked someone, they would flock together and try to throw stuff at it hoping it would give up, but if that did not work they would all flee in every direction possible.


    After several similar events like that he noticed that Eruvian was not heard of again, maybe too frustrated and angry at them to even come out.


    So when Aloris noticed the same Rana venture out several times and do weird stuff he was intrigued and started following it to see what it did.


    This Rana was different from the others, so much he had concluded, but still stupid.


    -¡±What is he doing?¡± Laroth asked


    The peculiar rana was smashing a fruit with a stone, but he seemed not been able to crack it open.


    Everytime he failed, he seemed to look at his rock and then throw it away, then pick another one like it, seemingly thinking that the previous rock itself was the problem.


    Even though this was a bit unexpected he was hoping the rana would do something else then this.


    -¡±If this continues they will be extinct¡± Eruvian interceded


    Eruvian, of all of them interceded for these two weird races, a bit of disbelief came over Aloris.


    -¡±How so?¡± Aloris asked


    ¡°They lack any means to properly defend themselves and they are too passive to even defend their territory from hostile predators. If they keep using the same tactics as they have been doing the predators will begin to attack more frequently until none of them exists.¡±


    Aloris thought about it for a while.


    He knew he was right.


    The attacks are beginning to become more frequent and if it continues they risked to be extinct.


    At first it was the crocodiles that attacked and killed some,but then Aloris noticed that tigers and snakes began to attack them. They seemed to be a delicate snack.


    The Ranas and Toaks seemed oblivious to the problem, almost like they ignored it willingly.


    But so what? Aloris thought


    Nature is cruel and The Balance is there for this reason, to weed out the weak ones from the strong ones.


    But it tasted wrong somehow for Aloris, somehow he had come to like them even with all their faults.


    He noticed a desire to help them for some reason, even if it is forbidden by elven law.


    He remembered that he used to watch ants when he was a child and had fun playing ¡°God¡± to them.


    Even if they were pesky little insects they still had some charm to them, the idea to observe and guide those insects was an exhilarating thought.


    ¡°Maybe it was always inside of me, this desire...¡± Aloris thought


    -¡±Lets help them¡± Laroth interceded


    Help them? How? Aloris thought.


    Even if they could, it was prohibited by the elven society to uplift any creature or help them in any way, and why would they help them for that matter.


    -¡±While the elven law forbids any elf to uplift any sentient creature, we are by definition not elfs, we have no body remember?¡± Eruvian responded


    Aloris knew it was true but he still felt he was an elf somehow, so the definition comes down to if being an elf is something physical or mentally.


    And by reason alone, it must be physical Aloris thought. He remembered cases where elves had adopted humans but were still not included in the elven society.


    -¡±I suggest we try to speak to their minds like we tried with the animals, if they are able to understand us to some degree we could influence them to come to the tower and open the gate, this could be our way out¡± Eruvian responded


    It was true that they could not see inside the tower itself and the gate was sealed shut, blocked by some strange magic that Aloris did not know about, but to use these frogs to open it was a bit ludicrous for him.


    They tried to speak to animals in the beginning following the advice of Eruvian but it seemed to have no effect at all, the animals just stopped for a moment and then continued doing whatever they were doing.


    -¡±We tried to use magic and but that did not work, then we tried to ¡°speak¡± to the creatures but that did not work either¡± Aloris responded


    ¡°Lets try again, but this time with these ones, maybe they need to be sentient to understand¡± Eruvian responded back


    Aloris did not know what to say after that. Maybe Eruvian was right that it could work on these ones, and it would not hurt to try either.


    -¡±They need our help, and we need theirs¡± Laroth said


    ¡°Well we could at least try..¡± Aloris thought


    -¡±Ok it''s decided, we are doing it, so what''s the plan¡± he said


    -¡°Let''s do two tests, first we speak to a ¡°willing¡± subject when it is awake then if it does not work we try to speak to one when it is asleep¡± Eruvian said


    ¡°This could work, hopefully it would¡± Aloris thought.


    He knew why Eruvian had suggested to test it when they were asleep, he heard stories of mages using mind control magic on sleeping subjects, something about been more vulnerable to suggestions and manipulation.


    Then the question of the willing subject was left.


    The rana in front of Aloris was still trying to crack open the fruit.

 The Tower IV

    It smashed and smashed but no effect.


    The fruit still did not crack, and the Rana could not understand why, so it tried different stones hoping that maybe through luck it would crack.


    As it was trying to break the fruit, the environment changed, a sudden presence could be felt.


    He jumped up and looked around, frightened and scared.


    He saw no predator, but it could be in hiding. In this dense jungle it could be anywhere.


    As he was looking around and moving slowly away from the fruit, ready to run home, he could feel that the presence was not hostile.


    He could not understand what was going on, how something can be there but not be there at the same time.


    Maybe it is a bird, so he looked up but nothing there either.


    Suddenly he saw things that were not in front of him, like it was in his head.


    He saw things that he did not understand completely, but he knew that these things he saw were good for him.


    Then he saw them.


    Three beings of such otherworldly beauty, clad in garments of which he could not understand.


    One radiated fire all over his body, his eyes firing lightning as thunder, his body pure white, his smile and posture exuded benevolence beyond comprehension.


    One was cold as winter, his eyes dark as the abyss and had a mighty radiance that enveloped him, words came from him from all directions of things known and unknown.


    And one that was above them, and was sitting in a throne made of pure gold, his composure was that of a great chief, a sword on his right and a shield on his left. He radiated all colors possible from him, exuding great power and strength.


    All of them were one, but they were also three.


    Then it was gone.


    The visions and the presence was gone like it was never there in the first place.


    For a while he did nothing but think, trying to comprehend what just happened.


    Then he felt he needed to tell his people about this.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    He ran back to it''s own people, and tried to explain to them the images and the beings to them, but with the limited vocabulary it was hard and difficult.


    They did not believe him and continued their passive lives.


    So he decided to show them, he would build those things he saw, and maybe then they will believe.


    ----------


    ¡°Did it work?¡± Laroth asked


    Aloris was not sure if it did, but it seemed to have an effect. The rana ran back to it''s people and seemingly trying to convince them of something, unlucky for Aloris , he could not understand their language and so the content of the discussion was beyond his grasp.


    ¡°I think it worked¡± Eruvian answered


    If Eruvian says it worked, then it probably worked.


    ¡°I wonder¡­ we don''t have a voice but we can still speak... or rather the things we hear ourselves say are our own thoughts. I wonder if we transmitted our thoughts to it telepathically, and if we did, is it some kind of mind magic we just used? Eruvian thought loudly


    Aloris was, at best, an adept at magic, only because of his exceptional potency to strengthen and enhance himself through magic. Magic is such a broad subject that no one studies everything, instead you focus on an area. Aloris also knew that even if you focus on an area, to be considered a master in that area you have to had studied it for several centuries even if you have mastered it in less time.There are cases of exceptional elfs that master an area in less then a hundred years but still had to wait several centuries to be considered masters.


    And magic was never his interest, he was more interested in physical prowess and combat, something he considered the elves to be lacking.


    So when Eruvian made that statement, of them maybe using magic, it did pop up some questions in Aloris.


    If it was some kind of magic, then should he not feel something? Aloris thought


    Usually you feel the mana around you and inside of you, but when they spoke to the rana he felt nothing.


    ¡°What if we used enhanced magic when we died..¡± Laroth asked


    Aloris did not know how to respond to the abrupt question because he knew what Laroth was insinuating.


    Aloris knew that using enhancing magic on their bodies they could strengthen themselves to the point of their skins becoming like steel, this in turn could counter the mages terrifying powers in the battlefield.


    But like any other magic, it drains you of stamina and should be used only when it is necessary.


    Aloris had trained since he was a child in this area and so he was able to be in that state for several minutes before draining out completely.


    ¡°Are you saying that we survived because we used enhanced magic at the precise moment of our death, protecting our conscience from whatever terrifying magic that was used on us? Well¡­ maybe¡­never heard of such magic though¡± Eruvian responded


    Aloris could not help but feel confused, the idea to that he somehow used a enhancing magic to protect himself without willing it to be was something new and strange.


    ¡°Maybe it was instinct?¡± Aloris thought


    ¡°Lets leave these questions for later, where is the rana by the way?¡± Aloris asked


    They found the rana trying to cut a branch of a tree with a rock and pretty efficient at it too.


    It seemed the instructions from Eruvian worked.


    ¡°It seems this will take some time before anything interesting happens¡± Eruvian said


    He was right, but nonetheless he wanted to see if he went all the way.


    So he watched the rana clumsily make a spear.

 The Tower V

    The toaks and ranas were celebrating the new found edible fruits, and thanking the rana that discovered them.


    Aloris was a happy and exited, the exhilarating feeling of guiding a sentient race was something he never thought would be so fun.


    When the rana finally created the spear, he went back to the fruit he tried to crack open, but this time instead of just trying to smash it open, he thrust the spear at a point several times until it made a small crack. From there he continued until it opened completely into two halves.


    He tried on several fruits until he was satisfied, enjoying his new found strategy.


    Then he tasted the fruit he cracked opened and seemed to like it, so he decided to run back to his people to tell them about these findings.


    When he arrived the toaks and ranas were curious at the strange looking spear he made, they did not understand the necessity for a equipment like that.


    When he told them about the fruits they were a bit sceptical in the beginning, but after a live demonstration of how to open them and where to get the them they embraced it.


    Now they don''t have to wait for meager insects to enter their ponds to be able to feed themselves, now they could eat the juicy fruits that were found at the tree tops.


    In the beginning they had trouble just climbing as they were not adapted for that kind of vertical environment, but after several attempts they started to get the hang of it.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The ranas had an easier time than the toaks with this.


    Aloris noticed that everyone wanted a spear, but not for combat it seemed.


    Eruvian did comment on this while the clueless creatures were celebrating.


    ¡°They still have problems with predators... i hope they understand that the spear can be used to defend themselves and not only for decoration and cracking fruits open¡± Eruvian said


    They did not have to wait long to see the results.


    A group of five, three ranas and two toaks ventured out to gather some fruits the day after.


    The slimmer ranas had an easier time climbing while the toaks just fell down. After a while it seemed the toaks were a bit disappointed at themselves.


    After a while, the two toaks started playing with the spears, thrusting it in the air and after a time doing so they started practicing at each other.


    They enjoyed this new game so much that they started to make weird sounds.


    Ribbit ? Aloris thought at that moment


    The ranas, who where busy plucking the fruits, were suprised by the commotion and looked down.


    When they saw how much fun the Toaks had compared to them they jumped down and started playing with them.


    They stopped only when they heard strange noises coming deeper inside the hungle. It sounded like something was approaching them.


    Instinctively the toaks raised their spears at direction of the sounds.


    The ranas followed suit.


    A tiger came out growling menacingly at them. The tiger did not bother hide or do a surprise attack, probably thinking it was going to get an easy meal.


    When the tiger attacked it was pushed back by a wall of spears, and after some minutes of back and forth between them, the tiger ran back to the jungle.


    ¡°Well that was about time, finally some progress¡± Eruvian said


    Aloris could not agree more.

 The Tower VI

    There are 346 islands around the central one. The islands of Urtan is the official name for this place in the world, as it was an elf named Urtan that officially discovered this place long ago.


    Not much is known of Urtan the explorer except that he traveled a lot.


    In the process of trying to acquire information such as location,purpose of the travel, Aloris discovered that the Urtan notes were of bare minimum.


    Interestingly enough the tower was never mentioned on the notes, he remembered that specific detail when he saw the tower itself.


    While the tower could be seen from all directions of these isles, he noticed the eastern islands are very different from the western islands.


    The islands on the eastern part of this region are small and fractured, and are filled with a dense jungle. The air is heavy and moist and the ground is wet. Most of the wildlife lives in this area.


    Most of these islands have beaches, only a very of them have cliffs.


    The western part of the region are bigger and have big open areas in close proximity to the forest. They contain the same biome as the eastern part but have bigger creatures that roam these lands.


    These islands are mountainous and have big cliffs with rocky edges.


    The central islands are a mix between both.


    The Toaks and Ranas are situated in the eastern part, and they had a name for themselves.


    It was unpronounceable for Aloris but if he had to describe it, it would sound like,


    Rebb-iiit-Rech-Bitt-Toc-Riit or something similar, it was too weird for him.


    So he decided that to call them the Toakran, after their names.


    They multiplied a lot after the discovery of the spear and the fruit, making Aloris a bit curious to the rapid increase of Toakran, so he decided to investigate a bit closer.


    Toaks and ranas had the same reproduction cycle, and it was a very interesting one for Aloris.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    When a female was impregnated , it layed small sized eggs at the bottom of the pond, covering them with leaves to act as a secondary layer to protect them.


    Then she proceeded to make a soup of fruits and insects and pour it on the pond.


    Aloris was baffled when he first saw this, he thought she was mad to waste such precious food. It was only later he realised that the pond changed and was different than before.


    When she poured the soup, the lilypad slowly absorbed the soup and began to exude a slimy extract that the eggs could feed themselves.


    No one was allowed to enter the ponds until the eggs matured and hatched.


    This could take some weeks before happening. Once the eggs matured enough they hatch small tadpoles that swam around the ponds, eating the extract as they grew.


    The females replenished the extract by pouring of the same soup in the pond.


    What astonished Aloris the most was the growth rate of the tadpoles, reaching adulthood at some few months in the ponds.


    ¡°That is an amazing reproduction cycle, they could in theory mass produce themselves if they wanted¡± Eruvian commented


    Aloris counted 743 Toakran, and if they continued in the same pace, they would be more than triple the next year.


    Excitement and anticipation, those were the feelings of Aloris when he realized he was possibly seeing the creation of a civilization in front of him.


    ¡°They are a bit primitive, but with proper guidance they could become great¡± Aloris said


    ¡°I agree, i like these Toakran, they are cute in some way¡± Laroth responded


    Aloris agreed. Somewhere inside of him he was still that child playing with the ants.


    ¡°Remeber why we are doing this..lets hope that The Balance has not changed drastically, we don''t want to upset it.¡± Eruvian said


    While he did not forget the primary objective, he almost forgot about The Balance. He knew that The Balance is important but it could be cruel and harsh for many species.


    He learned, when he was young, that the scholar of the upper echelon of elven society discovered The Balance a long time ago, a equilibrium of nature, a state in which most of nature would thrive.


    What they meant was that it was the most efficient state in which nature could be in, ushering the creation of multitude of creatures and flora as possible. It does not mean that everything will survive though, some will perish in this state but the abanduance of creation overcompensates that factor.


    For the ignorant and the common people it was called The Balance, for the elites it was called Equilibrium of Nature.


    This was why many of the laws were put in the first place, so to prevent people to upset it and Aloris knew that.


    It still tasted wrong somehow for Aloris, to see these wonderful dull creatures die off, and he did not regret helping them. What Eruvian expressed was the worry that was already inside of him.


    ¡°If they step out of the way, we must intervene¡± Eruvian said slowly


    He agreed. Even though he helped them, they can''t be allowed to thrive while destroying for everything else, hopefully the balance would realign itself but if it did not, then they had to intervene.


    Time will tell.

 The Tower VII

    ¡°Was that one of your ideas Eruvian, those strange houses¡± Laroth asked


    ¡°Yes and no. All i did that time, was to open his eyes to new ideas, giving hints but never saying it outright.Take for example the spear, i described to him a spike and spoke about the use for it, but i never outright said he needed a spear.¡± Eruvian responded


    Aloris was impressed with Eruvian, that it to say with himself.


    ¡°What i was hoping for was that he could figure it out himself from these clues, not only because they have to learn and be independent, but also to see how much intelligence they truly have. While the idea and concept of a house is from me, the placement of it was theirs alone¡± Eruvian spoke proudly


    After the discovery of the spear and the fruits the Toakran flourished, but they still had problems with attacks at their ponds from predators, even with the spears. It seemed that the spear just made the attacks less frequent.


    The young rana that made the spear started on a new project, one that was on a whole new level.


    He started constructing something with the help of few others and it was at the tree tops.


    At first trio were a bit confused what they were really doing but after a while the ingenuity and brilliance of the construction was seen.


    They had constructed a makeshift house, spherical in form and shape and using only the material they had around them. The house made from thousands of branches and stitched together like the birds do to their nests, an impressive feat which astonished Aloris.


    The material of the house, how to put stuff together, knotting, lifting and so on had to be an extensive cognitive work, but these ranas seemed to enjoy the work, making weird excited noises.


    Whatever had triggered the rana to be so efficient and intelligent was clearly the trio''s doing, but to what end they did not know.


    Evarius concluded that the idea must have come from when they were climbing the trees and seeing the bird nests, probably thinking if they lived like birds they would be safer from predators on the ground.


    Now the ranas had nests at the tree tops while their pond was just below them.


    ¡°They are beginning to look more civilized¡± Aloris said


    ¡°Yes, and they are also beginning to speak with more substance, with new words popping up every now and then. The rana we spoke to has been speaking about something about heavenly beings for some time now¡± Eruvian respondedUnauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    After speaking with the rana, Eruvian had in his spare time, tried to translate the crude language of the Toakran. He had it almost right, only missing some few cues on how the words translate together.


    Eruvian probably was listening all the time when they were watching the Toakran.


    Aloris knew that when they spoke to the rana, they hinted many stuff to him but never really outright said it. They were forced to say some instructions to the more advanced stuff, but it was so little of it, that Aloris thought it should not be a problem.


    So when Eruvian commented that the rana said something about the heavenly beings were with him, Aloris interest picked up.


    -¡±What do you mean?¡± Aloris asked


    -¡±The rana had been talking to the other of something about heavenly beings, it seems he is trying to convince them that they exists¡± Evarius spoke


    How? Did he hear us physically speak? Aloris thought


    -¡±Can''t really know if he did hear us as in physical speech, we only know that it had an effect. Think of it like this. We are thoughts and will only, how do we speak? We dont¡±


    He had a point, all they hear is their thoughts or his thoughts to be more precise.


    ¡°Whatever happened with the rana when we ¡°spoke¡± to it, must have been something else than normal speech. It might have been magic, or something else entirely.¡± Eruvian continued speaking


    -¡±I hope we did not do anything bad to it¡± Laroth said


    He realised that he never took the consideration that the rana could be hurt by it. Was he always this careless?


    ¡°The risks were necessary Laroth, anyways, my hypothesis is that we communicated with thoughts and so the rana had to translate it into something it could understand, that''s my initial hypothesis¡± Eruvian responded


    Was Evarius or rather me, always like this? Aloris thought worryingly.


    Aloris had a feeling inside of him, a worry, that the event did more than just make them a conscience being in the sky, something more primal and ancient.


    He also worried that with time that he as a person would change drastically to the point that he would no longer recognise himself.


    Whatever the tower did, it had changed him not only physically but mentally also.


    ¡°Dont worry Aloris, with time we will figure out a solution¡± Laroth happily said


    While he could not remove the worry completely from him, the words of Laroth did alleviate some of it, knowing that somewhere deep inside of him, the happy and hopeful Aloris that was known as Laroth was still there.


    ¡°Still, i propose we do a test. We know our speech have an effect on them to a degree. What we need to know is how the information is received by the test subject¡± Eruvian interrupted


    He was right. They needed to know if the thoughts they transmitted were a danger and how it affected the individual, but mostly he did not like being in the dark of things.


    He is a cautious and sensible man, traits he received and cultivated in the Elven army. He never liked the unknown whenever he went into combat, the unknown usually meant more deaths and loses and he did not like it. These traits made him a respected captain, a captain that would value the lives of the soldiers he commanded more than the barking orders of his superiors. It did cost him a promotion though.


    So when he heard that the possibility that the rana could experience negative side effects from the speech, he wanted to help and possible rectify his faults.


    ¡°So what do you propose?¡± Aloris asked


    ¡°We make him write or retell the experience to others¡± Eruvian said

 The Tower VIII

    -This is a bit ridiculous don''t you think, are we really doing this? Lorath said


    They were watching the rana sleep in the nest with a female rana, it was the same rana that did the spear and so on.


    Eruvian came up with the idea to teach the rana about symbolism and storytelling. His argument was that either he will write it down, or speak to others of his experience in a more detailed manner, like an old chieftain would.


    The problem with that is that they were not sure if the rana would even understand the ideas behind symbolism or the concept of recreating stories.


    All they saw the rana do was to try to convince the others of the trio''s existence but he never retold the experience to others.


    Eruvian noticed that the Toakran gave him a name, calling him The One Who Won''t Stop Speaking About Strange Beings. The name was probably to mock him and it made Aloris a bit sad and worried that the rana was being bullied.


    Lorath thought otherwise, he believed they held him in high regard for the sole reason he was the only one with a name.


    The name itself is too long for the trio but for the Toakran, it was a simple burp, or it looked like a burp for Aloris.


    -¡±Yes this is necessary, we can''t switch to a new one, we must minimize the risks, so that leaves this rana as the only suitable subject¡± Eruvian said


    -¡±He has a name you know, but it might be too long, lets call him Smarty.¡± Lorath said proudly


    Smarty? Aloris thought


    -¡±No, that is a stupid name, if he has to have a name then it must be something reasonable, like The Listener¡± Eruvian responded back


    The Listener? You serious? Aloris thought


    -¡±That''s a title not a name, and smarty is a cute name for cute creatures, so it fits¡±


    Cute? Cute creatures? Why are we even debating this? Aloris thought


    For a while Eruvian and Laroth bickered and debated, making Aloris a bit annoyed until he could not handle it anymore.


    -¡±The frog decides ok?The discussion is over! remember why we are here! Aloris angrily spoke to them


    Evarius and Laroth stopped, and for a moment it was nothing more than silence.


    -¡±You are right, i am sorry, let''s continue¡± Evarius finally spoke out


    -¡±Aloris you are right, i am sorry for bringing this up¡± Laroth said


    And so the trio began to speak to the rana.


    --------------------------------------------


    The rana was sleeping soundly with the female next to him. After a hard day building, hunting he felt he needed a nap, only to find out that his nest was occupied by a female.


    He spent the next hours having fun with her and when he was done, he was quite tired.


    He was still annoyed that no one believed him, even after all he had done.


    Time and time again he tried to convince them that they exist, and that all the achievements and ideas originated from them. Instead of believing him they started calling him by a certain phrase.


    Something he wore proudly, even if it was a bit mocking.


    He does not remember how many times the sun was reborn when he first met the beings, but he knew it was many.


    For him, it was a proudful moment and a humbling one.


    Never in his life had he meet or seen beings like that before. Even when he was in his original homeland before being swallowed by the seas.


    He wanted to know more of them but he did not know how.


    After not finding answers to his questions he slept.


    He found himself standing on water, seeing great rocks rising from the water all around him.


    He went forward to one of the rocks to inspect it, only to find himself starting to inscribe on it.


    He did not know why he did it, but something was compelling him to retell the story.


    So he started inscribing on the stone, seeing himself retell the encounter with the beings.


    He felt a cold gaze was upon him, a gaze he recognized.


    A cold and dark gaze, a presence that could swallow the abyss.


    Then he woke up.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Confused and a bit shaken, the rana looked around the room and sighed in relief. He was still in the same room.


    He stood up and decided to go to the roof, he needed somewhere to think.


    After reaching the roof he sat down, then he looked to the star above. It was still night.


    The rana tried to understand the dream, the visions of stone rising and the strange water he stood upon, but most of all the action he took in the dream.


    He was a bit bewildered by the idea to inscribe on stone, something he and his people had never done before.


    The concept of having a symbol represent something and then combine with several other symbols to form something else was something out of this world for the rana.


    The rana was astonished the idea never occurred to him before, the simplicity and the elegance of it was beyond imagining.


    He tried before to explain the event to his people but the words he had was not enough, but now he had an idea of how to explain it to his people.


    The rana looked at the full moon smiling, having a purpose and meaning was something he had never experienced before.


    He knew he was given a goal, a mission of sort to fulfill.


    The Godhead wanted the truth to be known, and the cold one has given him the means and knowledge to do so.


    He would inscribe the event on stone, to do that he needed to come up with a written language that could represent their peoples words and meaning, and maybe even make up new words in the way.


    He also knew that it would take time, that the sun would probably be reborn many times before he was complete, but he felt ready and excited nonetheless.


    ¡°I will write down your words on stone, so everyone through eternity will know¡± the rana thought


    It was this moment, he felt he was the first one, the first of many to come to believe in the Godhead.


    -----------------------------------------------------


    ¡°Are you kidding me, how is this possible? Eruvian erupted


    The trio were looking at an amazing spectacle, something they never even considered would happen.


    A year ago, the rana that they spoke to began to work on the project by creating and formulating symbols on stone. Eruvian was not surprised by this like the other two and explained that the Toakran had never a written language before and so it would take time to create it, especially if the other in the Toakran was to accept it.


    In the beginning the rana tried to explain to his people the idea behind it and it''s many possible uses.They did not accept it at first but after a tenacious effort from the rana they started to grasp and understand the use of a written language.


    Many in the Toakran began to believe in the godhead, mostly because the tenacious rana again and again showed new and interesting stuff they did not know how to explain.


    So a new name was given to him, a name that means The One Who Listens.


    But because it was too difficult for the trio to pronounce it, they called him I'' er ya lasta, meaning the same thing in elven.


    Laroth had taken quite the liking of L¡¯er ya Lasta the first few months, complementing his deeds and accomplishments and his tenacious personality.


    In time Aloris and Evarius did also came to like the young rana, but for different reasons.


    Aloris saw some parts of himself in L¡¯er ya Lasta while Evarius was impressed by the ingenuity of the young rana.


    For a whole year the young rana continued working on the massive project and became a sort of seer for the Toakran, giving advice and guiding them whenever he could.


    Sometimes whenever he had time he went to the roof of his house to just speak out to the heavens, even when no one was there except him.


    The trio figured out quickly that that he was speaking to them, and for a time they did not know how to respond.


    Evarius said that the best action would be to be quiet but Laroth intervened and said that it was too cruel to leave him alone, and that they were in neck deep in this to pull out.


    Aloris was neutral in this matter, he really did not know how to proceed, some part of him wanted to have a relationship with someone else then himself, the other part was worried that if he involved himself too much he would cause repercussions that he did not know about.


    So the first six months they were quiet, but after much complaint from Laroth, they agreed that Laroth could speak to him.


    -¡±You two be quiet, let me speak to him¡±


    And so Laroth began to speak to the rana whenever he prayed at the rooftop. Laroth with much care and love spoke to the rana and tried to give comfort whenever L¡¯er ya Lasta felt lonely.


    The trio discovered L¡¯er ya Lasta could feel Laroth presence whenever he spoke to him, and that for the L¡¯er ya Lasta it was an overwhelming presence of love and comfort.


    This new revelation was out of the ordinary and that worried Aloris, reminding him of his peculiar situation.


    Evarius, who usually commented on new revelations and discoveries was suspiciously silent in this matter. Aloris noted this but did not question him as he trusted him.


    Sometimes L¡¯er ya Lasta was quiet whenever Laroth made himself known, seemingly enjoying his presence and companionship.


    Aloris, who only had himself as company for the past centuries, started to feel a sense of companionship with this rana, and so felt happy whenever Laroth visited L¡¯er ya Lasta.


    Laroth never revealed who they were or why they gave him the specific task as Aloris forbade him to do that, but he could reveal other things to him, as long it would not upset The Balance.


    So a year went by and the stone slabs that L¡¯er ya Lasta had been working on and inscribing for the past year was complete, and with it something unexpected happened.


    The moment he completed the slabs that retold the event when he first meet them, they started to brim with power and color, and to top it of they felt connected to it.


    The trio were more than confused at the whole spectacle.


    -¡±Laroth, you never revealed runecrafting to him did you? Eruvian asked


    -¡±No, he never asked.. but he knows about magic¡± Laroth responded


    ¡°Magic, it might be possible if he had potential, but he has no potential and no mana¡± Aloris thought


    The trio were looking at the stone slabs confused, a series of slabs with a square shape in the size of a 20 inches in height and width, beautifully crafted and inscribed in the Toakran language.


    Right now they were inside L¡¯er ya lastas nest.


    -¡±Eruvian?!¡± Aloris shouted


    -¡±I think¡­ it is not magic but something else. I have a suspicion, but i don''t know if you will like it.¡±


    -¡±Speak¡± Aloris responded


    Aloris had an suspicion what Eruvian would say, and he did not like it one bit.


    -¡±I think¡­ our existence is the primary factor in this, let me explain. If you read the slabs you can see that his experience with meeting with us is different, from his point of view, we are gods that descended from the heavens to him, while in reality it was nothing more than simple whisper to him. I think that we, as a being, is no longer of this mortal realm¡­¡±


    ¡°Aloris, i think we died¡­¡± Evarius said solemnly


    Aloris, for the first time in a long while, felt fear in his heart.

 The Tower IX

    ¡°Aloris i think we died..¡± Eruvian said solemnly


    At the moment he heard those words , fear seeped into his heart. He was afraid that Eruvian was correct, and that his endeavours to recover himself was for naught. He knew somewhere deep inside of him, that he had died at the cataclysmic event, but he denied it all along.


    This truth, had always been there, but he refused to accept it. Why would he accept something so cruel, to be a incorporeal form that is nothing more than will and thought?


    For Aloris, if there was a chance to return back to how things were, how tiny or miniscule that chance was, he would take it, but fate is cruel and unfair.


    Every time progress is made, he discovers something new that makes his salvation out of his reach.


    ¡°i can''t accept this..i will find a way¡± Aloris thought to himself


    ¡°Aloris, the rana, you feel it don''t you?¡± Laroth said


    Aloris snapped out of his melancholy and looked at the rana, and sure enough he could sense something emanating from him.


    When Aloris looked closer, memories and emotions flashed through him. He saw everything this rana had been through, all the emotions he felt, everything. It was like looking inside his soul.


    He saw even what looked like a fabric that the soul was made of. It looked like a humble bunch of intertwined cords that overlapped though each other, but somehow it still looked orderly even with the chaos. The soul felt to be everlasting, it''s height and depths beyond the grasp of any sentient being, but strangely for Aloris, the soul could be held by the palm of his imaginary hand.


    He pulled out, afraid that he would cause harm to the rana by looking to much.


    This revelation did not help him one bit, as it only confirmed what he had just denied. He was something else and Aloris did not like that one bit.


    -¡±This...is he... how?.. When? Aloris stuttered to his companions


    He did not know how to proceed, where to start to the many questions that arose.


    -¡±He is connected to us, if i may Aloris, i might explain¡± Evarius spoke out


    Aloris was quiet, he already knew what Evarius was going to say.


    -¡±I suspected that we were something else since Laroth started conversing with the rana, a being of which i don''t really comprehend myself. I think that our words, intentions, and thoughts are in some way, reality changing, that is to say we bend reality.¡±


    -¡±a question to you before i continue. When you spoke to the rana, was it you or Laroth?¡± Eruvian asked


    It was Laroth of course he thought and was about to respond back until he realised what Evarius was insinuating.


    -¡±Have you ever considered that when Laroth spoke to the rana it was actually you? That you did it subconsciously? That somewhere deep inside of you, you wanted to have a friend? That you wanted to be with someone?


    -¡±you mean...¡± Aloris spoke out


    -¡± We mean that you wanted have a family again, that you wanted to be loved, cared, appreciated¡± Laroth spoke out


    Aloris was a bit stunned by the sudden interruption from Laroth, it was usually Evarius that reasoned Aloris through.


    -¡°You seeked companionship, and when the opportunity presented itself you took it. The stone slabs you see, the ideas you have for the Toakran, they are all from you, and somewhere deep inside of you, you created that connection with this rana, because you started to care for it¡± Laroth continued


    -¡°You willed the existence of the bond to reality Aloris¡±, now it was Evarius that spoke out


    -¡°You created that bond consciously or subconsciously. Whatever the case, the rana is now bonded with us, and you used these stone slabs to do it.


    Aloris knew the answer Evarius was going to give him already, but he needed to to hear it from Evarius anyway, so he asked him.


    -¡±Stone slabs? Why?¡± Aloris asked


    -¡±I don''t know really, maybe you took it from some old mythology or took it directly from the Moon Goddess Lystra words herself, ¡°Those who embrace and believe my words will be my children¡±, it sounds fairly similar to what''s happening here¡± Evarius responded


    Aloris, had since his military training always tried to the best of his abilities live up to the tenets of Lystra. He revered her because she was good, fair and was more aligned with the philosophy he believed in.


    ¡°Maybe i did use her words¡± Aloris thought for himself.


    It is possible for Aloris to have subconsciously used that reference.


    -¡±L¡¯er ya Lasta believed in us beforehand but nothing happened, so the only conclusion is that when the slabs were complete, reality changed with it, fulfilling your desire somehow.¡± Evarius continued speakingThis content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    But how? Aloris thought


    To Aloris, this was inconceivable, he was just a simple soldier. He never dabbled in magic or arcane knowledge.


    -¡±I believe the tower is the source for this mind blowing power. Think of the possibilities you can do with it. No wonder it was all in secrecy, no wonder the expedition was rushed, the madmen had found something more powerful than any magic they could possibly possess¡±.


    He could not argue against Evarius reasoning, the power to manipulate the very fabric of reality would entice any sentient being in this world. This could explain a lot of the discrepancies and the secrets he found.


    ¡°But why me?¡± Aloris thought


    -¡±I don''t know, maybe the answer lies inside the tower itself. What i do know is that we were transformed. By accident or by design we were transformed into this. You did see how reality broke apart in the event did you not?¡± Evarius said


    Aloris had seen the event with his own eyes, he knew what Evarius was speaking about. He saw how the sky broke apart like glass, and how reality itself was beginning to break apart around the tower. He saw the strange looking eyes that looked down at them from the cracks of reality.


    -¡±But nothing of this is proven..¡± Aloris stutter out


    -¡±Yes it is, well some part of it is. The testimony from the writing of those stone slabs further proves the validity of my claim. Look at the testimony from the rana, read the slabs. He saw us, even though we are just a figment of your imagination, explain that?¡±


    Aloris was silent now. He had nothing to say, he only listened.


    -¡±We were willed to reality because you wanted us to be¡± Laroth spoke out


    He could not refute anymore, how could he, it was him speaking to himself. The idea, the suspicion, he knew it all along since Laroth began to commune with the rana. He just could not bare himself to accept it when it presented itself. He hid himself from the truth, hoping that with time these revelations would go away.


    -¡±What am i?¡± Aloris asked himself


    Laroth and Evarius had no answer, because he had no answer. Aloris heart grew heavy and worry started to accumulate. He worried that he could never return back to normalcy, to how things were.


    To be with his family was the thing he desired most, and if it is true that he could will things to reality, why was he not with his family then? Why did he not have his body?


    Is his greatest desire barred from him? Aloris thought sadly to himself


    Somewhere deep, he knew, he could not return back to how things were.


    But like a stubborn mule, he won''t let go.


    ¡°No¡± he thought to himself


    Aloris did not accept it, so long there is a will to change the circumstances you are in, then you can do it.There is still something that could clear everything for Aloris and maybe save him. He would send this rana to the tower to open the gates so he could enter.


    ¡°The answer is in that tower¡± Aloris thought


    -¡±What?! You would send L¡¯er ya Lasta through a dangerous journey only to get some answers? He will surely die on his way there!¡± Laroth abruptly spoke out to Aloris


    -¡±We can wait a few more years before we send someone to the tower Aloris. When they expand they will be more prepared Aloris¡± Evarius said a precisely after.


    -¡±SILENCE!


    The voices became silent.


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    L¡¯er ya Lasta was happy, he had completed his work, and with it, his mission. The Godhead would surely be happy with this, now everyone could know the truth.


    He looked at his handiwork, proudly inspecting over his achievement.


    A masterpiece.


    12 stone slabs, inspired by the Godhead themselves, laid in front of him.


    He had since first started the project, had to invent a lot. Not only new words but also create tools to better the process of inscribing onto stone. It was not that long ago that the Toakran did not use a written language. He thought back at the first moment he had to explain it to the elders, trying to convey the meaning and the idea to them only to fail.


    He felt a bit ashamed for not being patient enough but it was kinda funny to him so he smiled.


    Now a year later, he noticed that everyone knows the language, the young ones can even write it now, and that delighted him. He also noticed that everyone treated him differently nowadays and some even had questions and asked him about things.


    He tried to the best of his abilities give them answers, but some questions were too complex for him.


    There were times were the questions were so heavy and deep that he needed to speak to La Roth, The Embrace for answers.


    La Roth. Just uttering the word gave him warm feelings in his heart. Knowing he had made friends with such a being made him both proud and humble. He should be beneath him and beyond him, but La Roth treated him as a friend.


    He looked back at the stone slabs, and something took his attention. He noticed a difference, a subtle difference.


    He noticed that these slabs had depths in them that the other did not have. While he had made several similar pieces in the last months these 12 slabs had a presence to them, like something was eminating from them.


    Whatever it is, it is surely the Godheads handiwork, he thought


    The inspiration from the Godhead, had made ordinary slabs into something amazing, the words inscribed into them retold the event in great detail. He could also feel that the words not only explained the event, but did something deeper than that.


    They also contained the description of the Godhead, but L¡¯er ya Lasta felt that the words could never justify their beauty.


    He felt he had a vague understanding of their personalities though.


    The Embrace, La Roth, a flame that devours one in love and compassion.


    The All Seeing One or as he calls him, The Cold one, Eva Rius, the one who reveals what is not there. The one who knows everything but is cold as ice.


    And the greatest, the one whom he had not properly met yet.


    The One Who Sits Upon The Throne, Alo Ris. His Words are final, his thoughts are final and his strength is beyond imagining.


    The thing that confused him the most was that they were are all one, and they were all three at the same time.


    While he was pondering to himself, he felt a sudden shift in the environment.


    He looked around his nest and saw no one, but he could definitely feel someone was there with him.


    Then a voice could be heard, a powerful and mighty voice.


    ¡°Travel to the tower, take the slabs with you and cover them up. Don''t let anyone read them.¡±


    L¡¯er ya Lasta knew who spoke to him the moment he heard him, it was Alo Ris.


    And Alo Ris was angry.

 The Tower X

    The young toak tried to keep up with the others but the lush jungle was making it hard for him, he was still not used to it. He tried to use his spear to clear some branches only to make himself look like a fool in front of the others, as he almost fell down from the cumbersome spear.


    He hated the spear, it was too heavy for him but the older ones said he needed the practice. He was not as strong as his brethren but he pressed on, hoping that the next encampment would be soon ahead.


    ¡°Why not something smaller¡­..this thing weighs too much¡± the toak thought


    He understood its purpose but felt it lacked something, he felt there has to be a better alternative than a spear, something more suited to this environment. He admitted that the spear is easy to use, and when used correctly it could be a formidable weapon indeed, but for him it was too heavy, even if he was a toak.


    He noticed that the best use of the spears was when it was used by several toakran together, something the veterans called ¡°formations¡±. These ¡°formations¡± could repel aggressive predators and even kill them if they were careless, a quite a formidable force indeed. Even though he had seen it first hand, something was still missing for him. What if you were alone? What if the enemy could target you from far away, then what? Many questions lingered in his heart, and when questioning the veterans about it they all shrugged.


    For him, the spear was not suited for this environment, it lacked the finesse to be of good use in close combat, especially in this dense jungle where predators could be in hiding close by. He also thought the spear was too cumbersome for him personally, and if he was on his own and attacked by some predator, he knew he would have a hard time defending himself.


    " i could ask him, he could probably figure out a better weapon.." The toak thought and looked ahead of the group, and sure enough he was there, speaking with an elder toak.


    The toakran he was referring was of course L¡¯er ya Lasta, the seer.


    When he heard the elders talking about an expedition mission back home, it excited him.  This was a good opportunity for him to explore more of the world and maybe learn more of the toakran L¡¯er ya Lasta. After asking around some friends in the colony, he found that the elders were mounting a expedition of sorts for L¡¯er ya Lasta. An expedition to the central island, the first of its kind.


    He had to be on this expedition.


    Since venturing out from his birth pond, he was always curious and questioned a lot, and while others curiosity dwindled his just kept increasing. Because of this he was always several steps ahead of the others when it was in terms of knowledge and logic, but this made him a bit lonely as he had no one to share his ideas and theories. He could not understand why basic reasoning was to much for his peers. Whenever he was around his friends he was forced to be on their level or else he feared he would be shunned. So when he first heard about L¡¯er ya Lasta and his discoveries his heart jumped. Maybe L¡¯er ya Lasta was like him? He presumed that maybe he was like him, and so latched onto that familiarity even though he never meet him.


    He needed to speak with him, only if to cure his lonely heart.


    He asked the elders if he could join the expedition team but the veteran warriors were hesitant on this idea. The young toak was allowed in after convincing a few of the veterans toakran. He was put with some other experienced toakran that would teach him the basics.


    But to his dismay, it was noticed by the others that he was less build than normally and after a series of embarrassing moments of him stumbling around with the spear they put him a bit behind the expedition force, a bit further away from the front where L¡¯er ya Lasta was situated. He still could not shake those embarrassing moments from his heart, maybe with time he will forget them.


    The first thing the expedition force did was to build boats and with these boats travel to the central island. It did not take many days to build them, as they were already familiar with boat construction.


    When they arrived the central island he was astonished.


    He saw carnivorous and herbivorous creatures in different shape and form, with different appetites roaming around the island, this boggled the mind of the young toak because he could not understand how they all could coexist together.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    The more experienced were also amazed but not to the degree of the young toak, as they have seen the diversity of animals and plant life that lived in their own island.


    The central island would be a terrifying place if it weren''t for the number of toakran in this expedition.


    The thing that still bothered him was the rana known as L¡¯er ya Lasta. In their travel to the tower, he noticed that every obstacle they meet, L¡¯er ya Lasta comes up with an solution to it. He somehow knows things beforehand and whenever they expedition is lost he navigates them through. Several reborn suns ago he remembers that they encountered a enormous and dangerous predator when they first made landfall on the central island. The leaders of this expedition thought of going back and maybe go around it but L¡¯er ya Lasta convinced them he would navigate them through safely.


    -¡°Don''t worry, the Godhead will guide us¡±


    Everyone seemed to relax when L¡¯er ya Lasta said those words, except for himself. Surprisingly for him, L¡¯er ya Lasta navigated them through safely without any incidents. Could he do it? Could he navigate through a unknown terrain without incident?


    Maybe.


    These almost miraculous feats only confirmed his already weak lonely heart, that L''er ya Lasta was at minimun several dimensions above him in terms of intellect.


    Whatever method L''er ya Lasta was using to do these amazing feats, he wanted to know too.


    But there was one thing that bothered him and never could grasp around with, something called the Godhead.


    The so called entities that observed them and guided them from who knows where, and only L''er ya Lasta could hear.


    This only made him sucpiciuous of L''er ya Lasta. Through use of this "Godhead" he ascended through the heirarchy of the colony to the point of reverance, a position of power unheard of in Toakran history.


    This rana must be a most proficient lier to be able to deceive all of the toakran. He was not mad about, the opposite of it. He actually admired him for it. He wanted to learn from him.


    The young toak thought several times to ask him about it, but the opportunity never presented itself.


    -¡°Next stop i will ask him¡± he said quietly to himself


    They had several times stopped to camp and rest, but every time he tried to speak to the rana the elder did not allow him for some reason, it was not just him they did not allow, no one was allowed to speak to him except for the elders.


    There were two elders that accompanied on this journey, and that was a rare sight in itself as they rarely ventured out of their nests.


    Another thing that puzzled him was the stone tablets that L¡¯er ya Lasta carried around with him all the time. The elders had forbidden anyone to look or touch the stone tablets, and those that disobeyed would be punished harshly.


    ¡°Why the secrecy?¡± he thought


    Not really coming up with an answer he left it for later, thinking that with time the questions would be answered.


    -Halt, it''s getting dark, we will camp here! shouted one of the elders.


    ¡°Oh, finally some rest. This time i will speak to him¡­. ¡± he thought for himself.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------


    The treetops were moving slowly with the wind and gently touching his soft skin as he was looking at the night sky. To L¡¯er ya Lasta the golden lights in the sky were seemingly shining more brightly than yesterday. He did not know if it was real or that his eyes were playing tricks on him, maybe it was both.


    Climbing to the treetops when it was dark was forbidden by the elders, but habits are hard to remove once you have them, so against the elders wishes he decided to pray at the treetops.


    He was meditating, hoping that Godhead would come as he prayed before back at their colony, but he felt nothing.


    Why was the Godhead, or rather Alo Ris angry? Was he angry at him? Did he wrong him? Were the stone tablets not to his liking?


    Trying to come up an answer to this worrying question, he figured that it was somehow related to the stone tablets, but exactly what it was he did not know.


    He was worried that he was the cause to the Godheads anger, something he did that made Alo Ris angry. He knew that he still had some favour to the Godhead, as Alo Ris spoke to him whenever trouble presented itself to the expedition, but that is the extent of the conversation since the creation of the tablets.


    He did not know what to make of it, this whole ordeal.


    He continued looking at the night sky, desperately hoping the Godhead would present himself.


    As the night prolonged, he was beginning to feel sleepy, so he decided to head down. When he was about to climb down, he heard sounds coming from below him.


    It sounded like someone was climbing up to him.


    Worryingly he thought it was a predator only to relax a moment later when he saw it was a toak.


    ¡°You scared me for a moment there young toak¡± , Croak , ¡°Why are you here? He said.


    He looked at the young toak a bit worryingly, as it was clearly seen that the toak was having trouble climbing. The toaks elevated breath made him more worried.


    ¡°I wonder what this Toakran wants¡± L¡¯er ya Lasta thought

 The Tower XI

    They quietly looked at the night sky, not saying one word to each other, side by side at the treetops. At first when L¡¯er ya Lasta asked the young toak why he was here he got no response. When the toak finally reached L¡¯er ya Lasta, he was breathing heavily, probably from the physical work of climbing up to him, so L¡¯er ya Lasta waited patiently for the toak to rest before inquiring again about his presence.


    While waiting for the toak rest to complete his eyes picked up something from the left side of the toaks waist, a bag made of leaves that the young toak was carrying, it was not that big, and something was sticking out from the bag.


    He also noticed that this young toak is not as strong as his brethren, unusually weak for a toak, but the eyes of the young toak had a spark that the others rarely had, a fire of sorts.


    The toak finally turned his head to L¡¯er ya Lasta.


    -¡±Your excellency, i humbly ask of you to accept my presence before you¡± said the young toak with a tone of respect and elegance rarely seen by the toakran, even by the elders.


    L¡¯er ya Lasta was a bit surprised by this, not only by the fancy introduction but also the words he used. Usually the toakran use the simpler words and syllables to communicate, but not this one. He used, what would be considered advanced form of the toakran language, to present himself. The most interesting thing is that it was L¡¯er ya Lasta that had invented and formed the language in the first place, and that it was not that long ago it was introduced, meaning that either this young toak learned it very fast, or he wanted to impress him with the very few advanced words he knew.


    Either case, for L¡¯er ya Lasta, it was a bit funny and embarrassing, to hear your own creation be used so efficiently.


    -¡±Haha¡±,Croak, he laughed a bit before continuing ¡°No need to be so formal with me, i am just a toakran like you¡±


    The toak looked a bit surprised by his answer.


    -¡±You are indeed humble to be considering yourself to be like us¡± Croak ¡°your excellency¡± said the young toak, smiling at L¡¯er ya Lasta.


    ¡°He is quite a smoothtalker, i give him that¡± L¡¯er ya Lasta thought.


    -¡±Well you have picked my curiosity young one,¡± Croak ¡° before i ask why you are here, do you have a name? He asked him.


    The young toak answered back.


    -¡±Yes, your excellency, my friends call me The Curious One¡±


    L¡¯er ya Lasta had now a grasp of what kind of personality the young toak had. Usually names are defined by the personality of said toakran. It often takes time to define someone by a name, and often a toakran goes through life with different names until one sticks.


    -¡°Well then, i propose a trade then, i will call you Curio and you will stop being so formal with me, and call me Lasta. Does that sound good? responded L¡¯er ya Lasta with a mischievous grin.


    The toak just tilted his head a bit and responded.


    -¡°I feel that such a deal would be to your detriment, your excellency, and therefore i must decline¡±


    At this point, L¡¯er ya Lasta shook his head and looked back at the sky


    -¡±I give up, so¡­¡­¡± his eyes turned back to Curio, ¡°what has brought you here then?¡±


    Curio looked back at the sky, was quiet for a while before responding, seemingly thinking about how to proceed with whatever he had in his heart.


    -¡±In our travel to the mysterious tower, i noticed that the spear, while highly effective to use in great numbers, is quite lacking in this dense jungle environment, especially when you are alone. So¡­¡± Curio stopped and his eyes turned to L¡¯er ya lasta before continuing ¡°i was thinking that you could help me with something i have been working on your excellency¡±


    Curios right hand navigated to his bag that was on his left side, and picked something that looked like a makeshift weapon of some kind. L¡¯er ya Lasta had seen this type of weapon before, probably from the visions of the Godhead.


    It was called an Axe, but if you were to compare the axe from his vision to this one, then the former would be far superior.


    Curio handed the weapon to L¡¯er ya Lasta and said


    ¡°Care to look at this simple tool i made?¡±


    L¡¯er ya Lasta took it and started to inspect it.


    ¡°I am impressed, the quality of the tree is quite good, but the stone could use some more sharpening, and the knots could be done better, but overall it is quite a good axe¡± he thought to himself, then his eyes turned to the handle of the axe.


    ¡°Did he invent this by his own?¡± he thought while turning the axe.


    L¡¯er ya Lasta had the blessing of the Godhead to see the inventions and the machinations of the Godhead, but if you were to strip that advantage, he would be at the same level as most Toakran, and therefore he never considered himself to be a prodigy or even special. What amazed L¡¯er ya Lasta in this moment, was that somehow this young toak had found a elegant solution to a problem, and for a toakran, just to come up with a solution would be considered a amazing feat. What is more amazing is that somehow this young toak had invented a tool similar to those that of his visions, clearly having a capable mind to be so aligned to the Godhead.


    ¡°Was it the Godheads doing? or was it the toaks own volition?¡± L¡¯er ya Lasta thought


    He looked back at the young toak with a curious look on his face.


    -¡±You did this?¡± he asked CurioStolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Curio said with a proud smile on his face


    ¡°Yes i have, your excellency¡± he stopped a bit before continuing ¡°If you could indulge me with your opinion on said weapon i would be very happy¡±


    ¡°He must be a prodigy¡­¡± L¡¯er ya Lasta thought.


    -¡±Well, first of all i am impressed that you created such a tool b..¡± L¡¯er ya Lasta stopped before continuing.


    ¡°Could i do it? Criticize someone''s hard work?¡±


    Even if Curio had given him permission to do so, he still did not know how Curio would respond.


    He looked at the stars above and decided to proceed, but with a bit more wisdom than before. He would be honest with Curio, only that his words would be chosen carefully.


    -¡±The craftsmanship of this tool is outstanding, and i can see that the creator of this tool had efficiency in mind, now there are areas that could use some improvement, like the stone could use some grinding to sharpen it more, and the knots could be done better, like here and here...¡± he pointed at the knots he was referring too.


    He continued to speak about the axes necessity of a good handle that can withstand the impact of the wielders strike and other different areas that could be improved, it continued for about a minute before he handed the axe back to Curio.


    -¡±But i have to say Curio, this axe is really good.¡± Croak ¡° You should introduce it to the elders when you have the chance¡± smiling back to Curio, who had an expressionless face, or rather it was so to L¡¯er ya Lasta but if you looked closer it would be a more colder expression.


    Curio took the axe and put it back in his bag.


    -¡±Thank you for your insight, your excellency¡± Curio said with a calm but yet unsteady voice.


    L¡¯er ya lasta looked ahead, but this time not to the stars but to the massive shadowy silhouette that was in front of him in the distance. Even in the dark it could be seen by it''s faint colors that were emitted from the carvings of the tower.


    ¡°Amazing¡± he said quietly.


    -¡±Your excellency, may i ask you a question?¡±


    -¡±Yes of course¡± he answered back, still looking at the silhouette in the distance.


    -¡±Why are we going to the Tower? Curio asked a bit hesitant.


    How would he respond? Would he tell him the truth? That the Godhead is angry, and wants L¡¯er ya Lasta to travel to the tower for some inexplicable reason.


    ¡°No, i can''t tell him that¡­, i will tell him what i told the elders¡± he thought to himself.


    - ¡°The Godhead commanded me too travel there¡±


    - Did he now? Curio said with a bit of doubt to his voice, it was faint, but it could be heard from the tone of his voice.


    ¡°he doubts me? Well¡­ i can¡¯t blame him, the truth of the Godhead was recently introduced to the colony¡±


    -Do you doubt me? L¡¯er ya Lasta asked.


    Curio¡¯s well mannered and good poise was no more as it was replaced with a more startled expression.


    -¡±What..No of course not¡± waving one of his hands while he spoke.


    -¡±You have every right to doubt me Curio, if i were in your shoes i would also have doubted this rana¡±


    L¡¯er ya Lasta turned his head to Curio with a bit of a sad smile and continued to speak


    -¡±Doubt is good Curio, when it is applied right that is¡­,¡± he then pointed at a tree in the distance ¡°if i told you that tree over there exists, and you begin to doubt that even though you have seen it, is it bad doubt or good doubt?¡±


    The toak just looked at the tree that L¡¯er ya Lasta was pointing at, looking a bit confused at his question.


    L¡¯er ya Lasta continued


    -¡±Then what if i told you that tree existed but you never had the opportunity or chance to see it, what then?


    A thoughtful face was displayed on Curio, whatever he was thinking, it was clear he was pondering whatever L''er ya Lasta was saying.


    -¡±I am the only one to see the Godhead and no one truly believes in them except me, even the elders don''t truly believe like i do, they are more worried that they will lose me and with it, my inventions.¡±


    He looked to the tower again


    -¡±but that is ok, because... truth is personal. Don''t misunderstand my words, let me explain. There is a fundamental truth to everything, that is the truth, like the fact that the tree¡¯s existence here at this moment won''t change no matter where you are in the world, or that we exist at this moment but¡­ it won¡¯t be a reality to you personally unless it''s being presented to you. But how can it be presented if you don''t walk on the path of truth? That''s why the young don''t understand the elders, and vice versa. When the elders pass down their wisdom to their young ones, the young ones still need to walk the path of life, and by doing so the truth gets revealed to them. So in essence the young ones must experience it first hand, it is then that their belief becomes pure.¡± he paused a bit


    -¡±It is like you can finally truly see, like before was just a distant dream of pure darkness and suddenly¡­ you wake up, and see the true light that it truly is. In that instant it fills your heart, good or bad. We experience it everyday you know.., when we make our first spear, the nests, our first love and so on.¡±


    -¡±So the meaning to life is not really knowing everything or be the most perfect being ever¡­. It is to embrace the truth when it is presented to you on this path that we call life.¡±


    -¡±but as i said, there is a fundamental truth to everything¡­ and the path of truth leads you to the culmination of it, and i believe with all my heart that the Godhead is that truth.¡±


    -¡±and ¡­.¡± he stopped before continuing, realising that he had spoken a bit too much.


    -¡± i am sorry Curio, i started to ramble on and on¡­


    ¡°I must be tired... time for us to go back¡­¡± L¡¯er ya lasta thought


    -¡±anyway it is time for us to go back and sleep, we have a long journey ahead of us.¡±


    As L¡¯er ya Lasta prepared himself to climb down he never realised that Curio was not moving and was in deep thought, whatever L¡¯er ya Lasta had said, it had impacted the young toak. Only when L¡¯er ya Lasta looked back did the young toak speak and move.


    -¡±it''s ok, no need to apologize, and also you are right your excellency, we need to sleep¡±


    Both started to climb down and once they reached ground level they did a short farewell to each other and went their separate ways.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Confused and a bit sad, the young toak walked slowly back to his makeshift bed. He was in no mood to sleep, but the necessities of the flesh is stronger than the mind, so he reluctantly went to sleep. Before his consciousness went away to a faraway dreamland he thought of L¡¯er ya Lasta.


    He had hoped that L¡¯er ya Lasta would soothe his loneliness, but all he got was more confusion and more questions.


    ¡°He saw through my charade¡­i should have never tried to test him with the axe¡­¡±


    He had created the axe with some flaws to see the capabilities of the L¡¯er ya Lasta, but only to get more than he bargained for. L¡¯er ya Lasta had, not only pinpointed all the flaws that curio set up, even exceeded his expectations by presenting him with other options and improvements that never even occurred to him.


    It tasted bitter when he thought about it.


    ¡°He is either a very intelligent individual with a lying personality or¡­.he is a mad toakran¡­¡±


    ¡°Or maybe it''s both?¡±


    Unbeknownst to L¡¯er ya Lasta, his display of faith and conviction had impacted the young toak Curio, and seeds of doubt began to flourish in Curios heart.


    Was L¡¯er ya Lasta really lying? Or was he mad?


    Or was he telling the truth?


    Curio could not decide.


    He needed to know more to take a decision.


    ¡°Those stone tablets could give me more insight... ¡°