Part 57: Forbidden Memory: Roadside Encounter

Roadside Encounter

"You did what?"

"I climbed down." Gillas savors the merchant's incredulous look a while longer, then continues his tale:

"There I was, standing at the edge of Urralia, facing an endless sky. I wondered: Anything down there? So I figured, since no one has done it before, why not have a look? I secured myself with a rope, and started the descent."

The merchant lifts a roasting dragon-cricket from the campfire and offers it to Gillas. The explorer peels the chitin, takes a huge bite, wipes the juices from his lips, and continues his story.

"I clinged to the surface and carefully inched downward. I was expecting the edge to be smooth, shaved by the searing winds. But instead, I was holding onto a wrinkled, rough stone... Except it wasn't a stone. It took me a while to understand what I was hanging onto."

Gillas stops to check on his audience. With the careful timing of an expert storyteller, he delivers the punchline.

"It was a root."

"Huh?"

"I saw dozens of roots, maybe a hundred feet in diameter, extend downward, sink into the clouds. Urralia is not just a giant mass of land. It's a living giant mass of land!"

"Aw, come on! You are pulling my leg."

"But that's not the strangest part." Gillas takes a deep breath. "The next bit... I'm terrified just thinking about it." The merchant is about to burst out in laughs, but something in Gillas's stare stops him dead in his tracks.

"I was about to go back when I sensed a shiver down my spine. Slowly, I turned my head, and there it was, staring at me. All I can remember are the eyes. Three pairs, as big as an apple tree, piercing me... I was frozen. Then I felt it. It was in my mind, searching for something."

"Searching?"

"For memories... It sent me images. A giant serpent. Battle. I think... I think it was looking for memories of Voden."

"Voden? That was a hundred years ago."

"Yeah... Probably why the creature quickly lost interest. It turned around, and plunged beneath the clouds. The next thing I remember, I was back on the surface, running toward my village."

The merchant meditates on the tale for a while, then asks:

"And you don't remember what it looked like?"

"This is the scariest part. Every time I try to remember, I faint."

"Come on, try!"

With a sigh, Gillas focuses on the memory, on the giant eyes. Then everything turns black.