Creus(Full Book)

Part 5

They avoided the other path and continued across. The trees grew shorter and into stumps. David coughed as smoke filled his lungs, and the stink of mud entered his mind. They spotted more people, and David smiled, their was people and food. Pepper, herbs, bread, steam, and much more. David spotted the village as they headed toward the bustling market.

The village crowded around him. People bumped and strode past him, but all to Pnoaphales, all seeking the Prophet. A trail of footprints formed along the trail, and the crowds followed it upwards. Many dragged rags and carts with them. Oxen huffed and stomped past others, and the fastest horses galloped past them all. David looked away, and up into the sky..

A bird flew overhead. A swallow, with tail feathers that glowed as it flew. It glided above him, a great bird. His eyes filled with thought, and he saw the kite. Leather, cut and sewn, and stitched together. An octagon, and spinning with red and gold.

He blinked. He shook his head and stopped. Above him, light glowed. A telluride, enveloped in yellow, flew above the sky. In its hands, a staff wavered. It glided above, and dipped above the clouds, then appeared as it descended. The telluride's face glanced down. Age made rings around the telluride's eyes, and grey covered its forehead. The telluride hovered over them. What did it see up there? Going above the sky, like a bird, flying and flying, above the clouds... Going above the world.... Yes, he remembered one of them.

An old telluride lived in his village... He'd spat and grumbled many times... Long shawl... He didn't like to fly, but sat thinking... An old, old telluride, with a staff just like this one, but small and wizened.... A fine telluride.... After the Callous War, he disappeared along with all of the other things.... Men of Deer and Laphanists...

The telluride looked down again. It flew down and reached the ground.

Osmond walked away from them, and went to the telluride. David heard word fragments as Osmond talked to the telluride. They discussed, nodding their heads, tapping chins, while Darrell went off to buy more food, and him and Bernard sat on the bricks.

Then, Osmond walked back, and away from the telluride. Bernard stood up.

"What did you talk to him about?"

"It was a story about a Men of Deer. Something about flying above. I can recall it still: 'The deerman had sat there thinking, and he told me about the sky. The deerman was curious about what was above. So, I told him that I would fly to the sky to see what was there. I flew up. The houses grew small, and the clouds grew in size. I could see the infinity tower from there, I was flying taller than even that. The first minutes were full of thick fog. Then the valley of clouds parted and up into the sky, I went. The copper disc of the sun began to burn me a little. But I went further up and into the blue sky. And, as I went further, I realized that only darkness surrounded the world. I went up and up. When I stopped, I saw whorling chaos and a large glowing sphere. An blue sphere, thin, covered everything. But, when I reached out to touch one. I fell into the ocean. When I woke up, the deerman was gone'"

"That's fine", Bernard walked towards the market, "Let's get some food."

They passed the walls of the village, past the Tellurides tower. Bernard and Darrell ran behind him. Osmond followed him. When they went further into the city's center, the crowds thickened. At times, he saw nothing but people. They seemed to be from everywhere.

Flies formed a hazy fog overhead, and smoke and steam mixed to form dark clouds. David ran past creaky shacks and weak houses. They got some food and filled their bags again. The tight alleyways of the village provided them with a spot for lunch. They chewed and ate near the sewers, where fleas bit at their knees. David gobbled his food down, and drank the water to wash it down to quench his thirst. It wasn't good food, not the stuff he had eaten at home. But it acted as a filler for his empty stomach.