Our Little Gods 1: RABATEA, the first World of the Daughters.

Chapter 22.

It had been like a smudge on the horizon for the last day. Directly ahead of them and from one end of the sky to the other, no one wondered why they had been named the Broken Lands anymore, for broken they were. The great accumulation of rock that the Parotos mountain chain was, the sharp Needles of Gimbre in Upper Limore or the Cold Curupagh cordillera above the Hard Sea, certainly not the gentle looking Ignaien Mounts could prepare for the sight the Broken Lands were. Here, mountains have been thrown around, pulverized and raked one over the other. The more one looked at it, it became possible to imagine it all had been lifted in the sky, high, higher than that even. Only to be hurled back crashing down, crushingly. Nature and its logic had been abolished, worse it had been raped and spat upon, the whole sight felt repugnant, abhorrent even. As they came closer a long needle of dusty dark grey rock spurting from the entangled mass, broke off and crashed down on the ground, shaking it and the funeral shroud of dust that rose from its tomb was torn to shreds by the wind.

"There's no fucking way I'm going there, no sir!" Terrey said almost to himself.

"We haven't seen the sea yet... He said we should see the sea before heading to the Rising Side." Farenn answered to his brother with a rasping in his voice as if he felt his fears.

"I guess even the Maharaïa girl isn't insane enough to hide an army there. Maybe stuff like that don't happen that often after all..." As Terrey was saying that an obelisk shaped rock nearby the one which had just fallen started to fall sideways slowly at first and then it crashed into an other of the leaning needles of rock shattering it and some others before crashing in the dust raising another billowing cloud.

"...At least Natabs and Balà can be killed with blades and arrows..." Farenn turned back on his saddle to face Baalbek and Limero.

"Are we doing this? I mean seriously?" He shouted towards them in the wind.

"You said it yourself, we haven't seen the sea yet. The track we follow seem to be veering off in the opposite direction." Baalbek said very composed.

"Yeah. It still goes there." Terrey said pointing at the chaos of rock in front of them."

"I am certain Yïach would not have led us here if it had been that dangerous." Limero said to no one in particular.

They moved closer one hoof at a time. Their animals did not have the same reluctance that they themselves had. The closer they got the more spectacular and unnatural their surroundings become. The sun just past its apex and they entered the shadows of the rock needles and the path they were on started climbing up between the roots of the mineral giants, they soon had to lead their horses by their bridles for the inclination was at time too much to remain seated in the saddle.

Eventually they reached some kind of plateau; there was nowhere else to go but down on a gentle slope and the sun was setting far beyond the entangled rock spurs.

Yïach was sitting on a little boulder nearby and the oversized beast accompanying him was rubbing its back in the dust, its powerful paws in the air, impressive claws could be observed coming out from its toes and then it would retract them completely. T'tebera was fascinated by the animal, so much so that she asked Maasil about it.

"Can you tell me what is the name of these creatures?"

"They are called 'braugarafs', normally you would only find them in the Parotos Mountains these days, but they used to be all over the Triadic Lands. The sons of Triad have hunted them off to extinction in the Elder Realms. They are predators, they would feed preferably on Nagwars and Grazers and Macroceros, the great herding animals of the plains."

"They were killed because they threatened the populations?"

"No, not at all. Braugarafs never prey on people. I don't know why they hunted them so."