The Northwest district of Deiyil was the main trade area of the city. Merchants of all kinds flocked from the four corners of the world to hawk their wares, and the air was filled with the aroma of spices and exotic dishes.

The most recent attraction had followed an odd occurrence, and those it drew were not the normal visitors to the trade district; they were researchers and excavators. Near the center of the trade district, a large scar had been torn into the white rock foundations of the city, a slice that had opened a chasm that extended straight down and disappeared into out of sight. It was many blocks long and wide, and it revealed another layer just below the surface.

To study the area, scaffolding had been set up in three tiers to examine each level of heavy, white stone tablets. A ramp extended down to another level to view a similar set of tablets just below, and likewise one more. This was the extent of the area the excavations had covered thus far, but the chasm extended even farther down and out of sight.

The tablets were half again as tall as a man, with hieroglyphics and runes etched on their stone surfaces in ordered rows. At regular intervals separating the tablets were small, yetunexplored tunnels.

The crowning discovery stretched across the center of the great excavation and took up the entire third tier. It was a thick stone platform that was inscribed with runes and hieroglyphics like the others, but in a spiral pattern extending outwards from the center. Multiple tents, tables, and implements used for archeological purposes had been set up on the stone platform that overlooked the seemingly bottomless hole below. The air was heavy with dust kicked up by the excavation.

One mystery that had yet to be explained was the hot air that blew up in rhythmic gusts from the fissure below. Like clockwork, roughly every forty breaths, a hot breath of air was exhaled from the chasm. Though it was not violent, each blast was enough to ruffle hair.

The biggest tent was set up near the center of the stone platform, and it was a square, drab-looking affair. Inside was an improvised desk made of collected material, including a wooden slab to operate as a writing area. The central portion resembled Penndarius's desk, with precariously stacked papers and small stone tablets with notes attached to them with tree gum.

The nameplate at the head of the desk read Isaiah Helkrif, Lead Excavator.

A young woman dressed in dust-colored breaches and a loose white shirt ducked in through the tent and waved hello to Isaiah, a pleasant-looking, slender man in his fifties who was hunched over the makeshift desk. She adjusted the glasses that hid her plain, earnest face and said, "Good morning, sir. Were you up all night again?"

Isaiah jumped slightly. "Oh! Gale, my girl...you surprised me. Yes, I was going over our good friend Penndarius's work on the last tracing we sent him. He does a thorough and efficient job."

"What does that one say?" Gale asked.

"It is a description of the city and its creation," Isaiah replied in a reverent tone.

"Are you sure? This is a wonderful find!" She bounded over to where Isaiah was seated.

"We have been searching for years for an explanation of how this city got here!"

Isaiah sighed and scratched his head in frustration. "I am afraid it is not as literal as I'd like. It seems that our good friends left us cryptic clues and metaphorical challenges that go beyond translation and into the world of stories and riddles."

"What does it say, though?"

"As close as our young fellow Penndarius can make out, it translates as the following: And lo! We, the first sons and daughters of the gods, grew the silver tree in the soil of white rock that was laid on the back of a dragon."

Gale peered at the notes. "They are probably referring to the stone foundations and the tower at the center of the city...but the back of a dragon?" What could that mean?" "I have not the faintest, my dear, though it is something to ponder." "Yes, indeed," she responded.

A large gust blew up from below them and rustled the tent.

"Will that bedamned wind ever stop?" Isaiah said in frustration. "Speaking of which, has Penndarius finished his translations of the most recent tracing we sent him? I believe our own people managed to translate the first part of the instructions at the bottom, but the rest still eludes us," Isaiah said.

"Penndarius notified me yesterday that he finished his translations," Gale replied.

"Good! Go meet with our young friend, and bring back what he has found," Isaiah said, fueling her enthusiasm. "Incidentally, it seems that our work has drawn the attention of the First Speaker of Dol’ron, and I've sent him some of our preliminary work, including the initial translation of a strange series of steps from the large tablet. I included that along with the rest for reference purposes. It seemed that Lord Diametries was pleased with the news."

The tent flap opened behind Gale, and they turned to see a black-robed woman with a silver moon pendant pinned above her left breast, who stepped inside and then paused. Her face was mostly hidden by the hood of her cloak.

Isaiah put down his work and turned to the newcomer. "Visitors are not allowed in the

Scar," he said in a formal tone. "This area is for authorized personnel only."

The dark figure bowed. "I serve the Speaker Diametries, and he has bade me to deliver an announcement that is important to your expedition. Can you kindly gather your entire team?" she said with exaggerated politeness.

"Could you tell me what the Speaker wants to communicate to the whole team? I'm sure it would serve just as well if I relayed the message," Isaiah insisted.

"No," the woman said simply and shook her head. "That would not suffice."

Isaiah looked slightly annoyed. "Gale, please gather the others and bring them here."

Gale nodded and went outside. As she left the tent, she saw five more men garbed the same way as the cloaked woman. One of them had on a leash a lesser kirin that pawed at the ground with its scaly, clawed feet, carving gashes in the precious terrain below it. Gale grimaced but held her anger in check, knowing that if these were a Speaker's servants, they would have little respect for a researcher such as herself and for this irreplaceable repository of history. What is a kirin doing here? she wondered.

Supernaturally endowed creatures that roamed the lands of Therra openly, the kirins, named out of reverence for their esteemed ancestors the Grand Kirin, ranged in intelligence from the level of a wild animal to equal or greater than a therran. This kirin appeared to Gale to be of feral origins. It was hunched over, walked on four legs, and was almost as tall as a man at the shoulder. Its innate intelligence seemed obvious as it examined the area like a hunter seeking prey, carefully marking each researcher as they passed.

The being had yellowed scales that covered its entire body, and its feet sported dangerouslooking, curved claws. Its face was reptilian, with a square jaw that ended in a long, intimidating beak. At the base of its neck was a protruding spiral horn that arced over its head, and two smaller horns curved in on either side. Effervescent eyes glowed with menace. A forked tongue, like a snake's, tested the air.

Gale hesitated when she saw the men and their dangerous companion; however, her faith in Isaiah outweighed her fears.

"Kendel, Isaiah needs everyone to come to the tent!" she called to another excavator, who went off to gather the others. 

- End of Episode -

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