The Tale of Vroilesque

THE TALE OF VROILESQUE
My name is Vroilesque. I am an Ulnakst. My kind live below the roots of the greens. We strive in the shadows. Light is harmful to us, so, it is with great caution that we venture to above the greens. The journey is so hazardous that none of us have attempted the trip since long before my own birth. Until recently the legends of Overgreens didn't seem real. Then the trouble started.

They found the dead Ulnakst three colds past the longest cold from above the greens. It was so badly mutilated that the elders could not identify it. There were only three of the arms left and the second one was broken in many places. There was a large hole in the chest. A piece of dead green was stuck in the eye. Worst of all, the entire body was burned black. It had been left out in the burning light.

The elders ruled that another Ulnakst must go to above the greens to find the answer to what happened. Rkloct was chosen. He was large and very strong. I once saw him slicing the marble stones for exercise. His cuts were more than twice the depth of my own. When he left for above the greens the whole community was silent. We gathered at the base of the tunnel to watch him leave. I wished him all my luck and prayed to the Goddess of the center fires to protect him on his journey.

My obsidian had cooled and I was about to dine when I heard the wail. I burst from my cavern to see Rkloct collapse near the holy pillar in the middle of the square. His blood poured from holes in his chest turning the green turquoise stone of the holy pillar black. His tail had been cut off. He gasped for breath as he spoke. "The Overgreens..... monsters...... too violent..... don't understand peace...... no warning...... attacked on sight...... sounds cut me..... monsters...... no peace..... no peee."

He was dead. The elders took Rkloct's warning as gospel. They forbade any of the Ulnakst to travel to above the greens. We were to avoid the Overgreens completely and forever. It was made into law. The rest of the community went back to their normal lives. But I could not. There was something that Rkloct said that I could not get out of my mind. He said that the Overgreens cut him with sound. I could not understand how that was possible. It plagued my mind for nights on end. I decided that I could stand it no longer. I was going to break the law for the first time in my life and go to above the greens.

I went at the dark of the moon and kept to the deepest shadows. If the overgreens attacked on sight, I would try not to let them see me. There was a dense section of very high greens that I thought would keep me hidden. I had once heard a rumor that the Overgreens worshiped the burning light. It was true. The Overgreens even used false light to brighten the darkness. At first this false light scared me, but I soon learned that it was harmless. The light made it more difficult to hide. I had just settled myself into the greens when I saw a group of Overgreens. They were hideous! They only had two legs and two arms. They had two small eyes and their teeth were hidden in their mouths. They stood straight up like stalactites. They covered their bodies with fake skin of the strangest colors. Rkloct was right. They were monsters.

I lifted my head to try to get a better look. That was when the noise came. It was ear shattering, like nothing I had heard before. Then I heard other noises join it. I turned to see what it was. An Overgreen had seen me and was yelling. I had trouble believing that any living creature could make such a noise. I remembered Rkloct's warning that they attacked on sight. I turned towards the tunnel home but there were Overgreens in the way. There was more noise. I saw many more Overgreens running at the tall greens where I was hiding. I had no choice. I had to break threw the Overgreens in front of my tunnel.

I stood to my full height and roared for them to get out of the way. As I ran forward most of the overgreens fled. I struck two Overgreens that did not flee and knocked them out of the way. I was surprised at how little they weighed. I was almost to the tunnel when I heard a noise much louder that any others. It sounded like a boulder had fallen from a high ledge on to hard granite. I felt a sharp pain in my back. The sound had cut me. Rkloct was right. They could cut with sound. I got to the tunnel and raced for below the greens without bothering to close the tunnel behind me. I heard more of the cutting sound, but none of them cut me.

When I got back and told my story, the elders decide to seal every tunnel that went to over the greens. We shook the ground so hard when we collapsed the tunnels, we could hear the false stones of the Overgreens falling as well. My wound was healed. The elders considered my punishment for many nights. They ruled that I would tell my story to all living Ulnakst. I would use the scar of my wound for proof of the tales. And, I would continue to tell my story over and over again until I die. It must a legacy and a warning. The treachery of the Overgreens must never be forgotten. The peace of our world is at stake.