Aenurin

Ænurin

Brandon M. Dennis

The Glaski and Talitar the Red - Part II

Klist and Glost summoned their children and announced to them all that Talitar would be their guide, and through him they would become the greatest race of men. It was then that Talitar dictated the history of the world from the beginning until then, and this history was corrupt. It placed Talitar at the center of everything. Talitar made man, made the world and made the heavens, and Nurin was described as an insignificant spec of a creature that existed to cause trouble. It was Talitar who was powerful and beautiful, and all the other races of men had gone astray, led by his meddlesome siblings who puffed up Nurin to be more than he was. The Glaski, on the other hand, were free and independent, and so Talitar chose the Glaski to be his subjects, for only they were deserving enough.

Talitar's influence with the Glaski was minimal, at first. He stood behind the thrones of Klist and Glost and advised them in all their decisions. First dress was normalized, and everyone wore red in Talitar's honor. Then certain behaviors were banned and others demanded, for the Glaski, as the best and fairest race of men, must act like it. Songs were outlawed unless they were in honor of Talitar or the Glaski, for nothing else was deserving of their singing. Posture was prescribed, and it was demanded of all to walk in an upright manner with shoulders back and chin held high for such was the proper way for a Glaski to hold himself. Once these changes were made, Talitar's recommendations became more demanding.

It was due to Talitar's influence that Klist and Glost made a decree, saying that their children must no longer inhabit the furthest reaches of Tlakrin in small groups and communities, and instead flock to the palace and live around it. Thus the edges of the mighty jungle were abandoned, and all the Glaski relocated to just outside the palace of Klist and Glost. There were so many of them, however, that despite being compacted they completely surrounded the palace and indeed, the number off Glaski homes stretched out from the palace a great distance.

Klist and Glost then decreed that everyone should eat the same thing, for no one should be made to feel that his brother eats better than he does, and so the fruit grimptu became the only food that they were allowed to eat. Then they decreed that, since the earth was filthy and the Glaski were above filth, they should construct for themselves houses made of wood that stood upon stilts, thereby keeping the Glaski away from the wretched soil. And so the Glaski cut down their mighty trees and built for themselves houses upon stilts, and each man built a house to his own liking. But Talitar noticed the great variety in house designs and it displeased him, and so Klist and Glost decreed that all houses should look the same, for no man should ever feel that his brother has a better house than he does. The houses were torn down and rebuilt in grids that circled the palace, based upon designs by Talitar. When this mighty work was completed, the trees near the palace were all gone and in their place stood a vast network of wooden houses and wooden roads, all propped up above the ground. This was the very first city ever constructed upon Ænurin, and the Glaski called it Lattrak which means "Great Nation".

Klist and Glost looked out from their thrones at the vast city before them. The birds had all gone. The trees were all gone. The only green that could be seen was a faint line on the horizon, but this line dwindled with each new generation. Klist felt saddened and he did not know why. They had accomplished something that no other race ever had. They were more organized and egalitarian in everything they did. They knew the real truth as revealed to them from Talitar, yet despite it all Klist felt very uneasy. But he kept these thoughts to himself.

Over the years the pools began to dry up and the soil became hard. With no shade trees nearby the city became very hot, the wind blew furiously, and the Glaski spent as much time indoors as they could. It was therefore the responsibility of the men on the outskirts of the city near to the jungle edge to harvest the grimptu fruit which was their complete diet and find fresh water to drink. They would eat and drink what they pleased and send the rest towards the inner parts of the city which were deposited in repositories and cisterns near the palace. The little food that did make its way into the heart of Lattrak could not sustain the population, and so rations were placed. Each man, woman and child was allowed one fruit and one cup of water a day. Consequentially the Glaski in the heart of the city started to lose weight and they became bony and unhealthy. This led to much griping and strife between the Glaski on the outskirts near the jungle and the men near the palace. The city was hot. The Glaski were famished. Things were not as they should have been, and someone needed to be blamed.

Whispers spread through the city. Some said that the other races of men had poisoned the soil, making it hard. Others said that Talitar's siblings had cursed the Glaski, making Yalis shine too brightly upon them. All these rumors were of Talitar's making, and in the end it made the Glaski bitter and they resented the other races. They pitied themselves and whined and moaned, cursing and blaming the Favish, Segykal, Peepkin, Hress, Rostic-everyone but themselves.

But Klist was not ready to see his children waste away. He announced that the Glaski would undertake a new great work, a work that would solve all of their problems. He gave his children designs that he had spent days making, and soon the men were hard at work. New trees were felled in the jungle, but sporadically and not all from the same place. They were brought into the city and made into a track, and soon this track stretched from the palace all the way to the jungle interior. Then he ordered a hunting party to kill the great lizards that wandered the jungle, and out of their skin he erected giant windmills that followed the track from one end to the other, and he lined the track with the leather. He then connected the windmills to the track lining with jungle vines, and when the fierce wind kicked up, the windmills spun, and the track began to move. Klist then segregated the city into fourteen sections, and each section was responsible for harvesting fruit for the city for one month, based upon the Glaski calendar. The fruit was placed on the track and conveyed towards the city, and the inhabitants ate when they wanted by simply walking to the track and picking some fruit. An aqueduct was then erected that led off towards the jungle, and through a system of pulleys and windmills, water from the giant pools was lifted and dumped into the aqueduct, which then ran swiftly towards the heart of the city.

Due to these innovations, the city was never out of water or food. It was still unbearably hot and the wind was oppressive, but at least the Glaski would not starve. Talitar, however, was furious. Klist had done all of this without even consulting him. Talitar had designed the city, but to have his designs modified by Klist infuriated him, regardless of whether it benefited the Glaski or not. The Glaski praised Klist for his ingenuity, and Talitar was jealous.

When Klist and Glost came back from constructing the track and the aqueduct, they found that their thrones were gone. In their places stood one throne made from glossy black rock, and in it sat Talitar. Talitar stood from his seat and approached the founders of the Glaski race.

"I see you've been keeping yourselves busy," said Talitar.

"Yes, our children were sick and we had to do something," said Klist. "Where are our thrones, O great Talitar?"

"Great, am I? Evidentially not great enough to keep the Glaski healthy. That's why you saw it fitting to revise my designs, isn't it?"

"I meant no disrespect, O great one," said Klist. "I simply did what I needed to for my children."

"You fool!" shouted Talitar, and the blast from his voice knocked Glost and Klist to the ground. The air around them crackled and Talitar's eyes lit up like fire. "I am the one who makes the decisions. I design things, I make decrees, I do everything. You and your pitiful wife are maggots, and are vapor compared to me."

"O Talitar," said Klist with a shaky voice as he staggered to his feet. "I only did what I felt was right-

"I decide what is right, not you!"

"But if you made me," said Klist slowly, "why did you give me this sense of what is right, and why does it conflict with your own?"

The edge of Talitar's mouth curved up. It was then that Klist understood.

"Don't question me," said Talitar. He stared at Klist, and his gaze made Klist tremble.

"I'm just saying that if-

"Don't question me," said Talitar and he stepped right up to Klist. He bent over and took Klist's chin in his hand. Their eyes met for a moment, and then Klist began to scream. His face started to smoke and then his hair burst into flames and shriveled away. Klist flailed his arms wildly and Glost shrieked but Talitar did not let go. His crooked grin broadened and his eyes widened with glee, but at last he cast Klist aside and turned away, walking towards the black throne. Glost ran to Klist and held him in her arms. His face bled and he continued to shriek in pain, and Glost wept. Talitar laughed.

"Your children are mine," he said, "and I will do with them as I please. Leave."

Glost struggled to bring Klist to his feet, and the two stumbled around clumsily.

"I said leave!" shouted Talitar spinning around, and the shock from his words sent Glost and Klist flying. They were flung out of the throne room and landed on the wooden planks below. Glost regained herself and fetched Klist, and the two of them left the palace, forever. They found a gap in the wood and dropped down to the ground beneath, and in this way traveled beneath the city towards the jungle.

Talitar announced to the Glaski that it had been Klist and Glost who had poisoned the soil and cursed them. He said that their parents had fled the city once Talitar had uncovered this truth, and had traveled towards Snowcap the Old to stay with the Rostic. The Glaski were in shock and many of them wept, but they had no reason or ability to believe that Talitar was lying, and so they heaped curses upon their father and mother. Talitar now had the Glaski under his complete and utter control, and they followed him unwavering, forever hoping for the day to come when they would be masters of the world and rulers of all men.

Klist and Glost actually never left Tlakrin. They fled as far away from Lattrak as they could and made their home amongst the roots of an old tree at the very edge of the jungle. They discarded their red clothes and made humble garments out of feathers, and the birds of the jungle flocked to them and sang for them. Klist's face was forever scarred and his hair grew back in patches. But Glost never left his side and professed her love for him daily. They had twelve other children, six boys and six girls, and the couple found joy again in that dark and forgotten corner of the jungle. But the memory of a mighty city on stilts, far away to the south, where their offspring lived under the tyrannical hand of Talitar the Red, consumed a dark portion of their minds.