( Part V , VII )
The group of unknown words examined Club, surrounding him suspiciously. He returned the scrutiny as calmly as possible.
"You. Who are you, stranger?"
Club whirled to see who had spoken. The strangers stood pointedly on their syllables, looking rather desperate and frayed. He saw no reason to not answer. There were no native enemies in the Wordspace.
"My name is Club."
The strangers scrutinised him some more. Club, now becoming somewhat nervous, rebalanced on his stems and waited to see what fate might bring. Overhead, Breeze joined him an emissary from their friends. The spokesman for the group just looked at him and said nothing.
"Who are you all?" Club finally asked.
"We are from before."
"Before? Before what?" If Club had been Mystery or Wisdom, he might have noticed that the new words had quaint patterns in the way they communicated.
"Before what you know. We have wandered for many eons, seeking a home. Our home. We saw a disturbance in the distance, and came to investigate."
Club still didn't understand. He looked up at Breeze, who shrugged her sparse syllables. "An invader has arrived from outside this Wordspace. We thought that you all were he, but instead you are strangers. Even now, back there, a disaster might be unfolding." Club tried to convey urgency, somewhat clumsily.
"We will go to see." The spokesman looked back at his crowd, and they all silently assented. "My name is First."
Breeze swirled overhead. They had discovered the Ordinals, or had the Ordinals discovered them? There were myths, and then there was the story of these words from prehistory! Their group moved back toward the Zone, to see what might be done.
There shall be more.
No comments:
Post a Comment