King David sat upon the throne crafted from the skull of the Behemoth, his crown weighing heavily on his brow. His forays into the dome yielded valuable information, but also terrible news. In its depths, he discovered a machine that was capable of converting matter and shaping it into a desire form. He could turn lead into gold, the form that gold into a ring, if he so desired. The matter conversion process was inefficient, requiring large amounts of energy. Hauling the large mushroom stalks into the dome made sense now.
He also discovered that Alpha, Beta, and Gamma were not the only Grays. The village was only an outpost of a great Gray empire. Sooner or later, the Grays would come in large numbers. To combat that threat, he sent envoys out to the other hnau, requesting defensive alliances. The need for fast transportation across the sea of lava necessitated the creation of more hovercraft. Asking Arakh and Pol, not to mention some of Mira’s people, to cut and haul stalks to feed the matter converter sickened him.
“My queen, have the hnau traded one set of tyrants for another?” he asked Mira, during a rare lull in solving disputes and fixing problems for the village.
“No, my love. You reward them handsomely for their work. You give them entire days to relax and enjoy their lives. You even crafted an artificial leg for Arakh. Besides, would I let a tyrant be the father of our child?”
David reached over and laid his hand on Mira’s pregnant stomach. He felt the child kick. Mira place her hands on his and guided them around her stomach. Together, they felt the baby move about as it chased their hands.
David took a deep breath and smiled. One day, the Grays would come, but the hnau would be ready. They would defend their home as free hnau, no longer enslaved by Grays at the center of the earth.
Picture Credit: "Lake Cave" by thinkrorbot is licensed under CC by 2.0
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Epilogue