I Decided not to give
my students time to think of home in this morning so we had a brief
breakfast and rode hard through the morning. Akanksha was the first
to notice the change in ride and was not backwards in bringing our
attention to it. When we dismounted and examined the ground it
appeared to be a cobbled road. The cobbles appear to have been
embedded in some other type of rock. We set to work clearing the
surface; it appears to be slightly cambered with four parallel, two
on each side, groves in it. The pairs of groves both have the same
separation, which is a little wider than the width of a Nual. The
road appears to be going perfectly strait in the direction we wish to
travel. This road is anomalous in many ways; for one it method of
construction is better than anything I have seen even in the capital.
The fact it is almost a days ride beyond the Edge and continues away
from it for a good distance... I have decided to call it Surya's
path; as I can sense that it is into his hands it seems to be leading
us.
My companions reactions
to this monumental discovery are worth noting:
Akanksha was excited
especially when I assured her she would be credited with its
discovery.
Govinda seems to find
its very existence offensive and was reluctant to travel along it,
even through it is going the way we are and would speed our progress.
Sem-buk seem to not be
surprised about it, calling it the foot steps of the four brothers.
This is probably a mythological reference. I am reluctant to dig
deeper into this as Govinda is already seeming very agitated and I
doubt this sort of conversation would do anything but aggravate him.
We kept on riding until
the twins were high in the sky forcing us to rest until things had
cooled down. I tried to talk to Govinda but he was uncommunicative
and just laid down and went to sleep. Akanksha was a different story
all together, she talked animately about the possibilities that the
road suggested. Sem-buk just watched her pace back and forth; with a
look of mild amusement on his face. We discussed this further and we
came up with two possible explanations:
1- The Darksones once
possessed a higher level of technology that they do now. The problem
is that why would they build it heading so close to Sevai lands and
not have been recorded in our histories.
2- The Sevai built it
in ancient times. The problem is the same as with the above reason;
also why does it stop before the Edge?
When we tried to find
Sem-buk to ask his opinion he seemed to have wondered off. Neither of
us heard him leave because we were so engrossed in our conversation.
The road brings up many
questions beyond who built it. Like why was it build and why was it
abandoned. One thing that really is gnawing on the edge of my mind is
the matter of its construction, I told Akanksha it was probably was
the work of an earthshaper. This was a placating lie. Even the work
of our finest earth-souled could not have fused the cobbles to the
base rock so securely whilst still maintaining such sharp definition
between the two and why would they bother?
The pairs of parallel
ruts also seem an odd ornamentation, I can see no practical use it
could have been put to. These questions were running through my head
as I slipped into sleep.
I awoke to find myself
looking into Akanksha face which was barely a the span of my hand
away from mine. This was not an unpleasant experience. I was rouse
further by Sem-buk preparing for the evening ride.
The more we travelled
along the road the more sullen Govinda seems to get. The sight that
appeared on the horizon as dusk began to settle was enough to unnerve
we Sevai. The Road appeared to be blocked. When we saw this we
decided to make camp for the night and to placate Govinda we did so
off of the road. The night seem to be much cooler than the day; so we
set the fire to burn into the night. Akanksha and I shared a blanket
for extra warmth.
