Day 8

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.