-This is a bit ridiculous don't you think, are we really doing this? Lorath said

They were watching the rana sleep in the nest with a female rana, it was the same rana that did the spear and so on.

Eruvian came up with the idea to teach the rana about symbolism and storytelling. His argument was that either he will write it down, or speak to others of his experience in a more detailed manner, like an old chieftain would.

The problem with that is that they were not sure if the rana would even understand the ideas behind symbolism or the concept of recreating stories.

All they saw the rana do was to try to convince the others of the trio's existence but he never retold the experience to others.

Eruvian noticed that the Toakran gave him a name, calling him The One Who Won't Stop Speaking About Strange Beings. The name was probably to mock him and it made Aloris a bit sad and worried that the rana was being bullied.

Lorath thought otherwise, he believed they held him in high regard for the sole reason he was the only one with a name.

The name itself is too long for the trio but for the Toakran, it was a simple burp, or it looked like a burp for Aloris.

-”Yes this is necessary, we can't switch to a new one, we must minimize the risks, so that leaves this rana as the only suitable subject” Eruvian said

-”He has a name you know, but it might be too long, lets call him Smarty.” Lorath said proudly

Smarty? Aloris thought

-”No, that is a stupid name, if he has to have a name then it must be something reasonable, like The Listener” Eruvian responded back

The Listener? You serious? Aloris thought

-”That's a title not a name, and smarty is a cute name for cute creatures, so it fits”

Cute? Cute creatures? Why are we even debating this? Aloris thought

For a while Eruvian and Laroth bickered and debated, making Aloris a bit annoyed until he could not handle it anymore.

-”The frog decides ok?The discussion is over! remember why we are here! Aloris angrily spoke to them

Evarius and Laroth stopped, and for a moment it was nothing more than silence.

-”You are right, i am sorry, let's continue” Evarius finally spoke out

-”Aloris you are right, i am sorry for bringing this up” Laroth said

And so the trio began to speak to the rana.

--------------------------------------------

The rana was sleeping soundly with the female next to him. After a hard day building, hunting he felt he needed a nap, only to find out that his nest was occupied by a female.

He spent the next hours having fun with her and when he was done, he was quite tired.

He was still annoyed that no one believed him, even after all he had done.

Time and time again he tried to convince them that they exist, and that all the achievements and ideas originated from them. Instead of believing him they started calling him by a certain phrase.

Something he wore proudly, even if it was a bit mocking.

He does not remember how many times the sun was reborn when he first met the beings, but he knew it was many.

For him, it was a proudful moment and a humbling one.

Never in his life had he meet or seen beings like that before. Even when he was in his original homeland before being swallowed by the seas.

He wanted to know more of them but he did not know how.

After not finding answers to his questions he slept.

He found himself standing on water, seeing great rocks rising from the water all around him.

He went forward to one of the rocks to inspect it, only to find himself starting to inscribe on it.

He did not know why he did it, but something was compelling him to retell the story.

So he started inscribing on the stone, seeing himself retell the encounter with the beings.

He felt a cold gaze was upon him, a gaze he recognized.

A cold and dark gaze, a presence that could swallow the abyss.

Then he woke up.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Confused and a bit shaken, the rana looked around the room and sighed in relief. He was still in the same room.

He stood up and decided to go to the roof, he needed somewhere to think.

After reaching the roof he sat down, then he looked to the star above. It was still night.

The rana tried to understand the dream, the visions of stone rising and the strange water he stood upon, but most of all the action he took in the dream.

He was a bit bewildered by the idea to inscribe on stone, something he and his people had never done before.

The concept of having a symbol represent something and then combine with several other symbols to form something else was something out of this world for the rana.

The rana was astonished the idea never occurred to him before, the simplicity and the elegance of it was beyond imagining.

He tried before to explain the event to his people but the words he had was not enough, but now he had an idea of how to explain it to his people.

The rana looked at the full moon smiling, having a purpose and meaning was something he had never experienced before.

He knew he was given a goal, a mission of sort to fulfill.

The Godhead wanted the truth to be known, and the cold one has given him the means and knowledge to do so.

He would inscribe the event on stone, to do that he needed to come up with a written language that could represent their peoples words and meaning, and maybe even make up new words in the way.

He also knew that it would take time, that the sun would probably be reborn many times before he was complete, but he felt ready and excited nonetheless.

“I will write down your words on stone, so everyone through eternity will know” the rana thought

It was this moment, he felt he was the first one, the first of many to come to believe in the Godhead.

-----------------------------------------------------

“Are you kidding me, how is this possible? Eruvian erupted

The trio were looking at an amazing spectacle, something they never even considered would happen.

A year ago, the rana that they spoke to began to work on the project by creating and formulating symbols on stone. Eruvian was not surprised by this like the other two and explained that the Toakran had never a written language before and so it would take time to create it, especially if the other in the Toakran was to accept it.

In the beginning the rana tried to explain to his people the idea behind it and it's many possible uses.They did not accept it at first but after a tenacious effort from the rana they started to grasp and understand the use of a written language.

Many in the Toakran began to believe in the godhead, mostly because the tenacious rana again and again showed new and interesting stuff they did not know how to explain.

So a new name was given to him, a name that means The One Who Listens.

But because it was too difficult for the trio to pronounce it, they called him I' er ya lasta, meaning the same thing in elven.

Laroth had taken quite the liking of L’er ya Lasta the first few months, complementing his deeds and accomplishments and his tenacious personality.

In time Aloris and Evarius did also came to like the young rana, but for different reasons.

Aloris saw some parts of himself in L’er ya Lasta while Evarius was impressed by the ingenuity of the young rana.

For a whole year the young rana continued working on the massive project and became a sort of seer for the Toakran, giving advice and guiding them whenever he could.

Sometimes whenever he had time he went to the roof of his house to just speak out to the heavens, even when no one was there except him.

The trio figured out quickly that that he was speaking to them, and for a time they did not know how to respond.

Evarius said that the best action would be to be quiet but Laroth intervened and said that it was too cruel to leave him alone, and that they were in neck deep in this to pull out.

Aloris was neutral in this matter, he really did not know how to proceed, some part of him wanted to have a relationship with someone else then himself, the other part was worried that if he involved himself too much he would cause repercussions that he did not know about.

So the first six months they were quiet, but after much complaint from Laroth, they agreed that Laroth could speak to him.

-”You two be quiet, let me speak to him”

And so Laroth began to speak to the rana whenever he prayed at the rooftop. Laroth with much care and love spoke to the rana and tried to give comfort whenever L’er ya Lasta felt lonely.

The trio discovered L’er ya Lasta could feel Laroth presence whenever he spoke to him, and that for the L’er ya Lasta it was an overwhelming presence of love and comfort.

This new revelation was out of the ordinary and that worried Aloris, reminding him of his peculiar situation.

Evarius, who usually commented on new revelations and discoveries was suspiciously silent in this matter. Aloris noted this but did not question him as he trusted him.

Sometimes L’er ya Lasta was quiet whenever Laroth made himself known, seemingly enjoying his presence and companionship.

Aloris, who only had himself as company for the past centuries, started to feel a sense of companionship with this rana, and so felt happy whenever Laroth visited L’er ya Lasta.

Laroth never revealed who they were or why they gave him the specific task as Aloris forbade him to do that, but he could reveal other things to him, as long it would not upset The Balance.

So a year went by and the stone slabs that L’er ya Lasta had been working on and inscribing for the past year was complete, and with it something unexpected happened.

The moment he completed the slabs that retold the event when he first meet them, they started to brim with power and color, and to top it of they felt connected to it.

The trio were more than confused at the whole spectacle.

-”Laroth, you never revealed runecrafting to him did you? Eruvian asked

-”No, he never asked.. but he knows about magic” Laroth responded

“Magic, it might be possible if he had potential, but he has no potential and no mana” Aloris thought

The trio were looking at the stone slabs confused, a series of slabs with a square shape in the size of a 20 inches in height and width, beautifully crafted and inscribed in the Toakran language.

Right now they were inside L’er ya lastas nest.

-”Eruvian?!” Aloris shouted

-”I think… it is not magic but something else. I have a suspicion, but i don't know if you will like it.”

-”Speak” Aloris responded

Aloris had an suspicion what Eruvian would say, and he did not like it one bit.

-”I think… our existence is the primary factor in this, let me explain. If you read the slabs you can see that his experience with meeting with us is different, from his point of view, we are gods that descended from the heavens to him, while in reality it was nothing more than simple whisper to him. I think that we, as a being, is no longer of this mortal realm…”

“Aloris, i think we died…” Evarius said solemnly

Aloris, for the first time in a long while, felt fear in his heart.