The Quarry

[Rage Menelas]

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode]The carpet of green vegetation felt like just that, a plush carpet. It consisted of some sort of thick moss. Ryan kneeled and felt its texture. It was spongy and fragrant. In fact, the very air itself was fragrant with a wondrous mixture of exotic odors he had never imagined. He drew in a deep breath, enjoying the experience.

Now he examined the landscape. What he had judged to be a flat surface from the air was not so. Rather it was a gently undulating meadow of swales and swells, liberally sprinkled with some type of wiry white-barked bush with purple blossoms and ivory-colored berries. He picked one of the berries, smashed it between his fingers and brought it up to his nostrils. It smelled pungent and tart with a trace of mint.

He cast his eyes to the horizon, there were no breaks at all, for as far as the eye could see... no mountains, no foothills, no rocks. But where were the gorges? He realized they must have landed up on one of the high plateaus.

Charlie! he cried, thinking his boss might be nearby. No answer. Now where the hell had that weird little guy gone off to? Yo... Charlie! No answer. He began to walk around the perimeter of the ship. It was quite a hike for the ship was large, but his efforts proved fruitless still no Charlie.

Now he could see something off in the distance. A tiny speck heading his way. He had an idea that it might be his itinerant master so he walked cautiously in that direction. The closer he got to the figure however, the more concerned he became that he was operating under a faulty assumption. It was too tall a figure by far. Charlie was somewhere around five-seven. This fellow had to be over six foot easy. And now he could make out his features somewhat. He had an incredible mane of wheat-colored hair, braided and fastened in the back somehow. Charlie was nearly bald, and what he did have (just a little around the ears) was cut short and silver gray. And the guy was carrying what looked like a very long bow of some sort.

His error was much too late in being realized for there was absolutely no place to hide. Ryan shrugged and continued, his gait unbroken. Looked like he would get to meet the people of Pella'agre after all!