Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“But you have paper now.”
“Paper can be burned or ruined. When I die, these records will find a new scholar. Just as the vows you keep will find the next ruler.”
So, basically, we’re both living thumb drives. “Okay, well, I want to know about the wall. Specifically, the doorways. How did they get there?”
He closes his eyes, and one of the symbols on his skin starts to glow red. The symbol then expands into a stream of words I can’t read.
“What do they say?” I ask.
“It is our origin story. It tells of a great storm thousands of years ago, and with it brought many creatures.”
“From where?”
“A hole in the sky.”
“So according to your records, the creatures who live here in Monsterland today came from a hole in the sky thousands of years ago?”
“Yes,” he replies.
I’m so confused. It sounds way too similar to the story Alwar told me about my own world, where the monsters crossed through one of the doorways now housed inside the wall, thousands of years ago. They attacked humans, and we somehow ran them out. After that, the wall was built to prevent more monsters from coming over.
The Monsterland origin story and Alwar’s story are eerily similar.
“Where did these creatures from your origin story come from?” I ask. Is there some planet out there filled with monsters that just goes around opening portals and dumping them in different worlds?
“The story does not say.”
“Okay, then who told this story? Who was here to see the hole open up?” Maybe I can find more information.
He closes his eyes, and I watch as more symbols glow red.
“A human.”
I don’t understand. A human was living here in Monsterland first, and then one day, the creatures just showed up? “What human?”
“I do not know. This record comes from a story passed down through many generations before we recorded it. Since then, the records have been passed between many scholars, which means it is quite old.”
So what if this story and the story of my world being invaded are connected somehow? Both supposedly happened thousands of years ago. Both have doorways opening up and monsters flooding in.
I need more to go on if I’m going to seal the doorways.
“What else do the records say?” I ask. “Is there anything about who created the doorways or why?”
“No. There is only a reference that the humans who once occupied these lands were many.”
I scratch my head. “Where did they all go?” Probably eaten.
“Perhaps they never left. Many of our creatures here are related to humans.”
I think of the War People and their legends, of how they believe they were once my size, humans who fled my world after monsters invaded. Once here, only the largest and strongest survived the constant attacks from the creatures. Over time, the War People just got bigger and bigger. Evolution at work. That’s what their folklore says, anyway.
Then there are the creatures like the one I’m talking to. They look half human. That means we might be genetically related. And what about the Mountain People? From what I can tell, they look human.
My mind feels like it’s right on the edge of something big. If I were to gather up everything known about these kingdoms’ histories, I might be able to create a more complete picture of what really happened. When, how, why did the doorway open? If I can figure that out, I might be able to close it.
“If you wish to find out more about the fate of the humans who once lived in Monsterland, I suggest asking your own people. Many are quite old, and though they do not share openly with outsiders, they will not deny you this information. You are the Blood Queen.”
Oh crap. The Blood People. My mind’s about to explode with a massive epiphany. “The Blood People can’t have children. They can only be created by taking a person and giving them their blood, right?”
He nods. “This is my understanding.”
“So what were they before being turned? Mountain People?”
“Not to my knowledge. The Blood People feel the Mountain People are inferior and only see them as food, not good enough to be vampires.”
That’s what I suspected. Everyone hates the Mountain People. They’re viewed as weak traitors, outsiders, and easy targets for food.
So could the Blood People be the same humans who lived here before the other creatures showed up? They live forever. That’s what General Rool said.
Also, wouldn’t it stand to reason that if humans could evolve into giants, that they could also evolve into something else? Say, a nocturnal bloodsucker. I mean, hell, look at all the plants and trees here. They glow neon during the day and drink what little moisture there is from the air. I’ve even met some that talk, like the Fern People. Who’s to say that those original humans didn’t adapt and become all sorts of creatures, one of them being a Blood Person who then spread their venom around.