29 The Taste of Madness

Xa'Gun kept his eyes tightly closed, as the roaring sounds of his blood passed through his ears, as it seemed to cut off the sound of Jukzuk talking, and Hellie to his side.

No longer could he hear the birds in the surrounding mountains, or the running stream of water far behind his burrow.

It was then, that he felt heavy. A pulling feeling in his stomach that threatened to slam him to the ground, but he kept his balance as he was seated upon the ground.

In the darkness of his closed eyes, visions came quickly... Some much too quick to be understood, but among those, he could see mountain ranges, deserts, flatlands, the cracking of ground, chasms... Lava... molten and rising... Roaring fury of the land itself... A rumbling earthquake that would rupture the world in half with the sleeping beast inside...

Xa'Gun's breathing increased!

[This raw power of the earth! The lands itself was fury itself!]

[Xa'Gun...]

[Huh?] Xa'Gun wandered in his mind, as he continued to watch the wonderful and terrifying sense of the power of the lands this world was made.

[I am that which you stand upon... I am that which all creatures must submit to... I am that which holds everything... from vast oceans of water to the flames and fury of my mouths that pour forth my lava...]

It was this last hypnotic cracking voice that brought on a vision of a tidal wave of molten fury. Lava made into a living wave of wrath as it rose upon the horizons and swallowed Xa'Gun!

[Remember the power of the mountains, the ground, the land itself... Remember, let the monster out...! Remember! REMEMBER WHERE DO YOU RUN WHEN THE LAND BECOMES YOUR ENEMY!!!]

[I...]

[AM...]

[GUN'DUNAH!]

Xa'Gun's eyes snapped open as the bright light of the sky seared, and he quickly blinked.

"SON! SON! CAN YOU HEAR ME!" Jukzuk's panicked voice filtered in, and his rough hand slapping Xa'Gun's face brought back fully.

Xa'Gun grunted to let Jukzuk know he was okay.

"By the elements, Tin Can don't scare me mama like that!" Hellie patted her large bosom, as she showed concern on her face.

Xa'Gun noticed he had fallen back on the dirt. He sat back up, as Jukzuk leaned back to give his son some room.

"What happened?" Xa'Gun rubbed the back of his head that had a hint of pain.

"You ate the berry and promptly passed out, haha!" Jukzuk let loose a laugh knowing that Xa'Gun was fine.

Xa'Gun grunted in confusion, as he asked, "How long?"

"Oh, not more than a few seconds. Scared me more than anything, haha. It's not rare for that to happen the first time. Never happens a second time." Jukzuk laughed a bit more, as he dusted off some of the first from Xa'Gun.

"Felt like forever... Haha." Xa'Gun gave a wretch laugh, showing how unused to laughing he was...

"Forever? Why...?" Jukzuk asked, as his hand paused.

"I guess I was just seeing things. After I swallowed the ghost berry, I started to see things. Was crazy, haha."

Jukzuk's voice turned more serious, as Hellie covered her mouth, "Son, what did you see? Did you hear anything?"

Xa'Gun looked between the two faces, one serious and one shocked, as he grunted in affirmation, "Yeah... I saw mountains, land, and lots of fire spouting rocks. The land was red and moved like water in places, and I heard a voice that said it was Gun'Dunah."

Jukzuk stood suddenly, "You're sure it said it was Gun'Dunah."

Xa'Gun grunted again, as he was sure.

"Hellie, run get me some parchment and ink! Quickly!" Jukzuk commanded his niece, who jumped to her feet and dashed off into the burrow.

"...Is this good...?" Xa'Gun couldn't help but ask.

"Son... Ghost berries sometimes cause visions, sometimes they just cause hallucinations... But I know for a fact that this world has a name, and its name is Gun'Dunah. The name that was told to the first Orc that ever lived! So this isn't just fevered dreams... This is a vision!"

"Uncle, here! Here!" Hellie passed him a scroll and an oily red substance in a rock-like container.

"Tell me everything you remember! Quickly before it fades." Jukzuk unrolled the scroll and dipped his think calloused index finger into the bloody red ink.

Xa'Gun went over what he saw and what bit he heard, though he agreed... Some of the details started to fade like a dream.

Jukzuk wrote orcish runes down detailing his son's account of his vision, and after confirming what he had seen, he fell back down on his bottom in the door frame.

"I don't know if this is good or bad, son," Jukzuk commented.

"Does it mean anything?" Xa'Gun couldn't help but ask, as Hellie slid herself closer to her Tin Can.

Jukzuk looked over the writings on the scroll he just recoded, "Where do you run when the land becomes your enemy..."

"You can't," Hellie added to Jukzuk's mutterings.

"Maybe... Maybe I'm the monster, you can't run from... Just like the Mountains... Like my name..." Xa'Gun muttered as he looked at the ground.

Jukzuk let out a questioning grunt.

"I... I mean... Well, those black spirits... The wolf one told me to let the monster out and I'm it... And then whatever this was said the same thing... Let the monster out... Am I the monster?" Xa'Gun rubbed his lower lip feeling the spaces of his missing teeth through the thin skin.

Hellie leaned on Xa'Gun's shoulder and rubbed his arm, "We are all monsters, Gun-gun."

"Well... Being a monster is a matter of perspective, if you ask me, son." Jukzuk rubbed his chin while looking at the scroll.

Xa'Gun asked, "What do you mean?" emphasizing his curiosity.

"Well... Does the one wolf consider another wolf a monster in the same pack? Or does the rabbit that runs for its life from the wolf on the hunt consider the wolf the monster? Does the wolf consider us Orcs monsters when We hunt them? Do we consider the evil spirits monsters when they hunt us? See... Perspective." Jukzuk concluded, as he rolled up the, now dried, scroll.

Xa'Gun rubbed his head, "My head hurts more than just the fall..."

Hellie nodded, as well.

Jukzuk went into deep thought weighing the pros and cons of his next choice, but after deliberation, he couldn't help but decide the pros outweighed the cons.

"Hellie..." Jukzuk's tone took on a more solemn note.

Hellie, in turn, grunted in acknowledgment.

Jukzuk ignored Hellie's unbecoming of an Orcess grunt, as he continued, "Gather your two sisters for tonight again... I hate to call them back to back... But Demze is well learned, and Midka knows much of the spirits... I think-No. I know with the three of you together, We can come up with more than what we know now."

Hellie nodded, as her two sisters were very smart. Demze knew worldly knowledge, while Mikda knew otherworldly knowledge.

"Well... Go on then. I'll stay here and keep training Gun-Gun."

Hellie rubbed Xa'Gun's arm one more time, something he only noticed now before she got up and headed out in a hurried pace.