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Preamble

This preamble is merely meant to clear up a few terms that have to be known to the reader in order for them to understand the story. It is suggested to look up the terms on Threa.net to get an even more detailed explanation.

• Threa: The world this story takes place in!
• HozReok: A nation that inhabits Subterra. It is led by the ErRok.
• ErRok: Basically the great king, the elected leader of the HozReok.
• Rok: The leaders of the clans of the Hozkul. They elect the ErRok.
• Subterra: The world beneath the world, basically the caverns and tunnels beneath Threa's surface.
• Hozkul: They are large dragons that come from the underground. They are huge compared to the other dragon's of Threa. They have no wings, but very strong bodies.
• Hozlin: Humanoids that are tall, strong, and have an anatomy similar to that ofa raptor.
• Aezkul: Aezkul are the dragons of the skies. They are smaller than Hozkul, far smaller, and have a lithe build. Yet they are winged and command the skies with their aerial skills.
• Palak: A military unit within the HozReok, consists of 50 Hozlin led by a Rak.
• Rak: Leader of a Palak, pretty much a sergeant.
• ErRak: Leader of a Hoz Army, pretty much a general.
• Caverncrawler: Bug like creature from the depths.
• Firehorn: Blazkul, basically a winged fire dragon.

The Day Rock and Air Met

It is Riseday, 2nd Week of Fall, 727 ar, a very important day in the history of the HozReok. The day an expedition was going to head out to the surface and contact the blue scaled ones - the Aezkul, after many days were spend sending out Hozlin scouts to find a suitable path to a nearby Aezkul settlement.

It took AkKak of the Clan OhHoh, ErRok of the World Beneath the World, a lot of effort to convince the Roks of the Clans to support this expedition. The Roks did not agree to this endeavor out of curiosity, but out of necessity. They still felt the loss of the Northern and Southern Caverns, despite these events having taken place many decades ago. Hozkul had long lifespans and didn't easily forget. The HozReok was left with three of formerly five large caverns near the surface. The Roks knew that without support from the surface, the HozReok might have to face very harsh times eventually.

The honor of being the ambassador of the HozReok was bestowed upon RuhHak of the OhHoh, AkKak's brother-in-law. His relation to the ErRok wasn't why he was put into that position, but his intelligence and high education. RuhHak was known as a wise, level-headed, and curious Hozkul. He was already 431 years old at this point in time, so he had plenty of experience under his gray scales. With a strong but not overly muscly body that reached beyond thirteen feet at the shoulder, he was quite the impressive sight to any surface dweller, but nothing unusual for a Hozkul. His most distinctive feature was the plate right on his forehead, shaped like a diamond. The thick plates on his shoulders had a similar shape.

Of course an ambassador needed an escort. The surface was dangerous in the eyes of the Hozkul. For his protection, two Hozkul and fifty Hozlin, so a whole Palak, were send to the surface alongside RuhHak. Unlike him, the two Hozkul and the fifty Hozlin were clad in steel plate armor. It fit them well, but the joints were only covered up with fine metal chains. The HozReok produced great armor and weaponry, and it was going to show that off. All the Hozlin carried a warhammer on their belt, but their primary weapons were the long pikes they were wielding. Despite these polearms being completely made out of steel, shaft, tip, everything, the Hozlin carried them without trouble. They were a strong lot. Equipment such as waterskins and travel rations were carried on the belt, either directly on it or in pouches attached to it. The two Hozkul came from the Clan UhHak, which was known for its great warriors. Both were females. One was named ArRiak, the other was OkKiara, who was ArRiak's aunt.

ArRiak was a 124-year-old Hozkul female, who stood roughly twelve and a half feet at the shoulder. Her scales were of a very dark gray. They spanned across a very muscular, thickset body. Her body had a few scars, given that she was a warrior by profession. The most noticeable one was the one right on the front of her chest. A big chunk of scales was completely off color, more white than gray. Acid of an underground beast hit her there a long time ago.

OkKiara was much older than ArRiak at 399 years. She also was a bit larger, being above thirteen feet at the shoulders, just like RuhHak. Not only was soldiering her profession, it was her passion. For the last 379 years she had fought with great valor on about every front line the HozReok has had in that time. Her body showed it, being completely disfigured with plenty of scars. None of them rendered her fighting abilities any worse, they were only superficial. The most notable one was on her muzzle. A Flamewing's claw had torn her right nostril so far open, it almost touched her upper lip. Now every time she took a breath through her nose, she made a soft whizzing sound due to that gap.

From the fifty Hozlin that were send to escort the ambassador, only one mattered - Rak Horrak of the OhHoh. In fact, all the Hozlin came from the Clan OhHoh, just like the ambassador himself. Horrak was an impressive Hozlin, standing proud six and a half feet tall at the head and being covered in muscles so thick he could have knocked any lesser Hozlin out with a single punch. An unusual sight among the OhHoh. What was also quite remarkable about him was his left hand, it was missing the index finger, and the fact that his left eye was gone. An unfortunate run-in with caverncrawlers was to blame for that. Additionally to the armor, belt pouches, and pike, he was carrying a large backpack.

All fifty-three of them were standing in front of a large, closed gate. It was completely made out of granite, roughly forty-five feet wide and twenty feet tall. The inner side of the doors were decorated with engravings such as images of Hozlin and Hozkul warriors and texts that warn of the surface and its cruelty.

"Open the gate!" barked OkKiara, who was the leader of this expedition. RuhHak may have been the ambassador, but he was not in charge of getting the expedition to the settlement of the Aezkul. OkKiara added on, but as a quiet mumble, "So we can finally get over with this, show the OhHoh how senseless it is." Meanwhile two Hozkul of the gate's garrison put their weight into pushing one of the sides of the gate open, so that the expedition could leave.

RuhHak grunted softly, having caught that, and muttered in response, "You will see, UhHak, it will be the best thing that has happened to the HozReok since the election of the first ErRok. Meaning the OhHoh will have ensured the survival of the Reok a second time."

ArRiak huffed indignantly. "The OhHoh got quite the large mouths. As if we need surface dwellers to survive."

RuhHak growled quietly and turned his massive head to the female. "And you have quite the large mouth for your age. How old are you? A hundred years old perhaps?" He turned his attention to the other warrior. "OkKiara, why do you burden us with such a young one?"

ArRiak snapped her jaws in irritation, holding back an insult. "Burden? I am no burden and 124 winters passed the surface since I crawled out of the egg."

OkKiara nodded and narrowed her eyes at RuhHak. "She is right; she is no burden. She's one of the UhHak's best fighters and my niece. She'll protect your hide, should the blue scales be more aggressive than we expect. Rather, than the OhHoh expect."

Finally the gate was fully open and the expedition began heading outside. The three kul walked in the middle. RuhHak was flanked by the two females. The Hozlin formed an oval around them, holding their pikes' tips up high into the sky so they didn't accidentally injure anyone. Ahead of them was a long, dark corridor, which had light at the end. It was the cave entrance that led to the surface in the center of the Aezrikka Zule, the mountain range of the Aezkul. For the Hozkul there was light at the end of the tunnel, but for other species, which weren't gifted with such amazing night vision, the darkness of caves was simply replaced with the darkness of the night.

While they were on their way to the surface, RuhHak responded to OkKiara, "She better not be. And she better keep her paws still around the Aezkul! I do not wish to start a war merely because she did not know how to behave."

ArRiak grumbled and wanted to say something, but OkKiara gave her a stern look and hissed, silencing her. Then the older female turned back to RuhHak. "She will obey my every word. The ErRok made me ErRak for the duration of this mission and she will respect that. I hope your Hozlin will respect that as well."

RuhHak gave a nod and stated confidently, "Of course they will. You are in charge until we establish contact with the blue scales. Rak Horrak will listen to your every command. Isn't that right, Rak?"

Horrak, who was walking at the very front of the formation, gave a nod without even turning his head to the kul. He spoke loud enough so that his words reached them anyway. "Of course. Those are the orders given to me by my Rok, so I will follow them to the best of my ability." While the Hozlin's voice was deep and bellowing, it could in no way compete with the voice of the Hozkul.

The ambassador smiled contently and turned to OkKiara. "See? The OhHoh know the value of giving others with more experience in a specific field responsibility in that field, even if they are from another clan." After having said that, he turned his head back forward.

OkKiara just rolled her eyes and shook her head a bit, but kept walking onward to the exit of the cave.

It was not long at all until they finally reached the surface. The view was breathtaking. They stood on top of a broad rocky plateau, which allowed them to look across an entire starstruck valley. Its bottom was covered in deciduous forests, which carried beautiful orange, red, and yellow leaves, displaying a rich bouquet of colors due to the Fall season. A springing from a nearby mountain and wound its way through the valley, granting life-giving water to the wilderness. Truly, those who stood on top of this cliff could only marvel at the beauty of the Aezrikka Zule. Especially with those shiny stars above, sparkling on a cloudless night so bright. How could the Hozkul not be astonished by this sight, taken aback, given how dark and bland the underground is? The answer is quite simple - they could not see it. Beyond roughly a hundred feet, the world turned into a blur for the three Hozkul and fifty Hozlin. But at least it was a relatively well illuminated blur. The little light the stars and two moons gave off was more than enough for the incredible night vision of the underground dwellers to work well. Yet it made them uneasy to see no wall or ceiling but only the ground beneath their feet. They felt exposed in a world without obvious boundaries.

ArRiak looked around and it was clear as night's sky that she was nervous. She faced countless foes in battle, slayed them all without a hint of mercy. But standing in a world so open, a world without walls to tell her where she stood? A terrifying experience, especially given that this was her first time on the surface. "How can one live here? It is so open, so vast. I can't even see the ceiling!"

RuhHak chuckled knowingly and turned to ArRiak with a soft grin on his rather large muzzle. "There is no ceiling, only the unlimited expanse above. And we have the theory that the blue scales can look much further than we can. After all, many wood workers have reported in the past that they saw them take flight! Yes, raise off the ground and sail through the skies. Kind of like bats do, but with more grace. To fly they ought to have better eyesight than we do."

ArRiak gave the scholar a questioning look, raising one of her thick eye ridges. "Fly you say? I heard about that. I find that difficult to believe, even if I trust the reports for the most part."

OkKiara smirked and looked up at the skies, which were merely a black blur with a few gray smudges to her. "I am not surprised they can fly. I also heard how small and flimsy the blue scales are supposed to be. Thin like stalactites. Unlikely they could put up a good fight. Bet a Hozlin could beat them to a pulp with its bare hands, ahahah!"

RuhHak shook his head firmly and turned his body half way around just to look at the two. "You better keep such thoughts to yourself when we meet them. I do not wish to insult them and thus give a bad first impression. No matter if they can understand our language or not, it is rude to talk about them like that."

OkKiara and ArRiak both looked at each other and grunted softly, then OkKiara turned to Horrak. "Anyway, where is that settlement your scouts found? I want to get this over with before the sun rises."

The Rak turned to the seasoned warrior and explained their route to her. The expedition would have to move along the mountain, climb over a low, rocky wall, and then find their way through a forest. Overall, it would be fine, Horrak assured. His scouts had walked the path many times, of course deep in the night and without having been noticed by any Aezkul.

OkKiara wasn't quite fond of the long trip. "What if we get lost? How are we supposed to find our way back? Any plans in case that happens?"

ArRiak's eyes widened and her head snapped up to stare blankly at OkKiara's. "Get lost? Here?! We would never find our way back home if we get lost here, it is far too large. We couldn't even see the way home!"

The Hozlin officer smacked the bottom of his pike on the ground loudly, growling lowly. He pointed a finger right up at ArRiak. "We won't get lost! My scouts did excellent work and marked the trees on the path to settlement, so the forest is not an issue at all. We thought out a smart system of symbols that refer to distances and certain landmarks, so we will easily find our way through and also our way back."

"Oh really? And what if the winged ones fight us? We would have to retreat quickly, we wouldn't have the time to read your runes!" ArRiak retorted.

OkKiara grinned a toothy smile. "Do you really think we would be the ones retreating? Pah, they are more likely to tug their tails and run! Do not worry, my dear niece, we will be home safe and sound far before the sun rises, no matter if these winged sticks think they can attack us or not."

ArRiak nodded faintly, acknowledging what her aunt said. The reassurance made her smile slightly and turned her expression into a more determined one.

RuhHak rolled his eyes at OkKiara's statement. "I think you underestimate them. The surface is rich in resources from what we know. What they may lack in ore, they have in food and wood. They likely outnumber us by a great margin," he said, letting his eyes wander over the dark, green-gray blur that was the forests beneath the cliff.

"So do the caverncrawlers and we have beaten them back countless times. The blue scales won't be any issue," OkKiara scoffed, then turned her head towards the path along the mountain before turning it back towards RuhHak. "We should stop squabbling and get going. We don't have time for idle chatter. Hozlin! Forward," she commanded and the fifty Hozlin began marching towards the path, walking ahead in a rectangular formation. The Hozkul followed, walking behind each other in a line. Rak Horrak led them, assisted by the two Hozlin scouts who found the settlement a few days ago.

RuhHak was thankful for the formation. Walking between the two warrior women meant that he wouldn't have to talk with them and that they wouldn't get the idea to talk to him or each other. It simply wasn't pleasant to talk someone a Hozkul's length ahead. The walk itself wasn't all that exciting to the Hozkul. He could only see the ground beneath his feet, the mountain's gray flesh to his left, and the cliff off to the right that led down into the valley. Given his stature and weight, it likely only led to a drop to his death. He made sure to watch his footing.

It took a good half hour before the scouts got to the cliff which they had clearly marked with an X within a circle. The Rak pointed up the cliff with his pike. It wasn't very high, the edge was close enough to be able to be seen clearly by the Hozkul, so it couldn't be higher than a hundred feet, likely much less than that.

"Up there's the woods. Once we are through them, we should be among the blue scales," said Horrak, "it is a bit hard to climb with the pikes, but we should manage."

"Then let us not waste moonlight. Onward and upward!" commanded OkKiara, then reared up on her hinds, twisted her body, and let her forepaws come down on the wall. The thick, blunt claws on her massive paws gripped into the rock and her muscled legs began pulling her up. ArRiak and RuhHak followed her example. Together with the Hozlin they scaled the steep wall with ease. Their bodies were strong enough and they were used to climbing, so they hauled their tails over the edge even with the extra weight of the plate armor.

Once up on the cliff they stood among trees. RuhHak always found them marvelous. In Subterra plants were a rarity after all. RuhHak had only seen a handful himself, despite being a scholar. His area of expertise was history of foreign contact, not botany. ArRiak looked uneasy and scanned the area anxiously. "Worse than caverncrawler tunnels. We could be ambushed here."

"Ambushed by whom? Blue scales? They are all deep asleep," mocked OkKiara. "Rak, you said your scouts marked the trees? Lead on."

"As you order, ErRak," replied Horrak with a bow of his head and told the scout next to him to show him the way. "Keep your pikes ready, warriors, we can never know what will come crawling out of these forests." In a triangular formations, pike kept halfway lowered, the Hozlin pushed onward, led by the scout who jogged from tree to tree to decipher the runes cut into them.

Suddenly they heard a loud cawing and something rustled in the bushes to their right. "Halt!" shouted the Hozlin officer and pointed towards the source of the noise. "Something's there, remain steady and ready."

"Blue scales?" asked ArRiak with a hint of excitement or worry, it was hard to tell. It was the tensed voice of a warrior ready for a fight.

"They don't make such tones as far as we know," muttered RuhHak, who had lowered his body as well, peering into the woods. Every Hozkul knew how to fight, even the scholars of the Clan OhHoh.

Horrak crouched down to grab a large rock then hurled it into the bushes. Again a loud caw and loud rustling, followed by an oversized avian creature jumping out of the underbrush! It jumped in the opposite direction of the group of Hozlin and quickly ran away, then took flight. It was the size of a cow and had the hindquarters of a feline, yet only possessed avian features apart from that.

"At ease. It was just a damn surface beast," grumbled Horrak and nudged one of the scout's shoulder firmly to get him back to leading them through the woods.

ArRiak kept looking in the direction where the odd creature just was while speaking to the other two Hozkul. "I have never seen such a creature before. So unlike everything I know." She turned her head back forward after.

RuhHak spoke softly and continued to look out for another encounter of the sort. "I haven't either. I have not even read reports about them. The surface is full of surprises, which I am sure we will have to face them once we begin interacting with the blue scales."

OkKiara groaned audibly, obviously displeased by the idea. "Oh, by my long dead ancestors, I hope not. I am not afraid of confronting any of their pathetic beasts, but I'd rather avoid it. That cawing was plenty annoying."

The diplomat had to sigh hearing that. It was such a shame that his fellow Hozkul didn't share his sentiment. He was quite curious about the surface and what it offered, but knew very well that the Hozkul were certainly not made to explore it. The Aezkul on the other hand appeared like perfect scouts to him, given what he heard. They sounded like perfect candidates to be the HozReok's eyes on the surface.

It took about an hour for the Hozlin to find the way through the woods. Finally the group of underground dwellers stood at its edge and peered out among the brush. Hozkul were massive, but not massive enough to not be able to hide among great oaks and birches. At least they thought they were hidden well enough, but not like that meant anything given how bad their eyes were at a distance. Ahead of them was a small Aezkul community, settled on top of a forested, shallow incline. It consisted of log cabins large enough to house one or more Aezkul, a kind of kul that grew to be at most just above eight feet tall. Not a single light was spotted by the Hoz so far; it appeared that the Aezkul really were all deeply asleep.

RuhHak turned his head to OkKiara and whispered, "I take over from now on." The female gave a shallow nod in acknowledgment. With a slightly open jaw, breathing shallowly, RuhHak turned his head to the Hozlin commander then. "Horrak? Order your troop to gather around us and remain ready, just in case, but do not assume a hostile pose." RuhHak said that last part as insistently but also as quietly as he could.

Horrak gave a firm nod in reply and whispered an order to the two soldiers closest to him, who then whispered it to their neighbor and so on and so forth. Once all soldiers appeared ready, RuhHak gave the order to move on. The three Hozkul stood in a triangle, RuhHak at the head, ArRiak to the left and OkKiara to the right. Meanwhile the Hozlin formed a large oval, ready to raise their pikes and guard the Hozkul whenever the need arises.

Very, very slowly they moved into the settlement, taking each step with as much care as they could muster. Despite their size, they managed to be unbelievably quiet. They stopped right in its center, a little plaza that was likely used to as a gathering place for the community, RuhHak figured. At least that's what large open caverns were used for in the HozReok. Another thought that crossed his mind was that they may use them to land and take off. Being lost in thought, RuhHak was startled from the sudden shriek coming from his left. His head snapped in the direction the noise came from and he spotted a rather distressed ArRiak. "What happened?"

"U-uh.." the warrior female stammered, then grinned nervously. "I think a child just found me." She pointed into a window. Behind it stood a small Aezkul male. He was maybe four feet tall and the Hozkul had no idea how old, but he was shaking like a leaf and stared at ArRiak with wide eyes. When he finally snapped out of it he ran towards a sleeping lump in the corner that was much larger than himself and began shaking it, yelling loudly. Despite the utter darkness within the log cabin, ArRiak could see that there were glowing, blurry, white splotches within it. Her thermal pits, an organ all Hozkul had, made the warmth of the Aezkul's bodies visible to her. "We are about to get company!" she exclaimed towards RuhHak, who quietly growled in irritation.

Her loud talking, the young kul's screech, and the orders now being shouted by Horrak woke up the whole village and quickly at that. The Hozkul shifted closer together and the pikemen instinctively lowered their polearms, pointing them at anything that came close, but so far all they pointed them at was motionless log cabins. This did not remain true for long. Loud yelling, that sounded faintly like speech to the Hozkul, was followed by many of the blue scaled kul storming out of the houses to encircle the expedition. Even the skies had Aezkul in them already. The Hozkul saw faint shades block out stars occasionally.

With an annoyed sigh OkKiara watched the easily two dozen Aezkul gather around them. "That's a lot of bones to break to scare them off," she muttered.

It earned a loud growl from RuhHak. "We are not going to break anyone's bones!" His angry voice made the Aezkul ahead of him hiss suspiciously, which made him quickly turn his head to them. "Oh, I apologize, I do not mean to threaten you."

The Aezkul gave no response and OkKiara grunted softly. "They can't understand us, oh great diplomat. So, first contact has been established thanks to ArRiak, and it looks like our 'future friends' want to gut us on the spot. Your orders?" She wasn't entirely wrong. The winged ones gathering around them did not look pleased to find monstrous looking behemoths in the middle of their village in the middle of the night. They were tense and growling, watching the perceived intruders very closely. OkKiara gave them a deep, thundering snarl right back.

"My order is that you stop that! Don't anger them even further! And Horrak, have your men drop the damn pikes. We are looking like we are ready to impale these poor people!" he commanded with confidence while turned to his people to make sure the Aezkul did not think the yelling was directed at them.

"Master? Drop the pikes?" Horrak questioned, questioning if he heard his superior right. "That would leave us with the warhammers, not a good choice when fighting creatures like these."

ArRiak snapped at him. "Poor people? These winged twigs lok ready to tear us apart!"

RuhHak took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Yes, drop the pikes and take your hands away from your weapons. And you, OkKiara and ArRiak, keep your damn maws shut and just remain silent."

ArRiak wanted to protest RuhHak's tone, her maw was already agape and her eyes filled with indignation, but OkKiara silenced her with a hiss. "Just do as he says, if we die, the ErRok will have to resign out of shame."

Horrak listened to the Hozkul argue for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. "Your heard him, drop your pikes." He led by example and let go off his polearm, letting it fall to the ground noisily. The men and women under his command did the same; a whole fifty pikes hit the compacted dirt beneath their feet. Now they stood there, defenseless, surrounded by more than twenty angry Aezkul.

Yet the message dropping the weapons and stopping the aggressive growling sent could not have been clearer. The Hozkul and Hozlin meant peace, not war. While they kept their suspicious glares, the Aezkul ceased their own growling after one of them spoke a few words in their sing-song voices. It managed to sound softer than what the Hozkul were used to even when used to angrily give commands. At least that's what the underground dwellers thought he was doing.

The Aezkul who appeared to be in charge was maybe up to eight feet tall at the shoulder, so quite small compared to the gray giants. His body was covered in dark blue scales, which were further decorated by white markings that went across his flanks and wings. These markings looked like white dots with swirly arms coming out of them. Around his wrists were noisy silver bracelets. It quite fascinated RuhHak that the Aezkul were interested in jewelry, it either meant they were intelligent enough for fashion or that they just chased after shiny objects.

Slowly this male moved to the front of the gathered blue scales, giving RuhHak suspicious looks. Once he stood at the very front, he looked down at the Hozlin and the pikes on the ground. He looked up at RuhHak again and spoke in a kind voice, but of course the scholar did not understand a single word.

"Must be their leader," OkKiara commented while remaining vigilant, eyeing the blue scaled ones. "Now how are you going to communicate with it, oh wise diplomat?" She scoffed, but made sure to speak in a tone that sounded as if she was just having a friendly conversation with the male Hozkul.

"Watch and learn," said RuhHak with great confidence, not in the least upset by her slighting remark. "Rak, present our gifts to this blue scaled one."

Horrak nodded and took the backpack off of his back, then walked over to the Aezkul leader, holding it in both hands. He set it down, opened it, then grabbed a blanket from within and rolled it out in front of the Aezkul. Then the Rak took three items from the backpack and laid them out next to each other on the blanket. Every single gift had been handpicked by RuhHak.

First Horrak laid down a book. It stood for knowledge and the willingness to open up to the Aezkul. It wasn't just any book, but a book RuhHak had written together with his mentor. It was the very first version, too. It was about the language of the Hozkul, its vocabulary, its grammar, and its pronunciation.

"A book? A book about our language that they can't read?" OkKiara commented. ArRiak had to snicker softly at that.

"Once we helped them understand our runes and words some, it will start to make sense and help them teach others!" he responded and huffed softly afterwards.

The second item Horrak fetched from the backpack was wrapped within a large leaf, which had been picked from large ferns growing in the sinkholes of the Zule. Horrak's hands unfolded the second gift, revealing it to be a giant beetle, roughly the size of a small coffee table. It had been boiled in maggot fat and spiced with the various roots the Hozlin dug up in the depths. A truly delicious meal for those who originate from Subterra. Not so much for the Aezkul, who were used to hunting fresh game in the woods every day. The leader of the surface dwellers tried his best to not appear disgusted, but he didn't look exactly pleased either.

"A beetle? Why would you waste such a treat on them? They don't even know to appreciate it, given that they must be enjoying fresh meat all day long," ArRiak muttered, while eyeing the beetle with hunger in her eyes. She almost drooled.

"To share a piece of our culture with them, something that I figured would be very different to what they are used from the surface," gave RuhHak in reply. "I am sure if it would dare to take a bite, it might end up liking it."

ArRiak just huffed softly and felt her stomach grumble alongside her.

The third and last item was a beautiful necklace, basically a decorative chain made out of silver. A pendant, which was also made of silver, was attached to it. In its socket sat a large, blue glowing crystal. The glowing object was of a roughly orb-like shape. Horrak smiled softly as he held it up in his hands, admiring the handy work of his people, then set it down on the blanket.

RuhHak smiled as well, wider than Horrak even, and said, "And this shall be something for these Aezkul to wear and carry to show: 'We have made contact with the HozReok'. It will be an item to hold dear and remember for centuries, if they even live that long."

OkKiara bit her lip and just grunted quietly. ArRiak slowly shook her head and sighed. Neither of them thought it would do any good to hand the Aezkul a book, a beetle, or a necklace. They were silly gifts for an even sillier meeting. Yet the Aezkul leader seemed intrigued. The beetle was of little interest to him, but he pointed at the book with a wing claw and then at himself, tilting his head questioningly. RuhHak nodded eagerly and found it quite interesting how similar their body language was to that of his own kind, even if the Aezkul used their wings instead of their paws. With a soft smile the Aezkul reached forward and gently lifted the wooden cover of the book, then began flicking through the pages a bit. The whole mood of the place changed as that happened. Instead of giving them looks that spoke of their suspicion, the Aezkul appeared very curious. The leader was speaking to his people at a comfortable volume as he inspected the book's contents. It was likely just gibberish to him, but it seemed to be fascinating gibberish.

"See? It appears to enjoy the gift," RuhHak stated happily and a hint of smug gratification

The Aezkul slowly closed the book, while looking back at his people and talking in a friendly voice. It appeared as if the rulers of the skies were warming up to the rulers of the underground. The curiosity of the Aezkul became much stronger than their caution. With only a slight hint of fear they stepped closer to take a closer look at the Hozlin and Hozkul. A few even tried to speak to the Hozlin and Hozkul, but of course to no avail.

RuhHak felt it was time for the next step. He cleared his throat loudly to gather the attention of the nearby people, hoping the noise had the same meaning among their people, and loudly poked two of his claws on the ground nearby the necklace. Everyone became silent and the Aezkul lifted and tilted their heads to see what the large kul was trying to get them to look at. The leader's eyes immediately focused the necklace, taking a very close look at it, before pulling his head back to give RuhHak a questioning look. He pointed at the necklace, then at himself.

RuhHak nodded with the kindest expression he could form and ordered, "Rak Horrak, put the necklace on it."

When the muscular, kind of terrifying looking Hozlin moved to the blanket to pick up the necklace, the leader of the blue scales took a couple of steps back and narrowed his eyes at him for a moment. Quite an understandable reaction, given that Horrak still had a warhammer on his hip. Carefully he picked the heavy necklace up in his broad hands, then opened it and held it up to the Aezkul. The blue scaled male stared at the Hozlin for a bit, then turned his head to RuhHak, who just nodded again to reassure the Aezkul. With caution in his movements the Aezkul stepped forth and held his neck out straight, exposing the vulnerable front to the Hozlin. One quick whack with the warhammer could have easily broken the Aezkul's spine. But instead of broken bones, he received a piece of jewelry. Horrak poked his tongue out slightly as he focused on being very gentle while putting the necklace around the Aezkul's neck. He closed the little mechanism at the back to keep it from falling apart, then quickly stepped away to take a look at the Aezkul himself. The necklace was a bit too wide, the glowing pendant hung a bit low. Yet the Aezkul seemed quite happy and that included not only the leader but the surrounding villagers, too. The leader poked the glowing crystal and tilted his head down to look at it, seeming to be wondering as how it could be that this little glass-like object glows! The others were marveling at the lovely piece of jewelry from afar and quietly spoke to each other.

When the blue male looked up at RuhHak again, the Hozkul gave him a friendly smile and bowed his head. The Aezkul looked surprised, but in a very positve fashion, obviously approving of the Hozkul's formalities. Gladly he responded with a deep bow of his own. RuhHak lifted his head again and had a wide smile plastered across his face, looking right in the eyes of the Aezkul ahead of him.

"I think this might just be the beginning of a great friendship among our realms."