Ush-Kai sighed as he heaved his hammer against the hard stone, the small, sharp pieces bouncing off his cheek with every strike. Sweat poured down his brow in the humid darkness of his spot. It was almost time for the Ush to be fed their slop. The Goft walked down into the large stone pit carved over years by their fellow Ush. Kai couldn’t help but shudder when his eyes passed over the jagged mouth of a revealed cave at the bottom of the pit. The Goft strolled among the mists of his ancestors and a small ember lit briefly in Kai's chest. It was they, the Ush, that fertilized the land and harvested the green stones. Why was it them who got to reap its rewards? They and them, the Ush and the Goft looked the same! Not for the first time in his life, the ember threatened to ignite his inner woods. Just as the fast as the fire came to life was it killed by the ashes of his reality. To be Ush is to be like ash, nothing but fertilizer for the benefit of The Above. Kai sighed, as he usually did with such big sad thoughts.

After midday meal Kai walked his normal route to his hammering spot inside the world. Down the first ladder, follow the path ledge winding around the pit. At the entrance of the world was a stack of hand fire. He used it to barely see inside the veins of the world. After entering the world cross the divide, a large hole dropping deep below. The wobbling bridge over the hole swayed slowly. He crossed it as quickly as possible. Cruel Goft had kicked slow Ush into the hole before. The screams still echoed when it was quiet. After the bridge, his memory guided him through the veins, like the blood of the world coursed. The Goft demanded the green stone, they said it made the world clean to remove it. They said it’s our only role as Ush. We are the blood in the world’s veins and when we die, we are the ash burned away to grow anew. Kai only cared about green stone because it meant food. The more stone Kai gots, the longer he lived to escape, to the valleys in the east where his family was.

Kai was raised in the east, along the great Sea River, like all the other Ush. They farmed closest to the dangerous waters. Yearly floods spread many Ush over the lands. The Pularchs always made sure there were more Ush to replace them. The lands closest to the water’s edge were the most fertile but also the least desired. The Pularch managed the lands and the Ush were his cattle to keep.

In Neander society, there was a strict hierarchy of classes. The moment you were born, your lot was chosen in life. The lowest of the low were the Ush, the ash of the Mountain Father. One branch up the pine were the Groz, the soil of the earth, the unskilled workers. These were your average citizens. This class had the most room for movement, be it up, like all hope, or down, if you crossed the wrong people. Another branch up were the Goft. This class was for the skilled traders, merchants, land owners,Minor Officials. They were the plants, making up a key linchpin between the two lower classes and the two above. The plants keep the system in harmony.

The last two classes ruled most of Neander society in a real sense. The Pularch filled both the Ruling class and the warrior classes represented by animals. They are like the mighty mammoth or terrifying ground sloth, cunning and strong, but little in the way of long term planning. When the future and direction of the Neander was in question, that was for the Ti. They represented the best that Mother Earth and Father mountain had produced. Us, the Neander. Ti was the first Neander and after him we named our Priestly class. This class only answered to Mountain Father, otherwise no one may question one adorned with the Bird feathers upon them.

Kai's days were spent the same. When the Light giver rose above the grey walls, it was time to enter the earth for the day. The grey walls surrounding the mine were so large, it felt to Kai like the Mountain Father must have set them there himself. Kai sighed and began his climb down into the pit. At the bottom of the ladder was a pile of the hardened stone used for hammers, along with some crudely fashioned animal bone chisels. Kai collected the tools and went about his way into the dark. Candle sputtered and spitted as the air got harder to breathe.

Kai huddled in the dark. Sweat puddled under him as chips bounced off his face. Every chunk of Father separated from the wall was lifted to the dim candle. Each was turned over and over, looking for a sparkle or the green that cursed him to be down here. Kai usually hammered out a large pile and then went over each one, but with the Goft looking over his shoulder, it wasn't safe. Kai has seen many Ush kicked into the debris pits and buried alive or stoned and left there. Kai would do his best to rush all the junk rocks to the pit as fast as possible. Sometimes slow Ush even got punished for the crime of being in the way of some irate Goft. Kai was going to escape this. He wasn’t sure how, but he couldn't keep living like this. It felt wrong on the inside of Kai. Kai knew the Ti said we would live on forever in the future that grows from us. Kai didn't want to live forever for someone else. Kai may have been born Ush but he would be the first not to die Ush!

That night, Kai laid on his bed, looking into the sky. The ring around Luna shone bright tonight. It was the night Kai had waited for. On the night of Luna's brightest shine, it was customary for the Goft to get drunk on mead and chase the female Ush around for laughs. Usually by the time the night sky has a bright ring, the Goft had turned into snoring piles in the corners or under wagons. They did their best to hide, so the Pularchs didn't come and catch them slacking. Kai slowly rose, careful not to disturb the other Ush. Quietly, he snuck to the wall and the high grass lining it. Once there, he looked around to get his bearings. Not having much experience at night, Kai decided it best to go slow.

Along the east side of the fort, closest to the water, there was a pipe. It was half full of water but Kai could see light from the other end the few times he walked through this area. Kai got low and looked at the water. Starting to tremble he could feel the wrong in his bones. Neander didn’tt swim, water was only for drinking. If Neander were to swim, why didn’t he have fins? All the old teachings came pouring from his mind in a flurry. Breathing deep and realizing it was death either way at this point, Kai slipped slowly into the cold murky pipe. The water rose up to his bare stomach causing Kai to shiver. Kai got lower, until only his head was above the water line. Then he climbed as quietly as possible through the pipe. Deeper into it he went, until it was like the whole of a mountain was above him.

Just as Kai was going to scream, Luna glinted off the water from the other end. He was almost there. With new resolve, Kai pushed forward until out he slipped into the River along the fort. The water was slow and many buzzing and hopping things did their best to escape Kai's splashing. Just out of the light of the fort, he climbed out of the water and onto the shore. Finally allowing himself to breathe, he cried and laughed softly into the sand. Kai rolled over to thank the moon for her light and saw something he never thought possible.

In the middle of the river stood Neander....men but they weren't standing on the water. They were standing on a monster! It was as tall as a Great Forest father, with a huge white wing flapping in the gentle breeze. The most terrifying thing about this monster was the eye, one huge, angry eye, as if the god of the water took form. The figures standing on the monster must be gods or monsters themselves. Who but the insane or the all-powerful would even dare to be in the water? They were all unmistakably warriors, though, as these people shined like they wore armor made from Luna herself. They didn’t see Kai but Kai would never forget them. They looked like Neander but wrong. Just as Kai was shaken from his spot, it happened. His focus drifted from the first monster to realize there were more...a lot more. Something was wrong, very wrong. Kai turned and ran, not stopping until he collapsed in exhaustion. The sea is attacking.