Revolution in the Underground Read Free

people tended to avoid the forest floor in part for its supposed danger.  On occasion there were direct sightings of strange and powerful creatures roaming the ground, and at other times the evidence was more indirect—the vibration of the trees and the shriek of the supposedly perilous creatures.  Though no one had actually ever been killed by any of the creatures, parents would often forbid their younger children from exploring the forest floor unattended.
    The real reason so few Erosan’s ever explored the forest had nothing to do with rules or danger—they simply had no desire.  Everything one needed was right there.  Most people resided between the forest’s upper and lower canopies, and although the foliage made the floor and sky difficult to see in some locations, it was easy to find places with greater visibility.  If one wanted a change of view, one could travel to the higher or lower residences, or explore any of the numerous terraces and caves on the surrounding cliffs.  The only real places of interest on the forest floor was the river—which was close by—and the occasional hot spring, but even these were seldom visited.  Since most of the waterfalls fell and pooled on the larger cliff terraces before ultimately joining the river below, people didn’t even have to visit the ground in order to go for a quick swim.  The forest floor was above all a mysterious past—littered with relics so distant that few believed they were even worth wondering about. 
    Though Ember visited the ground frequently, he never ventured off into the deep forest.  The forest was an unusually sentimental place for Ember—each visit seemed to awaken a new dormant and darkly nostalgic memory of his mother and father.  When he was eight years old he watched his parents sail down the river into parts unknown.  He remembered the confusion he had when they left and the sadness everyone felt when they did not return.  Ever since then, Ember held a deep desire to care for and protect his younger sister—a desire that stemmed as much from his obligatory sense of chivalrous responsibility as it did his supposed promise to his departing parents. 
    In fact, of all the strange memories Ember had that day, the promise to his parents was the one he was most uncertain about.  It was quite possible, he believed, that he had concocted the promise as a way to subconsciously cope with his grief.  His grandfather had repeated the story to him so many times that Ember also considered the possibility that his grandfather completely invented it.  He knew such a fabrication would be out of character—Azure was a wise and proud man that valued honesty above all else—but the thought of an inexplicable secret remained tantalizingly persistent.  Ember had considered all possible motivations, from the mundane to the scandalous—a white lie to contain his sense for adventure, protect him from the forest’s danger, and ensure his sister’s perpetual companionship, or perhaps a deceitful fiction designed to cover up a grave secret and employed to control.  Ember had dreamt about the promise so often that he couldn’t help but feel that even if it were a lie, it had, to some capacity, become a reality.
    A strong wind shook the ladders above and below the balcony and woke Ember from his pensive stupor.  He thrashed his head violently from side to side in an attempt to break his trance-like stare and made his way to the Falls.
    ***
                  Ember arrived to the sounds of his contemporaries playing.
                  “Well if it isn’t the famous Ember Oaks,” one of the younger boys called out.  “I’m surprised you found the time to come out.”
                  “Ya, thought for sure you would rather talk to your trees than spend some time with your friends,” chimed another.
                  “Come on guys, be a-nice to the poor fellow.  He’s a-got his a-Generalized Eval.