Free Spheria by Cody Leet

amazing. Why would I not just jump in the Rift and go there now?”
    “Because, to go there, you must be pure. This is your final story and it’ll answer your question. It’s about how the Rift came to be, and why you wouldn’t want to jump into it.”
    Le∙ma sat back down next to the empty circle. “I'm ready.”
    Sa∙ma paced around her, wanting to illustrate his story with motion. “Remember the Troaten we saw from the top of the mountain?”
    “Yes.”
    “It plays a key role in this story. It’s the story of how the Rift was made, and the Source for that matter.”
    “But nobody knows how the Rift was made, right?”
    “Lumen Seekers do. It's the one story that’s passed down only to us, never told to the others. There is no need for them to burden themselves with this knowledge. It’s privileged to only us and our apprentices.”
    “I’m ready for the knowledge,” she implored.
    “A long while ago, just after the world was formed, the creatures did not yet know their bounds. At that time, the world was still a whole sphere; there was no Rift. If you could make it around the mountains and over the rivers, you could walk completely around the world and come back to the same spot from the opposite direction. The Rift changed all that.
    “One day there was born a Troaten, larger than the rest. This Troaten needed more food to survive. It depleted its sources, growing quite large in the process. It had become large enough to push itself over the mountains with its gigantic tentacles. So it flopped into the next valley and consumed everything there, growing even larger. It was never satisfied, and in its greed, drained every creature in the entire world. Nothing could escape its reaching grasp.
    “By now it had grown so large that its tentacles could reach across the whole world. It could push in all directions and suspend its center in the open middle, where the Source is now. Because it was so large, it was insatiable for more energy. Since no more creatures were alive, it did what no Troaten has done before or since; it began digging for buried crystals. It dug its tentacles into the ground and found the buried life crystals that feed the plants. It dug deeper and deeper, flailing more and more in a giant circle. It literally carved the chasm in the ground that we know today as the Rift.
    “But still it grew. It dug deeper and deeper, growing and growing, stretching farther and farther. And then, it reached the Qubessence with its tentacles.” Sa∙ma tried his best to recall the story exactly as Go∙ma had told him, but he embellished it slightly to connect it to the world without substance. “When the tentacles crossed the boundary into that world, the entry of physical matter caused a massive shockwave of energy. This flowed into the body of the Troaten. In a bright flash, its tentacles were shattered to dust, and the energy ignited its body radiant white. With its tentacles gone and its body in the exact center of the world, instead of falling, it just hung there.”
    Le∙ma interrupted, “So it became the Source?”
    “Indeed. The Source is what remains of that giant Troaten. Thanks to it and its greed, we now have something to give us guidance, and to illuminate our world. It’s also said, and this part is common knowledge, that the gods now dwell inside the Source, because it gives them a view of all the lands.”
    “Why is the Rift story kept a secret?”
    “Because some might be tempted to leap into the Rift, knowing the Qubessence lies beyond. But, as we learned with the Troaten, the Qubessence doesn’t want your body, only your structure. The resulting death is agonizing, and it’s suspected that the gods won't welcome you as readily.”
    “Has anyone ever jumped in?”
    “Some have, I’m afraid, and I can only imagine the horrible death they received.”
    “That’s awful.”
    “Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Now you have much to think about, so get some rest. Tomorrow we make the