2 Ashen Hammers

Imo curiously studied the thing before him and boldly reached out to touch it—the iron-gray circular object hovering in midair turned at his touch, fixing its strange blue-glowing eye on the Shatar.

"What do you require?" it suddenly asked.

"You can talk?!" Imo recoiled in shock. "What are you?"

The sphere did not answer. After waiting a while longer, it turned and floated away, leaving the boy, stunned for the fourth time, sitting alone in the pure white room.

A moment later, a giant dressed in a pitch-black robe entered. His skin was extraordinarily pale; Imo had never encountered anyone like him before.

"Sit properly, child," the giant warned him. "Be careful not to fall off the examination bed."

"I'd be fine even if I fell from this height."

The giant glanced at him. "Yes, you would indeed be fine if you fell. But what if you hit this?"

He stomped his foot. Imo looked down and saw a silver protrusion where the giant's toe pointed. A thick cable extended from behind it, running all the way into the wall.

He did not know what it was, so he asked, "What would happen?"

The giant smiled without warmth and lowered his voice imperceptibly. "You would die."

Wary and frightened, Imo clutched his shield and broken spear tightly.

"Lie down now," the giant said. "I'll give you an examination—then you can have something to eat and drink, and get a good night's sleep."

"An examination? What examination?"

"A medical examination."

Imo had never heard the term, but he could roughly guess what it meant. He immediately did as instructed, not forgetting to set his shield and broken spear aside. The examination bed was astonishingly large, more than enough to hold all his belongings.

The giant walked over to him. At that