색다른 어둠의 피조물?

작자 불명의 오래된 일지가 있다. 일지의 대부분이 물과 먼지로 손상되었다. 읽을 수 있는 대목들은 대강 20년 이상 된 듯하다.

아묵을 산 채로 찾았다. 아직도 믿을 수가 없다. 아묵이 상자 열쇠만 가지고 있지 않았더라도 애초에 땅 파기를 포기했을 거다. 벌써 2주나 흘렀으니, 열쇠는 시체에서나 찾을 수 있을 거라 생각했다. 그런데 뭐라고? 어둠의 피조물이, 그것도 말하는 피조물이 아묵을 발견했단다. 게다가 정중하게 물과 음식까지 주면서 지상인들에 대한 담소를 나누었단다. 아묵이 도대체 무슨 정신머리로 그런 얘기를 만들어내는지 모르겠다. 본인은 맹세코 진실이라고 한다. 미친 소리처럼 들리겠지만, 내가 아는 아묵은 상상력 따위는 엿 바꿔먹은 녀석이다. 그런 녀석이 뭐하러 그런 얘기를 지어내겠는가?

할아버지가 들려주신 얘기가 생각난다. 그건 할아버지의 할아버지 이야기였다. 언젠가 지하 가도에서 어둠의 피조물 셋을 만났다고 한다. 모두 드워프보다 두 배는 거대했고, 인간보다도 더 컸으며, 마치 국왕처럼 차려입었다고 했다. 어둠 속에 숨어서 지켜보자니, 그 피조물들이 사람처럼 말을 하기 시작했단다. 검게 변한 도시 얘기를 하며 기억나지 않는 알 수 없는 얘기를 하며 서로를 탓했다던가. 마치 우리 엄마 같다. 항상 화가 나 계셨지, 왜 그러셨는지 기억은 안 나지만. 아무튼, 그 피조물들이 서로를 공격하기 시작했고, 하나가 다른 하나를 목 졸라 죽이고 먹어버리는 동안 나머지 하나는 도망쳤다고 한다.

어둠의 피조물 사이에 말하는 왕이 정말로 있는지, 물과 음식을 제공하는 예의 바른 괴물이 정말로 있긴 한 건지는 모르겠지만, 어쩌면 정말로 아묵이 그런 피조물을 만났을지도 모를 일이다. 지하 가도에는 기록관들조차 기억할 수 없는 정말 이상한 것들이 있으니 말이다. 밀수질만 해도 위험해 죽겠는데 가지가지 하는군.

 

The journal, penned by an unknown writer, appears to be quite old, with many of its pages damaged by water and dust. The entries that can be read all appear to be about twenty years old:

 

We finally found Amuk alive in that passage. Still can't believe it. The only reason I didn't stop digging is because he had the key to the cache—but, after two weeks, I was expecting to find it on his corpse. What story does he come up with? That he was found by a darkspawn, of all things. A talking darkspawn, polite as you please, who fed him and gave him water and evidently chatted with him about surfacers. I don't know what Amuk is thinking, coming up with a story like that, but he swore by the Stone it was all the truth. Crazy as it sounds, I know Amuk, and he's got the imagination of a dull hammer. Why would he make something like that up?

 

Reminds me of a story my grandsire used to tell, about something his grandsire did. Said he once came upon a group of three darkspawn in the Deeper Roads, each twice the size of any dwarf—bigger than humans, even—and dressed up like kings. He watched from the shadows and said they talked, like people, about things he couldn't understand. A city gone black, and they blamed each other for things but could barely remember for what. My mam was like that: never remembered the slight, just that she was angry. Story goes they attacked each other, and one ran off while the second choked the third to death and then ate him.

 

Don't know about darkspawn having talking kings, never mind polite ones that give you food and tea, but maybe Amuk met one of them. There's strange things in the Deeper Roads, after all, things the Shapers can't even recall. As if smuggling wasn't dangerous enough.