"Suppose you show up and let's divide these things," Kiley said. "I'm tired of your mental voice—let's hear the real thing."
Very well.
A clap of thunder seemed to split the sky—a deafening, booming noise that made the ground quiver. Kiley cowered in fright as the sound was repeated—and this time, he was able to detect words.
"I am Thaklaru!"
"Where are you?"
"Look upward!" the booming voice cried.
Hesitantly, Kiley turned his gaze upward—and gasped. The "cliff" he had thought stood next to him was no cliff at all. It was a vast alien creature, stony and terrifying, whose head vanished in the fuzzy clouds far overhead.
Again came the booming noise: "I am Thaklaru!"
"I see why you needed an accomplice," Kiley said in a weak voice. "Something—someone of your size—"
"Yes. I could never venture into anything as tiny as one of your cities."