Horizon

The wise man said just walk this way
To the dawn of the light
The wind will blow into your face
As the years pass you by
Hear this voice from deep inside
Its the call of your heart
Close your eyes and your will find
The passage out of the dark
The wise man said just find your place
In the eye of the storm
Seek the roses along the way
Just beware of the thorns
The wise man said just raise your hand
And reach out for the spell
Find the door to the promised land
Just believe in yourself
Hear this voice from deep inside
Its the call of your heart
Close your eyes and your will find
The way out of the dark
Here I am Will you send me an angel
Here I am In the land of the morning star
Scorpions

I couldn't remember how long it had been since I woke before the dawn, but I was there to greet the central fire when it rose. While the heat of a rich bowl of blackwine began to ebb through my senses and rouse me from the want to slide back beneath my furs for a few ahns more, I watched the colors light the sky. A red dawn. The storm was nearing the sea. It was more the formation of the clouds against the horizon that intrigued me. I guess it is a childhood phase to watch the clouds and pick out shapes to give name to. This one looked like a fairytale image of an angel holding an open book. Wishful thinking on my part to want one of my own, but it couldn't hurt ... could it? Was this my own personal omen of things to come?

Everyone was chomping at the bit to press onward to the proverbial greener pastures. Tug was straining to evade the wash of his face and hands and telling Talia that he heard his Momma calling got him out of it. He was off in a flash. Not long after the wagons began to roll once again, I fell in among them on one of the new kaiila. Of the tawny gold pair, one female, one male, I chose Paz, the smaller, more feminine of them. She had been named well. The demeanor was a quiet one .. peaceful. The stallion was Maelstrom. Quite fitting. The name would stay.

I gave in to thinking of the past few days, not the storm but of the woman I'd met. It seemed as if I'd known her all my life. She was quickly becoming an obsession, an addiction. This surprises you, I'm sure. I heard the voice behind me and didn't have to turn around to look. It just brought a smile. 'You aren't singing.' Riding closer to where Deenyet perched behind the reins, we simply fell into conversation again. The envars had been good to her, the fullness of her figure and the crinkle at the corners of her eyes couldn't hide that she had been stunningly beautiful in her youth. Even now she carried herself with a quiet grace and elegance. Deenyet. I mused over her name. The pronunciation so similar to dignity in another language.

She and I talked and talked for what seemed half the day before I realized there was another rider not far behind. Shifting in my saddle so I could see him better, then pulled the leather straps aside to let him by. When I moved, he moved right back in behind me. There was merriment in the older woman's eyes as she took in the whole thing, then introduced me to a close friend of hers, Sage. He was a tall lanky man with elongated fingers that seemed to wash through the air when they moved. They matched the rest of his physique. It was his face I found most interesting, more than scars chiseled his features. They were marked with the stories of his life along the sides of his mouth, around his chin all the way up to the stripes on his brow then into the fading hairline over his temples. A thinker. I liked him immediately.

I wondered if they were mates but a quick assurance came that they were just friends .. good friends. If I hadn't had such terrible skills at matchmaking, I would ... no never mind, I wouldn't. My talents in that area were beyond horrible. But that would be how it was, the three of us together, riding together, eating together, laughing and singing together the rest of the day .. and the next .. and the next.

My reverie was disrupted by the Tuchuk equivalent of 'Are we there yet'... 'are we there yet?' It came in the grumbles of being hungry from more than one of my young charges. My new friend showed me a different recipe for serving jerky, a bit of browned sugar and spices rubbed over the surface then rinsed with redfruit juice. Where did she get redfruit juice from this time of envar? There was a chuckle and a whisper, she'd send me some of the dried powder later. It was a big hit with the others and it was hard to keep up with the demand for more.