Infinity (WIP) part 1

*The only editing I've done so far is some spell-checking. All reviews are welcome, this is my first writing adventure since high school a decade ago.






Chapter 1

Normal day on Earth

Claudia's day started, as usual, when her alarm went off at 5am. Kick the cat off the bed, hop in the shower, dress quickly in jeans and t-shirt, braid her hair and out the door to feed the 30 or so horses on the ranch. In the early fall, it's still not quite light out but with the few years of practice she has, she could just about do it blindfolded. "I know which horse must be fed first, and who needs a scoop of grain, and who deserves the carrots I've got stashed in a pocket. " she grinned.
"Good boy Poe, I'll be back for you as soon as you've finished." She patted his dusty shoulder and dropped a few pieces in his bin. He's been her horse since she started, a solid bay gelding who doesn't shirk from hard work. A pair of chestnuts share his pen, and each got a pat before Claudia climbed the fence to feed the rest of the horses.
A couple hours later, she was saddling up 11 horses with the help of fellow wrangler Aaron. They are both of the Inuna-ina (also known as Dog Eaters or Arapaho), but of different tribes and I didn't meet him until I came to work here on the Lonesome Pine. Rework somehow.
"Nine tourists this time? Boss must've been well paid to allow such a large group this late in the season." She held the tack room door open for him to carry out an armful of saddle and gear.
"He said a few of them have riding experience. We'll find out soon enough." Claudia was skeptical. They'd seen too many people claiming experience when they had none! Sighing, she stepped in and grabbed her own armload of tack. "Could be worse" She thought to herself. "I could be the one with a desk job like most of them, like my parents wanted me to do. I wouldn't trade this job for anything!"
The group showed up on time, and after the introductions they got them mounted up and ready for their ride. Aaron took the lead spot off the property and up the old logging road. Claudia chose to ride drag, to make sure no one wanders off or lags behind too badly. It is a beautiful morning, the sun is out and the mountains are glorious in a combination of green, red and yellow.
An hour into the ride, they came to the first of three gates in our path. Claudia dismounted and start checking the saddles, with horses that are prone to bloat it is a wise thing to do! Aaron is of course showing off, opening the gate still mounted and winking at the young women.
"Get moving!" She mock growled at him and slapped his horse's haunch. Laughing, he ushers the group through the gate. "Alright, single file folks and we'll have you up to the picnic area in just a little while longer."
Claudia swung up on Poe, and reached down to swing the gate closed. As she did, an overwhelming sense of Déjà Vu hit her and she nearly fell out of the saddle. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head to try and clear it. "Gah, of course it' familiar, I've only seen this gate a few hundred thousand times!" she muttered. Annoyed with herself, she took a firm grip on Poe's reins and grabbed the gate. It was like lightning was unleashed from the gate, the pain, the sound, and the brightness of it. She felt Poe rearing up, and the ground flying up to greet her, and then, nothing.







Chapter 2

Where am I?

The first thing Claudia became aware of was a bird chirping nearby. Then the headache hit, and she regretted waking up. "What the hell did I drink last night?" was her first coherent thought. She groaned, and started to stretch but a feeling of wrongness was battering her sore head. With a whoosh, her eyes wide open, she sat up.
Above her was open sky, not much past dawn. A ring of large pale stones surrounded her, interwoven with dark vines. Claudia's head was spinning, but she staggered to her feet and headed towards the nearest stone. It was taller then she was by about a foot and a very pale grey. Disbelieving, she placed her palms on it. "It's warm..." Her legs gave out, and she crumpled down to her knees moaning in pain.
Leaning against the stone and hugging her knees, she tried to understand what had happened. All she could remember was reaching out to close the gate. Even just thinking about it was shooting sharp spikes of pain through her temples. Shaking, Claudia glanced around her surroundings. Behind her, there were great big mountains rising up not more then a mile away. Facing the rising sun, she could see grassy hills and distant high mountains. To her right, it was grassy plains and small rolling hills as far as she could see. Turning to her left and down a slope, there was a lush forest. Pulling herself up to her feet, that was where she headed.
Only a few minutes of stumbling travel brought her to them. The trees were large, towering well over her head and thick with foliage. Flitting from branch to branch were several small birds, chirping up a storm. "Their small size and red coloring makes them look like cranberries" smiled Claudia.
She stepped forward cautiously through the light underbrush. The trees, the grasses, the birds all looked very familiar, but yet... they were odd. The tree bark was redder then any she had seen before, and the leaves were silver green. Pulling off a piece of bark, she scrutinized it. Almost as thick as a redwood, yet the leaves were more like a eucalyptus. Dropping the bark she continued onward, towards the sounds of a tumbling creek.
It was only a creek, but it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Kneeling on a steady rock, she gratefully splashed the cold water on her face before taking a drink. It was refreshing, and Claudia was grateful to feel her headache ebbing. Finally able to think more then a couple steps ahead, she sat back on her heels and took in her surroundings.
"This creek will lead me to a town sooner or later. I wonder if there are berry bushes around here, something to snack on might help clear my head." Claudia tried to identify the bushes growing along the creek. "Hmm, similar to horsetails, I wonder if it is edible?" She pulled a stem out of the muddy bank and broke it open. "Whew, that's not how it should smell!" Dropping it, she started walking down the creek bed.
A couple hours later she had only added to the questions racing in her mind. Something resembling a plum tree had filled her hunger, and with water available to quench her thirst she was feeling much better. The plants had continued to stymie her, with most of them being very similar to plants she knew to be good for food or medicine, but not exact matches. For some, the color was off. For others, the leaves were too large or too fat. Little things that just did not make sense.
"Where the hell am I?" She said aloud, causing the closest birds to fall silent. Shaking her head, she continued hiking down the creek still muttering to herself. "Could I have hit my head and wandered off alone? There are hundreds of unexplored acres up above the ranch, but this isn't a high mountain forest! Besides, Aaron and the tourists were only yards away from me." Pausing for a moment, she stared off into the distance and wondered, "Am I dreaming this? Am I really in a coma in the hospital right now?" After pinching herself and feeling the pain, she started accepting that this just maybe was not the land she knew.
As the day wore on, the headache came back and her drive to continue began to falter. She took longer breaks each time she stopped for water, and spent nearly an hour at a small plum grove eating. This time it did not make the pain in her head lessen.
Claudia staggered down a small gravel bank to the creek, dropped to her knees and dunked her whole head into the water. Gasping and pink in the face from the cold she sat back up and rubbed her temples. With her eyes shut she could still see lightning flashes >>danger<< Her eyes flew open as she spun around and to her feet. There at the treeline was a large tawny colored cat leaping out of the bushes and down the bank and with a snarl it leapt for her throat.
Instinct took over, and Claudia threw herself to the side, flinging her arms up in a defensive posture. With a crack the cat hit an invisible wall inches from her hands and Claudia toppled backwards onto the gravel. Its fur standing on end, the cat rolled back to its feet, snarled one last time, and then took off upriver at high speed. The smell of burnt fur lingered as Claudia fell into darkness.
Coldness and pain were her companions when she awoke this time. The sun had set long ago for the rocks beneath her no longer held its warmth. Claudia lifted her gaze to the moons, thankful for their light. Her double take a few heartbeats later would have been comical to anyone watching, had there been someone.
High in the sky were 2 moons. The larger one was only a crescent, while the smaller bluer moon was nearly full. It gave the moonlight a shade to it that Earth's moon could never manage. They held Claudia's gaze for many long moments. When she did drop her gaze, it was to look at her hands. Mocha colored skin in the moonlight reminded her of a corpse. Shaken, she crawled the couple feet to the creek and plunged her hands into the cold water.
"Two blackouts in one day is not a good sign." She thought about her day and about the moons above her head. "I'm a sane and rational person, I'm sure I can figure this out. There has got to be an explanation for all of this!"
Standing up, she dried her hands and face off on her shirt then wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. "Got to keep following this creek, there is always a town downriver." With enough pale moonlight to see by, she continued downriver.







Chapter 3

Autumn

Dawn found her curled up at the base of a large tree, her head pillowed by a root. It was well past mid morning before she woke up, stretching in the warm sun like cat.
            After a couple of good yawns, Claudia got to her feet and walked back down to the little creek. Just downstream was the reason she had stopped; her creek met another larger one in a noisy clash of rapids. She splashed her face and took a cool drink before heading closer to investigate.
            This new little river had cut into the ground, creating small bluffs and sandbars with each turn. The trees were sparser here, clumped in little groves along the river. Claudia crossed to the north bank of her creek back upstream from the joining; having decided that crossing the river more upstream would be safer. This river seemed to be a boundary for the forest, on its eastern bank started a wide grassy plain.
            Claudia hadn't gone far following the river upstream before her headaches came back. She sank into the shade of short tree, massaging her temples. After taking a few deep breaths, the pain receded enough for her to start hiking again. It was slow going, slogging through the underbrush and taking frequent breaks back down to the river to splash cold water on her face. As the day wore on, her stomach started grumbling at her.
         "Roots over there are edible... but no fire. Berries... haven't seen them yet today." Claudia sighed deeply and rested against a tree trunk. Her thoughts were mushy, and it was getting hard to put sentences together because of the pain shooting through her head. Pushing off the tree, she started placing one foot in front of the other. "Keep walking, can't stop. Need to find town. Gotta keep walking." Claudia was walking in a fog, only barely aware of her surroundings when the ground disappeared beneath her and she fell. Luckily she didn't fall far, but it was enough to leave her winded and unable to slow her slide down a steep gravel bank.
         When she stopped sliding, Claudia was able to draw in a few dust filled breaths. Coughing and holding her ribs, she crawled a few feet away from the gravel and collapsed. "Not again..." Pain screamed through her head, and once again darkness mercifully engulfed her.

         When Claudia awoke, she felt whole again. The headache was gone, she suspected for good. She stretched, and wiggled her wrists and toes. There were no aches like she expected, from that fall and slide down the gravel.
         Glancing around, she was surprised at how well she could see. There was still only the faintest glow making it down into the cave, but she was able to see each piece of gravel and the details of the walls. Amazed, she stood up and explored a little bit. This roomy cave had a couple of tunnels leading deep into the earth. She didn't smell fresh air coming from either tunnel, so she walked back to the gravel slide and stared up to the hole in the ceiling.
         "Hmm, it does seem like the best choice for getting out of here." She muttered. Carefully, slowly, she began climbing. It was not easy going, she lost her footing often, but with patience and stubbornness keeping her going, she did eventually climb as high as she could go.
         Breathing heavily, covered in dust and dirt, she stood there enjoying the fresh scents blowing in on a slight breeze. She could detect several different plant life smells, and a slight musky odor from a rutting deer. Opening her eyes, she surveyed the rim of the pit, only a few feet above her reach. She considered herself quite lucky that there were a couple trees growing close to the rim, there were enough roots poking through the soil that she was able to easily climb out.
         She was quite shocked however to find the forest had changed while she was down in the cave. Instead of the lush green of springtime, only the evergreens were still in full leaf. The oaks and aspens had turned to autumn colors of orange and yellow. Leaves littered the forest floor and the underbrush was bare. The sunlight was paler then it had been, and there was a chill to the breeze she hadn't noticed down in the pit.
         In amazement she wandered down towards the river. She had evidently lost her bearings before falling in the cave, for it was farther then she had thought. The river was also showing signs of the late season, moving much smaller and slower then it had been. She walked down to the rivers edge and had a long cool drink. While the water was quite cool, it was also very refreshing. With a faint blush, and a quick glance around her, she quickly disrobed and dove into the pool.
         Gasping from the cold, she swam vigorously to keep warm. Shore to shore, then diving deep, Claudia was enjoying every minute of her impulsive swim. With a rosy glow on her soft brown skin and a smile on her face, she finally climbed out of the water. "Ah, I sure wish I had a nice warm towel right now." she thought as she started to wring out her braids. Her fingers tingled, and it spread up her arms. Eyes unfocused, she reached down and picked up a handful of leaves. Taking a deep breath, she blinked, exhaled, and shook out a lovely brown towel.
         "Well... that was... interesting" she said. Bringing it up to her nose, she buried her nose in the towel and smelled the sweet tang of dry leaves. "Well..." she said again, shaking her head. As she started shivering, she quickly toweled off and wrapped it around her. Claudia walked over to her pile of dirty clothes and wrinkled her nose. "Guess I should've just jumped in wearing them, they need a wash worse then I did."
         As she bent down to pick them up, an idea struck her. Dropping all but the shirt, she held it firmly in her outstretched hands and closed her eyes. "Clean shirt. I need a nice purple, clean, long sleeved shirt." Peeking with just one eye at the dirty shirt she still held, she gave it a little shake. Just like for the towel her fingers started tingling. Grinning, she closed her eyes and shook the shirt she held. When she opened them again, she held a dark green long sleeved shirt. Laughing, she slipped the shirt on. "Hmm... well, close enough I guess." Eagerly, she reached for the rest of her things and a short time later she stood dressed in clean clothes. Rolling the towel up, she looped it over one shoulder tied it with a bit of vine into a Scottish sash.
         Feeling faint afterwards, she headed slightly inland to more easily walk through the trees. Her sight and well as her sense of smell seemed to be heightened, and she could not help but take deep breaths to enjoy the taste of the air. As she walked, the faint feeling dissipated and she could walk faster and with less effort. Soon she realized that she could faintly sense the animals of the forest. Walking softly as her grandfather had taught her, she tried to home in on one sensed animal. It took some trial and error, but she was shortly able to triangulate and came into sight of a small deer like animal. Smiling softly, she leaned against a tree and just watched the deer graze for a long while.
         After the deer had meandered out of sight, Claudia headed back towards the river. It was still the best shot she had for finding other people, even with all the things that had happened to her. After finding it, she stood on the embankment and gazed out over the eastern bank. Faintly, she could feel something that way was calling her over. Sighing softly, she glanced at the sky. Sundown was coming soon, and she needed a place to sleep. Following the river northward again, she soon found a giant many-forked tree and climbed up.  Unrolling the towel, she curled up on a broad branch and easily fell asleep.
         When she woke next, the sun was just barely climbing over the horizon. Claudia lightly leapt down out of the tree and headed back to her lifeline, the river. Pausing only for a quick stretch and a quick drink, she continued upstream to find a fording place.
         It didn't take too long to find a wide but shallow crossing. She only had to take off her shoes and roll up her pants to avoid getting them wet, then quickly waded across. After a short scramble up the other bank, she was up in the grasslands. Taking a last look at the autumn colored forest, she pondered over where to head next. Her options were rather simple, to either head east down river to find a town or to strike out across the rolling hills to the north. Westward lies the forest she just left, and to the north was a large impressive mountain range.
         "I wonder what else I can conjure? Clothing items are nice, but without a water container or food I'll not last long." She walked over to a large rock jutting out of the grass and sat down against it. Plucking a couple handfuls of dried grass, she quickly weaved a very basic pouch. Holding that in her hands, she closed her eyes and thought "Bota bag. I'm holding a clean bota bag with carrying strap." Opening her eyes, she was quite pleased to see she held an identical copy of the canteen she last had seen tied to her saddle.
         After walking back down to the river and filling her new canteen, she considered the problem of food. "I haven't eaten in months if I'm reading the change in the weather correctly, but my stomach is grumbling... I'll try conjuring some food later. While my grandfather taught me mostly woodlands survival, I do know at least some foods that grow in the grasslands."
         With one last glance at the forest, and a long cool drink from the river, Claudia headed north, following the base of the mountains.
         The next couple weeks were much the same. By following the mountains feet, she came across a new creek or river almost every day. They were always easy to ford, and she was able to refill her canteen at each one. Food was scarce, but she could conjure up a small loaf of bread or a couple simple fruits to satisfy her hunger. The days were long, but the weather was nice and she made many miles each day.
         Claudia found something new and amazing each day. Sometimes it was something small like the little autumn blooming flowers she found along a nearly dry creek. There were many animals that lived here in the grasslands, nearly all were herbivores.  The elk with the graceful antlers were her favorite, with their low rumbling calls singing her to sleep on a few occasions. One afternoon, she nearly collapsed a small rodent colonies den when she came across a multitude of holes covering a small hill. Their insistent jabbering at her reminded her of a pack of angry squirrels and she walked away laughing.
         She also continued practicing her conjuring power. Each day her items became more detailed and they weakened her less. Claudia took to wearing more Native clothes, creating a long tunic to replace her shirt and moccasins to wear after her cowboy boots gave her blisters. After creating a small leather bag and a belt to hand it on, she took to creating small trinkets. Gemstones, arrowheads, small fetishes and things like that. Trying for specific colors and shapes seemed to be great practice, and they helped to make the day pass quickly.








Chapter 4

Finding the Valley

As the days grew colder, Claudia knew that she should find a place to hole up. Not knowing what the winters were like, or the severity of the storms could kill her if she was caught out in the open. The thought of spending a winter alone was quite depressing for her, but she had yet to find a single piece of evidence that another person had even walked here. She had never been a social butterfly, but there was a big gap between not liking crowds and not seeing another being for months on end.
After several weeks of travel northward, Claudia finally saw a break in the mountains as they began curving eastwards. Intrigued, she followed a long pass that rose into ridge after ridge for a full days travel.  Not long into the next day of travel, she finally topped the last ridge and saw a large valley spread out below her.  She could see evidence of at least two good-sized creeks running into the valley, and what looked like a small lake in the distance. Trying to estimate the size, Claudia figured the valley was somewhere around 20 miles wide and much more then that long.
"Home." Claudia smiled happily, and began the hike down to the valley floor. As she walked past one grove of evergreens a small herd of deer came bounding out and ran across her path. She stopped to watch them run until they stopped to graze. So she wouldn't send them running again, Claudia altered her path to take her near the northern wall. She was happy she had done so when she came across the mouth of a small canyon.
Tucked up against the back was a small waterfall and pond, still tumbling down the rocks. The rocky cliff nearby would provide a decent backbone for a lean-to, and there was plenty of dry wood nearby if she couldn't make it down to the valley proper. With some more exploring, she even found a shallow cave. Night was swiftly approaching, so she conjured up a bedroll and set up a basic windbreak. As the sun set and the moons rose, she climbed between the blankets and fell asleep.
The next morning, work on a winter home started bright and early. A few sturdy logs were braced across the cave entrance, with smaller saplings creating a framework. Between conjuring the strapping, and extending the building materials to cover just a bit more then they would naturally, Claudia was ready for a nap by midday. Instead, she took a break and headed to her little pond. Sitting in the sunshine, she enjoyed the warmth on her skin and plotted what still needed to be done.
"Need to deepen the pond right here, perhaps create a small dam right over there. Those rocks already in the stream would be a great starting point. What to do for a roof? My People used hides for their teepees, but I've never cured hides before. I suppose I could conjure a few... not sure how well I can conjure something I've never seen before." Claudia yawned widely. "Ok, save that for tomorrow. I think I will take a nap, this is very draining..." Her eyes fluttered closed, and she fell asleep there by the pond.
Claudia woke up a few hours later feeling very refreshed. She decided to put off the big conjuring for tomorrow, and went for a walk in her valley. After exploring a pair of small streambeds and several wooded canyons she headed back to what was becoming her winter home. She fell asleep that night feeling very satisfied. "I couldn't have asked for a better valley. There seems to be plenty of food plants, several different herds of herbivores, and very little spoor from predators. I shouldn't have any problems wintering here alone."
The next morning she began by conjuring several large tanned hides. It was extremely draining, but Claudia felt quite happy with the results. They were a reddish color, very solid and thick but soft and pliable. After a leisurely stroll down the valley, she came back and added a few more poles to her lean-tos framework then flung the hides up and lashed them securely.
Stepping inside, she was pleased to see no chinks where light (and therefore water) could get through. It was nowhere near the size of her house on the ranch, but it would do. There was room to store things along the short end, and a soft spot in the back for her bed. She needed a few more rocks to create a windbreak in the front for a fire, perhaps a few logs to create shelves and a table.
Over the next few weeks, she was able to finish up many little things she felt she would need. There were empty baskets, several stacks of wood for the fireplace, plus a few nice pieces in case she felt like whittling, and several baskets of small stones. She has conjured a couple down blankets, and a couple iron cooking utensils. Her skill in that was improving by leaps and bounds. Unwilling to kill for her food, she was now able to conjure up ingredients to cook with, including juicy steaks, fresh garlic, even butter. Claudia liked using the small stones to conjure with, using organic material just felt slightly wrong.








Chapter 5

Capturing a horsealope

With her own needs tended to before winter had fully hit, Claudia's thoughts turned to companionship. Of the several types of herbivores in the valley, one looked like a cross between a horse and an antelope and just might be rideable. They were large horse sized, with the coloring of an antelope, and pair of short horns that came out from just below the forelock and arched backwards to the ears. With the intention of corralling one, she started to purposefully seek out those herds to try and acclimate them to her presence. The first days they would not let her get too close, but eventually her non-threatening ways seemed to win them over.
Claudia took great pains to project feelings of peace and harmony as she stalked them. Using body language learned from horses, she would walk close to them, and then meander closer as a grazing animal would do.  There was one particular herd she fancied, with several tawny colored members with black points and striking white markings underneath black tiger stripes. Having fancied the Vikings back in her old life, she gave several members of the herd names. Lodi was the lead stallion, Thorn the young colt. His dam she named Hrundra, and the young mare she wanted was named Asla.
When she wasn't down with the herd, Claudia spent her time building a small shelter and pen up next to her lean-to, then a larger corral at the mouth of the next canyon over. It had several pens in a row, with gates only wide enough for one horsealope at a time. By this time, the nights were below freezing and even the days were cold. The smaller streams had fully iced over, and even her stream had ice on its banks.  The weather had so far remained clear, and Claudia had hopes that the weather would remain beautiful.
The morning she planned to capture a horsealope dawned clear. Claudia breathed on her fingers to warm them up, then grabbed a warm tortilla from a pan by the fire. As she nibbled on that, she started down the canyon to the herd. She cautiously circled around them so that they were between her and the corral. Every so slowly she would get into their comfort zone and they would move off a short distance. After doing this all day, she had them very close to the canyon. As night fell, and they bedded down she withdrew a distance then circled back to her camp. A quick meal later, she was crawling into bed and falling asleep.
She woke up before dawn and made her way back to the herd. They had not moved far from where she had left them, and she was pleased to be able to see the corral in the distance. After a couple of nudges, Lodi was getting nervous about being hemmed in. The posts she had planted leading from the mouth of the canyon gave the illusion of free space, but they were remarkably effective at channeling the herd in once Claudia set off the stampede with a pair of conjured firecrackers. Running as fast as she could behind them, the horsealopes galloped into the first long pen and she barely got the gate closed before they had circled around.  Bellowing their fear, they continued to circle the pen at a gallop. Claudia made her way to the inside gate, and opened it. It took a few moments before the herd noticed it, but once they did it was bedlam as they tried to all go through it at once.
Claudia was able to close it when only half of the 20 horsealopes had gotten through. She was please to see several of the young stock in the second pen, including both Asla and Thorn. After repeating the process one more time, she had Asla, Thorn and two others in the innermost pen. Claudia managed to get all but those four into the first pen. While she felt sorry for putting the herd through this, she wasn't ready to turn them loose yet. It took some back and forth maneuvering trying to get just Asla in the last pen, and Claudia finally gave up when she had just Thorn.  After that, the rest of the herd was turned loose. She felt a bittersweet pang watching them run away, knowing it would take alot of work to get them accustomed to her presence again, if it was possible.
After closing all the gates, Claudia headed back to where Thorn was penned. The young stallion was still galloping in circles, crying out for his departed herd. Claudia calmly stepped into the center of the pen and stood there. After some time Thorn stopped in a corner and stood there trembling. Claudia took a step in his direction, and Thorn took off in a gallop again. This repeated many times, until Thorn's head hung low and he allowed Claudia to walk up to him. When she placed her palm on his shoulder, he briefly trembled but sighed softly as Claudia projected calmness. She stroked his neck, murmuring softly. "It's alright boy. Good boy. It's okay."
Claudia left him there, after conjuring a small water trough and throwing the pile of grass she had previously collected over the fence. Feeling extremely drained, she headed back to her camp to sleep. The next couple weeks had the same routine.  Something to nibble on as she walked down to the large corral, gather a few armloads of grass to give to Thorn, then spend the day just hanging out. She would putter around, fixing some posts, and dismantling others. She changed the layout of the corral so that the two first pens became one, and then made the gate to the small pen where Thorn was much larger.
The winter continued to be mild, with freezing temperatures but no winter storms. It took a few weeks of working with Thorn in the 2 pen corral before she felt confident in bringing him up to camp. He had proven to be a quick learner, but he tended to be somewhat flighty.  He had bonded with her however, viewing her as his new herd leader and she felt no fear working with him.
Claudia continued to project calmness to him with every stroke of her hand and every word she spoke. She had conjured a soft rope halter and he wore it without complaint. When she introduced the hide pad and straps, he had bucked a few times but quickly quieted down. She could even pick up all four feet without him yanking them from her. Claudia was fascinated with his hooves for instead of a single hoof like a horse, or a two toed hoof like a cow, he had 3 toes like an (prehorse). There was one large toe with a smaller toe on each end, and each had a tough pad on it that was more like a cat's paw pads then a hard hoof. Claudia had never seen a camel's hoof but she suspected they were somewhat similar.
When the day came to bring Thorn up to camp, she spent some time working with him first. Some free lunging, then having him follow her around the pen. "He's so willing to learn." Claudia thought happily as she rubbed his face just below the horn. It was his favorite place to be scratched; he leaned into it and closed his eyes, sighing happily. With one more pat on his neck, she led him towards the main gate.
He stood quietly beside her, his ears pricked up, as she opened the gate to the valley. Claudia kept a firm hand on the lead rope, and the other on his neck as she led him through. His neck arched, he pranced excitedly but never pulled away or tried to bolt. She let him graze a few times as they wandered along the valley, and several times he would stop to stare off into the distance.
It was nearing night by the time they made it up the canyon to camp. Thorn playfully spooked a couple times at shadows, but never pulled away from Claudia. Several times, she would halt him just to rub him forehead and calm him down. Once she put him in his new pen, he settled down quickly after finding the pile of grass and the water trough. Smiling happily, Claudia gazed back down her canyon with the satisfaction of someone returning home after a long vacation.









Chapter 6

Winter turns into Spring

         The winter passed with many light snowstorms, but no severe weather. Claudia continued to train Thorn every day, still working on ground manners and on bonding him to her. She started leaving his gate open so he could come and go as he pleased. Thorn never went out of hearing, and whenever she whistled he would come galloping up and nicker at her. When Claudia would take her long hikes through the valley, he liked to gallop in a circle around her bucking playfully. As the winter thawed and trees started budding he would graze until she was out of sight, then come galloping up neighing in panic. "You silly boy!" she laughed as he leaned his head against her. Smiling softly, she rubbed his forehead before stepping back and slapping him playfully on the haunches. As he pranced away, she laughed again. "This has been a wonderful winter. I'm still no closer to finding out what happened, but does it really matter?" She wondered. With her conjuring power, she had no need for a town with a grocery store. Thorn was here for companionship, and she could not ask for a more beautiful place to call home. Spring was coming, and Claudia had never felt more alive.
         Each day the trees were greener, and she found more areas with grass growing. Thorn grew fat and sleet with free grazing on all the new grass he could find. Claudia spent less time each night sleeping, finding she did not need it. Many times she would catch herself staring off down the valley, swearing she could feel the entire valley come alive.
         There were regular rainstorms, but never enough to overfill the streams. Bathing in the cold water was an exhilarating affair, with the water seeming to be straight off a glacier. As spring hit in full force, Thorn would wander farther and farther, but always come back to Claudia each evening. She had taken to wandering the valley and sleeping a few hours each night wherever she was when darkness fell. Many times she would stay up most of the night watching the moons as they went through their phases, only dropping off to sleep just before dawn.
         One night as she sat underneath a pair of trees watching the moons low on the horizon, she dropped into a deep meditative trance. She could feel the energy of spring flowing in her veins, flowing in the trees behind her, even in the grass she was sitting on. Joyfully, still deep in a trance, she reached out, wanting to join the flow, wanting to fully feel it in every inch of her being. With no notion of time, she only felt life. There was rain pouring down onto her, but it was refreshing and she drank it deep into her being.
         She never knew what it was that woke her, but the decent was like ripping a fingernail off and she awoke sobbing her loss.
         When her crying slowed and she could open her eyes, it was to find Thorn's nose just inches from her face. Trying to quiet her sobs, she reached out a hand to him and he nuzzled her, bringing a smile to her face. Pulling herself together, Claudia sat up and wiped her tears. After taking a few deep breaths she looked around. It was near dawn, and both full moons were still out. Standing up and hugging Thorn calmed her down, and she stood there for a few minutes just stroking him. Something about the moons was nagging at her, and she finally looked back up at them.
         "They are both full... But that's not possible... Only one was full when I last looked at them..." Claudia was stunned, and more then a little scared. Each blackout of hers was lasting longer, and she was afraid the next one she would never awaken from.
         When she turned her gaze towards the ground she was looking for her cloak and gathering bag. What she saw confused her. "Those leaves..." She reached down and picked a few up. "These are weeping willow leaves, my favorite type of tree. I haven't seen anything even resembling them on this world." Digging in the dirt, she had an odd sense of familiarity. "I remember... I remember digging my toes in the dirt as deep as I could..." She glanced at her boot covered feet. "Was it... was I the tree?"
         She placed both hands into the rich soil, and reached out with her senses. Amazed, frightened, she could feel her skin becoming bark. Shaken, she climbed up on Thorn's back and urged him towards home.








Chapter 7

Kobolds

After her latest blackout, Claudia was determined to use her powers sparingly. Having lived in this valley for half a year, she did not have much need to. Food, meat in particular, was the one thing she had not bothered to gather until now.  With the land in the last weeks of spring, Claudia had a fairly easy time gathering roots and berries and other green edibles. The thought of hunting for meat still made her squeamish, so she turned to fishing to supply her protein and only conjured a fat steak as a very rare treat. Fishhooks were easy to make from bones scattered here and there about the valley. Fishing line was harder to come by; her bias against hunting mammals meant she did not have intestines to use. Not happy about it, but not knowing another way, she grabbed a couple pebbles and conjured up a couple reels of plastic line.
Thorn took well to more advanced training. Claudia started him on hauling a makeshift travois, having him haul firewood and such back and forth. She guessed his age to be 3 this spring, but his breed seemed to be a slow maturing type as he behaved more like a gelding then a stallion. "Not that I'm unhappy about it!" She grinned at Thorn. "It sure makes my life easier not having to worry about your hormones!" She gave him a good-natured pat and continued fiddling with his harness.
The first time she swung up on his back, he turned and looked at her with a slightly bewildered expression. Scratching his neck, she was keeping a running monologue up while not saying much. "Such a good boy Thorn. Easy boy, just get used to me handsome, you'll be carrying me around very soon."  And very soon he was.  They would cruise up and down the valley, exploring each and every canyon. Thorn wore no bridle, just a string around the base of his neck and a thick hide for her to sit on. These last few weeks of spring were free and idyllic.
Spring was gently progressing into summer when she started having nightmares each time she slept. Long rides on Thorn were the only solace she could find after such a dream. They faded as soon as she awoke, leaving only the feeling of battle and death behind. Pulled by something she could not remember, Claudia and Thorn began exploring the northmost valley in detail. Certain areas seemed almost to be what she was looking for, and it quickly frustrated Claudia.
Screaming to the sky "What?!? What is it you want from me?! I don't understand!" she dropped to her knees, holding her head. "Why can't I remember my dreams? Why are they pulling me here?" Her head was spinning with unanswered questions. Feeling terribly exhausted, she got up and wiped down Thorn's sweaty sides before curling up at the base of a large tree. The sun was high up in the sky, and she was thankful for the shade. After only a moment, her eyes began to drift down and she fell into a deep sleep.
She could hear the ringing of swords clashing, the scent of blood was on the dusty air, and she needed to find out what was happening. Desperately she flew towards the battle, nothing more then a faint ghost in these dreams. Up over the top of a hill, and she could see a small group of humanoids with their swords out, slashing out, blood spraying everywhere. Closer, and she could see what they were attacking - a handful of wagons, humans in brown garb, children! The attackers were human sized rats in cloaks and armor like a man. "Kobolds!" Claudia was dismayed at the bloodshed. "No! This can not happen!" As she spoke, her vision began to rewind, moving slowly at first then faster and faster. The massacre unwound, the kobolds ambush was undone, and then Claudia followed the kobolds backwards. Faster, and she followed them backwards through the day, through the night and the night after and then she recognized where they had came from.
"My valley! How?!? How could they have come from here?" Even as she thought that, she had followed them the complete route from southern entrance to northern point, up into a tiny canyon barely wide enough for 3 to walk abreast, and to the cleverly hidden entrance to a cave tucked behind a few large rocks and thorny bushes.
Gasping, Claudia awoke, and remembered. "We passed that canyon yesterday. What as the moon phases last night? It was... the Father moon was at most a quarter and the Son was at full... Creator has mercy - that is tonight!" She wasn't one to waste time, having already thrown her hide saddle over Thorn's back as her thoughts were unwinding. Leaping to his back, they took off galloping back towards that tiny canyon. Thorn was in a full sweat by the time they got there, and the sun was close to disappearing. Claudia left Thorn down on the valley floor and ran as fast as she could up the winding path that she knew lead to the cave entrance. As she ran, and the sun dropped below the horizon, she was discarding ideas on what she could do. Also preying on her was her conscious. "What if I am wrong? What if my vision was misleading me? What if these being don't deserve to die?"
Rounding the last corner, she could barely see the cave entrance in the moonlit twilight. Slowing to a cautious walk, Claudia was dismayed to hear the kobolds about to exit the cave. Still torn and unable to decide on a plan, she was still fully visible in the low light when the first kobolds appeared. For a split second, time seemed frozen. With a yipping scream, they attacked her with a pair of small thrown spears. Those she easily dodged, but the rest of the kobold party was now racing out into the crowded passage with swords drawn. Feeling trapped into an aggressive situation, she did the first thing she thought of.  Reaching out with her hand and with her head, she grabbed the sides of the canyon and pulled them in.
As the walls collapsed in front of her, she could feel each kobold die. The shock of it immobilized her as the dust cloud engulfed her. Gasping for breath, she finally started staggering back down the passage. After clearing the dust, Claudia leaned against a rock and tried to make sense of what had happened. "I could see it, when they died, I sensed each one. There were eleven of them. Was that their souls?" And with that she bent over and dry heaved. "Creator, what have I become?!" A memory of what those kobolds would have done to the wagons caused her to resolutely get to her feet and start back up the trail. The dust had mostly settled and she could see that the entire cave entrance had been blocked and the canyon was now about 50 feet shorter then it had been. Claudia was thankful she couldn't see any corpses poking through the earth and quickly left.
Spring became summer, and Claudia could not shake her feelings that her killing of the kobolds had contaminated her valley. The weather had grown unpredictable with sudden summer storms, almost as if it were matching her moods. Irritable, she was throwing stones into the pond when the idea hit her. "Well, it's not like I'm bound to stay here" She grouched, then froze. "I could leave..." The idea both intrigued her, and scared her. "Damn it, I need to stop being such a rabbit!" Whirling, she strode into her home and made plans. Almost defiantly, she used her powers to create new traveling clothes and a new saddle pad for Thorn. Securing a few small bags to her belt, she debated on what food items to take. "I can't be conjuring everything I need each day, that would leave me to weak to actually do any traveling. A bag of stones is a must, they work so well. This bag of trinkets and gems, I might be able to barter with the natives. Assuming I find people. There were those people in the wagon. They were only a week's journey away. I hope it's a real route so I might find others. How am I going to talk to them?  I'm not the greatest at learning new languages, look how poorly I know my own peoples native tongue."
With a big sigh, she set everything she planned on taking into a pile, then went out to groom Thorn. "First thing in the morning boy, we're heading out. I hope you'll do well. I hope we don't appear too odd to people we meet. Do they even ride your kind? That wagon had heavier beasts to pull it but I don't remember them being anything like you." With a final pat, she walked back into her home and curled up in her hides for the last time.
Before dawn, Claudia was up and whistling for Thorn. She adjusted various straps and bags. Thorn was wearing the hide saddle with a basket on each side. A blanket was in each one, with an extra set of clothes, a bag of nuts, a bag of conjured beef jerky and other misc items. Her flint was in a small bag tied to her belt, as was her little bag of pebbles. After fussing for a few minutes, Claudia sighed and stepped back. Taking one last look around her home, she swung up on Thorn and urged him down to the valley.
It was midmorning when she topped the last ridge leading out of her valley. Without looking back, they headed out into the unknown.









Chapter 8

Summer into Fall

         The first week out traveling Claudia kept them to a slow speed. This was new territory for both of them and she did not want any accidents happening. They wandered down to the river she had left, nearly a year ago, and followed it south. Claudia kept to the grassy side for Thorn's sake but they did occasionally cross over when she spied a fruit tree. The weather was mild for being late summer, staying a nice comfortable temperature. On the 8th day the river they were following turned to the west to curve around the foot of a large mountain range. Claudia knew the stone circle she had appeared in lay to the west, but the wagon in her vision had been far to the east. She was briefly tempted to go find the stones, but with winter only a month or two away, she decided to make finding other people her priority. Turning Thorn to the east, she headed out across the grasslands.
         It was three days to reach the next source of water, and Claudia was extremely thankful of her conjuring power. "It sure does make traveling easier!" The river they had found was bearing northwest by southeast, by Claudia's best guess they were slightly to the southeast from her valley so she guided Thorn away. That night they made camp on a sandy beach. Claudia unbraided her hair, undressed and dove into the clean water. Thorn came in belly deep, splashing water mightily with his forelegs. Claudia laughed, then swam over to him, giving his forelegs a wild berth. Swinging up on his back, she urged him deeper into the river. When he first lost his footing they both were dunked underwater but he surfaced swimming. After making a big arc, he headed for the beach. Claudia slipped off while he was still swimming and giggled, watching him shake like a dog. She dove underwater again, delighting in the coolness.
         Later that evening she pulled a couple fruits from the bags and fed one to Thorn while munching on the other herself. "Last one Thorn, I hope we find another forest before winter hits and all the fall fruit freezes." She groomed him first, and then brushed her own nearly dry hair. A quick braiding, and she turned in for the night. In the morning she whistled for Thorn while she packed up her light camp. When he came trotting up, she tsked at him. "Thorn!  Bugger, you went and rolled in a mud pit!" Laughing she chased him into the river to wash him off. She took off her tunic and leggings then followed him in.
         A few hours later, they dried off from their impromptu bath and continued on their way. It was an easy journey along the river. They would start out by midmorning and set up camp before dark. They would often cross the river if there was something that caught Claudia's eye. She was able to harvest a few marshy tubers to cook several times. On other evenings she would pull out her fishhook and go fishing. The fish were a different species then what she had in her valley, smaller and browner, but they were still delicious. The best dinner was the day she found a patch of what seemed to be wild onions. The taste was more garlicky then onions, but she conjured up a steak and feasted.
         Eventually, she did come to where she had seen the wagons. It was strange to walk the land she had already walked on, to see the same brush and rocks for the first time with her eyes. It was a clearing, with a couple of scrubby trees for shade. She walked over to the fire ring and idly stirred the ashes with a stick. Thorn was grazing unconcernedly nearby, the packs still on him. She walked over to where she had seen the wagons parked, and could see the ruts they had left. Gazing out across the plains, she could see where the trail wound its way to the north, nearly perpendicular to the river. "I wonder which direction to take. Northward it must cross the mountains, because it does not turn westward to pass by my valley. With winter around the corner, it may not be wise to go that way. But... will anyone be coming southbound for that same reason?"
         She turned to look southeast. The road looked like it was following the river, at least for a while. With a whistle she called Thorn over. "That is where our path lies." He trotted over and nuzzled her shoulder. Claudia gave him a quick hug, then rubbed below his horn. After giving his nose a kiss, she swung up on his back.
         It was still before midday when she sensed the presence of people. So many emotions were rushing through Claudia. Shyness, cautiousness, excitement, hope. Thorn could feel the tenseness in her boy and started prancing. "Easy boy, easy Thorn." Setting her shoulders back and holding her head high, she kept on the road. As they came around and over a hill, her heart leaped up into her throat. Trying desperately to keep a poker face, she guided Thorn closer. It was a caravan of 3 wagons pulled by teams of 4 beasts each. The wagons looked to be made of wood, painted green and gold. The wheels were tall and fairly delicate looking. Thorn whinnied a hello to the black shaggy oxen beasts and the leading pair lowed back. She could see the driver quite clearly; he seemed to be of Mongoloid blood with the stereotypical slanted eyes, yellowish complexion and black hair. As she came closer, she noticed the short pointed ears and almost grinned. "We're not in Kansas anymore Toto."
         Claudia could hear children's laughter coming from the second and third wagons. There was an older gentleman driving the second, and a very young boy driving the third. By this time she was coming abreast of the first wagon, and its driver nodded at her and spoke a greeting in a trilling accent. "Ebbkin Duhir" Going with her instincts, she mimicked him. "Ebbkin Duhir" He smiled and nodded at her, and with a wave of relief she smiled back. With each driver she repeated the greeting and smile, feeling less stressed with each hello. Trailing the caravan was a pair of riders each leading a second mount. Claudia was happy to see the animals they rode were the same species as Thorn, but quite stouter and each was uniquely colored. One was chestnut with a large white blaze; another was jet black with creamy stockings and a striped mane. The two ridden horses were brown bodied, but one had the same creamy markings as the black while the other had black points like Thorn did.
         After passing out of sight, Claudia slide down off Thorn and hugged him tightly.  "Oh wow, that went so much better then I could have hoped for. They didn't bat an eye over my looks, or yours either!"          Grinning she hopped back on Thorn and headed onwards with a lighter heart. They traveled the rest of that day and the next without seeing anyone else. The scenery gradually changed from high grasslands to English countryside. There was plenty of grass still, but strands of trees were quite common. The road was now winding its way along the foothills of the mountains, likely the same ones that guarded Claudia's valley, and there were many small streams with simple bridges or shallow fording spots.  Early on the third day they came to a fork in the road. The fork she was riding on had the least wear, while the roads to the south and east had the hard packed look of a well-traveled road. Taking a deep breath she guided Thorn down the eastern fork. As they rode along, she noticed lots of fairly recent hoof prints. "Three toed like Thorn, it looks like at least a dozen different sets here." She wondered how far ahead they were, and looked at the sky with a frown. Thick dark clouds had been forming since daybreak and she could smell rain on the wind.
         The promised storm broke late in the afternoon. Rain came in sheets, nearly sideways from being blown by the wind. There was both lightning and thunder, causing Thorn to shudder underneath Claudia. "Come-on boy, just a little further. We need to find shelter, I think I saw a large stand of trees up ahead." Keeping their heads bowed into the wind, Thorn trudged onwards. Just before reaching the protection of the trees a couple horsealopes came galloping out with their lead ropes flying loosely. They nearly crashed into Thorn, but slid to a stop just in time and nervously pranced sideways. Claudia jumped off Thorn and quickly grabbed the loose leads.
         "Easy boys, easy now. Calm down, gentle now." She crooned to them. A clap of thunder had them dancing to the end of the ropes, rolling their eyes in fear, but Claudia's gentle touch kept them from bolting. Claudia led the 3 horsealopes into the cover of the trees before mounting Thorn. There was a lull in the storm and Claudia studied the two new boys. Both were jet black with white striped manes and muddy white stockings and wore sturdy leather halters with soft braided leather ropes. "Are you boys the ones that left the hoof prints I've been following?" she wondered. Giving them a final rub on the forehead, she urged Thorn onward. With each crash and boom of thunder the blacks tried to huddle closer to Thorn. He only pinned his ears and humped his butt at them when they stepped on his toes. "He is being such a trooper" Claudia thought. Just then Thorn perked up and whinnied. Claudia could hear an answering whinny in the distance; it caused the blacks to start dancing again. Nudging Thorn into a trot, Claudia could barely hold the blacks to his speed.
         The rain started coming down even harder, great big drops fell in waves. Splashing through the many mud puddles that were forming in the road, Claudia caught up to several groups at once. It was a scene of mass chaos. A fairly large tree had fallen across the road leaving a smoking stump and scattering debris and mud everywhere. There were horsealopes tied up on both sides, with one body pinned beneath the tree. She could see a farmer's wagon on this side of the tree, piled high with wet produce. There were a couple blonde haired beings in high boots and long blue cloaks huddled over another dressed like them, lying near the smoldering tree stump. A dark skinned person was at the head of the farmer's wagon calming their beasts, dressed in a tunic and leggings similar to her buckskins. She could see two others in cloaks tending to the skittish horsealopes scattered around.
         As she drew nearer, one of those two broke off and met her with a sad smile. "Minaldrine."  (Thank you) whispered in her mind. Claudia slid off Thorn and handed over the two blacks with a smile. The man facing her could have come from a Viking portrait - tall, blonde, blue eyes with strong features. She held Thorn back while he led the blacks over to a strong tree.  While tying them up, he turned partially and spoke to Claudia. "Minal, meh ladrami kiesh toma lladran." (Thankful, camp night) Claudia's subconscious seemed to do a better job with just single word meanings but she thought she understood the gist of it. When the man stopped and looked at her with an eyebrow raised, she nodded at him. "I don't speak your language." He blinked a few times and looked at her curiously before waving her closer.
         Claudia, with Thorn following, walked up beside one of the blacks. The man offered a spare lead rope and pointed to Thorn. Claudia grinned and shook her head. "He does not need that." The man nodded then pointed to her saddlebags "Delco", then to where a couple people were setting up a canvas lean-to. "Ladrami, lostie morda." Then pointing to himself, "Arraci". He cocked his head and pointed at her. "Claudia" she replied. "Clawdya?" She grinned. "Close enough."
         Claudia quickly unsaddled Thorn and followed Arraci over to the tent. He was talking softly with the other cloaked persons; all of them were shades of blonde. As she stepped out of the rain, he introduced her. "Clawdya, takol ladrami lladran." The farmer and another person came in, carrying the one that had been on the ground. He was conscious, but had his teeth tightly clenched in pain. Arraci pointed out each person and named them while they tended to the wounded one.          









Chapter 9

Arraci's viewpoint

         Arraci had been the last rider, leading only 2 shaflin compared to the others 3 strings when the storm hit. Goben Cre, his boss and owner of the finest shaflin ranch around was leading their group with a string of fancy grey mares. Goben had urged them all into a trot to try and get under the cover of the trees outside of city Tarklan before the footing got too bad. It was extremely unfortunate luck that the tree had been struck by lightning just as he was riding past it. Arraci had been too far back to see it happen, but no one could miss the loud (crack) as the lightning hit, and the screams of the shaflin.  Telca had been riding behind Goben; Arraci could hear her shouting for help. The grey shaflin came galloping past the other 3 riders, still tied together, and slammed into Arraci's mount. He had barely a split second to free the two blacks he was leading before he hit the ground and rolled under the hooves of the lead string. Varn galloped past on their heels and was able to grab them not far down the road, but Arraci's string of blacks kept on going.
         Cursing softly, Arraci helped his mount back to its feet and gave it a quick once over to make sure nothing was broken.
         "We'll go collect your blacks later Arraci, we need to go help Telca." Varn was leading the grey mares past Arraci with a worried look. Splashing through the fast forming puddles, he tied his sorrel mount to the first tree he reached, then ran up to help Varn with the rest of the shaflin. Telca had a healers touch, and Arcben deserved to be at his fathers side if Goben was seriously wounded.
         As they were finishing up with the shaflin a pair of Utlein farmers drove up, their cart full of autumn harvests. Quickly accessing the situation, the driver hopped off the cart and strode over to where Varn and Arraci were just tying up the last shaflin. "I have a large canvas tent. If you help us to set it up, we can bring your wounded man out of the rain."
         "Minaldrine, my friend. That is generous of you. I'm not sure how badly he is hurt." All three men went to where Goben lay. He was awake, but in pain. The only thing that had saved him from being crushed was the larger body of his mount and the soft muddy ground. Even still, a large branch had pinned Goben to the ground at the knees, breaking the leg bones and shattering a kneecap. Arcben broke off a stout branch, with Arraci's help the two of them managed to leverage the tree just enough for Varn and the farmer to pull Goben free.
         "Arcben, hold your father down. I need to splint these before we move him, and it is going to hurt. Arraci, find me something to splint his legs with. Varn - "
         "This farmer has offered us use of his tent. I'll help him get it set up so we can get out of the rain tonight."
         Telca nodded, her attention already fixed back on Goben's leg. Gently she ran her hands down his leg, probing here and there with an intent look on her face. "Several fractures in each leg. This knee is smashed." Frowning, she turned and looked at Arcben. Both were silent for a moment.
         Meanwhile, Varn and the farmer Garlee had swiftly erected the tent. It was simple but spacious 15 feet by 20 feet, made of thick waterproof fleece from the wool of the grey belrin. It had a sloping roof with 4 walls and a durable floor. The farmer Garlee laid out a few woven reed mats, and Varn headed out to have Arraci help bring in the bedrolls.
         Arraci had been unsaddling the shaflin when he noticed a stranger come riding in from the north, leading his wayward black shaflin. "That's one thing to be grateful for." he thought as he walked over to greet the newcomer. She was exotic looking, with brown skin and black hair in braids falling down in front of her shoulders. He noted that she was wearing a strange variation of farmers clothes, made of leather perhaps, instead of the standard belrin wool. Most strangely, she was riding what looked like a wild marked shaflin with no bridle. "A true shaflmeir, to have tamed a wild one. And he was standing there far more calmly then our own." Arraci was awed.
         "Minaldrine" he said with a smile, holding out his hand for the lead rope. With an answering smile, she slid off her shaflin and silently handed over the blacks. After tying them up near his sorrel mount, he chided himself for his poor manners. "My thanks, I offer up our poor camp for the night."  When she didn't answer, he turned around and looked at her inquiringly.
         "Awh doon slour lawdoon" He blinked, quite surprised. Someone who did not speak Empire Common? If she had come up from the port city, then perhaps it could be explained, but she had ridden in from the center of the Empire. However, she had proven herself an ally by her actions, and that was all that mattered to Arraci. Pointing to her saddlebags, he named them. He then pointed to the tent and named that. She nodded, her eyes bright. He smiled, pleased that she obviously was intelligent. He then tapped his chest, "Arraci" before pointing at her with an eyebrow raised.
         She spoke with a delightful soft and thick accent. "Claudia". Arraci paused a moment before repeating "Clawdya?" When she gave a soft laugh he knew he had butchered it, but she seemed to not mind. Beckoning her to the tent, he strode ahead. Telca and Varn were both inside the tent, she was setting up a bed for Goben and he was rummaging through their small supplies for any medical pouches. "We've got one more in our camp. A foreigner on a wild shaflin came riding up with our loose blacks. I've invited her to stay the night. I know it'll be crowded but she's a natural with the shaflin." Telca just nodded, too wrapped up in what she was doing. Varn stopped and sat back on his heels with an inquiring look. Just then Claudia stepped inside, with Goben being carried in on her heels.
         Arraci gently pulled her out of the way, and then quietly named each person. "Telca, our healer. Varn, our second-in-command. The one they are tending to is Goben Cre, finest shaflin breeder in the empire." Clawdya was frowning slightly. She raised an eyebrow and pointed at each person. "Telllka, Vvarn, Gobenncree?" Arraci smiled, and corrected her pronunciation. "Tel-ca. Vahn. Go-ben Creh. This is Arcben Cre, son of Goben." At her nod, Arraci continued. "Here is Garlee and his brother Ganlee."
         Goben moaned as Telca continued splinting his legs. Arraci could see Telca using her small healing gift to its utmost, but he was afraid it would not be enough. He squeezed between Arcben and Garlee to kneel next to Goben's head. "Hey boss, hand in there." Goben managed a pained chuckle. "Just don't let the lady cut my legs off boy."







Chapter 10

Healing Goben

Claudia was pleased to have been welcomed into this comradeship. Arraci seemed quite willing to teach her his language, and it was coming easily to her. Watching him talk to the wounded older gentleman, she noticed that the woman was using a power. Claudia could actually see an aura flowing from Telca's hand and floating over Goben. Something was pulling her forward, so she approached and knelt down.
Holding out her hands palm up, she asked, "May I help?" Telca looked over, frowning at first. Then after a moments consideration she gestured for Claudia to lay a hand on her shoulder.
Claudia did so and immediately felt her energy flow into Telca, who gasped then smiled. Claudia could feel Telca start each of the broken bones mending. After a few moments Telca had done as much healing as she could do, and finished the splinting. "Your bones are going to fully heal as long as you take it easy, thanks to this young woman helping me. Now, I think the three of us need to sleep." Telca turned to Claudia "Minaldrine, friend. Come on over here, we'll sleep next to Goben tonight." She yawned, then wrapped her cloak around herself and laid down perpendicular to Goben.
Claudia felt incredibly drained, but so very pleased. Her dread at contact with people was so far entirely unfounded. She could follow some of what had been said, and curled up beside the older woman. Claudia fell asleep to the sound of the rain long before the men had finished settling in, and she didn't wake the next morning until Arraci shook her shoulders the next morning. He was grinning and holding a small water bag. "Wake up sleepy one." She yawned and sat up, Telca was already up and outside with everyone else. After drinking, she handed the bag back to Arraci and moved over to Goben's side. She couldn't sense any infection in the legs, but he was still sleeping soundly.
"Telca gave him something earlier." Arraci told her, beckoning her outside. As she stepped outside into the sunshine Varn and Telca came walking over with somber expressions. Varn spoke first. "Goben will be finishing the trip into town with Garlee in the wagon. That leaves us short on riders. Will you hire on with us?" Claudia was stunned. Telca reached out for Claudia's hands. Looking straight into her eyes, Claudia could sense her sincerity. "You've got talent, and a good aura. Your wild shaflin is in excellent shape, and has the best manners I've ever seen in a male. You would be an asset to our tamlin." (starfamily).
Claudia tried to speak, but no words would come. With tears in her eyes, she nodded. Arraci laughed and grabbed her in a hug. "Fate had this planned!" When he let her go, Claudia smiled happily. "Minaldrine. I am..." she paused, searching for the right words. "I am honored." Varn clapped her on the shoulder and nodded, then ducked inside the tent. 
After a dry breakfast of fruit bars, Garlee and his brother hooked their gilbarn to the tree and with a few mighty heaves managed to haul it mostly off the road. The carcass of Goben's mount was dragged into the woods a fair distance and left for any scavengers to find. The ground was still quite muddy, but the sun was shining and it promised to be a beautiful day. Thorn was standing next to a string of three brown and white shaflin. He nickered as Claudia approached, and met her halfway. She kissed his nose in greeting then gave him a good grooming. She had moved on to grooming the string when Arcben came by with a bag of treats. "These are high in nutrition. Give a couple to each shaflin, it'll help make up for not being fed quality grass last night. We had planned to make it to our town stables last night but we had a couple delays before that tree fell yesterday. Fate truly had our meeting planned." He was smiling as he handed over the bag. "These three geldings are going to be sold at the public sales. Our riding shaflin are in high demand by the ladies. Those blacks have been trained as a matched driving team. They're from a stockier lineage then the others here."
They continued around to all the different shaflin, with Thorn following close behind Claudia. Arcben continued describing the different shaflin, and their various trainings and lineages. Most were geldings, the Cre ranch did not like to let breeding stock out of their hands to keep their shaflin in high demand. Claudia learned that wild shaflin like Thorn were very rarely captured and trained because of the difficulty in training them. She absently petted Thorn, pondering on that. "Thorn was easy to train. Very... smart, quick to learn."
Varn commented "That is because he bonded with you. If he had not, he would have gotten free or died trying. Every now and then someone tries, and almost always they fail. We've left the wild herds alone for the most part, they have the Plains of Deiran to themselves. We are the people of Anru. For much of our history we were nomads, living like the wild herds. Contact with other peoples changed our lifestyles, and we now have one of the shining jewels of the empire, the city Tarklan, but we still honor the wild shaflin as spirits of our past. Many believe that when we die, those most honored are reborn to the wild herds."
While Claudia was receiving her history and language lesson, Varn and Telca had been helping Garlee arranging a spot in the farmer's wagon for Goben to ride in. With a final shaking of hands, the farmers set off ahead. At their slow pace it would be evening before they reached Tarklan. The tent had been dismantled and was back in the farmer's possession. Arraci was distributing things among the packs as Varn and Claudia approached. "We can have one of the riding shaflin carry Goben's saddle and pack. Claudia, do you have a halter for Thorn to wear while we are in town?" At her nod Arraci continued. "Even though you do not ride with a bridle, keeping a halter on him for the few weeks we are in Tarklan will be a good idea. Here, Goben left this for you." He handed Claudia a long blue cloak. Tears were misting her eyes as she took it and fastened it on. "This identifies you as one of us. We are well known, it will make things much easier on you."
Telca joined them, and each grabbed their packs and headed off to saddle up. Arraci helped Claudia saddle up with Goben's saddle. Thorn tossed his head a couple times at the unaccustomed weight and extra straps but calmed with a forehead rub from Claudia. The pair of blacks was lead over, and she saddled one of them with her old saddle equipment. They sniffled her in excitement and exchanged nibbles with Thorn as she mounted up. Arraci had the string of three grays that Goben had been leading, Telca had the three brown pintos and Arcben had three young sorrel geldings. Varn lead the way, leading a 3 string of prancing browns with faint wild markings.
It was late in the morning before they departed, but it was only late afternoon when they came within few of the gates of Tarklan. They had passed Goben and the farmers after only a few minutes of riding, sharing a few good-natured insults and a wave. When they came around a hill and Claudia got her first look at Tarklan she was stunned. It was large, sprawled around a bay and down a peninsula. The deep blue ocean seemed to go for miles to the horizon. She could see a large dock with many tiny ships, but it was much too far away to make out individual people. It was a great walled city, made of old grey stone and wood. Before the city were several residential sections with a large evergreen hedge surrounding them. The wall of the city itself was ancient, Claudia could see many patch jobs that had to several generations old themselves. Tall grey cliffs bordered the city to the northeast, the foot of the mountains Claudia had been traveling along. There was so much to take in that Claudia was at a loss for words when Arraci called back to her. "What do you think of our city?"
It was another hour of riding before they came to the northern Gate.  As they approached it a trio of colorful wagons came trundling out. Driving them were the same elf eared Mongols. "Ebbkin Duhir" They exchanged greetings as they passed, then Claudia urged Thorn and her string to ride even with Arraci. "Who are they? Not from here, correct?" He nodded. "They are the still nomadic Tinceir. Tinkers, tradesmen from across the mountains in the land of Astra. Several caravans come down each summer with fabrics and gemstones to trade. Sometimes they'll bring their tinci shaflin, a small stout shaflin that they breed. Good sturdy beasts for those that don't like to use gilbarn as draft animals."
"Minaldrine Arraci, thank you for teaching me." Claudia was quite thankful she had fallen in with these people. Arraci just smiled and said "Who are we to argue with Fate?"