Where the Horizon Begins

[Lyanin Kokotni]

Lyanin felt the sun’s early morning light on her bare back, its comforting touch calming her restless heart. Shoving herself up from the ground, she looked over the tall grasses to spot Badziil, her Strider, snuffling around for shorter grass to graze upon. A sharp whistle was enough to gain his attention, and they acknowledged each other. It was the smallest part of her morning routine that she would be able to keep now that she was parted from her father’s pavilion. Next she looked around for her hunting dog, sure that he had in fact been resting with her only an hour earlier when she had stirred from her sleep. The dog was still young and tended to wander just a bit too far for her liking, as many young hounds felt the need to do. Growling under her breath she stepped a little further into the sea of grass, placing her fingers between her lips to give a sharp, harsh whistle, “Iye!”

Of course the foolish dog was probably far out of hearing distance by now, a definite problem for Lyanin. Her animals were the only companions she had, the only beings she would rely on, especially now that she was out in the wilderness alone. Without them, she was just an empty shell of a woman, and that was how it had been since the dawn of her creation. Her mother’s people accepted her well enough, but without her mother she had been nothing but a mud-blood. And with her father’s people being so concentrated on blood lines, she fell on the outskirts there as well. Biting her lower lip, a bad habit exposing her nerves, Lyanin quickly strung back her hair so it was out of her way and bent to take off her boots. Their constricting leather kept her feet from being bitten at night and helped her to grip her horse’s sides better when riding, but hindered her when she wanted to run.

A sharp, low whistle brought Badziil to her side, his buckskin coat blurring in the golden sea of grass as he approached. He snorted and shoved his nose heavily into her stomach, a bad habit she knew he was fond of, before settling down and waiting for her. Releasing a breath she began to speak to him, “That feather-brained mutt has gone ‘n lost himself again… Now you carry my things, and we’ll see if we can find ‘im, huh boy?” She patted the stallion’s neck before rolling up her sleeping bag to attach it to his yvas, and then tie her boots tightly to Badziils saddle bags. Giving a loud, almost cat like call, she waited until her hawk swooped down and gripped the leather of Badziil’s yvas. Tilting his head curiously, Motega waited until she gave him the command to follow.

Now that she was ready, Lyanin pulled in a heavy breath and then surged forward, her feet digging into the dirt beneath her feet and churning it up behind her as she set off in one direction, in hopes that Iye had continued in the same direction they had been walking… Which was highly unlikely, the fool of a dog probably caught scent of a rabbit or such and then had run off thinking it would be caught. All she could hope for, was that the stupid mutt would keep himself out of trouble until she found him. After a while of running and calling his name, she finally heard a sharp bark. Unfortunately the sound was too familiar to her ears, the same sound he had made when he’d gotten himself into a fight and been bitten fairly badly. Digging her heels in deeper, she picked up the pace and followed the sounds of his yelps, her own voice raised in a worried call, “Iye!!! Iye!!”

[Drost]

Drost rode along slowly through the plains on his Kavinka Paintedmount, they were moving through the field at a slow trot. Drost really needed to come up with a name for the horse, he'd been putting it off since he'd gotten him a few months beforehand. Drost felt that more importatnt things were at hand then naming the simple horse. Drost had come to the Cyphrus region in search of that infernal wizard, he'd gotten a tip in Syrlias that a man matching the wizard had made plans to head this way.

Drost rolled his neck and an audible pop could be heard in his immedeat vicinity. This wizard was nigh impossible to track, then again tracking someone based solely on their appearance was not the brightest of ideas. Familiar thoughts of turning back on this fruitless hunt crept into Drost's head, thoughts of settling down and maybe finding himself a wife. Drost shook his head, such ideas were foolish, he was too much of his father to settle down and had nothing to offer to a woman other then companionship.

Drost sighed softly when he suddenly heard something. Drost sat up a little higher on his horse and looked across the tall plain grass swaying softly in the wind. The it sounded like a woman yelling something, Drost didn't quite catch what it was, she sounded frantic. Drost made a loud clicking noise with his tounge, as he pulled his bow from his back along with a single arrow. His horse galloped and using his hips Drost directed the horse towards the sound. As the horse galloped Drost kept open a vigilant eye he saw a woman running through the grass whether away or towards something he could not tell. Drost directed the horse on an intercepting course with the woman.

"Do you need help?" Drost called out to the woman as he drew close. He'd nocked the arrow but had yet to draw the string, his short bow continued to point downwards. Drost looked again around the plain and he thought he heard what the woman was running for, it sounded like an angry dog. Drost was slightly astonished, why would someone be running towards an angry and possibly dangerous animal. Drost didn't know instead he just waited for his reply while he slowed the horse to match the woman's speed.

[Lyanin Kokotni]

Lyanin continued to run towards the sound of her hunting dog’s yelps, sweat beginning to bead across her brow in worry and exertion. Her voice raised in pitch when she heard his yelp become more desperate, and there was nothing else on her mind than reaching him and trying to save him from whatever trouble he had stumbled into. The sound of an extra pair of hooves thundering towards her raising another bought of worry in her stomach. She turned her head to see a young man galloping his horse up towards her, and by the look of him she thought he didn’t look overly threatening. Then again, looks were often deceiving, and she was not one to trust many. At first she thought to ignore him, her pride and mistrust too much for her to simply accept the helping hand, but as they got closer she heard the screech of a glassbeak. Well, surely she could take on one of them… Then the sound of another caught her ears and she felt her stomach plummet. If Iye had been cornered by two glassbeaks, chances were that he would not be alive much longer, and that he had already been badly injured.

Not slowing in her run she looked towards the man riding along on his horse and nodded, “If you feel up to it…” She yelled this as she began to pick up her speed again, letting out a sharp whistle until her own horse galloped up beside her. Badziil slowed his pace for her enough that she was able to grip the yvas and launch herself onto his back. At first she scrambled a bit, but managed to validate her hold on him before giving him a light kick and letting him take off. Soon her eyes were focusing on the top of a glassbeak’s head, bobbing as if trying to figure out a way to get at something. Using an emergency dismount, Lyanin called out again, “Iye!”

She exhaled a breath of relief when she heard him whimper and bark. He was still alive at least. Lyanin grabbed her longbow from her pack on Badziil and drew an arrow, trying to steady herself enough to get a good shot in. Pausing long enough she let loose the arrow, watching in disappointment as it only struck into the bird’s flightless right wing. The bird’s attention was at least drawn to her, but so was the attention of the other bird. Gritting her teeth she dug her heels in and then took two big running steps before leaping at the monstrous bird. Swinging her longbow in a wide arc over her head, she used it as a massive stick to thud it across the injured bird’s head. As the bird was distracted she leapt onto the thing’s back and grappled with it, hoping against hope that the man who had offered her help would somehow be able to deal with the other glassbeak, who was currently storming towards her.

[Drost]

Drost motioned his horse to follow along with the woman as she mounted her own horse. Which shortly after her mounting outdistanced him by quite a bit, Drost watched the girl ride. Her horse was quite fast but her skill with it didn't seem quite as good as his own, she handled her horse quite well though. Drost saw the glassbeaks and drew back his bow taking aim, however he knew the distance was too great for his shortbow.

Drost saw the woman pull a rather dramatic dismount and pull a bow from her baggage on the horse. Drost liked the long bows but they were too large to use well from the back of a horse, so he tended to avoid them himself. The arrow the girl loosed seemed to have gotten the attention of the glassbeaks, not neccesarily the best thing but it must've been what she was aiming for because she seemed rather relieved.

Drost survayed as he continued forward, the girl seemed focused on the glassbeak who she had managed to hit. Drost decided it would be his duty to take care of the other one. Drost made a louder more urgent clicking sound and his horse put on a burst of speed. The Paintedmount shot forward and then, with direction from Drost's hips pulled around the left side of the other glassbeak. Drost loosed his arrow and it flew straight and true hitting the glassbeak in the left side of it's stomach. The glassbeak made a loud squaking noise and then turned to face Drost looked like both him and this strange woman would have to kill one each.

[Lyanin Kokotni]

The glassbeak was extremely unsatisfied with her choice of move, and it was all she could do to keep her weight on the bird's neck, thus keep the sharp beak from tearing into her. After being thrown around a bit, she linked her arms over the bird's head and then dug her fingers into the creature's eyes, a move she had watched one of her half-brothers do before. The glassbeak screeched as she hugged her thighs tight around the beast and dug her hands further into its eye sockets. She might not have the most training in combat, nor the most efficient methods, but she was certainly determined enough. The bird bucked beneath her, and even though her thighs were strong enough to grip the thing to death, her concentration was elsewhere. Fortunately enough for her, the movement used to dislodge her from its back also gave her the momentum she needed to rip the thing's eyes completely from its head. Lyanin skidded across the ground, enough to knock the breath from her, but also enough to place her a good distance from the raging beast.

Looking down at the eyeballs gripped in the palms of her hands she cringed, feeling nauseous for the moment, before tossing them to the side and shaking her hands of the blood and eye goop, "That was lucky..." She muttered under her breath as she watched the bird screech and stumble around blindly... Apparently ripping the thing's eyes out was not enough to get it to stop its bloody rampage. Scrambling back to her feet, Lyanin looked around for her longbow before spotting it a few yards away... Behind the bloody glassbeak. Grunting, Lyanin scurried passed the bird, barely missing its frantic peck, to grab her longbow. Skirting around the large bird she spotted Bazdiil waiting anxiously for her.

Lyanin whistled sharply once while anxiously watching the bird and dodging its attacks, and then whistled again when Bazdiil did not respond. He approached warily, and then stopped a few yards away, his sides heaving and ears flicking back and forth anxiously. She knew he was a brave, and sometimes vicious, mount, but the sight of two glassbeaks was enough to make any smart Cyphrus Strider's heart quake just a bit. Running up to meet him, she grabbed another two arrows from her pack. Notching them to her bow, Lyanin swung the bow around and aimed for the frantically running bird.

Her arms were still slightly unsteady with the bow, but the distance was short enough that she was able to take aim and hit the bird this time. One arrow hit the thing in it's gut, and the other grazed passed its neck. This time when she advanced on the glassbeak, she swung her longbow at the things legs with all her strength, behind its knees, and watched it drop. Lyanin fell on it, grabbing a medium sized stone lying nearby. With the stone held between her hands, Lyanin pounded into the glassbeak's head as viciously as she could, small, guttural screams escaping her throat in the effort as the glassbeak screeched and tried to struggle.

Lyanin finally managed to crush the beast's skull in, stumbling away and dropping the stone from her hands in a momentary daze. Then the whine of her hunting dog came again, and she was searching frantically for the source of the noise. If the man hadn't managed to kill the glassbeak he had been fighting, she wouldn't have known... Her heart was twisting frantically, her eyes searching the grasses before she saw a ball of fur lying outside of a small hollow in the ground. Swallowing a breath of air, Lyanin ran to the hollow and knelt in front of it, her voice broken and anxious, "Iye, Iye, it is alright... Iye come out." Her hands extended, and she barely noticed the rough scratches on them from the brawl. She just wanted to see Iye.

First a black nose stuck out of the hole, and then the dog himself began to crawl out of the hollow whining, tail tucked between his legs. When he saw her he wagged his tail once and then whined lowly, a pathetic noise which tugged at her heartstrings. Holding out her arms to the animal, Lyanin spoke lowly to him, "Iye, Iye, come here." The dog complied, and as soon as he was in arms reach she pulled him against her and hugged him tightly before searching him for wounds. There was a fair amount of fur missing from his butt, and a shallow cut where the fur was missing, but it seemed he had miraculously survived the encounter moderately unscathed. She could only thank the heavens that he was fine, that his gray wiry coat had protected him somewhat. He was licking her face urgently, whining as his tail wagged frantically, and all she could do was hold him tighter, "Silly fool, should have gotten your head bit off for such a stunt."

[Drost]

Drost was absorbed in his battle with the glass beak. He had his horse circling quickly around the beast, it was letting out shrill cries of frustration as he pelted it with arrows. Two more hit it in the stomach, however those didn't seem to be stopping the beast. Drost took aim and aimed for the beasts legs, he let the shot fly and hit it in it's leg joint, the glassbeak let out a sharp shrill as it fell over. Drost pulled his horse to a stop as he placed his bow back in it's place. The glassbeak let out a pittiful shriek as Drost climed down from his horse.

The horse skirted away from the beast once Drost left it's back, Drost walked up to the disabled glassbeak. "I apologize noble beast, if you had not run into me you may have lived to see another sunrise", Drost said with a tone of melancholy. The glassbeak let out another pitiful shriek as it looked up at him, Drost pulled his short sword from it's sheath on his side. He looked into the eye of the beast that laid beneath him, too weak to defend itself. Drost stabbed down through the beasts eye and into it's head. A loud painful screech peirced the air, that was suddenly cut off as Drost made a violent twist with the sword.

"May your body nourish the other beasts of this land", Drost said as he began plucking his arrows from the creatures belly. After withdrawing all four arrows Drost walked back towards his horse. He pulled a small ammount of tarp from one of the saddle bags and used it to wipe the blood from his sword, and then do the same to the arrows. Drost put the arrows back into the quiver and his sword back into it's sheath before hopping onto the horses back and moving the horse slowly towards the woman.

As Drost approached he saw her doting over a grey dog, he also noticed her hands were covered in blood. Drost and his horse slowly trotted up to the girl.
"Are you okay?" Drost questioned as he began to climb down from his horse. He looked at the dog, which looked fine, however the girl was covered in more blood then what Drost had originally thought. Her whole body appeared to be spattered in blood, as if she had beaten something to death.

[Lyanin Kokotni]

Lyanin tugged Iye onto her lap further, burying her face in his wiry fur and pulling in a steady breath. Normally she would have stopped to pray over her fallen adversary, but her concern for her companion was far too great for her to think rationally. She pressed her lips against his coat one last time before finally pulling her head away to check her surroundings. Badziil was wearily approaching the fallen bodies of the glass beaks out of curiosity, snorting at the scent of blood, and the male who had helped her was approaching her on his horse.

Before she could stop him, Iye was lunging out at the man and his horse, snarling and gnashing his teeth. Snorting, Lyanin pushed to her feet and grabbed Iye by the scruff of his neck, lightly pulling him back and admonishing him, “Ch, ch, now you show your fight, eh Iye?” She pulled on him again when he let out another aggressive bark, scolding him now in a lowered voice, “Iye, silence! Friend, Iye, friend!” She waited until the silly dog finally picked up his favorite word, friend, before releasing him. Immediately the fearsome dog was wagging his tail ecstatically and wiggling as he approached the man and his horse.

All she could do was focus on her dog until the young man spoke, catching her attention. Tilting her head to the side in a quizzical look, she couldn’t fathom why he’d ask after her well being when she was standing so securely, “I have no idea why you ask th…” She dropped her chin and extended her arms, looking at a few of the scrapes and scratches across her arms and hands. None of the wounds were too serious, but she could see why he was looking at her so oddly. The glass beak’s blood had been splattered across her clothes and body, and when she lifted a hand to her face she could feel the slickness of it splattered across her cheeks and lips. Lya twisted her lips to the side, and released a sigh, feeling mildly ashamed, “Yes, I am well. But in need of a good washing…”

Wiping the back of her forearm across her face a few times, she got rid of most of the blood, even though the rosy color was still smeared across her coppery skin in stained patches, “I believe next town I hit, I will need a good sword… Don’t know how to use one though.” Part of this was muttered to herself under her breath, more of a reminder to herself than an addition to their conversation. Letting her eyes glance over him, she nodded her head in respect, “Respect to you, I am grateful for your aid. Are you alright?” He had blood upon him as well, but not nearly as much as she was sure she had. Her dark eyes finally latched onto his as she nodded her head, “I am Lyanin, by the by.”

[Drost]

Drost fell the last of the short distance between his horse and the ground, when the dog started snarling. He hadn't expected to be attacked by the animal he presumedly just saved. Having fallen on his ass Drost scrambled backwards away from the dog, scrambling for his weapon. However before Drost could gather himself in any attempt of defesne the animal had been calmed and was trotting around in high spirits. Drost was dumbfounded for a moment, and then bursted out laughing.

Drost began to pick himself up from the ground still chuckling softly to himself. He began to dust off the sides of his pants, dirt puffing off of them in clouds as he did so. "I have some small ammount of water, not enough to wash yourself. But it should be enough to at least rinse your hands and face", Drost said the dying laughter still in his voice. Drost reached into his saddle bags and grabbed his only waterskin, it was only about half-way full.

Drost held out the waterskin, but stayed where he was, she would have to come get the waterskin from him. "Uh which direction is it to the next town?" Drost questioned when he heard her mention something about getting a good sword in the next town. Drost's abysmal sense of direction had got him into troublesome situations on more then one occasion. He'd learned it's better to be on the right track then to be prideful.

When he finally heard the woman introduce himself he gave a small bow. "Drost Bijlage, at your service", Drost said as he bowed a little deeper giving a comical flourish to it as well. Drost was in a rather good mood now, the little falling incident with the dog had put him in good spirits. An increasingly rare thing, since the incident that had put him on his journey.

As Drost came up from his bow, Drost really saw the woman for the first time. She was quite beautiful, Drost felt embarressed, he knew that he probably looked like a scraggly homeless man. It took Drost a moment to realize that, it was a pretty accurate description, he hadn't lived in a home since he was a child and all his possesions were on a horses back. Drost mentally berated himself for a moment, although his appearance didn't show it, he shouldn't be embarressed because this girl looked good, he had more important things for his mind to be on.

[Lyanin Kokotni]

Lyanin tilted her head slightly when he offered her the water, and then shook her head furiously and frowned. Her strong hands waved in front of her in a colorful gesture of refusal, “No, water is precious, is the body of life and should not be wasted.” She realized that, once again, her strongest roots were showing through in an odd fashion. Even after living amongst the Drykas for so long, Lya remained firmly lodged in the beliefs of her mother’s people. Sighing, she wagged her finger at him, “Especially for you, if you are as human as I think.”

Unwilling to clearly state her own race, Lyanin shrugged her bought of water-saving lecture off in exchange for a more relaxed tone. It was not as if her mixed background would be evident, though her earlier comments were sure to give him the heads up that she wasn’t entirely human, “That is, there’s no need to waste your water when there is a stream just an hour north of here.” Looking up at the sun she used it as a guide as she turned her body north and pointed, then swooped her arm slightly west, “And if I have been correct in following the directions so far,” there was no need for her to state that it had been from the Ankal of the family, “then just to the east there are members of the diamond clan with a nice set up that we could go to. Further west than that is Kenash, and then the sea.” Her eyes brightened at the prospect of seeing such a huge expanse of water.

The pictures painted on pottery and the descriptions given to her of the Suvan Sea were not enough to sate her curiosity. If such a wide expanse of water truly existed, she was going to make it a point of her travels to track it down and see it for herself. Perhaps even submerge herself in the water and feel its strength course against her firm skin. Her brief encounters with maps had allowed her to see the magnitude of the lands, and how they spread far from her knowledge of Cyphrus or Eyktol. Of course she would try to return to Eyktol eventually and visit her mother’s people, though the welcome would be less than brilliant. The chance of her ever marrying or raising a family of her own was slim to none, and even more impossible if she thought of her parents’ peoples. The Chaktawe would certainly not have anything to do with a mutt, nor would the Drykas with their rigid blood lines. So she was settling with a life of adventure, and perhaps one day she would find her niche.

Reaquainting herself with the last words of her mouth she rushed to mend them, “I mean, that is if you are headed in a similar direction as I am.” Brushing off some of the grass still sticking to her clothing, she shook her head, “This land can be almost as unforgiving as the deserts of Eyktol if you are not familiar with it. Even then, the land can swallow you whole.” Lyanin turned her head and gave a sharp whistle, waiting until Badziil returned to her side, ignoring the strider’s prodding of her sides with his muzzle and disgusted snorts, “Yes, of course Badziil. Forgive me for smelling retched.”

[Drost]

Drost eyed the woman quizically when she began to rant about water. He thought about her words for a moment, if one were to think about it that conclusion could be drawn. Drost shrugged, then opened the water skin and took a drink, he then capped it and put it back in the saddle bags. Her comment about him being human, gave Drost pause for a moment. Then Drost remembered that he was in the Cyphrus region and the Drykas weren't technically human.

"I can see your point about water, I almost died once in the Eyktol Desert because I was careful enough with my water. However outside of there it usually isn't too hard to find water", Drost said simply. However as he remebered his trip into the Eyktol Desert, Drost's face grew dark as he remembered the events that had led up to his fateful trip into the desert. Drost's fist curled and his knuckles grew white as the wizards mind flashed through his head.

It took Drost a moment to remember that he was in the presence of another and he snapped out of it rather quickly. He came back right as the woman asked if he was heading in a simmilar direction, she sounded slightly nervous as if she had said something presumptious. "Oh well uh. . . . Which direction are you going again?" Drost question as he spun around trying to spot some hint of civilization, all he saw was the endless plains of grass.