Hoofbeats ring with the sharp thunder of stone-on-stone as Ryshadium and rider gallop across the plains. Theirs is not a breakneck run; the storm is still far, far away, and they have time to make it back to the warcamps.
The two of them don’t need this ride, not when just a few days ago they and the army had beaten Thanadal and the Parshendi both to a gemheart, but Adolin had wanted to. There is nothing quite like the feeling of synchronizing with Sureblood, of reading the lay of the land and guiding the massive horse with a mere touch of heel or rein and adjusting his body to the rhythm of the run, as sure as if it is his own feet on the ground as he whirls through the ever-shifting tempo of a fight. It is an exhilaration, and one Adolin desperately wants before the arrival of the highstorm that the stormwardens predicted would hit today.
He prefers the Midpeace, even the Weeping, for though he does not mind the highstorms themselves, he hates being forced inside like a prisoner.
It is one thing to choose to stay inside, another entirely to be shut in as the continued confinement chafes like bonds over every inch of your skin.
Sureblood’s great huff and an out-of-place tug against the reins in his hands directs Adolin’s attention over to a spot of color that stands out against the earthen tones of the plateaus — soft pink and silver-grey, and textures too soft to be anything out before a storm, especially when all of the plants have already ensconced themselves within their shells and burrows by this point.
“What in Damnation…?” He’s already turning Sureblood in the direction the Ryshadium pointed out, curious and also alarmed — even a normal horse should be able to get back to safety given the distance of the storm, but a person on foot? Alone?
Whoever they were — merchant, deserter, someone hopelessly, haplessly lost — they wouldn’t stand a chance out here when the highstorm hit.
“Ho, stranger!” They’d likely startle as the war-drum beats of a creature with hooves bigger than their head barreled up next to them, but he’s doing it anyway, Sureblood kicking up small chips of stone and his head held high, snorting a blast of air as the Ryshadium pulled up to a halt next to the person — a woman? “I’m not sure what your business is out here, but it and you are going to be strewn halfway from here to Jah Keved if you’re caught out in the storm.
So focused is Enna on the coming storm and the sure, steady gait of the beasts she watches, most sounds muted by her soft humming, that she feels more than hears the heavy beats of an approaching someone or something. The world is so unfamiliar to her, doesn’t know what sounds mean something and what are entirely innocuous, and perhaps it is the comfort of immortality that keeps her from being overly concerned about, well, anything.
The call from the stranger startles her slightly, and her head whips to the side, only to come face to face (leg?) with a giant horse. She has seen these creatures before, has added them to her own worlds, modeling them after the ones from her home world, but she has never seen one of this size. “Incredible,” she says softly, the word barely a whisper, and she almost reaches out to touch the beast, ideas forming in her mind. Something of this size could rival her friend Odin’s horse, six-legged and massive. Oh, Odin would be so unamused with such competition!
Her thoughts almost make her laugh, but then she hears the stranger speaking again and she turns to look up - up, oh my, up - at the man seated atop the mount. Deep skin and bright eyes, and her heart leaps at such a creation. Oh, the gods of this world have such wonderful aesthetic - and what a sense of humor, all these creatures crawling the rocky plains, big and lumbering.
“A ride?” she asks, and the offer of a ride back to wherever he came from is tempting. To be able to see more of this world and its people, pick up some inspiration along the way - amazing opportunity! Her eyes turn back to where the storm is brewing on the horizon, and she purses her lips. “I’d hate to miss the storm, and I have such a good seat. Is there a good vantage point where you’re from? Maybe something higher up?”
andulkaphoto
ellievsbear
jacobvanloon
stormborns
