2nd Day of Summer, 519 A.V.
The land was hers.
It was an incredible feeling, Kelski thought, as she looked out from the outcrop she stood on near the western edge of The Empyreal Demesne. It seemed like a fancy name, but she loved its meaning and seemed suitable for a Kelvic Sea Eagle. The point she wanted to name after her own kind stretched out before her as she watched the sun rise on the second day in this amazing place. Her companions had managed to make it through the night without incident. The Pavilion was up, though not as organized as it should be with all their significant supplies stowed where living space should be.
Later on they’d find some way to stow the rest of it elsewhere, someplace still defensible, but freeing up the living space they needed to have while they were building. For right now, it wasn’t about comfort though. It was about security and the food stores and staples needed to be secured. It seemed such a daunting task, but Kelski considered The Midnight Gem and Barn her children, and they needed appropriate homes to reside in before she set them loose on the world again. Barn would become a dock and boat house… not something that housed animals. Kelski would birth a new Architectrix for that purpose unless The Gem wanted to contain the animals within as well. The Arch had already made the case for it, and she’d listened well and promised she’d consider the options.
There was so much to do, so much to see, and the Kelvic sighed thinking of the weight of the responsibility of it all. What was she really doing here? Just a few short seasons ago she was wearing a collar and doing the bidding of a spoiled unmotivated gluttonous son of the Sun’s Birth gang. But now she was free. And this was her choice. She could have stayed in Sunberth and slowly rotted away with the rest of the city, or she could have flown the decay and found someplace better to nest.
Kelski took a deep breath, gave herself a shake, and closed her eyes to the wind that tossed her ombre hair about her shoulders as if it were a living thing. The Sea Eagle knew she should get busy, but she was enjoying watching the sun rise far too much.
She was about to start her work for the day when she was joined by another quiet stoic presence. The blonde man had made his way up the trail to her position and stood beside her watching the color bleed into the sky alongside her. He said nothing. Kelski hadn’t known him long, but he had seemed quiet as if not quite sure what to say to her or not willing to break the silences she often pulled about her like an intangible cloak.
The Sea Eagle offered him a smile. “I’m still surprised you came with us. I’m glad you did, but the world out here looks so much bigger than it did in that city. Sunberth often reminds me of some giant monstrous corpse decaying along the shore and her citizens the beetles crawling about her dead flesh consuming her from within. I wouldn’t wait to leave. I can breathe here. Do you feel the promise on the wind?” Kelski asked, looking down and over to the east, surveying the land Vasin had cleared and their little camp. It was just a beginning, but they had already accomplished so much.
For some reason, she didn’t want silence between the two of them now that the sky was fully light. “I was going to walk the twenty acres. I was going to see what predator sign I could find and see if I could ferret out what resources were here. I know we can grow food here, raise livestock, and support ourselves. I think we can even make a great profit doing other things. Gilthas says Sylira is rife with artifacts and things that hold a whisper of the past; things of power. I would like to find some of them, figure out how they were made, and recapture some of the magic the past lost. That will take work too. But Vasin wants to explore. And my gemcutting will help tremendously. We could build a business here, and a very good life if we decide too. All of us. I can’t do it alone. I’ve learned from my time in Sunberth that one person can’t stand alone and stand strong. But a group… a group can do amazing things.” Kelski said, turning to study Dess’ expression at what she said.
He always looked so serene; so impassive. His half smile and sedate calm demeanor didn’t fool her. She always felt like she was in the presence of another predator, perhaps a big cat like Ebon or Alexander though he certainly wasn’t a Kelvic like they were. He moved like one though, with deliberate ease and practiced laziness. But at the same time, he worked hard, and she hadn’t heard a single complaint from him the previous day. The Sea Eagle hadn’t known him long enough to understand him at all. She sensed no malice from him, but then again, there was no benevolence either.
Kelski had a million questions but she was smart and shrewd. Dess would not volunteer anything to her before he was ready to. She knew that without a shadow of a doubt. And she bet he was every bit as smart and calculating as she was. But why was he here? Why had he come with them? Kelski had freed him and made it a point to say he could do what he wanted. Dess was under no obligation to stay with The Midnight Gem people or even with her.
The Kelvic reached up and impatiently gathered her wayward hair to the nape of her neck and twisted it into a quick knot. She glanced around, noting it was light enough to get going. “Would you like to join me?” She asked instead of asking all the other questions that were in her eyes. It gave her some satisfaction that his long hair was being tangled by the wind up here just as much as hers had been. He seemed unmoved by it though, as if he paid it no mind because it had no importance.
Kelski was intrigued and quietly waited for his answer.