The Shepherd's Life (Solo)

[Eshatoh]

20th Day of Spring 511

It was far too early to be awake. Eshatoh had of course been waking up this early for a week, but he wasn't yet used to it. In the desert the only reason to wake up early was to hunt certain creatures, and that wasn't an everyday occurrence. The first day he had been awoken, he had almost punched the man waking him up. What possible reason could anybody have to wake up before the sun was even starting to think about rising?

But he had risen. And he had started to learn the art of shepherding. It wasn't something that required a lot of energy, but in its own way it was difficult. Eshatoh had thought he knew animals. He had been taught the habits of the desert hare. He had learned scent of one of the desert's few scrawny cows. He had studied the imprints left by the paws, claws, or belly of every creature that crawled through Eyktol.

Knowing how to find and kill a creature is not the same thing as knowing how to control it.