Where the Horizon Begins

[Lyanin Kokotni]

Lyanin listened to his story and decided that revealing her heritage wasn’t something that mattered in keeping herself distant. If he knew what she was, it didn’t matter much, unless he was one of those humans that killed the Chaktawe to harvest their organs for water. Even if he was, he’d be risking a chance that she had not inherited that organ from her mother’s blood, though she had. Running a hand down Badziil’s silky neck, she commented off handedly, “My mother raised me in Eyktol, so I know how harsh the land is there. For you, it must have been very difficult.” Looking out across the land she felt a small tug at her heart, the lingering memories of her childhood sinking into her flesh again, “You are right in saying that there is much water outside of Eyktol, but it was not always so. That land used to be nourished by rivers and streams as well, but now that sacred source has become mostly hidden there. Do not assume what is plentiful will always be so.”

She had learned this lesson herself, though not from living through the drying of her mother’s peoples lands. Her lesson had come through emotional struggles, ones which had both strengthened her and cut her off from others. Her mother’s love for her had been plentiful, but that had dried up like the land around her. Her community had been abundant with the Chaktawe, but she had been cast out. Her life followed that pattern religiously, never straying in its attempts to drill the lesson into her heart. Even her Drykas father could not love her completely, nor protect her from the cruelty of his people. For many years Lyanin had been hurt by the lack of love in her life, but soon she began to shift her perceptions and meditate on the matter. The bulk of her life thus far had been ridden with pain and suffering, not because it was punishment for her mixed blood or birth as some had told her.

Those struggles had been dripped along her path like small puddles of water leading to the stream of life, to something better. While she fought tooth and nail to get passed all of the problems in her life, she was approaching her true purpose, her most pure self. Her life was aiming towards something larger than what she’d been through, something better, so the gods were planting strife along the path to strengthen her resolve. Looking towards Drost, she assessed his presence in her life at the moment. Could he be the next heart ache? Or perhaps the gods would grant her with a companion, friend or something like it.

Brushing the stray strands of hair away from her face, Lyanin restated her earlier tentative route, “I don’t have much direction at the moment, to be honest. Just following water sources,” one hand worked the hair tie out of her hair before releasing the rest of her dark hair from the braid, “I was saying a little east, towards a Diamond clan settlement. They have expert craftsmen who could fashion a sword of some sort for me. And from there, likely west towards the great waters.” The ghost of a smile flitted across her solemn features as she looked west, her voice soft upon her next comment, “I imagine it would be quite wondrous to see such a thing.”