1st of Spring, 515 AV
They had come to a stop to rest for the evening. Syna hung low in the sky though there was likely still some time left before darkness overtook the Sea of Grass. Seeing the whole of the migrant city of Endrykas on the move was impressive. The Drykas people were well accustomed to packing up and drifting through the Sea of Grass to settle in a new location. He had arrived in the city the season prior, accompanying Caelum as the Ethaefal had business with the Drykas. Aoren had been happy to come but he had journeyed to Endrykas for his own reasons. He had come in search of his family. He had found only brief mentions of them but had never had the privilege of actually meeting them in person. What he had found was the truth that the Drykas lived a simple albeit passionate life.
They were not a people of great castles and rigorous moral discipline like the knights of Syliras. They were not the refined and glorious scholars of Zeltiva. They were certainly not the towering Akalak. No, the Drykas were possessed of a much different strength than anything Aoren had experienced. The women reminded him of the Earth. All that he’d observed told him they were nurturing but strong. They were the backbone of the family in that they raised the children and tended the homes. The men were friendly and powerful serving as hunters and warriors. Everyone had a place. Everything had a purpose.
From somewhere deep within him a part of Aoren ached to be a part of that.
How could he though?
To be a Drykas meant being part of a family. It meant upholding one’s duty to a Clan. Aoren had no clan. At least, there was no clan that would accept him until such time as he was a true Drykas. That meant bonding with a strider. It was frustrating to know that the whole of his life had been spent knowing nothing about his people and now that he was among them, with them, he was no closer than when he’d started. Isikai padded up beside him nudging his leg. Aoren pat the dog fondly. Sighing heavily he looked down to the mark that glistened upon the back of his right hand.
“Where do I go from here?”
Where indeed? Around him the people accompanying the great caravan were beginning to set up their camps to rest after a full day’s travel. The Drykas were dismounting from their horses guiding them into the grass that they might graze peacefully. The great plain was a dangerous place but Aoren was certain that the guardsmen who protected the Drykas people as a whole had done well their job of scouting. He looked down to Isikai nodding his head in the direction of the grass. He would find Caelum and the others soon enough. For the moment though he needed to clear his head of a few things.
“Come on.”
Stepping into the grass, Aoren hung his head in thought. An air of disappointment touched him. He had many hopes upon arriving to Endrykas during the Winter. He supposed he shouldn’t have been too hopeful. Cyphrus was a vast region of the world, his family could have been anywhere. He just found it hard to believe that in the whole of his time among his father’s people, he’d met none of them.
“What did you expect? To be welcomed home with a roar and a cheer? That’s not realistic, Aoren.”
Still, part of him had dreamt for the longest time that upon finding his people there would have been more. The truth of the matter was that none of them gave him a second glance. He was an outsider. That made his passing through the tent city that much more difficult. There were obviously things they would not share with him. There were places he couldn’t go. It was frustrating. Quietly he came to a patch of the grass a fair distance away from the striders that were grazing. There was something unique about the care of horses. Aoren had seen the staff at the Sanctuary at work often enough and even participated in some of that work when he wasn’t doing other chores around the complex.
They had come to a stop to rest for the evening. Syna hung low in the sky though there was likely still some time left before darkness overtook the Sea of Grass. Seeing the whole of the migrant city of Endrykas on the move was impressive. The Drykas people were well accustomed to packing up and drifting through the Sea of Grass to settle in a new location. He had arrived in the city the season prior, accompanying Caelum as the Ethaefal had business with the Drykas. Aoren had been happy to come but he had journeyed to Endrykas for his own reasons. He had come in search of his family. He had found only brief mentions of them but had never had the privilege of actually meeting them in person. What he had found was the truth that the Drykas lived a simple albeit passionate life.
They were not a people of great castles and rigorous moral discipline like the knights of Syliras. They were not the refined and glorious scholars of Zeltiva. They were certainly not the towering Akalak. No, the Drykas were possessed of a much different strength than anything Aoren had experienced. The women reminded him of the Earth. All that he’d observed told him they were nurturing but strong. They were the backbone of the family in that they raised the children and tended the homes. The men were friendly and powerful serving as hunters and warriors. Everyone had a place. Everything had a purpose.
From somewhere deep within him a part of Aoren ached to be a part of that.
How could he though?
To be a Drykas meant being part of a family. It meant upholding one’s duty to a Clan. Aoren had no clan. At least, there was no clan that would accept him until such time as he was a true Drykas. That meant bonding with a strider. It was frustrating to know that the whole of his life had been spent knowing nothing about his people and now that he was among them, with them, he was no closer than when he’d started. Isikai padded up beside him nudging his leg. Aoren pat the dog fondly. Sighing heavily he looked down to the mark that glistened upon the back of his right hand.
“Where do I go from here?”
Where indeed? Around him the people accompanying the great caravan were beginning to set up their camps to rest after a full day’s travel. The Drykas were dismounting from their horses guiding them into the grass that they might graze peacefully. The great plain was a dangerous place but Aoren was certain that the guardsmen who protected the Drykas people as a whole had done well their job of scouting. He looked down to Isikai nodding his head in the direction of the grass. He would find Caelum and the others soon enough. For the moment though he needed to clear his head of a few things.
“Come on.”
Stepping into the grass, Aoren hung his head in thought. An air of disappointment touched him. He had many hopes upon arriving to Endrykas during the Winter. He supposed he shouldn’t have been too hopeful. Cyphrus was a vast region of the world, his family could have been anywhere. He just found it hard to believe that in the whole of his time among his father’s people, he’d met none of them.
“What did you expect? To be welcomed home with a roar and a cheer? That’s not realistic, Aoren.”
Still, part of him had dreamt for the longest time that upon finding his people there would have been more. The truth of the matter was that none of them gave him a second glance. He was an outsider. That made his passing through the tent city that much more difficult. There were obviously things they would not share with him. There were places he couldn’t go. It was frustrating. Quietly he came to a patch of the grass a fair distance away from the striders that were grazing. There was something unique about the care of horses. Aoren had seen the staff at the Sanctuary at work often enough and even participated in some of that work when he wasn’t doing other chores around the complex.
