I'm heavy metal, I'm hollow wood
He had never before had a world that was large enough for travel: how long did it take to cross the Hollowed Grounds on foot?
Not long enough.
On horseback?
Even less long.
Rory had been everywhere within the barrier's destructive ring, and after the storming of the Spire, even at its deadly center: the one part of his world he had been denied. For so long he had had lethal walls, no actual concept of anything bigger, wider, wilder. How can you long for something you do not understand? How can you want something that you cannot even hold in your mind? How do you know how caged you are, when you have never known anything else?
It was not strange that he had been frightened.
"Tsk," he teased gently, smiling at his dog and scratching her cheeks, "such vanity." Oh, he knew full well what Jigano meant—the disasters of the past Fiat Lux were fresh in the minds of most, but...
But that was the life he was used to: unpredictable, suddenly violent, suddenly deadly. Even though the Spire Demon had had clear rules, other, dark things lurked, and there was LongNight...
And he became acutely aware of how little he knew of the wider world. In this corner of Caido he was an expert, a professional, competent and capable in his niche of goat-raising and farming. But what did he know of traveling? Of how to barter with strangers? Of anything?
He was momentarily daunted, sighed and let go of Ella's sweet face. She keened softly and nudged his wrist, as if asking if she had done something wrong, and he comforted her with a mumbled don't worry, girl and a hand in her ruff. "I suppose," he said quietly, looking beyond his loyal dog. "And I suppose you travel better on your own four feet, mh?"
Not long enough.
On horseback?
Even less long.
Rory had been everywhere within the barrier's destructive ring, and after the storming of the Spire, even at its deadly center: the one part of his world he had been denied. For so long he had had lethal walls, no actual concept of anything bigger, wider, wilder. How can you long for something you do not understand? How can you want something that you cannot even hold in your mind? How do you know how caged you are, when you have never known anything else?
It was not strange that he had been frightened.
"Tsk," he teased gently, smiling at his dog and scratching her cheeks, "such vanity." Oh, he knew full well what Jigano meant—the disasters of the past Fiat Lux were fresh in the minds of most, but...
But that was the life he was used to: unpredictable, suddenly violent, suddenly deadly. Even though the Spire Demon had had clear rules, other, dark things lurked, and there was LongNight...
And he became acutely aware of how little he knew of the wider world. In this corner of Caido he was an expert, a professional, competent and capable in his niche of goat-raising and farming. But what did he know of traveling? Of how to barter with strangers? Of anything?
He was momentarily daunted, sighed and let go of Ella's sweet face. She keened softly and nudged his wrist, as if asking if she had done something wrong, and he comforted her with a mumbled don't worry, girl and a hand in her ruff. "I suppose," he said quietly, looking beyond his loyal dog. "And I suppose you travel better on your own four feet, mh?"
just shy of greatness, ah, ah
