Chapter 14-4

Almonihah headed towards the mountains across the plains. As he traveled, he had a lot of time to reflect, both on his time with the wolves and on other matters. He was rather surprised to find that he had truly learned much from the pack. He... looked a bit differently at the world, now. Being with the wolves had made him realize... something. Or maybe some things. It was hard to put into words exactly what it was. Just... how many different ways there were to think of life, perhaps.

Part of his new way of looking at the world was watching just how the different animals lived their lives. Of course, during his time with Zrathanzon, he had learned a lot about the behaviors and such of different animals, but it had been from the perspective of an outsider, not as one trying to see through their eyes.

Almonihah could tell that summer was starting to turn to autumn as he reached the mountains. The heat of summer was not yet gone, but there was a hint of coolness in the wind.

His path led him up one of the mountains. The half-dragon had always enjoyed the exertion and challenge of climbing mountains, and that certainly had not changed. He did, however, note just how many other things lived on the rocky slopes he traversed.

It took him a couple of days to reach the top of the mountain. This one was not so high that it had snow at this time of year, but the half-dragon could feel the chill in the air, and guess at how thin it was from his breathing. He looked back for a moment at the great plains, and all they contained, then turned to the way he would go. There was a sheltered valley on the other side of the peak he stood on, still green despite the hot, dry times of the late summer. Some mountain streams from the taller, still snow-capped peaks must feed into it.

As he descended into the valley, Almonihah noticed a number of eagles flying over it. After watching for a few minutes, he realized that they must nest somewhere down the mountainside from where he now was.

It took the half-dragon a few hours to reach their nests. Following the same impulse that had lead him here, he carefully made his way right up to one until he stood only a few feet away from it. The eagle who was presently roosting there glanced up at him, caught his eye for a moment, then went back to preening its feathers. Almonihah snorted softly. Looked like he was supposed to be here.

The half-dragon could not fly with the eagles, though a part of him longed to do so. Regardless, he stayed up near the nests for almost a week, though he had to spend a fair amount of time hunting and foraging for food and water. The rest of the time, he watched and he thought, trying to see the world through the eyes of the eagles.

Soon enough, he knew it was time to move on. He descended into the valley, then headed south. His path took him back out of the valley and down into another, again and again as he made his way south.

******

This section was a bit hard to put into words. Also, Almonihah doesn't quite want to talk about everything he did, so if it seems vague, that's why.