Chapter 14-2

Almonihah walked north, deep in thought. When he'd discussed going on a Vision Quest with Owl Talon, he'd asked where he would go on it. The old shaman had answered only that he would know. The odd thing was, somehow, he did. He didn't know where exactly he was going or what he would find, but the half-dragon was certain that for now, he was supposed to head north.

Just living was harder as he traveled. Zithrandrak wasn't exactly a good hunting weapon, and there weren't a lot of plants on the plains that had edible parts. However, Zrathanzon had taught him some techniques for situations in which he'd lost his equipment, and if though they were difficult and slow compared to bow-hunting, they still worked well enough.

Almonihah was just looking for a spot to lay down for the night several days after leaving the Griffon Tribe when he saw a big, gray wolf looking at him. He paused for a moment, trying to decide if she was a threat, and decided she was not. He was about to turn away when he realized that she was still looking at him. There seemed to be an almost expectant air about the wolf, as if she was waiting for something.

He met her eyes. They held each other's gaze for a few moments, then the big wolf turned towards the north. Then she looked back over her shoulder at Almonihah, as if to see if he was following. He stood for a moment, then started after her. Once she was satisfied that the half-dragon was, indeed, following, she started walking north, towards the nearby forest. After a minute or two, her walk turned into a trot, and then a run, and Almonihah found himself pushing himself as hard as he could to keep up.

She didn't slow when she reached the forest.

He lost sight of the wolf not long after entering the forest. Almonihah kept going the way she'd been heading, hoping he could catch up again, but there was no way he could plunge between trees and under fallen logs the way she had. His pace was just starting to flag when he felt something bump his back. He turned just in time to see the wolf shoot past him, flicking him with her tail as she passed. Almonihah grumbled under his breath as he chased after.

The half-dragon wasn't sure how long he followed the wolf, sometimes losing sight of her, sometimes catching sight of her looking back at him with an expression that he was sure meant she was laughing at him. Finally, she darted through some thick undergrowth. Almonihah growled mentally, since he was too out of breath to do so out loud, and broke through it.

He came out into a large clearing to find himself ringed by wolves. The one he'd been chasing was standing next to an even larger male, looking at the half-dragon with that same amused expression. The wolves surrounding him seemed... expectant, somehow, as if they'd known somehow he was coming and were now waiting to see what would happen.

The big male, however, wasn't waiting for anything. He stepped forward, growling low in his throat, as he sized up this creature that had entered his territory. Defiantly, Almonihah growled back, crouching down a bit, poised to move in any direction. Slowly, the wolf circled him, and he started circling as well. As he did, the half-dragon's mind worked furiously, trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing here. It was clear the female had led him here, and that was not an ordinary thing for a wolf to do.

He thought back on the tales of Vision Quests Owl Talon had told him. Most involved animals behaving in unusual ways... often, the quester would speak with the animals, and the animals would speak back. Somehow Almonihah knew instinctively that this was not the case here. What was he...

The wolf leaped forward, jaws snapping. Almonihah sidestepped, but didn't strike back. While the tales sometimes involved fighting beasts, they were always animals or monsters that were tainted or evil somehow, and while this wolf had just tried to bite him, that didn't make him evil. Instead, it seemed he had more just been testing Almonihah, as he returned now to his slow circling.

So what was he supposed to do? He'd obviously been led here, first by just a feeling, and then by that female... hmmm... what was the purpose of what was going on now? It was kind of like... the big male wanted to establish... dominance over him? Almonihah knew something of wolves, and he had a vague idea that the lead wolf did that to other wolves in his pack. So was this whole thing to establish Almonihah's place in the pack?

“Hey,” Almonihah growled at the wolf still circling him, “I'll travel with you, hunt with you... but I'm not one of you. You will not command me. Got it?”

The big wolf seemed unimpressed, instead lunging again at the half-dragon. Again, Almonihah dodged the attack, but did not strike back. This time the wolf tried again, and then once more, to bite him, but the half-dragon was too quick, and his teeth snapped on empty air.

And then, suddenly, the wolf relaxed and quit growling. This time, he approached Almonihah slowly, his eyes watchful, but with no intent to harm. Slowly Almonihah relaxed as well, allowing the lead male to near him. He neared the half-dragon, and then sniffed him, taking in the creature's odd scent, the dry smell of a lizard, with a faint trace of ozone, and a hint of man. Suddenly it seemed that the whole pack joined in, and Almonihah found himself surrounded and jostled by a number of eager wolves and their noses. He supposed this meant he'd been accepted, and the pack was getting to know the smell of its newest not-quite-member.

Well, all except one. As he was twisting and turning, trying to keep his feet as some of the more enthusiastic wolves pushed their way around him, Almonihah noted the big female still standing apart from the bustle, watching him.

She still looked like she was laughing at him.

******

So, perfectly ordinary wolf pack, right? Okay, not really. Exactly what was going on with these wolves, I'm not sure. I have my suspicions, but... *Shrugs*

In other news... I'm going to try to update regularly from now on. Once a week on Saturday, to be exact. But, I'm more likely to hold myself to that if someone else lets me know they're holding me to it. So if I miss a week, bug me about it!

One other thing. I think I've forgotten to mention that Almonihah does still have that symbol of Naishia with him.

Chapter 14-1

Chapter 14: Vision

Having a goal in mind made the time pass swiftly. Indeed, it seemed the winter snows came and went in the blink of an eye, until Almonihah found himself standing at the edge of the village, saying farewell to the Griffon Tribe. Because he did not expect to return, the Ranger made gifts to the villagers of his equipment. His longsword he entrusted to Griffon Heart, who accepted it solemnly and voiced his thanks. His other things he distributed to the rest of the tribe as he would.

At last, he came to Owl Talon. All Almonihah had left was a small bag. He handed it to the old Plainsman and said, gruffly, “Here. Figure you can do something with 't.”

Glancing in it, the shaman could see that it contained a variety of dried herbs. With a gentle nod and a smile, he said, “I believe I can, young dragon.” Closing the bag and straightening, he continued, speaking this time to be heard by all, “And now I have a gift for you, young Almonihah Zrathanzon. As you will likely not return to us at the end of your quest, I would give you your name now.”

“The name I give to you, and the name you shall be known by among all the Tribe of the Griffon, is Thunder Heart.”

The unusual declaration, as well as the unusual name, caused a bit of whispered conversation among the assembled tribespeople. Almonihah, however, simply murmured, “Thunder Heart,” to himself, thinking it over.

“And there is one last thing I would say to you,” Owl Talon said, more quietly. He took the half-dragon aside, far enough that no one else could hear, then said, “There are many reasons for your name, but I would have you think on this.”

“Two wolves dwell in you. One hunts eternally for the thrill of the kill. The other hunts only to eat, and fights only to protect.” The old shaman paused for a moment, leaning forward slightly and reaching up to place his hand on Almonihah's shoulder. “Have a care which one you feed, young dragon.”

After another moment of silence, Owl Talon returned to the watching Plainsmen. Almonihah looked back at them, nodded in farewell, and then turned North, walking off with only Zithrandrak to accompany him.

*******

Yeah, I stole the whole "two wolves" thing from a Church News. So what. At least I gave it credit. In seriousness, though, it was just one of those times when I read something and said, "That fits Almonihah perfectly". So it ended up in his history.

Other than that, now we get to Almonihah's Vision Quest. Expect the next couple sections to involve... unusual events. Of course, this is Draezoln, so it's only unusual to us.

Chapter 13-3

Almonihah didn't leave the village, but neither did he particularly feel like staying. He tried to figure out why he wasn't going anywhere as he aimlessly wandered through the days and weeks. It wasn't as if he really wanted to live in a place like this... while he'd grown to respect the Griffon Tribe's ways during his time with them, the idea of staying in one area and doing the same routine year after year just grated on him.

At the same time, he finally admitted to himself late in the autumn, he didn't really have anywhere he wanted to go. He'd been thinking about going south to the Line, but in all honesty, that had just been for lack of a better idea. No, he didn't want to go somewhere he'd be stuck for a while doing the same thing every day, whether here with the tribe or south at the Line. So... basically, he wanted to go anywhere, but there wasn't anywhere he wanted to go.

He snorted at his own thoughts.

The first snows were falling when he finally realized what he'd wanted to do for the last several months. The tribe was gathered to hear a tale from Owl Talon, as was apparently their tradition when the first snow fell. As many of their tales did, it related the story of a young man on his Vision Quest, and the many experiences he had during it.

After the tale was done, Almonihah was able to catch up with Owl Talon out of sight and hearing of the other Plainsmen. The old shaman turned and looked up at the half-dragon with one of his mysterious smiles.

“Is there something you wish, young dragon?” he asked.

Almonihah was quiet for a while, trying to decide how to approach the subject. Finally, he asked, “How d' you go on a Vision Quest?”

Owl Talon nodded, as if this was the most natural question in the world... or one he'd been expecting for a long time. “First, I would have you understand that most Vision Quests are not nearly so dramatic as those in our tales.” He waited for Almonihah's nod before continuing. “To begin a Vision Quest, the young man in question must leave behind all of his possessions except a single weapon.”

Almonihah nodded. That much he'd been able to pick up from the stories.

“After that, he must leave the village until he knows it is time to return. Although,” Owl Talon paused, “You most likely will not be returning to us for quite some time. Regardless, he must then travel out into the wilds, and there... follow the direction of the Earth Mother.”

The half-dragon nodded slowly. “'nd you leave in th' Spring.”

Owl Talon nodded.

“Guess I'm here until then.”

*****'

The end of Chapter 13! Yeah, in future revisions, I'm pretty sure chapters 12 and 13 will be condensed into one short chapter.

So, thing should pick back up after this. Hopefully I'll write more now, since the next part is much more interesting.

Chapter 13-2

Almonihah did, indeed, leave with the hunting party the next morning. It was a group of about twenty Plainsmen, along with a few Plainswomen. They were quite glad to have the half-dragon along, though it was clear to him that they still maintained some of the superstitious awe that nearly the whole tribe had showed towards him when he first arrived. By now, Almonihah had more or less learned to ignore it, but it still bothered him just a bit.

The made camp not far from the North Forest, and then set out to hunt. Some days they hunted the plains, searching for the great herds that traveled the area. Almonihah found that, while he was competent enough, there was still much he could learn from the Plainsmen about the Plains and the beasts that wandered it. Some days, the hunted the Forest, and then it was the Ranger who was the teacher, and the Plainsmen the learners.

The time passed swiftly. Soon, several weeks had passed, and the days were no longer so long. The herds were moving south, and the Plainsmen returned to their village. Almonihah went with them, still not quite certain where else he wished to go.

Owl Talon met the half-dragon when the hunting party returned to the village. “I see you have returned to us,” the old Plainsman said, a bit of a mysterious smile in his tone and on his face.

Almonihah's response was a nod and a grunt.

The Shaman nodded as well, as if he had been expecting that precise response. “Perhaps you will remain with us through the winter? Already it is fall, and the first snows will come not long from now.”

“Maybe,” was the half-dragon's terse reply.

******

A short section, but at least I'm posting something! I debated back and forth and decided I'd just keep this short. No real need to get into specifics with this section. That, and I want to get done with this chapter to get to the next one, since half of this chapter's reason for existence is next chapter.

Chapter 13-1

Chapter 13: Wisdom

Almonihah wasn't really thinking about his little encounter with Owl Talon during the night when he awakened. The Plainsmen rose with the sun, just as Almonihah usually did. The half-dragon started looking for the Chief once it seemed like the village was awake. He was intercepted by a young Plainsman whose job was apparently to make sure the honored guest had breakfast. He assured the honored guest that he would help Almonihah find the Chief after he had discharged that duty. He wasn't in any particular hurry to talk with Griffon Heart, so Almonihah agreed.

After a breakfast of bison meat and some simple cakes of wheat flour, his Plainsman guide took him to the Chief, who apparently customarily had people come to him at this hour. He had to wait for a bit while he talked with a woman about something—about her son hunting or something—and then the Chief turned his attention to Almonihah.

“I trust that you found nothing amiss with our hospitality?” He asked.

Almonihah shook his head. “Just wanted t' talk t' you about what 'm going t' be doing while 'm here.”

Griffon Heart nodded. “You had something in mind?”

“Yeah. I was thinking about going with th' next group 'f hunters you send t'wards th' North Forest. See 'f I can teach them about some 'f the dangers of th' Forest they don't know about.”

The Chief nodded again. “Our people do not often venture into the Forest, largely because of the dangers you speak of. However, I am certain that some of our hunters would be glad to learn from you. It will, however, be at least a moon before another hunting group journeys to the north. What will you do until then?”

Almonihah thought for a bit. He hadn't really considered the fact that he might have to wait for a bit.

Eventually, he just shrugged. “Not sure.”

Griffon Heart laughed. “Well, I doubt that doing nothing would sit well with you...”

The Ranger shook his head. Sitting around doing nothing was not something he'd ever been fond of. Especially after being in Galindakherithan's lair.

“Perhaps you could observe our way of life for a time and see if there is something you wish to do,” The Chief suggested.

“Might's well,” was Almonihah's response.

Almonihah spent the next weeks among the people of the tribe, wandering from place to place. While at first most of the Plainsmen still treated him with superstitious awe, they slowly—with Almonihah's stubborn insistence—stopped referring to him as the “Great Thunder Spirit”. The half-dragon could swear that some of them were still watching him when he wasn't looking, waiting for him to sprout wings, fly up into the air, and summon a thunderstorm, or whatever it was a Thunder Spirit was supposed to do, but at least they weren't doing it while he was looking any more.

One thing the Ranger noted as he wandered the village was that there were many more Plainswomen than Plainsmen in the village. Eventually, he discovered that most of the men were out in one of the tribe's hunting camps, following the various herds of the Great Plains. Not long after he asked about this, one of the hunting groups returned, bringing hides and preserved meats. There was a flurry of activity in the village for the next few days, and then another group left to hunt, and the village settled back down into its normal routine.

What struck Almonihah the most about the Plainsmen's way of life was how... different it was from that of the men in the villages along the Gold Road. While he couldn't quite put his finger on what the difference was, he knew it was there. It was something in the feel of the village...

The last thing that Almonihah noticed was how many times Owl Talon 'just happened' to run into him. After what seemed like the hundredth time that this happened, Almonihah just had to say something.

“Don't you have anything better t' do than follow me around?” The half-dragon growled at Owl Talon.

The Plainsman laughed his soft, gentle laugh at Almonihah's question. “Follow you?” he asked. “Whatever gave you that impression?”

“Can't go anywhere without tripping over you,” was Almonihah's gruff response.

“It is, as you have seen, a small village,” the old Plainsman replied, spreading his arms out with a bit of a grin. “It would be more of a surprise if I did not encounter you.”

The half-dragon grumbled something under his breath, but decided it wasn't worth the effort to argue.

Almonihah did find himself visiting Owl Talon more often as time went on. While the old Plainsman's habit of being 'mysterious' did annoy Almonihah, he found that, once he got past that, the old man did actually know a lot. What they talked about most, however, were the stories of the Griffon Tribe.

Almonihah wasn't quite certain how they first got on that subject, but once it came up, it seemed completely natural that every conversation they had would involve one of the Griffon Tribe's traditional tales. The first time it happened, he listened through the story without too much thought, just treating it as something kind of interesting, but of no import. It was only later that he realized that there was meaning to the story. Not meaning like some children's tale that had a moral at the end, but meaning in how the characters viewed and interacted with the world around them. It was a way of thinking about stories that he'd never tried before, and he wondered if it applied to other stories, as well.

There was a particular element that cropped up several times in the stories. After the third time it was mentioned, Almonihah had to ask about it.

“What's a vision quest?”

Owl Talon smiled in his mysterious way. “Ah, vision quests. I suppose you would not know about those.”

The half-dragon grunted impatiently. It was rather obvious that he didn't know about them, since he was asking about them...

Owl Talon's smile seemed to grow just a bit wider, as if the old man was amused by the younger Ranger's impatience. “You have no doubt noticed by now that the names are children have are different from those the adults of the tribe have.”

Almonihah nodded. He had noticed that. The adults had... descriptive names, he guessed was the best thing to call them, while the children had names more like the ones he was used to.

“When a young man of the Griffon Tribe comes of age, he must go on a vision quest. When he does this, he must leave all the trappings of his young life behind—he gives away his childhood things, and takes only a single weapon with him. And then he must leave the village alone, guided only by the Earth Mother. When he returns, he tells the village wise man—me, for the moment—what he saw and did, and I tell him his adult name.”

Almonihah thought over what Owl Talon had said silently. The old Plainsman, accustomed by now to the half-dragon's ways, stood up.

“Well, I believe you're leaving at sunrise, young dragon.”

Almonihah nodded, ignoring the 'young dragon' thing. He'd given up on breaking Owl Talon of that by now.

“You'd best go prepare, then. It is sunset now, and the nights are short this time of year.”

******

Amazing! I posted again! I haven't forgotten about this! I've just had a kind of crazy semester. That, and quite frankly, this is a hard chapter to write. Almonihah's kind of reluctant to talk about it, and it's hard to write what he is willing to talk about. Ah, well.

Chapter 12-3

There was, indeed, a young Plainsman waiting for Almonihah outside the Shaman's hut. The Shaman passed the half-dragon off with another mysterious smile, then hobbled back into the hut. Almonihah's young guide (who seemed annoyingly awed by the half-dragon) led him to a small hut, then waited outside while the Ranger settled in—which consisted of him setting his pack down and unrolling his bedroll. His guide seemed surprised to see him done so quickly, but once he was sure Almonihah was truly ready, he led the half-dragon to a long, low structure, constructed in much the same fashion as the rest of the village.

Apparently, skipping welcoming ceremonies did not mean skipping the honorary feast for the hero. At least, Almonihah assumed the Plainsmen didn't gather together for a huge meal in this building every day. It looked like it wasn't quite ready yet, but the Chief was ready to greet his visitor again.

Almonihah found that he was right about feasts like this being out of the ordinary, but he was only partially right about it being for him. While much mention was made of his actions, he gradually figured out that this feast was traditional when a hunting group returned from a good hunt. So he tried to be polite, and talk without showing too much irritation at how many of them still seemed to view him as some sort of mystical spirit. And at having to be at a feast. Eating was all well and good, but Almonihah didn't really see the point of eating so much with so many people at the same time.

After eating—and talking until the sun was low—they went out to the large dirt circle in the middle of the village. There was now a large bonfire in the center of the circle, and many of the Plainsmen had already gathered around it. As Almonihah and the group he had come with sat around the perimeter of the circle, he noticed a few of the tribe members coming to the edge of the circle with drums and other objects he assumed were musical instruments.

Then some other Plainsmen came running into the circle. These ones... Almonihah had to struggle not to show some sign of his incredulous disbelief at their costumes. They were dressed in what he could only assume were costumes made to resemble different animals—deer, bison, wolves, lions, griffons, and others—complete with masks. It seemed that their entrance was some kind of a cue, because the musicians started playing, and then the costumed Plainsmen started dancing.

At first, all Almonihah could do was note that they somehow managed to get close to the fire without catching their costumes on fire while he tried to hide his opinion of them. After watching for a little while (and getting control of himself), however, he started to feel like there was something more to the dance. He watched more intently, trying to put his finger on it. It was like... that was it! There was a story to the dance!

Unfortunately, the realization hit him just as the dance was ending. He went over what he remembered, but couldn't quite put the pieces together. He grunted softly, a bit disappointed.

“You are displeased with the performance?”

Almonihah had to keep himself from jumping at the Shaman's question. He'd been watching the dance so intently that he'd forgotten that there was someone behind him.

A bit more roughly then he normally would have, the half-dragon admitted, “Just felt like I was just starting t' understand th' thing when 't ended.”

There was silence for a moment, until Almonihah turned to look at the Shaman and saw him nodding with that irritating smile on his face. “I am glad that you realized there was something to understand.”

Almonihah grunted again. He was getting tired of the Shaman and his infuriatingly mysterious smile.

He was also getting tired of thinking of him as “the Shaman”.

“What's your name?” Almonihah's question carried just a bit of an irritated growl.

If the Shaman noted the Ranger's irritation, he gave no indication of it. “I am called Owl Talon, young Almonihah.”

Almonihah nodded. That seemed to fit—the names he'd gotten from the Plainsmen tended to be animal-related like that.

He jerked his head towards the Chief. “What's his?”

“Our Chieftain is called Griffon Heart.” Owl Talon paused for a moment, then said, “It is not customary for either of us to be called by our given names, however.”

“'d noticed.”

The Chief had come to the center of the circle while they had been talking. Now he beckoned to the gathering and began to speak.

“Fellow tribesmen, as most of you know, we celebrate this evening not only a successful hunt, but also the rescue of two of our tribesmen by our honored guest, Almonihah Zrathanzon.” He gestured with one hand at the half-dragon, then continued, “Almonihah will be staying with us for a time, and we will extend to him the hospitality of our tribe in acknowledgement of our debt to him for the lives of our brothers.”

Almonihah simply crossed his arms and kept listening. Chief Griffon Heart talked for a fair amount of time, talking about various matters, praising the performers for their skill, and so forth. Towards the end, he mentioned that another hunting party would be leaving after the new moon, which if the Ranger remembered correctly, meant in a couple of weeks. He made a mental note to volunteer to go with them if they were headed towards the forest so he could teach a few of them not to walk into pit plants. Or blood vines. Or packs of fell-wolves.

The half-dragon noticed that people were starting to leave, and that Griffon Heart was walking towards him. He stood up to meet the Chieftain.

“You have been shown where you will stay, Almonihah Zrathanzon?” he asked. When Almonihah nodded, the Plainsman continued, “Then I will leave you to rest. If you wish, I would like to speak with you in the morning.”

Almonihah nodded again. Griffon Heart excused himself, and went off to his home. Looking around, the half-dragon decided he might as well do the same, and went off to the hut he was to sleep in.

There were walls around him. How had he ended up back in that cave? When had Galindakherithan hunted him down again? What...

Then Almonihah remembered. He was in the village of the Griffon Tribe, in the hut they'd given him to sleep in. Now that he was really awake, he could make out the smoke-hole in the roof of the hut, even though it was a cloudy, moonless night. He wasn't sure how long he'd slept, but it certainly hadn't been the whole night. Still, he didn't feel like he could fall asleep again. At least not until his heart stopped beating so fast.

Almonihah exited the hut, pushing aside the animal skin—a deer, if he wasn't mistaken—that served as the door. All was quiet in the village, except for the quiet movement of a few of the animals the tribe kept. Even more quietly, the Ranger slipped between the homes of the Plainsmen.

When he reached the edge of the village—not really all that far from the center, truth be told—the half-dragon noticed that there were actually a couple of tribesmen keeping watch over the village by night. It made sense—the Central Plains might not be as dangerous as the North Forest, but there were still plenty of things here that wouldn't mind helping themselves to a chicken... or a human.

Almonihah slipped easily past the sentries. Watchful they might be, but the Ranger had trained to sneak up on creatures much more keen-eared than a human, and on a night like this, remaining unseen hardly took any effort. He remained quiet until he was well away from the village, then stopped to take in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

The night would have been impenetrably dark to human eyes, but Almonihah could see the endless fields of grass extending outwards from him in all directions. In black and white, yes, and not for as far as in the day, but he could see them. Which made made it all the more odd that he'd mistaken his hut for that little room in Galindakherithan's lair. After spending a few minutes taking in the sight of the plains at night, he had the strange urge to just run. With a shrug, he broke into a trot, and then a steady, ground-eating run.

He didn't really think about much as he ran. He just enjoyed the feeling of the wind of his passage waving his frill back and forth, the earth beneath his boots, the freedom of being alone on the plains save for the animals, which he avoided without even alerting them to his presence.

His run took him on a wide, lazy circle back to the village. Keeping his sense of direction was something Zrathanzon had trained Almonihah in well. Soon enough, he had to slow down and try to slow his breathing, so as to not alert the sentries.

Again he was back in between the huts of the village. He had come back in from a different direction, however, so that the Shaman's hut lay between him and 'his' hut. As he approached, Almonihah noticed that there was actually a bit of light coming from the hut, and a wisp of smoke rose from the smoke-hole. Cautiously, the half-dragon started to slip past Owl Talon's doorway.

Just as he was level with it, the tip of a rather familiar staff poked out of the doorway and lifted the animal skin, revealing the old Shaman standing in front of the embers of his fire.

He had that smile again.

“Did you enjoy your run, young dragon?” Owl Talon asked quietly.

Almonihah looked at the old man incredulously. How...?

Recovering a bit, the half-dragon grunted, “Yeah.”

Still smiling, the Shaman nodded and said, “That is good.” Then he stretched, and added, yawning, “Well, these old bones are telling me that I should try to get the rest of the night's sleep that I woke up from. Rest well, young dragon.”

And with that, Owl Talon went back into his hut.

Still a bit off-balance, Almonihah stood staring at the animal skin that covered the hut's doorway for a few seconds before he shook himself a bit and went back to his bedroll. Maybe this whole thing was just a dream...

*************

Hmm... I think I may have to split this chapter up more. I've still got a lot of stuff that I was going to put in chapter 12 to go, and it's already several pages long. Well, we'll see.

Chapter 12-2

The half-dragon found it difficult to stand the superstitious awe with which he was treated while he waited for the Plainsmen to break camp, and even more difficult to put up with as he traveled with them. He wasn't sure why he was going with them, but... well, he didn't have anything better to do.

He was, however, quite glad when he could see the village they were heading to in the distance. Of course, that distance was fairly large, given his eyesight and how flat the plains were, but at least their destination was in sight. Hopefully at least this Chief fellow would be better about not calling him “Great Thunder Spirit” and stuff. The Hunt-Chief at least was just calling him Almonihah, so he had some hope for the Chief.

A couple of the Plainsmen had run ahead of the group to inform the village of their visitor, so Almonihah wasn't particularly surprised to see a group of people waiting to greet them. The leader had some kind of headdress made of beads and what the Ranger was somewhat surprised to note looked like griffon feathers. Given the meaning of the decoration the Hunt-Chief wore, he suspected that this Plainsman was the Chief.

His suspicion was confirmed when the Plainsman spoke. “Greetings, Almonihah Zrathanzon. You are welcome here in the village of the Griffon Tribe. You have done us a great service in saving the lives of two of our hunters. For this service we offer you the hospitality of our village.”

“Thanks,” Almonihah said as he took in the sight before him. The village was a humble affair, made mostly of low huts. There seemed to be little wood involved in their construction. Instead, most of the walls consisted of some kind of grass or brush, with only enough wood to make a frame over which these materials were spread. The Ranger found this rather odd, given that the forest was only a couple days' journey away.

The half-dragon realized the Plainsman Chief was still speaking. “Normally, we would have a ceremony to celebrate what you have done... but you outsiders rarely appreciates such things. Is not this so?”

It took Almonihah a moment to realize that was a question. “Yeah, I think we can skip th' ceremony part.”

The Chief nodded. “Then let us go to the Shaman. He wishes to see you. If you would, please follow me.”

Shrugging, the half-dragon followed the Chief to a large hut near what he thought was the center of the village. There seemed to be a large, clear area in front of it, which seemed like it had been pounded down by many feet. Interesting.

The inside of the hut would have been fairly dim to human eyes, though the hole in the roof—which Almonihah supposed was to let out smoke from the fire pit underneath—did let in a fair amount of light. There were a number of odd objects in the hut—feathers, teeth, and claws from various animals and monsters, drying herbs, oddly shaped rocks and pieces of wood.

The Shaman himself was an older Plainsman, with white hair and a face that looked worn by the elements. He was dressed in the same simple clothing—made mostly from the hides of the various animals that roamed the plains—as the rest of the Plainsmen, but he also wore some sort of talisman around his neck that involved items rather like those that adorned his hut. He was sitting cross-legged on an animal skin on the floor, with a staff across his legs. The staff was an interesting object—carved intricately in the shape of various animals, with matching feathers, claws, and teeth attached.

When the half-dragon entered the Shaman's hut, he looked up and said, in a soft, mildly raspy voice, “Ah, greetings, young dragon. I was hoping you would make your way here.”

For some reason the Shaman's words irritated Almonihah. “'m not a dragon. Just half.”

The Shaman smiled gently. “Of course... young dragon.”

The Ranger growled a bit, but decided the old man must be too senile to listen. That, or might be deaf. Or blind. His eyes did seem to have a bit of a milky look.

While Almonihah had been looking over the Shaman, the Shaman had been examining Almonihah. “You follow the Earth-Mother, do you not?”

Almonihah was a bit taken aback by the sudden question. “Earth-Mother?”

“The Forest Maiden, the Lady of the Plains... she has many names. Perhaps you would know her by the name of Naishia? That is the outsider name for her.”

The Ranger grunted in surprise. “Yeah, I do. How'd you know?”

The Shaman nodded, smiling again. “There is a... feeling about fellow followers of the Earth-Mother.” He paused for a moment, shifting his position a little bit, then continued, “We also reverence the Earth-Mother and her creation, but in a different way than you outsiders do, you will find.”

Almost unconsciously Almonihah found his curiosity rousing. “What d' you mean?”

The Shaman motioned for Almonihah to sit in the hut across from him. He did so, a corner of his mind noting the fact that the Plainsmen who had led him to the hut didn't follow him in.

Once his guest was settled, the Shaman spoke again. “There are many differences between our view of the world and that of the outsiders. Before I continue,” he held up a hand as if to forestall an interruption, even though Almonihah had no intention to do so, “I want you to know that part of the reason I wished to see you is because I love to learn of others. Now, where was I?”

He paused for a second, then said, “Ah, yes. How we differ from outsider followers of the Earth-Mother. We, unlike most outsiders, view all life as...” he paused for a moment again, “sacred would be the closest word for it. We view all animals and plants as... expressions of the Earth-Mother's divinity.” He paused again. “It is difficult to describe our view, but it permeates our lives.”

“Hmmm.” He was right—he didn't quite understand what he meant. He thought he got the idea of what the Shaman was getting at, but only the general idea.

“This is different from how you view things, is it not?”

“Yeah.”

There was a pause, as if the Shaman was waiting for an explanation. Eventually he asked, “How do you view things?”

The Ranger thought for a bit. “Well... I respect life. Don't kill anything 'f I don't need 't t' live. Try t' protect 't from things that aren't right...” he trailed off with a shrug.

There was silence again for a few seconds, then the Shaman asked, “So what are you planning to do after you leave us?”

There was a long stretch of silence before Almonihah finally answered. “I'm a Ranger. I was going down south t' help hold th' Line.”

There was something almost shrewd about the way the Shaman looked at Almonihah. “Perhaps you might stay a while with us first, to learn something of our ways?”

Almonihah almost said no before he stopped himself and thought. While the whole “Thunder Spirit” thing was annoying, the Plainsmen seemed like good people, and he was curious about their ways. Certainly they weren't like any other people he'd ever met. Not to mention that their hunters needed some help with not getting themselves killed if they were going into the forests.

“Yeah, might 's well.”

The Shaman smiled again. “Good. I look forward to speaking more with you.” He slowly got up to his feet, using the staff to help push himself up. “Now, I believe someone is waiting outside my home to show you the way to where you may stay during your time with us. Why don't we go out there and let him do his job?”

**********

So, a late-night Christmas present to all of my readers! Sorry that I've been a bit slow about posting things up recently. I'll try to finish this chapter and hopefully most of the next over the next week and a half or so when I'm not particularly busy.

This is an interesting period in Almonihah's life, but one that I'm kind of vague on the details of. I know that certain events happen and that he comes to certain realizations, but I don't really have a lot of the specifics on things like dialogue (typical of Almonihah not to tell me a lot). So it's been a bit hard getting this down in writing.