'You should go see the Deity of Knowledge if you wish to learn more on what you are looking for.' That was what the deity of light had told her, to paraphrase. She received directions to the former's temple which was high up on the northern end of the Jasumin Plains. She would have to trek through the center of the continent before she could reach the outskirts of the realm. While most might take an airship or join a caravan, Shiloh decided to walk. She had been in plains before, like in Bohar. But this place was new, and she wanted to see it all for herself. There were many animals that grazed and fed on grasses, but more exotic in shape and color than what she had ever seen. Striped horses with short manes, deer with antlers straight and pointed, lions, and other beasts.

Her walk was difficult beneath the strong sun, and she used her shield for cover. Soon she came upon horses in the distance, and a group of riders came by. They stopped when they saw her and dismounted. They were surprisingly hospitable, and asked her where she had come from and where she was going. She told them of the Library Temple, and her reason was to learn more about things she wanted to know. The asked if she could come along with them to their village in turn for a favor. Agreeing, one of the riders carried her along to their settlement on the savanna. There they presented a young girl who was being trained in the ways of the earth and medicine. She wished to make the journey to the temple as well to ask for the deity's wisdom, but she was still too inexperienced to go by herself. 

"You want me to go with her then? Like an escort?" Shiloh asked when Mebari was brought from the crowd. "Yes, she is still not yet a woman and we would be thankful if you could accompany Mebari on her vision quest." An elder rider with a zebra's pelt as a cape said, placing his hands on Mebari's shoulders. "She is my niece, and though she is talented in the ways of the earth I still worry that danger might befall her." Looking down, she thought it over for a while. "…Alright. I'll do it. All I need to do is make sure she gets to the temple safe and sound right? I can handle that. There's no need to pay me, since I'm going the same way."

They were off, on a pair of horses lent by Mebari's uncle. Mebari was leading Shiloh's mare with hers, and the sun was still high when they had departed. "So how far is the temple from here?" She asked, to break the awkward silence. "It is many days from here. If we are lucky, we might arrive before the third morning." Patting the mane of the chestnut mare, she mused to herself. "Minimum three days' journey huh… Better make the most out of what daylight we have."

In the tall savanna grasses Gale walked, her head covered by her sash to ward off the heat. It was not as dry as Karkhata, but she was used to the strong sun. The winds were calm and many creatures were out and about. Today she was not here to dream. She was following a different path, one to the center of the stardust trail. When she walked in the realm of dreams, something new appeared consistently each and every night. That new thing was a strange trail of fog made of sparkling lights. It crisscrossed the stream of consciousness, forking into many paths. She had tried to follow it to the end, only to wake up after failing to reach its conclusion. Each night she resumed her attempts from a new location, until she came to understand that the paths themselves were like spokes on a wheel, radiating from the origin. One path might twist and turn, but in the end all would reach the center. She followed that river of light in the waking world across the rivers and hills, over mountains and valleys. 

In Parvpora the air was thick with power, like incense burnt into smoke rising up and mixing with the breeze. Everything seemed to hum with a sound, a resonance coming from far away. There were pieces of stones with symbols and fragments like iridescent glass in clusters of grass. She even once found one shard in the crook of a tree. "They are so beautiful…where could they have come from?" The dream-walker looked up into the sky, shading her eyes from the sun. "Are they pieces of the sky, fallen like fragments of a cast-off shell? Perhaps they are solid starlight, or crystals made of the rainbow waves of light-river." When she slept she would place them nearby, and she would have more vivid dreams. Traveling across the land, the dreamscape itself seemed to respond to the things she had collected. The creatures and entities would stop and listen, as if something was calling from beyond.

Lost in her thoughts she paid no heed to the sounds of hooves against the earth. "Hoy! You there!" A voice pierced through her idle thoughts like an arrow. Turning around she looked at two horses with riders approaching. She stopped walking and waited for them to come within a meter's distance.

Ernest had heard that the Haza Savanna was a lonely place. So far, it did not fit that description. Regardless of the animals, which she knew many would not consider, she had already seen three people, and had hardly been walking a day. Lonely indeed.

A voice called out from across the plains and Ernest looked up before realizing that the person wasn't talking to her. Still, she turned to go toward them before getting distracted by the glittering stones in the grass. She kneeled down and picked one up, studying it carefully. She couldn't read the runes, but she thought they were beautiful all the same. Perhaps they did something interesting. Hoping "interesting" didn't mean "cursing the person who keeps them," she tucked it in her bag and carried on.

It appeared as though the other people were waiting for something, for they didn't move as Ernest came closer. They didn't seem dangerous, but she kept her dagger near the top of her bag just in case. "Hello there!" she called. "What brings you to this land?"

Everyone turned to look at the new arrival to their little group. Mebari patted her horse, calming it down as the second person approached. Shiloh shifted atop her saddle as she focused on them. "Hello there! What brings you to this land?" Mebari spoke up for both of them. "We are journeying through the savanna to the temple at the foot of the mountains. Are you going the same way as we?" The young medicine woman in training held her staff in her hand while resting her other on the back of her horse's neck, reins in hand. The gold-colored mare snorted, and pawed the ground. If they were all heading to Tar Eisalae, they'd both be carrying an additional passenger per horse.

The fire-haired girl hadn't said a word, but she was waiting for everyone to finish speaking unless she was addressed directly. Mebari herself was dressed in robes and a wide shawl covering her shoulders. The patterns were in bright hues of red and green, forming patterns of the art of the Haza people. Her shawl had the paw prints of a bear, and other images relating to the earth and her animal. 

Another from behind had come, different from the two before her on horseback. The coat of the horse that the scholar with the staff rode upon was unlike that she had ever seen. It was like sunlight, a beautiful golden color. She had never seen horses that were not black, brown, or white. Clasping her hands together she waited patiently as the mounted riders spoke with the one who had approached from the brush. As her mind wandered she saw a shining stone at her feet. Kneeling down she scooped it up from the earth and set it aside with its brothers in her pack.

Listening, she looked at everyone present, one at a time. The one who was making a pilgrimage with the staff was strong, but peaceful. There was calmness in her voice and her spirit. Her shawl bore the prints of an animal intermixed with that of a bear. The one beside her was quiet, but unyielding. Ferocity lay beneath her silence, ready to be unleashed when one said the word. Then the third, the one who had just arrived. Quick, and clever but always watching. The calm one and the quiet one were said to be on a journey to a temple below the mountains. She had seen them in the distance, but as she had walked they never seemed to grow closer. It was a far destination, by what she knew. What then was the clever one's reason for traversing the wild plain?

Everyone turned to look at Ernest and she resisted the urge to cringe. She still hated being the centre of attention, even though she knew it was somewhat irrational. There was a reason she spent so much time alone in the wilderness, and it wasn't just that she loved discovery.

She was slightly surprised to find that the two on horseback were going the same way as she was. "As a matter of fact, I am going to the temple," she said. "I heard that Lord Drae was holding a contest of some sort." Also, she was interested in whatever phenomenon had caused the massive increase in magical power. "What are you going for?" She was always curious about people - particularly their motivations.

It suddenly occurred to her that the red-haired girl hadn't spoken throughout the entire exchange. Ernest turned to address her. "And what are you doing on the plains?" she asked.

"How serendipitous that we all have the same point of destination in mind! Would you like to ride with us? Lizaveta can carry two without a complaint." Mebari replied. Shiloh was glad Mebari was taking the lead, as she wasn't particularly interested in making small talk. The medicine woman continued. "So there is a contest being held at the temple? I suppose we will be having many people to welcome us there. We two are going there on my behalf. As a medicine woman of the Haza, one of our rites is a vision quest. When word of a temple in the mountains reached my people's ears, the elders encouraged me to travel there." She then motioned to Shiloh, sitting on the other horse behind. "This is the one who was tasked to guard me as I made my journey. As I am of the Bear and she is like the Wolves, what are you?" The last question was directed to both Ernest and Gale.

Shiloh meanwhile had expected that they would be bringing the other two along. Though she wasn't sure if they would agree, since it wouldn't be as secure holding onto a rider than the reins themselves. If there was something going on at the temple, would the deity have time for both of them? She didn't think any further on it, as only time would tell. Steadying her grip on the saddle, she watched the other two in silence.

Her patience had earned her a turn to speak, as when the others were finished conversing they turned to address her. The clever one asked her why she was out on the plains. Giving a bow, the dream-walker spoke. "I am following a river of light across the heavens. I wish to find the font from which it flows, and have traveled long to come here. If the river flows west, I will go west. If it flows east, then eastward I shall go."

"A river of light? What do you mean?" The shawl-clad rider asked. Gale bowed to her and explained. "It is like a river of many colors, moving and flowing like a ribbon in the wind. Purple, green blue, and other colors are within it. Sometimes it branches, and it flows back on itself." "You must mean the evening lights then. They happened once the moons waxed full. Perhaps we all are going the same way after all. Come with us." The golden horse's rider extended her staff to welcome her to their group. The quiet one looked to her as if confirming what the other had said. "Then you have my thanks, efendi. May our journey be swift and fortuitous." She approached the riders and the silent one held out a hand. Taking it, she was lifted up onto the chestnut mare's back.

It took Ernest a few minutes to work through what the girl on the horse had said. She seemed to have a gift for speaking in riddles. "I would be glad to join you," Ernest said. She had actually been wondering if she would make it to the temple in time for the contest. "I must warn you, though, I have never actually ridden a horse before, so this might be interesting." The rest of the girl's little speech made little sense to Ernest, so she chose to turn to the red-haired girl.

"You have seen the Aurora, too, then?" she asked. "The first time I saw it, I thought I must have hit my head to hard and was imagining things. It's almost never so bright this time of year." Ernest loved the Aurora. It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen - and she'd seen a lot.

Slowly, she approached the horse, hoping it wouldn't panic. She didn't always do well with horses. They tended to get skittish around her.

Once the fire-haired girl was secured behind her, Shiloh watched as Mebari brought her horse close to the short-haired girl. It began to tense when Ernest was close, but Mebari whispered into its ear while patting its head. Then it was as if she had lulled it into a calming trance, and it kept still. Ernest should have no problem getting up onto the saddle now. When they were all settled in, Mebari pulled the reins of her golden horse and they were off. Traveling by horseback was far faster than on foot. At least twice as fast, from Shiloh's perspective. The trees passed by so quickly, and the scrubby brush was a blur.

They were coming along at a good pace when Lizaveta suddenly stopped and began snorting. The horse refused to move, then Shiloh's chestnut mare also froze up. "What's going on? Mebari!" Mebari was having trouble controlling her mount for some reason, and Lizaveta was in a panic. The medicine woman was whispering in an unknown tongue, but to no avail. It only kept the horse from panicking more. Shiloh immediately covered the eyes of her mount, to keep it from starting to panic too. Horses would stop if they couldn't see, from what she had observed in her many trips along the Bohar Plains with the caravans. She looked around, trying to find the source of the horse's sudden bout of hysteria.