To Warmer Plains

Chapter 1

Kit feared she'd done too good of a job concealing her distaste for travelling company. After tolerating a few weeks of her previous company's insistence, she realized her protest would change nothing at that silent acceptance, at the least, made for a smoother ride. She'd even begun to acknowledge a legitimate need for the extra protection after the recent series of attacks.

That did not change the fact, however, that Kit Magnar did not particularly enjoy the company of or trust Black Ice Shadow. He was cold, distant, and unfamiliar. Travelling with Saros had put in her such a mindset that she'd come to expect a certain emotional detachment from those of Sidereal stock, but at least Saros had seemed like an identifiable, if a bit uncouth authority figure. Black Ice Shadow was a creature bizzare even by the Maidens' standards, an exotic and disturbing breed of heaven and hell. The pair moved quickly through the plains away from Denandsor on their first night of travel. Black Ice Shadow towered over, and his long strides made it difficult for Kit to keep up. He walked at least ten feet ahead and rarely looked back, only speaking to her when he felt it necessary to remind her that haste was a necessity. Still, he was not curt, and their was a certain civility Kit found in his quiet darkness.