The place was just as terrible as Aurianne had expected. A vast expanse of sharp stones interspersed with dead and dying scrub, larger gray boulders, and a forlorn sky stretching overhead. Jhary had warned her that the upcoming journey would be harsh on the horses. There would possibly be no water for the beasts for at least three days. He had said his mule had fared much better than he had seen horses do as they attempted to cross this natural divide. Aurianne had appreciated Jhary's concern for her beloved mare Isabou, however, Aurianne was sure her horse was strong and would survive this trial.

They walked often to spare the animals. Kario was glad his feet felt much better and he was now in possession of a warm robe and sturdy shoes. The ground was treacherous, even Beauty's paws became cut by the sharp shale stone that littered the vista before them and far behind.

They moved as swiftly as they could, nervous to be so visible in this flat and seemingly lifeless landscape. There were possible places to water here, and Jhary strove to locate them. On day one, he did indeed spy a possible location, but the water had long seeped away or had been drunk by previous passersby.

Kario found himself wishing he had the power to conjure water. Well, that being said he possibly could conjure some of the lifesaving fluid, a glass perhaps, if he was hard pressed. The problem was he could only make use of elements that were abundant about him, and bodies of water were decidedly absent in this place. This was one of the terrible limitations of his simple magic.

After his last awkward conversation, he had decided not to even suggest, or explain this to his traveling companions. Even a keen intelligence such as his struggled to encompass the limitations of these powers. His mother's own kind had called him dull-witted, just as humankind found him brilliant of mind, and to be feared.

The dark man truly belonged in neither place, with neither people, and this thought long troubled him of perhaps never being accepted anywhere. In his heart, he yearned for the place of his childhood. The underneath, at the foot of Nethrizil. The place of perpetual and comforting darkness. Not here, where the humans struggled and fought relentlessly. It all seemed so base and pointless to one such as himself.

Nights were spent snuggled in bed rolls. Without the comfort of a fire, and in silence mostly. The last thing they needed was to attract the attention of marauding subhumans that Jhary insisted roamed about this area, or even slavers. Though Kario and Aurianne had confessed they had never seen a single subhuman soul.

"You do not want to." Jhary replied. "They are hideous indeed, and bear little resemblance to us in feature or noble deed."

Aurianne smiled into the dark, she was very unsure how to separate hard truth from Jhary's silver-lined stories, and she was sure this tale was one of no exception.

"So how did they get that way?" Aurianne had decided to play.

"The nuclear blast." Jhary countered whispering from his bedroll. "They escaped from the city contaminated but did not perish. Of course the survivors who were untouched did not wish to associate with them, so they have formed societies of their own. There are entire villages of them out here."

Aurianne suppressed a disbelieving chuckle. "So how do they live, there's nothing out here?"

"There is more here than you think milady, if one is to open one's eyes."

Aurianne laughed then and drifted off the sleep.

*****

The second day of travel presented much the same as the first, and still no luck with water for the horses. Any known watering locations were long drained dry, Aurianne was beginning to worry over Beauty's obviously very bruised feet, she had noticed her dog didn't run about them with boundless energy as she did in the past, and was beginning to tread very gingerly over the stones. The three pressed on, Jhary now in the lead, he felt very responsible for all this, and a little depressed as well. He did not feel he could forgive his actions if something was to go awry.

That evening they had made a consensus to retire early, though it was probably still a good hour or so before true dark. The jutting rocky outcrop did provide some essence of shelter and a good place to stay hidden from any casually opportunistic eye. So they bedded down.

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Aurianne watering her dog by holding some leather cupped into the shape of a bowl and pouring some of the precious ration of water into it. After Beauty was sated she offered what liquid remained to the tired horses. It was not much but she hoped it would at least help. The party had enough water to last for roughly two more days. However, after that, their fate would be anyone's guess. She hoped that Jhary knew what he was doing.

Dark thoughts had begun to dog Aurianne as she settled down for another comfortless night. As always they were not thoughts for herself or her own welfare, but for that of her animal friends. Looking across at Isabou she could tell the large horse's feet were tender just by the way she was mindful with each step, and the young woman was not at all heartened to note that both animals made no move to graze this evening.

They are thirsty she thought, knowing instinctively by simple observation a horse would not eat anything dry if it could not drink. I hope they do not colic was the last thing on her mind as she lay down to nervous rest.

*****

Day three was slow going. Early morning Jhary halted the party, pointing up ahead to a very indistinct blot on the horizon. "Subhumans." He announced with much gravity. "That's one of their settlements up ahead. I know they don't like to go about in the day really, however I think we need to give it a wide berth." He turned his weary gelding to the west, this would be no straight path after all.

"So why do they not go about by day? Aurianne questioned, keeping her voice very low, although they were very far away.

"They cannot see well, and are more vulnerable by daylight." Jhary replied. "Most of them were survivors of the worst of the fallout, many of them are blind and deformed. Though it would appear over the years they have grown in strength and daring, and honed some pretty uncanny abilities to survive. You sure do not want to face a pack of them in the darkness."

They pressed on. Aurianne curious about these subhumans as Jhary had described them. Though he sure made them sound like terrible fiends. Was there not some kind of humanity to be had? They had all been common folk surely before the war? Made of the same frailties and emotions as all humans, so what would cause such a dire divergence in them from humankind?

The reaction to shun those with severe radiation damage would be obvious. A knee-jerk reaction immediately after the strikes when it was every man for himself, but surely, over seven years had elapsed. The most maimed would have long ago perished, and the survivors mercifully accepted into the ranks of humankind, surely? She thought about this for some time as she led her mare carefully between the worst of the jutting stones underfoot. Part of her very much wished to see these creatures for herself.

Isabou was picking her way tentatively, you could see the mare pondering her every step placing each large hoof gingerly. Going today had been terribly slow, and still no water to be had, making all the travelers worry. To make matters worse it seemed the entire area was littered with the ragged settlements of the subhuman ones. Jhary insisted they keep their distance. Some of these villages were quite large, though Aurianne strained her eyes she could see no signs of movement, to her eye the huts seemed abandoned entirely.

"They keep no livestock, but mostly forage from the wild." Jhary informed.

"That's how you can tell, and also by the height of the huts. Notice they are so low you would have to stoop to even shelter in one."

"How do they live?" This baffled Aurianne, for there seemed to be no inkling of sustenance in this blighted place.

"They seek out travelers and passers by mostly, especially at night. They seem to have acute hearing and sense of smell. They collect run off to drink I suspect. Though they may have access to wells. We are getting closer to the coast where the weather will on occasion bring rains off the sea, but still this is mostly a rain shadow area. That's why it is so lifeless here."

Kario had been wandering back in the rear, offering nothing to the running conversation, casting his gaze about at the small settlements filled with potential enemies, and often looking at the sky. "I don't like the look of that. "He finally said casting his eyes skyward.

"Neither do I." Jhary agreed. "The clouds seem unusually dark today, and if I may say it if feels like a storm or rain even."

"The gods simply tease us." Aurianne announced with a bravado she did not feel.