Morning all and happy MLK observed. While I will be treating today mostly as a holiday, I wanted to get my morning prompts in as I have found that after doing them every morning for so long I get a little twitchy if I don’t do them. It’s like the words build up in my head and need an escape. So let’s provide them with one. Set those timers to fifteen minutes and lets go.
I kind of like the set up. I would need to circle back and expand a bit, figuring out exactly what he is running from before I start off, but I really think this is something that could be fun to work on. I love it when that happens.
Monday, January 15th: The wind howled.
The wind howled. It blasted through the mountain pass loosening boulders and sending showers of scree down the slopes. He ducked low, pulling his scarf across his face and leaving only his eyes visible. These he narrowed to slits for protection. He tilted his head down for the most part, looking at each step he took as he tried to follow the trail. It was little more than a worn patch of rock where any plant growth was scrubbed away by the passage of feet and hooves.
‘Fairly certain the goats use it more than men,’ he thought to himself. As he traveled across this mountain range he had seen several wild herds of them during the last few weeks. In that time he had seen no people of any kind. In truth he wasn’t surprised. The Destra Mountain range was not known for its hospitable environment. It was more the dividing line between the Kingdoms of Ferat and Knover. The wide mountain range stretched from the Meran Sea in the South to the Leros sea in the north. It was placed centrally in the vast Pactran Desert.
Both the Kingdom of Ferat an Knover liked to claim that they were such good neighbors because of their treaties and peaceful negotiations. In truth the Destra range was the reason the two kingdoms never went to war. They separated the two kingdoms far more effectively than any treaty ever could.
‘And the desert provides a buffer,’ he thought. He paused listening as a shower of shale slipped down the side of the rock face. It was far enough away not to impede him, but close enough that he paused to watch, lest it expand. The vast desert ensured there were no communities near the boarder and the rocky coast prevented even wandering fisherman from circling.
‘Yet there is this path.’ He heard of the paths in the mountains. Most claimed they were made by goats and other wandering beasts. Some thought they were created by man, even if now the goats were their only wanderers. There was much speculation, but the Destra was far enough away from the comfort of libraries and universities for anyone to do more than speculate.
‘Especially without the grants,’ he thought dryly. No one was going to give a grant to study the possibility of an ancient community in the Destra.
He sighed to himself, the sound lost in the howling wind. He was only out here because there were no other options. Things were not going so well at the moment. It was suggested to him by more than one person that time away where he would be put of sight would be a good idea. He couldn’t remember who suggested the Destra as a location.
It all happened so fast. One minute he was in his apartment and the next he was equipped and sent on his way for a reconnaissance mission. He didn’t have the kit for full study, and in truth no one expected him to study anything. He was to walk out and then walk back, the time away hopefully giving things time to settle.
Ten til Midnight 