Eternal Beasts

Chapter 6: Discovery

The Cael Nerath: a great rolling plain dominating the southwest portion of the continent the Ancients named Corlest. Now, with the Ancients long dead Corlest had become known as the Sanctuary, the last free holdings of the Races of Light. The Sanctuary took in all of the Cael Nerath and the forests bordering her south and eastern marches. It also stretched north and south, bordered by the Blood Sea to the south and the powerful River Synn northward. To the west lay the islands of the Ocean of the Green Crescent and to the east: the towering peaks of the Muul KerKerath.

Stretching like fingers from the palm, human settlers from the mostly human lands of the Tonm penetrated deep into the southern Cael Nerath early in the history of Corlest during the dark years following the last War of Balance. Here, in the vastness of the great prairie, they built their fortified towns and villages near rivers and the few lakes dotting the plain's grand reach. The Tonm made up by the lands bordering the great sheets of ice on the south flank of Corlest, were the final refuge of the Nysim-vadu fleeing the Harbringers' forces following their victory against the Light.

Often the source of great debate amongst the kings of the Western Kingdoms, the settlers of the Cael Nerath traditionally shunned the rule of the human kings of the Tonm. And thus became targets of their many wars of conquest. A hardy and resilient breed, the settlers quickly accepted their lot, building up their defenses as best they could. But they weren't prepared for the shadow-driven devastation that poured out upon them from the north and east.

Morgan of South Forks looked up as the last rays of the setting suns began to kiss the sill of the small western window in this part of Master Quinn's only barn. The colors, soft pinks, oranges and reds, whispered of the rapidly approaching dusk. The young man, short and powerful from long years of labor on various farms and plantations surrounding the village, frowned. Dusk meant return of raiders. He tossed short cut hair, a bit ragged on the sides, out of his eyes and looked at the animal in front of him, his master's prize milk cow.

"I guess I better hurry then, Vacha," he softly said with a quiet smile as he gave the big cow an affectionate pat on the flank. The smile put a friendly crinkle on a face tanned dark by Ethaeron's twin suns and added kindness to a visage that, while not exactly handsome, was craggy and filled with determination and strength.

"I certainly don't want to be caught outside before it goes dark!" He then returned his attention to the milking stool and bucket sitting at his feet.

Pushing the bucket into place with the toe of his heavy boot, Morgan reached out with callused hands and took firm hold of the cow's teats. Long used to Morgan's touch, Vacha did little more than flick her tail at a couple of pesky flies before she dipped her head back down into the feed trough that sat before her. She took a mouthful of dry hay and began to contentedly chew. Of raiders and war, she knew nothing and was satisfied to keep it so.

Long practiced in the art of milking, Morgan quickly and rhythmically went about it, filling the bucket at his feet in a matter of minutes. Usually milking was a task for morning, but with Besti about to drop her calf, Master Quinn wanted his only hired hand to be ready in an instant's notice to go in search of the young animal in the event Besti decided to drop while in pasture. The animal in question, her sides swollen in pregnancy, was in the paddock beside Vacha. She glanced over at Morgan with big, brown eyes as if to ask the young vadu if she would be milked as well. Not receiving an answer, she too turned her attention to her feed.

With a final squeeze, Morgan was finished. Straightening his plain, homespun tunic across broad shoulders, he stood. In the same smooth, economical motion, he scooped up both the full bucket of warm, slightly steaming milk and the stool. The bucket hung by its heavy wooden handle as the stool was returned to its place on a holder inside the paddock itself. A quick look around the barn to confirm he was leaving all in order, Morgan then stepped to the door and outside, looking the heavy wooden portal behind him before he began to make his away across the yard towards his master's house.