The Space Sailor

Chapter 1

Kyrel lay back on the soft grass and looked up towards the sky. This was one of his favourite places to come and think. Behind him lay rolling hills of green grass with the occasional outcropping of tress dotted across the landscape. In front of him the slope continued to dip away before falling sharply, revealing the rocky seashore far below.

Around him echoed the bleating of the sheep he was watching over. A few belonged to him, the rest were owned by the wealthier people in his village who could afford to pay someone to watch their sheep. His spear lay next to him at the ready in case any danger approached the sheep. Not that it would be much use as he had never learned to use it in battle.

Occasionally, turun flew overhead, huge winged beasts with long, straight beaks. They had long slender bodies, almost like a heron, and the short fur covering their bodies offered protection from the cold at higher altitudes. Surprisingly enough they weren't aggressive, he would be in a pickle if they came for his sheep while only having a spear for defence. He had always wanted one of his own and was secretly jealous of the riders.

He lifted his head off the grass to check the sheep. All quiet. He could go back to dozing. The afternoon wore on and the sun moved though the sky. The giant planet of gas came into view in the sky, faintly orange and yellow in colour. He wondered how it would feel to walk on the planet, or if there was any solid ground at all. Maybe it was only a churning ball of mist and gas without any solid substance.

He looked at the sun, now low on the horizon, and decided it was time to round up the sheep for the night. He stood up and proceeded to count them in their different groups scattered on the mountainside.

They were loath to leave the lush grass, but started moving after a few flicks of the end of his spear. They knew where to go and once moving, headed to their stone corral for the night on the outskirts of the village. By this time of the year the lambs had grown big enough where they wouldn't get left behind anymore.

Once the sheep were safe in their enclosure he waited until the night watchman arrived to take over and then headed home. He would skip the tavern tonight as he had some planning to do.

Walking through the village he saw all the familiar sights, children playing in the small river outside their homes and the adults finishing up their activities for the day before returning home.

Most of the houses looked similar, double story log homes, raised off the ground on stilts. The spaces underneath the houses were mainly used as storage areas or enclosed to keep prized animals safe during the night.

Wolves prowled outside the village after dark and so it was safer to keep animals close by. Of course, they couldn't all be kept under the houses, hence the watchman staying with the sheep overnight.

Kyrel waved in greeting to a few people he passed on the way home. He looked towards the biggest building, the turun roost sitting at the centre of the village. It had multiple stories with huge open windows set all around the structure. Almost as though it were just the frame of a building, with some shoring between the beams of the frame and a roof.

This was were most of the turun slept at night, and were free to come and go as they pleased, although some villagers preferred to keep their turun in locked roosts next to their own houses. It didn't really pay off trying to steal a turun with beaks the size of spears.

His house was the same as many of the others, except there were no animals or other items kept under his house. It was empty. He looked up and realised he really needed to do some maintenance soon. The thatch on the roof needed to be replaced and some attention given to the windows before winter came if he didn't want to freeze.

He climbed the steps and pushed open the door. No one to greet him and the fireplace cold and lifeless.

The house consisted of a large central room, with a couple of doors leading to other rooms. Set against one wall was a large staircase leading upstairs to the three bedrooms, only one now being occupied.

Kyrel sighed and started making a fire. After putting a stew on to cook he turned to his desk.

It was full of books and maps, both of his local area and also the mountains to the north. The books contained everything his village knew of the turun. Their social structure, their breeding habits and most importantly, where they lived. The wild turun were forest creatures and lived up in the mountains rather than on the coast where his village was.

They also were prone to flying long distances looking for food. He often saw them flying over the village in flocks and heading for the ocean.

It was very difficult to tame a turun which had grown up in the wild. All the turun in his village came from eggs laid by other tame turun. People had tried to steal wild eggs, and some of those people had come home alive. The turun had long beaks akin to spears and they showed the egg thieves no mercy.

Unfortunately, turun only produced one egg each year or two and so there were always at least a few people in the village wanting to purchase an egg or chick. But turun could live many decades and so you would own one many years once a turun was acquired. And as long as you bonded well with it once hatched.

From time to time they would trade eggs with other villages in the surrounding areas to make sure the bloodlines were kept healthy.

Kyrel continued to formulate his plan as he stared at the map. Some turun would stay in the same general area in which they were born rather than migrate further away. This was his way in.

He had identified a mountainous area only a couple hours walk from the village where many turun lived. One turun in particular didn't fly away as quickly as the others. In the beginning this turun had flown off pretty quickly, but now it was becoming interested in his presence, which enabled Kyrel to get closer each time. The great flyer was warming up to his presence and so now was the time to press on with his efforts.

After eating his evening meal, Kyrel got up and climbed the stairs to his bedroom. He needed an early night because tomorrow would be a big day. Tomorrow he would attempt to make physical contact with the wild turun while not being skewered by the spear-like beak. Not an easy feat. But one worth the risk.