Homeward Bound
Blog entry

04/05/06

Torlinque is traveling southward and westward toward Sarna through the northern parts of our country. If you'll remember, one of the Unicorn, Sa'ilthren, went with him because he has family in Drachlonde that he wanted to see. They are rare these days, hence our "recently" adopted use of horses (whom Unicorn do not get along with at all).

Believe it or not, the variety (species?) of Unicorn that inhabit the realm can fly. They have big wings that when folded against their bodies are practically invisible. Whether or not this is their own special Glamour for hiding wings, I don't know.

I have many memories that came back early in this lifetime of riding on the backs of them. No tack is used as with horses. These are sentient intelligent beings that can communicate via the Send. One merely sits more forward on them than one would on a horse, bends the knees and tucks one's calves under the wings near the joint. I had forgotten about most of this until Torlinque left Sarna for Drachlonde and I watched Sa'ilthren spread his wings and take off gently into the air.

The sight was a very Elfy moment for me as in, "*gasp!* Oh I remember that!". I'm not aware sometimes of exactly how human I've become in this incarnation. How could I forget they can fly!?

So in our original conversation, I hadn't realized Torlinque had meant 3 days worth of flying time as the one-way distance. It gives me a better sense of the scope of what K'antor and I actually accomplished by seeding our weather grid and a better sense of what "regional" is in Elvish terms. I hadn't remembered correctly. It's much larger than I'd thought since Sarna is so close to one of the edges of the grid. You'd think that wouldn't be the case, that the tower would broadcast from a central location, but that's the way it is.

No one in Sarna flies very much anymore. This is a huge shame because the Tulari were once known for it. All the Adrastai patrols were done by air, etc. Tulari = People of the Wind and that is why. Unless there was lots of luggage that had to go by wagon, we flew everywhere. Not so anymore.

Anyway, Torlinque should be home by about midday tomorrow. I Sent to Tolirion earlier to inform him of this.

They are flying pretty much from dawn to about an hour before sunset, about 10 or 20 feet above the tops of the trees, with a stop or 2 along the way. One of them is so that Torlinque can hunt himself some lunch. The hour before dark is so that he has enough light to set up his small camp and hunt supper. He's been catching rabbits and fish mostly, though he did catch a pika last night. (The closest thing I've been able to find on Earth that resembles the pika we have is called an African Springhare.)

Torlinque is an excellent rider/flyer and has been practically his whole life. He hasn't flown in a long time though and has really been enjoying it. It sure beats hanging out for four hours each day, stock still in Guard position at the top of the Temple stairs. Now that he's done delivering the crystal, he's flying shirtless, hair streaming out behind him even though most of it's tied back. He's still keeping his gloves on though because they help him hold on to Sa'ilthren's mane (wrapped around his hand) without getting chafed. He looks most fetching. IMO, he's been enjoying himself a little too much.

He says the motion of the flying does something to him, and since we had only brief contact for 2 days there while he was making the delivery he has been feeling... well, rather needy. So I have been bi-locating to him while he has been flying today, for most of the day. Anything else I would say here needs to be posted under a certain filter so I won't, but I swear it was all his idea. "Oh, please?" he said. "The wind feels so good on my skin! Look, all I have to do is loosen my laces a little..." I did encourage him to set down several times, but he would have none of it. He is most wicked, and I told him so. He agreed with me, "Yes...*kiss*...Very wicked...*kiss*" I told him if he fell off Sa'ilthren's back and died, I would kill him. He didn't. Still, "don't try this at home".

I wondered to him if Sa'ilthren suspected what we were up to and he assured me he didn't, that it was all in the Send, that he was the only one who could see/feel me there. From Sa'ilthren's behavior, I suspect that's true. Still, I suggested to Torlinque that he find a spot to camp tonight with a pond or lake he could bathe properly in rather than just a little creek. *ahem*