Title travel
Author: Stana, Teri, Aaron, Kit
date 10/19/99

    Stana felt the Unicorn's graceful strength beneath
her as Clip took
the lead again. The group continued to head North at a
much diminished
pace. She could tell that the lack of speed was
annoying to the beast,
and it irked her as well. They were not going fast
enough to outrace
the thoughts in her mind. The wind didn't blast any of
the fear away, or
the bitterness.  The power beneath didnt burn away the
helpless frustration
balled up in her chest.

      It had felt so good to just shout into the
violent wind, having
her voice tossed away, the words torn from her mouth,
leaving nothing
behind. It had felt good to reach beyond reality for a
few moments and
just not care.  For a moment, there had been a
complete void where only
she stood.

        And now it was gone. She raised a hand to her
head and pushed
the straying hair behind her ears with a practiced
swipe. She guessed
that Clips smoother gait and natural healing abilities
were sparing her
from teh worse of the saddle cramps, but was not sure
how grateful she
was. Her own head was pounding from the effort to not
drive her heels
into his flanks and gallop away.

        Restlessly her eyes roamed over the familiar
faces of her
companions and stopped as her gaze met Audions. Don't
trust this one,
the General had warned. Why the warning about him? Had
he told anyone
else about him?

        She looked away first, mouth hardening into a
tight line.  What
the hell did *he* want? What did any of these ppl want
from her?

         Out of the corner of her eye she saw Teri
urge Agni forward to
Elainas' mount.

         "Where are we heading? What do we have to
expect when we get
there?"  Her voice was a mixture of agitation and a
tightly-held back optimism.

         Agitation for the sweat that clung salty to
her skin,
excitement for the thought of something new. Their
earlier pause for breath had
dissolved the strange tensing pain of the flight, and
now, with renewed movement,
she felt her spirits being lifted.  It was good to get
away- to be on the
move again.  She hadn't thought she'd ever say that,
but it was true.  She
hadn't realized how much the castle and the seige had
been grating on her
nerves.

    "How far away is this Madron place?" she finished,
letting the calm
of the Ambassador wash over her.

    Elainas tossed a silvered braid over her shoulder
and turned
slanted eyes on her charge. "We're heading towards a
Syl Clan on the edge of the
Toru-Madron border. We'll have to stop somewhere for
the night as it
will take a few days' travel."

    Teri's eyes widened a little in expectation. "An
Inn? Can we stay
in an Inn?" It meant a hot bath, warm food, maybe a
little nightcap...  She
knew nothing of this Ambassador and her Sylvan ways-
for all she knew, the
woman would want to camp in the woods. Which would
mean no bath. She
scratched her arms idly.  The weather was getting
cooler, too-

    The voice pulling along her side startled Teri out
of her rambling thoughts. "An Inn would be a good
idea. Anyone still following
us will have excellent trackers with them.  An
interlude in a town
would do us well, if we want to make it to Madron
quickly and quietly."

    With her stallion nearly 17 hands tall, she was
nearly
eye-level to the pale man accompanying them.  His
thick accent made his
words oddly dark, and he seemed to add his smile as an
afterthought.
Still, the directness of his gaze was appealing, and
Teri was more than
prepared to side with anyone who pushed for staying in
a town. She crossed her fingers.

    "Clip and I will stay outside in the woods," Stana
said quietly
from in front, turning her face only partially back
towards them. "It's nice
being out in the open air." Teri saw the flicker of
surprise on her face as
she admitted this last. Teri surpressed a sigh. Well-
as long as SHE
didn't have to sleep outside...

    "It would be best to remain in each other's
viscinity," Audion interjected
smoothly, and saw the Ambassador's crisp nod.

    "I prefer the outdoors myself, but safety is a
more important
concern at this time.  We both will have more than
enough fresh air
when we reach Clan Malara," Elainas added warmly.
Stana turned her gaze
forward again and said nothing.