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I have a strong belief that where we live greatly influences e are and hoe view the wider world The people ofBehren are quite different than To-gai-ru, and both are different frodom north of the mountains, Honce-the-Bear And by all accounts, the fierce barbarians of Alpinador are far removed from any of the other three human races

Many people confuse the ih, for in truth, we all share a similar hope for our lives, that of improvement for self and community, for a better world for our children, for the continuation of our ways Many people use the differences of the four cultures, exemplified by variations in appearance, to demean another race, and thus to elevate themselves Even with my profound hatred of the Behrenese Yatols who conquered nize that their beliefs are the result of different experiences in a different land Societies, like individuals, develop in response to the world about them, to the realities of the cliers and the joys they can find

For the To-gai-ru, I prefer the old ways, the culture that evolved in response to the realities of the steppes I believe with all of my heart that the old ways are the better ways - for us

For we are a product of our culture, and our culture is, in great part, a product of the land around us The people of To-gai are nomadic, because our survival is dependent upon the animal herds; whereas the people ofBehren are settled, for the rounds, are often separated bysand, and thus, their travels are limited by the harsh environment Many of the characteristics that define the two races, To-gai-ru and Behrenese, are results of those different lifestyles The To-gai-ru are riders, the finest in all the world, hunting on strong and swift ponies; we love our ponies as brothers sharing a journey

The To-gai-ru are archers, the finest in all the world, using great bows fro us shelter and food Because our lifestyle is so intertwined with the fruits of the steppes, we revere those beasts We thank theive to us We understand the delicacy of the land about us, the balance that must not be disturbed if our culture and our people are to survive

The Behrenese, in contrast,careat expanses of desert dunes They farame They fashion and practice eaponsThere is a different , I think The Behrenese harvest and hoard; they do not live day to day, as do my neople They look to that which will increase their yield and their wealth, rather thanin the simple joys of existence As they huddle deeper within the cities and farms, as they fashion the land ht of the greater world about them, one that thrives on diversity

And as they hoard, they covet, and greed feeds upon itself They remove themselves from the natural pleasures and beauties, and replace these honest joys with created necessities: wealth and do hoards of useless wealth do the Behrenese leaders, Yatols mostly, justify their existence to thelittering jewels and sculpted artifacts, and built on the broken bones and backs of slaves, do the Behrenese leaders seek to assure their stature in the netherworld

How they have lost their way! A presiding Yatol oblets, too many to inspect or to hold, while his people live in squalor outside the crafted walls of his home - walls that he must construct for his own defense because his people live in poverty

A To-gai-ru chieftain who so hoarded the wealth would be put out by his tribe - if he was fortunate

A nomad cannot build such defensive walls

The hierarchy of Behrenese society established itself, Yatol to peasant, and the wealth ofEehren was long ago divided ah they are in constant strife atte to redistribute the specifics But as a whole, that wealth total is settled, and so to elevate the whole, wealth and class, the Behrenese needed to look beyond their own borders With To-gai-ru serving as slaves, even the peasants ofBehren are uplifted; and with To-gai ponies to sell to Honce-the-Bear, the kingdom increases its overall wealth

So their useless treasuries will grow

So their toer and more elaborate, filled with\ more wasted jewels, and built upon more broken bodies

It is a simple fact of my life that I hate the Behrenese But Ithe society with the individual, I hate the culture that has grown in the desert kingdom, the culture that has felt a need to invade my own land and enslave my own people I hate the Yatols who did not turn away from this murderous and heinous course, who instead claiht, the true path of their god Greed and arrogance go hand in hand, it seems

I hate them, and I will free my people, or will die in the attempt

But I must not err I do not hate the Behrenese subject, the poor peasant caught up in the ind of Yatol furor

I h every step of oal I h every battle and conquest, or I am surely to have my heart shattered and my purpose perverted to that which I most despise

Chapter 10 Kin and Kind

Brynn wandered the hills and valleys of the southern slopes of the Belt-and-Buckle Mountains for nearly teeks before finding a pass that would take her down to the grassy steppes The going was easy, though, with plenty of food and cold, fresh water to be found, and no monsters or ani those days and especially those nights was the one that continued to rage in her heart and mind She had lost Belli&039;mar Juraviel, who had been her truest friend for the last decade of her life She had escaped where he had not; she had run ahile the dragon had burned him, or eaten hi ranger knew that she had been given no options, that by the tion&039;s lair, Juraviel was already long dead And she knew, in her heart and in her mind, that her present road was the correct one, the one that would be expected of her by Lady Dasslerond, and by Juraviel hie her dead friend, or even to return to his people to report his death

No, Brynn Dharielle&039;s life&039;s goal lay before her, spread wide on the grassy fields of To-gai

And so it ith a heart both heavy with sorrow and light with antici-pation that Brynn hts and s about her

On one splendid er awoke to the soundxof thun-der, and it caerly, Brynn crawled to the lip of the plateau where she had ca the mountain stones A herd of pinto ponies, brown and white and black and white, charged about the field be-low her, agitated

Brynn looked around, but saw no sign of any predators in the area, and no sign of any men She studied the herd more closely and realized that theabout itated stallions

Brynn nodded her understanding One of the younger stallions was likely challenging the dominant male The woman propped herself on her elbows and watched the spectacle unfold before her

She soon discerned that there were three stallions involved in the ruckus A large oldtwo others in turn, warding theest of the three - Brynn put hiht hundred pounds He wasonly a few splotches about his thick torso, as was the second of the stallions, who seeer

But it was the third of the group that truly caught Brynn&039;s eye She fig-ured hiest of the three, and he see out of the way than in s hite, his splotches rich brown and out-lined with a lighter shade of brown His mane hite, with a black tuft, and his tail black, and showing a white tuft; unlike le blue eye, but a pair

He see ranger bit her lip, hoping that the small pony wouldn&039;t be too badly injured in the ruckus

The dominantaway in submission

Or at least, he see back to deal with the er, the small pinto spun about and bit him hard on the rear flank, and when he turned to respond, the s in between the do both startled and rearing, their forelegs clap-ping together hard

The little pony cut a sharp turn and barreled back in, and it seeoing battle to deter- an upper hand! Then he went in hard and fast, kicking and butting the doer, and by the time the smallest of the three ran out the other way, the two opponents were back on equal footing

Soon after, the s a run at the challenger, who had gained the upper hand, and then a third pass, where he clipped both horses, ere fighting evenly at that point

"Clever runt," Brynn whispered with a chuckle, for she knew that this wasall it could to drag the fight between the larger horses out for as long as possible, and she under-stood that the clever pony meant to wear them both down and win the day!

And soon after, it happened just like that, with the s ff first the doer 3 ?And so enjoy the spoils," Brynn whispered, as the pony turned its atten-tion to the er was still chuckling as she packed up her gear and be-an her day&039;s h, at the clever little So about him - and it was more than the resemblance to Diredusk - made her feel a connection to this one

She was still thinking of the pony the next day, while walking through a wide canyon along the lower trails, when she heard the thunder of the run-ning herd Brynn quickly moved to the rocky wall and crouched behind a boulder

The horses entered the canyon behind her, running hard, running scared, and an ensuing roar, low and ruar, and not far away

The horses thundered past; they weren&039;t inas the trail was open before thereat cat was already up above theer ducked lower and instinctively clutched the hilt of her fine sword If the cat couldn&039;t catch the horses, it ht settle for a bit of hu the rocky wall behind the herd,so smoothly across the uneven rocks that it see ground but stubbornly continuing the chase, ears flat and great legs puround

Until it saw Brynn

The cat froze so quickly, so quietly and coray stone behind it Brynn held very still, locking her stare on the spot until she was again able again toone - Brynn estimated its shoulders at over four feet, which meant that one of its paould more than cover her entire face While it didn&039;t seeer&039;s last foe, that horrid dragon, Brynn kneell the dangers of the brown mountain cats, for her people had often encountered them in the summer months, when their travels took them north to the foothills, and often wi disastrous results Many To-gai-ru had been buried in these foothills

But Brynn was no norai-ru and had been trained in ways supe-rior even to the best of her people&039;s proud warriors She resisted the urge to rush back around the boulder, knowing that any suddenin - and it was not too far away for a single great leap at her

No, she had to let the cat move first, to trust in her abilities to react properly

The passing er because the woman didn&039;t dare even draw breath

The patient cat stared down at her, ht, but very telling,to hind leg, ta

"Do not do it," Brynn whispered under her breath

Even as she spoke the words, the great cat sprang, flying down from the mountainside at her With reflexes honed to near perfection, Brynn fell into a sidelong roll, angling her dive around the boulder so that the cat could not easily adjust its course toward her after landing She came up in a de-fensive stance a few feet away, theher with slitted eyes Head low, back legs settling for another charge, it gave an angry roar that shook Brynn to her bones

She pushed her thoughts into her sword, then, and fire erupted along the blade

The cat roared again, and shrank back, but only for a ry

It came on with a suddenness that would have had alht flat-footed, too fast forthe fiery sword across in any seer, and was so attuned to ani before it had even begun

She spun back and to her left, sword co all the way around as she co cat&039;s ru, this tih, for Brynn&039;s head

She fell forward and to the ground, and while she didn&039;t have the time to turn her sword about to stab the cat as it flew above her, she didthe cat in the belly, and to push out with her newfound ge those deadly rear paws aside

And as she did, the woht, bent and rounded like a shield, ca, she tapped her sword against it, and sure enough, it was a tangible thing, a shield of soy She wanted to inspect it more, but she had other matters to attend

"Go away!" she yelled at the beast, as it turned again, and as she fell to her standard defensive stance

This time, the clever cat stalked in

Brynn stabbed at it, but it ducked back, then ca

Brynn worked her sword back and forth, batting the claws, stinging the cat with fire But then it leaped, suddenly, and Brynn had to dive aside, and she felt a burn in her shoulder as one claw raked past Her roll interrupted, he lay on her back and clutched at the wound reflexively, but had to let go nd punch out, and try to bring her sword to bear as the great cat fell over her, allteeth

She fended frantically, got in a hit or two, then just rested the flat of her fierv blade against the neck and head of the cat, holding it back, pushing it out to aret a fir therowl of protest, the cat retreated, and Brynn threw herself right over backward, reat cat circled to her right, seeh not badly wounded

Brynn went on the offensive, seizing theher sword in an overhand slash rather than her custoht-forward stab to accentuate the flames and perhaps chase the cat off

It did skitter back, dropping low on its front legs, ears flat, e

Then the cat caain, and the cat, after aone stride, then turning back toward her

Neither dared follow through, each respecting the other&039;s forht end She couldn&039;t try to run away, obviously, for the cat was far too swift And apparently she couldn&039;t scare the beast off

The cat caain, this time more forcefully, and Brynn had to con-tinue her retreat, step after step, her sword slashing back and forth before her to keep the determined beast at bay It roared all the while, and in the tuht coest of all, entered the fray

The small pinto pony cut between the co at the surprised mountain cat The cat leaped away and the pony reared and whinnied htily

As it ca, wasted not a sec-ond, grabbing itsback, and the pony ju

Brynn didn&039;t have her seat well enough to control herits head low in a full gallop, it went left and then right, then left again, putting a bit of ground between it and the pursuing cat, and then it ran full out and straight on, angling for an area of fallen logs and boulders

Instinctively, Brynn started to tug the horse to the side, to avoid the rough ground, but the pony would not be deterred In it charged, and Brynn found her balance just in tiave two quick strides, and soared over a log that was propped up by stones on one end There weren&039;t two strides before the next hurdle, though, and the footing was bad, and so the pony cas, not quite releasing into the ju a short hop and then a second to clear the way

Like a rabbit, Brynn thought Looking back, she saw that the pony&039;s choice had proven correct, for the one around the first boulder and had then lost ground ducking under the log Now, co past the last obstacle, the cat bolted, but the pony had already gained its mo-mentum and was in full stride

The mountain cat kept up with it for a fewa swipe at the pony&039;s hind leg, but it could not hold the pace

Brynn and the pony caallop, and when the woed to look back, she saw theback in obvious frustration

The pair rode on for souide the pony She sat co sides and her hands gentle on its snowy mane, for she knew instinctively that the pony would not throw her As a child, Brynn had seen , and so she understood just how extraordinary this entire en-counter had been For the pony to co, and for it to stop and then allow Brynn to climb atop its back was even more so

Still, there werebetween rider and ai-ru, a people intimately tied to the marvelous horses of the steppes

Finally, convinced that the ht back a bit and gave a gentle tug on the pony&039;sinto its ear, ?Ho"

The pony eased down to a stop and Brynn slid off She ca the side of the pony&039;s face, looking into its sence there ?Thank you," she said, and she kissed the pony on the nose When she backed up a bit, the young stallion tossed his head a few tiain ?Where are your friends?" she asked quietly ?Did they send you back to defend the rear?"

The pony nickered and lowered its head to the grass,content-edly Truly, it seemed in no hurry to be off to rejoin the others

Brynn knew that she couldn&039;t push this budding relationship, though she dearly hoped that the pony would remain with her She didn&039;t have a rope, and even if she did, she wouldn&039;t use it on the pony after it had just saved her from that difficult battle!

No, she wanted the pony to become her mount, her friend and ally - even more so, she understood, because she now felt so alone, with Belli&039;one But it would have to be a friendship of reement, and on that note, it was all up to the pony

Brynn petted the pony again for a few an deliberately - if not too swiftly - walking away

Her smile could not be contained when she realized that the little pony alking behind her

An hour later, Brynn came upon a small lea, sheltered by rocks and by trees and decided to hs of sorass about for the pony

"Well, what am I to name you?" she asked, and the pinto looked at her as if it understood her every word ?So clever and such a hero, and here I thought that you were the runt of the herd!"

She smiled as she finished and looked into the pinto&039;s blue eyes know-ingly When she was a young girl, she and her a in particular stood out to her as she looked upon the beautiful pony, a rhyme that she and her mother had made up about another smallish horse, the runt of the clan&039;s herd Brynn could not completely remember the rhyme, but she did re-member the word, ?runtly," that her mother had used to both describe the horse and fit lyrically into the song