New Journal, Entry Six - The Star Rider

A rare stroke of fortune struck me not long ago. 

My patrol was lonely and the night brought with it a biting cold, I scouted the lowlands and the hills to the north and east in search of more signs of the mysterious bands I had glimpsed passing through. Finding my search fruitless, I was ready to resign for the night when something cut through the stars of night above. First came only the flutter of great wings, then I witnessed his form blot out the stars above, to the night he was but a dark shadow swallowing the starlight in his wake. What could I do but follow? 

My limbs no longer felt numbed and the cold escaped to the back of my mind, I stalked after this shadow with a purpose that was greater than the snow that laid out to impede my every step and the winds that sought to cut into my very bones. I walked on, my eyes intent on the distant shape, its passing alarmed to me by nothing but the spheres of light it stole and then returned. I followed it till my earthly trail halted me at the shores of Nen Harn, sailing in the sky beyond my reach. 

I could have resigned then and allowed my weary body the rest, but I would still go on. I knew of a boat on the shore, an old rowboat Megorin had discovered and used for fishing. Tonight it carried me across the lake, it was a dubious journey for the boat was worn with age, and hard as the lake was bogged with ice. I pressed onward with the oars, searching the sky. I feared I had lost it, but then I saw, illuminated and regal in the silver of the moon, perched atop a tall hill far on the shores ahead. 

Êlrochon - Star Rider - I named him then, his feathers were darker than the tapestry of the stars, a noble hunter wreathed in cloak of deepest shadow, unseen by foe and prey alike when he set out at night. He watched me as I watched him, a creature so far above the concerns of us Men, what could I do but sit humble and awe? With a cry that split the night he was gone again. Months had passed since last I gazed one of their mighty number, I treasured this night, this was a joy I would not often find in my long days of watch. 

I set ashore softly and treaded cautiously through the treacherous cliffs and hills, rising to the distant peak I had witnessed from afar. My heart was glad, a gift awaited me there. A great feather, a single memory of Êlrochon and his cloak of shadow, lay shed on the stone there. I collected it with gentle care and felt my spirit lighten, the long weeks of hardship appeared suddenly distant. 

'Twas not the only gift I would discover that Êlrochon had left me with, I realized it was no hill I stood upon, though covered in earth and moss from ages of decay; it was a keep, once a proud and tall monument to the old kingdom, it was withered and crumbled, but the cliffs of the island had guarded it from the elements, and i found much of it well-preserved. 

A shelter to make winter and find refuge. Kept hidden from all eyes but mine for so long, it was a place the unwelcome would not soon discover. 

I will not squander such a gift.