Without the clocks at Sungrave, Fazra wasn't entirely sure how long she had been traveling the Road when she rounded a bend to encounter the first living thing since she'd set out.  She stopped when she saw him, and shifted the grip on her hammer, but the creature did nothing immediately. 

When it saw her, it started waving the lantern it carried, leaving unnaturally long lasting trails in the air. Fazra saw this as a sign of magic and shifted to a fighting stance, her left foot forward as her hammer came off her shoulder to be held at the ready. With her free hand, she pulled down a pair of goggles that had been resting on her head. They were formed from clay, with thin horizontal slits that allowed her to see out with narrowed vision. They were to keep Lightbringer from dazzling her when she wielded it. 

She tilted her head to see the light that the creature cast, and saw that it was writing in the air, in the same language that she had learned at Sungrave. She had already been an adult when she learned, and her tutor had told her that that was the reason she read so slowly. Other knights insinuated that it was because she was an Orc, or even because she was a woman. These knights found themselves needing new helmets in short order. 

“Im eh-cho,” she read haltingly. “Is that a spell? Speak, creature!”

She marked the approach of another’s footsteps, and something else spoke from behind the masked being. 

[i]“That is a beautiful weapon.”[/i]

“It is,” she agreed, stepping forward. “It is fine to look at, but pray you never [i]feel[/i] its beauty. Why does your friend not speak?”