The next few weeks for Rilana passed in a haze. The journey itself was fairly straight-forward for someone who had been roaming in the wilds her whole life. It was the height of summer and even in the wintery north, the forestland was bountiful. Keeping her dried trail rations in reserve, the moon fey fed herself with green plants growing freely along the trail or on the banks of the closest creeks. Dandelion, chickweed, and berries she ate raw as soon as she picked them, and others like chicory and hawthorne she saved until the evening when she found a spot to rest the night and cook something for dinner over a small smokeless fire. Most nights she could add in mushrooms, nuts, and the occasional fish. She kept her longbow close at hand, but didn't need it to feed herself as she crossed the huge pine forests towards Stone Crest.

And it was well that she didn't meet many travelers or endure much hardship on her way. It was true that the roads were far from reliable, but that wasn't much of a burnen to bear. Her thoughts had turned inwards, focused on the creature now occupying part of her soul.

It was as though someone was standing right behind her shoulder but disappeared when she turned to look. Khona responded to her thoughts just as readily as if she had spoken them out loud, and she could imagine the subtle twitch and gesture of his body language that she had become so familiar with over the years. She could feel his thoughts and it was good that her only ther companion was Bruin, who didn't feel at all left out during her silent conversations. 

The delicate effigy no longer hung from her neck, finding instead a safe place in the Druid's pack. 

Crimsien faded into Mauven before Rilana made it to Stone Crest. She could smell the rocky scent of dust and feel the deep shivering in the earth long before she came upon the mountains where the mines and quarries were being worked. She had never seen gargoyles or hill giants up close, and she gazed at them watchfully as she passed them by, just as they stared at the iridescent-haired moon fairy on the back of the steppe horse. She spent less than a day under the eaves of a Stone Crest stable, pressing a small amount of coin into the innkeeper's hand in exchange for some good oats and bread. When she told the man where she was from he laughed and shook his head, as though she had told a joke, his expression only growing confused as her own pale brows furrowed together.

[b]"But, no one's been out of Frigmount in hundreds of years..."[/b]

--

Traveling became even quicker after Stone Crest, the road larged and more well-traveled. The farther south she went, the balmier the weather, until it was simply too hot for the wolverine-fur cloak and the caribou leather armour she normally wore. For the first time in her life, her night-time sleep outdoors was disrupted by the buzzing of insects seeking her soft, pale skin, forcing her to use her tent to find peace.

She hunted more in these warm forests and meadowlands, though it was more out of curiosity about the animals she wasn't used to than any actual need for meat. She spent an entire evening in a tree with a nest full of raccoon kits. White-tail deer and striped skunks slipped by on their trundling, creeping paths, never knowing that Rilana was sighting them down the narrow shaft of an arrow.

And always, Khona was right there, looking out of her eyes. She valued his insight, and the long trip was sped by his dry banter. 

Finally, at long last, Rilana crested a hill and reigned Bruin to a stop. The black walls of Ebonfort were so close, crouched dark and forbidding on the horizon. The journey had seemed so long, but now that her destination was so near the end had come too soon. 

She lead Bruin off the road and took the time to brush him out until his pale coat virtually gleamed. She brushed and trimmed his mane and tail, and then cleaned herself up, changing into a rather plain but gauzy blue dress with white leggings and white chamois boots.

Ebonfort.

It was loud, even before she got to the guarded gate. Everything seem hot and noisy and dusty. 

[color=00aeef]"My name is Rilana Auororime'. I'm here from Frigmount to deliver this horse to Lord Kharik,"[/color] she announced, producing the letter with the Lord's seal to the Ebon Knights at the gate. They scrutinized it for one agonizing moment and then waved her through, watching her curiously from under their helms until the next person needed their attention.