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NASREEN
The journey to the Throat had been pleasant. As they had traveled further south, the earth grew even greener, and their path had been rich with new grass and blooming flowers. Even better still was the company Nasreen kept, for she had already grown quite fond of the dark mare who traveled by her side. She felt a special attachment to Eva, leading her home in this way, feeling much as Kahlua must have felt all those seasons ago when she had brought a trembling Nasreen to the Edge. It had been a long time since she had felt needed, and to help Eva brought the girl a special delight. It was a duty that she could throw herself into wholeheartedly; for best of all, it came without the worry that any mistake she might make would plunge a herd into darkness.
All the while, she had chatted animatedly to Eva about this and that, sometimes recounting old Th’orquian stories to pass the time or on other occasions, pointing out the landmarks of the places they were traveling through. To be sure, she now had a much better understanding of this land from the ground—though she had flown over most of Helovia, navigating by foot was a different matter entirely. On a few instances, she had worried that she had gotten them lost, and would pause to launch herself into the sky and scan the horizon for her familiar markers, but they had finally arrived at the border of the Dragon’s Throat, and Nasreen breathed a quiet sigh of relief to have gotten them there safely. Now they stood on the shore, looking out across the sea to the small island that rose above the churning waters.
“There it is,” she told Eva, gesturing with a wing. “It looks small from here, but there really is quite a lot to it. When we get to the other side, I can show you the oasis, and the beach, and…well,” Nasreen giggled, “I suppose it is mostly sand, but there’s a lot of it!” The desert of the Throat was nothing like the comfortable forests of her homeland, but she couldn’t complain when they’d offered her a home. “Now all we have to do is wait for someone to let us across,” she explained. “There’s a magic bridge, and it’s supposed to be quite magnificent. I’ve never seen it,” she admitted, “but now that you’re here, this is my chance! Oh Eva, I’m so glad you agreed to come home. Are you nervous? You mustn’t be; the herd here is very kind…” And so Nasreen babbled on, filling her poor friend’s ears with her incessant voice as they waited for the bridge to be drawn.
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