Our herd deity was the sun, my personal deity was earth. The talent for keeping a balance between worship for the sun and earth was an interesting mix—no matter the prayer that exits my lips, it was earth that received my normal amount of worship. Whereas the sun was someone who I praised and gave thanks to for his continued blessings. Days had grown cooler and work within the Throat picked up, I stayed busy; and when I wasn’t working on training new blood or patrolling. I was finishing a sword, fathering and working on a few small projects.

Those small projects consisted of gifts for both earth and sun. The first of the two was a piece that would be considered almost like a thick anklet of sort. Its base is smooth gold, polished into a gloss by sand and sea water. Its center was coated with a thin layer of soft iron and woven inside were carvings of a five petal flower, and bursting from the flower was a rearing stag (inspired from a rare encounter with a rather unique stag.)

The second piece was covered in thin links of gold, each had been bent by myself and sealed to increase strength/durability. Dangling from the chain was a circular amulet that had a dish like shape in the center and was bowed out toward the ends. A transparent red stone lay in the middle surrounded by tiny engraved swirls that resembled flames. Both pieces are rather simple. Not nearly as grand as the magical amulets that the lords blessed us with—but I had worked on them tirelessly, and intended to at least present them to both my lord and the patron of our land. A show of gratitude and humility for all they had given.
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Cera was still snoozing away, I lowered muzzle and gently brushed the butt of it across his growing head in a soft father like kiss. He looks so precious and innocent when among a cloud of dreams. Fina remained fast asleep, with one wing tucked above her head to close off the sun’s light. My wonderful family. Turning from them both, I started toward the borders of the Oasis. My steps hadn’t gotten far when a painted figure caught my eye. Onni? With no hesitation and a bright smile already starting to come on, I shuffle feet toward her, “The morning favors you.” A compliment that holds every ounce of truth; her flesh still beams brightly, aglow with light and joy. A joy I sometimes envied on hard days.