Chapter 7: Arrival at the Horse Hearth

Sharna

We enter the horse hearth as the sun sets. In my mind, I have visited here many times since my first time.

I began to see the thoughts of the horse hearth minders when we stopped at a rocky stream midday. I know this place but only a little, only as you might meet someone in a dream. I've seen many men at the horse hearth. Unlike our hearth, they seem to live together permanently in low long buildings. From my communications with their Hearth Keeper I haven’t discovered if some their men also wander. This constant presence of men changes the way the hearth feels to me. It has a sense of balance that is unfamiliar. A pushing and pulling sensation that I find hard to describe.

As we pass through the gates, the streets are quiet. We all look around.  After our time on the road it's a relief to be inside a hearth again. Astiah and Granye whisper to one another. Mixa hikes her pack up on her back, as though she’s too tired to carry on.

I try to feel the mind of the Hearth Keeper who is expecting us. It’s a din of the horse hearth minders thinking nearly drowns out my own thoughts. My head starts to ache from the hours of intrusive new thoughts.

An aging man with a white bristle on his chin waves to us, signaling us to move to one side.

Solis peers down the road.

“Quickly! They are coming!”

She corrals us like sheep against the wall of a nearby lodge. Then we hear the thunderous hooves of hundreds of horses approaching. I close my eyes as a cloud of dust descends. I can’t see the horses, but I feel the wind of their bodies rushing past us. The one thought I can see is Astiah, jubilant with a thrill of the passing herd. Finally, the rumbling of hooves stops. A few teenagers on horseback ride by whistling and shouting, a half a dozen dogs gallop past us, barking and chasing the herd.

We stand covered in dust, wiping our eyes and coughing. The horse slow to a walk and disperse through the hearth.

The old man swings the big gates shut. The entire hearth is enclosed by a fence, a strange custom. I wonder to keep the horses in or the jaguars out? Or both?

Solis bows and seems to make some kind of offering. We all wait. She opens her pack and unwinds a fabric roll. She buttons a strap to it and hangs the big, flat escutcheon around her neck. It looks like a fabric breastplate. It is beautifully embroidered with flowers, dragons, and other animals. The background is a map in golden stitching at the bottom is a single word in characters I can’t read.

She turns to us and says, “We are welcome here. Please treat these hearth minders with respect. They are kind, but proud.”

The old man joins us. He smirks, shaking his head. “Best to be off the main street when the horses come in.” His eyes fall on Solis and he stiffens.

“Excuse me, I didn’t realize who you are.” He bows deeply, but it’s a little comical. I have a flash of his profound admiration of the Drakdare. I realize how little I know about life outside our hearth, even with my ability to travel in my mind.

My wounded leg throbs. At the end of a day walking, my arm is tired from leaning on my crutch. I’m so grateful for Svar, who carried me some distance on his back today, but the afternoon grew warm and he had to put me down. I wish we could sit.

People begin to appear outside their hearths and lodges. A group of several boys come out of the lodge where we are standing. They fan out. Horses line the streets. Some drinking from big stone troughs. Some tugging up dry grass. The boys are joined by other children who all methodically check the horses, feeling their legs, lifting their hooves, picking burrs from their manes and tails.

I say impatiently, “The Hearth Keeper expects us.”

Solis glares at me. Show respect she speaks into my mind. I drop my head.

The old man says, “Does she? No one told me.”

I grow impatient with this old man. Will no one offer us a cup of tea? A seat? Don’t they know we are weary travelers?

Again, Solis glares.

“Well, come on then.” He says, “I’ll take you to her.”

We follow, looking round in wonder at the horses and their busy keepers. Taiye walks next to me.

“You are tired?” She says. “Can I carry your pack?”

I shake my head. “You're tired too.”

The hearth minders we pass are unusually tall, most are slender and muscled. I’ve lost weight traveling, but I still feel plump compared to them. Their close fitting clothes are stiff, made for durability more than comfort.

A very young girl wearing a broad-brimmed hat clears the street with a flat shovel.

People come out of their lodges and hearths and watch as we pass. Like any hearth, news of strangers travels quickly. They seem to stare in wonder. Some of the older ones bow as we pass by. Everyone is silent. Again, I feel a profound sense of admiration and gratitude. Is it for us? No, I think for Solis… or perhaps what she represents. One woman steps forward and reaches for Solis. Solis turns and nods. In a moment I see their joint memory, a black night, somewhere, perhaps this hearth, sheathed in ice. A horse frozen in mid stride. The woman bows deeply to Solis. Solis returns the bow. We keep moving.

Another young girl emerges from a hearth. She approaches a horse and seems to consult with it for a moment. I try to catch her thoughts, but they are difficult to pinpoint in the tumult of mental activity. She leaps onto the horse’s back lightly and it trots up the road. Astiah stands gape-mouthed and points at the horse and rider disappearing into the dimming light. In our hearth we only see horses occasionally and never with a rider.

Taiye whispers into my ear, “I can’t tell if we’re welcome here.”

I say, “They knew we were coming.”

Behind me I hear Sarvastiah, but I don’t know who he’s talking to. “They must know Solis.”

Someone replies, but I can’t hear what they are saying.

Sarvastiah says, “Why are they so quiet?”

Astiah says, “Shush.”

Finally, amidst the all the thoughts, I feel the Hearth Keeper. She is coming towards us. Hurried and anxious. When she appears around the corner, I don’t recognize her face because I have only ever seen her thoughts.

She walks toward us quickly and bows deeply to Solis.

“Solis the Crore. It is an honor for you to enter our hearth. Come, take your ease.”

They join hands, holding each other's gaze. I can’t tell if they know each other. After a moment Solis says, “I remember you, you were only a child, when…”

The Hearth Keeper raises her hand. “That was a long time ago…”

She turns to our dusty little band. “But you must all be tired. We will show you to the lodge.”

She eyes all of us. “Which of you is Sharna?”

I tip my head. “Thank you for welcoming us to your hearth.”

She nods at my leg and my crutch. A few bigger boys come and lift me up like I am a feather. I let out a little yelp of surprise. They carry me forward.

##

 After we’ve cleaned up and joined a welcome feast with the horse hearth minders, I’m finally able to lay down and rest. My leg is swollen and painful. During the feast, the hearth healer examined my wound and said that it is healing well. She warned me that it could have been much worse and said mostly I need rest. She will come in the morning with fresh herbs and bandages that she says will accelerate the healing.

 I’m finding it difficult to settle with so many thoughts and questions swirling in my head. Many of the hearth minders don’t understand why we have come. In almost every hearth there are children asking their parents questions. Many people wonder what we want and how long will stay. Mostly I’m finding it difficult to stop seeing so many thoughts after the relative quiet of the road where I was able to manage the boundaries.

 I finally fall into an uneasy sleep.

 Some time after the moons have set, I awaken suddenly. All is quiet. Most people are sleeping. I’m free from the cacophony of so many thoughts. I sit up on my bed roll. My companions all sleeping soundly. The banked fire of this hearth seems like such a luxury.

 In the half-light I see Granye, her face uncharacteristically relaxed. When she is awake, her mind is full, her face is taut. Astiah sleeps next to her, eyes twitching as she dreams. I’ve seen the tortured thoughts of so many mothers when their sons join the Others to wander. They worry about accidents, cold, and starvation. Astiah and Granye are desperate to find their children and every day that passes torments them.

 Why I haven’t thought of this before? Perhaps I can reach Hanasorsha or Fengranye. Perhaps I can bring news of their unknown fate.

 The task is difficult, or maybe impossible. I’m usually seeking a hearth with people streaming thoughts like a flame in the darkness. It seems impossible that I might find two specific people in mountains inhabited by dragons. What’s worse is that men lack the ability to open their minds to us, though I can often sense their presence as I did with Sarvastiah. Fengranye, though still technically a boy, may be invisible in my search.

I lay back, my mind traveling east. The mountains are black and craggy, capped in white snow. I am disoriented.

Legend says that the high dragon of the east is the fire dragon, and the low dragon of the east is the water dragon. In the west, the high dragon is an ice dragon and the low dragon is an earth dragon. It is said our world these dragons keep our world in balance. The four corners of fire, ice, water, and earth pull the opposing corners toward them and thereby create equilibrium. This center point of balance is what every hearth minder strives for.

Looking down into the dark valleys in the craggy mountains, I see groves of swaying trees moving in unison. They aren’t like the familiar trees around our hearths and woods. They have slender trunks and long, dark leaves. I move over these mountains for what seems like hours. Keeping my mind open for the slightest thought. 

In the distance, I sense black smoke and heat. Great floes of molten rock slide down cones shaped mountains. Surely, this must be the home of the fire dragons.

I don’t know if I can the inside of a dragon’s mind. I roam across a blackened valley trying to feel the presence of the children.

Then, something. A tinge of sadness. Desperation. My head starts to hurt again.

I follow the feeling. I pass through hot smoke, moving down, down, through a dark shaft. At the end of the shaft is a tiny fire. I continue, uncertain of where I am.

The feeling of sadness erupts into despair. I feel the sob rising in someone’s throat. Surely, this isn’t a dragon.

Inside the black cavern at the end of the shaft is suffocating.Someone is cold and plagued with hunger. Then I feel a mind, someone with better boundaries, perhaps older? I try to read their thoughts, but it is black. Perhaps a man? Can this be Fengranye, trapped in the bottom of a black cavern?

I return to the original sad feeling. When I concentrate I am able to see through another person’s eyes, depending on how well I know them.

The light is low. A figure stoops over a fire, poking it with a stick.

The sad thoughts turn into tears. An overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Paralyzing fear. Overhead there’s a sound I can’t identify, a kind of raspy hum, that comes and goes.

The figure bent over the fire turns to me. “Stop crying. No one can hear you. I’m said I’d to get us out of here.” I know this face well. It is Fengranye and he must be talking to Hanasorsha.

They must be alive, somewhere in the black mountains of the fire dragons. I’m sure I can't find this place on foot.

Involuntarily, my eyes pop open. Solis is sitting at my side, holding my hand. I was so absorbed in my journey I hadn’t noticed her arrival.

I stare at her in the firelight.

“I’ve seen them.”

She says, “Your thoughts woke me.”

“They’re alive.” I say.

She nods. “Yes, they are. It's good news.”

I begin to cry. Relieved but also for Hanasorsha’s sadness and fear. “But if you could see them, why didn’t you go to them before?”

“I don’t have your capacity . I sensed that you might be able to reach them once we were closer to the dragon’s lair. Tonight I was awakened when your mind began traveling east. Then I saw where you were going.”

“Hanasorsha is terrified. I should have told her we are coming.” I’m happy I found them, crushed that I haven’t done anything to improve their situation.

Solis nods. “We still have a long way before we can reach them. I’m not sure what you could’ve said to her. She’s very young.”

I wipe my eyes. I don’t know if finding them makes it better or worse.

“I should wake Astiah and Granye to let them know.” I say.

“They need sleep more than they need news they can’t do anything about. You have done well, Sharna. I told you that your gift is powerful. Try to sleep if you can.”

Tomorrow, perhaps I can reach Hanasorsha again to tell her we are coming. Perhaps in daylight I can uncover more details.

I lie down, but I can’t get the children out of my mind. Solis says my gift is powerful, but right now it feels like a heavy burden. I pull my blanket up and wait for the sun to rise.