"Halt, where do you hope to find the Kalkara?" Will questioned, catching Allie's attention after hours of silence.
Storm, being led after roughly forty minutes at a steady canter, jerked her head to the right.
Responding to the signal, the red-haired apprentice turned to her right, following Will's footsteps into the grove of trees.
Rubbing behind Shadow's ears as she dropped the reins, Allie stepped closer to pat Storm's neck.
Neighing softly, the mare nuzzled her girl's shoulder before going to join her friends.
"The best way I can think of is to start at their lair and see if they're in the vicinity." Halt said in answer to Will's question.
"Do we know where that is?" Gilan asked.
"Best intelligence we have is that it's somewhere on the Solitary Plain, beyond the Stone Flutes. We'll scout around that area and see what we can find. If they're in the area, we should find that the odd sheep or goat is going missing from villages nearby. Although getting the villagers themselves to talk will be another matter. Plainspeople are a closemouthed bunch at the best of times."
"What's this Plain you're talking about? And what on Earth is a Stone Flu-?"
Will half-choked on his mouthful of hard bread thanks to Allie's elbow, and muttered an apology for talking with his mouth full at her irritated expression.
Halt chose to ignore the display, knowing that their antics were born from nervousness.
"The Solitary Plain is a vast flat area-very few trees, mainly covered in rocky outcrops and long grass. The wind seems to always be blowing, no matter what time of year you go there. It's a dismal, depressing place and the Stone Flutes are the most dismal part of it."
"But what are…?"
Halt was quick to answer Will's question before it was asked.
"The Stone Flutes? Nobody really knows. They're a circle of standing stones built by the ancients, smack in the middle of the windiest part of the Plain. Nobody has ever worked out their original purpose, but they're arranged in such a way that the wind is deflected around the circle, and through a series of holes in the stones themselves. They create a constant keening sound, although why anyone thought they sounded like flutes is beyond me. The sound is eerie and discordant and you can hear it from kilometers away. After a few minutes, it sets your teeth on edge-and it goes on and on for hours."
It reminded Allie of the sound her father's nail had made on a chalkboard as punishment for her wandering attention.
Her teeth ached at the very memory, ears ringing at the remembered pain, and Allie rubbed her jaw subconsciously.
This was going to be a long trip…
"Cheer up." Halt voiced, clapping both his apprentices on the shoulder.
"Nothing's ever as bad as it sounds. Now let's get some rest."
Resisting the urge to grind her teeth as a raw, persistent wind ground over her nerves like claws, Allie guessed they were nearing the edge of the Solitary Plain.
Even Storm, who normally responded only to danger, stepped more cautiously as the Plain's very presence weighed down on them, stifling all sound besides the wind.
"Now you can see why they call it the Solitary Plain." Halt voiced, most likely addressing Gilan and Will if his use of 'see' was any indication.
"When you ride out into this damned wind, you feel as if you're the only person left alive on Earth."
Patting the pony's neck and whispering comforting words into the alert ear, Allie urged Storm to catch up with the others as Shadow bristled at her neck like a scratchy scarf.
A sound made itself known to her roughly half an hour later, making her muscles coil like agitated snakes.
The harsh combination of notes was a counterpoint to the constant wind as it rustled through the grass like a lean-muscled predator, attacking her calm more effectively than any insult ever had.
Shadow's claws pricked at the sensitive skin of Allie's neck, and only retracted them at a sharp rebuke.
The feline was definitely on-edge; she normally would have pulled in her claws immediately at the first sign of pain.
Twitching her head towards Will as the metallic jingle of stirrups sliced through her annoyed concentration, Allie frowned in confusion.
Was something wrong?
"You've noticed them." Halt stated at the boy's movement.
"It's the Stones."
Unfortunately for Allie, that was when they got within normal earshot of the Stone Flutes.
Grinding her teeth at the unbearable noise, she pressed the heel of her hand into an ear to somehow lessen the ache.
"Are you alright?" Gilan worried, bringing Blaze back to be level with her mare's right shoulder.
"I'm fine." Allie forced out, head beginning to pound.
"Cover your ears with this." Halt ordered, having dropped back to press a soft bundle into her hands.
"It should protect your ears from the noise."
Curious now, she unrolled the cloth and spread it over her lap, Storm not once breaking stride since her rider kept perfect balance.
The cloth was rather thick, but soft, and square in shape, each side roughly two hand-spans long.
Two opposite corners, an inch from the edges, were ovals of stiff leather and padded cotton.
"What is it?" Allie wondered, smoothing out any wrinkles in the fabric.
Taking the cloth back, Halt began to fold it in a specific pattern.
"Take off your hood."
Obeying immediately, Allie resisted the instinct to flinch away as the cloth was tied around her head.
The folds cushioned the leather and cotton over her ears, and held Allie's hair back while camouflaging the distinctive color.
With the Stone Flutes' mournful song muffled to a bearable level, the red-haired apprentice smiled towards her mentor.
"Thanks."
Halt grunted softly in reply, once again disarmed by the crack in her temperamental armor.
Unseen by his companions, Gilan smiled fondly at his old mentor and his spitfire apprentice.
Some things never change…
"We'll rest for the night." Halt announced a few hours later.
"It's almost impossible to maintain a constant course in the dark. Without any significant land features to set a course by, we could easily wind up going around in circles."
Letting out a tired breath, Allie pat her pony's neck and adjusted the bandana over her ears.
The Stone Flutes' song had gotten louder over the hours, but the cloth had it muffled enough to keep Allie from snapping.
Sliding down from the saddle, the lone female of the group stretched out her sore leg muscles before unloading her pack.
Flicking Shadow's ear, Allie listened carefully as the feline jumped from inside her cloak and slunk into the tall grass.
"No fire." Halt warned.
"We'd be visible for miles and we have no idea who might be watching."
The sound of scavenging paused, and then wood clattered to the ground.
"You mean the Kalkara?" Will ventured uneasily.
"Them, or Plainspeople. We can't be sure that some of them aren't in league with the Kalkara. After all, living cheek by jowl with creatures like that, you might well end up cooperating with them, just to ensure your own safety. And we don't want them getting word that there are strangers on the Plain."
A saddle was dropped onto the dry grass, and then Gilan joined the conversation.
"You don't think we've been seen already?"
"…We might have been. There are just too many unknowns here-like where the Kalkara actually have their lair, whether or not the Plainspeople are their allies, whether or not any of them have seen us and reported our presence. But until I know we have been seen, we'll assume we haven't. So, no fire."
"You're right, of course." Gilan admitted.
"It's just I'd happily kill someone for a cup of coffee."
"Light a fire to brew it, and you might end up having to do just that."
Sensing that was the inevitable outcome to having a warm camp, Allie deflated as Shadow returned to her lap.
"Might as well make the most of it, then."
"Easy for you to say. You get a living pillow that follows you everywhere." Will mock-complained.
Mouth twisting up into a smirk, she caught the boy in the shin with the heel of her foot.
"Don't be such a big baby. Now get out the cold rations before we all die from hunger."
