Halo

Hesht and Astra crawled out of the hidden fortress. The sky above was streaked by gray, wispy clouds. Hesht pointed to the east, and said, "That ring around the sun means rain."

Astra followed his finger. She blocked the sun out with her hand so that she could see better. She noticed that the area around the sun was darker than the rest of the sky, and that a milky, pinkish white halo circled the sun. Now that Hesht had commented on it, she did remember that the morning halo meant rain. Her immediate thought was, should they leave the shelter of the fortress, or should they proceed?

"Is the rain going to be heavy, or dangerous?" she asked. "I can stand getting wet, if we can get to shelter at the end of the day."

Hesht looked at the western sky. "I really cannot tell. It is going to be steady, once it starts. There should not be lightning - it is not that type of rain. The canyons are the problem."

"I can swim well," said Astra.

"So can I. But I have never crossed them while it is raining, and they change. A canyon wall might slide, and b- bury you in the muck. And you will lose your shoes. The glue of the resin is not waterproof."

"Are there any of those nasty thorny plants on the way?"

"Not until we are almost there."

"Then do not let that stop us from going."

Hesht stood in thought, looking down on the ground. Astra nodded her head slightly and made a slight circling motion with her right hand, a gesture betraying some impatience. "Make a decision, or I will make one for you," she thought.

Hesht then looked up at Astra. "Khanomam, there are problems with either ch- choice. If we go today, we do not have shelter if we do not make it to Doazda's place. I am going the way that I am going so that we will not be seen by other people. Cr - crossing the ditches and canyons could get us hurt, as we may fall in during a mudslide, or be carried under by strange currents. But if we do not go today, the trail that I am using will take much more time to finish. We will probably want to take a path where we risk being seen by people who may not be fr- friendly, or honest. And anyone who is interested in finding you will have an extra day to track you."

"What would you advise?"

Hesht swallowed, and said,

1. "I think we can make it if we go now, and go fast. It is just going to get worse if we wait a day. We are going to get soaked, and we will have to be careful around the canyons."
2. "It is not worth the trouble that we may get into to go today. Let us stay here, and wait the rain out, and take the more heavily travelled path after the rain lets up."

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