The Meadow in the Valley

Even when she did so, it was possible that the locals - who in this remote region were likely to be superstitious and ill-educated - would be too terrified of her for her to be able to communicate with them. They might even mistake her for a troll. But eventually she should reach more civilised parts where she could make herself known to a member of the nobility or - failing that - a magistrate or priest. That would be the first step in getting a message to the Aqualarian court, so that a sizeable force could be sent to clear out the dragon's mercenaries and rescue her friends. She was in no doubt that such a force would be sent; apart from more noble motives there must be a lot of loot that could be recovered. There should be a wizard sent with the party too, in case any residual magic of the dragon's needed to be disarmed. [87817]

She followed the ledge to the right, and was glad to find it gradually descending. She had to watch her step, to ensure that her feet did not slip out from under her on the gravel, some of which was quite loose. It was not too long, however, before she had grass beneath her feet.

The meadow occupied a valley that descended fairly gently from north-east to south-west. In the latter direction she had a view across the lowlands, made blue and indistinct by distance. Once she had reached the end of the valley, she would need to turn left, as her present heading would lead her into the western border area of Aqualaria, far from the capital, Themyscira, which lay to the southeast of her current position.

It was pleasant walking down the valley through the meadow on a sunny morning. She could not tell if it was a warm morning or a chilly one; her body was not very sensitive to changes in temperature. She caught a few distant glimpses of mountain goats, which fled at her approach; they were no doubt responsible for the grass being quite short.

As she went on, the aspens gradually became larger and more numerous. She avoided their shade, not wanting to risk being made sluggish.

When she had gone a mile or so, and had descended perhaps a couple of hundred feet, she encountered a stream. It flowed down from one side of the valley and then continued down its centre. She took a drink from it. She still seemed to need water occasionally, though not as much or as frequently as when she had been human. There was some sand in the bed of the stream, and seeing it she suddenly felt hungry. Some instinct must be telling her that this was what she needed to eat.[87862] She scooped up a handful and ate it. Not surprisingly, it felt gritty in her mouth, but not unpleasant. She swallowed it and then had a second handful. She wondered how her digestive system worked. Since her transformation she had not excreted anything, whether solid or liquid.

She carried on down the valley for another hour or so. The going was easy, and she had covered another three miles or so. At one point she had spotted a large bear amongst the trees. She had felt nervous for a moment, before remembering that it could not harm her. It saw her, but took no notice of her. She guessed that she did not smell like prey; in fact she probably had no scent at all. Or maybe she was just too big to be regarded as potential prey.

The stream had grown substantially larger by now. She kmew that her back side, though she could not see it, must be rather grubby from her earlier sliding. Even her front, where she could see, had acquired a little dirt. So she decided to bathe. No doubt the water, which probably mostly derived from the snow cover higher up, would be icy cold, but she knew that she would hardly notice that.

1. She bathes and then carries on.
2. Unlike the rain water of the previous evening, the stream water must be slightly acidic. It eats away at her "clothes", though fortunately not at Astra herself. She hopes that the water that she drank earlier won't have harmed her.

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