A Sign of Humanity

The afternoon was one long twilight, and Astra wandered wearily away from the river. She eventually gave up walking, and stretched across the ground, and fell asleep.

Dawn broke the next day. The sky resembled the inside of an oyster's shell, with lusterous, wispy clouds that let plenty of sunlight through. Astra rose, and walked along a low rise of ground that was parallel to the river. She was refreshed by the light, and made good progress. A normal woman would have found the way tangled with scrub and rock, and therfore tedious, but as a steingeweser, there really were no obstacles of note. The rise also gave her a slightly better view of the valley. As her sense of hearing was not keen, although she was not deaf, she would have to rely on her vision and intuition to avoid being surprised.

And it turned out that soon she saw the first sign of humanity that she had met since taking leave of the dragon's park in the Shreken. Off in the distance, her keen sight discovered

1. a man and a dog herding livestock.
2. a little cottage and a barn.
3. a group of people riding horses. They appeared to be part of the same group, but Astra did not know their purpose.

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