“That’s the best way to ease yourself into it,” Hilana said with a chuckle. “It’s one thing to just go straight in and stay out there if you have to, but it will be much harder on you than if you take the time to acclimatize yourself to it. Atraxia does what she wills, but those who can answer her calls will find their way.” Her guardians had always referred to the desert as a woman, and the habit had stuck for the girl. It didn’t bother her; if anything there was some comfort in the similarities. “If you hear her, perhaps you have Wildness, too,” she smiled at him.
She was happy to share the food with him, carefully cutting the stuffed pita in two and giving him one of the halves, full of chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and some sort of yogurt sauce which helped refresh him and take the heat out of the spices so that he could enjoy the flavour. It was nice to have someone to share it with, and when he moved to get up, Hilana rose easily from the shaded sands, well-prepared to reach and steady him if he needed it.
Hayima’el was perfectly happy, though, to let the bard press against him. Big as he was, with the thick fur and muscle, Finn was essentially weightless to him, but Hilana raised her eyebrow at the camel as he got up too, as her attention had been on Finn and watching him intently, seeing the way his muscles and body and head responded to the movement. “You look much better, and while I think you can walk, it would take much longer to get to the river. Riding would be better for you. That way you stay in the shade,” she nodded at the colourful sunshade attached to the large saddle. “So let’s do that. He can carry us both easily, and then some,” she wanted to reassure him so that he didn’t wonder if the camel was comfortable. It would be better for him to ride, once he got used to the gait, because then he would have the breeze moving with him, too. It would be much faster going to the River.
She took the opportunity to slip around him and under the arm that was against the big bull so that it was now around her shoulders. “Hayima’el, down,” she told the camel. “He’s not in any mood to try to jump on you today. Maybe another day he will climb you from the tree, but not today.” The camel knew better than to protest, and lowered himself back into the sands. “There,” Hilana was much more cheerful as she addressed herself back to Finn, walking him over to the side a few steps in order to get him into position before she would duck out from under his arm. “Can you grab the wooden handle up front and bring your leg up and over him?” She encouraged, one hand tapping the rounded bar-like handle at the front of the saddle to indicate which of the two she meant. She would move just slightly away to give him more room, but her hand was just off of his back and ready to grab him if need be to prevent a fall or help him on.
Once she got him on there, though, Hilana made sure the colourful reins were draped over the bar and hiked her skirt over one leg almost to her thigh so that she could climb up, too, settling behind him. She could steer from there, and he would get the breeze in his face without her wild curls going everywhere. “Now, when he gets up, he’s going to get up at the front first, and then the back. So I want you to hold on to the bar, and keep your weight centred, okay?” She smiled at him. “Then once his front is up, the back end comes up, so that’s why you want to keep your centre solid and planted,” the Vastii explained. “Hayima’el, up,” she urged the camel once Finn was holding on, and the movement was as Hilana described it, but her own arms were on either side of him, holding onto the handle of the saddle to keep him in place.
“On,” she urged the humped beast, clicking her tongue and letting one arm down, and then the other, apparently not worried about the decorated lead that was draped over the carved handle of the saddle. Her hands rested on her thighs, and if his balance started to shift, then she could realign him. Finn could feel her feet applying gentle pressure to Hayima’el’s sides, communicating with the beast that way. She was no Mesmer, but their symphonies meshed well. They left the safety of the mastic grove, and Hilana started them on westward, the camel moving at a steady pace towards the River. She wanted him to get used to the motion, because she didn’t know what experience he had with camels or horses… and the gait was different for both. And after two minutes, she urged the piebald bull to his next pace, faster than the steady walk. The breeze carried the scent of the Vasta across them, and she watched Finn for any signs of trouble that would necessitate a full-on gallop to refreshment.
“That is better, yes?” The girl was smiling at him, though one of her bare arms came up and she pointed at a plant they were coming up to. It wasn’t terribly large, and looked like any of the scrubby bushes he had passed earlier. “That bush there, that is an artemisia. We use it for fevers, inflammation, bleeding, and headaches,” she told him. It might not stick with his condition, but she was pleased to share such things with him. The river would come into view soon enough, and then she could help him down and to the water.
