Saltrock Odyssey
Beta: Thevina/Thrihyrne Any remaining mistakes are mine.
Rating: NC17
Spoilers: The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit
Synopsis: This is a story of four hara, their journey to Saltrock and their life there. It is set in the time of Saltrock just before and while Cal and Pellaz are there. It’s also a story of their journey to self-discovery.
Disclaimer: All the characters, their world and all things Wraeththu belong to Storm Constantine, to whom I am very grateful.
It was another beautiful desert sunset. We sat, as had become our custom of late, on a shelf of an outcropping of rock, gazing westward to view the sun making its descent, splashing in sequence its yellows, oranges, reds, blues and purples until at last the colorful display was replaced by the deepening hues of an indigo then black sky, dotted with bright stars in myriad number. It was a dome of sparkling points, so infinite, yet seeming close enough to touch.
We sat there, night after night, my friends and I, with a bottle or two of liquor, taking in the desert night‘s splendor. There was laughter, camaraderie and maybe even love in our conversation and banter. We had come here by our own volition, to this dry and desolate place. There were four of us in our little group; my best friend, Nyala, our other two friends, Sola and Lon, and me, Taj. We’d grown up together as humans and had been incepted together close to a year ago. We’d lived in a city, so we had no tribe.
We had drifted until we’d found a place where we felt comfortable staying. It was an outpost of sorts of the Kakkahaar tribe. We were located close enough to an area where provisions could be procured and then sent on to the large tent city where the Kakkahaar leader, Lianvis, dwelt. Because of this, and I assumed other outposts, Lianvis and his elite hara never had to leave their tent city unless they chose to, and they were still able to have all the necessities and luxuries they desired.
Lianvis and his entourage had deigned to visit our humble, and I do mean humble, outpost, Solarumn, once, since we’d been here. Though he was very beautiful, he’d impressed me as being self-involved and dismissive of anyhar he thought beneath him; and he seemed to think most hara beneath him. I remember there was much running around and many short tempers just before his arrival. He came with his own luxurious tent which his servants set up at the highest point in the camp. We couldn’t resist sneaking a peek inside one time when we thought no one was there. It was lavish with beautiful materials of colors I didn’t even know the names of. It was full of large pillows and ornate rugs. There were flowing curtains, shimmering fabrics and tassels everywhere. Nyala said it looked like the inside of a genie bottle.
