"Keep going Caitirine," he would say once they rested at the top of each knoll "We are past time, and what does it matter to stay in one place?"
"Well..." nerves would always pause her here. Cait never understood why so much fear came when passing through the dark from one rise to the next "If you go with me then okay... but it's so dark down there- every time!"
The space between each moon splashed rise was a dark river of shadow, that from a distance made each rounded hill top look like thousands of tiny islands stretching forth into the starry sky. A tender painting that met in a line on the evening horizon. Cait thought to herself, We must have been walking for a dozen hills now. Its been an hour at the least... it feels like weeks! Has it been weeks? The truth was she really didn't know, and thinking about it brought her to frustration.
"How long have we been walking?" she asked,
"And what does it matter? Do you have to be somewhere young lady?"
"Well... yes... I have to-" while Caitirine thought, she came across something that seemed to trouble her even more then the question of time had. She not only came short on if she had anything else to do or place to be, but if there ever had been. She strained her young mind to picture existence outside of the nethering wilderness, the forever evening they walked through, and couldn't. Come to think of it she thought I'm not sure I've ever even been anywhere else.
"The more dark we pass in between hill tops, Dear, the more you will see that there is nothing to be scared of. The only thing down there in the dark, is you and me. Does that sound bad?"
"Well I'm not scared of you!" she squeaked excitedly, clinging to this empowering information.
"And are you scared of you?" Briejus prodded humorously.
"Noooo!" Caitirine danced and shouted at her old friend with giggles, "You can't be afraid of yourself- that's funny!"
Briejus raised both eyebrows in wise sympathy and admiration for the innocence she proclaimed.
They walked on. The wind came in rolls over the gentle cress's, revealing itself by causing ripples in the tall silver grass. It looked like an earth sea to Cait, and she was sailing it into the night. The stars speckled in eternal endlessness above her and Briejus, and they continued their walk into the amaranthine wilderness, colored silver and blue.
"What is that?!" gasped Cait. She leapt backwards and scrambled to hide behind her sturdy old guide, who stopped to observe what had distressed her so. A large dark shape moved quickly over the hills to the side of them. It streaked and snaked through the low lines between the moonlit covered tops, where it would stop, and seemingly scan its surroundings before moving on.
"That my Dear," grinned Briejus "that is why we are here."
"What is it?" Cait asked in a quiet voice, looking up in the dark, clinging to his pant leg.
"That is the Audrey Stork. It's quite gentle. In fact it wont notice you at all. Would you like to take a look? Its beautiful, and I think you might like it."
The calming assurance that flowed naturally from Briejus caught up Cait's imagination, and all fear blew away, leaving only curiosity, with grand images of what the shadowed creature might be.
"Yes I want to see it closer." she said, but with hesitance.
Briejus picked up Caitirine's small, weightless body and slowly began to jog forward with his spindled legs. But incredibly, to Cait, the old man flew faster then a race horse over the hills, his legs never moving close to the speed they were actually going. She was caught up in wonder. The wind did not grow louder as it crashed around their speeding bodies, but instead fell mostly silent, leaving them in a floating and quiet run, the old man carrying her, and heading in the direction they had seen the mysterious Audrey Stork. Finally, as they had run to the top of yet another hill, they spotted the beast perched on the next height nearest to theirs. It was a magnificent thing, as large as a town trolley. It was covered in what appeared to be sleek plumage that reflected like finished alloy, causing a dazzling mirror with every source of light around them. Its neck was long and coiled upon itself, carrying what resembled a massive wolfs head. Its eyes shot out a reflective, and seemingly, neon blue that struck Caitirine to the core with wonder. The creatures breathing could be heard across the way, a deep inhale and exhale that made Cait's skin tingle with awesome power. A strong odor of wild animal reached her nostrils and she tried to put into words what it could be.
"It smells like a field!" she said up to Briejus, looking towards him for approval. "It also smells like a stone turned over after the rain... It is beautiful! Does it know we are here?"
"Oh I suppose so." Briejus looked at her with calm amusement. "But he is busy. Too busy for small folk like us."
"Busy with what?" She asked.
Briejus sighed and smiled, "Well, with his journey into the hills."
"What is it, Briejus?"
"It is the wonder of the night. The strength of the wind. It is our intrigue, our restlessness put to rest. He is not lost Caitirine. Every hill top he is on is the place he means to go."
Caitirine stared at the Audrey Stork until she felt her eyes burn with not blinking. Her wonder and fascination settled in her chest, becoming a solid and still burning. A burning that blossomed resolve.
"...I would like to follow him. He- he seems so free." She managed to mumble out, her body taut with the passion of the moment.
"And he is. If you follow him though you will have to speed up. And one more thing Caitirine: he never stops. Would you be able to follow him into the night?"
"Yes." Caitirine said for the first time with complete confidence, "Yes, I will follow the Audrey Stork."
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*Caitirine is an older Latin form of Katherine. It means 'Pure'.
