gifDinner Time<u>Dinner time</u> image "Easy there, no need to push me around." Frore huffed jovially at her <i>raidjem</i>.Stomping its paws in the accumulating snow, Saia shook its wings impatiently. There was a look of glee in its blue eyes, that brought out a smile on its rider's lips. Frore walked from the small shed, which sat in the enclosed backyard connected to her family's house. She had just let out the massive creature and watched as it stretched out it's large purple wings.Saia was a raidjem in the prime of its life. It took a moment to bask in the fresh powder snow that was blanketing the ground. Pawing at it and disturbing it up into a flurry by batting its wings. Frore watched her mount for a moment, then turned and crossed the short distance to the back wall of their house. There, mounted on the wall, firmly locked, was a locker. Her <i>Tavas</i> Ipane had constructed it for her, for a singular purpose. Next to it, hung a thick leather mitten. Picking up the mitten, the tall <i>tzabu</i> banged on the small iron door, dislodging any new ice that had grown since last she opened it. That would be yesterday.Feeding Saia was a daily routine. A thin pane of ice cracked and fell off. Being a raidjem, Saia did not consume nutrients the same way other critters did. Their way of feeding was to live off of magical energy which lingered around certain flora, or <i>gzabus</i>, short for Guardian zabus. Which occurred naturally in nature as raidjem naturally gravitated towards sources of magic. They would metaphorically lap up excess energy. Gzabus also fed their raidjem mounts simply by riding around on them, as just being in close proximity was enough for raidjems to feed. However, since the cold dark areas of <i>Sorzvare</i> was pretty devoid of such magical abundance in form of flora and gzabus, Frore had to get it from the only source they had. Her workplace, the Mineral Well. In it's dark waters, along the walls meticulously scraped by people now long gone, where rocks. They were the energy source for the Traverse Gates, which before the wars, were a means of instant travel between continents. Now, most of them were hidden away, deactivated from fear that enemy armies would one day come through them and into the heart of fortified cities. It was too big of a risk. But the wells which supplied the rocks, where still out there, in countless places. Some known, others unknown. It was part of Frore's job as a Well knight to watch over and make certain no one came and took the precious resource. She, along with others, spent long dull nights on the walls surrounding the well. It had been on one such night that she had noticed something in the distance. Curious, she had sounded the alarm, in the event it was enemies coming to steal from them. But what she had found in the deep snow that night hadn't been a scout, or even a zabu at all. It was a raidjem. Judging from it's ragged breath and ruffled feathers, Frore had come to the conclusion that the beast had gotten into trouble. Maybe hunters, more likely a predator. Raidjems were considered good animals, faithful and hardworking. They had been easily domesticated after the earliest gzabu found that they hungered for what they had. Magic. Telling her fellow knights what she found, they banded together to bring the exhausted animal back to the pond, one of them keeping a keen eye on their surroundings. Luckily, it hadn't been a distraction. It was just a beat up animal, as terrible as that may sound. Begging her superior, Ceslen, if she could take a rock from the well, Frore carefully nursed the beast back. She had named it Saia, after the snowy night in which they found it. Bringing herself back to the present, she fished out a heavy iron key to open the locker. Gingerly, she picked up the glowing rock within. Behind her, Saia was excitedly jumping up and down, melodious chirps and whistling sounds emitting from her very being. Whistling back to her, Frore calmed her mount enough to hold the rock close to its head. The mitten was more than just to open the icy locker. The rock was dangerous for her to touch with her bare hand. As only a tzabu, she didn't possess any trace of magic in her veins. No hidden ancestral magic either. Which was a small source of frustration that Frore rarely allowed to show. As she watched the blissful silence that came over the Saia, she let her mind wander. To what this place would look like, once the new <i>Liva Aonde</i> was born. She had never seen spring. It was always so bitterly cold here. Normally, the smaller territories would have their own gzabu, to help change the local seasons. But theirs had vanished before Frore had seen the light of day. As a result, they were stuck in this perpetual winter. When she had been young, Frore had wished to have been born a gzabu. She would have done her best to benefit her home. When she had expressed this to her mothers, they had hushed her, told her to keep that thought to herself. It had left her confused. Her mothers were usually so supportive of all her strange ideas, since she rarely acted on them. An inquisitive note from Saia brought her back to the present. The raidjem's wings had drooped to signal that it was full. Frore removed the stone and gave the beast a good scratching under it's chin. Placing the glowing stone back, the tzabu wondered briefly if it was true that the Liva Aonde Nenua would come to her territory on her next tour. She locked the the little door tightly. If it was true, then she might be able to experience spring. Not just that, but as a Well knight, Frore would perhaps be close enough to ask the Liva Aonde for aid in addressing the lack of a local gzabu.Stifling a yawn, she waved all her plans to a corner at the back of her mind. Time for sleep. Turning, she gestured for Saia to return to the shed, or stable. Whichever was suitable for the small bricked building she had erected on her own. It was a bit loop-sided, but sturdy. The roof was covered in thick straw, but not so thick Saia wouldn't be able to break out, should the situation call for it. Putting the latch on the door, Frore listened to the raidjem settle down inside, no doubt stretching its forelegs and folding its wings to get comfortable. She muttered a 'sweet dreams' and then walked back towards the house, entering first in through her Tavas' forge. The warmth was very welcome.