LASHA FINISHED A healing on the soldier’s leg, a bit less gently than she should have. She was tired of idiot soldiers hurting themselves during drunken binges and expecting her to heal them. She was tired of having nothing to do at this wasteland but drink cheap cactus wine and heal stupid soldiers.
Lasha looked up as something seemed to tug at her heart. She stepped out onto the porch of the low healing hall. The hall was at the northern edge of the small way station that guarded the southern border, and she could look out into the desert that surrounded the main road. Nothing but scrub, sage grass, and low, dry bushes met her eye, as far as she could see. There was a certain beauty to it, herbs that only grew in the desert, animals and birds she’d never seen. But she was restless. She wanted to travel, to see more than this tiny, dusty town.
Lasha squinted as travelers appeared on the horizon, the image hazy in the wavering heat rising from the road. For some reason, the sight made her heart leap.
Her heart did skip as a hand landed on her shoulder. She spun and looked into Dani’s amused eyes. The two of them had been exiled to this outpost after the pledging ceremony. She’d been treated well by the healers, but Dani had been bullied and tormented by the other soldiers. He’d come to her more and more with his frustration, and they’d become good friends, spending much of their free time together.
“What are you looking at?” Dani asked. “You were staring pretty hard at the road. Not running away, are you?”
Lasha looked back out. She could now make out a horse and three smaller hooved beasts. Again, her heart called out to the figures.
“Travelers,” Lasha said, pointing up the road.
Dani followed her finger. His eyes widened.
“You feel that?” he rumbled. “Like something’s tugging at me.”
Lasha nodded, a grin spreading across her face. He felt it as well. It wasn’t just her.
“What is it?” Dani asked. “It’s making me wretchedly uncomfortable.” He seldom channeled his deity’s powers and hated that he could have visions.
Lasha laughed as her black feli came over to her and leaned against her legs, chest rumbling in a purr.
“It’s change,” Lasha said, giving him a quick hug. “I see change and travel and new places.”
“Oh, wonderful,” Dani rumbled, tone unenthusiastic. “Just when I get settled here.”
“We’ll be going where we are needed,” Lasha promised. “I can feel it. This is what we were meant to do.”
She walked down the stairs and out into the road, eagerly stepping forward to greet the riders and the changes to come.