"Let's just jog the igwaza at first as we go," Soern called out as he took the lead on the road across the plains. He said a couple commands in the kirzan tongue and the three igwaza started trotting at a medium pace. "We'll head due east," Soern continued. "We could run the igwaza the whole way across the plains, but then we'd have to rest a day on the other side. I would like to keep them fresh enough so we can keep moving and not stay in one place for too long out in the open. If we run into trouble, then we can run away from it."
The road they followed was flat and not heavily rutted. They slowly lost elevation after the initial steeper decline from the tree line. The sky was clear and even though the temperature was a little warm, the breeze from trotting was just enough to keep the riders cool. Dashyl imagined the sky being full of airships of every size and color. He had only seen them from afar, but marveled at their ability to soar high above Rynaga. Compared to the previous day's ride, today the young sarion felt like he was soaring smoothly through the sky on his igwaza.
"Riding this way is much easier," Dashyl announced.
"Igwaza runners are built for speed. The faster they go, the more natural the motion and the easier it is to ride them," Soern explained.
"Let's run. I want to run," Dashyl begged.
"Be careful, you may just get a chance to before long," Soern warned.
"It couldn't hurt to just run a little ways so Dash could get the feel," reasoned Fretly. "If we do have to go all out, he would be used to it and not freaked out."
"Good idea, Fretly, but why don't we wait a little bit longer. We can run them right before we break to eat," said Soern. Dashyl smiled at Fretly when he looked back at him and thrust his fist in the air. Fretly shook his head and laughed.
The three riders didn't say much for the rest of the morning. Dashyl now thought that jogging the igwaza was more hypnotizing than anything. Their motion seemed to rock him gently and almost lull him to sleep. The scenery didn't help either as it was all level grasslands as far as the eye could see. Behind them, he could still make out the thin, dark mustache of the tree line on the horizon. Dashyl started to ask if they could run when Soern stopped suddenly.
"Hush," Soern said sharply to Dashyl as he put his finger to his lips and squinted.
"Was that thunder," asked Fretly. No one answered, but there did seem to be a soft rumbling fading away overhead.
"Is that smoke above the tree line where we just came from," asked Dashyl as he pointed back down the road.
"That's smoke," Soern said as if he had a sinking feeling.
They heard another muffled boom from the tree line followed by more smoke billowing into the sky.
Fretly and Soern looked at each other and then at Dashyl. Soern said with urgency, "Boy, you're going to get your wish, now. We've got to run!"
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