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The expanses of Elida Ranch were wide and a little wild. There were a few weird corners, here and there, at the outskirts of the paddocks where they didn"t get around much, that had a tendency to collect strange things; wild animals, weird snakes, and the like.
That didn"t mean it was wild, really. Just that it was wilder than the rest. Certainly a little further from domestication than the other ranches, for reasons Jason wasn"t sure about. Maybe it was him calling them down on everyone. Probably not, though. They were a little too laid-back for that.
Whatever it was, it meant that he and Artemis tended to patrol those distant areas more than anyone else. At first he"d started it because he was curious, but it"d grown on him, and Artemis was always there to guard what was hers from what wasn"t. It"d become a bit of a habit.
And they"d started leaving, sometimes, too. Not really intentionally, at least not on Jason"s part - he meant to remain at Elida until such a time as Death caught up to him, and that was simple as that. But Artemis liked to wander a bit. And it was interesting to see what was on the other side of the fences, and... well...
So it"d come to this, their regular early-morning rambles around the outskirts of Elida and it"s surrounding fields and thickets. Water from a tiny creek had wet Jason"s hands and Artemis"s hooves, and they"d broken for lunch not long ago, sitting in the shade of a massive oak springing up from the bright fields. It was nice, honestly. Peaceful. Relaxing. There"d been a massive snake of some sort a little ways behind them, but Jason and Artemis had gone one way and it had gone another, and they hadn"t had any other trouble since.
Well, not yet, anyway.
Jason finished eating his bun - cinnamon, with honey, rather delicious, the sort of thing he could take with him and really enjoy now in his retirement - and wiped his mouth with the cloth he"d wrapped it in, then folded it up and shoved it back in Artemis"s saddlebags and swung himself back up onto her back. "Alright, Artemis, about time to head back."
Artemis flicked her ears in what looked like annoyance to Jason, and then grudgingly turned about to retrace the path they"d come in through with a huff.
"Not feeling it, girl? We can go a little further."
Artemis huffed again, louder, and shook out her mane. Alright, whatever. A ruk as headstrong as her would make it clear enough what she wanted eventually. Jason preferred to have a light hand on the reins with rukaan, anyway; they usually knew what they wanted just fine, and tended to have good instincts. It was more like working with a teammate than controlling an animal, as far as Jason was concerned. He got along with Artemis, and she with him. They understood each other. She could show him what she wanted.
And, indeed, she began slowly tracing their path back, but veered off the trail not far from the creek, making a large detour to the west in parallel to Elida"s perimeter. Interesting. Jason got comfortable in the saddle as she continued through the underbrush, and then-
Well, that was interesting.
The knee-high grass and brambles split open into a massive clearing, slightly grown-over by ground-clinging clover but still well shorter than the rest of the plain. Flat black stones ringed the perimeter like bricks in the soil, inscribed with strange writing that shone like silver in the mid-morning light. There were other rocks on the ground, too, red and gold, and in the center of the clearing was a deep pit filled with water. There was more strange writing carved in front of the pool as well, bright red against the white stone of the pit.
Very strange, that was. Artemis paused in her stride, ears raising nervously; Jason felt himself tense. This didn"t seem dangerous, really; but it didn"t seem safe, either. And everything he"d learned in his life had taught him that strange places like this in the middle of nowhere were never really abandoned, and if they were that something was very wrong with them.
Perhaps this was part of why Elida was so strange.
Running his hand over Artemis"s smooth neck soothingly, he dismounted as smoothly and silently as he could, putting one hand on the scabbard of his sword as he carefully made his way over to the ring of stones in case of any unwanted surprises. Nothing happened, fortunately. The stones looked to just be simple blocks of hewn rock, polished to a shine and inscribed with symbols, sure, but nothing else out of the ordinary; though Jason wasn"t interested in stepping foot inside the circle until he was certain it was safe to do so and that it wouldn"t, like, summon up a hundred thousand furious scorpions to come sting him to death or something if he did.
He crouched down at the flat black stone nearest him, leaning down to try and puzzle out the symbols. He recognized a few from his studies, sure, but not all of them... it looked to Jason not as though they read as a phrase, though, but a list of words, or names or titles maybe. He could read something about the dawn, and something about a dragon; there was a line that said something he could translate to "eater of the shadow". The eerie feeling that the ring of stones was giving him didn"t subside, but it didn"t... seem like a warning, really.
The other stones were inscribed with different words, and as he made his way around the perimeter to read he came to the vague conclusion that each stone was representative of a different figure of some kind. Maybe this was a memorial of some kind. Jason didn"t really know what he was looking at, but each stone was clearly expertly made and maintained, or otherwise charmed in some sort of way to repel dirt in such a manner that he could only imagine it was difficult to do. Someone had clearly put a lot of love and care into constructing this place.
He straightened up, whistling for Artemis to come forward with him. Artemis"s ears flicked back and forward, and she glanced about uncertainly.
"It"s okay," Jason said, holding out a hand. "I think it"s safe."
Artemis huffed as if to say "you go ahead and walk into there, then." Fair enough. Jason stepped forward into the ring of stones.
As he"d been expecting, nothing happened, and after a moment Artemis visibly considered it and walked forward as well, settling down heavily in the much shorter grass.
Jason crouched by one of the red stones laid in the ground and was a bit surprised to see that the golden inlays told some sort of story. Moving counterclockwise in a spiral, the direction that seemed suggested by the writing, Jason followed the path puzzling out the meaning of what this place was. He didn"t understand all the words he was reading, nor the importance of it, but as far as he could understand it the stones told of a small group of what he assumed must have been adventurers or warriors of some kind, traveling the world and completing quests and tasks along the way with no apparent goal in mind. Jason remembered those days. Maybe not fondly, but it struck a chord in his heart. As the spiral grew tighter and closer to the pool in the center of the monument, Jason noticed certain names vanish from the tales, marking them only upon the fourth or fifth name to vanish; then finally by the final stone there was only one.
A monument indeed, then. How long had it been since someone had been here?
The pool in the center was lined in white stone, and the dry ring around the center pit was inlaid with nearly invisible white laurel leaves and no text. Jason could feel the difference with his fingers, but he couldn"t see it easily without squinting. In the heat of the sun he leaned forward, convinced now there was no danger, and cupped his hands to drink from the water. In this moment he realized the entire monument was surely enchanted. As he leaned over the pool, he could see a stranger"s face looking back, surrounded by other equally strange figures. In surprise he jolted to his feet, spilling the water, but nothing happened.
Huh.
He sat back down and took a drink of the water. To his surprise, it tasted cool and minty and not like water at all, and was intensely refreshing. After that he stood back up, and Artemis stood with him, warily sniffing at the water herself.
Oh, well. They had places to be, and things to do; Jason mentally marked the location of the clearing and resolved to visit it again one day.