Lion Head Mesa shadow and bone

Neither the girl-queen or her prince-priest were attending the palace, so the individual who came upon the soot-covered stranger was none other than Nazli, having escaped the gaze of her protector for the time being.

She was slow to approach but not because of fear; there was a healthy curiosity within her, and she only wished her body were strong enough to withstand it. The stranger gave a howl and Nazli listened to it until it faded, basking in the sun while she recouperated some of her energy, and set off again.

Finally she came to the steppe, and had to sit again. This puny gray girl, looking very much like a breath of wind might tumbleweed her back the way she had come; and the stranger, by all comparisons a storm cloud on the horizon of Akashingo.

Nazli called out, Hello! Please, come closer. I don't have it in me to climb. She was warm and inviting to the stranger; at the same time, her voice carried and there came a distant shout of some kind of expletive behind her—Kiaxe, her caretaker, realizing her ward had escaped!

What brings you to Akashingo?