quite eradicated
Marijuana was something that Ezekiel himself partook in, though his habit had shifted dramatically from when he was a teenager. Those days he had spent his hours smoked up and dreaming of large, wonderful things. It had all turned around when he had lost his first terrible fight, and while he had tried using the drug since then, it soured in his mouth or made him sleep. Sometimes he used this in favor of opium, afraid of the drug’s addictive tendencies, but these days sleep came more easily. The cold helped with this—after a long patrol it was wonderful to curl up under a mass of hides and furs and drift into sleep from exhaustion alone.
The roan girl and her horse came to his side, and Ezekiel was glad that his own mount was not behaving out of order. Oblek nickered, hardly aware of the weight on her, and Ezekiel smiled at his cousin. “With any luck, we’ll only be gone a few days.” Hopefully, Halo would not lead Inferni to ruin during such a period. This he doubted, but who could be sure with the Dragon of the Waste left alone?
With a nudge, he urged Viggo on. The stallion’s pace was easy, a trot that was smooth because of his large girth. Though the three-step pace was bouncy, he was used to such a thing and moved in time with it now. Subconsciously, the Aquila directed his horse with his muscles, applying pressure to the area he wished to go, leaning forward or back in order to speed or slow.
Viggo, despite his size, was agile enough to avoid fallen logs and err towards the easier routes. It did not take them all that long to cross the border, passing skulls well-worn by time. The forest still smelled of coyote, but their actual claim ended a half-mile from the mansion. Ezekiel slowed only once to allow Ibsen to catch up, swooping through the foliage and coming to settle on the back of the broad chestnut. Once the land opened up his true job would be easier. “How far did you two follow the river?” Ezekiel asked, hoping to find a gap through use of the raven’s sight.
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