Reflection (Delmar & Calum | Teheki)

[Ashleigh825]

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DELMAR & CALUM[/font]
AUTUMN - LATE AFTERNOON
TEHEKI[/font]

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”Um… Father?” a soft, timid voice made itself known near Delmar as he led his herd through the Creekfall lands to get water. For Autumn, it had been unusually hot today and his mares were weary and thirsty, along with the foals. He didn’t want to lose any of them, not when Winter was fast approaching and they would need as many in the herd as possible to help protect the foals who would mature come Spring if the dangerous Winter didn’t claim their lives, first.

”Yes?” Delmar responded, not bothering to look at the source of the voice. He knew exactly who it was. Although he had sired every foal in this herd, there was only one who called him Father. The little dapple grey colt who looked disturbingly like his mother. Every time Delmar looked at him, he saw Niamh reflected in his eyes and it shook him to the core, so he tried his best not to look at Calum. Calum… Niamh had picked that name for their son. He had been so sure she would decide to stay with the herd after Calum was born. How could she not stay when she had a child here? Yet she had left, anyway. Like a ghost caught by the wind, she had vanished into the night, leaving both of them behind. Calum was all Delmar had left of her and even he would be lost to him soon enough. He couldn’t risk allowing Calum to stay and taking the chance that he would challenge him and claim the herd for himself. I allowed my emotions to get in the way of my reason once, and it… shattered me. I will not make the same mistake again.

When Calum matured, Delmar would drive him out of the herd to eliminate conflict and competition, like he had done with all the other colts born into the herd. He couldn’t allow this bizarre paternal love he had for the boy get in the way of being a good leader. Yet the thought of doing so tore at his heart. It was best to remain detached from him, not get too attached to the colt before the time came and made doing what he had to do more difficult or even impossible. He had to learn not to associate losing Calum with losing Niamh again, but… he was her reflection.

Calum’s voice brought him back to the present, tearing him out of his own tormented thoughts for the moment. ”… There’s a mare. She looks alone,” the young foal informed him. Delmar gave a small snort of exasperation. A mare wandering alone? That was preposterous. No mare in her right mind would wander by herself. Even if she didn’t have a stallion with her, she had at least one or two other mares. Delmar had not come across a lone mare since… well, since Niamh. Delmar’s eyes hardened and the muscled stallion kept looking ahead, refusing to look at the foal trotting beside him.

”You waste my time with your foolish tales, Calum. Go play with your brothers and sisters and leave me in peace,” he responded coldly, keeping his gaze fixated on the destination ahead. His mares were thirsty and he was going to take them to the creek to drink. That was his objective and no silly little child’s tale was going to distract him from doing his duty.

He would have continued on, ignoring Calum and focusing his attention solely on his goal if a shrill whinny hadn’t sent his herd reeling backward in fright. Whirling around, prepared to protect his herd at any cost, he caught sight of a mare galloping towards them, shrieking at the top of her lungs.

What on earth…? Delmar thought incredulously as he quickly galloped in circles around his herd, rounding them up so he could better protect them. ”Calum, come! Now!” he ordered, roughly nudging the foal in the clustered circle with the others.

[Crow'sia]

Teheki,

It started as a screaming.

Far away, somewhere unseen, came a quiet sound that might have been taken for the wind. Sometimes the noise dropped; the mare had lost her breath and could focus only on running and the feel of her feet as they slammed into the ground. Glistening beads lined her back, a grey back that looked somehow dirty, as if she had at some time rolled in something and then neglected to groom herself. A faint acidic scent came from her fur. Her pale mane was in a similar condition, matted with a strange, grey substance. Every so often, she would stop and whirl about, snorting with white eyes and watching the thing that stalked her. It would do the same.

It was rare for a wolf to go after a horse, especially a wolf alone. This one had been following since she’d left the forests.

Teheki, like her daughter, had dealt with predators before, but that had been long ago, in a time when her mate and child traveled within the Mountain with other horses. Usually, the hunter in question would lose interest after a few circles and wander off in search of easier pickings. Teheki thought this was just swell, and any normal wolf worth his salt ought to do such a considerate thing. Not this old boy. He was something else, he was. Finding her when she grazed, snarling at her when she slept, nosing around wherever she drank. She might have been reminded of a foal, were it not for the teeth and the claws and that god awful howling. Did he know how annoying that particular noise was? No wonder he was a wolf alone.

So she ran and cried, and hoped someone in this barren, terrible grassland might hear her. Perhaps her brother, perhaps a lost, sickening mare, perhaps a mountain cat that might think of a tired old wolf as a tasty snack. That might be one now, on the horizon, a big, ugly blob of cat.

Teheki stopped so short that she nearly tripped. Those blobs were horses. In fact, those blobs were many horses. A herd? Well that was ridiculous, there were no herds left. Teheki listened to the motion of the group with one ear and the wolf with another. She had not been here before, at least not since she had come to the coast many years ago. Even then it was very likely that, plains being plains and looking all the same, she only thought this land looked familiar. She shook her head. Behind her a little growl warned her the wolf had stopped beside her. Its eyes swung from her to the little wave of distant horses and it opened its mouth. Shut it. The wolf repeated the motion several times so that for a moment, and it was a strange thought, Teheki wondered if he was going to speak to her.

She screamed. Wind rushed over her face. Oh. No, he was just considering which part of her would be nicer to chew. The mares, now a thick scent tangled with the smell of grass roots and fear, erupted into motion. She heard the trumpets of a stallion. A single ear listened as a wolf disappeared, and she galloped right for the heart of the herd. Too bad.

[Ashleigh825]

DELMAR & CALUM
AUTUMN

Calum heeded his father’s urgent command and galloped towards the rest of the herd, squeezing in between the other foals who were clustered in a frightened circle with the mares surrounding them on all sides for protection. It was devastating to lose either males or foals in a herd, but it was much harder to replace foals than mares. Not every mating produced a foal and even when it did, there was the constant threat of complications that led to losing the foal prematurely or losing both the foal and its dam. Then the ones that did survive took two years to fully mature to an age where Delmar could safely impregnate them or drive them out if they were a stallion. The foals had to be protected at all costs. They were the herd’s future.

What this insane shrieking mare thought she was doing by running into a large, protected herd head-on, yelling like some shrill, restless ghost, Delmar had no idea. He hadn’t expected to be attacked by a mare. This went against all laws of nature. What on earth did she think she was doing? Was she out of her mind?! He had expected a wolf, or another stallion trying to take his herd from him, both of which he had fought off before with relative ease, but a single mare? Delmar would have found the situation amusing if it hadn’t come upon him so suddenly and startled him into immediate defensive action. As it was, he was more disturbed than anything else.

With an ear-splitting shriek of aggression, Delmar charged back at the mare, rearing up onto his hind legs, his ears flattened against his head and his front hooves flying dangerously through the air to connect with the mare’s shoulder. Delmar wasn’t looking to kill the mare. Mares were valuable. She might prove to be a valuable asset to his herd if she accepted his offer of joining. He couldn’t see why she’d refuse. Every herd-less mare he had ever come across in his lifetime as the Creekfall leader had been grateful for the protection he was offering them. Well, all except one…

She is gone. Do not dwell on things you cannot change, Delmar reminded himself even in the midst of this tense moment. His plan was to incapacitate the mare enough for her to stop fighting before offering her a place in his herd. He had to be careful not to do enough damage for her to be incapable of running, since she would only slow his herd down if she chose to accept and even more likely, would have such animosity towards him that she’d refuse his offer altogether. If she did accept, it would only be out of desperation, since she couldn’t run from enemies. She wouldn’t really have a choice in the matter. Delmar was an objective leader, but he was not a monster. Every mare in his herd had been given a proper choice to join the Creekfalls, with no threat or penalty for refusing. If they’d been born into the herd, they’d had the option to leave, but none ever did.

Any fool knew that in order to have the respect and adoration of those he governed, he must treat them as individuals of worth and free will. Respect was something only gained when given.

[Crow'sia]

Teheki,

She reached the herd, carefully balled together, protected, secure. Herds! What a thought. But this land was strange, it was farther from the coast than her home had been. Teheki was headed straight for the heart of it, for this heart of protection- a dangerous gamble- when she saw the stallion come at her. His cry made her ears fall back even flatter, stinging with the noise. It sent shivers through her, more through than any wolf. She needed to turn, to get away.

His hooves flew into the air.

Too fast, she swung her head around, her feet grabbed at the earth, the hooves came down. Teheki screamed. Her shoulder sang with pain, and she felt a wetness slid over her fur when her whole leg buckled in pain. She gritted her teeth, and somehow, threw her body around and aimed a kick at the stallion. When she didn’t feel her hooves connect, she skittered off a safe distance and round on him.

“Stop, stop, stop! Please! Wolves! Don’t you smell them, hear them?” she shrieked, backing further away from the stallion, head down, eyes watchful from behind her forelock. His presence made her tiny, non-existent. Possibly this was one of the largest stallions the little mare had had the misfortune of being kicked by in a long time, maybe even for the first time. She examined her wound with wild eyes. Blood trickled from it. She supposed now that the stallion must have checked himself or she might have been on the ground now, instead of limping slowly away. Somewhere, far behind her, she heard the snarl of a watchful wolf. He wouldn’t approach now though, not with a herd so close.

[/blockquote]

[Ashleigh825]

DELMAR & CALUM __________________

[/font]

.:: | AUTUMN | ::.
.:: | AFTERNOON | ::.
.:: | TEHEKI | ::.

[/font]

Calum's eyes widened, the whites of his eyes showing as he heard the wolves this wild mare warned of. His head darted this way and that with the other foals as the mares around them snorted in alarm and pressed in closer around the young foals. Wolves? His father had driven off wolves before, but what if there were a lot of them? Would he be able to drive all of them off?

Delmar heard it, too. A low growling in the distance, coming closer through the woods the mare had bolted out of in a panic. Suddenly, it made sense to Delmar now. She hadn't been attacking his herd. She had been running from predators.

"Move in with the other mares!" he ordered her sharply, roughly shoving her towards them. There would be time for formal introductions and herd negotiations later. Right now, he needed to defend his herd and he might as well defend this lone mare as well if there was a chance he might gain another member to his herd. Oh, how this situation starkly reminded him of that day he tried so hard to forget...

Shoving the thoughts of Niamh away with an irritated snort and an impatient stamping of his hooves, Delmar began galloping around the circle of mares and foals, protecting them on all sides. Trying to outrun them would be folly. Delmar could easily outrun the predators on his own, as could a good portion of the mares, but what about the foals? They wouldn't be able to keep up and the future of his herd would be shattered in an instant.

Calum...

No, he didn't want to lose the boy, either, for reasons that went far beyond the welfare of his herd.[/blockquote]

(( Harr harr, really late reply is late. 8B ))

[Crow'sia]

Teheki, Triskelion,

Breathless from the chase and with blood slowly running down her shoulder, Teheki thought she'd collapse when the stallion forced her forward. Quite suddenly she was among a throng of moving bodies, wide eyed as her, their moon-like nostrils sniffing and snorting. Who are you? their eyes asked. You are not us! came another reply. She was violently nudged aside as the mares closed in, and without caring who she shoved aside, Teheki burst to the front of the circle, just as the stallion began his watch. She marked him a minute, the lithe motions of a strong body, and then her eyes snapped back to the trees, waiting, knowing. Would he come? And then she could see the wolf pacing.

It was a wolf alone, and not a pack that emerged from the shadowy stand of trees and ever so carefully slunk through the grass. A very, very familiar wolf. Teheki knew that sprinkled grey pelt as well as her daughter's, as well as her brother's and her long dead mate's. He won't come, she thought. But as he stalked towards them, Teheki thought she just might have heard... singing?


In the grass across the meadow, Triskelion's eyes found the mare and bored into her. With his nose, he picked her out from the swarming mass of angry bodies, although he suspected that was her scent trail still polluting his senses. His ears, on the other hand, listened to the deep rumble of his voice and that of the stallion, quickly getting into place like any old warrior. A shiver ran nose to tail. This one was experienced. What bad luck that they lived here.

As the wolf drew nearer, his singing grew louder. It seemed to be that he improvised as he went; every few lines, the rhyme and rhythm would fall away as if the wolf was uncertain where to continue. He thought of Gypsum, and how keen these animal's hearing was, and when Triskelion was certain his chances of being trampled were at a minimum, he stopped, appraised the stallion, and with a good deal of effort, picked up his tail and laid back his ears.


"Oh let me sing a song for the day,
of the little mare who ran away!
And the hunter? Why, he chased her down,
to the King of Horses, and the Underground."

Teheki broke through the line. Her entire body shook, and whether with rage or fear, Triskelion did not know. "Get!"

"How rude! I'm not finished," he barked, circling with the stallion. Triskelion took a breath.

"There in the dark, where the dead did play,
was a little colt and with a girl he lay,
and both them still, when the girl came down,
to the King of Horses, and the Underground.

"Do you like it? Your old friend taught me. I suspect he'll be laying somewhere soon too, if you catch my drift? And that girl. No place for me any more."

And Triskelion suddenly snarled, a horrible guttural noise, as if with that thought his last hold on control snapped. "You failed me, you witch! You failed me! Now what! A wolf with nothing, a wolf alone! Might as well let this fool crack my skull in like Evar! And don't you even try, Mister!" he cried, rounding on the stallion. "I got your number, and I got your days counting. Mark me! You won't be here much longer."

[/blockquote]

[Ashleigh825]

DELMAR & CALUM __________________

[/font]

.:: | AUTUMN | ::.
.:: | AFTERNOON | ::.
.:: | TEHEKI | ::.

[/font]

Calum shivered at the eerie song coming from the wolf that was sent throughout the entire herd. It was just one lone wolf, but there was something far more sinister about this particular wolf's sneering taunts than an entire pack of wolves. Maybe he was trying to make up for his lack of a pack with intimidation. It was working. The mares around the foals were stamping their hooves, tossing their heads up and rolling their eyes in terror. The foals whimpered and huddled close together, but Calum craned his tiny neck to try to make out his father. It was hopeless. The mares had him surrounded on all sides. He heard Delmar's booming, threatening voice, though.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he demanded sharply, never ceasing his protective gallop around his herd. What kind of lone wolf was bold enough to take down an entire herd? Even more disturbing was his confidence, and that song... it sent chills through him. Delmar may not have been showing any outward sign of it, but he was afraid. This wasn't normal. He could feel it in his bones. There was something bigger at play here and from the way the wolf and the mare shouted back and forth to each other, it had something to do with her.

There was no time for debates with himself on what to do with this strange, wild mare who had just put his entire herd in danger. He would deal with her later. Right now, he needed to send this wolf limping away, regretting his foolish decision to try and attack his herd. Get a hold of yourself, Delmar! he scolded himself with a furious toss of his head that sent his black mane fluttering in the autumn breeze. It is one wolf! You've taken down entire packs of wolves on your own! Who cares if this one is overly cocky? The numbers are against him!

That was enough to solidify the stallion's courage and with an ear-splitting shriek, Delmar broke his steady circle around the herd and charged at a full gallop towards the wolf, stomping, kicking and biting viciously without remorse.
[/blockquote]

[Crow'sia]

Teheki, Triskelion,

He needed to breathe, to calm down, drop his tail and stop that awful snarling before someone, probably that stallion, decided he was crazy. Crazy animals were dangerous animals, after all, and there were just so many little ones milling around in that swarming mass of horse, Triskelion didn't think even Teheki would stand a chance. And the noise! His ears practically cringed. But no, there was the mare, standing at the edge of the circle, close enough that Triskelion could have closed his jaws on her pale throat in one, swift bound. If not for the stallion.

Triskelion shook. His tail was so ridged it felt like it might snap right in two and take his spine along with it. His ears had disappeared among the grey furs of his head. Triskelion snapped his teeth here and there but without much spirit. Fear was taking over. And when the stallion charged, that ended it. All the yelling and the squabbling, the thick movement of the herd, Teheki as she showed the whites of her eyes and the blood he could smell on her, gone. All that existed were dark legs, and sharper hooves; giant claws which reached for him. Then there was Evar, his brother bleeding into the Earth.

Triskelion yelped and jumped back, a small curled ball of fluff, no longer a predator, but instead the hunted. He dodged this kick, then that stomp, putting distance from himself and the mares - to run toward them would have been suicide. As Teheki grew smaller though, Triskelion felt suddenly light. Defying gravity, a spirit unconstrained. I could be Gypsum! he thought, and again the wolf began to sing.

"And both them still, when the girl came down,
to the King of Horses, and the Underground!"

And soon the wolf was gone, and Teheki, despite all reason, suddenly felt very small and very alone.

[/blockquote]

[Ashleigh825]

DELMAR & CALUM __________________

[/font]

.:: | AUTUMN | ::.
.:: | AFTERNOON | ::.
.:: | TEHEKI | ::.

[/font]

Delmar hadn't a clue what the purpose of this strangely terrifying wolf's visit was, but he was not welcomed here and Delmar saw to it that the wolf's insane taunting and singing came to an end, along with the wolf himself. He knew this wasn't an ordinary wolf and this wasn't an ordinary situation. It all had to do with the white mare. The wolf had been taunting her, specifically. Wolves didn't target and track a single horse. If the horse outran them, they would give up and find easier prey, but this wolf seemed to have some sort of personal vendetta against the mare. It didn't make sense. It defied all natural laws of predator versus prey and this frightened the tall, muscular buckskin.

As his hooves lashed out at the snarling creature, Delmar felt a twinge of satisfaction at the fear reflected in the animal's eyes. This wolf wasn't supernatural or invincible. Crazy maybe, but he was still vulnerable to sharp hooves. The wolf tried to continue his terrifying chant, dodging Delmar's blows, but soon gave way to his fear and yelped, darting back into the woods where he came from.

Delmar stared after him for a few moments, breathing heavily, his nostrils flared and his head held high on alert before the frightened whinnies of his mares returned his attention back to his herd. Allowing the group to spread out again, Delmar trotted amongst them, reassuring them and checking them for injuries. Everyone appeared fine.

“Father!” Calum's voice rang out and the little dapple-grey colt cantered up to the foreboding leader, only to receive a harsh look.

“Go back with the other foals, Calum,” he told the boy sharply, turning his back to Calum to round on the mare. This was her fault. She had brought danger to his herd. If any of his herd members had been hurt... if Calum had been hurt... The stallion was suddenly filled with fury and he walked slowly and threateningly towards her, his teeth bared and his ears flattened against his head. “You!” he snarled. “You brought this danger to my herd! Whatever business you have with that wolf is no concern of mine and I will not involve my herd in any of this... this nonsense!” he shouted in a booming, terrifying voice, rearing up onto his hind legs with a shrill whinny.
[/blockquote]

[Crow'sia]

Teheki,

How wonderful to have someone looking out for you, Teheki thought briefly. Since she'd left her last herd, a small group of horses in the mountains, Teheki had largely been living alone. Except for encounters with her daughter or the horses of the Fields, or with that wolf, she had no one. Not a soul to look out for her, or who she could look out for in return. Calum was the little foal's name, and Teheki found herself thinking back to Gertrude. Had she really begrudged those years, so? Here was this stallion, so harsh with his children, but obviously so in love with them. Was she the same? Or was she really heartless.

Anxiety was good medicine for dark thoughts. Not a fool. No that wasn't for Teheki. She'd already begun to back away, unknowingly mimicking Triskelion in how she cowered. Cowered! How she hated being so small and so helpless, with only words to save her. And words, being so fragile themselves, were often not enough. Teheki was already bleeding once for this stallion. She'd almost rather surrender to the wolf. At least with him there would be a chance at victory.

She felt her ire rise as he yelled, thick in her chest, choking, all consuming. How wrong things were going when they had been so right. Tucking her head against her chest, Teheki spun away from the stallion, fearing those legs descending on her once more. Out flung her knees. No hooves, just the quick motion of legs to batter at him should he come to close.

“Bring you danger!” she screamed. “A stallion afraid of a mangy dog! And here I hope for some kind of protection. Me, alone. What a joke! Might as well lay right down where I stand and let the vultures eat me for what good it'd do!”

Teheki took a breath. She was breathing too heavily, too shallow, and his words began to repeat over and over in her mind. This nonsense. Whatever business. And with horror it dawned on her that he knew, he knew what she was, who she was.

That's nonsense! her thoughts cried. They are all ignorant. Control yourself.


“And now you threaten me! What kind of place is this where a mare in trouble is attacked by wolves and stallions, then? Just get it done with!” And then she stopped moving. Head dropped, hooves no longer flicking out to ward him off, as if suddenly defeated. The force of her resignation shocked Teheki. Where there had momentarily been blinding, white hot rage there was only the tight grip of futility and failure.

And these are your consequences, that little voice said.

[/blockquote]

[Ashleigh825]

DELMAR & CALUM __________________

[/font]

.:: | AUTUMN | ::.
.:: | AFTERNOON | ::.
.:: | TEHEKI | ::.

[/font]

This mare was just as insane as the wolf he just saved her from, Delmar thought incredulously to himself as he watched her shift from righteous indignity to complete and utter defeat within mere moments, without him having to say or do anything; barely a few breaths' pause in between. He didn't know what to make of her. On one side, she was a lone mare who was plainly frightened and in need of protection. Delmar couldn't bring himself to leave a frightened mare on her own without protection. He wasn't heartless. On the other side, she posed a threat to his herd and his children. That wolf hadn't just been choosing prey at random; he had known the mare personally. He had some sort of personal vendetta against her... and the others he mentioned. He apparently had friends that were bigger than he was. Who was to say that he wouldn't return with them to finish this mare off for whatever it was she might have done to anger them? Who was to say they wouldn't hurt Delmar's herd to get at her? None of this made any sense to Delmar and the buckskin snorted, shaking his head in irritation. The land was going mad.

“Enough with your self-pitying dribble!” he snapped at her with narrowed eyes. He had no patience for this nonsense. She is one mare, he told himself. How much trouble can one mare cause? Delmar knew perfectly well how much trouble a single mare could cause. Calum's dam had almost torn his herd apart, but that had been due to Delmar's foolishness. He had succumbed to personal attachment and lost sight of being a leader. No, it hadn't been Niamh's fault. She had done what he had known deep down she would do. She was not meant to be any one stallion's mare and he had tried too hard; kept her too close. It was Delmar's fault he lost the haunting dapple-grey beauty. It was his fault Calum didn't have a mother. No. Niamh hadn't sent his herd into chaos. Delmar had. This mare wouldn't tear apart his herd, either. Delmar was wiser now, and besides, he very much doubted he would feel for her the way he had felt for Niamh. If anything, the white mare was an annoyance to him.

Stomping his hooves with another snort, Delmar eyed her suspiciously. “You mistake me for a tyrant if you think I would kill you. If protection is what you want, I can provide you with that. I do not harm mares, especially not my own,” he told her levelly, though his ears were still pinned back and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You are welcome among us as part of our herd. You and any foals you bear will be well looked after, but if your presence here becomes a danger to the rest of the herd, I will be forced to ask you to leave. Am I understood?”

Kicking mares out of your herd? When have you sunk so low, Delmar? a voice haunted him. It was not a course Delmar wanted to take. It was his last resort, but he must do what was necessary for the good of the herd as a whole.
[/blockquote]

[Crow'sia]

Teheki,

She knew she seemed crazy, and truth was, she was starting to feel crazy. Running from wolves, running from horses. Her ears drooped almost further, were it possible, lying painfully against her skull. Dribble. Teheki seared. An instant and the anger took her like white fire, rippled through her viens, burning up the last bits of fear and flight, until her eyes settled on the tiny bodies still milling around among the snorting, white-eyed mares, who had begun to settle and organize themselves once more. Fierce mothers and happy sisters, and their children, all together, all safe. One little body in particular continually seemed to be trying to nudge through the crowd, as if being closer to his father were the only thing in the world the colt desired. And in her mind, Teheki began to see the threads of a future coming together, like the many silky strands of a spider’s web.

Find a place with them, her own voice said.He can help you, Teheki. Helping you helps your daughter.

“You are understood,” she said quietly. She closed her eyes a moment. It was too much, too quickly. Horses in the west. This wasn’t something she had predicated, or even remembered ever hearing of. They were not susposed to exist and here was their stallion, offering her sanctuary after tearing open her shoulder. How long would that wound last? Best not think of that. But did she need protection, herself? That was something to think about. Who really needed stallion, and would he be strong enough to rise to that challenge, where all others had failed?

“My presense is not a danger. I know you heard the wolf, you think he will come back for me? No. He is going after my daughter and she is safe enough where she is. He might even die,” Teheki said, but she rather hoped she’d find the wolf before that time. “I call you a tyrant when I run from a tyrant—er, Lord? Sorry, I didn’t catch a name.”

How isolated were they out here, she wondered? Was there shelter in the winter, and food year round?

“We did not know there were horses out here. After the world shook, you know, lot’s of us were killed. Did you know about us in the east? That’s nearer to the mountains.” She nodded in their vague direction, although clouds obscured the dull tops. “You can see them when it’s clear, I think.”