~ The Valley ~

A brilliant breeze pulled the air through my hair as I took in the view. Gray mountains, peaked with white, shot out of the distant horizon like spikes while trees covered the baseline like villagers trekking up a hill. All around me, plains of the greenest grass I'd ever seen stretched for miles before hitting either the hill to the west or the end of the plateau in the east. It felt as though I was in a bowl: there was no escaping the confined but peaceful feeling of The Valley. As I turned about to see the view to the south, a new addition to the usual scenery caught my eye. A white figure, too far away to see clearly, ran, no, galloped, towards me.

As it drew closer, I realized that it was not one entity, but rather two; A girl-like figure dressed in white rode what appeared to be a horse, also white. Her short hair blew in the wind just as mine did. Even before she lifted her delicate arm to wave hello, I had already begun lifting mine. She smiled; I smiled. It was as though I was looking into an ornate mirror that reflected my movements, but not my body. Dazed, I stood with one arm held high, still waving into the wind, and stared at the girl. Was I finally going insane? Had the life of solitude finally gotten to my head? It seemed to good to be true. If angels existed, this surely was one.

I snapped back to reality. Nobody had dared enter The Valley before. The path here was treacherous, but the reward was twofold for those who challenged their sanity. Who was this girl that sacrificed any mask of normality to enter such a beautiful but strange place? As she had finally reached the hill on which I stood, her features became even more distinguishable. Her piercing blue eyes complimented her white clothing, causing her beautiful, tan skin to provide perfect contrast to her figure. She still wore a smile on her face as she hopped off her stallion. Her bare feet landed in the luscious grass with grace, but even the perfect scene could not prevent the imperfect landing. My hand reached out to help her up before I had even thought to tell it to do so- she grabbed it and looked up with thankfulness in her eyes and a knowing smile on her face.

As I lead her back to my house in the hill of The Valley, I knew, with all of my heart, that the Man of the Mountains was with me.

With her.

With us.