Feather Stroke

The girl Dara was as plain as the buildings of the simple folk, as gray as the land they called their own. Yet there was a fire behind her eyes. Unbidden, her thoughts took flight to the world her grandmother knew, when water and wind had names, and the people had souls that sang. Frightened, she pushed this world away... Then one day, the world came to her. Danger, in the form of a rider, splendid in gold and red. Wisdom, in the vision of Ilijhari, the mountain folk who could see through the eyes of their birds. And Destiny, for those with the wings to ride the air.