They travelled on under the thick purple of the late afternoon. Along the scars of the land. Past strata layered yellows and reds and oranges like they were slices of cake fallen from heavenly plates. Strange formations twisted and towered, in shapes of monsters and old things made before men. Some rocks and pathways veined as though living beings. The windil branches began to appear more often, and in clusters. The land grew darker, richer. Doyots scampered around them, growing in number, but a gunshot from Jay sent them yowling away. Vultures were replaced by flights of small brown birds,
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