The opening of Gyamma’s eyes began before she even reached Atharen city.

Accompanied by both parents, she set off on a journey that took three days of travel by foot, boat, ox-cart, and foot again until they reached the larger town of Mairen, in the low verdant valleys.

Here, her father told her, was the closest connecting point to Atharen city by way of Haultrain. Gyamma’s feeling of being severed from home was slowly replaced by a growing thrill of seeing - and actually riding in - a Haultrain. Up until now, it had seemed just an ethereal dream, the stuff of stories and myths.

Her thrill was somewhat dampened when she saw the boarding point. The Haulstation in Mairen was little more than a sign post claiming to be so, around which a dozen plainsfolk stood with eyebrows raised at the sudden arrival of the three highlanders.

Gyamma stood between her parents like a little child, for the first time a little unsettled at all the stares and whispers. Her parents paid the plainsfolk no heed, focussed instead on fussing over their daughter. Gyamma tried to distract herself by observing every detail of this new world.

There wasn’t much to see.

Unkempt grass and weed flowed on all sides, briefly interspersed by the rundown cottages and row houses of Mairen town. Towards the horizon, the Atharottae mountains were shadows in cloud, and seemed a thousand miles away. The breeze brought in wafts of background noise; carts on the dirt highways, the chatter from some nearby marketplace, and the distant rumble of thunder from the north, where the mountains loomed.

A glint of metal caught Gyamma’s eyes, a sudden wink from somewhere in the overgrowth. Her observation revealed something most curious, which she’d missed until now -

set into the ground, almost entirely obscured by the waving green blades of grass, were a pair of shining metal beams, thick and parallel. They ran endlessly on either side of the little Haulstation.

And then, the earthquake hit.

The thunder that had been a distant companion was the first warning. It grew louder, and louder, at an alarming pace, threatening them with an impending storm. Gyamma felt a tremble within the ground beneath her sensitive feet, and her mind screamed only one thing at her - avalanche.

She cried out and yanked at her parents arms, wildy searching for something solid to Pin to. But her father simply patted her shoulder and said something. His words were drowned by the tumult that followed.

The Haultrain arrived on its rails of steel, with its massive wagons of wood and iron crunching down into grass that fell like soldiers on a battlefield. And drawing the titanic caravan was an engine that made everything else a mere afterthought - the Haulbeast.

“I should have warned you,” her father repeated.

His weak apology didn’t do the sight justice.

The massive, lumbering creature stood twenty feet tall and at least twice as long. Its sixteen pillars of limbs pounded the ground as the animal came to a heavy, imposing stop. Gyamma’s heart thudded in synchrony with its steps. She stared blankly as a thought trickled into her mind - what manner of powers could control such a beast?

As if on cue, rope ladders dropped from high atop the Haulbeast’s back and the two wagoneers descended, chattering away merrily. One of them walked up to the front of the creature - or atleast the front of the train, for the beast had no discernible head or tail and appeared to be simply a massive torso on legs.

The wagoneer made a sign of Cooling and pressed his palm directly into the trunk, above a foreleg. There was a hissing sound as the Haulbeast let out an air moving groan of satisfaction and shuddered. There was a hiss and the little station was suddenly flooded in a warm, musky steam.

Gyamma stood dumbstruck by this first encounter with a Touch-beast, now fully oblivious to the plainsfolk at the Haulstation who whispered and sneered at the ignorant, idiot Highlander girl.

A teary farewell later she was aboard a rattling carriage, alone amongst strangers for the first time in her life.

Gyamma spent the journey in a fight between curiosity and introversion, caught between craning her head outside the window to see how the Haulbeast was driven, and focussing on not drawing any attention to herself. The plainsfolk around her gossipped and talked, and strangers became transitory friends while Gyamma sat still as a rock, trying to be small and inconspicuous.

After a day and a half of a lurching and swaying journey, the Haultrains stopped at their destination - Atharen city. As she hopped off the wagon on cramped legs, another feeling of disorientation hit her as she took in the surroundings.

The Haulstation in the city seemed to be in a sort of tunnel of heavy white stone supported by massive wooden beams, clearly built under some gigantic mountain. Even with her rudimentary knowledge of the land she knew the city was far from any mountains and she felt a panic - what if the trains had come to the wrong place?

It took her an hour of wandering around with timid questions until she finally found a doorway that led outside, to a world under an open grey sky. It was only then, when she saw the imposing bulk of Atharen central station, larger than any building she’d imagined, was built by human hands. The embarrassment of her initial naivete followed her around for months after

Out on the streets, Gyamma walked with her mouth agape, drowning in the alien scene of a big city. Grey stone buildings grew on both sides of the thoroughfare, their wooden doors and windows looking stout and denying. The cobbled main street fascinated her: why on earth would anyone make a road of hard stone, rather than soft earth? She found her answer when she was almost run over by a wooden carriage drawn by - drawn by nothing!

It moved by itself, powered as though by some invisible horses that ran like the wind. The coachman screamed at her as the Chargecart whizzed past, emitting a strange whining hum.

And the people - there were plainsfolk everywhere, dressed in all manners of clothing she had never seen! Waist wraps shimmered with colour, and elegant robes flowed, highlighted by majestic turbans or gigantic piercings.

The language (or was it languages?) being spoken baffled her untrained ears, which were only used to Highlandish and the common tongue spoken in plainsfolk villages. The couple of Highlanders she glimpsed were mere flashes lost in the surging throngs.

Gyamma swam through the crowd, forcing herself to raise her timid voice to ask for directions. When she made it to Atharen university after an age, its foreboding wooden gates were firmly shut. She stood in front of the barrier, biting her lips, when one of the gate guards beckoned to her.

“Ho miss Highlander, where are you headed?”

The heavy built plainswoman spoke with a friendly tone, but her face and the stout wooden staff she bore suggested otherwise.

Gyamma hesitated, a little intimidated. “Er… I… To the university? Is this not the right place?”

“No you’re at the right place but… are you here for some construction work? I haven’t heard of anything going on - have you a permit?”

“Construction? No, no, I’m here to enroll, I’m a student.”

The guard looked incredulous. Then, she burst out laughing.

“Oh that’s a good one! Come on miss, I can’t be seen chatting and joking with you on duty, do you have that construction permit or no?”

The woman bore down on Gyamma, who stood rooted to the spot, tripping over her own tongue. In a daze, she fished out the only thing she could think of - the letter of welcome from Sadguru Venna. She thrust it in between her and the guard, like a flimsy paper shield. As the woman’s eyes scanned the words, they grew dark.

“Where did you get this, eh?” she snapped, “Snatched it off some poor fresher on the way here?”

“Wh-what? No, Sadguru Venna invited me to-”

“I should call the city police, is what I should do! Here, hold on to her!” she yelled to her partner, a fat man leaning on his staff for a nap. He sprang up and frowned at Gyamma through bleary eyes.

The Highlander girl stood transfixed, terrified. Her muscles wouldn’t move, and she instinctively generated Breath to help her lungs, which seemed to have stopped functioning.

“What’s the problem here Adre, anything amiss?”

The deep voice from behind her startled her even more, if that was possible. She felt completely surrounded now, with nowhere to run.

The guard glanced at the speaker. “Hmph. Hello, Myaddan. This girl one of your own? She’s stolen a letter of invite and was trying to sneak into the university premises!”

Gyamma was too stunned to respond to the accusation, but glanced sideways to see a well-built highlander youth walking up to them. Just with seeing someone familiar looking, relief flooded her like a warm bath after an icy climb.

“I’m sure there’s some confusion, here let me see,” said the man, taking the letter. His brows too furrowed as he read it, and he looked at Gyamma in puzzlement. “This yours Miss?”

Gyamma nodded quickly. He paused, but suddenly threw his head up and laughed, his confusion apparently clearing.

“Oh I see now! The poor thing can’t read!”

He gave Gyamma, who was about to protest, an inconspicuous nudge.

“Someone clearly gave her the wrong letter, instead of a construction permit. I don’t know who’s behind the error, but I’m sure I can find out. I know most of the overseers around here. Don’t worry, Adre, I’ll sort it out. Not worth your time,” he said to the guard.

Adre hmphed. “Well, only because I know you. Find out who it is, and report the incident to the police. Illiterate girl, wasting my time…”

Gyamma was yanked off by her hand to a neighbouring street.

“What are you doing? Who are you?” she cried, still terrified.

“Hush now! It’s okay, I’m here to help,” the highlander man said soothingly.

“My name is Myaddan, what’s yours?”

“G-Gyamma,” she stuttered, finally getting a better look at her rescuer. The young highlander could not have been more than a couple of years older than her, but the seriousness with which he carried himself and spoke belonged to a much older man. His face was still worried, but he spoke in a gentle, calming tone.

“Where in the mountain’s name did you get that letter, waving it around like that? Why were you at the university, do you have work there?”

“I- I was sent to study here, the Sadguru himself invited me. I was supposed to be the first highlander here,” she sobbed.

The man looked disbelieving, but cautiously patted her shoulder.

“There there now. Let’s take some time to sort things out. Are you new to the city?”

“Yes,” she sniffled, “Just got here in the morning Haultrain from the Atharottae mountains,”

“Ah, Atharotta! Quite the journey, eh? Never been there myself, but lovely place I hear, beautiful valleys. I’m from the Raganotta ranges, quite a bit further away. Have you been there?”

Gyamma shook her head.

“Ah well, maybe someday. But look, why don’t we first find a place to get you a nice warm meal, and then we can talk things through.”

Still shaken, but somewhat comforted by the friendly, serious highlander, she followed him several streets down to a noisy thatched hut. Sounds of rambunctious laughter floated out of the window, as they entered. The little tavern seemed to be entirely occupied by highlanders, most of whom looked dirty and scruffy. They all wore clothes cut of rough cloth that had seen obvious overuse, and cheery grins on their pale, soot smudged faces.

“Who’s the new girl Myaddan, she looks too clean to be one of ours! Found another country bumpkin have you?” shouted one woman, over the howls of the group.

“Shut up Hommye, you dimwit. The lady is new to the city, let her have some quiet and clean air. By the Glaciers, this place smells so stuffy I could run out of Breath.”

They left them alone with a few laughs, and Myaddan led Gyamma to a cramped but bright corner with some cushions on the floor. He left and came back with two plates of food.

“Mountain goat mutton, just like back home!” he said kindly, “A little stale, but it’ll do to put some strength back in you, eh?”

Gyamma offered him a weak smile and accepted it, taking a bite of the meat, and almost burning her tongue on the overheated food. Swallowing hastily, she drew a basic sign of Cooling and Touched the plate with a finger. It sizzled and steamed as the heat dissipated.

Myaddan gasped and stared at her plate wide-eyed. “You know a Touch?!” he said loudly.

The whole place grew silent, as people around them stopped and stared at them.

Gyamma suddenly felt uncomfortable again.

“Y-yes, no, I mean I only know very basic things, that’s why I came here, to learn more,” she said in a single breath.

“But- wait, you don’t look mid-born: are both your parents highlander? Neither of them plainsfolk?”

“What? Yes, of course they’re both highlander!” she replied, confused.

The crowd went into hushed whispers of awe.

“Mountain Touched,” she heard someone in the crowd say, “Blessed,”

“What else do you know, can you do one more?” asked Myaddan excitedly.

Gyamma felt a burning flush rise to her cheeks at the sudden attention. She drew a water-bringing sign, and held her hand over a small clay pot, which immediately filled up with some touch-water. Myaddan stared at it as though it was as rare as Oldbone.

“By the Mountains,” he exclaimed.

The watching tavern broke into noisy chatter, as people watched agape and craned their necks trying to get a closer look.

“Come on, come on, give the lady some privacy you smelly mud-sliders!” yelled Myaddan, waving at them. He turned back to her.

“Why didn’t you say so before Miss?”

“I - I don’t see what all the fuss is about, it’s just a basic Touch! Surely you all use it?”

Myaddan shook his head as though in a daze

“A highlander? Using a Touch? I haven’t known anyone quite that talented for a long while I’m afraid... our village chief Garodya back home knew a few, but he would never say how he’d learnt them. Here in the city, we’ve never seen any with that skill.”

The implications of the statement fell on Gyamma like tumbling boulders. She’d heard stories of how her people were different in the city but this…

“I don’t understand… why? Why have none of you learnt?”

Myaddan gave her a strange frown.

“Who taught you, miss?”

“Why, the plainsfolk in the foothills of course! We all learnt together!”

The muttering of the eavesdropping crowd grew even more awed. The look of incredulity Myaddan’s eyes told her she might have been a raving lunatic.

“The plainsfolk?” Myaddan breathed. Gyamma nodded warily, a little afraid now.

“Where did you say you were from, now?”

“The Atharottae ranges!” Gyamma repeated, “Surely, you must have at least heard of us?”

Myaddan nodded slowly, his mouth still hanging open.

“Yes… I remember now. We’d heard only rumours of it but - you folk up there are rather… chummy with the plainsfolk aren’t you? To think they taught you a Touch… if I hadn’t seen the proof with my own eyes, I would have thought you insane and dragged you to the nearest Healer’s grove! But if what you say is indeed true, then… well, you’re going to find things interesting here in the city.”

The crowd was still staring, their curiosity clearly struggling with their effort to look somewhat respectable as they tried and failed to look inconspicuous. Myaddan gestured towards them.

“None of us here learn Touches. Mountains, most of these folk can't even read the plainsfolk scripts! What school would be caught teaching us? In fact, most of these folk wouldn’t believe it was even possible for a highlander to learn a Touch!

“Look," Myaddan waved placatorily as Gyamma began a protest, "I’ve seen our chief Garodya myself, so I know that’s not true, but for most people... it’s just easier to believe what the plainsfolk say, that we aren’t capable of it. We aren’t born with a Touch after all, what proof is there that we can learn?”

A million arguments rose to challenge this in Gyamma’s head, but her voice failed as she found herself confounded by how even to begin a response. As she looked at the curious, grubby faces, She felt something come over her she had never experienced. It crawled on her like bugs she couldn’t shake off. It was a feeling of being seen as... less. It was a feeling of humiliation, not merely personal, but shared with people she had never seen through a common pain.

Finally, the reaction of the guards at the gate made sense.

“Forgive me asking Miss,” Myaddan said gently, “But what on earth is someone like you doing… here? This city is no life for someone so skilled! Why, back in your home, you could be a chieftain, or a great Healer!”

“I told you, I came here to learn at Sadguru Venna’s behest.” Her voice was sullen, subdued.

As the excitement died down, the tavern slowly resumed their normal chatter, but with occasional curious glances at her. Myaddan flapped his hands as though to dispel the unpleasantness.

“What a fool I am! Here you’re still hungry, and I prattle about things you shouldn’t have to worry about. Please, finish your meal! We’ll think of what to do with full bellies.”

Gyamma picked at her food gloomily, but after the first bite her hunger caught up with the mood and she gorged the meat down. Myaddan hardly touched his plate, seeming deep in thought.

When she was done, he asked her. “So it’s true then: you really are going to the university?”

Gyamma nodded, the thought of it immediately threatening to bring the tears out again.

Myaddan rubbed his unshaven cheeks and spoke slowly.

“I know Sadguru Venna, met him a couple of times for some building work in the university. He is a good man. Not like the rest of them plainsfolk. I’ll speak to him. It should be easy to cook up a permit reason to see him, always something that needs repairing in those old buildings… rest up and we’ll try tomorrow.”

“But I must enroll today!” started Gyamma.

Myaddan refused firmly. “No chance Miss, you must recover after your travel today. Besides, it’ll take time for me to speak to folk and find some work to do in the university as an excuse.”

He waved over the large highlander lady he’d first spoken to.

“Hommye, find her a comfortable room. Clean, if you please, and quiet. She has a big day tomorrow.”

Hommye kindly took her hand and led her to a small hut outside, and made sure she was comfortable. Gyamma tried to keep awake, but found she was too exhausted and fell into a dreamless sleep.