When Orietta first woke, she found herself lying on a low pallet covered in a rough blanket and bathed in a dark green light. A low headache had lodged itself into the back of her skull and she ached all over. She knew that she must now be inside the great glass dome of the Enclave. Twisting round she saw that her bed was resting on a wide metal platform high above the ground. A ledge dropping down behind the platform led left to become a gently curving ramp bonded to the inner surface of the dome. It was presumably the way that she'd been brought to the platform. Through the thick emerald glass of the dome she could see one of the four tall metal obelisks which were positioned round the edge of the Enclave and she could look out over the down land where their shadows fell over the grass. A surpassing weariness overtook her. It was warm and comfortable and despite her muscular pains and her anxiety about this strange place she could not prevent herself from falling back into a deep sleep.

When she woke again she felt much better, though she had the feeling that many hours had passed and she was now very hungry. An old man with white hair and long blue robes was standing on the ledge below the head of the bed.

"I see you are awake again. Do not be afraid. You have been brought inside the Enclave for your own safety," he said.

"My name is Hirrilow and this particular Enclave is a Station Of Seers, a place we also know as Kalonia. I say again. Do not be afraid. Almost everything you have been told about the Enclaves is false; almost everything."

"What is your name child?" Hirrilow asked and Orietta told him.

"Your first concern will be for your companion," the old man said shortly. "We could not help him. The alegoyle which seized him was too far from our defence fields and it was only because you had crossed the bridge that we were able to prevent a second creature striking you. You will feel a little numb for a while. It is the after effect of the somatic shield which dampened your frontal cortex. We could not be selective enough to prevent the alegoyle attacking you without also affecting you and your horse. I see you are distressed. This man was a close companion?" 

"He was my husband," Orietta cried.

Hirrilow allowed the Rider woman some space for her immediate grief reaction before he continued in a more subdued tone.

"I am sorry. There really was nothing we could do to save him. Our defensive fields cannot be extended so far across the bridge." 

After another short pause he continued. "Your horse and that of your husband are stabled in the station. They are both unharmed. Now I must tell you a little more about the Enclave. It will not take long. Then I will have some food brought to you and leave you in peace for a while.

"I am aware that the Riders have many stories about the Enclaves and they are all stories of dread and fear so I understand why you are afraid of me. The stories are ones which the Guardians implanted in your culture long ago and we also help to spread them in the ways which are open to us for they serve an important purpose. The stories serve to keep the Riders and the Enclaves apart. This is as it must be according to the Vow of Earth. But you should know that the Enclaves are servants of the Guardians and we are not your enemies. There is nothing to be afraid of as you shall come to know in time. Even so, there are rules within the Enclaves which we cannot disobey. And one such rule is that no Rider having once crossed the threshold of an Enclave may ever leave the care of the Enclave's rulers alive. You should not think yourself a prisoner Orietta, but now that you have entered the Enclave you must be our guest for the rest of your life."

For three days and three nights Orietta was confined to the aerie inside the dome, watching the sun slowly rise and set over the downs of Illunon through the thick green glass. The air was warm and dry and the temperature varied little between day and night. Hirrilow bought her food regularly; salads with red beans, green pepper leaves and tiny baked white fish, apple juice and dwarf limes. He showed her how to summon a smoothly morphing opaque cylindrical module which seemed to fold out of the structure of the platform and which opened to reveal bathing and toilet facilities. When she was finished it folded silently away. Orietta had never seen anything like it. Over the edge of the platform she peered down into a world of complex angular shapes and spiral slopes where soft hums and muffled clicks were the only sound, but she was not allowed to explore. 

"You are still too weak," Hirrilow told her when she tried to pass the portal at the top of the ramp, although the rider thought herself fully recovered from the effects of the enclave's weapon. She suspected there was some other reason she was being kept in isolation and she was right. Orietta was the subject of fierce debate between the seers. 

On the fourth morning when she was absolutely sick of the sight of the heavy green light and longed for nothing more than fresh air and clean sunshine, Hirrilow escorted her outside the dome. There she had a joyful reunion with her faithful mare Cassia, and a slightly tearful one with Asanka's horse Paramal. 

"These lands behind the dome all belong to the Enclave of Kalonia," Hirrilow told her. "They are encircled by the Kalonia gorge and the only safe exit to the expanse of the Illunon downs is over the mirror bridge where you crossed. Here we farm a little and gather other forms of energy, but much is empty. You are free now to ride over these lands as far as you like, to exercise your horse and perhaps to find some solace for your grief. Do not try to cross the gorge. A lone person may just be able to find some difficult pathway out of our lands by climbing and scrambling but your horse would certainly find it impossible. Then too, the alegoyle often fly in these skies and you could never outrun them on foot! If you were attacked so far from the enclave we would not be able to protect you again. 

"Ride over these lands now! Ride hard and breath deep. Return to me when you are tired and we will speak of your future."