Hiparkes
"You see a lot of strange things, serving in the Seventh. I've seen Dragon-Blooded sorcerers raise encampents out of the earth with nothing but their magical might. I've stood in a scale of men, desperately hurling javelins against twenty feet of towering tyrant lizard. But the most amazing thing I've ever seen is the Marukani god Hiparkes.
"My scale was on maneuvers north of the range towns, near the banks of the Grey, when we heard it. I thought it was a gathering thunderstorm at first, or an earthquake, but then I saw the horses. Stallions and mares, more than I can count, and pressed together like drops of water in the sea. Only they weren't horses at all; they were the living strength of the earth, they were freedom made flesh, and, leading them all was a bronco with hair like a storm cloud and a mane of bright silver. My heart beat wildly in time with his hoofbeats and I let go of my breath as I watched him run.
"The whole herd was gone in a flash, faster than we could have hoped to follow, and when every man around me had air in his lungs again we let out a cheer. I'm an immaculate, when I bother with religion, but I said a prayer to Hiparkes that night, and I know I wasn't alone."
-- Chegef Ixos, Gunchei (sergeant), 1st Fang, 5th Scale, 3rd Talon, 2nd Wing, 1st Dragon of the First Field Force of the Seventh Legion
