The girls on the village waited in an orderly line for the travelers to arrive. Some giggled about how easy it was going to be, of the ten or fifteen girls who go the ceremony, only two or three are tamed every year. Some wondered what like as one of the traveler's steeds would be like. Some even gossiped about the mysterious figures them self. not fifteen years ago, word had reached the village that in another village, a girl had escaped the travelers. Word is that she said that they grow from their imp like stature to strong and muscular men at night. No one knew why they used humans as steeds, as no one had ever managed to capture one alive. Princess Rhea just ignored the chattering of her fellow girls.
The village had been established in the first pace as a rest stop for the travelers. They'd brought a number of humans to the area and made them set up camp. Since then, the travelers rarely ventured into the area, except on their yearly pilgrimage. But, part of supplying meant new steeds to the mysterious creatures, and the last time the village had resisted, half it's population was destroyed. It was custom that every year, every girl aged eighteen to twenty who was yet unmarried would be lined up and tested by the Travelers.
The test was simple. Rhea had gone through it last year, just after her 18th birthday. The new travelers or those without mounts would appear and examine each of the girls. check their legs, look at their backs, and then make a choice. Then they would attempt to mount a girl. For her to pass the test (Or fail it as the girls would say) She had to have failed to stop him from binding her arms, putting a bit n her mouth and mounting her. Then he would have to attempt to control her. he lost and would not get her if she could fight him off. but if he tamed her and could manage to control her, she would be cursed to a life as one of the Travler's steeds.
At last the Travlers emerge, standing only two feet high, and with faces covered by sack like masks with nothing but eyeholes. On their backs they wear little metal containers at all times. And today, they come bearing saddles, head harnesses, crops, and rope. The princess is trained in how not to get caught, but soon finds that the particular Travler who's she has caught the eye of is persistant. She struggles as he ties him, she struggles as he saddles her, and she struggles as he gags her, but it is to no avail. At last he mounts her, leaving her to the final test, will she be able to stop him from breaking her in. She struggles and she struggles until she's exhausted, but the pull of his reins are daunting, and the feel of his crop is biting. At last she can fight no more, and at the pull of his reins, the princess turns, and at the blow of his crop she goes faster. she has been broken in, and is now the Travlers steed.
Not even given a chance to say goodbye, her new owner directs her away, followed by the other two girls who surrendered to the travelers. They lean her to the camp where she sees the other girls who the travlers ride. They dress her and prepare her for future riding, given the traditional tattooes and clothing of Steeds. But, the most fascination thing happens that night. In the moonlight, the tiny mute Travlers change. Instead of implike creatures, they instead become translucent men. They are the riders of heaven, bringing souls on their back from purgatory to the land above.