"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
The golden palomino softly nuzzles each individual strand of the luscious green grass that sways left with every gentle exhale and right with the inhale as she nibbles for her nightly snack. She grinds every little piece of grass to a pulp with every bite. The wind is nippy as the sun goes down, causing her golden hair to no longer lay flush against her body. A little shiver runs through her body. She's been a nomad for most of her life, not yet finding a place to call home. It worries her, not having anyone to call a friend, or even have a place to lay at night that she can call hers. Her own mortality periodically sneaks into her thoughts, causing a tear to sneak out of her eye and fall hopelessly against the dry soil.
Her head raises to the black, desolate sky only that's being illuminated by the few twinkles and nickers softly, helplessly hoping, yearning for someone above to hear her pleas. Every night she's done this, but nothing has changed. Maybe.. just maybe tonight will be different. Her body shivers again. The mare lowers her head and slowly starts to walk to her resting spot, a small clearing of trees, but still protected enough for her to be able to get away if any predators decide to appear. She likes this spot, being able to still see the sky and the stars, but feeling the hug of the trees around her. She lowers her head, takes a deep breath and closes her eyes as she hears the wind howl around her. The howl of the wind melodiously match the wolves in the distance. This is her lullaby. What she falls asleep to every night.
A voice in her head whispers softly... Change comes from within...
i know my soul's freezing , hell's hot for good reason
For no particular reason that he’s aware of, Doctor prefers night to day.
Perhaps it is because fire dances better at night. The shadows are longer and catch the light with glee while the moon watches on from above. The dun stallion lingers alone at the treeline, head low to the ground as he exhales small sparks onto the dried leaves and needles underfoot. It is a simple pastime, one he’s enjoyed since he was a foal. Born in a time of war, he had not been allowed much free time (his mother deigned to shape him into her chaotic puppet), but there had been times when, like now, the world lulled and afforded him the meager luxury of boredom.
Small threads of smoke rise from the embers that flee his lungs, twisting together and waltzing in the starlight. Tiny flames soon sprout, urged to grow by an empty sigh from his mouth, but their modest beauty is not enough to distract him for long. He watches closely as they spread a slow path along the foot of a pine that smells sweetly of sap, but he knows he must soon end their foray. After all, he cannot control the fire, and he is not in the habit of burning forests down.
After he’s snuffed his lovely creations beneath his chipped hooves, he turns away. When he lifts his gaze, though, a pale golden mare crosses his view. She is alone and moving silently toward the trees, likely in search of a den for the night as the distant howl of wolves rises into the night.
Intrigued, Doctor watches her for a moment while one ear flicks to listen to the predatory beasts’ chorus. She settles in a clearing and he slinks nearer, smoke curling from his nostrils as he stops nearby. “Rather brave of you to sleep alone out here,” he observes, standing at the edge of her little forest hollow. “You aren’t worried about the wolves?”
doctor
@Umani - sorry it's kinda awful, I was rushing to finish before bed! <3
Her ears twitch to the howling of the wolves and to what sounds like another horse. The smell of smoke and fire burns her nostrils. Her eyes widen, seeing the glow of the embers in the dry, earthy grass. She’s ready to run, but settles once she realizes the fire is from another horse. She stands her distance, enough to retreat in case of an attack, but close enough to feel the warmth that emanates from the stallion.
Her ears prick forward seeing the sparks that fly out his nostrils with every breath. “You learn to cohabitate with them. They stick to themselves and the pack rather than come close. If they do, I move. It’s a dance.”
“What brought you to this side of the woods?” She asks curiously and a bit cautiously, not knowing this stallion. She steps backwards as he approaches closer. “I haven’t seen another horse in years.”
i know my soul's freezing , hell's hot for good reason
The smell of smoke never leaves him, from the charred flesh of his lungs to the ash he leaves behind in his boredom. It is a comfort to him, his ever-present companion, like the embrace of a lover. To him it is endless, infinite; it is a sign that the fire that burns like a furnace in the cage of his chest still thrives.
Equally, it is a reminder of his past. It is a chain upon his soul and a weight across his shoulders. Those flames in his throat had been ignited by his mother the moment he was born; her magic had burned him from the inside out.
Even now, as he stands with the palomino mare, he appears sooty by comparison.
Where she wears white, he dons black.
She does not appear frightened but he can sense her caution. Perhaps that is a good thing, in this case. While Doctor is not an overly cruel creature, he has not always been a pleasant one. She watches him and he watches her, coppery eyes flickering even in the dim moonlight. Her answer regarding the wolves is logical and sound, but he sees one major flaw in it:
“But have you considered there may be things worse than wolves out here?” His smile is faint but sinister, the careful grin of a hunter. Stepping a little further into her small clearing, he drags his dark feet through the fresh-blooming undergrowth as he skirts the edge. “You may need to learn a new dance…”
But he hasn't come here to threaten her, truthfully. Not to spook her or to try and whisk her away. He's only having some fun; the night's shadows on his back have always dredged up old habits.
“Years, you say?” he muses, pausing halfway through his slow circle around her. He looks toward the stars thoughtfully. “I suppose it has been a while, hasn't it?” He seems almost to be speaking to himself.
“I guess you could say I'm looking for a dance partner,” he finishes with another curling smile as he drops his gaze back to her.
She stands hesitantly near the sooty stallion. The two of them, almost opposites, her mane pure white, his black. She can taste the soot with every word he speaks. Something about him intrigues her, but scares her. She doesn’t let her fear show, not wanting to seem weak, or vulnerable to him. A stranger.
She stands on guard as he slowly circles around her. She holds her head high, ears flicking back and forth rapidly, unable to get a read on the stallion. What does he want from me? Her nostrils start to flare, eyes darting from him to any sort of potential escape point if it comes to it.
“I guess you could say there are potentially worse things than wolves out there..” She’s not sure what to do. She backs as he creeps closer and circles her. Encasing her in what seems like a ring of smoke and embers. “I very well may need a new dance. Although I’m not too worried,” she responds, starting to gain confidence, standing her ground. This was her space after all and he came into it. “Dance partner, you say?” She says almost with a snarl.
Her ears raise a little bit, from being against her head as he mentions he’s looking for a dance partner. She still has no idea who this stallion is. All she knows is a hot fiery flame burns deep inside him, whether it’s literal or figuratively, she has yet to find out. She’s still scouting out the area, trying to keep it from him realizing she’s looking for a potential escape.
First horse in years and this is who she meets. She doesn’t want to give her identity up too fast. She’s made that mistake in the past and it has come to haunt her in the end.
Who is he? What does he want from me? Do I need to go back on the run..
02-18-2024, 09:33 PM (This post was last modified: 02-19-2024, 03:01 PM by Doctor.)
i know my soul's freezing , hell's hot for good reason
There had been a time when he would have seized upon her discomfort, when he would already have her wreathed in flames while his eyes danced in the light. At his mother’s bidding, her voice ever-present in his mind, he would have taken the whole forest down. Such had been her power over him, her bitter creation, the result of an unwilling coupling. She had used him to her advantage, bending him to her will as though to keep her own hands clean of the havoc he wreaked in her name.
Old habits die hard and even now, in the stillness of the night and the quiet thoughts that are only his, Doctor knows no better.
He leers at her through the darkness, this pretty golden girl who had just happened to catch his attention. He takes careful steps around her, slowly edging closer as he circles like one of the wolves she claims not to fear. She stands bold in his presence, alert and confident in spite of his offhanded attempts to spook her, and it makes him smile more, appreciative of her valor.
Doctor shakes his mane and snorts embers as he lifts his head, finally taking his eyes from her.
“Wolves I have danced with,” he tells her simply, flicking one ear toward one of their mournful calls in the distance. The other he leaves turned toward her, not intent on allowing her to bolt, should she choose to try running from him. He, too, has been alone for some time, and even if his intentions seem malicious, he merely craves the company.
He means his statement both literally and figuratively – canids were not the only type of wolves in Beqanna, after all. A mild shiver passes over him, starting at his withers and passing along his barrel and haunches, ending with an almost angry switch of his tail. The memories still feel fresh in his mind; his mother’s magic had preserved him as much as it had scalded him, slowing time to a degree that he had not noticed its passage at all. Events from decades ago feel as if they transpired mere weeks or even days ago.
He sighs again, a thin plume of smoke mingling with the air.
“What of lions?” he asks her now, finally turning his coppery gaze back to her. There is some irony in the question, for him. His sire had taken the form of a tiger when he’d assaulted his mother. The idea of ‘dancing’ with a mountain lion suddenly has all the allure of revenge, even if it is long overdue (and equally undue).
“There is one that hunts on the north side of this forest, near the mountains,” he explains, stepping closer to her now even though he expects that she will draw away. “I have seen it prey on foals in springtime. Such pitiful little creatures, just snatched away…” He tilts his head as he studies her. “Care to join me?” He grins. “I’ll keep you safe.”
Umani, not sure whether to feel safe or on guard watches the stallion circle him. Her head perks and ear fly to the sound of the howling of the wolves. She’s not afraid of the howls or the wolves. But he mentions mountain lions. That scares her a little, but refuses to show it. “Haven’t seen many around recently,” she snorts back, knowing he’s trying to scare her. “It is a shame about the foals,” she says softly, almost a whisper.
Her eyes close, remembering her newborn colt, her only foal, that was innocently attacked and murdered and there was nothing that she could have done about it. The lion had grabbed him while he was sleeping, dragged him by his white stockings that very quickly were stained red. His high pitched screams reverberate in her mind. She had some scars from that fight. A fight that she lost. She could never forgive herself that she was such a bad mother to him. She couldn’t even protect her own helpless son. It had been a long time since she thought of him. She hadn’t even had a chance to name him. The bay colt with 4 white stockings, small snip and a crescent on his forehead between his two blue eyes.
She looks to Doctor, nodding to him. “Yes, I would like to join you,” she responds as they saunter off.
02-25-2024, 04:30 PM (This post was last modified: 03-06-2024, 09:29 PM by Doctor.)
i know my soul's freezing , hell's hot for good reason
A chord has been struck, that much he can tell. The mare tries to brush away his mention of mountain lions, but then her voice grows quiet.
Her defensive stance seems to falter a bit as she pities the young lives lost to the predator. Doctor waits patiently during the brief pause, taking note of the distant gaze of reverie that flashes in her eyes.
It seems they both have cause to take down the offending feline.
Eventually she opens her eyes and nods to him. His smile grows more. “That’s the spirit.” He dares to step a little closer to her as he crosses the clearing to begin their short trek northward. “It’s never wise to let lions roam freely,” he muses casually as he leads her into the heavy shadows of the forest where the moonlight cannot reach them so readily.
Darkness is more comfortable along his back anyway, more secure and more familiar. It is a cloak for the pair of them, covering their rather brightly colored coats enough that their passage should remain something of a mystery to any onlookers.
Doctor moves slowly, deliberately. Each footfall is carefully placed, calculated and wary of rustling any underbrush as they near the edge of the forest. He knows well enough that the cat can see perfectly fine in the dark, but the element of surprise is a worthy advantage when stalking any sort of prey, especially a predator.
The air near the magical Mountain feels heavier; the ground underfoot seems unnaturally muffled. The shadows seem to press heavier against him, clinging tighter to his shoulders and flanks as if to blanket him even further, even stronger. It presses close around his neck, snug like an inky robe that seems to bleed the black of his mane further along his withers and back, wrapping him in darkness.
When he stops at the edge of the trees, he spares his companion a backward glance. He holds his head low, eyes alert as he ensures she is still with him before looking back out to the craggy foothills.
At first, the night is still. Not even the wolves’ howls reach this far, as if blocked by some barrier and aiding in their hunt. No insects sing; the trees do not whisper. It seems that the night has been discharged of its usual gentle symphony.
Then, as if on cue, movement stirs near an outcropping of larger rocks. Doctor holds his breath, tense as he studies the emergent form. The conspicuous white figure of a feeble-looking mountain goat steps into sight, grazing silently on the fresh green leaves of the hardy bushes here. It travels alone, which makes its presence even more conspicuous, but Doctor doubts that the creature is without some form of protection by way of Beqanna’s natural magic (who has ever claimed that the magic is relegated only to its equine inhabitants, after all?).
It is the perfect lure for a lonely lion – and sure enough, not much longer afterward, their quarry arrives. Doctor’s sneer returns as he spots the dust-colored coat of the cat slinking amongst the silver-brown stones and dark trunks of sturdy pines. It moves slow and cautious, its body pressed close to the earth below. It is actually rather close to the pair of horses lurking in the treeline, approaching from their right as it makes a slow path toward the goat further off on their left side.
Doctor looks back to Umani once more. “Are you ready?” he whispers with audible excitement. His heart pounds uncomfortably hard in his chest, rattling against his ashen bones before he takes a steadying breath. He waits just another moment, flicking one ear back to listen for Umani’s response and watching as the mountain lion steadily crawls into a closer range. They would need to launch their attack before the lion began its own pursuit, or else they may lose it in the rocks.
Finally, when the lion has paused while the goat’s head is raised and its eyes scan for threats, Doctor charges forward, launching himself into a half-rear as he springs from beneath the denser coverage of the forest. This reminds him all too well of his battles in the past, of rampaging at his mother’s bidding and throwing himself into the metaphorical fires of war.
The shadows seem to cling to him even when he breaks into the open – darkness hangs like a dense, heavy veil along his body, from his already-darkened head all the way across his tanned shoulders and haunches. The intangible-but-notable feeling of magic tingles across his body and somewhere in his subconscious, he wonders whether his mother might be watching with her magician’s eye, disguising him with the layer of shadows to aid in his oh-so-clandestine mission. In truth, it is merely the fairies’ magic aiding him in ridding their sacred lands.
And it seems to be working.
The cat doesn't seem to notice until a bellow erupts from Doctor’s hoarse throat as smoke billows from his nose and mouth which glow with a faint touch of unbidden fire. Slamming his hooves into the ground near the feline’s tail, he drops his head to shout “killer!” at the cat before grabbing a fleshy piece of its shoulder between his teeth and flinging it away from its previous path.
The mountain lion screams and howls in pain and fright, landing with a tumble somewhere near Umani. It regains its footing with surprising ease, though, and flowers between the stallion, fuming like a furnace, and the less-threatening mare. It makes a quick decision, fangs beared as it turns to face the palomino.
With a snarl, it leaps toward her, having decided she would be the easier opponent to defeat in this sudden battle.
02-26-2024, 10:50 AM (This post was last modified: 03-08-2024, 10:06 AM by Umani.)
The woods are eerie. The wind whistles through the branches as the road ahead darkens. Umani, who is starting to trust Doctor, which may or may not be a wise decision, follows softly in his stead. Carefully watching each footfall and delicately following matching his hoof with hers. His hooves, obviously are a tad bit bigger as he is slightly bigger than she.
She notices he’s excited about this lion. It might be the same one who so brutally murdered her son, but it could also be a different individual. The darkness begins to envelop the two of them as they softly and cautiously walk deeper into the woods. “It’s spooky,” she whispers, not wanting to wake anything that could potentially be lurking through watching the two equines waiting for its meal. They would be a good meal for one, maybe multiple lions or bears, or any other predator.
She stays close to him as he inches closer towards her. Was it to protect her? To show dominance over her? Does it matter? Either way, he is the only reason she would get out of these dark, eerie woods. She feels her chest tightening up with every breath. The air is thicker, heavier. White foam begins to encapsulate her, starting at her flanks, and her chest. “We’ve gotta get out of here,” she says, trying to breathe and not panic. She’s never felt this feeling before, feeling of being trapped. She looks to Doctor, frantically. She doesn’t like feeling vulnerable, especially to strangers but there’s an aura about him that she feels she can trust.
The air is getting heavier against her. Her body begins to shake a little bit from exhaustion. They’ve been traveling a while with no end in sight until she hears a rustling in the leaves on a hill slightly above her. She stops suddenly, not realizing Doctor stopped right in front of her. Her ears flick around trying to locate the rustling. She raises her head trying to see whatever could be causing the ruckus. A pale coat moves slightly in the trees. Her stomach flips, having a bad feeling about this. Was this a trap? Was he trying to kill her? Her deafening heart beat begins to pound heavier in her chest as she doesn’t hear Doctor asking her if she’s ready. Her eyes widen, her breath quickens as a ragged looking emaciated mountain goat breaks through the trees, showing itself to them.
Umani, exhaling softly, realizing there’s not an imminent threat to her or Doctor at this time. He says it again, “Are you ready?” She looks to him still panicked and concerned. “Ready for what?” She wonders. She knows this lion has got to be around somewhere. Where there’s prey, there’s a predator. Somewhere, but where. Is it watching them now? Does it see them? She’s sure it’s got to be around here. It’s got to be lurking. Masking itself from the goat, and from them.
She takes a deep breath, feeling Doctor’s breath against her calms her. She’s angry at herself that she’s allowing herself to be vulnerable to him. The feeling of panic slowly fades, but not for long. Not when she hears the rustling of branches and leaves again. It’s it. This is the lion. Before she gets a chance to react, the lions head peeks through the foliage, paused for a moment. The goat looks at the two equines, not realizing that it has a lot bigger things to worry about. That its innocent life is soon to be over.
Before she knows it, Doctor is off galloping towards the lion. His trail being drawn by smoke billowing from his nostrils. Embers spewing from his mouth as he growls towards the lion. He rears up, seeming bigger than usual, and lands hard against the solid earthen soil. She hears him snarl “Killer!”. Killer? What has it killed that he knew? She takes off behind him, in case he needs back up. But before she knows it, the scarred coat of the lion is trapped in his maw as Doctor throws it towards her. She jumps backwards not wanting the cat to land on her. Its talons, its large daggers of teeth. He lands, and staggers up and decides that he doesn’t want to fight Doctor. He wants her.
Her eyes widen and she squeals loudly in fear as his eyes. His dark brown eyes and her eyes are caught together. She recognizes this cat. She recognizes the deep long scar on his shoulder blade from when she attacked him. When he stole the life of her baby. Her baby is what is going to give her strength. She will not let this cat take the lives of a family. Her ears pinned against her neck, nostrils flaring and teeth bared. She’s turned into a different horse. A horse she hasn’t seen since the murder. Its ivory fangs bared towards her as her ivory incisors are bared to him.
The two of them circle eachother for awhile as he’s trying to size her up and she’s trying to figure out a plan of attack. He swipes a paw at her left shoulder and his claws slice a deep gash diagonally pointing to her hind. She neighs out in pain and anger. “You killed my baby!” She screams at the lion, only causing the lion to get even more infuriated. She kicks out at him with her injured leg as the crimson, warm, thick blood drips down her leg and falls against the lions paw. She quickly scans the area and can’t find Doctor. Where is he? Why isn’t he helping me?!
The Snarling and squealing and whinnying cause any other animals around, including the goat to vanish. She barrel kicks the lion in the jaw, hearing the loud crack of his bone breaking. He scampers off slightly away to assess his injuries but he turns around and flies onto the palominos back. The palomino rears up, flying backwards landing on her back, landing on the feline. She grunts and whimpers from the impact against a hard rock. She screams as its claws dig deeper and deeper into her shoulders, tearing her golden coat apart cell by cell. Its fangs gripping her by the crest of her neck. His hind legs grappling against her hind quarters, causing her once golden body to turn crimson. Her white mane and tail stained red. Blood is pouring from her, from each nail that pierced her. She rolls around, trying to do anything to get the feline off her.
The dusty, bloody feline stil holding on, not letting his meal get away, snarls louder in her ear. The amount of blood that is quickly leaving her body by the minute is sure to entice other predators to come to the scene. Her body is getting weaker. She’s fighting with all she can. “Please…” she whimpers, losing strength, looking for Doctor to help. She weakly lays on the ground as she feels the lion get lifted off her, but not without him taking a chunk of her neck with him. She squeals loudly, flailing her head and neck against the ground launching him off her. Blood spewing from her neck, her shoulders, her haunches, her belly. She knows this is the end. She gets a good look at the lion, recognizing the scar. It’s the same lion that stole her son from her. With the last of her strength, she gets up weakly, her legs trembling and nostrils flaring. “You killed my son!” She snarls at him, rearing up high, covering him and Doctor in her blood, and lands hard on his side. He yelps from the impact as he lays there, his breathing shallow. She looks at the cat, her body shaking, getting weaker each moment. “Y-you… killed him!” She snaps at him again. The feline pants heavily, wincing with every breath. The cat looks deep in her eyes and exhales audibly as Umani watches the life slip from his eyes.
Knowing she got revenge for her son, she collapses. Her nostrils flaring, blood pooling around her. Her ears flick softly. “D-d-don’t leave..” she says as her breath gets weaker and shallower. Her heart beat slows. She looks at him as she feels him lay beside her, and hold her with his neck. She whimpers softly. “I-I’m scared..” she admits, breathlessly. “T-thank you..for finding me and being my friend..” She coughs, blood coming from her mouth. The iron taste is overwhelming.
The lion has claimed her family. Her son, and soon to be her. But she got revenge. She got revenge for her son and they will soon be together again. She takes one last look at Doctor and exhales weakly, her breath ceasing and her body relaxes for the last time. The cat lays lifeless a few feet from her.
It isn’t long until the ground begins to smolder around her. Embers begin to burn, and smoke begins to rise and encapsulate her. The dark, dismal forest begins to illuminate as fire explodes around her. Her once golden lifeless body, now stained red, bursts into red, hot flames. They burn around her for a while until they begin to die down, revealing her new golden body, glowing from the dying embers. No sign of the battle that was fought moments before. Her wounds, disappeared. Her coat as golden as the sun, blinding almost. Her diaphragm begins to rise and fall softly again. Her eyes begin to blink again. She moans softly, weakly. Her legs twitch and tail swishes. She weakly and barely opens her eyes to see Doctor still laying next to her. She tries to raise her head, but it falls back down to the ground.
“I saw my son…” she whispers softly before closing her eyes again.
i know my soul's freezing , hell's hot for good reason
He had thought she’d wanted to partake in the hunt, the attack. She had agreed, after all, so he’d tried to offer her a chance.
He hadn’t expected the lion to turn its attention so solely upon her.
Doctor can only watch as if entranced as the cat and the mare engage in their gory battle. His breath is heavy and his muscles ring with adrenaline; he wants to charge forward again, to rain fire upon the feline and rip it from Umani’s back.
To protect her like he’d promised.
But his vision grows dark as soon as he lurches toward the pair of them. He can still hear her screams, the screeches and yowls of the cat, the thuds and gasps of fighting.
A brutal dance.
He can hear it all, but he can see none of it.
The shadows have returned, reaching around him as if with grimy black fingers that dig into his eyes and cling around his legs. With a bellow of his own, he throws his head up, slamming his feet into the ground again with a fiery snort. The flames do little to permeate the darkness that has overtaken him, billowing about him as if a great creature looms above. But the sky is clear and the trees are far behind him.
The heavy scent of blood permeates the air, stinging his nose with the heavy iron aroma. He snorts a fiery breath against it, pawing at the ground and heaving another plume of smoke. The shadows cling to him harder, a net around his struggling body, his labored sides and sweat-darkened flanks.
Umani’s voice still carries to him, teasingly close. She shrieks at her attacker, accusing it of taking her child’s life, and Doctor’s struggle lessens in that moment. Hadn't he heard something similar in the past? That same traumatized wail, that same despair. Where had it been?
(Had it even been real?)
In that moment, when he stands still with his feet planted wide, gasping harshly against his own smoke and against the shadows still whirling around him, the unseen battle comes to a final, grisly end. A spatter of blood paints his face and neck, trailing down his chest. He tosses his head again and snorts, braying shortly in surprise; he's certain that must have been the end of the mountain lion but, as the shadows finally ease away, dripping from his body like a sheet falling off of him, he is met with a terrible sight.
The palomino mare lies on the ground near the body of the lion, bleeding profusely. Flames have spread across the dry grass between them, small and slow-burning as they creep toward the feline’s corpse. Doctor has little concern for the fire, though – he worries for the life of his companion, the one he had brought into this awful situation.
She is gasping for him, begging him to stay, and he can do nothing other than oblige, falling to his knees beside her. “I…” He cannot find his voice though, unable to help at all. She thanks him – he is confused by this, confused by the fact she doesn't blame him for her abrupt demise – but before he can truly register the twist of sadness in his heart, she breathes her last.
The fire crackles quietly, popping as it finds the hidden grass seeds and they burst, as the fallen leaves crumble into ash. They creep closer and he only watches, suddenly too sullen to bother retreating from them as they spark up around her body.
Strangely, though, they do not burn him. They light upon her stained body in a merry dance, licking her with blue tongues and red-gold light. Doctor draws away slightly before he senses it – a heavy fold of magic presses over her body as it burns quicker, rapidly consumed by the flames. It smolders and hisses, but rather than consuming her golden hide, the fire renews it.
The blood vanishes. Her wounds heal. Soon enough, the flames flicker out with a whisper and the mare opens her eyes. Doctor watches as she breathes again, as her legs move and she flicks her tail.
“You're…” He still cannot speak, amazed by what he has witnessed. He's seen plenty of magic before, but never has he witnessed kind magic.
She speaks again, her voice quiet and unharmed, before closing her eyes to rest. He muses over the mention of her son again as he looks toward the nearby Mountain. Had Beqanna spared her life because of her sacrifice?
He stands then, careful not to disturb her. He does not leave; instead he bows his head and scans the treeline, the foothills, the open areas around them. He hadn't protected her before, but he will watch over her now. She has intrigued him quite a bit more than he'd anticipated and he's curious to learn more about her.
The shadows creep over him again, gentler this time as if aware of the newfound calm. This time, he notices how they fall heavily around him, moving almost like black flames along the ground. Shifting slightly closer to Umani’s sleeping form, he is pleased to see the darkness draping gently across them both as if to hide them from sight during the night.
