|| LIKE A MOTH DRAWN TO MY FLAME

[Maribel]

Who cares if hell awaits? We're having drinks at heaven's gate. The mass of the stallion is without change. He towers like an ancient tree, always and forever. Mari can not look away as she struggles to keep her courage of what was to be expected. If he willed it, he could hurt her, break her. She swallows nervously, her throat dry and coarse. Limbs root the delicate frame to the land, obsidian limbs steadfast. But it is when she thinks that he is about to snap like the anticipated crack of a gator's jaw, he surprises her. "Velis." Two little syllables to idealize such a horse. Two tiny syllables that help significance . Two little syllables that were capable of rolling off her tongue. "No, I am not afraid." The words are so light and so thin that they are almost cut from glass. The blue eyes continue to be swallowed by Velis' own. "I found my way here...I don't typically venture very far after nightfall...but I decided to this eve." The statement is chopped by uncertainty and also a dry mouth. Mari shifts in the place she stands as she looks up to the stallion. "I came to offer you a home." There. She said it. It's like the words tumbled out in puzzle pieces and the young mare fought to assemble them properly in her head before she can speak. The chill of the damp night causes her to shiver against in her skin, rippling her form under the moon's watchful eye. "And you...Velis?" Mari is seeing passed the peel of skin, the seep of death. The stallion was not the devil in horse skin but an actual creature with thoughts, words, and possible feelings. Mari is surprised to feel a smile pulling her lips upward as she stands in his company, awaiting his reply. M A R I B E  L