"EVERYTHING YOU WANT IS A DREAM AWAY."
Amal had noticed the presence of the stranger far before it registered for the desert mare. From above, the little white dragon let out a happy trill as she pushed aside branches to get a better look at who approached them. Amal struggled to get her bonded’s attention, not stirring the mare until the dragon dropped to her usual perch upon the mare’s withers.
Finally, the desert mare stirred - curled ears flicking in the direction from which the stranger approached. Najya used to flourish in the company of others - reveling in the tales of her people. However, her passion for the spoken word had faded with her magic. Najya had faced challenges before, many times over, but she simply could not shake this despair that sank into her bones and poisoned her mind. Amal chirped a greeting to the stranger - a strange mare blanketed with flowers and vines. The voice that came from the stranger was kind, and in some ways that made Najya feel worse that she was utterly useless company. She bobbed her head, softly, in greeting - suppressing the sigh that wanted to escape from her dark lips.
“I -” her voice trails away as she considers how to answer the little mare’s question, simple as it may be. “I’m not certain I know how to answer the question,” she says, with a self depreciating little sigh at the end. She wasn’t okay, she knew this, but the bigger difficulty is she was not sure how to ever be okay. The culmination of all of her losses dragged her beneath a dark sea from which she could not escape. Amal was the only remaining bright spot in her world, and she knew she was dragging her beneath the waves day by day.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t burden you with -” Again, there’s a pause as she searches for answers. And again they do not come. “With this,” she says, sadly, with an abashed glance to the floral mare. But she was so desperate for help, she couldn’t turn the little mare away.
- N A J Y A -
@[Isilya]