So here I am again, once more making my way up the peak that I used to call home. It’s not so different now as it was then. I expect new face; I hope for old and yet, I do not catch a whiff of Black Heart Machine? Summer? Chokehold? The only scent I recognise is that of Anath and I’m glad she is still here - she seems to be a fixture even if she when ended up elsewhere from time to time. I can’t say I know her all that well though, I left not so long after she returned and so our paths never really crossed other than during the vote for general. I never did find out if she was annoyed by my reasoning in voting against her. Is she still the general now? Who are our leaders?

I’m still affected by my past, but it no longer rules my life. I’ve had a chance to grow and a chance to be free without the shackles of a male dominated her – without any herd in fact. It’s a lonely life and dangerous life as a wanderer and not something I wish to go back to. I think I’ve always known I would return to the peak eventually. Adventure was just something I craved; something I needed for myself.

As I near the herd, I take in all the scents. There are strong ones of the women that have been here for a long time and faint ones of those just passing through. As usual, the peak herd seems a little small but it is no great worry. Mares are always going to and fro, some find it’s the life for them; others aren’t strong enough to handle the freedom it bring them – others are just fools who fall in love. Pah! Love! One day they’ll learn what a waste they made of their lives.

I’m in no great hurry the have myself mistaken for some kind of trespasser (although the peak is not known for chasing mare away – only stallions!) so I give a sharp call to announce my presence. Whomever is around and capable can greet me.