The last of my cities have burned

The bitter chill of Tinuvel water was a blessing. Mercury’s hooves and lower legs were wonderfully dulled of their sense of feeling by the time her coat shed the waves and met the brisk summer air of the winter island. An inky black coat broke the surface of the water shortly after Mercury’s solid grey one did, the colt’s stockinged legs clean for the first time since he was born as he tottered, shivering, after his mother. Mercury paid him little attention as she moved up the beach; she knew he was fine. Probably hungry, but he wouldn’t complain, and as long as he was in one piece his mother did not worry. He could feed as soon as... well, as soon as the next part of the plan revealed itself. She hadn’t thought so far ahead as actually arriving in the Bay.

She hadn’t even really planned leaving the Lagoon in the first place. The solid grey mare knew Soljor and Felony had discussed her as part of a trade, and while she had mixed feelings about that arrangement, she was grateful at least to be possibly leaving the Lagoon. There had been talk of reducing the number of women in the Lagoon, and Mercury had assumed herself to be one of the castouts if these new policies were enforced. That hadn’t bothered her in the least, but when both of her chances of escaping the wretched jungle territory had exhausted her patience with the sweet time they were taking, Mercury had simply woken Caliber up in the middle of the night and left without a second thought. Her only goals then had been to reach the sea under the noses of the Lagoon stallions, and as far as Mercury was concerned, they had succeeded.

From there they swam until the sun rose. Caliber, the tough little colt that he was, had only held onto his mother’s pale mane for the first hour or so before getting the hang of swimming and carrying on himself without falling too far behind. Mercury was proud of him, and even gave him a congratulatory nibble on the withers as they drew near the black pebbly beach of the Bay. He would be tired later, and hungry now, but he was kind to keep quiet until his mother figured out what it was she intended to do.

Plan or no, the pair moved with purpose up the slope of the beach and toward the flatter land where the footing was smooth and open. Caliber kept pace, his lanky legs moving a stride and a half for every one of Mercury’s. He shuddered, unused to the cold, but the bite of the air against Mercury’s skin didn’t even make her skin twitch. The thin layer of snow was new as well to the colt, and he studied it with fierce curiosity as he padded through its strange, cold wetness.

They paused when they reached the tundra. A handful of mares was scattered about in front of them, and Mercury’s ears fell back. It smelled of Soljor and Soljor’s mares and Soljor’s children, but this territory would always be Mercury’s home, Mercury’s land. Instead of announcing herself as a herd mare with a quiet, polite little call, the iron-coated banshee reared in sudden defiance and bellowed, startling Caliber into leaping up to join her in the air. Mercury didn’t need a plan; this sudden harsh energy would take care of things all by itself. She charged into the loose crowd, slowing and sizing up each mare, her head low in almost a snaking manner and her nostrils flared. Pale gold eyes searched determinedly for any sign of weakness in any mare here, ready to chase out whomever she decided unworthy of her harsh and lovely Bay. Caliber followed her with only a shred of uncertainty, keeping close to her heels and holding his proud head high.

She was not hiding from the Lagoon anymore. She was never going back there, not ever. Instead she would fight as fiercely as she had to to keep her place in the Bay. Not even Soljor could change his mind and chase her out now.

mare, 3, iron grey, 15.3hh