The last of my cities have burned

Early morning mist covered the low bowl of tundra between two of the mountains that guarded the Bay. Mercury came slowly awake, her senses turning gently from fuzzy black silence to chilly, crisp wakefulness. The morning was not yet very warm, and Mercury relished the feeling of the cool air on her face, while her body was cozy beneath her coat. She let out a sigh and stood as she had woken for several minutes while the sun began filling the grey morning world with color.

Caliber was not long to wake after his mother, and he stretched like a cat before rubbing away an itch on his head against Mercury’s hip. She swung her head around and grabbed at his tail, playfully, though she held back her energy; it was still so quiet, and she did not want to break the silence just yet. Fortunately, the colt only scooted his back end away from her range of attack in surprise before swinging around completely. Mercury stretched as he fed for a few moments; the colt hadn’t been very interested in milk from the start, and he was straying even further away as grass started to become his main diet.

For a few moments the two stood still again. The lovely morning silence was breaking as mares and foals stirred, sighed away their sleepiness, and began to graze or talk quietly with one another. Mercury turned away from them. She didn’t have any friends here. The land was the reason she had come back, and her history here; she could have gone anywhere else, and had no friends in unfamiliar territory. As familiar as this territory was, however, Caliber was the only one she could talk to here. So they set off into the trees, to climb the up the mountainsides and be alone with the Bay for a little while.

It was fairly late into the morning when they paused to graze for a bit. Caliber’s stomach had been audibly complaining, and though Mercury’s didn’t make much sound, she was about as hungry as the colt was. They had a late and lazy breakfast, and around noon the wind carried Soljor’s scent to the grey mare.

Caliber didn’t instantly recognize it, of course, and continued to graze while Mercury’s head lifted and her heart did a funny little dance. She suddenly needed to see him, to talk to him, and she leapt into an urgent trot without warning. Caliber bounded after her and kept up easily, though the colt was confused. Mercury was confused, as well. She’d never sought someone out solely for the joys of their company, but after a few moments of tracking the painted stallion she realized that wasn’t exactly it either. Mercury wasn’t quite sure why she so badly wanted to talk to him. Maybe it was just to confirm that she was, in fact, supposed to be here, and that Felony wasn’t going to leap into the sea and come after her.

She found him quickly, trotting along a worn path used apparently for patrols. She picked up a canter and nickered as she caught up, Caliber nearly galloping after her quick strides.

mare, 3, iron grey, 15.3hh