There was only so much time that Reginleif could spend familiarising herself with the ridges and ledges of the peak. There was only so much time that she could spend simmering over the sheer boredom of her sister’s inactivity. She needed something to do; something to take the edge off and as much as the peak had now become her home, a part of her would always be drawn back to the lagoon. She had spent so much of her life in its grasp, more than half her years on this earth, and while she didn’t have much fondness for anything really, the depths of the lagoon was the one thing that she could definitively say she liked. They say home is where the heart is and perhaps the lagoon is where she lost hers. Perhaps one day she would find it beneath the mud and decaying leaves or drifting in the crystalline water on the shore – that is, if it hasn’t sunk deep down into one of the bogs never to be found again.

Wandering through the swampland now, wet mud swirling in her wake and caressing at her belly, she reflected on how little had changed in her absence. There were scents she recognised and others that were new but that was how the lagoon had always been. Even in her high perch in the mountains however, she had heard rumours of the lagoon men coming together. They were gaining power, becoming a force to be reckoned with while the Vulcans slowly withered. Reginleif needed to see it for herself. The men were not a problem when the let the Vulcans be but how long would it be before they began to target the women again? How long would it be before they could try and force their wills upon her once more? Reginleif was a proud creature and she would not have anyone, mare or stallion, try to dictate any part of her life. Rade had learnt that lesson the hard way, or at least, she hoped he had. It would be a shame if she went to all that trouble for him to still think he she was just another mare. He had made a decision for her without a seconds thought, traded her as if he had had some kind of ownership over her when in fact he had none.

As the red-freckled mare crossed out of the swamp and into the trees, a lone figure caught her attention. She had caught wind of his scent earlier and noted that she had smelled him faintly around the peak some time ago. Now that she saw him though, she did not recognise the face that belonged to the scent. Dark eyes watched him coolly, judging silently. She snorted as she passed, halting a small distance away rather than wasting the energy to change her path and approach him. ”Tired of the peak did you?” she said with a wry grin.