The black woman's words intertwined with the wind that screamed in his ears, but Rade, focused on the nearing figure of his opponent, ignored both. There was room for nothing in his world save the burn of frigid air in his lungs, the thunder of his heart, and the spotted stallion now separated from him by the breadth of four bodies, three, two... His opponent towered over him, thicker of muscle and bone, but Rade would not be the one to yield. The Lagoon's boss was as relentless as the ocean's tide; though it was inevitable that he should fall, he would rise back up again and again, until the physical strength of his foes succumbed to the strength of his will.
With a sound like a soft clap of thunder, the two bodies clashed, and Conquistador watched as his brother began to slide backwards, his hooves scrabbling for purchase in the slick mud. Ignoring the pained protest of his throbbing knee, the tawny palomino surged upright, and began to run toward the straining duo. "Rade!" he shouted, the name harsh and strangled as it left his bloodless lips. "Do you smell any of the other islands on this stranger? The snows of Tinuvel, the grasses of Luthien - the sand and sun of Atlantis?" He was close enough now to see the muscles trembling in the roan stallion's flanks as he strained against the larger stallion, and to hear the harsh panting of his breath. "You're fighting the wrong enemy. The only intruder here is me."
A single amber eye rolled back to regard the young palomino, and Rade snorted a derisive response. With an abrupt forward lunge, the bachelor king threw the entirety of his weight into his opponent's chest - and then pulled back, both eyes now focused on his brother's face. "I know," the roan stallion responded indifferently. "But just as a woman's value is measured in sons, a man's is measured in his strength. Only the weak would flee from a challenge, or hide in the shadows of other men, using their strength as a shield. A lesson you would do well to learn for yourself."
Conquistador staggered backwards as if Rade's words had been a physical blow, reeling away from the hard truth of his cowardice. Pinning his golden ears, the boy leapt forward with bared teeth, but his brother was quicker. Seizing one of the younger palomino's ears, he jerked his head back sharply, eliciting a scream of pain from the smaller stallion. "Choose your battles more wisely, little brother." Rade growled through his clenched teeth. "Pointing out your imperfections doesn't make someone your enemy." Loosening his jaws, the Lagoon's leader released his brother, and turned his attention to the spotted stallion who stood before him.
"You would make a strong soldier," Rade said baldly, studying the stranger's broad build. "I am Rade, leader of the Lagoon." His eyes flicked to the dark mare for the first time, studying her with an unsettling intensity in their depths. "Which is not, I might add, the best place for a stallion to start a family. So if that's what you're looking for, then you've come to the wrong place."
His gold eyes focused on Conquistador for a moment, watching the pain pool in the depths of his dark brown eyes as he concluded, "We find such investments to be a waste of both time and effort, as you may understand."
RADE & CONQUISTADOR
children of the great empire |