Evren had not slept all night. Following the events of the previous evening, she had left the smaller of the two oases and headed in the direction of the sea. There she let the tide wash the blood from her hooves, and paced up and down the moonlit beach until her legs burned with exhaustion. Then she stood and watched the black waters’ rhythmic dance until her eyelids began to fall. But every time her mind drifted toward the sweet emptiness of sleep, her eyes flew back open and she jerked awake again, heart racing and body poised to fight an enemy that was not there.
And each time this happened she remembered the blood on her hooves, and felt the need to wash them all over again, as though they had been forever stained.
By the time the sun’s first rays cast stripes of light across the quiet sands, Evren had begun her retreat to the main oasis. Her heart filled with trepidation as she neared it. She had not been home for months, and she was about to find out who still lived here, if indeed anyone lived here at all. And then she had to tell them what had happened.
She found the place all but deserted, with just a few scents lingering here and there. For a time she thought she was completely alone, but then her nostrils caught the tang of afterbirth, and a moment later she rounded a cluster of trees and shrubs to come face-to-face with her older sister.
At first Evren stopped and stared, hardly recognizing Indira as the very same half-grown filly who had disappeared some time ago. Her eyes dropped to the dark foal at Indira’s side, and her gape widened. “Sister,” she said softly, and suddenly felt weak. Somehow they had both forged separate paths in life, and somewhere along the way became adults. Seeing Indira now, after all that had happened, felt like a kick to the guts.
|