PERSEPHONE

The scream split the air, and Persephone’s head snapped up from the ground where she had been grazing. The Forest was full of pregnant mares currently, and she was even more on edge in her desire to keep her little herd safe. In an instant she was winding her way through the trees at a brisk trot, as fast as she could manage in the deep heart of the Forest where the pathways were narrow and littered with fallen leaves and twigs.

It didn’t take Persephone long to find her, even tucked up in one of the small thickets within the Forest – she had been here long enough now to know them all. It was Freya – the gentle, older mare she had taken in a little while ago. Persephone went to her, quickly but trying to make her steps gentle as she approached the weary mare.

“Freya,” she called, firmly yet gently.

The mare lay there on the ground, her new-born child still wet on the ground beside her, looking exhausted. Persephone thought of Silvanus – she had been so strong and young, yet birth had killed her just the same in this same Forest. She prayed the same was not about to happen to Freya.

“Come on,” she tried again, drawing closer and carefully reaching down to nudge at the mare’s face. “Wake up, you can’t sleep yet, come on now.”

all of your demons will wither away

mixed, bay varnish roan, 14.3hh