"But the world I see looks good from here,
right from where I stand."
In the time Kuruk had spent near her – Elisif – no matter how brief it had been, no matter how strong and detached Kuruk had believed himself to be, the mare with fire burning in her eyes had bewitched him. The dark and brooding stallion felt at a loss as he stood there and tried to maintain some kind of composure, but inside he was in turmoil. His heart beat hard, perhaps as wildly as the mare’s own, and he was fighting battles on many fronts. Perhaps the most intriguing was the fear he felt – he’d not felt such a thing for years, not since he’d grown into his rather intimidating figure, not since he’d run with three others who had watched his back. Four was an intimidating number, and any threat had quickly subsided. Kuruk swallowed, his throat feeling tight, a nervousness flitting through him, stinging like wasps before leaving.
Elisif angered was a threat that would not subside. Even if he’d had his kin with him, Kuruk believed he’d fear still (and wisely so) if he had indeed given into his instincts and taken her for himself, as the grey had. And though the tingle of apprehension lingered with him, the vehemence in the mare’s voice, the fire that
burned within her drew Kuruk to her. And he was as helpless as the moth who flies toward the flame.
“Yeh’re welcome,” he rumbled after the moments of silence had stretched just a tad too long. She’d said that she could protect herself, and looking at her now…
“Ah have no doubt of that, Elisif, but ah’ll watch over yeh none-the-less. A second pair of eyes, a second set of teeth, s’always better than one.” There was nothing patronising in his tone – after all, he was accustomed to having his brothers looking out for him. And should anyone question his strength, or courage, just because he relied on others and not just himself… Well, Kuruk wouldn’t waste his breath on such ones. He’d be too busy snapping his teeth.
“Ah’m Kuruk,” he continued, studying Elisif with burning interest that he attempted to disguise.
To his dark eyes, she was fascinating, and he struggled to come across as mildly concerned, but he had never been in this kind of situation before. He had never been drawn to another the way he was now, had never cared to know about another beyond whether they were a threat, or could serve a purpose to him and his. It was as though she had reached into the very heart of him and stirred at the darkness there. The way she held herself, the way she seethed and simmered with anger, Kuruk understood that, better than he’d ever understood anything else. Her own red hot fury stoked the dying flames within Kuruk, and his next words were uttered, low and heavy, dark and menacing.
“If ah see him again, ah’ll come looking for yeh if yeh’re still here. If yeh still want yeh’re vengeance if that time ever comes…” The dark bay trailed off, tilting his head and allowing his shadowy gaze to wander for a moment, before he resumed watching Elisif through half-closed eyes.
There was nothing weak about her, not to him, not in this moment. This was one of the many things that fascinated Kuruk so, and already he felt a possessiveness towards her that he knew would only lead to trouble. The war raged on within, and still he stood his ground, making good on his word not to close the distance he’d left between them. He’d never seen anything like her before; it wasn’t even her physical appearance that appealed to him when he looked at her (though, he wouldn’t deny that she was indeed a thing of fierce beauty). Her eyes shone like embers, and it was these that Kuruk kept coming back to. The life, the
fight he’d glimpsed briefly, following what would surely be one of the most traumatic things one could ever experience… She was fierce indeed, savage in a way that made him think of his own mother, of the monster inside him. It aggravated Kuruk that he had no recollection of her – that they’d not met until this day. But he was certain that he would have remembered her, noticed her, among the relatively quiet souls that he had observed from afar, those days that he had spent roaming the crossing as a healthy and ever-unsatisfied colt.
Perhaps she had arrived here not long before he had left for a brief time. Just as something had drawn his mother back, perhaps the burning-bright mare with embers in her eyes had drawn him. Moth to the flame.
“Haven’t seen yeh ‘round these parts before, Elisif,” Kuruk commented, wondering how much she’d reveal, if anything at all. A large, chipped hoof shuffled in the grass, tearing blades and revealing earth beneath. Elisif hadn’t opposed to his offer of company, and Kuruk was almost hungry for more – he desired knowledge of this mare. He’d tread carefully, for now at least, until he got a better idea of her. If he’d have to work for it, he would. Kuruk had always liked a challenge, and if Elisif proved to be as worthy of his time as he already felt she was, well… The dark brute would gladly rise up to meet her.