As intimidating as the Peak had been when Kune had first laid eyes on it, he had grown rather fond of it in the months he and Božena had spent here. While he still felt too huge and ungainly to comfortably traverse the steepest slopes, and a paralyzing fear gripped him if he looked directly down over a ledge, the Peak had plenty of perks. For starters, it was beautiful. Kune was still in awe of its looming presence and majestic views every day, and was grateful he’d been given the opportunity to experience life at such a high altitude: something he’d never been granted in his homeland, when the only mountain for miles around had been the Holy Mountain that stallions were forbidden to climb.
Then there was the fact that it was an excellent lookout post. Kune slept more soundly when he knew that there was no way for anyone to sneak up on them in the night, either from above or below, without cascades of pebbles to alert them. Though the valley below was sheltered by countless evergreens, the forest thinned out near the edges, and they would be able to see anyone who entered or left, provided they were paying attention.
And as Božena’s unofficial Strážce, Kune was almost always at attention.
Therefore he did not fail to notice when first one horse, then two, slipped into the valley from afar. Kune and Božena were grazing on one of the lower slopes of the Peak, where a broad, shallow meadow hugged the steeper slopes above. He pricked his ears and stared at the spot in the distance where the figures had disappeared, half-afraid he had imagined them. He and Božena had been alone for so long that it almost seemed they were doomed to be alone for the rest of their days. Oh, they had caught the scent of someone here and there, and Kune still half-suspected there was a horse or two lurking in or around the Peak, just out of sight, but so far they had not met anyone face-to-face.
“Božena,” Kune muttered in their mother tongue, his eyes and ears still trained on the distance. “We are not alone.”
As if to add weight to his statement, the shrill cries of a violent confrontation shattered the serenity of the valley below, sending a dozen birds winging out of the canopy. Kune’s heart thumped in his chest, and he turned his head ever so slightly to side-eye Božena.
“We should go.”
9; kladruber; black; 17.2hh
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