a new world hangs outside the window
beautiful and strange
it must be I've fallen awake
I must be

The bay mare felt prickly all over. She was the first to whinny and rear, voicing her support to her dam, during Macabre's speech back on the shore of the Peak. She swam with vigor among the herd, bringing up the rear of Peak warriors who stealthily rose from the surf onto Luthien and dispersed into the wooded terrain. Just before Macabre and Bozena disappeared down one forested path, Wasp locked eyes with her mother. She gave both mares a stern nod of support before snorting and trotting off into the trees by her lonesome. She would find both of them later.

Cries erupted from the darkness. It took some time to get used to this strange sensory overload. Wasp was on high alert as she moved through the tall trees, her heavy hooves crushing twigs and low lying brush with every step she took. Eventually she found a gaggle of mares being guarded by some bachelor stallions, and without a second thought, she launched into the clearing where they stood and took them on. The first few kicks her opponents landed on her body were just what she needed. The warrior of the Peak narrowed her amber eyes and pushed back harder with teeth bared. She was able to disrupt the trio for long enough that the mares being held hostage were able to flee back into the woods.

Wasp chased one stallion back through the trees. Her ears laced at her poll, she bobbed this way and ebbed that in pursuit of his path, until the trees gave way to the beach again. Puzzled by this change in direction, Wasp slowed and scanned the desolate beachscape, her nostrils flaring as she caught her breath. She watched the spindly-legged stallion high-tail it over one sand dune and out of view. Lucky him, she thought internally, before she pivoted on her haunches and returned her gaze to the woods.

The next minutes that passed by seemed to happen in a blur. She remembered seeing Rougaru, as he closed in on a pale-colored mare. It had shaken her, visibly so, to see the silver bay stallion in action. But the interaction had been fleeting. Not long after their gazes crossed, she'd disappeared back into the dense thicket of trees. She knew she had to find her sisters - Kolfinna, for one. The bay mare knew Bozena would look after her dam, but sh'ed hoped to link back up with her, too.

It was Kolfinna's familiar voice that drew her back. One dark ear flicked back and then the other, and the bay mare issued her own shrill bugle in reply. Wasp set her amber gaze in the direction in which the call came, and trotted down the way. As she drew closer, the sounds of a larger scuffle became more sharp. The mare felt a pain of worry explode through her chest, and she quickened her gait to a three-beat canter.

Wasp emerged from the the treeline into a small clearing. Her momentum came to a dead halt by the scene splayed out in front of her. Macabre was locked with Cullen - with Ruger on one side and Bozena right behind her. Wasp instinctively lurched forward, but it was as if her body was moving in slow motion. She watched as Macabre's movements stopped, and with her back to her daughter, the Codebreaker of the Peak faced Ruger. "Macabre!" Wasp shouted, or at least she thought she did, as she saw Cullen's limbs cut through the churned up dust all around them. Wasp couldn't get to her mother fast enough. It was too late. Cullen made impact, and in seconds, her dam was lifeless on the earth's floor.

Legs kept scrambling. Horses kept fighting. But Wasp burned past them all, circling her mother on the ground with uncontrollable tears in her eyes. "No, no, no... No! NO!!" She lowered her heaving body to the ground knees first, before her legs gave out.

W A S P