HTML Testing

The two mares stood some ways past the border between the Dunes and the Badlands. The morning sun rose high above them; the crisp, cool air of autumn pricked at Kore’s skin, though she knew it would soon give way to the dry heat she was used to, and they had long since passed the point where soft golden sand yielded to hard-packed earth. Flat-top rock formations stretched like behemoths in the distance, along with the beginnings of prairie grass, and the last holdouts of summer’s wildflowers swayed and danced in the wind. Normally, Kore might have appreciated the change of scenery, and would have charged forward to investigate the native wildlife… but this place reminded her so much of Olympus, tall and imposing and unforgiving, and she couldn’t shake the feeling deep in her bones that she wasn’t supposed to be there. Especially after what had happened on the beach just a week prior.

Kore’s thoughts, once plagued by visions of the golden Phoebus Apollo, had taken on a new resident. She had been keeping closer to the oasis, hoping to please Maslakhat and avoid raising his ire, but when she let her mind wander, it came back, time and time again, to Aidoneus and their moonlit encounter. When she knew the others in the herd were distracted, often late at night, she stole away to the shore where she’d seen him… hoping for what, she wasn’t sure. His saucer-like hoofprints had long since been washed away by the tide, and his earthen scent had left as quickly as it came - but still she found herself searching, wondering. Where had that stallion gone, so strong, so quiet? Even now, as she and Ak Burun went along, she found herself glancing around, hoping to catch a glimpse of his dark form. Her nostrils flared, and disappointment rose in her gut at the lack of his scent on the wind. Had he found refuge on Salem after being chased out by the golden lead of the Dunes, or had he gone on to another island entirely? More and more, it seemed like the latter. Kore hated the idea of braving the ocean again, remembering keenly the way it had tossed her about and spat her onto the Islands like old driftwood. As her midnight searching came up empty, and Aidoneus filled up more and more of her thoughts, she realized that she would have to. If she wanted answers, she needed to seek them out on her own.

Nobody was here to drive her destiny for her, as Demeter and Athena and Artemis and all of her other companions had done. The slender Arabian mare would have to take the wheel and steer it - but did she have that ability? Kore wasn’t so sure.

As they moved further inland, a multitude of foreign scents flooded her nostrils. The bay stopped, whitecapped tail held high, and lipped nervously at her companion’s mane, urging her to pause beside her. “Maybe we should go back and bring him with us,” she whispered against Ak Burun’s slender neck. “Do they know we’re coming? I don’t want to upset anyone…” The last time had been different. It had been spring, edging barely into summer, during their previous fruitless search, but now it was the height of breeding season, and the two of them were venturing into a stranger’s home unbidden. It would be a miracle if they went unnoticed this time, and Kore couldn’t bear for the golden stallion of the Dunes to come to her rescue yet again.

But she had promised to help Ak Burun find her sister. She couldn’t go back on that, even if the first search had turned up empty and her nerves frayed at the edges. Kore pressed her side to that of the white-nosed mare, gathering resolve from the warmth of her skin, and waited for her directions, choosing for now to let her fate rest in Ak Burun’s capable hands.