fearghas

Summer was slowly giving way to fall, abandoning the days of bright sunny weather in favor of gloom-laden clouds that lurked heavily over the Lagoon. With the season went his hope. None of the Peak brethren ever materialized, nor did any of the existing men of the Lagoon change their stance. Like rocks stuck in the mud they stayed stubbornly impassive, too afraid to upset Cullen to even risk a better future.

It left his heart heavy.

The season had aged the young stallion, drawing lines around his eyes and destroying the youthful innocence that had welled in him so strongly before. Gone was his belief in the goodness of people, and his hope for a better future. Bitterness and grief had replaced those lighter feelings and left him no longer buoyant enough to survive in a land as waterlogged as the Lagoon.

With his last statements made to the men he had once counted as his brethren, Fearghas prepared to leave. In truth, he had not intended to stop at all, but as the nondescript border between the Lagoon and all that lay beyond came into sight, he felt his resolve falter and his pace slowed. Where was he to go from here? The swampy territory had been his home ever since he had first laid hoof upon these lost isles, and while it certainly left plenty to be desired in terms of home accommodations, he had never fully been able to shake his hope that he would find brothers of the heart here. Even now, as he cast a bitter glance backward over the territory behind him, a part of him was wistful for what could have been.

Shaking himself, both physically and mentally, Fearghas attempted to rid himself of such dismal thoughts. He could not change the past, only continue moving, however begrudgingly, toward the future. It didn't help that he didn't know what the future was. Faolain had made it clear that Ally was not in the Ridge, and his investigations on the Crossing had made it evident enough that she was not there either. Clearly she had gone into hiding from Cullen... and perhaps even from him.

The possibility that she would want to avoid him hurt worse than the betrayal of the entire Lagoon herd, and yet he did his best not to show it. It was bad enough that the rest of them believed him weak for his age, the last thing he needed was for them to look down upon the softness he held for one specific mare as well.

With a long sigh, Fearghas turned from everything he knew, and prepared to move into the unknown.

stallion . 3 years . 15.2 hands . smoky black blanket . loveinspired . credit