Zvaid

Nothingness was blissful. Not to know, see, or hear the world around him, only to know the enveloping warmth of his mother’s body. He knew nothing of the cold in the heart of his father, nor the frigid world in which he was conceived. Though the traumas would be written in his blood, the moments his mother’s body was taken from the cruelty he at least felt peace.

When at last he came into the world the shock was little more than a phase he passed through. He did not know he caused his mother pain. Just as he did not know there was a possibility he could have been hated. Even the air, cold to him after the warmth of a body, and the brightness of the sun did not phase him at once. He laid in the ground, merely looking with interest at the world in which he had come. With her encouragement, he shakily got to his feet. The first few attempts ended with him tripping over gangly limbs and with him snorting in frustration. At last, he was able to stand, his nose guiding him to nurse.

Sounds in the distance caught his attention. The scent of another filled his nose. Two instinct hit his consciousness with a force far too strong for one just born. As a child, his instinct was to press himself against the protective body of his mother. The other overpowering instinct was to defend her from this stranger. With a high whine, Zvaid turned to face the new stallion, placing himself between Ailill and Siobhan, still pressed tight to her chest. He snorted, his small hooves scraping against the dirt, ready to fight for his life giver if the need arose.