losing hold of the light Posted on June 25, 2022 at 03:17:36 PM by charybdis
but I saw in your eyes I was never alone
The ghostly pale mare who had once been frequently spotted trailing the northern stretch of Atlantis shoreline had recently taken to haunting the deep, dark jungles that were caught always in the shadow of her mighty Ridge, farther than ever from the precious few who remained with her.
But it was not idle isolation.
True, there was no guarantee that raiders from the Lagoon would come for another of her herd, even after her issued warning, but she surmised that there was little she had left that they’d want. The only male she was aware of remaining in the borders of her home was her firstborn son. Though she’d not laid her eye upon him truly in some time, she knew he was still here.
Charybdis did not worry for him.
Not in the same way as she did the others of the herd, the ones who were a steadying influence to her, even unknowingly, serving as rock beneath her hooves, a solid foundation which grounded her and gave her purchase all at once. He was wily and wicked in his own unique way, knew the jungle of Atlantis and the slopes of the Ridge even better than Charybdis, most likely.
And he was never alone.
There was also the matter of the shadow stallion who’d attempted to take Aoife. Charybdis had found him on the Crossing, followed him to the north, and climbed the wolf-tooth mountain of his to lay in wait for him. She could not be sure if she would see him again any time soon, but Charybdis was sure of this: if he had the gall to return here for anyone other than her, she would drown him in the ocean properly, leave him ragged and breathless upon her shore, never to be welcome to walk the winding trails of the Ridge with her.
Salem and Luthien were unknowns. Someday soon she’d have to venture to these islands, get a lay of their lands and leaders. Luthien would be most similar to what she knew, as far as terrain went, anyway. Salem, however… Just thinking about it made the red-patched mare feel thirsty, like her tongue was dry, and her skin flushed hot. Charybdis would despise every moment of the dry, dusty heat, and it would take all her willpower not to let her disdain of the desert island colour her view of those who chose to live there.
Someday sooner, she’d venture to the Shore in search of Fritjof, and further south, she’d tread lightly along the border of Paradise, wondering if Drogon was still there, and what (or who) had been keeping him. But for now… For now she stood vigilant, guarding the border she shared with the Harbour. Her attempt to remove the taint from among the midst of the herd there had been met with fierce retaliation. But she knew, it was only a matter of time. Bad luck followed the boy that the small blind mare had called Prometheus, and when the giant king learned what he’d taken in, and how much more of a danger the boy would prove to be because of the name he’d been cursed with…
Charybdis would be here, waiting to meet the red and white colt, when he was driven out of the home that had taken him in.
At some point during her watching and waiting however, Charybdis discerned that she was not alone. There was no flicker of fire-and-snow amidst the greenery, no scent of danger and no frantic dashing of hooves or cry of warning. Just the sound of unhurried movement, and soft, steady breathing. The presence of another washed over Charybdis like a gentle wave, cleansing her of apprehension, so that the tension that had been evident in her silhouette moments earlier ebbed away. “What is it you want?” the half-blind mare murmured at length, her exotic inflection sharp, cutting clear through the silence, though not unkindly. And then she turned to face the one who’d found her, her seeing eye seeking the face of her companion, as if she were impatient for the answer.
Or perhaps it was a deeper truth she was reaching, one that was buried, or covered over.
Maybe it was something that she wanted and had been deprived of that she was after. If the ephemeral gleam of madness in her blind eye was anything to go by, the moment she could properly make out the features of her companion, something led her to believe she might find it, sooner than she’d thought.