Vesti was in a mood. Her eldest son had disappeared with hardly a goodbye. And her youngest was a cripple. Well, a cripple in her opinion. When he had opened his eyes, she had found to her horror that one of his eyes had been a milky color and the other seemed to only catch shadows. He walked now with his nose pressed firmly against her side milky eye facing her.
She was tempted to leave this fragile creature alone - to let the Dunes take him. She was certain that he could not live alone - that she would be saddled with this being for the rest of his life. It will kill you both, The Voice quipped at her. Even if it doesn't, is this creature of his blood worth giving up your own chances? Silence. Do not let a mother's sentiment cloud your head. Silence! You should have kept the other one.
Vesti snorted and flattened her ears as if that would silence the Voice. Kel, she had named the foal. She knew that once she had given the blind creature a name, she would have to keep it. He looked so much like his older brother - except he had a small white sock on his hide leg and a small blaze down his face. Vesti did not know where the white came from - but there it was.
To the young Kel, the world was hot and dark. He had to keep his nose on the living heat that moved with a purpose that had been there when the twilight began. When he faced her, sometimes he could make a vague shape. However, there was something on the wind that did not make sense. The world was boiling over with smells.
Vesti's ears twisted as she heard other hooves crunching the sands about them. She snorted and looked about, seeing a creature move about. That was dangerous - without a guide the Dunes were unforgiving. She lifted up her head and called then started towards the other. Her colt let out a pitiful squeal and doubled his pace in an attempt to keep his nose near his mother.
The sorrel mare and colt easily moved about the shifting lands. Maybe, a voice in the back of her mind, observed that she had been here too long. If the shifting Dunes seemed familiar perhaps it was right.
- Vesti & Kel
the herald only trumpets once |