El Aran liked this mare. She did not waste words and was not stupid, despite her admission that her journey to and through the Desert had not been intentional, and when she spoke of what the Desert could offer a horse, the seer found herself nodding once in slow agreement. Approval soaked her like the heat from the sun, and she moved forward to stand closer to the bay mare. "Welcome, Adara," she said. El Aran extended her nose to exchange breaths with her new herdmate. "You will do well here, I think."
The seer turned her head to survey the barren landscape once again. "There are other oases here," she said. "Though this is the largest. They are spread out, one to the west and the other south. Beyond the southern oasis is the edge of the territory. It leads to the Dunes." She flicked her ears back in distaste. El Aran had never liked how soft the sand was in the Dunes. She did not make a habit of journeying to the oasis nearest the other territory, preferring the hard baked sands near the center of the Desert to the deceptive, shifting ground that made up the majority of the neighboring land.
"It is best to stay here during the day." And at night. Better, really, to never leave the place and become a constant fixture of the oasis like El Aran had done, too worried about losing her water source to a competitor to venture out into the remainder of the territory. There was no point in moving when there was only one horse in the herd, and even less point in attempting to mark territory lines with her scent. Stallions would be attracted to the spore of a mare, not repelled by it. She shifted her weight and relaxed, propping one hind hoof up on its tip with a contented sigh. She was safe here. And with Adara to act as a second set of eyes, she could relax her vigilance just a bit.
el aran
Seer of Aşk. |