Beneath the yellow-blue tones of the early morning twilight, the black stallion milled around -
bored with what the lagoon had to offer this particular day (although the day was just beginning). Perhaps later he would seek out Dia for some entertainment. She had been feisty upon her arrival and he hoped that fire would remain until he passed her over to her next home. Psychedelic had successfully defended her from the stallion named Maslakhat but that did not mean the Akhal-Teke wouldn’t get his prize. Ceolwulf had expected Sahin to have come by now but it seemed he had disappeared. DIa was still probably a worthwhile bargaining chip though even if he didn’t have as many bidders as he had hoped. He wondered how much he could gain for the lagoon by trading her.

A shrill equine cry echoed in the twilight and jarred him from his thoughts. His ears flicked back by reflex and he snorted in irritation, annoyed he had reacted at all. When his ears pricked up again, he could hear the commotion in the distance; the barks and yips of wolves chasing some dismal creature. He did not plan on witnessing any of it, but it seemed the chase was coming to him.

When the prey finally broke into his focus, he was surprised to see what seemed like a perfectly healthy mare. Wolves held a strange place in his heart – perhaps it was because he could see some of himself in them. He knew wolves. They were smart and typically would not sustain a long chase with a healthy horse – especially when they were not in peak condition. His eyes roved over the mare’s form, trying to find the weakness his kin had seen. Perhaps she had just pissed them off – a silly girl doing silly things.

While he could have stepping out to help, instead, he remained in the shadows, watching the events unfold with little a curious eye. While it was debatable that he would actually let the wolves have her as their next meal, he was no knight in shining armour. She was waning and he wanted to see how she would measure up against her three attackers when she would inevitably have to fight them. Both she and the wolves looked tired, he knew he would not need to wait long.

He saw the bite before the wolf’s even closed, stepping forwards just as the mare realised it herself. His ears wavered between up and pinned at the sound of her cry and his eye twitched, suppressing a cringe at the sound of the wolf’s bones cracking. He watched it writhe on the ground as its rallied at its side. He could see the indecisiveness in their eyes despite the menacing stare they cast upon the mare. They were torn between the lust to take their prey down once and for all and the fear telling them to give up and cut their losses. He was not convinced the felled wolf would survive so the other two could eat tonight without risking any more bloodshed.

Ceolwulf’s yellow eyes, so like the wolves’, studied the little stand-off calmly as he finally strode fully from the shadows to join the painted mare, stopping at her side but out of striking distance. He kept his focus on the wolves but watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye ”I must say, they’re rather scrawny. I’m surprised you couldn’t outrun them.”