Olaf sucked in a deep breath, his ears alert to any sound the intruder might make. He could see very little past the trees and fog of snowflakes that lingered on the soft breeze. He could only deduce that the stallion was close to the clearing just beyond the shore – not far. The male was far enough from the herd that Olaf picked up a careful trot. Ice and uneven ground lurked below the snow drifts and he would be no good to the herd if he broke a limb on the way to intercept the stranger.

It seemed Xina had the same idea.

At first the snow ate up the sound of her hoofbeats, but as they both neared the clearing, and the stranger’s call rang out, Olaf realised that Xina was going to reach the stallion before he did. Picking up the pace, and silently cursing and praising the mare at the same time, Olaf burst through the trees.

While Xina assaulted the stallion side with a scream of fury to fuel her, Olaf took that brief moment to size up the male. The sooty dun was slimmer than Olaf, though neither lost nor gained any height on him. They could almost be evenly matched if it came down to a fight but Olaf had one thing the stranger did not. Xina.

”What is your purpose here?” his voice boomed out as he moved into the fray. His ears burrowed into the tangles of his mane. His hoof stamped angrily into the ground as he prepared to strike out should the stallion try to attack him or retaliate against Xina. He didn’t get in the way of Xona’s attack, however.