Vodnik teeters on the brink of violence. He walks the edge of the stallion circumstance forced him to be, and the stallion he aspires to become. Instinct urges him to force this mare to stay but a wiser part of him stops him in his tracks. This mare is different. This mare is important. She needs to be a willing member of his herd to serve the purpose he intends her to serve.

He can't explain why he felt the way he did when he saw her from afar that day that now seems so long ago. And he can't explain what he's feeling now. When he looks into Macabre's brave face, he sees a leader. He sees the mother of his foals, foals that he intends to raise. Her heart may lie in Paradise, but Vodnik feels the Ridge tremble under his hooves. This land is as much hers as it is his. He can't claim to know her, when they've only just met in a moment of tension, but this mare has what it takes to become the most important face upon this Ridge. He can see it in the subtleties of her body language and the in the fire behind her eyes.

"I can't let this go because I can't let you go."

Vodnik stops, and the intensity of his meaning falls upon Macabre through is gaze. He lifts his chin, breaking any desperate or driving intentions from his posture. If Macabre wants leave now, she is dismissed, but regardless of her choice this won't be the last she sees of him.

No other mare Vodnik seen so far has what it takes. No other mare will satisfy the hunger inside. Vodnik has mares here on the Ridge, but he didn't claim a single one. They all chose him for one reason or another. Macabre is the only mare he ever felt the desire to make his own. He will have her. Someday, she will live here. Someday she will call the Ridge home. Someday, she will be his lead...

Aillil is just a small obstacle on the way to making his vision a reality. The colt shouldn't be difficult to defeat, but wooing the unwilling Macabre is the battle that strikes fear into his heart.