They said we'd burn so bright.
We burn this city and go.
The young spotted stallion had never left Luthien in his short life. But after Menkhet disappeared and the stallion he was meant to protect the Forest against took over, Paradiso mustered up the courage to brave the dark waters and head toward the hazy land mass in the distance. The pintaloosa boy swam with vigor, his heart beating furiously against the confines of his small chest. He tried not to think of what could be hiding underneath him in the dark mass of the ocean, and kicked feverishly with his spindly little legs to propel him closer to the island in the distance. Evaline and Shamwari had talked about the chain of several isles that served as the homes for the horses who lived here. This seemed as good of a spot as any to embark on the next chapter of his life, or so Shamwari called it.
The smokey black spotted stallion emerged from the chilly depths of the sea and onto the shoreline of a foreign beach. His dark, soft-skinned nostrils flared as his barrel rose and fell in consistent huffs, fear and exertion causing him to pause in the dark pebbles that made up a beach while he caught his breathe. The young stallion's crystal blue eyes were bright and wide as he took in the surroundings. From the beach he could see the towering, snow covered peaks of the mountains in the distance. He'd never seen anything like that on Luthien, that's for sure. Even in summer, creamy plumes of carbon dioxide were expelled from his nostrils with every breathe. The crisp and cool air bit at his damp coat and so, Paradiso made his way from the shore and onto more firm ground, the pebbles giving way to a somewhat grassy meadow surrounded by tall trees and other dense foliage. Paradiso held his head high over his withers, the muscles along his thin neck tense and bulging as he took in the sights of this unfamiliar place. He could smell another stallion in the air, or maybe it was a mare, a scent that seemed somewhat familiar, but couldn't spy any equine in the distance.
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