They said we'd burn so bright.
We burn this city and go.
Paradiso wasn't sure what it was that was drawing him back to Luthien. For the span of several months, the young stallion had enjoyed galavanting from island to island, exploring new and diverse terrains and meeting a few new horses along the way. The usually meek and nervous stallion had grown tenfold during this time. While Paradiso was still cautious and calculated, and very much an over thinker on the inside, he'd shown more bravery in recent weeks than ever before in his short lifetime. He'd successfully defended himself against predators when he brashly came upon them along the mountainous paths on Tinuvel. He survived a bout of colic that came after ingesting a poisonous, exotic plant on Atlantis. And all the while the stallion kept growing, taller and thicker as he morphed from stringy yearling to robust young stallion. His muscles rippled underneath his sleek spotted hide from the weeks he spent galloping and climbing and swimming. Paradiso was coming into his own.
But he would be lying if he said he didn't miss the family he'd left behind on Luthien. His last conversation with his brother, Shamwari, was terse and on edge. So much had been going on at the time, so Paradiso didn't blame him. Shipping him away to the Forest was perhaps the best thing that had ever happened to the young stud. Even if things didn't go according to plan.
News about the herds on Luthien had been quiet as of late. And as summer crept into autumn, Paradiso found no better time to leave the quiet shoes of the Bay on Tinuvel and head home for the winter. But on his trek toward Luthien, the spotted stallion swung south and headed toward the hazy island of Salem. It was the only island among the chains he hadn't yet visited, and his heart beat quickly in his chest when he thought about how long it had been since he'd last seen his mother.
Paradiso had been the closest to Evaline, the one who never questioned her judgment and accepted her sometimes harsh nature as just what it was -- part of her. As a colt, he was enamored with his mother. He believed she could do anything and protected him from everything. He had been devastated when Shamwari sent her away with the bay arabian stallion. It had been tough span of months, learning to live without her. But now that he was on the other side, he could see why Shamwari had chosen to separate them. Paradiso needed to strike out on his own.
He washed up on the shores just north of the Dunes, at the mouth of a small bay that opened up to the towing hills of sand. The heat here was dizzying, and he tired quickly as he trudged farther from the shore and into what seemed to be an endless landscape of sand. By the time he spied a small grouping of green, the boy's coat was lathered and frothed with sweat. He moved eagerly toward the shade, and almost didn't believe his eyes when he saw Evaline standing with a dark mare in the distance.
"Mother." He said hoarsely, but remained did not move at first to greet her. He blinked rapidly and in quick succession, as if he couldn't believe the form in which he was seeing her. She hardly looked like the healthy, beautiful and confident mare who gave everyone hell in the Prairie. "What happened?"
He briefly eyed the black mare now, gauging her body language before taking several steps to reach Evaline. Suddenly whatever bravery he had acquired had been wiped from him. Tears welled in the bottom lids of his crystal blue eyes and his legs began to tremble at his knees. "I'm so sorry. I should have been here with you."
Stallion | Evaline x Valentine | Smokey black pintaloosa | 15 hh | Photo © Carina Mailwald | © Vinyl |
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