A familiar whinny pierced the still air and one of Valve’s small ears flicked in its direction. She moved into a swift and lofty trot, her head high as she scanned the slopes of the dunes for it’s source. When her dark eyes found Avangeline and her Arabian companion, she whickered suspiciously. The golden buckskin girl had disappeared around the same time Gabbar had and now she was back with a strange new stallion. Her mind swirled with possibilities—could he be a relative of Gabbar’s? Or perhaps one of the two Arabian mares?

“Avangeline,” Valve announced, quickly closing the gap between them and keeping her eyes fastened on the Arabian. He didn’t exactly look threatening, but she wasn’t going to let her guard down. “Who is this?”

She flicked her tail and waited for either one of them to explain. Perhaps he had information about the other Arabians and Avangeline brought him back to dispense it. Whatever it was, Valve intended to listen first. There was no sense in assuming anything until she could hear her out. The hopeful look on the Akhal-Teke mare’s face was reason enough to trust that whatever she had to say was significant enough to warrant traveling back here. If he had been alone, perhaps he wouldn’t have been so well received.

VALVE
slenderman x black heart machine