"andhere mein vah ek raasta talaashatee hai"
in darkness she finds her way
Luthien was familiar to the mare Everglow, and this development was bittersweet for Vihaan. If Everglow had family there, it meant that she was part of Shamwari’s life, or that of his ally, and this made her someone important to Vihaan, even though the two had only just met. It filled her with joy that Everglow might be family to her, too, but it filled her with dread, knowing that one that mattered to her father was in trouble. You must be some kind of spirit. Those had been the words Everglow had uttered. And, in a way, she was. Perhaps her heart had drawn her north to the falls for this very reason. So that she could protect that which was her own. In Vihaan’s eyes, their shared home made them close enough to kin, and she would never forsake one who was family or ally to her father.
Before she could respond to any of this, however, she heard the drumming of hooves, and stiffened in alarm. “Neech jaanavar,” she breathed, terror squeezing her lungs within her chest. The brute had followed, not letting up on his torment of Everglow. Vihaan feared for the safety and wellbeing of her blind companion, and rushed to meet him before he closed in on Everglow, bugling her fury as she charged him. “Everglow!” she squealed, doing her best to remain between them, even if that caused her to jostle the poor mare around a little. She would apologise for that later – for now, all that mattered to Vihaan was to keep this ravenous stallion away from one Vihaan considered as close to kin as any non-relative could be.
It was the kindness of Shamwari that had scattered embers in her heart. They had only fanned into undying flames after the journey she had taken with Darshan, and the truth of her mother’s existence and the battles she’d overcome to find her happiness, her Home, proved to be fuel for those flames. Knowing where her mother had come from, and comparing the life Darshan had escaped from with the life of peace and freedom and love that Shamwari offered without asking anything in return… This knowledge had profoundly impacted Vihaan as she had grown. Now, having witnessed something like this with her own eyes, on the Island chain that was, and always would be the place of her Home, Vihaan would never be the same. The encounter with Everglow and Cain had changed her in some small, but very fundamental way. What the consequences for this change would be, no-one could tell. But one thing had not changed, and never would.
She was Vihaan the Persistent, and even in the deepest darkness, she always found her way back to the light.
“No!” she roared back at the painted stallion, matching his fury, and exceeding it. “You are – are naalee ka keeda!1” She snorted sharply in frustration, unable to put how she felt into words he’d understand. This was extremely personal to Vihaan now, and it would kill the fire within her if she were to abandon Everglow now. There was only one path for them to walk, now. “Everglow belongs only to own self.” Vihaan forced the words through her teeth, speaking slowly so that she could be sure the male heard the words, despite the foreign accent that wrapped around them. The dunalino risked close proximity to the beast as she intended to plant a firm bite upon his near shoulder. Just so she could be sure that she had his attention, and that he understood her meaning. “You will not have her.” Vihaan’s tail lashed at the air, and her ears turned back as she tried to gauge where Everglow was without turning her back on the stallion. He had made his threats. Vihaan would have him acknowledge that she would not back down.
“You touch her one more time, I make it so you regret this always.” Dark eyes were fixed upon him, shoulders tensed, head raised in defiance of him, and all he stood for. “I will not forgive, will not forget. You take Everglow, and there will be no rest for me.” A flare of delicate nostrils, and a stomping of a sturdy hoof. “I hunt, and then I come for you, take her back. Not stop until I take from you your home, and any you keep against will. Others will come too. Those that are kin to me. I will lead them to you.” Vihaan took a step forward, challenging. “I choose to be aatma rakshak to the mare called Everglow. Spirit Protector. Soulkeeper. It is way of my mother, of her people before they lost their way.” Vihaan drew in a steadying breath, preparing herself for what was to come. She thought of Darshan, and how she had turned her back on everything she had known because she refused to be degraded by a stallion, or treated as anything less than the glorious creature she was. Thought of Shamwari, and how he’d let Darshan leave, respecting a mare enough to let her choose her own path.
Darshan’s strength and Shamwari’s love gave Vihaan abundant courage. It was more than enough for the young dunalino mare. She was like her father and her mother. Vihaan would not allow Cain to treat Everglow as something that he owned, and was owed. Vihaan was a mare, and this was the path she chose.
“I will go with you,” she said, her voice a lot quieter, but steady – as firm and unrelenting as the rocky ground beneath her. She hoped with her whole heart that Everglow wouldn't beg her to reconsider, or offer herself up instead. That would only make this so much harder for Vihaan. “You leave Everglow, and I will do what you say.” There was no deceit in her words, nor cunning in her eyes. Just steely determination. Persistence as strong as iron. “To your home I will follow. You want companion? I stay with you. You want foal? I will carry for you. I smell the desert wind on you – I know the deserts, will be fine there. Will be helpful. Will be obedient. Maybe even grow to love the desert of yours.” The mare regarded the stallion, scrutinising him, searching for any signs that he was favourable to her offer. She would only be making it once. “For you I will fight any accept Luthien, if you do as I ask. Will be no trouble from my kin. I will do just as you say, but you let Everglow go, and promise to never touch her again.” Vihaan fell silent, and in the moments of quiet that followed, she felt her words settling heavily upon her, weighty with all that she promised, if the stallion in turn promised her this one thing.
“You choose path. I forever stand against you, or I faithfully stand beside you. You can try and fail taking Everglow, or you will have me, Vihaan.” Oh, how it tore at her heart to think of the prospect of parting from her mother so soon, from being denied the reunion with her father that had been the light that had led Vihaan home. But she was doing this for them, and for Everglow. They would forgive her in time, but if she did not stand her ground now, and do what she believed in her heart was right, she would never forgive herself. “If you have any honor or wisdom, I beg you listen. Freely offer myself for her. This is my choice. My choice. And I give you only one chance.” Time would tell which the stallion would prefer more - to have Vihaan as a sworn enemy, or to have her watching his back, and being all things to him - a protector, a companion, a guide and a servant of his will. Should he accept her, he would soon learn that she still had her boundaries, and would not mindlessly follow him, nor turn a blind eye when his actions clashed with her values. But she was smart, she was strong, capable and fierce, and should he accept her terms, she would prove her loyalty to him before long.
Vihaan
the persistent
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