Was I left behind?
Tell me, tell me I survived.
It is hard for me to remember the black and white stallion I'd met casually at the Falls as anything but a monster. Everglow's and Vihaan's depictions of the stallion were so vastly different than my own first impression. I'd always thought of myself as a fairly decent judge of character. But in this instance, my instincts served me wrong.
It was a tough pill to swallow, to willingly let my daughter leave the shores of Luthien to serve a sentence under his rule, which she had bartered for her own sister's safety. I'd only just met this daughter of mine, and Cain was now solely responsible for robbing me of catching up on all the time lost between us. My jaws clenched as I pictured him while I swam, my thick, tree-trunk like legs cutting through the chilly waters with haste, as I moved from the Prairie toward the island of Salem.
I rose onto the familiar dry beach of the Desert. I gave my copper-colored coat a good shake and moved quickly into Cain's territory. Despite the awful stories Everglow and Vihaan had shared, I hoped that the seemingly sensible stallion I'd met those months ago on the Crossing Isle could be reasoned with. Perhaps there was a deal to be struck here. Perhaps he had a conscious, and children of his own. Maybe he would understand.
And maybe wouldn't. In that case, the painted stud would make an enemy out of the Prairie today.
I surveyed the windswept orange dunes around me, but kept my pace brisk. I trudged through the hot sands until the terrain's oasis appeared in the distance. Only then did I sound off a gurgling cry for the stallion who owned this land.
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